Chapter 585: The Vines

Gawain stared in shock as Amber emerged from the Shadow Realm, her face pale with fear and tension. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s something in the Shadow Realm!” Amber almost jumped as she spoke. “It’s definitely not native to the Shadow Realm—someone put it in there, and it’s spreading everywhere!”

A sudden flash of insight struck Gawain. He immediately realized what everyone had overlooked. Without hesitation, he grabbed Amber’s arm. “Take us in. We need to see for ourselves.”

Amber hesitated for a moment, but after considering the combat abilities of the group, she nodded. “Alright—but be careful. There are Shadow Dwellers wandering around. Don’t provoke them.”

Sonia and Banner listened as Amber rattled off a rapid-fire explanation. At first, they didn’t quite grasp what was going on, but then it dawned on them: this seemingly unremarkable half-elf had the ability to freely traverse between the real world and the Shadow Realm. Their eyes widened in surprise, but they knew this wasn’t the time to ask questions. They quickly prepared for spatial displacement.

—The Shadow Realm is notoriously difficult to enter, but not completely sealed off to mortals. Powerful shadow mages can open rifts into it through complex rituals and elaborate preparations. As seasoned elves, Banner and Sonia had encountered such extraordinary individuals before, but they never expected someone like Amber to casually “cross the line” like this.

Once everyone was ready, Amber no longer hesitated. She unleashed her innate power, and the boundary between the real world and the Shadow Realm around her began to blur.

An inscrutable rift tore open, and the entire circular hall was instantly washed in a monochrome filter of black and white. The humming metal pillars fell silent, the holographic projections in the air vanished, and a cold, eerie, grayscale space descended upon the four of them.

Though prepared mentally, Sonia and Banner couldn’t help exchanging astonished glances at Amber’s unique ability. Gawain’s attention was immediately drawn to the faint, rune-wrapped shadows lingering in the corners of the hall—the Shadow Realm’s inhabitants. They watched the intruders with detached eyes, their gaze inhuman but not exactly hostile—just chillingly indifferent.

Banner and Sonia also noticed the wandering Shadow Dwellers. Banner muttered quietly, “I’ve only read about them in research… I never thought I’d see them in person.”

“Best curb your researcher’s curiosity,” Sonia whispered. “This is the Shadow Realm.” She looked around the hall. “These things… they’re truly unsettling.”

The corrupted vines crawling across the room sent a shiver down everyone’s spine.

Gawain turned to the elven mage. “Banner, can you figure out what these vines are?”

Banner, like Sonia, tried to ignore the indifferent Shadow Dwellers nearby. He examined the withered, corrupted vines spreading throughout the hall, shaking his head. “I’ve never seen anything like this. But there’s no doubt—they shouldn’t be here.”

Gawain looked back at Amber, confirming once more, “You’re sure these aren’t native to the Shadow Realm?”

“I’ve traveled through the Shadow Realm countless times,” Amber said, spreading her hands. “Never seen anything like this. Want me to ask the Shadow Dwellers?”

Sonia looked at her in surprise. “They’ll talk to you?”

“Sometimes,” Amber replied casually. “But not all of them want to interact. Some seem… not quite lucid.” She waved her hand and approached the nearby shadows. “I’ll see what I can find out.”

Meanwhile, Banner had already begun a preliminary analysis of the vines and the alloy pillars. “These vines seem to have infiltrated the sensing and transmission structures of the monoliths, but I don’t understand… can corruption in the Shadow Realm really affect the real world?”

“There’s a hidden mapping between the Shadow Realm and the real world,” Sonia nodded thoughtfully. “What you’re describing is definitely possible.” She frowned. “These vines… they remind me of druidic magical vines, but I’ve never seen them take this form.”

A name surfaced in Gawain’s mind: The End of All Things.

Amber had reached the Shadow Dwellers and scanned them carefully. She picked one that looked more approachable and cautiously asked, “Hey, do you know who brought these vines in here?”

The shadow wrapped in rune cloth responded, turning its head slowly. It didn’t answer directly but spoke with a voice tinged with curiosity: “Little girl, you’re an interesting one… Who put you inside here?”

“Put me inside what?” Amber blinked, suddenly sensing these Shadow Dwellers were different from any she’d met before. Even those who communicated with her previously never seemed this… rational. “What are you talking about?”

“It doesn’t matter… that’s not important…” The shadow’s voice deepened, muttering some words Amber couldn’t understand. Then it continued, “There are rifts here, many rifts… powerful magic has weakened the boundaries… Outsiders planted seeds in the outside world, and they grew into this place…”

After that, the shadow’s voice grew faint and indistinct, as if losing interest. Amid unintelligible murmurs, it and the other nearby Shadow Dwellers began to fade, disappearing into the air, leaving Amber utterly bewildered.

