Chapter 256: Nightmare Shadow

For an entire month, Grimm flew toward the direction of the Void Fortress, moving through the air at a speed that turned himself into a blurry dark orb.

Originally Grimm had other destinations in this world to go to in mind, but as a result of his bizarre encounter of the Banon Illusion, he had given up on these aims.

As the month progressed, Grimm’s expression became increasingly sour.

The densely imprinted bruises on his arms, palms and thighs that had weird, grotesque shapes were not the temporary bruises Grimm had initially thought they were. As he found out, the situation was much more complicated.

These bruises seem to have the ability to make one’s cells go dormant, which made it hard to feel anything. It was as if it existed in a whole other dimension, though it undoubtedly affected Grimm through and through.

Although these bruises had yet to cause any other effects on Grimm, it still wasn’t something he could brush off so easily.

And thus with all his might, Grimm had arrived at the Perishing Enigmatic Land.

The Enigmatic Amonro Sanctuary that was Stormwind City, after experiencing war with the Demon-Hunter Sorcerers as well as the Great Cataclysm, has now been reduced to rubble. Now a blood-red second sun hung high up in the sky, which was now the center point of countless mysterious Demon-Hunter Sorcerers. These sorcerers in an effort to coexist with the Lava Giants, wiped out all remaining forces that resisted the Sorcerers’ Will.

This kept on until one day, the sorcerers reported that there no longer existed threats in the form of creatures or enemy forces, that could challenge a Level 3 sorcerer in this world. It was on this day that the demon-hunting expedition came to an end.

As for now, the highest demon-hunting order in this world was to kill the Prophet King of the Enigmatic Amonros.

Of course, Grimm, who was a mere low-level Demon-Hunter Sorcerer had nothing to do with such high tier missions at this moment.

Whoosh!

Looking at the Principal Void Fortress that erected high up into the sky, Grimm could not help but feel a permeating sense of security. As for now, he had let go of the worries in his heart. As he flew, he took out a crystal ball to contact Master Deridarion.

Drip, drip, drip…

After a brief moment, Deidarion had made contact with Grimm through the crystal ball. However, it seems that Deidarion was busy doing something else, His black hair was ruffled and that stitch-covered face looked exhausted. He was wearing a loose sorcerer’s robe instead of the usual metal suit of armor.

“Grimm, what happened to you?”

Deidarion saw Grimm’s bloodshot eyes under the Mask of Truth through the crystal ball, and his entire body covered by a large sheet of Elemental Energy. Deidarion asked with furrowed brows as he put down a test tube, which had a mixture of two different colored liquids within reacting, creating ‘blub,blub,blub’ sounding effervescence.

“Master Deidarion, I was caught in an incident while I was exploring this world,” Grimm said with a hoarse voice, faintly indicating the panic in his thoughts.

Hearing Grimm’s unusual tone, Deidarion asked, “Is it serious?”

Through the crystal ball, Grimm nodded his head solemnly. Slowly he raised his arm to reveal his skin to be densely packed with grotesquely-shaped bruises that had now started to turn purple.

‘This is…’

After searching in his mind for a moment, Deidarion’s eyes flashed underneath his messy hair and said, “The Nightmare Shadow!”

‘Nightmare Shadow?

‘What’s that?’

Grimm had no idea, but based on the surprised look in Master Deidarion’s eyes, this thing was no child’s play.

“Grimm, did you have any odd creature’s specimen with you when you went past the End of the World while exploring the land?”

‘Odd creature’s specimen, the Mask of Truth?’

As for the End of the World, it was a code among the sorcerers for a world’s layer where the Force of Nature conflicted in disorder with the Void Energy. Because of the world’s natural ability to absorb additional energy, it would result in the expulsion of energy into random parts of the Netherworld from the weaker parts of the End of the World in order to maintain balance.

Was it that his experience was connected to these two conditions?

Slowly nodding his head, Grimm said, “I have on me, an odd specimen that is a relic from the first civilization war of the Sorcerer World. Also, I may have accidentally wandered into the End of the World in my previous exploration.”

Deidarion ignored the test tube reaction in his hand, tossing it aside before instructing Grimm sternly, “Come to my room, I’ll bring you to meet Tomb Segja.”

Finishing this, Deidarion switched off the crystal ball.

Grimm’s face went pale. It seems that he had indeed stumbled upon a serious problem. This Nightmare Shadow was not an ordinary issue.

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“Nightmare Shadow?”

Myna rubbed his temples as it stood on Grimm’s shoulders, muttering, “Long ago, I think I heard the old bastard talk about this Nightmare Shadow thing. It’s also called the Underbed Evil Shadow, and it’s a curse that is hidden within the body of every sorcerer, passing down across generations.”

