Chapter 158 Memories of Breenas
The Prince of Shadows, Breenas Tanshur, watched an owl break away from its hunt and swoop down silently against the night-shrouded sky of the City of Shadows. .
A mouse emerging from a hole in the ground to look for food sensed the danger, but in this flash of light, it was too late.
The rodent gave a final squeak of pain as the raptor's claws pierced its tiny body.
Although the result of death is quick, the process is undoubtedly difficult.
"Well done, little hunter."
Brenas sat alone on a bench beside the clear pool, nodding with satisfaction to the eating owl.
A fatal blow to the prey must always be unexpected. In the past years, Brenas summed up this experience very concisely, as did the other arcanists in the City of Shadows.
Then he turned his attention again to the manuscript placed between his knees.
This is a broken manuscript he recently obtained. Through the secret method and the history of Netheril, he carefully verified it and finally got an important piece of information.
This is a set of records written by the Grand Arcanist Opas, who used to live in the ancient Netheril Empire and founded the floating city of Azuma, which was once the academic center of Netheril.
Although the content recorded in this broken manuscript is chaotic and nonsensical, compared with any other manuscripts, these things can be said to be nonsense.
But Brenas believed that this record was very valuable, and unexpectedly discovered that it recorded that in the last few days of the Year of the Shattered Demonic Web, the great arcanist Opas had displayed a record structure Nether Scroll of Knowledge.
It is said that in the library of Silvermoon City, there is also a magic book left by the great arcanist Opas during his lifetime.
If he finds this book, he can confirm the crash location of the floating city Azuma through tracking or divine prediction.
In this way, you can find this Nese scroll.
Silver Moon City?
Mentioning this name, Brenas regressed.
Because with his strength, it is impossible to force his way into the city.
Besides, this is just a legend, and no one can guarantee that the information about the Grand Arcanist will be stored in the library of Silvermoon City to this day.
Brenas sighed softly and looked at a completed message on the manuscript:
"Pain is real, but false pain is also easy to texture."
— —The last record of Grand Arcanist Opas
True Pain.
I don’t know why, seeing these words, I have been searching for secrets and rumors of divine power from strange and forbidden sources for a long time. File scholar Brenas felt an inexplicable heartache.
He is a dossier scholar who explores the esoteric origins of legends of divine power through adventure and archeology.
But every time he looked for clues about the ruins of the fallen floating city, he would feel this inexplicable heartache.
He always couldn't help but recall the history of the Year of Broken Magic Network.
After sighing, the Prince of Shadows stood up from the bench and looked longingly at everything in the floating city.
He heard the chanting prayers of the priests of Shar, the Lost Lady, and the laughter and noise of children playing outside the high walls.
For a moment.
He wished he could play barefoot with them outside, panting in tattered clothes, with no past and no future.
Once upon a time, the surface of the floating city of Sultansar, during the Netheril Empire, was a place of mountains, plains with flowers, and deep rivers.
There are huge black towers towering among the majestic gray and blue peaks, and there are cities floating in the clouds with bright flags hanging high.
Later generations of scholars called it 'the greatest country in human history' or the 'Arcane Empire'!
After dozens of centuries, the empire's territory turned into a desert filled with wild sand.
Today, most spellcasters in Ghost City call it 'our land'.
This name is like a prayer, as if it will come true as long as it is spoken.
“That is the land inherited by our Netheril Empire. Although it was destroyed by the conspiracy of the phaerim, it will always belong to us and no one can take it away.”
Brenas recalled the history introduced to the students by the instructors in the Arcane Academy, and the corner of his mouth couldn't help but laugh at himself.
As someone who had witnessed the destruction of the empire with his own eyes, he knew the truth of the entire incident very well.
During the Empire of Netheril, his father, High King Telamant, conducted long-term research and gave the arcanists a certain understanding of a new source of magic that did not originate from the magic network. , and start getting in touch with it.
Its origin is an eternal unsolved problem. Arcanists call it: Shadow Demon Web.
At that time, no arcanist in the City of Shadows fully understood the ins and outs of this alternative source of magic. They only knew that it drew unpredictable energy from the shadow plane.
