Lisa felt overwhelming negative emotions from the depths of her heart as soon as she arrived here. She looked at her trembling hands that appeared black and white, and muttered in fear, "W-What is happening?!"
She had never felt so terrorized before. It was as if this place was leeching out all the happiness from her and everyone and everything around her.
The youth raised her head and gazed at the rest of the people with her, and when she did, she was shocked. Everyone was faring much worse than her.
Forget the city guards who were sprawled out on the floor, even Count Hannes, Karl, and Emory were on their knees, scared out of their wits.
When she looked for Edward, she was stunned. "E-Edward?!"
Edward rushed toward her and grabbed her from falling. "Lisa! Are you alright? What is happening?"
Lisa didn't understand why Edward, out of everyone else, seemed to be fine. But she knew that he was the only person who could get them out of this conundrum. If not, they would fall deeper into the depths of despair.
"E-Edward… cast… A-Aegis!" Lisa struggled to get the words out of her mouth. All sorts of depressing memories were beginning to resurface in her mind, causing her a great deal of pain.
"Aegis?" Edward was confused, but then immediately understood what Lisa was saying. He gently lay her on the ground, then grabbed a white crystal and a vial of water from his waist pouch.
He placed the crystal that emanated a sacred aura on the ground, then poured water over it. Following that, he weaved a series of hand signs and then slammed his palm against the white crystal.
A resplendent magic circle materialized over the crystal and then slowly enveloped it. Then, the crystal cracked upon and a holy light spread in all directions.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Rank 1 Spell: Sacred Aegis!
The moment the light enveloped everyone in the group, they snapped out of their negative emotions. It felt like they had just woken up from a nightmare. It was as if they were drowning to their deaths, and could now finally breathe.
However, the effect of the spell didn't last for long.
As soon as the holy light was produced from the spell, the surroundings instantly sucked the color out of it, nullifying it. It seemed that the place that the group had arrived at didn't like colors all that much.
However, the effect and the duration of the spell were more than enough to pull everyone out of their misery.
Count Hannes slowly got to his feet, his back drenched in cold sweat. He looked at his surroundings and muttered with lingering fear, "Just… what is this place?!"
"No, more importantly…" The Count turned to look at Edward and spoke with incredulity. "How are you not affected at all?!"
"Eh?" Edward was more confused than anyone. "Affected by what? The only thing that's affected is my vision. All I see is black and white."
"T-That's it?" Magus Emory looked at him with a dumbfounded expression. Thinking back to when he was drowning in despair and was on the verge of crying like a baby, he couldn't help but think, This kid… is his heart made of steel? How could he not feel a thing?
Lisa looked at Edward deeply, her thoughts a mystery. She then solemnly said to everyone, "That's not what's important. If this place is what I think it is, then we're in deep trouble."
The Count and Magus Emory didn't have any idea where they were currently, not to mention the guards.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Suddenly, Magus Karl looked at Lisa and asked in a trembling voice, "M-Magus Lisa, could this place perhaps be…"
Lisa nodded, an extremely serious expression marring her face. "Yes, I believe this place has some connection to the Shadowmuir!
"I-Impossible!" Count Hannes sucked in a cold breath of air, fear evident in his voice.
Seeing such a reaction from the Count, Magus Emory felt very nervous. He couldn't help but ask, "What is the Shadowmuir?"
Magus Karl replied with a grim expression, "I read this in an ancient book a long time ago, but I never thought this place was real."
He took a deep breath and began explaining to everyone present,
"Legend has it that our world is supported by a sacred pillar known as the World Tree. Its branches and roots extend to every part of the world.
"It is said that one of its roots extends toward a sunless place called the Shadowmuir, also known as the dark echo of the world!"
Not expecting the old Magus to have such knowledge, Lisa was surprised. It was natural for her, who was a student of the Clover Academy, to come across such knowledge.
After all, the library at the academy, the Savant Tower, housed the greatest collection of books in the entire Southern Federation.
She had read about the Shadowmuir and the World Tree at the library in Clover Academy, but at the time she brushed it off as mere legends.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})However, to come to a place that greatly resembled the Shadowmuir, she didn't know what to think. To be honest, she still didn't completely believe they were in the legendary dark echo of the world.
It was in her nature to take everything with a grain of salt, especially involving fairy tales and legends. She couldn't help but begin to bite her nails as she started thinking of the next course of action.
"Look!" Suddenly, Edward spoke out loud, pointing to a place further down the tunnel.
When everyone looked in the direction Edward was pointing at, they were stunned. He, along with Aquila, hurriedly walked a few yards into the tunnel.
"Edward, don't be reckless!" Lisa reached out to him. They were in an unknown place, the last thing they should do was act so unrestrained.
She wanted to severely reprimand him but the words got stuck in her mouth.
When Edward and Aquila walked to a certain point in the tunnel, the colors on their bodies had returned! Curious, he walked back a few steps and found that the colors had been sucked out again.
He couldn't help but walk back and forth and witness the colors appear and then disappear from his body. "Hahaha! What the hell?"
Everyone was dumbfounded. Lisa, on the other hand, felt greatly relieved. This place isn't Shadowmuir after all.
But then she looked at the colorless world around her and turned pensive.
Then what is this place?
