153 LOTM

The Sanguine Earl, Mistral, frowned slightly. Although he was unwilling to admit it, he said rather honestly, "I don't think there were any leaks prior to this.

Because if that was the case, the Rose School of Thought's demigods would've had plenty of time to use the response from the Mother Tree of Desire and Abomination Suah, laying a more dangerous and terrifying trap. It wouldn't be something an angel could easily resolve.

This was also the reason why Mistral had said that the trap appeared to be a last-minute setup and looked rather hasty.

This proved that there was no mole. After all, the ones who knew of the operation before tonight were the ones involved. If they wanted to leak the information, they could've done it earlier. This was unless someone changed their minds or wanted to use the urgency of time to obtain more benefits. And all of these would only leave clear traces.

The black-bonneted Sharron continued looking at the restaurant that had lost its roof. After a moment of silence, she said, "Perhaps it's a way of detecting danger via other means."

For this operation, the Sanguine had used a Sealed Artifact that could even disrupt a Devil's danger premonition, much less, things like spiritual intuition.

"Possibly..." Mistral couldn't think of a better explanation.

At that moment, in a room on the second floor of the restaurant, other than the red wine and strange figure evaporating, everything else remained untouched, as if nothing had happened.

Originally, Sharron and Mistral could attempt using divination to find answers to their questions and restore what had happened before the attack. But now, they couldn't do so because the surrounding area had been illuminated by the "crimson moon." It was equivalent to receiving the corresponding cleansing from the Mother Tree of Desire. This meant that divination easily led to this evil goddess, and the results would be unimaginable.

Without waiting for Sharron to speak, Mistral took a silent deep breath and said, "There are incidents in every matter. There's no such thing as a 100% success rate. Let's leave it here today. If we stay here any longer, the officials might discover something amiss."

As soon as he said that, the black chains hanging from the roof instantly turned dim and illusory.

The roof descended once again, covering the second floor of the restaurant and looking no different from what it was like before.

Of course, when the storm rained, there would definitely be water leaks. If there was a storm, the entire roof would be thrown up again.

The gigantic bat wings that blanketed the area shrank back into the darkness as the drizzle once again took center stage.

Hidden in the shadows, Klein watched as Miss Sharron's figure rapidly turned transparent and vanished. He saw an illusory cloud of smoke puffing up and countless tiny bats flying in every direction. He couldn't help but frown and silently mutter to himself:

What exactly happened...

It wasn't worrisome to have an accident. What was worrisome was not even knowing what the accident was. Regardless of what one's level was, the unknown was always frightening.

At that moment, he suddenly heard a staccato voice:

"What..." "Exactly..." "Happened..." "Here..."

When Klein turned his head, he realized that Miss Messenger had walked out of the spirit world at some point in time, standing alongside him.

The four blonde, red-eyed heads in "Her" hands were all trained at the restaurant.

"...Can you see what happened here earlier?" Klein asked hesitantly.

After the Mutant pathway reached the Wraith stage, the Beyonder was free to enter and exit the spirit world, allowing them to receive revelations from there directly. Be it their spiritual intuition or divination, they were rather formidable at that. A corresponding Sequence 2 angel was definitely powerful in such aspects; therefore, Klein posed the question.

The four heads held by Reinette Tinekerr shook as they said in unison, "No."

Klein nodded thoughtfully. Without further questions, he controlled his marionette to leave the area.

Emlyn White, who had retched for a while, rubbed the ring that was embedded with a ghostly-blue gem. He muttered to himself in surprise, "It ended just like that..."

Through the Oath of Rose, he could sense Earl Mistral's frustration, anger, and reluctance to vent his anger at a lady or others. His initial judgment was that the operation had failed because of an accident.

"It's over?" Upon hearing his words, Marie was equally stunned.

He had actually wanted to ask Emlyn White the reason for his sudden nausea and grimace, but he had perfectly tempered his curiosity and restrained his urge.

"Th-they didn't find the target..." Emlyn tried his best to recall what Earl Mistral had seen and heard, but due to the seal by Marquis Nibbs, he was only able to see the situation via Oath of Rose after the "crimson moon" rose. And these feelings were made ineffective quickly after the anomaly.

At the same time, Emlyn mumbled inwardly, The demigod from the temperance faction came here while possessing a doll?

Which master's work is this... It's simply art!

"Didn't find the target? How can that be..." Marie's brows furrowed uncontrollably.

From his point of view, everything in the operation had been going smoothly up till that point in time. Whether it was him, Sharron, or the Sanguine, none of them had the motives to leak the information to the Rose School of Thought.

As for Sherlock Moriarty, he had proven his credibility through numerous collaborations. @@novelbin@@

Suppressing his immense disappointment and puzzlement, Marie said without much change in expression, "Then we've to leave the vicinity as quickly as possible."

As soon as he said that, his figure began to fade, revealing the qualities of a Wraith.

Emlyn subconsciously wanted to ask him if he knew of any doll masters, but after opening his mouth, he found that it was damaging to the image of the Sanguine. Therefore, he could only swallow his words back down.

Even if I know that master, I don't have the money to buy it... To bear the burden of my mission, I have to sacrifice something... Unfortunately, we didn't capture the demigod of the Rose School of Thought this time, making it impossible to figure out the current situation of their headquarters. It'll be difficult to receive that holy artifact of the Ancestor... Amidst Emlyn's thoughts, his expression slowly turned grave.

Backlund Bridge area, Iron Gate Street, in one of the billiard rooms of the Bravehearts Bar.

Klein, in the image of Sherlock Moriarty, was sitting opposite Sharron and Marie.

After a brief moment of silence, the black regal dressed Sharron, who was seated on a high stool, said to the detective, "What are your thoughts on the matter?"

Klein thought for a moment before saying, "The influence that the crimson moon brought was quickly destroyed."

"What you mean to say is that since the Rose School of Thought's demigod had already sensed the immense danger through a certain method or a certain existence, why would he set up a trap that didn't have any effects?" Marie exchanged looks with Sharron before asking in thought.

"Yes." Klein nodded. "He should be able to foresee that under such dangerous circumstances, a trap at this level can be easily resolved. Then, why would he waste time setting it up and not flee immediately? This is the natural instinct of a living creature."

Wearing a small bonnet, Sharron moved her head indiscemibly.

"On the surface, it's a trap, but it's actually to cover up something?"

Klein replied, delivering the sentence at a slower pace, "Yes, using such a trap to 'cleanse' the scene and stop any divination to conceal the actual situation back then.

"Only if there's a secret to hide would a demigod from the Rose School of Thought take the risk and stay on the scene for such a long period of time."

"But it's also possible that they didn't expect us to have an angel from the Sanguine to help deal with the trap..." Marie suggested.

Klein smiled and said, "They wouldn't ignore the angel behind you. For you to have launched a surgical strike on the concealed Rose School of Thought members in Backlund, you must have defectors who know them well."

He was referring to the existence of Reinette Tinekerr.

"What secret would they need to cover up?" Sharron seemed to accept Klein's suspicion as she sat upright and asked. Klein shook his head.

"There are too many possibilities. Perhaps they discovered the secret of the attack in time. Perhaps they were planning on plotting something in Backlund..."

Having said that, Klein tried to consider if the Rose School of Thought was associated with the current tense situation in Backlund, but he realized that there was no place for them. Be it the orthodox deities or the evil gods, they were unlikely to work with the Mother Tree of Desire.

This puzzled Klein even more. He didn't know what kind of unknown accident such an unknown factor would brew.

He paused for a moment as he swept his gaze across Sharron's and Marie's faces.

"In short, we need to be careful and cautious. We need to avoid coming here as well.

"Yes, under the premise that you can ensure your own safety, try to monitor other members of the Rose School of Thought again and see if we can figure out the secret they're hiding."

"Thank you." Sharron's figure floated up and bowed.

Marie did the same.

The scarlet flames soared up as Klein vanished from his spot.

According to the agreement, as he didn't have the chance to take action, the only remuneration he received was one free instance of help from Reinette Tinekerr.

After returning to 160 Boklund Street, Klein took off his clothes and went to bed early, hoping to wake up early. Suddenly, he heard a series of illusory pleas.

It was from a woman.

Miss Justice... With a guess, he nodded and entered the bathroom. He took four steps counterclockwise and went above the gray fog.

As he had expected, the supplicant was Justice Audrey. This lady had gathered 12,000 pounds in cash, hoping that Mr. Fool could transfer it to Mr. World to complete the transaction of the Dreamwalker and Hypnotist Beyonder characteristics.

Yes, if the ritual can be replaced by Angel's Embrace, Miss Justice can try to advance in the next two days. When that happens, it's time to place the exploration of Groselle's Travels in the schedule. Heh, Leonard has already become a Spirit Warlock for days and has nothing to do... Klein heaved a sigh of relief and replied to Miss Justice, getting her to begin the sacrifice.

With the current situation becoming more and more tense, with more and more unknown factors, he wished to strengthen himself as quickly as possible. This included many aspects—first, the increase in the number of marionettes and Sealed Artifacts; second, the recovery of his helpers; and thirdly, a further grasp of knowledge and secrets. This aided him in knowing the truth and obtaining the true attitude that the different factions have; thus, finding an opportunity from within.

The exploration of Groselle's Travels corresponded to the third point.

-x-X-x-

Friday. In the dead of the night, in Audrey's bedroom.

After receiving a signal, the golden retriever, Susie, opened the door and left by herself, slumping down outside to prevent anyone from disturbing Audrey.