Grimm looked at Myna in disbelief. “A curse on every sorcerer? How is this possible? What world has powers this strong?”

“Without a doubt, it’s gotta be the Bizarre Nightmare World. It’s the first civilized world to be defeated by countless ancient sorcerers.”

***

‘Ah!’

Grimm was shocked after opening the magical door to Master Deidarion’s room to find someone else other than Deidarion. In a hurry, Grimm bowed deeply and greeted, “Tomb Segja.”

Grimm panicked slightly in his mind. ‘Didn’t you say you were going to bring me over to Tomb Segja? I can’t believe she personally came over instead.’

Standing beside, Master Deidarion greeted Grimm with a nod before saying, “I can’t help you with your condition so it’s up the Tomb Segja to make the decision. You may not fully understand what I mean but to be honest Grimm, your situation is far from optimal.”

Grimm’s face turned bitter.

The Tomb Segja on the other hand looked at Grimm with great interest, as if observing a rare test subject in a laboratory.

After a moment, Tomb Segja nodded, which filled the air with a floral scent from her garland on her head. She said, “Hm, it is indeed the Nightmare Shadow. I find it hard to believe that after so many millennia of the Sorcerer World, this curse is still affecting sorcerers from this generation.

Grimm asked with the same bitter look, “Great Tomb Segja, what are the effects of this curse when it is triggered?”

“What effects?”

The Tomb Segja thought for a moment and continued, “According to historical records from the ancient sorcerers, after their victory over the Bizarre Nightmare World, many sorcerers received this curse. After triggering it, the victim would then be dragged into the Nightmare World by the curse. With your current abilities, you would most likely get lost forever in the Nightmare World once you enter it, with zero chances of escape.”

“Nightmare World! What kind of horrific place is this?”

Grimm’s face turned pale and his lips, purple. This curse was a bit too bizarre. It shouldn’t be something that Grimm was exposed to, at this level.

“Don’t worry, there’s a reason why the ancient sorcerers were able to defeat the Bizarre Nightmare World. We, sorcerers are the eternal enemies of this world! The Bizarre Nightmare World is divided into two parts, the Bizarre World and the Nightmare World. The Bizarre World had been utterly crushed by the ancient sorcerers and no longer exists. What’s left is the Nightmare World that’s ruled by odd laws and only exists between reality and illusions.

Pausing for a moment, Tomb Segja proceeded, “The Nightmare World is horrifying for most of the creatures in this endless world. However, it is a very interesting world from the perspective of us sorcerers.”

‘Interesting?’

Facing the threat of death, Grimm was unable to grasp what was interesting about the Nightmare World as said by the Tomb Segja.

Feeling that Grimm still couldn’t understand, Tomb Segja shook her head and said, “There are two ways one can completely remove the threat of this curse. The first way is to look for help from the powers of a Necromancer. The second way is to personally take a trip in the Nightmare World once you reach the level of a basic Stigmata Sorcerer.”

‘This…’

Grimm stared blankly at Tomb Segja. ‘Become a Stigmata Sorcerer? Help from a Necromancer?’

“Indeed. Although you cannot completely remove the curse for now, any other Stigmata Sorcerer will be able to utilize some magical energy from the Sorcerer Tower and help you seal it for the time being, until you either become a Stigmata Sorcerer yourself or until you die.”

To use up parts of the magical energy allocation from the Sorcerer Tower. Wouldn’t it reduce the overall strength of the Stigmata Sorcerers?

‘At such a price…’

Grimm gritted his teeth and asked, “I wonder, what is the price I need to pay for requesting you to seal this curse of mine?”

“I need all the ancient sorcerer relics that you found! This is because only odd specimens exist, hidden among other ancient sorcerer relics,” the Tomb Segja said, full of seriousness.

Grimm opened his mouth and said reluctantly, “These ancient relics were found in the private world of a Great Stigmata Sorcerer, and I have no power to transfer it.”

“Hmm? Is it in a World Fragment? Which Stigmata Sorcerer’s private world? Allow me to personally negotiate!” The Tomb Segja asked confidently as her waist-length emerald-green hair swayed about lightly like a veil.

It’s obvious that with the Tomb Segja personally negotiating, even if not all ancient relics were obtainable, there would be at least some that could be salvaged.

Grimm said in a low voice, “The Black Isotta Stigmata Sorcerer.”

The room went silent. Speechless, Tomb Segja was caught off guard.

After a moment, Tomb Segja sighed and turned around to leave. But before that, she said plainly, “Go back to the Sorcerer World and head straight for the Black Isotta Stigmata Sorcerer. He will grant you wishes. And as for this curse, as long as you don’t sleep on a bed or go near the End of the World, you won’t fall into the Nightmare World for the time being.”