Bard stood quietly in this vast and deathly silent underground space. His nerves were tense and his eyes were solemn.
The communication device fixed to the buckle of his armor was still emitting a hollow howl.
Even if he did not understand the principle of this device, from the perspective of magic, he could tell that this was the result of the communication spell being completely blocked. But when did this happen?
The crystal was still emitting a faint light, and the runes on the surface of the device were still operating normally. This "normal" scene had caused him to let down his guard, and he wasn't even sure when the communication had been cut off. Perhaps he had been in this strange and dark place for too long. The Cecil people on the surface probably couldn't see the images he sent back, right?
Bard took a deep breath and slowly calmed his nerves. He did not rashly make more attempts to call or move forward. Instead, he cautiously took a step back and prepared to go back the way he came.
He might have been blocked, or the communication spell might have failed because he was too far away. If it was the latter, he should be able to solve the problem by going back the way he came.
But as soon as he took a step back, the scene in front of him suddenly changed.
The dark and cracked meeting hall suddenly lit up. The bright magic crystal lamps illuminated the entire hall as bright as day. The huge cracks on the ceiling and nearby walls had disappeared without anyone noticing. The shattered stone tables and chairs on the floor were also intact. In the suddenly restored meeting hall, dozens of figures in robes and skirts were sitting around the long table. They were in the middle of a tense and serious meeting.
Bard heard voices coming from around the long table.
"There's a problem with the pseudo-god's body. We can't control it. This is an unexpected change …"
"How's the Grand Hierarch?"
"She barely escaped from the pseudo-god's body. She's seriously injured and is resting, but her consciousness has recovered."
"What about that monster?"
"It's temporarily trapped down there. It shouldn't be able to break free in a short time. Patriarch Bertilla is trying to find a way to make it go back to dormancy. "
"Fortunately, the situation still has a chance, as long as we …"
Bard's muscles were tense as he stared at the strange scene in front of him. Just as he took a breath, he saw the scene in the council hall suddenly "shake." The figures sitting at the table seemed to have changed their posture or position in an instant, and the topic of their discussion also changed.
"… The great hierarch ordered the suspension of the awakening of the pseudo-god's body and requested that all the data in the process of the project be sorted out again."
"According to the current situation, the information from the wasteland was wrong. Fortunately, we discovered it in time …"
Bard's vision blurred, and the scene in the hall changed again. This time, there were fewer figures gathered than before. They were actually discussing how to rebuild the church after successfully destroying the body of the false god that had gone out of control …
He finally understood what he was looking at.
In this "council hall," things that had never happened in the real world were constantly surfacing. All the scenes had one thing in common: if the crucial project had not gone out of control, if the preachers who were carrying out the ritual had discovered the flaw in time, if everything had been fine, if everything could still be salvaged …
He looked at the figures gathered around the long table and realized that he was deep in a dream formed by obsessions. In this dark and deep underground, in the deepest part of the roots of the giant tree, the priests of the end of all things who had participated in the ritual to awaken the pseudo-god's body and were devoured to death were entrenched here. Bard had unknowingly fallen into the dream they had woven together!
Bard realized that he was in great danger because dreams were always something that ordinary Extraordinary powers could not resist. No matter how strong one was, as long as one was completely trapped in a dream, unless one was a master in the field of mind, the ordinary Extraordinary would be powerless no matter how strong they were. The reason why the Eternal Sleepers were so terrifying was that they had mastered such power. As for Bard, he had probably missed the best time to "awaken".
What was more fatal was that the flow of time in the dream was often disproportionate to the outside world. He did not know how long he had been in the dream, nor did he know how long he would continue to wander here. Perhaps only a moment had passed in the outside world, but he would be trapped here for hundreds or thousands of years. Before he woke up, his soul would die in the dream.
In his panic and fear, the scene in front of Bard's eyes suddenly shook again. This time, he found that his perspective had shifted from the entrance of the hall to the side of the long table. He was sitting at the long table in the council hall. In front of him was a simple and heavy stone table, and beside him were the dignified preachers …
As a mid-level priest, he was not qualified to sit at the table and participate in the meeting. He had looked forward to his own promotion and imagined what it would be like to sit in the council hall as a preacher. But now that he was really "sitting here", he felt a chill in his heart.
The worst had happened — he was assimilating with the dream.
He began to dream.
…
On the surface, Gwen and the others had been waiting quietly for ten minutes, but the picture sent back by the magic network terminal still did not change at all.
On the picture, there was a room full of runes. In the room, there were two strange black pillars shining with magic light.
An emergency rescue team had already arrived near the entrance. The Druil were also preparing to cast spells on the roots of the giant tree to try to connect and confirm Bard Wendell's situation through the resonance of life forms. But Gwen had not yet issued an order, so everyone was waiting.
The situation below was complicated and strange. Taking the next step rashly could lead to more damage. Besides, Gwen was trying to deduce what had happened to Bard from the still picture.
The communication device was worn near Bard's collar. Because it was a delicate product made by Egg Nicholas himself (who did not have a hand), it was very sensitive and could record and transmit very subtle movements.
After amplifying the sound, Gwen could clearly hear Bard's steady and long breathing.
This breathing proved that Bard was still alive, and … it could also reveal some other information.
"He's asleep …" Gwen frowned and said with some uncertainty, "Although it's not obvious, he's snoring."
The surroundings were a little quiet, and the atmosphere gradually became strange.
