What the old bishop said was beyond everyone's wildest imagination. No one said a word for half a minute. Finally, it was Hao Ren who broke the silence. "You mean, Fidelinopolis has disappeared?"
"Ninety percent of the city has disappeared. Only the circular area closest to the sacred mountain of Asurmen, the side of God's Will, remains, including the Basilica Icon and a few other palaces. Due to the obstruction of the power of Chaos, the scouting team we sent out could not get close enough to investigate. But from the outside, we can confirm that the holy light of the Basilica Icon has been extinguished, and there is no sign of life in the building. "
Calaxus could not help but gasp. "Goddess!"
The high-ranking bishop clenched his fists involuntarily, and then loosened them while spasming. It was obvious that the shocking news had caused him to lose his composure, causing him to feel at a loss as to what to do.
Only Hao Ren, who had always been a third party, could still ask, "Did you send anyone out to explore after that? Are there any remnants of the city around Fidelinopolis? Are there any survivors in the wilderness? Maybe these can tell us what happened. "
The old bishop shook his head helplessly. "Of course, we've thought about what you said. But the Nightmares' repeated attacks have exhausted the remaining priests in Louen. It's already a miracle that we're able to defend this cathedral. How could we possibly have the energy to send a second team? In fact, the first team had already caused a lot of casualties. At that time, we had the idea of breaking out of the encirclement and asking for help from the sacred city. But now that Fidelinopolis has disappeared, it is impossible to send out a new team. "
Hao Ren glanced at Calaxus, who was still in shock and grief. But the high-ranking bishop managed to calm himself down with his extraordinary willpower. "We must go to Asurmen immediately. Mr. Hao Ren, do you have a plan?"
Until now, Calaxus had not forgotten the edict he heard from the pope before he set off. He firmly believed that Hao Ren, the "miracle" from the Cassouin Grand Temple, was the hope to save Asurmen. Even if the situation worsened, he still believed so. It was almost the only reason that kept him going. Now that Fidelinopolis had mysteriously disappeared, he needed a pillar of faith to support his actions.
However, Hao Ren did not answer immediately. He thought for a while and suddenly asked, "Hierarch Holtzman, did Fidelinopolis cut off all contact with the outside world before the chaos completely engulfed the land?"
He heard a suspicious detail in the old bishop's description, and could not help but pursue it.
The old bishop nodded.
"Fidelinopolis had not 'disappeared' at that time?"
The old bishop continued to nod. "It should be so. The light from the sacred city could still be observed at that time, and divine divination could also confirm the existence of the sacred city. It was just that all communication channels had been cut off."
"That is to say, at least before the first nightmare, Fidelinopolis was safe and sound. But it was completely sealed at that time, and then it mysteriously disappeared. No one knows what happened in the process."
Calaxus looked at Hao Ren, puzzled. "What do you think?"
Hao Ren said, "I suspect that someone cut off the communication between Fidelinopolis and the outside world. This person can only be the ruler of the city."
"His Holiness the Pope? That's impossible, "Calaxus said immediately." Why would he do that? "
"There are many reasons. Maybe he was being controlled, or he was trying to protect the sacred city, or maybe he was trying to protect other cities. Maybe he was trying to stop some kind of evil force from spreading through the divine connection between the cities." Hao Ren raised his eyelids. "I didn't say anything else."
Hao Ren looked at Lady Gloom, who was standing in the corner without saying a word. "Lady Gloom, what do you want to say?"
This woman had said that she had a great mission to go to Sanctum. But now that she was in Sanctum, she was silent like a puppet as if this place had nothing to do with her. Hao Ren was curious and wanted to hear what she had to say.
Lady Gloom seemed to be daydreaming. She only woke up when Hao Ren called her again. Lady Gloom's hood moved, and her hoarse voice came out. "Before going to Asurmen, I want to see what the people in the nightmare are like."
Hao Ren and Calaxus looked at Bishop Holtzman. The old man nodded happily. "Of course."
The surviving priests of Louen had been trapped in the cathedral, but they had never given up on finding a way out of the predicament. So the study of the Nightmare phenomenon had always been ongoing. They had found the people in the nightmare and brought them to an annex behind the cathedral, trying to find a way to cure the nightmare and reverse the erosion. But so far, they had not made any progress.
