As they traveled further east, the fog thinned, but the sky remained gloomy, as if sunlight couldn't penetrate this sea area. The surrounding reefs also grew taller, gradually turning into thick stone pillars. For some reason, the water level was clearly dropping, but the ship remained stable, and even the waves diminished, making the sea as calm as a windless lake.

"Why don't you wait for the tide to completely recede before entering the Shadow Sea?" Tilly asked, puzzled. "That way, all the reefs would be exposed, and you wouldn't have to worry about running aground."

"Because when the tide goes out, we won't be able to see the Ghost Shadow Red River, and it's the only way to guide explorers to the ruins," Lightning explained. "These pillar-like islands aren't fixed. With each tide, the positions of the islands shift. Plus, most of the markers are swallowed by the sea, so they can't be used to determine direction."

"Ghost Shadow... Red River?" she repeated.

"That's right. Look, this is it." Lightning whistled and pointed towards the bow.

The witches looked in the direction he was pointing, and saw several red figures flashing past in the dark green sea, like phantoms. But soon, two or three more red shadows passed by. This time, Ashes saw the target clearly. It was actually an orange-red fish.

"This is... fish?"

"Redscale fish, unique to the Shadow Islands," Lightning said, stroking his chin and smiling. "You'll see the true face of the Ghost Shadow Red River soon."

Gradually, there were more and more fish, and they no longer appeared in twos and threes, but gathered into a group, moving towards the stern of the ship. Looking far ahead, Ashes was shocked by what she saw. More and more fish joined the torrent, and a dark red thick line had appeared in the sea. The sailboat was clearly following this red line, and the fish passed under the hull, and from time to time she could hear the sound of banging collisions.

So that's it, she suddenly realized, this is the Ghost Shadow Red River—a peculiar, non-existent river! As the ship continued to advance, the dense fish swarm had expanded into a channel that could accommodate several ships side by side. The dark green seawater seemed to have disappeared, and the sailboat was like traveling on top of the fish. If the directions weren't exactly opposite, she would even have the illusion that the ship was being carried by the fish.

"Why is this happening?" Tilly asked in surprise.

Ashes also wanted to ask the same question. In Graycastle or other kingdoms, it would be impossible to see such a sight. The mist shrouded the area, the sky was gloomy, the giant rocks were strange, and the "river" was made of Redscale fish. She was stunned by the spectacle of the sea for the first time.

"It's because of the main island," Lightning said. "It's like a triangular spire, with a huge hollow in the middle that runs through the tower. These Redscale fish like to lay their eggs and reproduce in the hole. And when the tide goes out, the hollow emerges above the surface of the water, and the fish swarm always feels the change in the water level first, and rushes out. So as long as we follow the Ghost Shadow Red River, we can reach the Shadow Main Island."

"Lord Lightning, there's a huge obstacle ahead! It looks like a big mountain!" the lookout shouted.

"Looks like we're almost there," he shook out his pipe. "Ladies, welcome to the Shadow Islands."

Before long, Ashes also saw the appearance of the main island. As Lightning said, it was like several triangles pieced together, wide at the bottom and narrow at the top, and the surface looked very flat at first glance, not like a natural creation at all. But to say that the entire tower was cut out by people would be too amazing. The exposed tower body alone was almost the size of half a city, and the hollow in the middle could accommodate the Babel Tower of Hermes Cathedral.

The tide was still receding, and the accumulated water at the top of the giant hole poured down like a waterfall, while the submerged part below was completely covered by fish, dyeing the sea in the field of vision into a fiery red. Ashes couldn't help but think that there must be tens of millions of Redscale fish living in the hole.

It wasn't until the sky darkened that the tide completely receded to the bottom of the hole. Taking this opportunity, Lightning ordered the sailors to dock the ship and connect it to the bronze pillars at the entrance of the hole with thick ropes. Standing on the edge of the giant hole, one could see the through-hole on the opposite side from afar. The light from both ends could only illuminate a small section, and the center of the hollow was almost completely dark.

It made people feel inexplicably depressed.

"Did you leave these pillars here last time you came?" Ashes asked.

