"I am so sorry, Shadow Monarch. I had no idea it was you," the reaper said, bowing his head in apology.

"No, don’t worry about it. Do you have any missions for me? I would like to obtain both shadow shades and crystals," Levon said calmly, his tone shifting just enough to make it clear the dynamic had changed.

"Well, we do have some top tier missions meant for groups of a hundred high grade shadow dwellers, but I can assign one to you since you are in need of a mission," the reaper said, his head still slightly lowered in acknowledgment.

So that’s what they are called. Shadow dwellers.

Levon thought quietly as he looked at the reaper.

That meant there was more to existing in the shadow world than simply being a nameless resident.

"Yes, I would love that," Levon said calmly.

He had no desire to rush through any of this anymore. It was clear this world was far more complex than he had initially expected, and he wasn’t in any hurry to uncover all of it in a single visit. He was confident that with time he would come to understand it properly.

"In that case I will process the mission for you immediately."

"I must inform you that this is an S rank mission and it will be extremely dangerous.

The mission is divided into three phases. First, you will need to journey all the way to the Dark River of Nirvana and save the Goddess of the Isle, who will perish within a matter of days.

After that, you must obtain her staff. It is very important that you do this in a way that causes her to give it to you willingly, because engaging her in combat is a death sentence."

The reaper paused and looked at the Monarch of Death to make sure he was following.

This time the reaper’s eyes were clear and free of fear, replaced instead with a quiet seriousness, as though he wanted Levon to truly understand how dangerous the journey ahead would be.

"After obtaining the staff by whatever means you see fit, you will journey east to the Tower of Nirvana.

The darkness within the tower has been growing and drawing in dark matter and shadow energy for millennia, and it is now on the verge of overflowing. This will undoubtedly cause a catastrophic outpour of dangerous shadow entities.

You must reach the tower before it hits its tipping point.

Push through and fight any shadow creatures you encounter inside. You should find three powerful dark creatures, the Guardians of Nirvana. Do not be intimidated by them. Battle them with everything you have, and once you defeat each one, retrieve their shadow heart immediately. If you are not quick about it, it will dissolve the moment they fall.

Now, this is where the staff becomes critical. It must be used to seal the tower permanently. If it is not sealed, the problem will simply resurface again in the near future."

The moment the reaper finished speaking, he turned to Levon to confirm he had understood everything.

Levon nodded, his expression growing more serious.

After a brief silence the reaper finally spoke again.

"The team of fifty high grade shadow dwellers were set to depart for this quest within a couple of hours, but since you have requested it I will simply redirect them to other minor missions and assign this one to you," the reaper said as he began preparing everything immediately.

After pressing Levon’s hands to two different stones, he finally handed him a crystal to absorb.

Levon absorbed it through his hands. After all, this was his shadow form, and a functional mouth for ingesting things didn’t truly exist here, despite him having one and being able to speak.

The moment he absorbed it, a light screen appeared before him.

[Congratulations on accepting the S-ranked mission: Save the Shadow City of Nirvana.]

Levon immediately turned to the reaper with a questioning look.

"Yes, that is the mission system. You can use it to ask questions about your mission and also access the map and other resources. Also, when collecting the hearts of the creatures inside the tower, the system will provide you with a material to use so they do not dissolve before you can retrieve them," the reaper said calmly, gesturing for Levon to proceed.

"Thank you very much for your patronage, Shadow Monarch," the reaper said with quiet respect.

Of course the reaper understood what it meant to stand before someone with a monarch title.

They were the only beings who could enter the shadow world without dying first, and who could leave at any time of their own choosing.

Before Levon turned to go, he paused.

"You said time and space in this world do not work the same as in the normal world, so...."

"Do not worry. You can leave at any time and return, and not a single moment will have passed when you come back. That is exactly what I mean when I say time and space here are twisted. Because you are the monarch, time simply will not move while you are away.

If I attempted to do the same, time would continue on without me and after a certain period I would be pulled back into the shadow world against my will. Yet we both experience time and space in the same way while we are here together, so even if you leave I would never notice that any time had stopped at all.

It is complex, and I would advise you not to dwell too deeply on it. Simply focus on your mission when you are here in the shadow world."

Levon nodded firmly and began making his way back toward the forest.

The reaper watched him go with a quiet sense of relief.

Hopefully he had at least earned some favor in the Shadow Monarch’s eyes.

As soon as Levon reached the edge of the forest, he calmly pulled up the mission system space and moved straight to the map.

The first destination he needed to reach was the river.

From what he could see, he would need to pass through the forest and around the Valley of the Dead before getting there.

Levon spent some time tracing alternate routes on the map to see if anything shorter existed, but he couldn’t find one.

So he decided to move through the forest..