Audrey took the Dreamwalker's Beyonder characteristic, the corresponding supplementary ingredients, and the apparatus used for concocting the potion out from a hidden spot. Most of the supplementary ingredients came from the City of Silver, and they were things that she hadn't paid for since Little Sun hadn't thought of something he needed.

She concocted the potion skillfully and looked at the liquid that was dotted with darkened points of grayish-white light. She took a step back, clasped her hands, and placed them in front of her mouth as she chanted softly, "The Fool that doesn't belong to this era..."

Just as her prayer ended, countless figures in an indescribable form appeared in front of her.

They quickly swam and meshed with one another as though they were active in the sea. Above the sea were seven pure beams of differently-colored light that seemed to contain infinite knowledge.

Above these seven lustrous brilliances was an endless grayish-white fog. And above that was a towering and magnificent palace.

At that moment, the door to the palace opened as a figure formed from golden light spread out its twelve pairs of wings formed from scarlet flames and flew down, landing in front of Audrey.

The twelve pairs of fiery wings were layered as they wrapped the blonde, green-eyed girl into an embrace.

Such a scene only lasted for a second or two before vanishing. It was as if she was hallucinating, but Audrey always had the feeling of being immersed in this kind of holy and lofty feeling.

She calmed down and sincerely thanked Mr. Fool.

With Angel's Embrace, she could maintain lucidity in her dream and wake up whenever she needed to. She didn't have to worry about being engrossed in her dreams and being unable to extricate herself.

This meant that she had already held the corresponding ritual for Dreamwalker, and the effects were definitely better than what it could've been. @@novelbin@@

After all, not every Hypnotist can obtain such benediction from a hidden existence and be embraced by a special angel such as this... Audrey, all the best! Audrey mumbled inwardly before she stopped hesitating and picked up the glass bottle, drinking down the potion inside.

The potion wasn't as bad as she imagined it to be. It was a little sour, a little sweet, a little bitter, a little surreal, and a little stimulating. It was like a wild dream she could let herself loose in.

Before she could feel the effects that the potion exerted on her body, Audrey was suddenly startled before she regained consciousness.

She saw that the night was becoming dawn outside the window, with the sun rising from the horizon, dyeing the sky red.

Within the garden, flowers were blooming, the tips of the blades of green grass shimmering with crystalline dew.

It was as if Audrey had become the ruler of this world. Her consciousness floated up as she looked down upon the various scenes:

Her father and mother held hands as they strolled down the garden trail, taking in the fragrance as they bathed in the morning light;

Having worked through their differences, her two brothers, Hibbert and Alfred, rode on horses and brought servants along with them. Laughter accompanied them as they entered the woods, competing against each other for a more successful hunt;

The ambassadors or special representatives of the various countries like Feysac, Intis, and Feynapotter signed an agreement at Loen's Sodela Palace, announcing to the world that a war wouldn't happen; thus, dispersing all the dark clouds in the sky;

The smog situation in Backland improved. Every company's factory had passed the double review of the alkaline industry inspector and National Atmospheric Pollution Council, and they had promoted such standards to other countries;

Maximum working hours and the basic labor environments for workers were guaranteed, and the development of every industry was getting better. The number of tramps had dropped to an unimaginable level, and all kinds of protective measures spearheaded by the kingdom covered everyone;

There were more and more workers who could afford bicycles. On the streets, the bicycles clustered together like a huge army, driving in different directions amidst ringing sounds;

Children didn't need to work in factories at a young age. They could giggle and fool around, running into classrooms with tables and chairs. Inside, they flipped open their textbooks and began listening attentively. If they didn't wish to study, it was solely of their own choice, not because they lacked the conditions;

Women were no longer discriminated against due to their gender. Even a laundry maid could rely on studying to obtain knowledge and find better jobs. There were reporters, teachers, policewomen, soldiers, miners, and civil servants—seen in every walk of life;

All kinds of mechanical items appeared on the streets and alleys, bringing the people convenience and joy;

In the square in front of the Evemight cathedral, pigeons flew up and landed. People were either sitting or playing the accordion, fully enjoying their lives...

This was Audrey's dream for the future. Unaffiliated Beyonders didn't have to worry anymore. As long as they received a checkup of their physical mental condition, they could walk openly and use their Beyonder powers to earn money in a legal way.

This is really wonderful... If it weren't for me being clear-headed, I would've lost myself to this. I would've descended from my commanding position in my consciousness, taking a stroll with my parents, hunting with my brothers, and occasionally going to school to teach children... I would often work hard for the extension of the world's peace... Audrey stared at the dream, feeling a bout of poignancy.

She then felt her Astral Projection rise once again, breaking out of the confines of the hazy world.

She saw that her dream was like a huge bubble that grew out from the island of consciousness while silently enveloping it.

The "air bubble" was surrounded by a gray fog. From afar, she could vaguely see other "air bubbles," and below them were their corresponding islands of consciousness.

Deep within the gray fog was a silent, undulating, shimmering "wavy" illusory sea that seemed bottomless.

The sea of collective subconscious... This is the scene of a mind world for a Dreamwalker... Only from Manipulator onwards is one really able to interfere with the sea of collective subconscious... Audrey nodded in enlightenment and retracted her gaze. Without staying any longer, she forcefully escaped from her dream.

Her vision returned to normal immediately as it remained pitch-black outside. Only the street lamps around the garden were emitting light.

She then cast her gaze on the full-body mirror in her bedroom. She felt that she didn't seem too different from before. Only when she observed carefully did she realize that her pair of green eyes were becoming more limpid and deeper, as though they could reflect the souls of others.

Closing her eyes and taking in the knowledge brought by the potion, Audrey quickly grasped the core power of Dreamwalker.

By guiding and controlling a dream, she could obtain information and affect the enemy.

There were two aspects:

First was "Guidance," which was similar to Nightmare of the Evernight pathway, by using the different changes in a dream to guide a target into revealing one's deepest secrets. The difference was that a Nightmare could forcefully pull a person into a dream. However, Dreamwalkers weren't capable of doing so unless they were combined with "Hypnosis."

The second was "Alteration." By modifying a target's dream, one could influence a target over a long period of time, changing them and making them do things they wouldn't usually do without them realizing it. The principle behind such an "Alteration," used a dream as the incisive points and the Astral Projection as a point of leverage, slowing contaminating the target's Soul Body before affecting the Body of Heart and Mind, planting it deep in the subconscious. Compared to directly using Hypnosis, a control that stemmed from dreams was more mild and furtive, making it difficult to be noticed and suitable for targeting targets at a higher level.

From the looks of it, most matters that involve love at first sight might've had a few hidden cases that were a result of Dream Alteration... Yes, amongst many popular best-selling novels, the female lead often dreams of a figure and spends a beautiful, romantic time with him. Therefore, when they encounter the male lead who's similar to the figure in their dreams, they will quickly succumb to them and have a strong penchant for love. Hmm... Audrey recalled the novels she read in the past and suddenly found it amusing.

To her, be it "Guidance" or "Alteration," they weren't an essential enhancement over Hypnosis. Instead, there was another Beyonder power that she liked even more; it was "Dream Traversal."

This made her body turn incorporeal as if she was an elf in a dream or a Dreamwalker. Not only could she directly hide in someone else's dream, but she could also jump from a dream to another dream, completing a "Blink" in the physical sense.

The restriction of such traversals was that the distance between two dreams couldn't exceed 500 meters, and they had to belong to intelligent creatures.

In special environments, this can effectively hide myself... Hmm, why didn't Hvin Rambis directly affect me through "Dream Alteration"? Because this place is protected by the Church? The Evernight pathway is also skilled in the domain of dreams... Audrey thought as she began converging her spirituality.

In the ancient palace above the fog.

Along the long bronze table, Klein sat a few seats diagonally across from Leonard.

"Why are you suddenly looking for me?" Leonard leaned back in his chair and asked lazily.

Regardless, he still remembered that this place belonged to Mr. Fool, so he didn't dare appear too casual.

Klein glanced at him and said, "I need your help with something."

You need my help?" Leonard pointed at himself and asked in surprise, "Are you referring to Pallez?"

He didn't think he could help a demigod like Klein.

"You have a very clear understanding of yourself," Klein tsked. "However, I'm really looking for you this time. It mainly involves a few dreams."

Dreams... Leonard came to a realization as he said with a hint of puzzlement and laughter, "Klein, you seem to have changed a little. I mean, you've become more like the past, no longer wearing that gloomy expression."

Without waiting for a reply, he straightened his disheveled hair and smiled.

"That's a good thing. Well, I'm still quite good at dreams. Who do the dreams belong to?"

Without batting an eyelid, Klein replied, "A Loen soldier from more than a hundred years ago, a Fourth Epoch aristocrat, an ascetic from the Third Epoch, and an elf and giant from the Second Epoch."

"What?" Leonard asked with his green eyes wearing a blank look, wondering if he had heard wrongly.

Ignoring the elves and giants from the Second Epoch, even the nobles of the Fourth Epoch had to be from particular Beyonder pathways and to have become saints before they could survive to this day!

It can't be that they're all angels aside from that Loen soldier, right? Entering the dream of angels... I think it's better to find Old Man... Leonard's thoughts churned instantly as though he was in a dream.

-x-X-x-

Klein glanced at Leonard and smiled.

"The targets aren't demigods. They've only 'lived' to this day due to some sort of influence. This is also the secret I wish to discover through dreams."

He deliberately emphasized the word "lived."

Without waiting for Leonard to respond, Klein continued, "The aristocrat from the Fourth Epoch is a member of the Zoroast family. You might be able to use his dream to learn more about Pallez Zoroast."

Old Man's descendant... Leonard's heart stirred as he looked forward to the proposal that Klein raised.

