CHAPTER 1479: CHAPTER 1479: NIGHT, PASSAGE, AND PEBBLE

"It’s right here."

After meeting up with the familiar unicorn, Miss Elf led Shard eastwards. She seemed in high spirits, and while walking beside the unicorn with her hands behind her back, Shard even noticed her occasionally skipping.

The surrounding area was all low woodlands, beyond which lay the plains used for raising unicorns. Further away, the shadow of the snowy mountains lay low under the night sky.

The two of them didn’t walk far before spotting a simple wooden watchtower at the outskirts of the woods:

"It’s a tower we use to observe when conducting ecological research on exotic creatures."

Emilia explained briefly. She rode the unicorn straight up, while Shard climbed up the ladder with his cat.

The view from the top was quite expansive, but Shard still didn’t notice any spatial anomalies.

"This passage is really ancient; I don’t even know from which era it originated, but it’s certainly not from the Sixth Era. This is probably the last time I’ll walk this path, but since past issues aren’t being pursued, I think that’s a good outcome, so you don’t owe me any apology."

The Elf Girl spoke, patting the small beast beside her:

"The entrance is hidden and can only be found at night. And currently, I’ve only discovered that it’s the horn of female unicorns which makes the entrance appear. I only found out about this entrance once while chasing Leanna here while playing... I’ve always suspected the rumors about unicorns in Randall Valley, thinking they sneaked out, causing the stories to spread."

The young unicorn understood Emilia’s gestures, lowered its head, and let out a soft "ong" sound. Then its golden horn began to emit an even brighter glow.

Shard pondered:

"If I remember correctly, a unicorn’s horn has a strong effect of dispelling illusions, purification, and unsealing. And the females in a unicorn population have stronger powers compared to the males."

"That’s right."

The Elf Girl nodded, while Shard was thinking about how he could get his hands on a horn to bring to the City of Eternal Night of the Fifth Era. But thinking carefully, once a unicorn passes away, Baylens would surely handle the corpse, so maybe Miss Danester could help him acquire one.

But ultimately, this rescue adventure was not a task assigned by the Tree Father. So, even if the path to the City of Eternal Night really exists in the Fifth Era and he can find it, whether he can bring such a powerful item to the Fifth Era remains a big issue.

And at the next moment, all these thoughts became completely unimportant. Because Shard saw the small beast gently shake its neck, and then at the top of the watchtower, the glowing horn seemed to lift the invisible curtain in the air.

[Not an invisible curtain.]

"She" gently reminded.

It indeed wasn’t an invisible curtain. What was lifted by that golden horn, something Shard hadn’t noticed before, was actually the night itself. Its horn lifted the curtain of night.

"Huh?"

While Shard was startled by how familiar the shape and color of the curtain seemed, Emilia proudly said:

"After Leanna led me to discover this passage, I checked a lot of materials in the academy. In fact, there are many secret paths out of the academy without permission, but I bet in today’s age, I’m the first to discover this road!"

She slightly puffed her chest and raised her head.

"So, has anyone discovered it before this era?"

Shard asked curiously, and the Elf Girl nodded:

"Inside the passage, there are some items left behind by past era students. A notebook written in the Sixth Era, year 351 mentions that opening and using this passage requires two conditions: first, a tool capable of lifting the curtain, which needs something similar to a female unicorn’s horn, or at least a sage-level relic of sword type. Second, possessing either the [space] or [night] spirit rune."

The Elf Girl in front of him had the spatial spirit rune, and she had even asked Shard to help procure materials for a space ceremony at Coldwater Port.

"According to the materials left by predecessors, the formation of this passage is significantly related to [night]. So, it can only be used at night. There is variation in usage time depending on the season, and I usually come here after it’s completely dark."

The Elf was still speaking, and Shard had already stretched out his hand towards the "night curtain" opened by the unicorn’s glowing horn.

[Yes, that piece. According to your timeline, about half an hour ago, this curtain was wrapped around Fiona Drago’s waist while you were packing your luggage.]

"She" directly provided Shard with the answer he wanted to know, and Shard took a deep breath. This confirms his thinking was correct:

"Let’s go, Miss Danester is waiting for us on the other side. Speaking of which, is the road inside long?"

