Fire Mage (Web Novel)
chapter-666

Chapter 666: Shadow Princess

Second Layer, Dungeon of Star Tombs.

Charles reappeared more than 10 kilometers from the fortress and quietly looked up at the brightest star in the dark sky.

'From what I learned from Caspian's memory, the teleportation circle to the next layer is located in the southern direction. But no one has gone to the third layer yet due to the presence of a Rank-6 Magical Beast named Abyssal Hound. Hmm, I should go there and leave this layer first.' Although he wanted to kill Cardinal Benedictus and others, he had little time to fool around.

'I already spent 29 days in this dungeon. If my guess is right, the next disaster will occur after another 30 days. But my real question is: Where will the next disaster occur? If I stay in this dungeon during the disaster time, will it occur here? Or in Edhen World?' He clearly remembered that the previous disaster occurred where he stayed. Not at the Miracle City.

Shaking his head, Charles wore the black robe over his casual cloth, activated the [Veil of Shadows] skill, and blended with the darkness.

Then, he didn't leave any trace behind and quietly moved to the south.

After traveling for more than 50 kilometers in a span of 2 hours, he finally found a small cavern and scanned the surroundings.

After confirming no dangers nearby, he activated his [Dark Vision] skill and went inside.

Then, he sat comfortably on a rock and finally unveiled the necklace from the invisible strings.

After that, he released his wisdom power and checked the necklace.

"Nebulous Dreamkeeper Pendant? It also has a spiritual imprint infused with divine power?" Charles saw mysterious patterns of spiritual imprint in the necklace and furrowed.

But as he analyzed it with his [Mystic algorithm] skill, he cracked the complex pattern of Cardinal's spiritual imprint.

He remained in the same place for more than 10 hours and finally erased the spiritual imprint of Cardinal Benedictus!

'If Runeth sees what I'm doing now, he will pass out in shock.' Even he knew how precious these wisdom skills were and decided not to utter a word to the outside world.

'Now, let see how Shadow Princess is doing in this Necklace.' Charles probed deeper with his wisdom power, made a spiritual imprint, and soon noticed a strange suction force coming from within.

'A gateway for only consciousness to pass through?' He didn't resist the suction power and soon found himself standing in a gloomy dark forest. A bright sun was hung up in the sky but appeared dimmed due to dark clouds. He also noticed an eerie silence in those surrounding trees and furrowed.

'A dream space? I still feel the connection with the necklcace.'

'Charles? Is that you? You've come to see me?' A surprising voice of a young woman echoed in his ears.

"Who is it? Shadow Princess?" Charles asked as he glanced around but found no one.

'I'm glad you still remember me. It's been more than 5,000 years since I saw you.'

'5,000 years?' At that moment, a vast shadow appeared above his head, and he slowly looked above.

A second later, he couldn't help but feel a suffocative feeling as he witnessed something titanic.

A breathtaking and awe-inspiring creature unfurled its majestic form in the shadowy expanse of the sky. It was a Winged-Serpent with an enigmatic presence that stretched an astounding length of around 1000 meters. Its very existence defied the laws of nature, a convergence of serpentine grace and mysterious power.

The serpentine body of this magnificent creature was adorned with scales of a strange hue - an eerie fusion of black and blue that shimmered and danced with an iridescent glow. These scales, as if plucked from the midnight sky itself, rippled and undulated with a subtle.

Atop its regal head rested a singular marvel - a cone-shaped gem that emanated a soft, celestial light, bathing the surrounding skies in a beautiful glow.

The Winged-Serpent's expansive and powerful wings stretched out from its sides like a pair of immense tapestries woven from the fabric of dreams. Beneath its regal head, it also possessed a captivating pattern that traced along its throat and neck, reminiscent of the iconic hood.

At that moment, the gigantic figure tilted his head towards the forest and looked directly at Charles.

"You've grown monstrously strong." Although he was surprised when he read Caspian's memories, he wasn't expecting her true form to be much more powerful and domineering.

"What rank are you?" He couldn't help but ask.

'I'm not aware, Charles. But other than Hypnagor, Noxamor, and Sombroth, I haven't met anyone strong enough to threaten me yet.' Upon hearing those strange words, Charles couldn't help but get more puzzled.