Although he had gotten along rather well with Pallez Zoroast and gradually built some trust in this angel, he still held the most basic level of vigilance against him. After all, "He" was an outsider who lived in his body.

At that moment, Klein added, "For now, don't mention this matter to Pallez Zoroast."

Do you think I'm such an unreliable person? Leonard grumbled inwardly as he replied, "There's no need to remind me."

Seeing that Leonard had agreed, Klein smiled and said, "Get me a few drops of your blood when you return. This is necessary to explore the dreams."

He didn't specifically mention how to give the blood to him. After all, Leonard knew at least two methods. Firstly, he could sacrifice it to Mr. Fool and request that "He" bestow it to The World. The other was to summon the messenger of mysterious origins and place the blood inside a bottle, sending it over with a letter.

"Blood..." Leonard subconsciously repeated the word.

In mysticism, one's blood was an important item. It was best not to give one's blood to others; otherwise, they might die without knowing the reason. Sometimes, death wasn't the most terrifying outcome that could happen.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Leonard nodded.

"When will the exploration begin?"

Klein was prepared for this question as he replied, "Late Sunday night, close to midnight."

He wanted to give Miss Justice time to converge her spirituality and familiarize herself with her abilities.

"Alright." Leonard didn't say anything else.

Following that, Klein seriously explained skills in sophistry so that the dear poet knew how to pacify his grandpa after returning.

After returning to the real world, Leonard was deliberating over his words when he heard Pallez Zoroast's slightly-aged voice:

"Why did your former colleague look for you? Is there anything that cannot be explained in a letter?"

Leonard adjusted his sitting posture and chuckled.

"He's afraid that the letter will be leaked. After all, it might involve that person."

Just as he finished his sentence, Leonard inwardly mumbled, Of course, the most important thing is to be wary of you. What I see is equivalent to what you see...

"That person..." Pallez Zoroast seemed to understand who he was referring to.

Yeah." Leonard picked up a cup on the table and drank a mouthful of malt beer. "He found an ascetic from the Third Epoch. He hopes to learn the history of that epoch through his dream."

What Leonard said was the truth, but it was only a portion of the truth. This was the skill that Klein had specially taught him.

"An ascetic from the Third Epoch? He's still alive?" Pallez Zoroast asked in surprise.

Of course, "He" wasn't too surprised. After all, at "His" level, even if "He" didn't grasp a hundred methods that allowed people to live from the Third Epoch, "He" knew at least five or six methods. The easiest way was to steal the time or life of others to imbue it into a target.

"He's likely still alive, but has a very special condition," Leonard explained what he knew.

Pallez Zoroast fell silent for two seconds before saying with a chuckle, "Is that so? Then I can only wish you the best in not seeing scenes you shouldn't see in the dream. Of course, your former colleague is protected by an existence of Concealment, so he must be prepared."

Leonard didn't respond to the topic. He suddenly exclaimed, "Old man, are you actually not the least bit curious? Don't you want to know what the true deities were like in the Third Epoch, or the cause of the Cataclysm?"

This was the second technique in sophistry that Klein taught him. Rather than being asked, it was better to take the initiative to ask questions.

"I can roughly guess what's going on," Pallez Zoroast replied with a sigh. He then scoffed. "You took too much initiative to control the flow of our conversation today. This is very different from your past behavior. This means that you have a secret you're hiding deep down. Not bad, it's much better than the past. At least it's not something that can be seen through at once."

Leonard's expression froze.

Pallez immediately chuckled.

"See, I just gave it a try and you exposed yourself. You still lack training.

Your former colleague is really... Tsk..."

Leonard could only respond with a dry chuckle. He put down his cup and leaned forward. He then picked up a silver ritual dagger and cut open a wound, causing a few drops of blood to drip out.

Meanwhile at Earl Hall's residence, Audrey was also holding a dagger with gems embedded in it. She was preparing to fulfill the promise of providing help for free. She moved the tip of the dagger towards the back of her hand.

"The pain is very mild...

The pain is very mild..." As she hypnotized herself, she exerted force and tore open a wound.

It was currently impossible to tear her skin without using strength, even if she didn't reveal her dragon scales.

On Sunday night, after attending a ball, Klein returned to 160 Boklund Street. He made up an excuse that he was feeling tired and needed to sleep early.

In the wee hours of the night, he got out of bed, set up a ritual, and summoned himself.

After some work, he sat in the seat that belonged to The World Gehrman Sparrow. He confirmed that once the summoning ended, he could use the gray fog's level and standing to forcefully extricate himself from Groselle's Travels.

At that moment, in front of him were three metal bottles and a silver mask.

The former was filled with his, Leonard's, and Audrey's blood, while the latter was sacrificed by Miss Justice ahead of time. As she knew that Mr. Star would be involved in the exploration of the dream this time, she planned on wearing Lie the entire time to mask her face and avoid her identity from being uncovered.

After examining it for a while, Klein made the hard-covered, deep-brown Groselle's Travels to fly out of the junk pile and land on the long bronze table. At the same time, he placed the Unshadowed Crucifix into his body.

Following that, he pulled Justice Audrey and The Star Leonard above the gray fog.

Two dark red beams shot up at the same time, forming rather blurry figures.

Audrey and Leonard cast their gazes at the bottom of the long, mottled table and sized up the items in front of Mr. World.

Then, their attention was drawn to the ancient book.

Audrey's eyes darted around as she curiously asked, "Our exploration this time is related to this book?"

Yes, our targets are inside this book," Klein replied with a smile.

"Inside the book?" Leonard asked in surprise.

Even though he was a Red Glove, and had also read a large number of supernatural case files, he had never heard of communicating with characters in a book.

Klein nodded slightly and said, "Yes, this is a magical book. Inside it, there is a world that was 'envisioned.' What happens in that world becomes the book's contents."

"Envisioned?" Audrey acutely grasped a key phrase, linking it to its synonyms.

She had only just learned a few days ago from Mr. World that the Spectator pathway's Sequence 0 was called Visionary, and she knew very well that the King of Dragons, the ancient god, Ankewelt, was the Dragon of Imagination.

After some deliberation, Klein said, "My description might not be accurate. It might be an 'envisioned' world or a true dream. The only thing I can confirm is that it was created by an ancient god from the Second Epoch, the Dragon of Imagination Ankewelt. I obtained it from Vice Admiral Iceberg."

Ancient god's relic... It's no wonder that it can make a giant and elf from the Second Epoch, a Third Epoch ascetic, a Fourth Epoch human aristocrat, and Fifth Epoch Loenese soldier survive till now... Leonard came to a realization as he couldn't help but size up The World Gehrman Sparrow. He couldn't imagine what kind of experiences Klein had ever since he left Tingen.

At this moment, Klein looked around and pushed the Lie mask to Miss Justice as he said, "Let's head on in."

"Alright." Audrey put on the silver mask.

Leonard looked around and nodded.

"Okay."

Klein immediately picked up the three metal bottles and poured out some of the blood inside, smearing it on the cover of Groselle's Travels.

So this is what the blood was for... Just as this thought flashed through Audrey's mind, she saw a white snowy storm.

Amidst snowflakes the size of down feathers and a biting cold wind, a city that was more than 15 meters tall stood nearby. A soldier wearing leather armor on-guard by the gates was huddled in a spot that was immune to the wind and snow. As long as there weren't any merchant convoys, he wouldn't head forward to block any ordinary pedestrians.

"This... This is a world that was completely 'envisioned'... It's like it's real." Leonard looked around as he spread out his palm and caught several snowflakes. He felt the coldness of its touch before they quickly melted into water. @@novelbin@@

After confirming the environment, Leonard suddenly realized something. Klein was maintaining the image of the cold and refined Gehrman Sparrow. Miss Justice wore a silver mask, revealing the bottom of her face, green eyes, and blonde hair, making it impossible to imagine her actual appearance.

As for himself, he didn't disguise himself at all...

This was a habit of official Beyonders. They openly carried out missions without any disguises.

Mr. Star really is laid-back, and his hair is combed very casually. It's such a pity. Otherwise, with his looks, he can be a model on the covers of magazines... As a noble lady who had seen too many handsome men, Audrey politely glanced at him before retracting her gaze without making any excessive observations.

Klein chuckled inwardly and pointed at the city in the snowstorm.

"Our first target is the ascetic, Mr. Snowman, from the Third Epoch."

This was the person most likely to have a link to Amon and "His" brother!

According to Klein's plan, after Snowman would be the fourth-generation aristocrat, Mobet. This was because Giant Groselle and Elf Siatas involved matters at much higher levels, and there was a high chance of there being an accident. Therefore, it was safer leaving them at the end of the schedule.

After the exploration of the four people's subconscious via their dreams, they would then enter the sea of collective subconscious in search of any possible secrets.

-x-X-x-

In a rather remote spot in Pessote City, there was a building made of stone. It looked rough and was a cathedral that needed some construction work.

The most eye-catching and intricate part was the altar. Erected over it was a wooden cross and a tall figure carrying the cross.

Ascetic Snowman was sitting in the first pew, facing the divine statue, his head bowed and his eyes closed in focused supplication.

He was a middle-aged man who wasn't considered old but had some wrinkles. He was wearing a simple white robe that had been washed countless times. He had brown short hair, and on his exposed arms, shoulders, calves, and feet, there were all kinds of old scars and scabs.

At that moment, two men and a woman appeared at the cathedral entrance. The men were dressed in black robes that were completely different from the surroundings. One was wearing a vest and half top hat with a formal bow tie, and the other casually wore a white shirt. The former had a pronounced outline with a cold expression, while the latter had black hair and green eyes. He looked pretty good, exuding the romantic air of a poet.