In order to obtain these energies more widely, and in order to promote the research work of the Shadow Demon Network, the High King moved the floating city to the border between the material world and the shadow plane, and located it between morning light and dusk.
During that period, the floating city continued to be shrouded in oppressive gray tones and had not seen the clear sunlight of the material world for several years.
Living in darkness all the time did not cause much inconvenience to Brenas. He only regarded this as a small price. After all, they exchanged it for being unique in the field of magic.
Of course, Edona had exactly the opposite idea.
His lover hates the darkness of this city. If it were not for Brenas, she would have abandoned this place long ago.
She begged him at every opportunity to use his magic to transport them to the sun-soaked plains below.
There, she was free to run and play among the rolling green waves and purple flower fields.
When he thinks of her long hair shining in the sun, he can't help but smile.
Without any advance warning, the once familiar magic network was suddenly erased. trace.
Brenas still remembers that scene vividly.
The emptiness took over his body.
Although he still vaguely felt the existence of the Shadow Demonic Web, the disappearance of the Demonic Web—its original owner—teared half of its essence into pieces.
That morning, the spell Brenas had prepared disappeared from his memory, completely obliterated.
He opened his mouth to scream, but he only came out with labored breathing. His ears were buzzing and the corners of his eyes were throbbing, as if there was a piece of red-hot charcoal stirring inside.
He clasped his head hard and knelt on the ground, trying to pull it off his neck to stop the killing pain and fill the emptiness caused by forgetfulness.
The secondary magic that was used to maintain the ecology in his yard was immediately paralyzed after a few snaps. The gorgeous dripping fountain stopped its ever-moving gush with the support of magic.
The ruby emerald flying dragon that he painstakingly crafted for Edona was also planted into the lawn, and the artificial light source lighting the lawn suddenly dimmed.
In one thought.
He discovered that all the magic in the material world that relied on the magic network had failed.
To put it more clearly, except for the magic effects triggered by the experimental Shadow Demon Network, the rest of the magic in Shadow City is collapsing.
How could this happen? He wanted to shout, but all he could do was whimper.
At his feet, the mountain where the Haunted City was built began to collapse. Brenas's stomach was shaken so much that his afternoon tea went down his throat.
He swallowed it back, tasting bile in the process.
Birds of all kinds of feathers swarmed out from the treetops, and the broken fern leaves in his yard flew around. The field mice abandoned the sinking ship of the City of Shadows to save their lives.
Exclamations and screams resounded throughout the city, even in the secluded courtyard of Brenas, they could be heard clearly. It sounded like the screams had become the only melody in the city.
The City of Shadows is almost over...
Grinding with pain and fear, Brenas waited quietly for the final blow that would end them.
After a few heart-wrenching minutes, the collapse of the Haunted City gradually slowed down, and finally stopped completely.
Brenas's heart tightened again, but he was still panicked and couldn't figure out what was happening.
Shadow Magic!
The disappearance of the Demonic Network did not affect the operation of the Shadow Demonic Network. His father relied on it to save the City of Shadows from the fate of crashing.
When he realized this, Breenas's spirit even glimpsed other floating cities in Netheril, falling to the surface as the floating magic failed.
Their doomsday disaster will happen under the shining sun, and the rest of the life of the City of Shadows will come in endless gloom.
Success is also a magic net, failure is also a magic net.
The remaining floating cities of Netheril, which are witnesses of the great power of Netheril's arcanists, are in the end nothing more than burial mounds of bones for thousands of creatures.
The city began its second round of subsidence, this time at a slower pace, and Brenas's sense of satisfaction disappeared.
Apparently, the Shadow Web itself is not enough to support an entire city.
Brenath guessed at the time that the Supreme Palace had been constantly communicating with enough shadow magic to keep the City of Shadows floating.
Brenas curbed his frustration. If he could have done it, he would have joined them long ago, thrown off the cobwebs above his head, shouldered the loss of the magic web, and used his considerable magic skills to Give them a helping hand.
But when the magic network collapsed, his teleportation spell was also forgotten, and it took half an hour to cross the city on his feet.
By the time I get there, life or death will be a foregone conclusion.
