Free Web NovelWithin the Shadow World - Forest of Echoes -
A sharp screeching sound spread through the forest, its noise like thousands of armor plates layered together in vibration. The resulting sonic waves shattered many trees, and soon the sound of large trees collapsing in succession echoed through the forest.
Two dark red figures darted and weaved through the gloomy forest, evading the massive wolf-serpent that chased after them.
[Quaking Scale Wolf-Serpent] (Fifth Tier · Beast Fang · Dragon Eye)
"The overlord of the dark lands, its head resembles that of a wolf, and its neck is covered in silver-steel scales like a mane. When angered, these scales fan out, sharp and vibrating."
The wolf-serpent, approximately three hundred meters long, slithered through the forest. Its scales cut through the trees in its path as it raised its ferocious wolf-like head high, occasionally lunging through the air with sharp screeches.
Facing such a terrifying monster, even the Fifth Tier Blood Clan Viscount found himself in a difficult spot.
He couldn't understand why such a powerful monster had appeared in this place, let alone one possessing the "Dragon Eye" Aspect. He knew that ordinary creatures needed to be at least Sixth Tier to obtain the "Dragon Eye" Aspect. How had this wolf-serpent managed it? Had it gnawed on the corpse of a True Dragon? That was the only possibility he could think of.
As he dodged, he once again transformed into a blurring blood shadow, charging close to the wolf-serpent. In that fleeting moment, he manifested blood-red, eerie sharp claws that tore bright red gashes through the dim forest. Everything they touched was cleanly sliced apart.
But even such blood-red claws, capable of tearing through steel beasts, only produced a shower of sharp sparks when they met the silver-steel scales. Then, the great serpent moved its body, the scales on its neck spreading and vibrating once more. An intense wave of sound spread, causing his ears to ring and bleed, and his mind to spin in dizziness.
Before he could react, the wolf-serpent opened its massive, blood-filled maw and bit down on him, injecting its venom—carrying a bloody stench—as if it were unlimited. The venom turned the Blood Clan member's body purple.
Fortunately, he was no ordinary individual. In an instant, his body dissolved into hundreds of bats that scattered, then reassembled a hundred meters away. Even so, a tearing sensation of distortion and pain spread through his entire body, and eerie purple-red veins appeared on the back of his hand. He had clearly been poisoned by a strange toxin.
"It dares to poison me!?" the Blood Clan Viscount growled angrily at the wolf-serpent.
He then reversed the flow of blood within his body, rapidly forcing the toxic elements out, which sprayed from a wound on his fingertip.
After expelling the toxins, the Blood Clan member spread his blood-red bat wings once more and flew into the air. A crimson crescent moon rose behind him, and his power began to surge dramatically.
[Royal Moon] (Bloodline · Castle)
A secret art passed down from the Blood Dynasty, bestowed by the Blood Clan's sovereign. The recipient can borrow the sovereign's rank to gain a temporary boost in power.
He fixed his gaze on the wolf-serpent before him. An amber-golden light bloomed from his pupils, then condensed into a golden crescent moon symbol.
The wolf-serpent attacked again, its phantom-like bite dodged by the Blood Clan Viscount. He then raised his hand, slowly drawing a crescent-shaped saber with a gradient of blood-red colors from the void.
Once he firmly grasped the saber, the blood vessels in his arm bulged as blood continuously poured into the weapon. The blood-red crescent saber took on a faint, eerie purple-red hue. Then, gripping the saber, he moved like lightning, circling around the wolf-serpent's attack to reach its side and rear.
The eerie purple-red saber descended. A massive arc, about sixty meters wide, materialized in the air. Its inner edge was a light, transparent red, but the color deepened toward the outer edge, shifting from light red to vivid red, then to crimson and finally purple-red.
[Eerie Purple Blood Blade] (Bloodline)
The purple-red blood blade carved into the wolf-serpent's scales, producing a harsh, grating sound. The seemingly impenetrable scales finally developed small cracks, as if cut open by a saw.
The enormous blood blade pushed the wolf-serpent sliding through the forest, its neck scales being sliced open layer by layer. The blade then cut deep into its neck, severing half of it and causing the head to loll to one side.
At that moment, the power of the 'Eerie Purple Blood Blade' finally dissipated. The purple-red gradient arc shattered in the air, dissolving into points of light that vanished.
Seeing the wolf-serpent barely alive, the Blood Clan member rushed to its severed neck. He opened his palm, and the thick blood from the wound gushed out, pouring into the opening that appeared on his wrist.
Facing the Blood Clan member who was drinking its blood, the wolf-serpent struggled once more. It raised its massive wolf-like serpent head, its deep blue vertical snake pupils fixed on him. A sharp, wild spiritual shockwave slammed into the Blood Clan Viscount, causing him to briefly lose focus.
In that moment, the wolf-serpent opened its sharp, venomous fangs once more and bit fiercely into the opponent's body, injecting its blue-purple venom for a second time.
The Blood Clan Viscount tried to transform into bats to escape again, but the boiling, unmanageable dragon-serpent blood he had just absorbed made it impossible for him to change form easily.
Left with no other choice, he had to grit his teeth and blast off his own arm, spraying out the freshly absorbed dragon-serpent blood, before he could break free from the wolf-serpent's bite.