But Amber felt that it was reasonable. "It's not unimaginable. After all, it's said that he used to laze around in the prison of Monolith City. He also mastered the unique skill of using boogers to prolong his detention. I'm in awe of him. It's understandable that such a person could fall asleep while exploring the underground ruins …"
Gwen silently glanced at Amber. Although he did not say anything, the half-elf lady felt that Gwen's eyes were showing concern for an idiot …
She suddenly wanted to jump up and hit Gwen's elbow, but she did not dare to.
Before Amber opened her mouth to complain, Gwen reminded her, "He should be dreaming."
"You can tell if a person is dreaming from his snoring …" Amber did not react at first, and even subconsciously muttered half a sentence. But before she finished, she understood what Gwen meant. "Wait … Dreaming?! The kind of Eternal Sleepers?! "
The people present were not stupid. After Gwen's reminder, almost all of them reacted. The female Knight Marguarita, who had personally led a team to clear out several cult nests in the country, suddenly had a stern expression on her face when she thought of the strange and dangerous power of the Eternal Sleepers. Beside her, Pitman stroked his beard and frowned. "Now that you mention it … it's possible …"
After all, this old man was a double cultist who had freeloaded in the canteen of both the Eternal Sleepers and the Endgame. He could be considered a veteran of the Two Realms. When he said this, Gwen immediately felt that his judgment should be confirmed. In the nest at the root of the giant tree, there was an invisible dream, and Bard Wendell had fallen into it.
"But how is that possible?" Pitman had a puzzled look on his face. "This is the Endgame's nest, and they don't have dream technology …"
Gwen frowned slightly, and suddenly remembered what happened when he was building the sentry tower on the Great Wall.
He accidentally encountered members of the Endgame during the dream connection, and among them was Bertilla, who should have died seven hundred years ago …
The Endgame had dream technology in their hands, and even if they did not have the technology, they must have the relevant equipment. Among the three dark cults, aside from the behavior of the Storm Children, the other two cults had always been close in private. It was normal for the Endgame's nest to have the creations of the Eternal Sleepers.
Pitman, as a surviving member of the double cultist cult, did not think of this at first. It seemed that the old man's intention to join the cult was not sincere, and he was most likely just there to make a living.
Pitman raised his head in confusion. He did not understand why Gawain was suddenly looking at him and sighing at the same time.
Gwen did not explain anything. After speculating about the situation underground, he had a general plan, and this plan was much safer than sending people down there.
"I'll see if I can pull Bard out," he said to the people around him. "This process requires concentration, you guys be on the lookout."
Amber reacted quickly this time. "Oh, you're going to 'meditate' again, right? I'm good at guarding … "
…
In this endless, obsession-driven dream, repeating the pathetic self-deception of a loser, Bard could not remember how many times he had reincarnated.
He sat at the unchanging table of the head of the council. The bright light illuminated the hall, and the preachers sat around the table, discussing the changes in the situation and the follow-up plan.
Bard was also speaking. He did not know why he was sitting there, but his mouth opened and closed on its own, saying some sentences he had never thought of:
"… The missionary work in the eastern part of the continent is going well. We are already there …"
From time to time, people around him would speak, and they were all familiar faces. Bard looked at these people and felt calm.
But he vaguely felt that he should not be so calm. He was here … for a mission.
What was the mission?
The scene in front of him suddenly shook. A round of meetings was over, and a new scene was quickly generated. In this mixed dream formed by a large number of obsessions, the leader was constantly changing, and so was the theme of the dream. Bard Wendell himself was just one of the dozens of consciousnesses in this dream.
He sat down at the long table again and felt his Adam's apple moving up and down as if he was about to speak.
But a hand suddenly rested on his shoulder, making him tremble.
A long-lost sense of clarity suddenly surged into his mind, and a large number of memories that seemed to have been forgotten for a century suddenly ran out, together with the nervousness and fear before completely falling into the dream. But before Bard had time to sort out the content that reappeared in his mind, he heard a dignified and steady voice from behind him. "Are you awake?"
Compared to this terrible dream, this sudden voice almost made Bard jump up in fright. He stood up abruptly and turned his head to see the tall Gwen Cecil standing behind him.
For a moment, the feeling of being in a trance came again, and he could not distinguish between reality and dream.
Gwen spoke again, and his voice seemed to have some kind of power that could wake people up in the dream. "Stay awake. You are still in the dream, but your consciousness is awake. As long as you don't have unnecessary doubts and associations, your spiritual body is safe."
"Dream? Oh, right, this is a dream … "Bard blinked, slowly shaking off the aftereffects of the terrible dream, and gradually regained his ability to think. The next moment, he finally realized the strangeness of Gwen's appearance here." Wait a minute, this is a dream … Then why are you here … "
"I'm still up there. I'm talking to you with my consciousness now," Gwen casually explained, and then looked around the chamber. The 'meeting' in the chamber was still going on, but to him, it was like a comedy. "Interesting, I didn't expect there to be a dream at the root of this giant tree …"
Bard looked at Gwen in astonishment. He had vaguely realized that this dream was probably related to the 'technical exchange' between the Eternal Sleepers and the Universal Endgame, so at this moment, he was particularly shocked that Gwen directly projected his consciousness, and he could not figure out how the other party did it.
This might be Gwen Cecil's secret.
And now, he had come into contact with this secret.
Bard's heart trembled, and he became more cautious.
Gwen noticed the change in Bard's expression and roughly knew what the other party was thinking, but he did not pay attention to it. Instead, he turned his head and looked at the entrance on the other side of the hall with interest.
A new body appeared in the dream, and a figure was emerging there.
After seeing the outline of the figure, Gwen raised his eyebrows.
Bertilla Augustus walked into the hall.
[Bookmark for easy reading]
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
