Chapter 1556: The “Neighbor” I Met for the First Time

Amber and Modril had vanished. The path they came by had disappeared as well. Alone, I was transported into this dim, sprawling metropolis, completely cut off from the outside world—this wasn’t quite what I had expected.

But then again, when it comes to a journey into the realm of the Old Gods, any unexpected turn of events can be considered “within expectations.”

My eyes darted around swiftly, taking in everything within sight. I tried to sense Amber’s or Modril’s presence, but found nothing. It was just me, standing alone in this vast, empty city, as if I had been the only one to ever arrive here. The path I had taken was gone, and ahead of me stretched endless rows of towers and buildings, repeating like an echo.

I took a deep breath. I didn’t know where Amber had gone, nor where Modril was now. To say I wasn’t worried or nervous would be a lie. But after a moment of tension, I forced myself to calm down. This had to be the Lady of Night’s deliberate design—in this “City of a Thousand Towers,” everything was under her dominion. Since the Flux had vanished, nothing could challenge the authority of this Old God. So if I was facing such a strange situation, it wasn’t an accident.

Once I steadied my nerves, my heartbeat slowed. I recalled the information I had gathered before arriving here, scanning the vague streets and distant silhouettes of buildings in this “City of a Thousand Towers,” trying to find a direction to move forward. Since the Lady of Night had invited me here, she must have had a purpose. Maybe this was where we were meant to meet.

Soon, my gaze locked onto a towering, shadowy shape deep within the city.

The silhouette was hazy, as if shrouded in thick mist, constantly shifting in form. Bathed in the dim, grayish light, it seemed neither fully real nor entirely illusory. It rose higher than any palace or tower around it, looming over the city like a watchful sentinel at its very heart.

I quickly recalled the core district of the City of a Thousand Towers mentioned in the intel—the massive structure known as the “Dusklit Court.” It was said to have once been the seat of the Violet Kingdom’s rulers, and after the kingdom’s dream ended, it became the private residence of Prince Nash, the gatekeeper of the Shadow Divine Realm. Modril and Maggie had speculated that the Dusklit Court was the entrance to the Shadow Divine Realm.

Judging by its size and position, that towering, misty shadow must be the Dusklit Court. I made my decision and started walking toward it.

In the gloomy, silent ancient city, only the sound of my footsteps disturbed the eternal stillness. The boots striking the pavement echoed down the long street. On either side, pointed-roof houses stood like silent sentinels, watching the lone figure passing by. Their dark doors, shadowed walls, and black, hollow windows resembled mute mouths and empty eyes, maintaining an eerie silence under the gray light.

I even felt a strange illusion—that those houses lining the street were actually watching me. Some kind of gaze, crossing time and space, fell on me with a hollow, vacant stare. The owners of those gazes had existed here for 1.87 million years, in this city simulated by some ancient data technology. This was the planet’s primordial era, when even the dragons of Tal’Rond were called “Northern Barbarians,” and the dragon gods themselves were still young and inexperienced. These timeless stares were empty and indifferent, yet as I moved forward, they felt increasingly real.

Eventually, I stopped on the street, pondering for a moment. Then I turned and approached the nearest house, yanking open a slightly ajar wooden door.

Standing in the doorway was a tall, thin figure wrapped in black rune-inscribed bandages. Beneath the bindings swirled a humanoid-shaped mass of chaotic black mist—a Shadow Dweller. It stood there, its featureless face meeting mine. Of course, the runes showed no expression, but I sensed a hint of awkwardness.

I recalled what I knew about Shadow Dwellers—these mysterious native shadows never interacted with “outsiders.” They existed in a constant state of chaotic instability and would attack any intruder without negotiation.

But as I faced this one for two seconds, I immediately felt something was different. This creature showed no signs of aggression. Though it stood silently in the doorway, I sensed something… communicative about it. It was subtle, but I was almost certain this Shadow Dweller was unlike the ones people usually feared.

Suddenly, a thought popped into my mind—this was a Shadow Dweller who had returned to the City of a Thousand Towers, one who had completed the “Return to Nightfall” ritual after wandering in chaos for over a million years and finally reached its destination.

At that moment, I noticed a change in the swirling mist within the creature. Ripples appeared on its otherwise featureless face. Inspired, I casually asked, “What are you looking at?”

The Shadow Dweller was silent for two seconds, probably caught off guard, then a faint, trembling voice emerged from beneath the bandages: “…Just watching the show.”

It could talk!

Though I had initiated the question, I hadn’t expected an answer. Hearing that vague, chaotic voice caught me off guard. Then I quickly looked around the street.

Every house, every door and window, held a gaze fixed on me. Those eyes belonged to “them.” This was their true state—Shadow Dwellers could communicate after all. The previous reports of their mindless attacks were just a long, dreamlike sleepwalking.

Fragments of information about the Shadow Realm suddenly snapped into place in my mind. The Lady of Night’s slumber and return had deeply affected the Shadow Realm, its inhabitants, and the Violet Kingdom. The chain of cause and effect became clear. But none of this distracted me from my conversation with the native before me. I steadied myself and said, “So you’re all just hiding behind doors watching the show?”

The tall, eerie shadow was silent for two seconds again, then pointed toward a row of houses farther down the street. “No, some are behind windows.”