The lady was wearing a long white dress that was tight at the waist with frilly designs at the sleeves. Lacy flowers were sewn in a meshed manner at her chest. She wore an intricate silver mask, revealing a pair of emerald-like eyes, her high nose, her lip glossed-lips, and lower half of her face. It prompted anyone who laid their eyes on her to imagine how beautiful her actual appearance was.

They were extremely attractive. It was the same regardless of the angle one took. However, the passers-by, and few members of the congregation, and the praying ascetic didn't even give them a look, completely ignoring them.

This was a combination of Hallucination and Psychological Invisibility.

Audrey was already in operation-mode, no longer showing any curiosity. She swept her gaze and said in a gentle voice, "What's most important now is to get Mr. Snowman to sleep; otherwise, we'll have to wait until tonight."

The night in this world.

"Relax. It's trivial," Leonard replied with a smile.

Compared to Miss Justice, who had only experienced a few supernatural incidents, as a Nighthawk, he was already too used to such things. He was very composed and even wanted to joke with Klein.

Of course, he didn't know that Miss Justice had recently hypnotized a demigod.

Klein glanced at his former teammate.

"Then let's begin."

He was "carrying" Unshadowed Crucifix on him, and in less than three hours, he would be dropped back to Sequence 5 and have his Bizarro Sorcerer Beyonder characteristic purged, so he naturally didn't want to waste any time. @@novelbin@@

He's back in his crazy adventurer state again. Tsk... Leonard didn't beat around the bush. He raised his hand to neaten up his hair as his green eyes suddenly turned deep.

Silently, the praying ascetic, Snowman, had fallen into a deep sleep.

This is the Beyonder power of a Nightmare... Looking at this scene with sparkling eyes, Audrey thoughtfully muttered to herself.

In fact, she was aware of the powers of a Nightmare, having seen them in action before -back when they were dealing with the Sanguine Viscount, Ernes Boyar. However, she was unable to grasp the full picture of it due to the urgency of the situation. It was only now that she made a complete observation of it.

Right on the heels of that, she raised both her hands and grabbed the arms of The World and The Star. Using her abilities of Dreamwalker, she led them into Snowman's dreamscape.

"I can do it myself..." Leonard mumbled the moment he entered the hazy world.

Klein and Audrey ignored him and quickly surveyed the area, taking in the entirety of Snowman's dreamscape.

They were also inside a cathedral, an unusually majestic cathedral.

Ancient stone pillars propped up a towering dome, but they didn't make the hall appear too segmented and cramped. It still remained extremely spacious.

The cathedral's door was wide and tall, even for giants. Lined on both sides were candles placed in silver cups that emitted a warm glow.

The altar right in front was grand and magnificent. Above them were grayish-white crosses and a sculpture of God bearing the cross.

The statue's face wasn't very clear, but it felt like it was showing pity towards all beings in the world.

Snowman was similarly sitting in the first pew facing the holy altar. His head was bowed and his eyes closed in focused supplication.

"This is similar to the Afternoon Town's abandoned cathedral that Little Sun showed to us. It should be a building from the same era," Audrey swept her gaze across the brick arches and whispered.

At the same time, she tried to suppress her curiosity and told herself to remain calm.

Little Sun? How is he "little"? That fellow is clearly taller and larger than me... Afternoon Town's abandoned cathedral... Leonard thought in puzzlement as he lampooned.

When he joined the Tarot Club, The Sun Derrick had long returned to the City of Silver. Although he would occasionally mention the exploration of the Giant King's Court, he didn't conjure any of the corresponding images.

"Indeed." Klein retracted his gaze and agreed with Miss Justice. Then, he said to her, "Try to guide Snowman's dream and get him to reveal the important information in his subconscious. Focus it on the Kings of Angels."

This mission could be accomplished by both a Nightmare and Dreamwalker. The reason why he had Miss Justice do it was because he wanted to give her a chance to digest the Dream walker potion. After all, Leonard had already passed that stage. And no matter what, in matters that involved the subconscious, Beyonders of the Spectator pathway were definitely more professional. The way they carried it out would be more precise and effective.

It was only then that Leonard realized a problem:

Miss Justice's abilities involve the domain of dreams...

This meant that she had already advanced to Sequence 5 Dreamwalker!

Isn't that too fast? Leonard was secretly surprised and in disbelief.

He remembered that Miss Justice had mentioned it during their exchange when he joined the Tarot club. It hadn't even been a month since she became a Hypnotist, and now, only three months had passed.

She had indeed tried to purchase the ingredients needed for her advancement at the Tarot Gathering, but to completely digest the Hypnotist potion in four months is shocking enough... Leonard's mind raced as he had a baffling feeling that the pride of becoming a Red Gloves captain, a quasi-high-ranking member of the Church, a Sequence 5 Spirit Warlock was gone.

While his thoughts were running wild, Audrey tersely acknowledged the request and took a few steps forward to stand beside Snowman.

Illusory ripples suddenly appeared in her jewel-like eyes. Those ripples constantly sank deep into the depths, returning to the darkness and tranquility.

Invisible ripples emanated out as the altar in front of the cathedral suddenly turned blurry.

These magnificent objects, along with the cross and the divine statue, warped and suddenly unfurled, emitting lights and shadows that weren't considered too intense.

The light and shadows intertwined into a three-dimensional portrait of a towering mountain range. The main peak reached high into the clouds, but the white cloud didn't dare to conceal the main peak as it automatically separated around the peak's two sides.

On the peak of the mountain stood a huge cross that was even taller than the mountain. In front of it stood a majestic figure that was covered in layers of stacked halos.

Two-winged, four-winged, and six-winged angels were either holding bugles, playing the harp, or playing flutes, dancing around the majestic figure as they sang and extolled.

Eight blurry figures with twelve pairs of wings surrounded the majestic deity. Some fell to the ground beside "His" feet, leaning against "Him" as if completely relying on "Him." Others floated on both sides, awaiting "His" orders.

This was a scene that Klein had seen before. He knew that the deity was the ancient sun god, and he knew that the figures with twelve pairs of wings on their backs were the Kings of Angels.

At that moment, Snowman opened his eyes and looked at Justice Audrey. As if teaching his student, he solemnly said, "Only the Holy Spirit can truly serve the Lord. This is the goal I've been chasing my entire life...

"I see the Lord standing above the infinite radiance, benevolence scattering over 'His' kingdom and the land. Around him are eight 'Kings.'

"The Dark Angel was the first angel created by the Lord. 'He' is 'His' left hand, 'His' proxy and the deputy of Heaven;

"The Angel of Imagination is the Lord's eldest son. The Lord said that in a distant future, you will become the savior of all life;

"The Angel of Time is the Lord's second son. The Lord said that you are a God of Trickery and a God of Mischief, the light at the dawn of the apocalypse;

"The White Angel, Wind Angel, and Angel of Fate are loyal followers of the Lord-firm, brave, honest, having been that way from the time when 'They' were weak till 'They' became strong.

"The Wisdom Angel was sanctified due to 'His' redemption from being penitent and contrite, completely opposite from the ones who fell after eating the fruit of sin;

"The War Angel is the Lord's rage, the Lord's punishment. 'His' appearance over the land means war is at hand..."

From the looks of it, this ascetic has never been to the ancient sun god's divine kingdom, nor has he ever seen a King of Angel. What he's describing is probably from religious canon... In other words, what he says is what the official text says... From the looks of it, Dark Angel Sasrir was really the leader of the Kings of Angels. "He" was most trusted by the ancient sun god and was called the deputy of Heaven. Yet, such an existence was-hmm, bewitched... I wonder what "His" outcome was in the end, and why there aren't any traces of "Him" to date... Klein seriously listened to Snowman's description and had a clearer understanding of the Kings of Angels.

He never expected that the ancient sun god would predict that Adam would be the savior. This left him somewhat puzzled.

So these are all the eight Kings of Angels... Leonard listened attentively as well. This was something that Old Man Pallez hadn't told him in detail before. It was a real secret from ancient times, something that happened before the Cataclysm.

Audrey had seen the mural of the three Kings of Angels eating the City of Silver Creator. Through the corresponding images, she had matched them to the Eternal Blazing Sun, the Lord of Storms, and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, so she wasn't too surprised. She turned her head and looked at The World and The Star, calmly interpreting the hidden meaning behind those sentences.

"According to what Mr. Snowman said, the Dark Angel was created. The three Kings of Angels-White, Wind, and Fate—had followed the ancient sun god from a weak stage until they slowly empowered themselves. Hmm, the weak stage here probably refers to Sequence 4... The Wisdom Angel should be an outsider who joined later, and 'He' might've been from an opposing faction in the beginning..."

When he heard Miss Justice's words, Klein suddenly remembered a name. It was the Dragon of Wisdom as mentioned in the City of Silver's myths-Herabergen.

He then nodded, indicating for Miss Justice to continue.

After Snowman recited some related scriptures, he suddenly solemnly said, "Our diocese has cultists who believe in the Evernight hiding within it!

"These are the orders from the Kings."

-x-X-x-

Cultists who believe in the Evernight... Upon hearing Snowman's words, the three present were more or less thrown into an awkward situation.

Klein, Audrey, and Leonard all had a certain relationship with the Evernight Goddess. One was a standard cultist who believed in the Evernight. The other wasn't only a cultist, but a quasi-high-ranking member of the cult, an elite team leader. The other was even worse—a Blessed of the evil goddess.

"Ahem... From the looks of it, the Church of Evernight appeared earlier than what the historical records stated. They can be traced back to a long time before the Cataclysm; however, it existed in the form of a secret organization." Klein cleared his throat and did a simple analysis, breaking the sudden silent mood.

