Brute Cavern, Tree Spirit Palace.
Rein Mute, a gentleman who was perfectly suited up, had come to meet with Tree Spirit, an ancient soul who never knew what “proper clothing” was.
They spent a moment in complete silence in the room before Tree Spirit finally moved by showing a small, glowing tree leaf.
“You have a message?” asked Rein.
“Yup. It’s Filo, who’s staying at the Edge of Night,” Tree Spirit said as he carefully read the strange symbols displayed on the leaf.
“Is it bad?”
“Very.” Tree Spirit put the leaf away with a grim look. “Within one month, apart from the first dark dome at Sleepless City, which was constantly growing, three other new ones have been spotted around the Evernight Kingdom.”
Three? Rein scowled.
“Two of them appeared at mortal territory, Snowrange and Rolan Town. The third one is at the hinterlands of Pale Rime.”
“Pale Rime is... where the Scheerer Family lives? Their strength has declined greatly after the old Scheerer died.” Rein looked at the floor. “I believe whoever is invading us is more interested in wizards. They placed domes on top of Snowrange and Rolan Town as experimental attacks. Starting from Pale Rime, they’ll probably start going after more wizard settlements.”
Tree Spirit nodded. “This is also what Filo presumed. The Evernight Kingdom is in an uproar. There are many wizard clans who claimed to abandon their homes and evacuate.”
“What about the Edge of Night? Are they sticking to the Evernight Kingdom?”
“The Edge of Night is... not peaceful, at least. Their teleport station is overcrowded with people every day, including their own members who sought to escape. I can only imagine how Mister Edge is trying to decide what to do next.” Tree Spirit chuckled.
“Grecious is a weak-kneed failure. I’m afraid we still need some time to wait for his choice. Our organization is not affected yet, but I’ve received reports that suggested possessed victims entering Parmigi Highlands. We can’t afford to let any of them slip inside the mirror world. We need to tell The Mirror to send a more serious warning in their next edition. What I told them last time was... imprecise.”
“I don’t think a dark dome can find its way into our mirror world. But you’re right about looking out for parasites. Too bad Sunders has gone off to the Abyss Plane... He’s the only one who knew how to repel the parasites.” Tree Spirit shook his head. “Or, I think his student Angor can help us too. But that boy is visiting his home right now.”
“Angor... can deal with the parasites?” Rein never heard of such a thing before.
“Last time when Midnight Sovereign was invaded by nightmare monsters and parasite swarms, Sunders HAD to ask for Angor’s assistance to solve the crisis. What do you think?”
Rein Mute never heard of Angor’s involvement in this matter because Sunders intentionally blockaded the info to protect Angor.
“Good to know. I’m going to talk to Angor again when he gets back,” Rein said as he thought about the smaller gentleman standing beside Sunders. “Now that I think about it... His illusion has this ‘Monument Valley’ inside. I quite like it.”
“I heard people talking about his alchemy illusion all day. But I never thought you’re one of them, Mister Rein.”
“I’m positive that it’s potent enough to inspire Greya.” Rein thought about the nightmare energy he sensed.
Tree Spirit held his chin. “Someone from the market mentioned that Angor will sell an alchemy illusion at Remnant Coast. I think I’m going to send a puppet there in my place and buy the item, if the price doesn’t go too crazy.”
“The auction held at Remnant Coast? Hmm...” Rein mumbled.
“As for parasites, the biggest problem right now is Lady Mirror. There’s no doubt that she can keep the organization safe, if she’s here with us. How about paying Elder of Books a visit?”
“That won’t be easy. But it’s worth a try. I heard that Elder of Books is visiting Iron Fortress more often these days. We can check The Tributary.”
They both stood up and prepared to head to The Tributary right away.
Tree Spirit suddenly halted his movement and took out another shining leaf.
“Don’t tell me a fourth dome just showed up?” Rein frowned.
“Not Filo this time. It’s Maya.” Tree Spirit took a moment to read the message before showing a strange expression.
