"Perhaps," Apodel replied, "You trust your goddess, and I also have an almost intuitive confidence in a group of young people."

"I don't think so," Halffont said. "That's one of our Lord's most proud creations. How could a bunch of mortals decipher it in just a few days?"

Apodale did not reply.

This narrow space fell into absolute silence again.

Although Haverfonte wasn't starving for food or water, she hadn't rested for a day. She leaned against the wall, her consciousness gradually fading.

As her arcane skills grew stronger, she already had her own residence in Ghost City, and her life became less difficult.

Now this prison made her unable to help but recall the difficulties she had faced when she started from scratch.

Outside the prison door, Apodel did not close his eyes, but always held the hilt of the Holy Avenger in his hand.

This work of Emilia is an absolute masterpiece - the flawless blade, perfect center of gravity, and comfortable feel have made him unable to put it down since he got it.

For a warrior like Apodel, even just admiring his own sword is a good entertainment.

At this moment, a faint humming sound could be heard from inside the cell door.

It was an unfamiliar tune that could never be heard on the Sword Coast, but as Haverfont's humming became clearer, Apodale unconsciously followed the rhythm.

This harmonious scene did not last long. Both of them realized the problem at the same time and stopped humming.

In an instant, the inside and outside of the prison gate were as quiet as the kingdom of death.

Apodel slowly stood up and said, "...Why do you know this song? Not only are you from the Shadowfall Underworld, but you're also very young for an elf.

"How do you know this song, which has such a long history in Halrua? Even in the old Halrua, it was a popular song among the elderly. And Halrua disappeared a hundred years ago!"

*********************

Sig's words made Emiya really fall into deep thought.

He didn't know whether the connection between shadow and darkness was philosophy, theology, or physics.

In essence, shadow is the darkness that appears when light cannot cover it. There is no essential difference between the two.

But the connection between night and shadows is even more elusive: are there more shadows during the day or at night?

This is not an in-depth thinking, but it directly hits the research idea itself.

Sig's words left Emiya and Yin speechless. They became unusually restless. "...Did I say something wrong? I thought I had discovered something...?"

Silver murmured, "...No, no. I haven't thought about that question at all... If you ask me, the Shadow Demiplane itself is something independent of the Material Plane. I've known this for a long time, so I never thought there was any necessary connection between Shadow and Darkness. I only just found out that Shar has incorporated Shadow into her sphere of influence, and I'm still not sure why she did so."

Elastrid, a long-time cleric with a genuine understanding of the gods' logic, said earnestly, "Seizing a god's power and portfolio is, of course, the dream of many gods. However, humans cannot consume raw grass or drink from filthy mud. Dragons can devour gold and stone, but the price is that they cannot freely advance in age and must instead gather treasure."

"And the same is true of the gods. Shar would devour the shadow, necessarily because the shadow's power is somehow compatible with its own."

Elastrei gave a positive conclusion: "The connection exists together."

This conclusive conclusion made Yin's face wrinkle up in a rare way - she also agreed with this conclusion. But she didn't feel that there was any connection between night and shadow.

This is the difference caused by the concepts of the fantasy world and the earth.

In Yin's opinion, shadow and darkness have no absolute connection.

But as an Earthling, Emiya didn't actually feel anything... unusual.

Although magic is often exaggerated in this world, as a wizard, he still believes that magic in this world is closer to extremely advanced technology, rather than something that shakes the premise of the world's existence.

Therefore, he couldn't separate the two almost instinctively like Yin did.

He could sense that there was a connection between night and shadows, a connection so simple and direct, yet so rarely articulated.

He looked out the window.

Every morning, the sun rises from the east, its brilliant light gradually spreading to the earth, dispelling the darkness and announcing the end of the night.

However, where sunlight is blocked, shadows are created.

Shadows are created when light is blocked by something.

Night is created because the sunlight is blocked.

What is it that blocks the sunlight and causes the birth of night?

The answer is so simple.

Emiya murmured.

"Night is the shadow of Toril."

The night is the shadow of the planet.

In order to make his future life easier, Haverfont talked about the scenery of the Shadow Underworld.

It was a bizarre world, but it had some strange connections with the material plane. They could see the transformations of some famous landmarks in the material world in the Shadowfell.

The Shadowfell is the shadow of the material plane.

The Shadow Demiplane is a demiplane independent of the worlds and has no connection to the Material Plane.

But now, this shadow demiplane has undergone a change.

It is now a shadow of the Material Plane.

Traditional shadow matter is simply a material. It doesn't actually mimic the properties of other substances, but mages and druids can manipulate it to achieve this imitation. However, this imitation is quite difficult, and ultimately, the illusion is not unbreakable, but it relies on dexterity.

What did Haverfont do while conducting this ambush?

She created shadowy images of Elturgard and his companions, the Sharptooth Forest Ring, and even the Sharptooth Forest itself.

When she released meteor bursts at Emiya and the others, she chose to use shadows to fake meteor bursts to deceive their first wave, and then used the real meteor bursts to severely damage the Hell Knights.

Using illusions to deceive is the hallmark of the Illusion School. There's nothing wrong with that.

However, the physical illusions created by Haverfont always imitate some existing substance or phenomenon.

Could this be a coincidence?

Shadow Sand appears to create the illusion of solidity, but this illusion may not be without cost.

Emilia turned around somewhat awkwardly.

"—I have an idea," he said. "We shouldn't stimulate the shadow sand in isolation anymore. If we want it to truly become active, we should try other methods."