Audrey pursed her lips and nodded. She continued guiding Snowman's dreams, letting him reveal the information related to the King of Angels in his subconscious. @@novelbin@@

Unfortunately, Snowman was only a Sequence 5 ascetic. He would be considered a quasi-High-Ranking member in the Fifth Epoch and would be able to come into contact with several important figures and historical secrets. However, before the Cataclysm, a Sequence 5 didn't enjoy such a status. He wasn't even able to enter the divine kingdom, so he naturally knew little about the Kings of Angels and the ancient sun god. What he knew was limited to what was written in the various religious canons.

However, Klein keenly noticed that he had mentioned something.

There were traces of the remnant giants in the Northern Ridge mountain range.

This mountain range's present name was Antares, and it was located within Feysac. It made it easy for him to associate this information with the people of Feysac claiming to be descendants of giants, how the God of Combat was a giant, and other information.

Seeing that there was no connection to the Kings of Angels, Audrey switched to guiding Snowman's dream into presenting what was most important and influential to him.

The majestic cathedral they were standing in began to shake as changes silently happened.

In just a few seconds, the cathedral's scale shrank. Outside was a square that had been renovated.

Snowman knelt in front of the cross and divine statue, his body bathed in pure sunlight.

A blurry figure in simple priest robes appeared beside him, speaking with a loud and solemn tone: "Are you willing to choose the path of an ascetic, to give up love, to distance yourself from indulgence, to not wield power, to train your mind, and to temper your mind, allowing you to approach our Lord by entering Heaven one step at a time?"

Snowman devotedly kissed the ground and said, "I'm willing to choose the path of the ascetic. I'll give up love, distance myself from indulgence, not wield power, train my mind, and to serve the Lord. It will be so forever and ever from this day forth.

"It will be so forever and ever from this day forth!"

The more Snowman spoke, the more resolute he became. In the end, he solemnly repeated his promise.

"...This is the one thing that left the deepest impression on him and has resulted in the deepest effects on him." Audrey turned her head and said to The World and The Star.

Thinking back on Snowman's past performance and recalling how he never gave up on his beliefs, nor stop his ascetic training despite being stuck in the book world, Klein nodded gently and sighed.

"He is a true ascetic."

Audrey retracted her gaze, and after guiding Snowman to present something that was more important to him, she returned to The World and The Star and said in a gentle voice, "There shouldn't be much left."

Klein glanced at Snowman and said, "Let's go to the next spot."

Inside a house in Pessote City.

Mobet, with his brownish-yellow hair, dark brown eyes, high nose bridge, and thin lips, was wearing slightly furry pajamas. He laid on a bed that was half high and half low, as he stared at the ceiling, muttering to himself, "Winter year is much colder than usual. It's starting to snow...

"Although it's almost noon, I don't want to get up at all...

"Siatas, why does an elf like you insist on sleeping in? You even pressed your hands and feet on me...

"I really miss being single. I could roll around freely in bed. Every comer will be mine, unlike now, sigh..."

On the bed, Elven Songster Siatas leaned her body sideways while sleeping comfortably. Not only did she occupy nearly half of the bed, but she also left a large amount of space on her side as her body clung close to Mobet. She left one arm and leg on him, squeezing Mobet to a corner of the bed, almost to the point of falling off.

After pulling up the blanket that was pinned down, Mobet sighed and closed his eyes, preparing to sleep again.

Then, he really fell asleep.

In his dream, he sat at the bar counter, alternating between sipping hard liquor and gulping down beers. He didn't return home as he claimed he would wait for Siatas to come begging him to return.

"Is this the aristocrat from the Fourth Epoch?" At the entrance of the tavern, Leonard glanced at Klein.

Klein gave a clear answer:

"That's right."

Hmm, Mr. Star's tone and actions suggest that he's more nervous than before... He seems to care a lot about this aristocrat from the Fourth Epoch... According to the information given by Mr. World, a certain person that Mr. Star knows might've seen the second Blasphemy Slate, and that's an extremely ancient divine artifact... Although I can't eliminate the possibility of seeing it in the Fifth Epoch, powerhouses of the Fourth Epoch are more likely to have a chance of coming into contact with such matters...So, this aristocrat from the Fourth Epoch is related to the person Mr. Star knows? Audrey grasped certain matters through fine observation and interpretation.

With this as a premise, she quickly came to a conclusion:

Mr. Star would step forward and suggest that he would guide the dream.

"As expected, the Fourth Epoch revered asymmetrical beauty, but such attire really made me uncomfortable." Leonard teased before looking at Miss Justice and The World Klein Moretti, "Let me do it this time."

"Alright," Audrey replied with a brisk tone and smile.

This was a development that Klein was happy to see. He naturally wouldn't stop it.

"That wouldn't be an issue."

Leonard then tugged at his collar and walked to the bar counter in a few steps. He sat beside Mobet and ordered a local Sangen beer.

He gulped and suddenly said, "You look like a member of the Zoroast family."

"Everyone here knows that. No, not just humans." Mobet took a sip of his alcohol and continued looking forward. Leonard smiled and shook his head.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm a student of Pallez Zoroast."

He planned to use this identity to pull strings and reduce any sense of reluctance Mobet would have, making it easier for him to continue guiding him.

Indeed, the person Mr. Star knows is also a Fourth Epoch aristocrat, a member of the Zoroast family... I wonder what level that person is... So Mr. Star is secretly a student of a certain important figure. No... He said that without complete confidence... A self-assumed student? Audrey validated her guess as her smile became more obvious.

After hearing Leonard's self-introduction, Mobet finally turned his head and sized him up. He scoffed and said, "Student?"

"More like the target of Parasitizing, right?"

Leonard's expression froze.

Target of Parasitizing... Uh... Although Audrey was mentally prepared, she couldn't help but twitch her eyebrows.

As for Klein, he had a hard time holding back his laughter.

Of course, he didn't believe that there was anything wrong with Leonard's identity as a student of Pallez Zoroast. If it were him, he would've said the same thing. It just wasn't right to directly mention that he was a Parasite's victim, right? And being friends appeared too distant, a disadvantage for any subsequent attempts to learn more.

The problem this time was that nobody expected Mobet to guess the truth.

After laughing twice, Mobet looked at Leonard's slightly stiff face and said, "You aren't a member of our Zoroast family, so how can you become Old Man's student? You can only be a target of Parasitizing!"

Having said that, he slowed down and said, "Don't worry. Old Man isn't too bad. He wouldn't really take over your body. After the Parasitizing is done, he will at most take away a few years of your life. You're still young anyway, so raising your Sequence would make up for it. Heh heh. Actually, most Beyonders can't live till the end of their natural lifespan."

"Why must he take a few years of my life?" Leonard subconsciously asked.

Mobet raised his glass and gulped down a mouthful. He replied in a daze, "Since you've already been Parasitized, something must be stolen, right..."

Leonard snapped out of his daze and asked in surprise, "You also call 'Him' Old Man?"

"Of course, we all call him 'Old Man.' Heh Heh. 'He' doesn't seem to object to it." Mobet suddenly sighed. "'He' is my great-grandfather, and I haven't seen him for a thousand years—no, 2,000 years..."

So the reason why Old Man tolerates me calling him Old Man is because it can remind "Him" of the beautiful past... I wonder if "His" direct descendants are still alive... Leonard suddenly felt wistful.

As for Justice Audrey, while she was finding the words "something must be stolen" funny, she was surprised at the word "He."

This represented that Old Man, Mr. Pallez Zoroast, was an angel!

Indeed... Audrey had expected this.

At this moment, Mobet sharply noticed a keyword and asked, "Also? Why did you say 'also'? Do you also call 'Him' Old Man?"

Leonard nodded seriously.

Mobet was instantly puzzled as he sized up Leonard again.

"Don't tell me you have the bloodline of the Zoroast family?"

"I don't know..." Leonard answered honestly.

Mobet shook his head.

"No, it doesn't look like that's the case. It might be that Old Man suffered a terrible blow and has changed to a certain degree."

That I know... Leonard pondered and said, "He was nearly killed by Blasphemer Amon. He hasn't recovered yet."

Groselle's Travels was currently above the gray fog. It didn't matter which deity's true name was mentioned in it, since it wouldn't be sensed; therefore. Klein, Leonard, and Audrey were free to talk about Amon and Adam.

"The powerful and terrifying ancestor of the Amon family..." Mobet's voice unconsciously lowered.

Leonard finally gained the initiative and asked, "The aristocrats of the Solomon empire are all very cold and evil. Why isn't the Zoroast family like that?"

-x-X-x-

Mobet glanced at Leonard and said in puzzlement, "They aren't that cold and evil..."

He raised his glass and took a gulp.

"Don't you know that the higher the Sequence, the greater the inclination is towards being cold and crazy? Which major aristocratic family in the Solomon Empire doesn't have an angel? That's why they're definitely different from normal people.

"As for the degree of coldness and evilness, it has to do with the choice of their 'anchor' and the traits of their Beyonder pathway. I don't know what my great-grandfather's situation is. I only know that he's very kind and amiable, and the way he speaks and acts is rather casual. @@novelbin@@

"In addition, the rules set by His Majesty have a key point-disharmony. If all the aristocratic families have the same style, 'He definitely wouldn't be satisfied."

The first reason given was something I expected, but the second reason is a little unexpected, but it's quite funny... Was the Black Emperor of the Solomon Empire trying to get 'Himself' diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder? Disharmony is actually a requirement... Without wearing too thick a mask, the corners of Klein's lips curled up slightly.

