A sinister realm shrouded in darkness.
A hidden place that hates the light.
A desolate frontier land far away from the unknown.
This is the Shadow Plane, a monotonous, dull and mysterious world of contrasts between black and white.
As a plane closest to the main material realm, the shadow realm also presents similarities with the main material realm, just like the deep black dome hanging overhead, even if the sun, moon and stars are not seen all day long, at least it can remind people of the hazy night sky of the main material realm.
Under this dark sky, a pale luster suddenly appeared on the desolate black field, forming a glowing vortex, and out of it came a group of travelers from the main material realm.
"This is the Shadow Realm, and it's as dark as the legend says."
Roland followed Helena out of the teleportation vortex embodied in the "Shadow Technique", squinting his eyes and looking around.
The darkness of the shadow world is formed by the influence of magic, and the usual dark vision does not work in such an environment, but fortunately, Roland's "Pupil of Destiny" can see through the darkness created by magic, and there is no obstacle for him.
Bloom lit the lantern, and the flames were faint, and the illumination area was half as small as it had been in the main material realm.
Looking into the distance with a glimmer of light, the vast wasteland looms with the undulating outlines of the mountains, and sometimes a pale glimmer of light flashes by.
"That's the light of the portal, the Shadow Realm is a transit point for plane travelers, most of the guys who can travel to the plane are not easy to mess with, we better not stay here for too long, so as not to be targeted."
Helena whispered to her companion.
Vigraf looked back at the way he had come and snorted in surprise.
The teleportation vortex opened by the "Shadow Technique" still exists, and through the vortex, you can see the way forward: the scene in the Shadow Hall is still faintly visible, but it has degenerated into black and white, and the originally bright places have become pitch black, and the originally dark corners have become extraordinarily bright, and the strong contrast creates a sense of unreality.
"That's how the place where we came in looked a little weird, could it be an illusion," the dragon vein youth muttered in wonder.
"The Hall of Shadows is on the other side of the vortex, and the visual distance is very close to where we are at the moment, but across a plane tunnel, the refracted scene is inevitably a little distorted."
Roland looked at the teleportation vortex, the black and white scene reminded him of a photographic negative, "The shadow world we are in is too dark, compared to here, the dark area of the main material world on the opposite side is brighter, as for those places with light, the brightness exceeds the limit and cannot be directly observed, and it becomes a blind spot that seems to be dark." ” Vigrav listened to his explanation and still didn't understand, so he didn't bother to think deeply, turned around and asked Helena: "What is the next step, is there a map?"
Helena shook her head slightly: "The shadow world is very unstable, the matter that makes up this plane is like a large mass of unrestrained mud, slowly flowing to other planes all the time, travelers come here with shadow magic, if you see a mountain range, the next time you come, the mountain may still be there, but the peaks have been relocated, it is almost impossible to draw an accurate map, we need to consult the natives here, ask them about the lair where Darkwall is hiding." ” Despite the lack of light sources in the Shadow Realm, it is still inhabited by a large number of flora, fauna, and humanoids that call this dark world their home.
A short walk out of Roland and the others saw a small stream, along which sparse woods grew.
If you look at the silhouette alone, the scenery of the stream and the trees can be called peaceful and beautiful, but the color of the stream and the trees is chilling: the water is as black as ink, and the trees twist and stretch their branches, like black paper-cut paintings dotted with gray leaves.
A group of artiodactyl creatures were drinking by the stream, and when they heard the footsteps, they looked up vigilantly, their body shape was very similar to that of a reindeer, their fur was as black as a stream, their eyes and antlers were silvery-white, and their eyes were full of vigilance.
"It's the Shadow Deer, maybe I can talk to them."
Lyudmila whispered.
"Are you sure those animals look scary, especially the eyes, which look like ghosts."
Veronica shrunk her neck, the creatures here terrorized her more than the cold climate of the Shadow Realm.
Lyudmila smiled at her concerns, blessed herself with "animal talk", and walked lightly towards the stream.
Since the reindeer of the Shadow Realm are only different in skin color and equally docile in temperament compared to their close relatives in the main material world, Lyudmila has reason to believe that they will not refuse to offer some help to her.
Her judgment proved to be correct, and the deer seemed to sense a friendly aura in her, and bowed their heads tamely, listening to the rangers caress their great forked horns and listen to her murmur.
"We're tracking down a villain named Dakoval, a cunning shadow spider," Lyudmila said, gesturing, finally convincing the new group of friends what she meant, "If you know where Dakovel's lair is, please show me the way." ” The habits of the ghost deer are similar to those of the deer in the main material realm, but the special environment of the shadow plane has prompted them to evolve into magical beasts, and their intelligence is higher than that of their close relatives in the main material realm.
Lyudmila smiled with relief, turned around and beckoned to Roland and the others: "Now we have a guide." ” Helena once again performed the "Shadow Technique" and led the group to follow the deer and gallop to the ground.
A few minutes after running out, the leader of the deer herd suddenly raised his head and roared, and the deer herd behind him seemed to get some kind of signal, and immediately scattered to the left and right.
"Beware, this area has a high concentration of negative energy, and I'm afraid there are undead creatures."
Roland reminded his companion in a deep voice, and at the same time took off the emblem and held it tightly in his hand.
As a paladin, he was particularly sensitive to negative energy and the aura of the undead.
As expected, there was a terrible whistling from the woods, and wisps of gray smoke came out, quickly approaching the crowd.
"It's a bunch of bound spirits" Helena tried to stop the "shadow technique" to prepare for the battle, but was stopped by Roland: "Keep up with the deer and don't look back, this group of ghosts will be handed over to me to deal with" Raising the Mithril Emblem to stimulate positive energy, it transformed a dispersal of the undead into "Sacred Purification", and with a bang, the holy light exploded, and the group of bound spirits that surrounded them were all destroyed, and their souls were scattered in an instant.
The undead in the woods were frightened by the brilliant light, and they all avoided it, and Roland and his party were able to make their way through the woods, with rolling hills in front of them, and on the highest hill in the distance sat a gray building, with towering spires that resembled ancient castles.
"Did you notice, the castle on the hillside looks a bit like a miniature version of the Coral Palace."
Veronica's eyes burned.
"It's a bit like it's mostly the lair of Darkovel, the Shadow Hunter."
Before the words fell, the ground under her feet trembled suddenly, and she stumbled and almost fell, Helena quickly stopped and looked at the ground vigilantly
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