“We should try to tie it into something that already exists.”

"Even though this is still a long way from being officially applied, I am convinced that this will be the first step we need to take."

Fifty-one cycles of darkness

All of Halffont's arcane magic came from Halrua.

This news is earth-shattering from every perspective.

Halruaa is a magical kingdom located in the southernmost part of Faerun, surrounded by mountains.

The origin of this country is also legendary.

Thousands of years ago, Karsus's foolish behavior led to the death of the first generation of the Demon Net Goddess, the Demon Net went out of control, and countless floating cities fell to the ground. This is a legend that countless people talk about with relish.

However, the so-called glorious Netheril civilization can definitely not be called a "civilization".

This can be seen from the existence of the floating city.

What is the meaning of the floating city?

Its significance is that although the owner of the floating city has to continue to exist under the same sky as the untouchables, at least he no longer needs to stand on the same ground with them.

Other than that, nothing else.

They were a group of slave city-states that were extremely tyrannical and oppressive.

Halruaa, a great arcanist who could no longer endure Netheril, left his floating city and returned to the surface, where he led his followers and collaborated with the local indigenous people to establish a nation. This was centuries before Karthus's Folly. Halruaa could be considered a group of heretics who left Netheril at its peak.

——It can be said that the City of Ghosts, which claims to be the orthodox Netheril, is completely disgusted with each other.

Yet, such a glorious Halruaa vanished without a trace after the day of the Arcane Calamity. A horrifying void remained in the land where this civilization once stood. All traces of civilization and its inhabitants vanished completely at some unknown time.

—along with most of the power of the Church of Mystra and the Church of Azuth.

Halrua's disappearance could be considered one of the key reasons why the Mystra Chosen were in such a predicament. They had lost the support of almost all middle- and lower-level forces. The Harpers also suffered heavy losses, and it took a long time for them to reorganize themselves.

That was nearly a hundred years ago.

But now, Havelfont, a young but outstanding nine-ring illusionist, actually learned from Halrua?

What's more important is that she actually knows Halrua's little tune.

This means that she did not obtain knowledge from an ancient Halruaan book that she obtained by chance, but was taught by a genuine Halruaan wizard.

The Halruaan people are not particularly welcoming or even contemptuous of outsiders, only looking up to spellcasters and followers of the magical pantheon. They would never teach a strange shadow spirit for no reason, and it is even less likely that they would teach her everything until she reached the ninth ring.

In fact, for someone like Metatron, who taught Emilia until she reached the fourth ring before becoming a disciple, it was already considered a rather long master-disciple relationship.

This might very well hint at a conclusion that would make Midnight ecstatic: Halruaa might still exist, somewhere in this world. And they had somehow established a connection with Haverfont!

Mystra is above. The red-robed wizard Sel, who is now rampant on the earth, naturally covets Halrua's magic and wealth. He has provoked and even declared war on Halrua more than once, and each time he was beaten to a pulp without exception. It can be said that in the former mortal kingdom, even Waterdeep did not dare to say that its strength was above Halrua.

It was a country with a small population, but it stood at the top of Faerun with its unheard-of average combat power.

To sum up - the secret of Haverfont is much greater than they expected.

Even if Halrua accidentally became Shar's captive, it didn't matter! As long as Halrua was still alive, there was a chance of saving them.

"I understand." Midnight was naturally the first to hear the news, and she couldn't help but show an irrepressible joy on her face. She clapped her hands lightly: "...Finally, there's some good news these days."

She thought for a moment and said seriously, "I'm not the only one who needs this information right now. At the other end of the corridor, there's a group of young people who are struggling with Shadow Sand. I think this news can provide them with a lot of inspiration."

Apodale understood and turned around immediately after saying goodbye.

What Emiya and others need most now is ideas.

It is possible that Halffont learned it from Halrua, so her shadow illusion technique is likely to have come from Halrua as well, rather than from Shar.

Although Halrua's magic is confidential and rarely known to outsiders, this is not a problem for them.

"Wait a moment, Apodel." Midnight thought for a moment and said, "You should continue to look after Haverfont. Her status in Shar is not low. Even if we are well prepared, you should not leave for too long."

-----------------

As a result, Mr. Mars, who was originally sorting out the classic teachings of the Church of Shar, was pulled out from the pile of books.

He shook his head and walked towards the team's residence with a thick stack of notes.

As expected, several members of the team showed no sign of resting even at this late hour. Even in the corridor, one could faintly hear their voices, sometimes discussing and sometimes arguing.

"...This, is it working?" Emilia said inside the house.

"I can feel it, it must be working!" Yin said confidently.

"But where's the effect?" Emilia cried. "The shadow sand disappeared, but where's the effect?"

Mars shook his head and walked into the house almost out of habit.

"boom!"

Then, his forehead hit the stone wall, and the sudden impact caused the text in his hand to scatter to the ground.

This kind of sudden injury is the most torturous. Even though Mars has a strong willpower, he was still hit hard.

He gathered the text on the ground in astonishment and couldn't help but gasp.

How did he end up hitting the wall?

But what was in front of him was indeed a thick stone wall.

He was very confident in his memory, but this solid wall forced him to start doubting it.

He turned his head in confusion.

Behind him was the familiar team activity room. Everything inside the door was much more familiar.

"...?"

But he clearly remembered that the room was on the right.

And now the voices and figures of the crowd clearly came from the left.

Mars was silent for a moment, and finally gritted his teeth and turned to the stone wall, thrusting his shoulders and elbows forward.

"boom!!!"

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