"Who are they?"

"They are the Dream Lords I've met in the Nightmare World. They are far more powerful than me and could erase me with a snap." She said with a hint of fear in her voice.

"But how did you end up getting captured by the Life Church members?" Charles asked with a frown.

"Captured? Who? No, didn't you see where this place is? I'm still in the dream world. Although I couldn't travel beyond the Domain of Nipher for more than 20 years due to some restriction, I felt that restrction has been lifted up for the past three years. And the only reason I made an agreement with the people from the Edhen world is to explore outside of dream world. But what I didn't expect was your sudden arrival."

'She didn't know about her being captured in that strange necklace? Could it be that necklace is a gateway to enter and exit the dream world? No, Cardinal said that her power would drain slowly and become disappear one day. She felt this whole realm belong to the Dream World because of that necklace's ability to recreate the Nightmare Domain and pulled her into it without even knowing her! It's more like a temporary place for nightmare beings to stay.' At that moment, he realized how bizarre and terrifying this artifact was.

"But how did you manage to leave this Dream World to help the people from the outside world?" Charles asked.

At that moment, a strange ring embedded with eerie blackish stone appeared out of thin air and hovered before him.

'That man from some Church said that whenever this ring shines, I just need to infuse my dream power to it. Then, this ring will do the rest and transport me out of this world. It's has the same mechanism as Dream Walk ability.'

Charles nodded his head and soon spoke.

"I've a way to give you a true body of a baby snake and also soul with no consciousness. Can you able to posses it? Although you will lose your ability temporarily, you can enter and leave the Physical World whenever you want."

"Really?! You have a way?" A thundering voice echoed from the sky, causing heavy stormy winds to spread everywhere.

"I don't know if this works. But it's better to try it out." Charles paused for a moment and then added.

"When this ring shines again, leave this place and come to the outside world." Saying so, Charles focused on the connection to the necklace and soon disappeared from there.

A moment later, Charles opened his eyes within the cave and hurriedly took out the crimson orb from his space ring.

Then, he sent his wisdom power into the crimson orb and took out the strange snake egg.

'Thanks to the rebirth flame, no changes happened to this snake egg.' He muttered inwardly, focused on the necklace again, and started analyzing its other function.

'It's indeed more like a pocket dimension. As long as I think of pulling something out from this domain, the necklace will throw it out. They must have fooled her with some tricks.' He clicked his tongue and sook thought of pulling the Shadow Princess out.

A few seconds later, a sudden crack appeared more than 1000 meters above from where Charles was hiding and started to enlarge.

Soon, an illusionary image of a gigantic winged snake, around 1000 meters long, slithered from the deep void and released a powerful wave in every direction.

At that moment, monsters, magical beasts, humans from Edhen World, and even the boss monster, Abyssal Hound, suddenly sensed a sense of dread and shivered.

Cardinal Benedictus, the Holy Maiden, and Richard also sensed an oppressive dreadful aura from the direction and halted their footsteps.

No, they couldn't even move their muscles and felt an invisible power gripping their neck.

Suddenly, a strange woman's voice echoed in their heads.

'I don't need you anymore.'

As the voice ended, Cardinal Benedictus suddenly noticed his facial muscles started to show more wrinkles. Within three seconds, he turned into a lean, skinny old man on the verge of death. The same goes for Holy Maiden and Richard. They also lost most of their lifespan in those three seconds and turned into 50 to 60 years old looking, people.

But thankfully, the invisible dreadful power retracted and soon vanished from the surroundings.

"W-What in the world is that?" Cardinal's voice echoed more like a trembling old man's voice. He soon looked at his skin, checked his current appearance, and was horrified. The same goes for Holy Maiden and Richard!

"I-I think we have provoked something we shouldn't have, Cardinal Benedictus." Holy Maiden said stiffly and gave a deep look at his current appearance.

"It seems your plan to become the next Pontiff has become an impossible dream." She said with a pitiful look on her face.

Although she lost most of her youth, she could still live more than thousands to two thousand years. But Cardinal Benedictus's situation had become very dangerous.

"Your life force has almost extinguished, Cardinal."

On the other hand, Cardinal Benedictus remained in the dense woods and couldn't wake up from the shock.