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Cassius flew through the castle, pursuing the black mist.

He saw the runes inside the iron cages flickering as countless blood thralls wailed before exploding into ghostly black mist, surging toward a specific destination.

"These blood thralls were all sacrificed."

"Their destination must be the outside world."

With this realization, Cassius ceased his chase, flapped his wings, and soared upward. His massive dragon body relentlessly smashed through stone walls and ceilings, tearing through the underground fortress.

Soon, amid the collapsing structures behind him, Cassius burst into the outside world.

However, the scene before him had drastically changed compared to earlier.

There was no moon or stars in the sky now.

This was a night devoid of light.

The sky above was shrouded in dense shadows, resembling a deep, black dome.

The surrounding colors seemed drained, reduced to dull shades of black and white, and a towering black mountain loomed in the distance.

Above the Twilight Forest, clusters of shadowy essence coalesced into a vortex of black mist, spinning continuously.

Staring at the blackened sky, Cassius muttered to himself:

"This is the projection of the Shadowfell."

"No, that old bat has breached the veil between the Shadow Plane and the Material Plane."

The Shadowfell, also known as the Plane of Shadow, was a dark and foreboding dimension that mirrored the Material Plane. It was a realm of toxic shadow and enigmatic power, desolate and distant, filled with shadowy entities born of essence.

The swirling black mist in the sky was clearly an interplanar vortex, linking the Shadow Plane to the Material Plane, summoning unknown shadowy entities from that realm.

"I must stop this."

Cassius finally understood the meaning of the vampire's dying curse—"You will all die."

If the Shadowfell's curse of shadow invaded, Northwind Fortress would become a dead city overrun by shadow creatures, consumed by endless, all-devouring darkness. Even Cassius himself might be transformed into an undying shadow dragon.

Encased in a shimmering barrier, Cassius boldly charged into the vortex, attempting to sever the connection breaching the planar boundary.

【Anti-Magic Field】

Yet this had no effect. The vortex was a phenomenon far beyond the fifth tier, immune to Cassius's otherwise reliable spell-nullifying field, which could only smooth the most superficial disruptions.

Cassius unleashed a torrent of fiery breath.

Blazing flames engulfed shadowy entities, eliciting shrill, anguished wails.

But the vortex, now spanning nearly a hundred meters in diameter, had amassed too many shadowy beings. Even the red dragon's endless fire could not burn it all away.

"Such intense magic weave fluctuations."

"This scale…"

"What in the Nine Hells did that old bat summon?"

A bone-deep chill crept through Cassius as he realized that whatever emerged from the vortex into the Material Plane was far beyond his ability to defeat.

Determined, he began flinging fireballs, walls of fire, and lightning bolts into the vortex without restraint.

Fire, lightning, and radiant energy clashed and roared within the vortex, yet they failed to stop the black mist from amassing and expanding, obscuring the sky.

"This can't drag on."

Cassius thought grimly.

A dreadful pressure emanated from the vortex, making even the red dragon shudder.

As a naturally powerful creature, Cassius rarely experienced this kind of primal fear. But now, he felt it deeply—and it was overwhelming.

"Roar—"

A low growl accompanied the emergence of a dragon-shaped projection from the swirling mist, its form visibly solidifying.

A powerful entity from the Shadowfell was gradually manifesting in the Material Plane.

Its twenty-meter-long body was covered in dull, charcoal-like scales, its wings transparent and ghostly, resembling spiritual membranes.

Most terrifying were its eyes—bleak gray and devoid of pupils or light, like an abyss that could consume souls.

Those gray eyes locked onto Cassius, and a raspy voice echoed:

"A fellow dragonkin?"

"A young red dragon? I was wondering who drove my poor contractor to such desperate measures."

"But I must thank you."

The massive dragon—no, the shadow dragon—licked its intangible lips, black mist dripping like spectral saliva.

"Soon, I'll return to the Material Plane. This feels wonderful."

Cassius strained to maintain his airborne stance, staring up at the far larger and more menacing shadow dragon projection.

【Based on your abilities, the following information is available.】

【Voice of Night - Mortifer】

Basic Abilities: ???

Challenge Rating: 21 (33,000 XP)

Description: Mortifer has resided in the Shadowfell for seven centuries, relishing its desolation and bitterness, cursing all light and life, and yearning to spread the darkness and corruption of his realm.

Often assuming the guise of a "Voice of Night," Mortifer would forge contracts with humanoids, luring them into darkness. Entire villages and towns were reduced to haunted wastelands, their souls harvested to fuel his power.

"A legendary foe…"

Cassius's expression darkened.

Challenge Rating 21—an unquestionably legendary-tier entity.

And due to the nature of dragons, Mortifer's actual strength would likely exceed the numbers on paper.

In essence, only a fully prepared legendary adventurer party could hope to face such an opponent—perhaps even triggering a plane-wide catastrophe!

Since arriving in Erezaghe, Cassius had never faced a foe of this magnitude.

Mortifer, the Voice of Night—Cassius recalled hearing this name in his past life. It was the final boss of the high-difficulty side quest "Dragonshadow City" in the 4.0 expansion of 【Planes Expedition】.

But Cassius had never imagined encountering such an enemy now. To him, the Anzeta Wasteland was a barren frontier unworthy of such attention.

Clearly, his assumption was wrong.

This shadow dragon had great interest in sowing darkness and death across the wasteland, turning it into a lifeless expanse.

In his past life, after Duke Brad's ascension ceremony failed catastrophically, he vanished without a trace—likely consumed by Mortifer.

"I can't let him fully manifest in the Material Plane!"

This was Cassius's sole thought at that moment.

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