At this moment, Audrey turned her head to look at him and asked the same question that she had as Mr. Star, "Anchor?"

All of them knew that the aesthetic taste of the Fourth Epoch was disharmony and asymmetry and had considered it common sense, so they didn't think too deeply about why there was such an aesthetic style.

"To the deities, believers and faith are an anchor," Klein simply explained.

So that's the case... Mr. Fool also said that it's to stabilize one's condition... Audrey felt her sights broaden, allowing her to consider the relationship between the deities and believers.

At the same time, she thought in puzzlement, In the early stages of Mr. Fool's reawakening, "He" shouldn't have many believers. Back then, what was "His" anchor?

Leonard listened attentively as he couldn't help his expression from turning solemn. It was as though he had suddenly thought of many things.

He quickly focused his attention on Mobet. After some deliberation, he said, "What kind of an angel is Pallez Zoroast? What kind of habits does 'He' have?"

Hmm, Leonard is still very cautious. He still hasn't fully believed that the grandpa in his body is Pallez Zoroast. Yes, we can't rule out the possibility that the real Pallez has fallen, and that the one still alive is an imposter. To an angel of the Marauder pathway, such an action is rather normal... And to a secret existence, replacing a particular identity is equivalent to possessing that identity, so "He" wouldn't deliberately expose the truth...

Heh heh, on more important matters, matters that he's interested in, and those that involve his safety, Leonard is more reliable than I expected. If not for that, he wouldn't have realized that I was still alive back then... As for other matters, he's just too, too half-hearted. He's too used to using his past experience. It's not that he isn't intelligent, but rather that he can't be bothered to use it... Klein couldn't help but sigh.

Mobet was taken aback for two seconds before he drank a mouthful of hard liquor and said, "Old Man appears to be an ordinary elder at home. He's a bit naggy and likes to throw blows at his descendants, and enjoys life. If one didn't know it ahead of time, no one would've guessed that 'He' is a Sequence 1 angel. "'His' aesthetic style is different from His Majesty. 'He' is absorbed over categories and emphasizes cleanliness and tidiness... When facing enemies, 'He' is good at trickery and often likes to finish off 'His' enemies by making them break down..."

This is quite similar to how Old Man has acted to date... Leonard nodded and asked, "Do you have 'His' portrait?"

"How could I be carrying a portrait with me? It's not like I'm looking for anyone!" Mobet shook his head in amusement.

At this point, Leonard suddenly pointed to the side.

"Isn't that it!"

"Ah?" Mobet turned his head in confusion and doubt, only to discover that an oil painting had appeared in his right hand at some point in time.

As he picked up the oil painting, the content on it gradually became clearer, revealing an old man with dark brown eyes.

The man's hair was already completely white. It wasn't very sparse, and it was neatly combed to the back of his head. His forehead, the corners of his eyes, and the corners of his mouth didn't seem to have any wrinkles, not appearing too old.

It was obvious that he looked quite good when he was young. He looked quite similar to Mobet, but he exuded a rather solemn air.

I really can't tell that this is a Sequence 1 angel... Is this also because "He" didn't reveal "His" Mythical Creature form? Audrey tiptoed and looked at the oil painting.

After Leonard memorized the contents of the portrait, he mentioned a few relevant questions related to the Zoroast family and received a satisfactory answer. The only exception was the name of the potion names of Sequence 3 to 0. Mobet wasn't too sure either; all he knew was that Sequence 1 was apparently Worm of Time.

After ending this topic, Leonard asked about the Solomon Empire:

"In your era, what major aristocratic families are there in the Empire?"

"There weren't many families with dukes." Mobet put down his cup and spread out his palm. "Our Zoroast family, the Abraham family, the Zaratul family. In addition, although the Medici family and Lord Ouroboros didn't have any aristocratic titles, their standing wasn't worse than the major aristocratic families."

Every time he spoke, he would curl his finger, finally curling them into a fist.

Then, he smiled and said, "At that time, although Tudor and the Trunsoest were the most loyal angels under His Majesty, they were still ranked beneath us. They were on par with Augustus and Castiya."

The history of the Augustus family can actually be traced to the era of the Solomon Empire... While Audrey was surprised, she became even more focused on listening.

Leonard thought and continued asking, "In that era, what was the situation in the Northern Continent?"

"All living creatures submitted to His Majesty. Even deities acknowledged His Majesty's rule in order to fight against opposing factions." Mobet chuckled. "They' all have countries that belong to 'Them' in poorer places. In short, Evernight, God of Combat, and Death were at odds. The three deities of Storm, Blazing Sun, and Wisdom had a great conflict with each other. Earth's attitude was vague and unclear, but 'She' was more inclined towards the God of Combat. This made 'Them' unable to cooperate in a stable fashion, thus being unable to form an alliance to fight His Majesty and the True Creator."

At this point, Mobet sighed and said, "And precisely for the sake of balance, His Majesty didn't attack the Southern Continent, and allowed Death to unite the plains and the ancient forest to build the Balam Empire."

No, ultimately, the six deities came to an agreement. Hence, the Black Emperor perished, establishing the Tudor-Trunsoest United Empire... Leonard recalled Pallez Zoroast's mention of this particular phase of history and, for a baffling reason, felt how history was filled with vicissitudes.

At that moment, Mobet turned his head and looked at him.

"Do you have cigarettes?

"These little devils that came out from the True Creator's believers aren't bad at all."

Leonard immediately controlled the dream and conjured a cigarette before handing it over.

"Is this an improved version?" Mobet stretched out his right hand and snaked out a ball of fire from the kitchen behind the bar. He lit the cigarette and took a deep breath.

Seeing smoke coming out of his nostrils, Leonard asked curiously, "The True Creator's believers like to smoke?"

"That's right. Even Lord Medici would occasionally smoke a few sticks. Although it's just a habit for 'Him," Mobet answered without hiding anything.

Leonard nodded and asked, "Which deity do you believe in?"

"Of course, it's His Majesty. All the aristocrats in the Empire believe in His Majesty. Uh, other than Lords Medici and Ouroboros. They believe in the True Creator. Also, Duke Bethel Abraham might just be faking it. According to what I know, 'He' only believes in 'Himself," Mobet quipped.

Bethel Abraham... A thought came to Klein. He was about to signal Leonard to ask further when he heard the poet ask, "Is Duke Bethel Abraham very powerful?"

Clearly, the completely different behavior compared to the other aristocratic families in the Empire made this ancestor of the Abraham family stand out.

"Very powerful. Even Lord Medici and Ouroboros are afraid of 'Him," Mobet said as he puffed out smoke rings. "In the warring era, 'He' was publicly acknowledged as one of the angels most likely to become a deity."

"Warring era?" Leonard asked curiously.

Mobet looked at the slowly burning cigarette in his hand and said, "This isn't thrilling enough. Heh heh. The warring era refers to the time after the Cataclysm ended to the point when the Empire was established. It lasted about 112 years. Our Zoroast family's first angel perished in the warring era. Thankfully, we were helped by His Majesty before 'He' became a god; thus, we didn't lose the Beyonder characteristic."

"Who did it?" Leonard immediately asked.

Mobet shook his head.

"I'm not Sequence 4 yet, so there are many things I'm not qualified to know.

"Let's talk about Duke Bethel Abraham; I actually don't really know much about 'Him,' but I was very interested in their family and the Beyonder pathway they control. It's said that the Apprentice can wander the cosmos once they reach Sequence 2. Uh, there are also rumors that it's at Sequence 3."

Cosmos? Klein's pupils dilated slightly as he became more focused.

At this moment, Mobet continued, "They left behind lots of information regarding the cosmos, recording many interesting things. Unfortunately, I never managed to borrow them. However, I heard of the three laws that they concluded for wandering the cosmos:

"First, don't respond to any calls. Second, don't be reckless and approach unknown creatures or buildings. Third, endure loneliness."

It sounds like the cosmos is vast and dangerous... I wonder if the current Abraham family still has the travel notes related to the cosmos. I'll get Miss Magician to ask in the future... When Klein's gaze swept over, it happened to cross with Miss Justice's gaze that was directed at him. They immediately realized that the other party had also thought of Miss Magician.

Leonard did the same. He nodded slightly and asked about other matters.

During this process, the dream changed with Mobet's memories. Following that, they saw the appearances of Medici, Ouroboros, and other high-level figures.

Of course, as Mobet had few interactions with the Black Emperor and Bethel Abraham and didn't dare to look at 'Them' head-on, his impression of 'Them' was a blur.

Towards the end, Audrey grabbed both Klein's and Leonard's arms and jumped into Siatas's dream.

This Elven Songster was standing in the garden holding her stomach and frowning at Mobet.

"Can you steal the fetus in my stomach and stuff it into your body?"

"It can be done, but even if it's stuffed into my body, I won't be able to give birth to him," Mobet replied fearfully.

Siatas thought seriously and said, "Then steal the corresponding organs that are needed?"

"...If it's just the simple act of theft, then it might still succeed. But for what f-follows after, I'll be at my wit's end. This is beyond my capabilities..." Mobet said nervously.

The conversation between the human and elf left the trio dumbfounded.

After a few seconds, Audrey suggested, "...Why don't I do it this time?"

-x-X-x-

Upon hearing Miss Justice's suggestion, Klein thought for a moment and said, "Guide the dream towards matters encompassing the Second Epoch's history, the Queen of Calamity Cohinem, elf habits, and the most ancient language of the elves, as well as the legendary Western Continent."

"...Alright." Audrey's eyes moved slightly, revealing a thoughtful expression as she digested the information that Mr. World had said.

Then, she walked to the Elven Songster's side.