"No," Lightning shook his head. "The bronze pillars were already there when I first came here. They should all have been built by the owner of the ruins."

"The ruins... where are they?"

He smiled and pointed upwards, "Right above us. We're already standing at the entrance to the ruins."

…

The journey that followed could only be described as incredible. The witches followed Lightning and his party, entered through a stone gate at the bottom of the giant hole, and spiraled upwards step by step along the stone steps with gurgling water. Although everyone was holding torches, the flickering light seemed weak and insignificant compared to the staircase that seemed to stretch on forever.

Traveling in the abyss-like darkness, Tilly tightly grasped Ashes' arm, completely losing her usual composure.

*This* is the Princess I know, Ashes thought. In the palace, this Fifth Princess, who always had her own ideas and was full of confidence in the face of any difficulty, had the biggest weakness: fear of the dark. Even when she slept at night, she had to light candles in her room. When escaping from the palace, if there were no conditions to do so, she would have Ashes stay by her side to fall asleep.

Walking in the damp and dark spire, Ashes' mood became much more pleasant.

Along the way, they didn't encounter any Evil Beasts, nor were there any mechanisms to hinder intruders. Even if there were, they probably would have failed long ago due to prolonged immersion in seawater. The only problem was that the long climb exhausted most of the group's stamina, and everyone's movements became slower and slower. When the stone steps finally came to an end, a cheer burst out from the team.

The last checkpoint of the ruins was not a stone door, but one made of metal, which reflected brightly under the torchlight. Lightning pushed the door open with both hands, and the heavy door panels made a piercing friction sound as they slowly opened.

Ashes held her sword in one hand and entered the room first. After making sure there was no danger, she let Tilly and the other witches step into the room.

As torches were hung on the surrounding walls, a wide hall appeared in front of everyone. Although wide, it seemed empty and could be swept over at a glance. There was nothing worth pondering.

"This is the ruin?" she rubbed the stone tabletop that was green with water immersion. "Besides some stone tables and benches, there's nothing here."

"Indeed, there's not much left," Lightning nodded. "It's been sleeping on the seabed for too long, and it's hard to preserve anything but stone. I told Princess Tilly about it, but she insisted on seeing it for herself."

"What about those red stones?" Tilly asked. "Where did you find them?"

"Right on the ground. There were dozens of them scattered all over the place back then."

But now there was nothing left. Ashes looked down at the slippery ground that had grown seaweed. Lightning wasn't the only explorer to reach this place. After rounds of searching, it would be strange to find magic stones.

But Tilly was still full of interest. She held up a torch and carefully examined every corner of the hall. She would ask the sailors to add more torches, especially in dark places. Moriel summoned a magic servant, spread it out on the ground, and used it as a cushion for everyone to rest. Ashes followed Tilly, watching her touch the walls.

"Huh," suddenly, the Fifth Princess stopped. "What's this?"

Ashes followed her gaze and saw a faint reflection of torchlight on a wall covered with green moss.

Tilly reached out and tore off the green moss, revealing a gem half-buried in the stone wall. It was also crimson red, as crystal clear as a magic stone, and shaped like a prism, about the thickness of an arm. However, it was inlaid with fine gold threads, like a slot fixing it in place. Even after being soaked in seawater for so long, the gold threads wrapped around the stone were still clean and new.

Tilly tried to pull it out, but the gem didn't move.

"Let me do it," Ashes said.

The Fifth Princess shook her head, seeming to be thinking about something. Then she put her hand on the prism and closed her eyes.

Suddenly, a flash of light flashed in the center of the prism. Ashes thought she was seeing things, but soon a rumbling echo came from behind the wall, as if some mechanism had been triggered. In a short while, it spread throughout the hall. There were creaking sounds everywhere on the stone walls, and soft white lights suddenly appeared on the walls, even lighting up the ceiling above.

The sailors stood up in panic, drew their weapons, but didn't know which side to defend. In the end, they could only stand back to back tightly, gathered around Moriel's magic servant.

But no monsters rushed out.

When the sound returned to calm, the hall was brightly lit.