Volume Dragon: Start by obtaining the Infinity Gems

Chapter 262 Shana's Past
"Tell me, why are the flames here so cold?" Ebis was shivering as she walked along the mountain road, wearing leather armor that was not warm at all.

Shana stared at the crystal ball in her hand and said softly, "You should be thankful that you can still feel the cold."

She finally turned her sight away from the crystal ball with the blurry image and looked at the far end of the mountain road. Although she couldn't see it clearly with her naked eyes, she already knew the answer from the crystal ball.

A fortress gate made of the strongest shadow metal - shadow steel - stood at the end of their road.

The bone-chilling cold enveloped the fortress in endless black snow, and Shana could only see many blurry outlines behind the gate.

"What are you talking about?" Erbis looked at Shana with some confusion.

Shana didn't answer, her thoughts had already fallen into the memories of the past.

For Shanay Clermont, the first 28 of her limited 14 winters are her best memories.

She was born into a noble family in a small town in the Amn Empire. Her handsome and elegant father and beautiful and gentle mother poured all their love and care into her since she was born.

Shanai's family, Clermont, is one of the three major families in that city. The mines and textile factories outside the city provide them with abundant money.

Relying on these family businesses, Shana's family has always lived a prosperous life. Her parents even had the capital to hire a four-ring transformation instructor for her to serve as an enlightenment for her arcane career.

In Shana's memory, apart from the company of her parents, the memory that occupied most of her childhood was the joy she felt every time she successfully cast a transformation spell, changing her magical pet, the raven, into different appearances.

She thought she would live a happy life forever, but everything changed after she turned 14.

That was the coldest winter Amn had seen in nearly fifty years.

One night when heavy snow covered the city, Shanai Clement was awakened from her sleep by a loud noise.

Her window was suddenly pushed open, and the cold north wind outside rushed into the warm house, making her shiver.

There was a pair of hands clinging to the window. She was about to scream, but she saw that the person climbing in through the window was actually her mother.

"Shh" she still remembers her mother telling her to be quiet with a look of fear on her face.

Shana threw herself into her mother's arms and was surprised to see her mother's trembling body.

The mother hugged Shana and told her gently: "My Shana, the pride of Clermont. Promise me one thing, okay?"

The young Shana didn't know what happened. She only remembered that her mother pushed her into the secret passage in the closet.

Before closing the cabinet door, she glanced at Shana with affection: "Run away, Shana, run away from here. Forget everything, and don't be blinded by hatred."

The cabinet door was closed. Shana hugged her cold body and looked outside through the gap.

A man walked into her room, holding a round object in his hand.

It was her father's head.

The young Shana covered her mouth, not daring to make any sound from her crying, but being precocious, she had already foreseen what was going to happen.

"Leonie, you're so hard to find."

The man just said this to her mother, then picked up the butcher knife and chopped off her head.

That night, Shana witnessed the death of her parents. After escaping from the secret passage, she also witnessed what a truly cold winter was like.

The snow was falling on her body, and she kept running until she ran out of energy and curled up on the ground. On the deserted street, all she could hold on to was her thin pajamas.

She was almost frozen to death, but she did not shiver before fainting. Instead, she felt hot all over and wanted to take off all her clothes.

Until now, she still remembers the feeling at that time, the feeling of being wrapped in extreme cold, and wanting to peel off her skin. "It's nothing." Shana said to Ebis with a smile: "Bear it, there will be a place for you to warm up soon."

Afterwards, she told Ebis and Cade what her crystal ball had detected.

"A fortress-level gate, and countless unknown creatures behind the gate? It doesn't sound like a good place." Cade said with a look of rejection.

Erbis also worried, "I don't think the three of us are strong enough to get through there."

Xia Nai shook her head and said, "What you can think of, I have also thought of."

She pointed to a patch of snow not far away and said, "There, there is a passage leading to the top of the mountain. We can enter from here and sneak to the top of the mountain."

After hearing this, Ebis narrowed her eyes and said with a fake smile: "How did you know? Speaking of which, why do we have to go to the top of this volcano?"

Shana was silent for a while, then sighed and said, "To tell you the truth, I have information about this demiplane, which I have collected with great effort over the years."

"The only way to escape from here is to go to the top of the volcano and try to control the center of this demiplane."

"Other than that, there is no other way."

Cade immediately retorted loudly: "I don't believe it! What about the portal we came in through? No portal can be one-way!"

Shana looked at him with some pity. This ignorant adventurer didn't even know where he had broken into.

"The guardian of this demiplane is an extremely powerful shadow dragon." Xia Nai said softly.

"What he loves most is to lure foolish adventurers like you into this place, and then permanently assimilate them into the shadow energy."

"So, the so-called portal you mentioned was actually automatically closed the moment you entered."

Cade's legs went weak, his face turned pale, and he said, "The Shadow Dragon? Are you saying that we are likely to face a giant dragon?!"

He grabbed his hair like a madman, and said with a face full of resistance: "No, this is too dangerous! Why do you want us to die with you?"

For adventurers, dragons are both a symbol of glory and their worst nightmare.

Shana sneered, "Looking for death? Apart from fighting to the death, what other choice do you have? Do you also want to become a mindless living dead?"

Cade froze, his lips moving as he murmured, "But..."

After being silent for a long time, Ebis waved her hand to interrupt him and said, "No buts. If we really need to face a dragon to leave here, then let him come! No matter what, I will not sit here and wait to die!"

Shana heaved a sigh of relief. It was best to have help. Although she had only intended to sneak in and not fight the Shadow Dragon head-on, one person's strength was always inferior to that of three people.

The reluctant Cade was dragged by Ebis to the snowy ground. Shana chanted a spell in a low voice, and soon the ground began to shake.

The originally smooth snow suddenly collapsed, and a 45-degree inclined tunnel appeared in front of them.

Shana took a deep breath and went in first, followed by the remaining two.

Soon after entering, the collapsed snow suddenly recovered. Earth and rocks filled up the entrance of the cave, and the heavy snow covered the hard earth and rocks again.

Everything around seemed as if no one had ever passed by.

Not long after they left, a silver-haired man on horseback arrived, followed by a knight on foot.

"Are you going to go in further? Sir, I have a bad feeling."

(End of this chapter)