Returning to midair, he looked down at the wolf-serpent again and found that the wound on its neck had already begun to heal, with hard silver-steel scales regrowing over it.
Facing the wolf-serpent, which was about to recover its fighting strength, he decided not to continue the battle. Instead, he grabbed the Fourth Tier Blood Clan member hiding nearby and quickly fled the area.
Even though the wolf-serpent wanted to give chase, its long-distance running speed was too slow, and it was forced to give up.
After leaving the wolf-serpent's forest territory, the Blood Clan Viscount finally stopped and slowly descended to the ground.
"Are you alright, Lord Norin?" the Fourth Tier Blood Clan Baron beside him asked with concern.
"I'm fine," the other replied, slowly sitting down against a tree trunk. He took out a special homemade blood brew and gulped it down to regain his strength.
"As expected of a monster possessing the 'Dragon Eye' Aspect—truly troublesome. If this were a real Sixth Tier True Dragon, how powerful would that be?" he couldn't help but sigh.
The power of the "Dragon Eye" Aspect was universally acknowledged. During the era of the Seven Dragons Epoch, the seven Dragons of Law had each mastered seven Aspect laws—Scorching Sun, Slumbering Winter, Dead Embers, Luminous Moon, Nightmare, Mist Shadow, and Alien Star—and channeled part of these Aspects' power into the "Dragon Eye" Aspect, granting True Dragons resistance to these seven forces.
Any ability, spell, or attack using these seven Aspects would be weakened and resisted.
Later, the Dragons of Law fell one after another. The "Winter Dusk Dragon" fell into an eternal slumber, and the "Winter Dusk" Aspect, which represented the silence and end of all things, transformed into "Slumbering Winter," which represented sleep and stillness.
"Dead Embers" was touched by the lingering warmth of life during the Corona Dragon's resurrection and transformed into "Dead Embers." The "Mist Shadow Dragon" fell deep into the sea of clouds and vanished, and "Mist Shadow" transformed into "Mist Shadow."
In the Eighth Epoch, when the dragons weakened, all races participated in the hunting and slaughter of dragons to compete for the position of the Hours and prevent the dragons from once again mastering the various Aspect laws. This was the origin of the "Calamity War."
During this period, a vast number of dragons in the mortal continents perished. This continued until the "Corona Dragon" was reborn, once again took the seat of the Hours, and became a powerful Hour, finally bringing the war to an end.
After resting for a while, the two gradually recovered and continued discussing unfinished business.
"I wonder where Her Highness Carmilla is hiding. According to Her Majesty the Queen's orders, we must bring her back to the Cliffside Royal Court."
"But it seems that Her Highness Carmilla strongly opposes this order, even going so far as to fight and evade us for over a month, fleeing to such a remote and hidden place." Viscount Norin was puzzled.
"I don't understand why Her Highness is so averse to this, nor why Her Majesty the Queen, after banishing Her Highness Carmilla for two years, is now urgently recalling her, even wanting to capture her, as if she anticipated the resistance."
"How could we common folk understand the affairs of the big shots up there?" the Blood Clan Baron beside him shook his head.
"But I've been hearing a lot of news lately. Over the past year, Her Majesty the Queen's temperament seems to have undergone a great change. She's usually unsmiling and has even awakened many ancient Blood Clan members who had been in slumber, making them adapt to the present world again."
"Keep in mind, many of those ancient Blood Clan members had been sleeping since the Eighth Epoch. Not only do they look down on us as incompetent trash, but even if His Highness the Peace King were involved, it should be difficult to earn their genuine loyalty."
"But surprisingly, Her Majesty the Queen quickly subdued these old-timers and began placing large numbers of these ancient Blood Clan members in important departments of the Royal Court."
"Our usual comfortable days are over. Now, all of us have to come out and search for Her Highness Carmilla's whereabouts to bring her back to the Cliffside."
"Her Majesty the Queen places great importance on this matter. Before I set out, I knew that several groups had already been sent ahead."
"Luckily for us, we ran into Her Highness Carmilla, who was out shopping, right in the Grass District of the Mage Alliance."
"That Her Highness is also very capable. I am well-versed in the tracking methods of the Blood Clan, yet she made it impossible for us to use rituals to find her location. We could only stick close to her, afraid that if she slipped away this time, we wouldn't know when we'd run into her again."
"After entering the Shadow World, I have already sent out a signal. In a while, other Blood Clan members will come to support us. When that happens, turning this entire area upside down to search for her will be easy."
"But our time is also very limited. High-tier Blood Clan members entering the Mage Alliance's territory are easily sensed by those three Named Ones. If we linger here for too long, we'll inevitably attract the interference and obstruction of the Mage Alliance. If Her Highness Carmilla falls into their hands, things will get difficult."
"However, I guess Her Highness Carmilla also wouldn't dare to reveal her true identity to the Mage Alliance. If she did, she would lose her freedom, and would likely be placed under house arrest by the Mage Alliance for life, treated as an experiment subject."
After discussing for a while, the two finished recovering and left again, pushing deeper into the Shadow World. Although they didn't know exactly where Carmilla was, they were certain that the area of this Shadow World was limited, and since Carmilla couldn't directly return to the surface continent, she must be hiding in some corner.
