Shadow

It was already afternoon when we left Black Pine Town. The afternoon sun could hardly penetrate the towering tree canopy, and the entire forest was once again shrouded in gloom.

"No one knows exactly what Eternal Night looks like. Some say it is a shadow, some say it is a giant black wolf, and some say it is a man with a completely black body. But one thing is certain: if Eternal Night and its kin are watching you, your shadow will begin to writhe."

On the way back to Blackburg, the mage, perhaps intrigued by Lu Ban's words, began to recount information about Eternal Night from his horse.

His name is Jonah. He is a mage sent by the Gray Tower to resist this Demon Tide. Having experienced the last Demon Tide, he is considered a veteran.

"The shadow will start to move?"

Lu Ban pretended not to understand, but actually wanted Jonah to say more.

"Simply put, when you stand still and your shadow starts moving on its own, it means you've been targeted."

Jonah said in a deep voice.

"That's why we need to stay in the light when facing the eternal night. Only in this way can we confirm their movements. Strong sunlight can resist the attack of the eternal night, so the night after the Demon Tide begins is crucial."

"How do we kill Eternal Night?"

Lu Ban asked another question out of curiosity, and Birmingham, who was next to him, had given up trying to stop him and instead listened to Jonah's story with Lu Ban.

"Hehe, Eternal Night cannot be killed. The leaders of the twelve Demon Tide cannot be killed. Or rather, there may not be anyone in this world who can kill these guys. When they appear, it usually means that all the creatures in this entire area have been completely killed. In fact, there have been zero eyewitness reports about the source of these Demon Tide so far."

Jonah a wry smile, somewhat helpless.

"And what about the frost? What is the frost afraid of?"

Lu Ban persisted relentlessly.

Since it's free, I might as well ask a few questions.

"Frost fears fire and high temperatures. When resisting the Frost Demon Tide, the fortress will light its furnaces. As long as the furnaces don't go out, it will be difficult for the Frost to breach the fortress. Of course, when the Frost arrives, the temperature will drop to an unprecedented level of cold, and ordinary flames will quickly go out. Even using magic can only maintain the fire for a short time. What we need to do is prevent the Frost's kin from entering the fortress."

Jonah glanced at the snow on the ground.

Splash—

Suddenly, some unknown creature moved in the treetops, and a large pile of snow fell, landing right in the crowd and causing a commotion.

"Cold, cold, cold"

Birmingham gasped as a piece of ice fell into the back of his collar.

A group of people were laughing at the flustered Rangers, but Lu Ban felt something was off.

He felt that the forest on the left side of the road had become much deeper and darker than before.

"Mr. Jonah, isn't something wrong over there?"

Lu Ban pointed.

Jonah looked in that direction.

His face quickly turned ashen.

"Reorganizing the formation indicates an enemy attack."

He raised his hand, and a crystal emitted a bright light that illuminated the entire forest.

Lu Ban saw that the shadows of the trees became even deeper under the strong light, and suddenly, the shadows moved.

Even without changing the angle of incidence of the light, these shadows began to move as if they had come to life.

A shadow twisted and entangled itself around the shadow of another tree.

The next moment, the tree to which the shadow originally belonged suddenly appeared as if it had been sent into a wood processing machine, with many deep scratches appearing. Its branches fell off, and its leaves turned into fragments and fell to the ground.

The shadows were avoiding the bright light.

However, the falling leaves obscured the light in Jonah's hand to some extent, and Lu Ban watched as the distorted shadow moved from one tree to another, approaching the group.

Buzz—

At that moment, another light shone, coming from another mage.

The third mage also unleashed a powerful light. Under the illumination of the three beams of light, the shadows had nowhere to hide and seemed to be suppressed, Motionless.

"These are the Kin of the Eternal Night. How did they get through the watchtower to get here?"

Jonah muttered to himself, while the commander raised his torch.

The firelight flickered, and although the shadows could not move, they looked menacing.

"The outermost sentries didn't even notice; they were probably captured by the Kin of the Eternal Night in an instant."

The commander said, directing the troops to continue forward. At least for now, under the suppression of the bright light, these shadows could not get close to the remaining people.

Lu Ban then noticed that the shadow beneath the feet of a Rangers standing on the outside suddenly trembled.

"Your shadow."

Upon hearing Lu Ban's words, the man's expression froze.

He slowly lowered his head and looked down at his feet.

People around him retreated in fear, keeping their distance from him.

His shadow, still trembling slightly under the bright light, resembled a worm about to break free of its cocoon and hatch into a strange life.

His expression was beyond terror; despair filled his face.

"Don't move. The Kin of the Eternal Night prefers to attack moving creatures."

Jonah hadn't finished speaking.

The man's skin had already split open.

It was as if his flesh had been ripped open by an extremely sharp blade; all the skin on his body exploded, leaving him a bloody mess.

Under the bright light, Lu Ban saw the shadow, accompanied by the shadow left by blood, flee swiftly and hide among the trees.

thump--

The Rangers lay Motionless on the ground, already dead.

His flesh and blood, astonishingly, disintegrated and flew away as he fell, leaving only a skeleton with fascia in the end.

And that flesh and blood did not fall onto the snow; it disappeared without a trace.

Without a doubt, it was swallowed up.

"We need to move as quickly as possible and get into the fort before nightfall."

Jonah said, raising the bright light in his hand to guide the way forward for the group.

The procession moved very quickly.

But everyone, intentionally or unintentionally, looked down at their own and their companions' feet.

That originally inconspicuous, unremarkable shadow is now like a time bomb; no one knows if the shadow under their feet will suddenly come to life and devour them.

Lu Ban noticed that Birmingham beside him was pale and sweating profusely in the cold weather.

Fortunately, those Kin of the Eternal Night seemed genuinely afraid of the bright light and did not pursue them.

After a long and arduous march, the sentry finally arrived at Blackburg.

"Black Castle has magic to detect monsters, so we don't need to worry about the Kin of the Eternal Night following us in."

Jonah offered a word of comfort.

Just as the group was gradually passing through several security checkpoints and entering the interior of Black Castle, another Rangers froze.

His shadow began to writhe under the detection of that invisible magic, like a giant snake trying to coil around him.

Jonah pointed the bright light in his hand, and the shadow immediately returned to normal.

But the next moment, the moment the Rangers relaxed, his flesh and blood exploded like fireworks and disappeared into the air.

Only the loose bones remained, lying on the ground.

The companion standing next to the Rangers trembled with fear and dared not make a move.

"The only way to eliminate the Night Familia is to expose them to sunlight, to expose them completely to sunlight. Artificial light can only temporarily slow down their movements."

Jonah sighed.

"When the Demon Tide of eternal night arrives, even during the day, sunlight cannot be seen. This is the Demon Tide, the true Demon Tide."