Under her guidance, Mobet's figure in the garden rapidly blurred as he vanished from Siatas's dream.

The ripples in Audrey's green eyes stirred once again as her lips quivered, as though she was reciting something.

Nas

The entire dream world began to shake as the garden was like a reflection of a lake that was smashed into pieces by an invisible stone that flew over from nowhere.

These fragments quickly gathered, but the scene that was restored was no longer a garden, but that of a palace made of coral.

Every detail in the palace was abnormally gorgeous. The entire structure was tall and majestic, but due to the layers of blue seawater, the sky couldn't be seen, making it appear dark and gloomy.

Inside it, coral pillars propped up an exaggerated dome, and the walls and the top of it were filled with terrifying murals of the storm.

Above the murals and corals, silver bolts of lightning followed a certain trajectory as if they were alive. Finally, they converged at the nine steps that were inlaid with pearls, diamonds, emerald, and turquoise.

Siatas was standing there, with many elves standing opposite her.

On the nine steps, there were two huge chairs that seemed to be formed purely of lightning. One of them occupied the center, just like the ruler of this palace. One of them was on its left, appearing less eye-catching.

Sitting on the throne in the middle was a man wearing a simple loose robe. His ears were pointed, and his facial features were rather soft and his hair thick. His hair was a mix of black and blue colors. Not only did his facial features look outstanding on their own, they combined together to form an even more handsome face. However, he directly gave one a tyrannous impression, as though he wouldn't say a word before picking up the electric spear leaning on his armrest, and then throwing it.

Sitting beside him was a beautiful woman with raven-black hair. Her hair was tied up into a high bun, her ears slightly pointed, and her facial features delicate. She had dark brown eyes that were as deep as the ocean, and in her hands, she was playing with a complicated golden wine cup.

Without needing Siatas's introduction, Klein and company could easily determine that this couple was the Elf King, the ancient god, Soniathrym, and the Elf Queen, Queen of Calamity, Cohinem.

"That traitor, Aurmir!" Suddenly, a voice resembling loud thunder boomed, causing the entire palace to shake violently. It made Siatas and the other attendants lower their heads in fear.

This roar came from the ancient god.

Aurmir, isn't that the name of the Giant King? I've recently been drinking red wine named after him. I have to say that its quality is indeed higher than anything else. It's just a little expensive... As Klein listened, he had a random thought.

He remembered that Little Sun had once said that Giant King Aurmir, Elf King Soniathrym, and Sanguine Ancestor Lilith-the three humanoid ancient gods—were allies. They fought against the opposing camp formed by Dragon of Imagination, Ankewelt; Phoenix Ancestor, Gregrace; and the Mutant King, Kvastir. As for the Devil Monarch, Farbauti, and the Annihilation Demonic Wolf, Flegrea, they were independent beings who wanted to subvert all order and corrupt all living beings.

So, the alliance of three humanoid ancient gods eventually collapsed? Klein reined in his thoughts and waited for the subsequent changes in the dream.

Due to Derrick's existence, Audrey wasn't unfamiliar with the history of the Second Epoch. Without any hesitation, she directly made Siatas's dream continue its development.

Despite the terrifying roar, Queen of Calamity Cohinem wasn't affected at all. With a cold expression, "She" calmly said, "Wasn't this already long confirmed?

"His' reputation is exactly the opposite of 'His' physical build.".

At that moment, the ancient god, Soniathrym, had already been enveloped by bolts of lightning. "He" said in a thunderous voice, "I thought that, after centuries, 'He' would understand the global situation even more. I've overestimated 'His' intelligence!

"If 'He' didn't sell out Lilith back then, how could 'She' have perished?"

Eh... The Sanguine Ancestor Lilith perished so early? Klein's eyelids twitched as he quickly focused his attention.

After the Elf King finished roaring, Queen of Calamity Cohinem maintained "Her" previous posture and said, "That's not a bad thing. At the very least, Kvastir and Flegrea were dragged to the grave together with Lilith. All the deities no longer trust each other. Even if we don't form an alliance, we can rule the ocean, lakes, and rivers."

Upon hearing these words, Spectator Audrey, couldn't help but feel alarmed. She had no choice but to use Placate on herself.

This... It means that the Sanguine Ancestor Lilith, Mutant King Kvastir, and the Annihilation Demonic Wolf Flegrea perished in a battle between ancient gods. So the betrayal of Giant King Aurmir and the other ancient gods had nothing to do with the ancient sun god?

This is why Lilith didn't fully die and is still able to occasionally deliver divine revelations? And because of this, the Antigonus Mother of the Sky and Hornacis mountain range managed to survive to the Fourth Epoch... Klein increasingly believed that the history recorded in the City of Silver had many fabrications or vague records. Thankfully, he hadn't completely digested the Bizarro Sorcerer potion and didn't need to consider advancing to Scholar of Yore. Otherwise, the "history" he used might not be real.

In ancient times, the Sanguine Ancestor Lilith and Mutant King Kvastir perished due to the other... The Sanguine has recently been working with the Mutant's temperance faction. Time sure is a great magician... Heh heh, if The Moon Emlyn were to know of this, I wonder what kind of expression he would have... The Star Leonard sighed as he thought.

As their thoughts raced, the ancient god, Soniathrym, scoffed and said, "Recently, Aurmir wanted to work with some secret sects that have sprouted from the humans to deal with us. Apparently, this matter is led by Harvest and Dawn.

"I'm even thinking of working with Ankewelt to destroy the giants and the Giant King's Court. Unfortunately, every time I see that dragon, I have the urge to string it up on a grill. It's a type of attraction that's simply irresistible!"

Just as he said that, the ancient god suddenly vanished. The entire palace shook violently, causing a rift to appear.

All of this had yet to subside when a bolt of lightning flashed. Soniathrym returned to the massive throne, holding a spear made of pure lightning

"You went to the Giant King's Court?" Cohinem asked.

"I taught Aurmir a lesson," Soniathrym answered without hiding anything.

Siatas and the other elven attendants lowered their heads even further. They faintly saw slippery tentacles that were thicker than their bodies flipping about on the ground, flashing with silver bolts of lightning. @@novelbin@@

Then, they shut their eyes.

The dream changed as Siatas "recalled" her interaction with other elves.

With their conversations and interactions, Klein, Leonard, and Audrey learned that Siatas lived in a relatively peaceful time period in the Second Epoch. The giants, elves, dragons, devils, and phoenixes coexisted, splitting up their rule over the Northern and Southern Continent, as well as the Five Seas. Vampires, demonic wolves, treants, sea monsters, mutants, and humans were vassals of the different factions, occupying the lower-middle classes.

"This doesn't resemble the history recorded by the Church. Even the legends in the City of Silver aren't like this." Leonard sighed when he heard that. "Old Man probably doesn't know this much."

"That isn't necessarily true." Klein shook his head indiscernibly. "Many existences in the Second Epoch have survived to the Fourth Epoch, or even to this very moment."

"For example the Wisdom Angel?" Leonard asked with a guess.

"Perhaps." Klein didn't give an affirmative answer as he said with a smile, "When you were talking to Mobet, I thought you would make Miss Justice stand further away."

Leonard immediately shot a glance at him and yawned.

"You mentioned before that there's an existence behind me that might've been seen the second Blasphemy Slate. Then, when I was conversing with Mobet Zoroast, wouldn't she be able to make the connection from me getting her to stand further away?

"Besides, you also mentioned that back when dealing with all of Amon's avatars in Backlund, part of the clean-up operation involved Miss Justice. To a Sequence 5 Spectator, what she knows is sufficient. Once she understands the Zoroast family's matters, the truth is practically in front of her eyes. In that case, why waste time trying to avoid her. It's too troublesome. I might as well get Mr. Fool to be a witness as everyone vows not to divulge each other's secrets."

Klein nodded slightly and said, "If you were to get Miss Justice to stand further away, it wouldn't be easy for you to bring up the matter of making a vow to keep things a secret..."

At this moment, Siatas continued, "After the death of the Sanguine Ancestor, the Annihilation Demonic Wolf, and the Mutant King, some of 'Their' subsidiary gods were killed, while others surrendered to other ancient gods. There were a few who vanished as they hid in the shadows."

Having "transformed" herself into an elf, Audrey immediately asked, "Who surrendered to who? Who died?"

Siatas recalled and said, "I've never even seen it before. Uh, the Sanguine's Goddess of Life and the Mutant King's God of War were killed. No one even remembers 'Their names... The Annihilation Demonic Wolf's God of the Dead, Salinger, came under the Phoenix Ancestor. The Sanguine's Goddess of Beauty, Auernia, came under us... The Mutant King's God of Spiritual Creatures, Tolzna, and Annihilation Demonic Wolf's Goddess of Misfortune, Amanises, vanished..."

Salinger... Auernia... These two names made Klein's forehead twitch. He instinctively used his Clown powers to maintain his facial expression.

Auernia was the Blood Moon Queen, the wife of the Fourth Epoch's Emperor, the Empress of the Trunsoest Empire!

As for Salinger, "He" was the founder of the Balam Empire, the Emperor of the Underworld – Death!

-x-X-x-

This...The Second Epoch's subsidiary gods truly are hidden powers. There was Dragon of Wisdom, Herabergen,and there's God of the Dead, Salinger. They were all powerful figures that even reached the throne of Sequence 0. Of course, I can't be sure about the Dragon of Wisdom. It's just quite possible...