“You guys are nuts,” I almost lost my composure. The eerie, mysterious atmosphere that had clung to me since entering the City of a Thousand Towers shattered completely. So those hollow, timeless stares I’d felt were literally real? A whole city full of Shadow Dwellers hiding behind doors and windows, staring at me? The thought gave me goosebumps—another kind of chill rising from deep inside. “Is it your custom to hide behind doors and windows and stare at guests?”

“The Mistress said the guest came from afar and might not be used to the city’s sights, so we should stay inside and not scare anyone,” the tall shadow answered obediently. “But she didn’t say we couldn’t sneak a peek…”

I: “…Is your Mistress a little…”

I was about to say something sharp, but before I could finish, a lazy yet authoritative voice suddenly descended from above, cutting me off: “Apologies if we caused you any inconvenience.”

The moment the voice appeared, I felt a massive presence’s gaze settle on me. The voice echoed through the city, as if the very air and earth froze in that single utterance. Then I realized where the voice and gaze came from—I looked toward the direction I had sensed, and saw the enormous shadow I had earlier identified as the Dusklit Court.

That massive shadow turned toward me. At its peak, a pair of amber eyes quietly watched me through the mist.

It wasn’t a Dusklit Court, nor a towering spire—it was the Lady of Night herself.

She stood like a mountain over her realm, her form a dark cloud covering the city. From the clouds, she gazed down upon the land. Even with mortal eyes at their limit, I could not see her full form.

Before today, I had only seen such an awe-inspiring presence once—on Tal’Rond, the chaotic dragon that covered an entire continent. No, that was even more astonishing, for it was a manifestation of the gods.

The Shadow Dweller in the doorway bowed respectfully toward the Lady of Night. “I pay homage to you, Mistress of Night.”

“Hmm,” the Lady’s voice descended from the sky. “Go about your business. I wish to speak with my guest.”

“Yes, Mistress.” The tall, thin shadow responded immediately, then without greeting me, stepped back into the house’s shadow. The black door, its material impossible to discern, creaked shut behind it. No further sound came.

In the next instant, I felt all those gazes from the street vanish—whether from behind doors or windows, every prying eye disappeared in an instant. It was as if the Shadow Dwellers had been ordered by the Lady of Night to temporarily “cease to exist,” giving their Mistress space to receive her guest.

The night was thick with mysteries, yet Gawain’s attention had long since drifted away from those trivial details. He lifted his gaze calmly, fixing it on the towering silhouette standing at the heart of the city. The mist surrounding that figure seemed to have thinned slightly, and within the clearer outline, a faint sense of familiarity stirred within him.

Before he could voice his question, Lady Ye’s voice reached his ears first. “They’ve only just returned to my side. The lingering effects of their long chaos-induced state haven’t fully faded yet, so their words and actions might still seem a bit strange. If that causes you any trouble, please forgive them.”

“They… you mean the shadow dwellers living in this city?” Gawain furrowed his brow. It seemed his earlier suspicion was correct. The “shadow dwellers” here were indeed different from the wandering spirits known to the world—they were in some kind of “returned” state. Then, his mind flashed with the fragments of knowledge that had just surfaced moments ago, and his expression grew more serious. “Those insights about the shadow dwellers that suddenly came to me—did you implant them? Is this some kind of mental influence?”

“I wouldn’t be so rude,” Lady Ye’s voice carried a hint of amusement. “And honestly, trying to mess with the mind of a special ‘mortal’ like you isn’t very practical. Isn’t that right? An outsider from the heavens above, my longtime neighbor—you know better than I do that your memories aren’t so easily tampered with.”

Gawain’s face remained calm, unsurprised by her words.

The world only knew Lady Ye as an ancient god who had lived for over a million years. But he understood better: her true “body” now was actually a relic of the Voyagers embedded within the Celestial Station. In a sense, that anchor generator floating in space was Lady Ye’s real “home.” Meanwhile, he himself occupied an ancient monitoring satellite, and through a transfer of permissions, had become half an administrator of the Celestial Station. In truth, they were neighbors.

Neighbors for hundreds of thousands of years.

It was a strange kind of bond, but this “friendship” didn’t make him any less cautious. The mysterious purpose and unpredictable temperament of this ancient deity kept him on guard. “If that’s the case, how did you ‘implant’ those memories in me?”

“That wasn’t me implanting anything,” Lady Ye replied. “It’s more like a slow, steady current flowing over hundreds of thousands of years. Our shared home—the orbital facilities of the Celestial Station—is a place we both inhabit. Within the same data system, much of what I know is also accessible to you. And some of the things you’ve witnessed reflect back on my side as well. I didn’t implant anything; I simply helped you ‘remember’ knowledge you already possessed.”

Gawain was stunned. This was an answer he hadn’t expected. Blinking in disbelief, he blurted out, “You mean… some of our memories are connected?!”

He hadn’t even finished the thought—how was it possible he didn’t know this himself?!

“It’s not quite ‘connected’ yet, but there is some overlap,” Lady Ye’s voice descended from the sky, calm with a trace of laziness. “Part of the reason I invited you here is related to this—though more importantly, it’s to discuss the future of this world, your own future, and to… pass on some ‘heritage’ that should be entrusted to the beings of the mortal realm.”

(End of chapter)