Shadow Domain

“What is a Shadow Domain?”

Inside the restroom, Su Mian stared at his other self in the mirror, his brow furrowed.

The silver-haired, red-eyed girl pondered for a moment before speaking slowly: “It is a special space formed when a region of the Abyss is about to descend but hasn’t fully arrived, overlapping with the normal material world.”

“Uh…” Su Mian scratched his head, looking lost.

The girl in the mirror fell silent for a beat, then explained in more detail: “The world where demons live is called the Abyss, while the world we live in now is the material world. These two worlds are like the palm and the back of a hand; they should remain parallel and never interfere. However, certain special circumstances can cause the real world and the Abyss to overlap or even merge.”

“That is exactly what is happening now.”

“The Abyssal world and the material world are overlapping in this area. For now, they are only superimposed, not yet fused. This unique state of overlap is what we call a Shadow Domain.”

“…”

Su Mian sat on the toilet lid, eyes wide. After a long silence, he let out a cry of surprise: “What? Demons actually have their own world!?”

“Is that what you’re focusing on?” The girl in the mirror looked exasperated.

But Su Mian was genuinely shocked—and angry. He pressed the mirror close to his face, staring at his reflection almost nose-to-nose, and said in a cold voice: “So, you’ve been playing me this whole time? I remember asking you about demons before, and if I recall correctly, you said you didn’t know!”

Su Mian had discussed the nature of demons with his other self many times, but the information he received was always sparse. The succubus was either vague to the point of uselessness or claimed she didn’t know the details.

And now, she was casually mentioning that demons had an entire world they lived in!

If he had known that, he never would have wondered if other demons existed. Having an entire world meant demons weren’t some rare species; there had to be a massive number of them.

Consequently, if his other self had known such crucial information and kept it from him—or lied about it—how much could he trust anything else she said?

This was a serious problem: a full-blown crisis of trust.

Faced with Su Mian’s stern, icy expression, the girl in the mirror went silent again. Then, she blinked innocently. “Is it possible that it’s because… I really didn’t know before?”

“Huh?”

“I can’t explain the exact reason, but simply put: as long as it’s something you’ve actually come into contact with, I can obtain partial information about it.”

The succubus dropped her lazy, casual posture. She looked at Su Mian through the glass, her breathtakingly beautiful face unusually serious.

“Like this Shadow Domain—I truly didn’t know what it was before this. But now that you’ve come into contact with it, I’ve acquired data regarding it.”

“Take the Stone of the Lost, for example. Why do you think I knew its properties and the price of using it?”

Seeing Su Mian’s skeptical look, she added, “Think of it as a special ability. This ability helps us deconstruct many unknown things, but the prerequisite is that you must make contact with them first.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me you had this ability before?”

“You never asked.”

“…” A wave of speechlessness hit him.

Ultimately, Su Mian believed her. Her explanation was somewhat logical, and besides, not believing her wouldn’t help him anyway. Regardless, the information was valuable.

“The Abyss…”

If the Abyss was the world of demons, was there a connection to his own birth? Su Mian thought instinctively. He wanted to ask more, but decided against it. There probably wouldn’t be a clear answer yet. He pushed the chaotic thoughts to the back of his mind; now was not the time for philosophy.

“Forget it. Let’s talk about the Shadow Domain again.” The boy placed the mirror on his lap. “According to you, it’s an overlap of two worlds. So the place we are in right now is both the Abyss and the material world?”

“You could put it that way. But world overlapping isn’t just stacking two objects. A Shadow Domain is more mysterious than you think. Here, the worlds both overlap and repel each other. You could say we are in both worlds simultaneously, or you could say we are in neither.”

Okay, still don’t get it, Su Mian thought, frustrated. He looked at the succubus. “What are the consequences?”

“It’s simple. This is a special space. Unless the overlapping process is stopped or until it completes, no one can leave, and no one can contact the outside world.”

Is that why Jiang Xun told us to find a place to hide? Su Mian didn’t relax; if anything, his body tensed further. He lowered his head again. “What are the dangers?”

“From the perspective of the material world, a Shadow Domain is the prelude to an Abyssal Descent. Once the fusion is complete, the Shadow Domain becomes a permanent link to the Abyss. This leads to two results.”

The girl in the mirror held up two slender fingers. “First, the power of the Abyss will contaminate this manor and the surrounding area, including every living soul within it. Second, this place will become a gateway. If demons from the other side notice it, they can use it to descend into the real world.”

Conversely, could someone use it to go to the Abyss? Su Mian wondered. He was curious about the Abyss, but he knew this was no time for an excursion. Who knew if he’d ever come back?

He asked, “What does Abyssal contamination do to normal people? Turn them into Devilmen?”

“It’s possible, but the highest probability is that they go insane or simply die.”

Insane or dead. The threat was as terrifying as expected. Su Mian wasn’t afraid for himself—he had demon blood, after all—but there were hundreds of ordinary people here. If the fusion completed, it was unlikely many would survive.

“We can’t let the fusion finish.” The boy looked up, his expression more serious than ever. “How do we stop this?”

“I told you: normally, worlds don’t just overlap. There must be an abnormal factor causing this. Find that factor and erase it, and the process will naturally stop.”

Walking out of the restroom, Su Mian shook the water off his hands, his mind racing for a plan.

His other self said he just needed to find the “abnormal factor” inside this space and eliminate it. But where was he supposed to start? He was just a sophomore student. Despite his unusual nature, he had never faced a crisis like this.

Should I tell the organizers? But this isn’t something normal people can handle. Besides, for something like this to happen, the organizers might be involved.

He headed back toward the auction hall to find Qi Chuan, ideas clashing in his head. Telling the crowd seemed like a bad move—it sounded too crazy, and he couldn’t explain how he knew without revealing he was a demon. Plus, if this was a premeditated plot, the culprit was likely hiding in the crowd. Moving rashly would only alert them.

Su Mian grew anxious. He could handle himself, but his best friend was here. Qi Chuan was just an ordinary guy with a weak constitution; if things went south, he’d be the first to suffer.

I have to stop the descent.

But alone, he didn’t even have a target. If only I could call the police… But even the best smartphone couldn’t send a signal across worlds. He had tested the windows on his way out; he couldn’t even stick his hand through the glass. They were truly trapped.

I can’t just run around like a headless chicken. He stopped near the auction hall. He had no experience with this. He could rely on luck, but that might backfire.

Should I use the power of my other self? He hesitated. It was the most effective method, but she was uncontrollable. While she had never harmed him, she wasn’t exactly kind to others. If he let her loose, she might cause a scene even more disastrous than an Abyssal Descent.

But if he didn’t use her power…

“Wait, there might be another way.”

He lacked experience, but he could find someone who did! And he had just run into him.

“Officer Jiang!”

Jiang Xun, the likely “official” superhuman, almost certainly had experience with this. With his help, they could solve this much more easily.

Su Mian turned to go find him, but stopped after a few steps. He looked down at himself.

“I think… I need to change my appearance first.”