Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 586 - 585: Vines

Gawain looked in shock as Amber emerged from the shadow realm, seeing the terror and tension on her face: "What happened?"

"Shadows... there are things in the shadow realm!!" Amber almost jumped as she spoke, "These are definitely not native to the shadow realm—someone has put them inside, spreading everywhere!!"

As if a light flashed through his mind, Gawain suddenly realized the place that everyone had truly ignored. He immediately stepped forward and grabbed Amber’s arm: "Take us inside to have a look."

Amber hesitated a little, but considering the combat strength of the people present, she still nodded: "Alright—but you must be careful. There are shadow inhabitants roaming here, don’t cause any conflict with them."

Sonia and Bannar listened as Amber rattled off a bunch of words, initially not reacting to what was going on. It was only then they realized that this seemingly unobtrusive half-elf had the ability to freely traverse between the real world and the shadow realm. Both couldn’t help but widen their eyes, but they knew this wasn’t the time to ask for details. They quickly suppressed all their questions and got ready for the spatial shift.

The shadow realm is difficult to enter, but not completely blocked to mortals. Powerful shadow casters through complex rituals and painstaking preparations can also open a rift to enter the shadow realm. Bannar and Sonia, being knowledgeable elves, have naturally seen transcendent beings capable of entering the shadow realm, but they didn’t expect there would be someone like Amber who can "cross the boundary" so casually.

Once everyone was confirmed to be ready, Amber no longer hesitated. She unleashed her innate power, and the boundary between the real world and the shadow realm quickly became blurred around her.

An unknowable, unfathomable rift opened, the entire circular hall quickly being covered with a layer of monochrome similar to a black-and-white filter. Those buzzing metal columns quieted down, the holographic projections in the air disappeared, and a cold, eerie, black-and-white space descended around the four.

Despite having prepared themselves mentally, seeing Amber’s innate ability in action still left Sonia and Bannar stunned, exchanging glances in astonishment. Gawain, however, immediately noticed those dim shadows covered in magic symbols lingering in the corners of the hall—those shadow realm residents seemed to be coldly observing the unexpected guests here. Gawain could even feel their inhuman gaze sweeping over him, the gaze not exactly malicious but chillingly cold.

Bannar and Sonia also noticed those wandering shadow inhabitants at this moment, the former murmuring softly: "I’ve only seen them in research literature... didn’t think I’d see them in person."

"Better curb your researcher mentality, this is the shadow realm," Sonia said softly, then she raised her head, looking around the hall, "These things... are truly creepy..."

Those corrupted vines stimulated the nerves of everyone on the scene.

Gawain looked at the elven mage: "Bannar, can you figure out what’s going on with these vines?"

Bannar tried to ignore the shadow inhabitants who were watching coldly at a distance like Sonia did. He looked at the withered, corrupted vines spreading all over the hall, inspecting them while shaking his head: "I haven’t seen anything like this, but without a doubt, they shouldn’t be here."

Gawain turned to Amber, confirming again: "Are you sure this isn’t a ’natural product’ of the shadow realm?"

"I’ve traversed the shadow realm so many times, and I’ve never seen anything like this," Amber spread her hands, "Shall I go ask the shadow inhabitants?"

Sonia was surprised by this, looking at her: "Will they respond to you?!"

"Sort of, sometimes we chat a little, but not all shadow inhabitants are willing to interact with people. Some individuals seem to not have very clear thoughts," Amber said casually, then waved her hand and walked toward those figures standing not far away, "I’ll go inquire."

Meanwhile, on the other side, after carefully examining the state of those vines and the alloy columns, Bannar had reached a preliminary conclusion: "These vines seem to have invaded the sensing and transmission structure of the stele, but I don’t understand... I’ve never seen, can their corruption in the shadow realm really affect the real world?"

"There exists a hidden mapping relationship between the shadow realm and the real world, what you describe is very possible," Sonia nodded gently, then frowned, "These vines... feel like magic vines cultivated by Druids, but in a form I’ve never seen before."

A name had already surfaced in Gawain’s mind: Oblivion Association.

Amber had reached the shadow inhabitants, she looked around, found one that seemed approachable, and cautiously asked: "Hey, do you know who brought these vines in?"

The shadow wrapped in magic symbols really responded to her, turning his head slightly, but didn’t directly answer her question. Instead, from that foggy head emerged a voice that seemed to carry interest: "Little girl, you are quite an interesting individual... who stuffed you in here?"

"Stuffed in where?" Amber was taken aback, she suddenly felt that the shadow inhabitants here seemed different from those she had interacted with before. Even if those she met would communicate with her, they never behaved so... "rational", "What are you saying?"

"It doesn’t matter... it’s not important..." The shadow inhabitant’s voice suddenly became low, he murmured some incomprehensible words, and then Amber heard him continue, "There are rifts here, many rifts... strong magic power has made the boundary here fragile... outsiders planted seeds outside, and then they grew here..."

After that, the shadow’s voice grew low and indistinct again, seemingly losing interest in conversation. Following some incomprehensible murmurs, he and several nearby shadow inhabitants began to fade, gradually disappearing into the air, leaving a bewildered Amber behind.

Not far away, Bannar had cut a vine from a metal column and discovered that these vines were actually "dead."