The city was still sinking, its speed gradually increasing, and it might have dropped a thousand feet.
Everything will end. When it hits the ground, no one can escape. Even if people survive the disaster, people will die in subsequent sudden disasters.
The surface of the top half of the mountaintop below the Ghost City is uneven, so even if you try to slow down the subsidence, it will be impossible to land smoothly: the city will tilt greatly, and countless people will be killed in batches by collapsed buildings and walls.
Brennas is eager to see Edona.
If he had to die, he would die with his beloved.
"Edona!!!."
A shout came out of nowhere, like the roar of a tornado from the south, drowning his voice.
The force of this sound was like a big hammer hitting the City of Shadows, like a storm destroying a lonely boat in the ocean.
Brenas fell into the grass and cursed in a panic. He can still vividly remember the voice of Karthus.
"Mythril! I want to take over your power!" Karsus's rumbling voice came, and his words were like the voice of heaven.
Although Yinhun City is still sinking, the shaking has become weaker.
Brenas, who was lying on the ground with his hands and feet on the ground, raised his head with difficulty.
"Karsus, go to hell with you arrogant fool!" He cursed bitterly. The end of Netheril was brought about by Karthus.
Karsus's voice came through the air like thunder. This time Brenas only heard Karsus's sobs and endless despair.
For a moment, he suddenly understood him a little bit
Like lightning, Karsus's crying stopped, and the whole world seemed to be holding its breath.
No more noise from then on.
The City of Shadows is still falling towards the surface.
Brenas thought of his true love, he jumped up and ran towards the room.
Before he could reach the room, Edona ran out of the house herself.
Her long red hair danced behind her, and her skin was pale. Brenas had never seen her green eyes look so distracted.
When she needed even a little comfort, she didn't even know a little bit of basic shadow magic. "Brenas, something happened to the magic network!"
He ran close to her and used both arms to Hug her, "I know."
She stepped aside at arm's length, stared into his eyes, and said, "Then this city..."
He shook his head sadly, and her eyes changed at the established fact.
"So we're doomed? What happened?" Brenas didn't want to answer her first question, and couldn't answer the second.
Karsus must have done something...
Edona kept staring into the distance.
His eyes filled with tears as he thought of the many days they had spent in the violet fields on the plain below, where they were buried today, and he held her close again.
"We'll see those flowers, darling. We will, I promise." She sobbed into his shoulder, and Breners fought to hold back the tears.
The City of Shadows continues to fall.
Brenas did not answer any more, just hugging his sobbing lover.
He knew their time was short, and he wanted to tell Edona how much he loved her, to whisper to her that it was her presence that made life bearable in the dim light of twilight.
But he couldn't speak, even in this situation.
Silently, he stroked her long hair and hugged her tightly.
Finally, Edona moved away from his arms and looked directly into his eyes. The tears on her smile were clearly visible in the dimness.
As Edona was about to speak, a sudden silence fell, as if their ears were filled with wax.
The gray sky became darker, and the air seemed to be filled with electric charge.
"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice muddy and distant.
She got out of Brenas' arms and looked to the west. Out of curiosity, he turned to look to the west too.
Over the city, the sky was curling, and the twilight light of the City of Ghosts was cut by the darker background. Black and brown spirals rippled in the sky, expanding towards them.
A large number of small tornadoes took shape and struck before the black sky, forming a loyal vanguard of the power of destruction.
Some of them were big enough to destroy houses, tearing off parts of their roofs and spinning into the air.
Brenas immediately understood what was happening.
They dragged the city completely into the Shadow Plane.
Storms are vortices in the planes, and they exist widely at the borders of the planes.
At the same time, he realized that the City of Shadows was no longer descending.
Moving deeper into the shadow plane must have strengthened the power of the Supreme King's shadow magic, and the city was temporarily saved.
He happily took Edona into his arms.
The shock on her face made him freeze.
"No," she said, stepping back from him.
"I can't live like this." She looked into the empty void and pointed at all the scenery in the City of Shadows.
The dark, colorless curtain approached, and a strange sound came first. It was not silence, but a dull sound.
Even the destructive storm, processed by the rampant planar hurricane, has become dull.
