The Light in the Dark ✓

Chapter 19 Map of the Realms

'But that's... impossible!' said Myrica. 'There are hundreds of them!'

'It isss only the onesss that we know.'

Sam walked over to the map and tapped one of the dots, placed at the lower border of the map. 'This is our world, so-called Light Realm. As you can see, the only known connection is to the Shadow Realm. So, answering your question, Iris, if the passage between those two were blocked, that meant we were cut out from all other realms too.'

'That wasn't a very wise move, then,' snorted Arlo.

'Even in timesss of our greatessst and mossst honessst cooperation, the Realmfarersss were exceedingly rare. Humansss were never experienced travelersss. I'd guessss they probably never ventured farther than third or fourth intersssection,' said Alaife tapping the dot not far from the Light Realm.

'How is it possible you have so many of the realms mapped so accurately then?' asked Iris.

'They received the Realmfarers from all of the realms,' Sam said. 'Some of them have civilisations that are far more advanced than ours, and crossing the worlds was like breathing for them. Once they visit the Shadow Realm, they exchanged knowledge, and that's how this map was created.'

'I don't want to be a downer,' Jayden said, his arms crossed. 'But from what you told us, I would expect this place to pulse with life and visitors from all different worlds.' He waved towards the map. 'Meanwhile, your library looks like an abandoned ruin.'

'That'sss becaussse we are not the civilisssation we once were. Coming here isss no longer sssafe for outsidersss. And ssso they ssstopped coming.'

'That is a lot for us to consider, but for now, we have more pressing concerns,' grunted Marcus. 'If we won't stop the Great Inquisitor, there would be no one to prevent our civilisation's destruction. The situation is bad enough as it is, with our Lord Sun's power diminished.'

'Is it that bad?' Sam asked.

'Yes, it is. All Mages have been made outlaws and are sacrificed so the Inquisitor can gain more power and get rid of any opposition.'

'Yeah, it doesn't sound good.'

'So, how come he can use it and not get corrupted himself?' Jayden asked.

'That's curious indeed.' Sam rubbed his chin. 'Can the Grand Inquisitor use the Light Magic?'

'I don't think so,' Marcus said.

'How is he fulfilling his part of the alliance then?'

'That's quite sssimple, Massster,' Alaife said. 'The Light human provides the Shadow with does not necessarily have to be his own.'

'Oh, I didn't know that. Huh. Clever,' Sam admitted. 'So as long as he provides his Shadow counterpart with a steady supply of Light, he can wield the Shadow Magic without corrupting himself?'

'To the extent, yes.' The Shadow nodded. 'Although, asss alwaysss, there isss a breaking point. The corruption isss the resssult of accumulated Ssshadow, that exceeds the amount of Light in human'sss sssoul. Once this happensss, the body isss ssslowly dissssolving. For Ssshadowsss it isss a mirror effect. Unfortunately, in our cassse, our tolerance far exceedsss human capacity. I did not hear about the Ssshadow that dissssolved due to excessss of Light. We go mad, of courssse, becoming a forever ssstarved monster, but I don't think it killsss us.'

'Can we somehow break the alliance? Cut the Grand Inquisitor off his power?' asked Marcus.

'The pact may only be broken by the onesss who forged it,' Alaife said. 'Unlessss one ssside no longer exisssts.'