"They’re dead," the Master Mage said with some surprise in his tone, "but it seems they haven’t been dead for long... Their cores show signs of charring, suggesting they were burned by a powerful energy flow."

Sonia’s eyebrows slightly raised: "Could it be... burned by the previous overload of the sentinel tower?"

"We can’t rule out that possibility. The timing seems to match, but the mapping relationship between the real world and the shadow realm is truly bizarre, so I can’t be certain what happened here when the sentinel tower overloaded in the real world," Bannar said cautiously. "We can only speculate now that these vines indeed affected the operation of the real world’s sentinel tower. They’ve always been interfering; they disrupted the sensors of the towers and possibly tampered with some return signals. Recently, the massive overload of the whole great wall generated a powerful energy surge, even breaking through the border between the real world and the shadow realm, thus burning these hidden things to death..."

This sounded somewhat amusing, but it might just be the truth.

"I suspect it’s the handiwork of the Oblivion Association," Gawain voiced his speculation. "You may not know much about them in the south, but in the north, I’ve dealt with them quite a bit. They specialize in cultivating these twisted and corrupted biological creations and have even attempted to infiltrate an observation post you set up on the Typhon border—something Soldrin has reported to the Silver Empire before."

"...Those fallen Druids..." Sonia’s brows furrowed slightly, then she sighed lightly. "In fact, we know quite a bit about the Oblivion Association — though they do indeed operate in regions far from the Silver Empire, don’t forget, the Druids originally originated from the elves."

"The Oblivion Association’s activities have also caused losses to the Silver Empire," Bannar added from the side. "Even within the silver elves, there have been defections by fallen Druids, including two powerful mentors from the Nature Sanctuary — those pervasive fallen ones, their tentacles are not limited to the northern continent."

Sonia nodded slightly, then looked at the withered vines entrenched in the hall and took a deep breath: "Yet, I still can’t imagine that their destruction and infiltration could reach this extent... The sentinel towers, they infiltrated the sentinel towers!!"

"The shadow inhabitants mentioned that someone planted seeds in the outside world, and then these vines grew and infiltrated the borders between the shadow realm and the real world. They spoke in a mystical manner, but it’s likely true," Amber also came over from not far away, sharing the intel she gathered. "And they also said something about powerful magic making the border between the shadow realm and the real world fragile, probably referring to the great wall. Although that energy barrier blocked the wasteland expansion, it might have also damaged the spatial structure here... I’m just saying, I don’t really understand the specifics."

Sonia listened earnestly to Amber’s words, her expression becoming particularly serious: "In any case, this must be reported to the Elven Royal Court immediately. Her Majesty the Queen must quickly send people to inspect every sentinel tower. Although the vines in this tower are already dead, there might be living ones elsewhere. These hidden dangers must be eradicated."

"Currently, the sentinel tower’s communication functions are still down. We may have to rely on Giant Eagle Messengers, human communication towers, and short-distance communication spells to relay the information," Bannar reminded from the side. "Perhaps we should find a way to first repair the communication function of the sentinel tower."

Sonia’s brows furrowed deeply: "That might not be faster than relay communication. The communication array is burned out; it’s not a simple malfunction."

Gawain listened quietly to the side, then suddenly broke the silence: "Is the magical power circuit of the entire great wall still intact? Only the communication array is burned out, correct?"

"The magical power circuit is certainly intact, otherwise, the barrier would be full of gaps," Bannar immediately replied, "but a mere magical connection is useless..."

"I have a plan," Gawain interrupted Bannar’s words, "Are you familiar with Cecil’s Magic Web Communication?"

"Magic Web Communication?" Bannar and Sonia exchanged a glance and then simultaneously recalled the incredible magic devices they had encountered while temporarily staying in Cecil Castle, particularly the fascinating "broadcast" devices among them. "Ah! I remember!"

Bannar first thought of the inexpensive and convenient terminal devices used in Magic Web Communication, noting their amazing ability to be operated by ordinary people, while Sonia recalled a broadcast program called "Witching Hour" — that charming witch named Giply...

"My plan is to connect our Magic Web Device to the great wall," Gawain continued with his plan, oblivious to Sonia’s thoughts. "The principle of the Magic Web Terminal is to transmit signals within a magical power field. Although the terminals we’ve built can only be compatible with our own chaotic magic broadcast, they are adjustable. In theory, as long as there’s a continuous and regular magical power field, it can serve as a carrier for transmitting signals — and essentially, the great wall is a massive, circulating magical power field that’s stable too, isn’t it?"

"This... sounds feasible," Bannar hesitated slightly, glancing at Sonia, "but that means we need to open the communication keys of the great wall for you and make its communication technology available to your technical personnel, doesn’t it?"

Clearly, this was not as simple as merely "allowing Gawain to observe the internal structure of the sentinel towers."

Gawain smiled softly: "Queen Belsetia probably wouldn’t mind establishing a line of communication between the Silver Empire and the Cecil Principality. Of course, I understand your concerns, but our current situation likely doesn’t afford us the time to ponder too slowly."

"I agree to establish this special line," Sonia suddenly said, "I am a High-ranked Order Messenger, and I’ll take responsibility for this."

Gawain exhaled lightly, reaching out towards Sonia: "This will be the right decision."