Shard curiously asked. He remembered having used this curtain, you clearly arrive at the destination after passing through, without any paths for storing notes of that kind.

"Not long, it only takes one or two minutes to walk through. But..."

Emilia cautioned again:

"Some parts of this passageway are eroded by the power of the darkness. Even the most powerful individuals among Leanna’s species cannot come into contact with such night, or they will be assimilated by the darkness. So, you must closely follow me later; this is not a joke, it’s truly very dangerous."

"Meow?"

Mia, who was sitting atop the unicorn, let out a sound.

The unicorn lifted the curtain first and went in, as if it disappeared into thin air. Next was Emilia, and finally Shard.

After passing through the curtain, the scene was indeed not directly the Randall Valley. Shard originally thought he would see a view similar to the City of Eternal Night, but he was completely wrong.

The ground beneath was paved with white ash, leaving the clear footprints of the elf, Shard, and the unicorn. A narrow and ancient stone corridor extended from their feet to a distant, unseen place. Torches with dim light were inserted into the walls, illuminating the ancient ruins weathered by long years.

Yet even those torches could not illuminate the large patches of dark areas in the corridor.

That was the color of the night, not only did they not destroy the integrity of the corridor, but they added an aura of eeriness and mystique to the already ancient passageway.

The darkness eroded parts of the corridor, but this darkness was not evenly distributed. The closer to the side where Saint Byrons was located, the more the eroded areas, and looking into the distance, the black zones noticeably decreased, as if someone spilled black paint from the entrance of Saint Byrons.

"The passageway in front of the Witch Council’s door?"

Shard was startled and then realized that although not exactly the same, the architectural style, atmosphere, and even the torches and bricks were extremely similar to that in front of the Witch Council’s passageway that could be reached only by singing.

Emilia, of course, did not know what Shard was thinking; she kept speaking:

"Very smoothly, let’s continue forward. I don’t really like this place. It feels very dangerous to me, so we better not linger."

Shocked, Shard nodded, yet the questions in his mind kept multiplying. He hugged the cat that jumped off the unicorn’s head, cautiously following Emilia’s lead through the corridor.

Although the darkness had eroded parts of the corridor, enough gaps remained to continue forward. Miss Elf intended to proceed directly ahead, but Shard suddenly stopped her.

At that moment, they were near a relatively large shadow of darkness a quarter way into the passage. After stopping Miss Elf, Shard, under her shocked gaze, boldly stepped into the dark area with the cat in his arms.

But Shard did not disappear. His body and Mia simultaneously emitted a brightness. And under the light of the sun and moon, these source-less night colors gradually dissipated.

"How can this be?"

The young Elf Girl could not comprehend the scene she was witnessing, while Shard, in close contact with the darkness, confirmed fully that although the dangerous level and traces of miracle elements in the darkness were far weaker than those from the City of Eternal Night, the sources of these powers were absolutely from the City of Eternal Night.

In other words, during the previous era, when he escaped with Fiona, it was most likely through this passageway.

"Emilia, you’ve been a great help."

As they continued forward, Shard did not forget to thank the Elf Girl once more. The latter was still in shock, shook her head indicating it was okay after which asked curiously:

"Now it’s just the two of us here...and Leanna and your cat, so could you tell me why you want to know about this passageway, exactly?"

She blinked at Shard, and although she lost her "secret path" tonight, such a "big adventure" was quite nice. Compared to the quiet student life at Saint Byrons, even if there wasn’t much fighting tonight, just participating in something outside of school was interesting enough:

"If it’s very secret, you don’t have to say it."

She did not forget to add.

"It’s really not a secret, truly to help a friend."

"A very important friend?"

The Elf Girl asked again, and Shard nodded, while the laughter of "her" echoed in his ears again.

"What are you laughing at, did I say something wrong?"

Shard wondered internally, but "she" didn’t immediately respond because Shard felt something stirring in his pocket.

"Mia!"

His first reaction was that the cat’s tail was twitching again, but after warning Mia softly, he looked down and saw the innocent big eyes of the cat staring up at him.

"Wasn’t you? Then what’s moving in my pocket?"

So he gestured for Emilia to stop again, and under the curious gaze of the latter, he took out a small glass bottle sealed with an oak cork from his pocket. Inside the bottle was a small golden stone constantly striking the bottle wall.