Not far off, Banner had cut a piece of vine from one of the alloy pillars. He discovered the vines were actually dead.

“They’re dead,” the mage said, surprised. “But not for long… Their cores show signs of burning, as if scorched by a powerful energy flow.”

Sonia raised an eyebrow. “Could it be… the overload from the Sentinel Tower?”

“That’s possible. The timing fits,” Banner said cautiously. “But the mapping between the real world and the Shadow Realm is so strange, I can’t be sure what happened here when the Sentinel Tower overloaded. We can only speculate that these vines affected the tower’s operation, interfering with its sensors, maybe even altering some feedback signals. Then, the recent massive overload of the Great Wall released a surge of energy that breached the boundary between worlds, burning these hidden things to death…”

It sounded absurd, but maybe it was the truth.

“I suspect the End of All Things is behind this,” Gawain said. “You might not know much about them down south, but up north, I’ve dealt with them plenty. They specialize in cultivating twisted, corrupted bioweapons and once tried to infiltrate an observation post you set up on the Typhon border. Sordrin even reported it to the Silver Empire.”

“…Those fallen druids…” Sonia frowned, then sighed softly. “We know quite a bit about the End of All Things too. Though they operate far from the Silver Empire, remember—the druidic tradition originally stems from the elves.”

“Their activities have caused losses to the Silver Empire,” Banner added. “There have even been traitorous fallen druids within the Silver Elves, including two high-ranking mentors from the Nature Sanctum. These insidious corruptors’ reach extends far beyond the northern continent.”

Sonia nodded slightly, then looked at the withered vines sprawling through the hall. She took a deep breath. “But I still can’t imagine their destruction and infiltration reaching this level… The Sentinel Tower—they actually infiltrated the Sentinel Tower!”

“The Shadow Dwellers said someone planted seeds in the outside world, and those vines grew, penetrating the boundary between the Shadow Realm and the real world,” Amber returned from her inquiry. “They spoke cryptically, but it’s probably true. They also mentioned powerful magic weakening the boundary—probably the Great Wall. That energy barrier blocks the wasteland’s spread but might have damaged the spatial structure here… That’s just my guess, though. I don’t really understand the details.”

Sonia listened carefully, her expression growing grave. “This must be reported to the Elven Court immediately. The Queen must send people to inspect every Sentinel Tower. Even though the vines here are dead, there could be living ones elsewhere. These hidden dangers must be eliminated.”

“With the Sentinel Tower’s communications still down, we’ll have to rely on giant eagle messengers, human signal towers, and short-range transmission spells to relay information,” Banner reminded them. “Maybe we should try to repair the tower’s communications first.”

Sonia frowned deeply. “That won’t be faster than relaying messages. The transmission array was burned out, not just malfunctioning.”

Gawain had been quietly listening and suddenly broke the silence. “Is the Great Wall’s magical energy cycle still intact? Only the transmission array was destroyed, right?”

“Of course the energy cycle is intact, or the barrier would be full of gaps,” Banner replied quickly. “But having just the energy connection isn’t enough…”

“I have an idea,” Gawain interrupted. “Do you know about Cecil’s Arcane Network communications?”

“Arcane Network communications?” Banner and Sonia exchanged a glance, then both recalled the incredible magical devices they encountered while staying in Cecil City—the most fascinating being the ‘broadcast’ devices. “Ah! Of course!”

Banner immediately thought of the cheap, convenient terminals used for Arcane Network communication, marveling at how ordinary people could operate them. Sonia thought of the broadcast program called “Witching Hour”—that witch named Jipri was quite a character…

“My plan is to connect our Arcane Network devices to the Great Wall,” Gawain continued, unaware of Sonia’s thoughts. “The Arcane Network terminals transmit signals through magical fields. Although our current terminals only support our own magical broadcasts, they’re adjustable. In theory, any continuous, regular magical field can carry signals. The Great Wall is essentially a massive, stable, circulating magical field, isn’t it?”

“This… sounds feasible,” Banner said, glancing at Sonia with a hint of hesitation. “But that would mean granting you access to the communication keys of the Grant Wall, and also opening up the Grant Wall’s communication technology to your technicians, right?”

Clearly, this was no longer just about “allowing Gawain to view the Sentinel Tower’s internal structure.”

Gawain smiled faintly. “Bersethia probably wouldn’t mind establishing a communication link between the Silver Empire and the Duchy of Cecil. Of course, I understand your concerns, but given the situation we’re facing, I doubt we have the luxury of time to deliberate.”

“I agree to set up this special line,” Sonia said suddenly. “As a High Messenger, I’ll take full responsibility.”

Gawain exhaled softly and reached out his hand to Sonia. “This will be the right choice.”

(End of chapter)