Between the winding steps, behind one ancient door after another, countless solemn and gorgeous floors are stacked in the depths of the silent tower. The dark palace stands on the earth like layers of thick books. Each of its layers seems to be a microcosm of the ancient, distant, secret kingdom of Violet. The deepest part of these floors, the feeling of ancient secret will become deeper and deeper. Until you go over the bottom and enter the underground structure of the dark royal court, the tower will continue to extend to the depths. In those floors located underground, all the items that represent the "modern" atmosphere are finally completely gone, only the weird, magical creatures from unknown era are running in its depths, guarding some things that are too ancient, even so old that they should not be mentioned again.

The atmosphere is solemn in a hall that is already located underground. It is said to be a hall. In fact, this space is almost a huge cave with primitive stone domes and rock walls wrapping the underground cavity. At the same time, there are many ancient and huge pillars with obvious artificial traces supporting some fragile structures of the cave. Between the rock layers of its dome, you can also see artificial roofs made of stone slabs. They seem to be deeply "embedded" into the top of the cave as if they are combined with stones. You can only vaguely see that they should be a higher floor or some "foundation" part of the structure.

Stalagmites hang down from the dome, water vapor condenses among the rocks, and cold water droplets fall and drips into this underground cave - it falls on a layer of mirror surface, causing the solid mirror surface to ripples.

Nearly half of the "ground" of the entire underground cave is in a mirror-like state. It is a layer of black and pure plane, suddenly "intacted" between the stones on the surface, extremely smooth and flat. However, it is not calm at this moment - as if some secret force is surging deep in the dark mirror. On the ink-like plane, you can occasionally see some ripples appear, or some places suddenly rise, and light from unknown places swept across the mirror. In the reflection of light and shadow, some slightly pale faces are reflected on the edge of the mirror.

The owner of one of the faces retreated slightly. He was wrapped in a pitch-black robe, and the top of the long-handled wooden stick in his hand emitted an extremely dim magic glow - this faint light could not even illuminate the two meters of the range around him, but in this strange cave, even such a faint light seemed to be enough to reflect all the details, leaving the entire space without any corners that the naked eye could not recognize.

Around the black-robed mage, there were many guards dressed like him, and the top of each person's staff also maintained a dim light. Under the reflection of these faint lights, the mages looked at each other with pale faces until someone finally broke the silence: "This time the duration has exceeded all records... Including the time just now, it has been the sixth ups and downs."

"There are more shadows that cross the line than before," another black-robed wizard whispered, "and it seems more difficult to communicate than ever..."

"They were restless, as if their minds had woken up from their sleep. This was not a good sign," the black-robed wizard who spoke first shook his head, then frowned, "Is anyone going to the upper level to deliver a message?"

"The guard has been sent to inform Prince Nash," said a female mage in a low voice. "He should be soon..."

"I've arrived."

Before the female mage's voice fell, Prince Nash Nalt's voice came out of nowhere. Along with this sound, there was a whirlpool of smoke that suddenly rose in the cave. Prince Nash's figure directly crossed the layers of the stacked floors and the magic barriers of the dim palace. It fell directly into the cave space deep underground like a shadow falling into the abyss. His figure condensed into a shape in the air, and then floated to the edge of the "mirror" without weight, and came among a group of guards.

While Prince Nash landed, the "mirror" located in the center of the cave suddenly changed again, and a large number of ripples were generated from the mirror out of thin air. The plane that originally seemed to be solid suddenly surged like some kind of viscous liquid. With this strange and chilling surge, there were also waves of low and blurry whispers that seemed like dreamy came from behind the mirror, echoing throughout the space!

The next second, something suddenly condensed in the mirror surface that was as undulating as soft mud. They floated up quickly and reorganized with the invisible energy in the air, quickly forming hollow "human bodies". These shadows were covered with things like rune strips. The amorphous black smoke in their bodies was bound into rough limbs by the strips. These uninvited guests from the "other side" murmured, roared, and left the mirror in a daze, towards them.

The recent guards staggered - however, the guards had already reacted. At the command of Prince Nash, shadow burning rays were fired from the top of the mages' long staff, and penetrated the "border crossers" from the shadow world without any obstacles. Their rune tapes exploded silently under the rays, and the black smoke inside was neutralized and disintegrated in an instant. In just a few seconds, these shadows were decomposed into energy and shadows again, and sank into the depths of the mirror.

Everything happened in the lightning and fire, and was completed under the memory of the guards' almost instinctive muscles. Until all the cross-borders were driven back, a group of black-robed mages finally took a breath. Some of them looked at each other, while others subconsciously looked at the black "mirror". Prince Nash's gaze also fell on the dark mirror, his eyes slowly moving on its surface, monitoring every subtle change.

At this moment, a silver light and phantom that suddenly flashed under the mirror suddenly came into his eyes - the thing was blurred to the point where it was completely unrecognizable, but it made people think of a cold "view".

Nash Nalt's face changed instantly, and then took a quick step, while speaking quickly: "Extinguish the light source and count on your own!"

The next moment, all the light sources in the cave disappeared, not only the glimmer at the top of the mages' long staff, but also the rune flashes on the ancient stone slabs at the top of the cave and the glowing moss in some wet corners. The lights of the mages were obviously extinguished by artificially, but the lights in other places seemed to be swallowed by some invisible force, and the entire cave fell into absolute darkness.

In the darkness, everyone's heart was pounding, faintly, as if some kind of tiny friction sound came from some corners, and then there seemed to be footsteps breaking through the silence. It seemed that a guard had left his position and was groping through his companions. Then after a while, the cave finally calmed down again. It seemed that someone breathed a long sigh, and his voice was quiet: "Okay, let's light up the staff again."

