Chapter 13 (2/2)

Amber looked horrified. “I don’t know what’s weird about this, but it’s already very bad!”

“The Mist Wraith is showing no signs of dissipating. Logically speaking, even if the mist is powerful, it should at least be weakened a little,” Gawain said rapidly, making a conclusion from the information according to his memories. Although those memories were not his, he found that as long as he put it to use, they would be as useful as his own knowledge and experience. “And we have also determined earlier that the magic focal point here isn’t very strong. With such a typical magic focal point, why is a Mist Wraith that even has intelligence spawning here?”

Amber was quick-witted and understood immediately. “You mean that this mist didn’t spawn naturally? Is there some artificial energy sources sustaining it?”

“It’s not necessarily an artificial energy source, but there must be something to sustain it—” Gawain’s brows furrowed as he stared at the mist as though he was trying to see through the mist and find out what it was made of. “And the thing that is sustaining it should be nearby. It’s just that it’s messing up our senses, and we can’t see it!”

“But Herti has already used Detection…” Amber said in puzzlement. Then her eyes widened suddenly. “… Could it be that it isn’t on this ‘level’?!”

Before her words fell, Gawain saw the half-elf girl suddenly jump backward, and just like that, she disappeared into the air.

No, she did not disappear.

Gawain noticed that there was an abnormal shadow drifting across the ground nearby. It was a vague humanoid silhouette. He could vaguely make out that it was Amber’s silhouette. This silhouette with only a shadow and no body seemed as though it was teleporting in the vicinity. Jumping and shifting from surface to surface, it occasionally appeared on the ground or the nearby tree trunks. After jumping a few times, it really disappeared completely.

That was not a real shadow, but it was the “reflection” that was projected onto the physical realm as Amber traveled along the edge of the physical realm in her shadow state.

Such a simple, crude, but powerful “Shadow Walk” became an eye opener for Gawain.

Where exactly did this half-elf bandit come from?

Before Gawain could come out with even more questions, Amber’s figure suddenly appeared in the air again. She rushed forward. Just when Gawain was about to ask about the situation, she grabbed his arm and pulled him with a jerk.

Gawain staggered for a moment. Then he felt himself passing through a layer of cold, illusory barrier. When his vision regained focus, the surroundings had already changed.

The colors on everything were gone. It was only black and white everywhere. A thin layer of mist shrouded this world. The mist was cold, but it did not have the effect of draining his energy as did the Mist Wraith.

Gawain looked around and noticed that the forest had disappeared, but there were dry tree stumps, one after another, on the ground. and the positions of those stumps exactly matched the positions of the trees in the forest.

Everyone, including Herti, was standing not far from him, but they were motionless as if they were under a petrification spell.

Rebecca’s position was closest to Gawain. She maintained a tight grip on her staff, her face was tense, but her eyes seemed lifeless. She looked forward blankly, turned into a gray ‘statue’. The texture of her skin was like crudely made ceramics.

Threads of black mist rose from the ground nearby, entering their bodies, and creating tiny cracks in their ceramic-like bodies.

This strange scene made Gawain subconsciously turn to look at his hands. After confirming that his hands were still human hands, he heaved a breath of relief. Then he grasped tightly the Sword of Pioneers, walked quickly toward Rebecca, ready to slice those obviously harmful black mists.

But just when he took half a step, Amber suddenly appeared beside him. The half-elf girl clutched his arm tightly. “Don’t go near. External force won’t be able to help them. It might even make the situation worse.”

Gawain looked at Amber in astonishment. In this black and white world, she actually had a different look.

Her hair grew long and floated behind her as if there was no gravity. And in that moment, those light brown eyes were filled with a mild golden radiance. A black ball that looked like flame gathered under her feet, continually dispersing and condensing back again.

There was nothing in Gawain Cecil’s memory that could explain this phenomena before him.

“Don’t ask me too many questions. It’d be awkward if you asked and I don’t answer, especially after I just dug your grave. It’d make me feel guilty,” Amber said rapidly, “We have limited time. This is the first time I’m entering such a ‘deep’ place. By bringing you here, God knows how long this can last.”

“Where is this place?” Gawain asked his most pressing concern.

“Shadow realm,” Amber said mildly, and she stuck out her lips toward where Herti and the others were. “Watch.”

It was the position where Betty and the soldiers were at in the beginning. But one of the soldiers had fallen to the ground and turned into countless pale fragments. They really looked like broken ceramics. Meanwhile, the others, like Rebecca , still kept in the same movement and expression as when they had made contact with the Mist Wraith.

However, it was just that beneath Betty’s feet was a row of faintly glowing small footprints that continued forward…