Yes, and there's the God of Dawn, Badheil, and the Goddess of Harvest, Omebella. I can't rule out the possibility that "They" have lived quite well all the way to the Fifth Epoch... I wonder if the God of Spiritual Creatures Tolzna and the Goddess of Misfortune Amanises managed to evade the authority retrieval operation by the City of Silver Creator at the end of the Second Epoch. If "They" managed to escape that fate, what roles did "They" play in the Third and Fourth Epoch? After a moment of shock, Klein began thinking poignantly.

Thinking back to the betrayal of the Kings of Angels in the Third Epoch, he couldn't help but lampoon:

You have to be careful of fire, theft, and subsidiary gods!

At that moment, Audrey, who didn't know much about the subsidiary gods' true names or authorities, didn't show any perturbations in her emotions. She acted as different female elves in Siatas's memories, and she constantly talked to her about her experiences and things she knew about the Second Epoch.

According to Siatas, in the history of the elves, there was no concept of the First Epoch or Second Epoch. In the beginning years that were unknown to her, it was chaotic, dark, and crazy, and it didn't leave behind any texts. After the supernatural races obtained a certain level of intelligence and had their own languages, creatures finally had some knowledge of history.

In that era, ancient gods appeared one after another. The sky, the land, the sea, and the underground world slowly changed from disorderliness to orderliness. However, other than the tyrannical and crazy ancient gods, no one knew how many years this stage lasted. She just knew that, very, very long ago, it was referred to by the major supernatural races as the "Sprouting Era."

After the "Sprouting Era" was the "Early Era of Fire" in which the eight ancient gods fought against each other in different camps. This was also a long time before Siatas's birth, so she could only understand this from the elven historical records that it was a time when quasi-humans fought non-humans, resisting the corruption and intrusion from the devils and demonic wolves. Amongst them, the humanoids were the giants, elves, Sanguine, as well as their slaves.

The "Early Era of Fire" lasted different periods of time according to the different records. However, a common point was that it lasted less than a thousand years, as the essence of the ancient gods was madness, tyranny, cruel, and cold. They were often driven by their instinct.

After the Sanguine Ancestor Lilith, Mutant King Kvastir, and Annihilation Demonic Wolf Flegrea perished during the betrayal, the "E3rly Elm of Fire" ended, and the war broke out "The world was damaged, and it didiVt stop for centuries.

Due to the fact that the giants and dragons were relatively strong in this period of time, they were known as the "Dual Era."

By the time the five races formed a new balance of powers, the Northern Continent, the Southern Continent, the East Continent, and the Five Seas had recovered some level of peace. This was when Siatas was born and had grown up in until she entered Groselle's Travels.

In the history that she described, there were two important points. First of all, it proved the existence of the East Continent, a place where the Giant King's Court was. Second, after the "Sprouting Era," the supernatural races had their own kind of civilization. They weren't completely irrational as their descendants believed them to be. Of course, the inclination towards tyranny, cruelty, coldness, and slaughtering still existed, as though they were all in a half-state of losing control. It was only after the "Dual Era" that the new generation of elves and giants gained some level of rationality. They had feelings just like Siatas and Groselle.

The East Continent seems to be the Forsaken Land of the Gods... It was abandoned during the Cataclysm? Similar thoughts surfaced in Klein's, Leonard's, and Audrey's minds.

They were very interested in this, but it was a pity that Siatas had always lived in the Elf King's court. Their occasional forays outside were limited to parades at sea. She had never been to the East Continent, and she lacked the required knowledge.

Under Audrey's influence, Siatas's dream began to show the traditions and language of the elves.

According to the legends that the Queen's attendant had heard of, Elvish was created by the king in the "Sprouting Era." Every word was produced with the birth of a first-generation elf. The number of Elvish words meant the number of first-generation elves.

However, the traditions of the elves weren't too unified. They relied heavily on their surroundings—the elves in the forests and the sea were undoubtedly different in all kinds of customs.

What they shared in common was that they believed in the king, who was an ancient god, and "His" queen. They liked to make food with the blood of their prey. Many of them had culinary methods such as roasting. Even sea elves often came up to the reefs for a bonfire party. They were close to nature and were good at using all kinds of spices. They idolized the strong, and they were proud of being quick to act before thinking...

With myths and reality mixed together, it's hard to tell what's real and what's fake... Their traditions have destroyed my previous theories... Klein listened with a stoic expression as he quickly analyzed every word Siatas said.

After figuring out the relevant matters, Audrey circled around the keyword of the West Continent and made Siatas's dream change. It reflected some of her subconscious memories.

The coral palace appeared before Klein and company again. Siatas followed behind Queen of Calamity Cohinem and walked to a crystal window.

She glanced at the Queen's exquisite and complicated dress, and she stole a glance at the "deity" who controlled calamities. She asked curiously, "Your Highness, are you looking west?"

To the elves, as long as they didn't feel the pressure of violence, they would ask questions on the spot.

"Why do you think so?" Cohinem didn't turn back as "She" asked with an indifferent expression.

"I just learned of a legend that our elves originated from the Western Continent," Siatas replied. "Your Highness, does the Western Continent really exist? Is that really where the first-generation elves were born?"

Cohinem's lips curled slightly as she said with a slightly ethereal voice, "The Western Continent may exist, but it may not exist either. Every race needs to give themselves an illustrious origin, a home for the mind.

"Siatas, where is your home to you?"

"My home?" Siatas repeated the question as she replied blankly, "It's where His Majesty and Your Highness are. It's this palace that can lead to the forest where my parents live..."

As she said this, Siatas's emotions gradually turned heavy, lost, and melancholic.

It was obvious that she was influenced by her subconscious's corresponding memories.

She had entered Groselle's Travels and had been away from home for two to three thousand years.

"Therefore, to elves like you, the Western Continent doesn't exist, but to some elves, it definitely exists." Queen of Calamity Cohinem calmly gave her final answer.

Siatas didn't ask further, because she suddenly remembered that the Queen wasn't a first-generation elf.

Such a response made Klein increasingly confused and puzzled. Thankfully, from the Second Epoch to the Fifth Epoch, the Western Continent had zero presence, so it didn't have any important secrets related to him. He was just trying to find out more about it and hadn't held out much hope.

After ending the guiding of Siatas's subconscious and since it was almost noon, without any other nearby dreams that they could leap into, Audrey left with Klein and Leonard, and they appeared in Mobet and Siatas's bedroom.

Looking at the Fourth Epoch viscount whose body had been tightly bound by the elf, Audrey's expression suddenly turned gentle as she said with a laugh, "They seem to be doing pretty well..."

"No, no, no, it's terrifying to have such a violent, direct, and imaginative wife who dares to take action! Only a person like Mobet would like and enjoy being with her..." Leonard, who didn't have a poet's talent but had the liberal inclinations of a poet, shook his head as he kept his hands in his pockets.

At this point, he muttered in thought, On the contrary, it's true that an experienced thief needs a woman like Siatas to rein him in. Hmm... I wonder what kind of members of the opposite sex Old Man's other family members like...

"Sigh, they don't need our envy or objections. This is how they live together. Emperor Roselle once wrote a poem, saying 'for my love I'll sacrifice my life[l]'..."

As Klein listened to their discussion, he opened his mouth and closed it again. He didn't tell them that Siatas and Mobet had actually died. It was only when they died that they truly felt their love for one another. The ones living in the book were just copies created by the book world.

After leaving the couple's house, the trio headed to Groselle's blacksmith shop.

Along the way, when they went past a street, Klein saw Frunziar, who was known as a philosopher, and Audrey recognized him to be Loenese a glance.

"Is that the soldier from a hundred years ago?" Audrey slowed down her pace and asked.

Klein recalled Frunziar's longing for his hometown, and the ashes he had placed in Backlund's cemetery. He fell silent for two seconds before nodding gently.

"Yes."

Mr. World is feeling a little emotional... He's like a calm river on the surface, with a lot of undercurrents and eddies underneath... Audrey nodded indiscernibly and asked, "Can we enter his dream? I want to get the Judge and Disciplinary Paladin's potion formula."

"No problem," Klein replied as he glanced at Leonard.

Leonard continued having his hands in his pockets, but his eyes instantly darkened.

Sitting on the bench, Frunziar fell asleep.

Right on the heels of that, three people appeared in his dream.

This was a bustling city with buildings made from wood. The pedestrians who came and went were mostly Loenese.

The black-haired, blue-eyed Frunziar stood outside a house as he looked in without daring to approach. Only when a woman wearing an old long dress came out from inside did he excitedly go forward and attempt to hug her.

His hug went through the woman without them making contact at all.

Frunziar stood rooted to the ground as he blankly shouted, "Mother..."

Audrey, who wanted to guide the dream, quietly watched this scene. Then, she looked around and discovered the iconic clock.

"Backlund..." Audrey pursed her lips and turned her head. She looked at Klein and asked, "Can't they leave the book world?"

"It's been too long. If they leave, they will grow old, die, or even be reduced to dust." Klein's voice was like a serene river. "I delivered one of Frunziar's items to Backlund."

This... As a Spectator, Audrey acutely sensed the cruel reality behind those words. She couldn't help but raise her head and look out of the dream, looking at the location where Mobet and Siatas were.

Leonard wanted to ask what it was, but after looking around, he maintained his silence.

Following that, Audrey seriously guided his dream. Outside of obtaining two potion formulas, she made Frunziar return home and live happily with his parents, brothers, and sisters.

It was a beautiful dream.

After leaving Frunziar, Klein, Leonard, and Audrey quickly saw Groselle's home.

This was the last stop of their exploration. After obtaining information from Groselle's subconscious, they would enter the book world's sea of collective subconscious and seek out the secrets that might exist in this book.

[1] Adapted from a Hungarian poet, Sandor Petofi's Liberty and Love.