In the darkness, there was no sound response, and no glimmer of light was lit.

After a while, suddenly a few short screams came from the most densely populated area of ​​the guards. Amid the painful shouts, a guard who seemed to be struggling to growled: "Hurry, light up the staff, I'm entangled with something! I'm..."

The only ones who responded to the shouting were darkness and death.

Finally, these strange sounds disappeared again, and Prince Nash Nalt's voice broke the silence: "The timing is over, and each person lights up his staff."

There was still no response in the darkness, and no light lit up. There were only some fine and long breathings that seemed to be blocked by thick curtains and were far away from the world. There was a hint of tension in these breathings, but no one's voice sounded panic--and after about ten seconds, a glimmer of light finally appeared in the cave.

The first mage guard lit up his staff, and then the other guards also lifted the "dark silence" state. One by one, one by one, and the glimmer of light from all over the cave was restored. Prince Nash's figure reappeared in the illumination of these glimmers. He looked in the direction of the guards at the first time and counted the number of people between the slightly pale faces.

"One person is missing." He suddenly said in a low tone.

The guards immediately began to confirm each other, and after a brief internal count, all their sights were focused on a vacant at the front of the crowd - there was an empty space, which was obviously a person standing, but the corresponding guard was gone.

The black-robed mages were staring at the empty position nervously, and then, a little slight flash suddenly appeared in the empty place. The flash floated about one person high, flickering and darker, sometimes reflecting the hazy outline of the figure in the air, as if an invisible mage was standing there, trying to light up the staff in his own "darkness" alone, trying to reflect his figure again and again - he tried again and again, but the flash became weaker and weaker, and the outline of the figure that was occasionally reflected was becoming blurry and thinner.

Someone among the black-robed mages couldn't help but mutter softly: "Come back... back to this world... come back quickly... don't give up, go back quickly..."

The last flash of light finally disappeared and never lit up again.

Someone among the guards couldn't help but curse in a low voice, and the slut couldn't hear clearly.

"He left," Prince Nash's eyes remained at the place where the flash had finally disappeared, and he was silent for several seconds before he said in a low voice, "May this respectable guard get peace on the other side of the darkness."

The guards lowered their heads and said in unison with solemnity and sadness: "May he get peace on the other side of the darkness..."

"Notify the family as soon as possible and send the spare uniform and staff that he used before hygiene... there must be something for burial," said Prince Nash softly. "His family will receive generous pensions and everyone will receive care."

The guard leader bowed and bowed: "Yes, sir."

Nash Naal nodded and returned to the "mirror" in the center of the cave. This terrifying dark mirror had completely calmed down, as if all the visions that just happened were a dream for everyone - Prince Nash was even sure that even if he stepped on the mirror directly and walked on it casually, nothing would happen.

"The restlessness is over," the "King of the Mages" sighed softly, "but this barrier is probably no longer so stable."

"This change must be related to what has happened recently," the guard leader couldn't help but say, "The gods fell or disappeared one after another, and Tallond, who had been stagnant for millions of years, suddenly broke free from the shackles. The mortal countries are in an unprecedented state of drastic changes. All minds have lost their order and stability in the past. The impetuous and turbulent thoughts have rippled in the deep sea. This ripples are larger than ever before, and will inevitably affect the entire deep sea... Of course, they will inevitably disturb the dreams of the sleeper."

As he spoke, the leader turned his head and looked at the huge dark mirror with nervous and vigilant eyes.

"What should we do to maintain His sleepiness." Another mage guard couldn't help but say.

Prince Nash Nalt looked at the black-robed mage quietly and asked softly: "Why?"

"This..." The mage guard was stunned for a moment and replied blankly, "We are guarding this dream..."

"We are just guarding this entrance to ensure evolution naturally occurs. As for whether this dream will continue, whether it will wake up in advance, and under what circumstances will change... These are not things we can interfere with, and as for the changes in the entire world and the entire era... we should not interfere with it," Prince Nash said calmly. "All this is a natural historical process, and Violet is just its bystander."

Speaking of this, he shook his head gently.

"Don't underestimate the power of historical evolution, and don't be blinded by the overly high sense of mission. We are just a group of guards guarding the door."

Nash Nalt transformed into a smog of smoke and passed through layers of floors and various protections that were unknown depths. He returned to the room on the upper floor of the tower. Bright lights appeared in his sight, dispersing the entangled black shadows of the wizard king's body - those shadows dissipated in the light like evaporating, making subtle sizzling sounds.

Nash came to a crimson high-backed chair and sat there thinking quietly. After a while of such calm time, a gentle footstep suddenly came from behind him.

On the wall not far behind him, an oval magic mirror with a gorgeous light gold border and a height of more than one person suddenly shines. A woman wearing a white palace dress and a very beautiful appearance quietly appeared in the mirror. She looked at Prince Nash: "You are in a bad mood, are the guards losing?"

"A very experienced guard is lost at the border," Nash shook his head and sighed, "nothing is left."

"Why did this happen?" the woman in the mirror looked surprised. "How could an experienced guard get lost at the border?"

"...The mirror briefly lost control and the boundary became blurred. The guard resisted all the temptation and deception. He resisted the urge to light the staff in the dark, but did not return to the light in time after the boundary was restored, resulting in the failure to return to our world smoothly."

The woman in the mirror fell silent and sighed softly after two seconds: "What a pity."

"... May he get peace on the other side of the darkness." Prince Nash said calmly.

"We all know that there is nothing on the other side of the darkness - there is only an extremely empty dream."
Chapter completed!