“Maya? Didn’t she go to Brilliance Plane? What did she tell us?”
“... Something happened in Fairy World.”
...
Shadow hired a group of geologists who knew well of the landscape in search of the hidden village Angor carelessly revealed—Pocratee.
He noticed that Angor was very interested in Akesolya, the land of the serpent. Telling from the conversation between Angor and the Krakok priest, Shadow was almost sure that Angor met with this “serpent” before.
Knowing this, it wasn’t difficult to infer that Angor saw the serpent in Pocratee, the sanctuary of healers.
Shadow returned to the “Real World” to figure out how to enter Pocratee. Of course, he knew it was unlikely for him to confront a wizard-level monster who lived for over a thousand years, so he had prepared many means of escaping. To him, knowing how to find the monster was a valuable asset he could use to exchange for other great resources.
The priest also mentioned the “Staff of Immortality”. Perhaps there were other valuable treasures to be found in Pocratee.
He had spent three months walking through the mountain woods, during which his workers uncovered useful clues such as broken climber ropes along cliffs, buried ruins or ancient wares at the bottom of rivers.
However, these clues only suggested the “land of the serpent”, not Pocratee.
He stood on the mountaintop while looking at his hired men diligently digging around the forest.
“Where the heck is it? I’ve almost checked every part of these woods. Don’t tell me it’s way underground? No... Angor isn’t a weird guy who would start digging for no reason. He came to Fairy World alone and did not have anything to excavate anyway. There’s something else I overlooked...”
While considering his options, he glanced at a small lake to the southwest of the mountain he was standing on.
“Water... Wait, I never examined it yet.”
Immediately, he summoned his men to dive into the water.
Soon, the workers returned and told him that there was a giant cave underwater and that ordinary people could not proceed without diving equipment.
Instead of going into the lake on his own, Shadow asked the Krakok brothers to send a message to Water Grasse to summon the “supernatural meeting members”.
Three days later, several rogue apprentices jumped into the lake under Shadow’s control.
An apprentice who proclaimed himself as the “Magician” returned and told Shadow that there was a secret tunnel in the lake.
After knowing that it wasn’t a long distance to reach for the next pocket of air, Shadow ordered Magician to bring several mortal swimmers to keep exploring, while he remained behind to casually wait for a result.
However, instead of the good news he expected, he was welcomed by several madmen who somehow shook free of his puppet magic, and a swarm of colorful dragonflies.
...
As Shadow drew the hidden dragonflies in Pocratee into the Fairy World, Angor was experiencing another catastrophe at Devil’s Water, unaware of what had happened to his “old friend”.
A 30-meter-tall tidal wave was currently chasing after The Limpet.
While trembling under the horror, all sailors were desperately controlling the ship to stay on its course, using a rope around their waist as the only protection.
Occasionally, there were sailors who were tossed into the sky as their ropes broke, who were then saved by Angor’s Hand of Spell.
The Limpet was going for the safest route they could see while trying to outrun the tide behind. But the looming torrent was slowly catching up.
Angor was no longer sure how the vessel would escape from the disaster. He glanced at the command room and saw both Erwin and Helen issuing commands to the sailors loud and clear, even if they could barely stand upright.
Erwin suddenly ordered his men to slow down.
As Angor wondered why the captain would do something to send the ship into the deadly tsunami, the other sailors followed the order without a second thought.
The wall-like wave finally lost its advancing momentum and slammed into the water, which was just behind The Limpet. The terrible force of it had sent the ship flying into the air.
“Now!” Erwin gave a signal using his hand.
Angor widened his eyes as the ship released a powerful air stream from its rear and dashed into the distance like a deflating balloon sent free, away from the biggest danger.
He couldn’t help but admire the mental fortitude shown by these professional sailors. Even some wizards wouldn’t remain so calm when facing a life-threatening natural disaster.
An hour later, the ship finally enjoyed calm waters and fair sky again.
When Angor prepared to return to his room and continue his study, he saw Helen gazing in a direction with an anxious look.