"There is nothing we can do, Edona, my love."
He stretched out a hand and walked towards her, and when she backed away again, he could only try to suppress the sadness in his expression and voice.
"Otherwise you will die. Don't mess around, Edona."
Some kind of power in her body seemed to explode. There was sadness in her eyes when she spoke, and her voice was full of sadness. It is the dignity of holding back tears.
"I don't care, Brenas, don't you understand? I can't stand this life anymore, I'd rather die. I stay here for you, just because of you, we are in the dark I have lived too long."
Suddenly, both of them felt the return of the magic net.
The Magic Network is restored!
Brenas's soul was replenished, and the flow of magic that had previously failed now flooded into his body again.
He grinned.
Adona also smiled excitedly, recited a set of incantations, and rose from the ground to the sky, "We are saved, Brenas! Oh, thank Goddess of Destiny!"
At this moment, the Yinhun City under his feet suddenly shook unsteadily, and the sky was completely covered by darkness.
Brenas looked up into the distance, and the dark and gloomy curtain of the Shadow Plane had begun to unfold.
Although the magic network has been restored, the High King is still pulling the City of Shades into the Shadow Plane.
Brenas thinks this explanation is more reasonable, because just for a moment, the darkness surging between the two planes accelerated, and the hurricane became more violent.
Under the raging wind, the entire building flew into the sky.
"Edona! Enter the room, stay in the wine cellar, hurry!"
"Edona, look! Look!" Brenas pointed to the turbulent boundary of the plane, "Come down, this is Our only chance!"
"I can't do it, Brenas," she shouted in the rising cyclone. "I can't stand this life anymore. I'd rather die. It’s for you, just because of you, we have lived in the darkness for too long, and I don’t want to stay in the shadow plane forever.”
She looked at the rushing darkness, her face turned pale.
A strong wind blew and blew her towards the eye of the wind.
Brainers' throat was choked, and he forced the flight spell out of his mouth.
However, Edona quickly stabilized her figure.
"I love you, Brenas, and I will always love you. But, I can't stay here anymore."
Brenes didn't want to let go easily, he flew towards her, "Wait, Edona. Please, darling. Don't leave me!"
She distanced herself from him, not wanting him to get too close.
Another gust of wind came, this time stronger, and she was blown sideways.
"Edona!"
He followed with the maximum effect of his spell, and she was being helplessly swept into the tidal darkness.
She screamed in panic, audible even through the turmoil of the plane.
Before she could touch the darkness, a plane hurricane mixed with the rubble of the destroyed building caught up with her, and her figure disappeared into the wind pillar.
Breners chanted her name in vain, circling the hurricane as close as possible and struggling to stay aloft in the howling wind.
Darkness enveloped him, but he didn't care at all.
His senses became numb, his hearing became dull, and his vision became blurred.
Apparently, they entered the shadow plane.
The horizon was lifeless, but his pain of losing Edona was more acute than ever.
The migration to the Shadow Realm is over, and the planar hurricanes fade away as quickly as they were created.
Wood chips and tiles fell to the ground, along with Edona.
Brenas flew down next to her.
He chanted her name over and over again, but he couldn't make her make a sound.
Her body was bent by the terrifying force of the hurricane and scratched by the debris of the building. She lay on the ground, not an inch of her skin intact.
He threw his arms around her and howled.
…………
“Pain is real, but false pain is also easy to fabricate.”
Brenas opened his eyes and recalled unconsciously. Recalling that painful memory, I couldn't help but burst into tears.
After a long silence.
He put away the broken manuscript and subconsciously looked in the direction of Mokou Town.
He watched yesterday's battle from beginning to end, and he had enough reason to doubt the lord of Mokou Town named Brian.
He originally wanted to go to Mokou Town to try to make contact with the other party.
But when I think of the remaining manuscripts of the Grand Arcanist Opas, as well as the ruins of Azuma's floating city and the possible existence of a Nese scroll that records the knowledge of construction.
He decided to go to Silvermoon City.
If there is a chance, he would like to find out whether there are really magic books left by the great arcanist Opas in the library of Silvermoon City.
(End of this chapter)