Hao Ren and his team saw the people of Louen in a deep sleep. There were a dozen of them, lying neatly on both sides of a long room. Several assistant priests were taking care of these "living corpses." The whole room looked like a morgue.
This building was originally a clinic attached to the cathedral.
The people who were infested by the Nightmare of Chaos looked no different from ordinary people. They just lay quietly, breathing extremely slowly, but their heartbeat and other vital signs were normal as if they were in a normal sleep. Some unknown tubes extended from their bedding and were connected to the metal equipment next to the beds. Milky white halos and runes floated in the equipment. These seemed to be the medical equipment used by the Church based on the power of divine spells.
As the old bishop had to stay in the crypt to preside over the situation, Father Bernstein, who had received them before, once again acted as a guide and an interpreter. He explained the situation of the sleeping citizens. "This is what happens to people who fall into a nightmare. They look no different from normal people, but their souls wander in the gap between reality and illusion. Their physical bodies lie here, but the shadows born from their spiritual world wander in the city outside. It's like their souls have left their bodies, but normal summoning magic or tranquilizer spells won't work."
Lady Gloom walked slowly among the 'living corpses,' checking the condition of one or two of them from time to time without saying a word.
Hao Ren could not help but ask, "Did you find anything?"
"Their souls have fallen into the 'other side,'" Lady Gloom whispered. "The ones wandering in the city outside are not their souls, but the phantoms refracted from the 'other side.' They are more illusory than the soul and weaker than the dream. However, those illusory shadows are a huge threat because they carry the aura of the 'other side'. This is the precursor to the prisoner breaking free and passing through the barrier. The more those shadows move in the real world, the weaker the barrier will be, and the more aura will leak out. This will greatly accelerate the collapse of the prison. "
Hao Ren did not expect Lady Gloom to talk so much. He was suddenly confused by her words. He stared at her and asked, "Can you translate it into the common tongue? What is the 'other side'? "
Lady Gloom raised her hood slightly. "The other part of Collow that has been folded, the prison of eternal exile, the Forgotten Abyss where Lockmarton is imprisoned."
Father Bernstein, who was standing behind Hao Ren, gasped.
"You mean these people who are trapped in the nightmare are actually sucked into Lockmarton's prison?" Hao Ren stared at Lady Gloom. "Then their actions in the prison are projected into the real world and become the shadows that wander in the city?"
"Exactly."
Lily could not help but poke Lady Gloom's cloak. "Hey, how do you know so much?"
"I will confess everything when we get to Asurmen, but now is not the time."
Lily rolled her eyes. "It's up to you."
Hao Ren looked at the sleeping citizens and gently touched Lily's arm. "I don't know what this sleeping phenomenon has to do with the nightmare monster you caught."
"Do you want to bring it over and ask?" Lily's ears flickered. "It can communicate normally the last time. But most of the time, it can only speak. It doesn't seem to respond much to outsiders. "
Father Bernstein keenly heard the word 'monster' and immediately asked, "Nightmare monster? Have you caught the culprit that caused the nightmare? "
"We caught it in the Ansu Continent. The attack on the border of the Kingdom of Taros was related to that monster," Hao Ren explained briefly. "We were not sure about the situation in the city, so we arranged for people to imprison the monster in the woods outside the city. We can bring it over at any time."
The priest became nervous. "Outside the city? Guarded by people? Will there be an accident? "
The dark magic in the land of Sanctum was rampant. Although the forces of Chaos had been temporarily forced out of the barrier, the minions of Chaos had infiltrated everywhere. The city was not safe, let alone the wilderness outside the city, which was far away from the protection of the temples. So the priest was shocked.
Hao Ren smiled and said, "It won't be a problem. They all have divine artifacts on them."
Of course, it was a divine artifact. Each person had a tuft of dog fur.
But maybe Hao Ren's luck was not good today. As soon as his voice trailed off, his communicator suddenly lit up.
After the communication was connected, a panicked cry was heard. "Awooo, awooo, awooo, awooo …"
While Hao Ren was puzzled, Lily snatched the communicator. "Send someone who can speak human language!"
There was chaos on the other side of the communicator, and then a church knight hurriedly said, "Alpha, something is wrong with the monster!"
Hao Ren really wanted to slap himself in the face. What a slap! He could not say anything just now.
"What's wrong?"
"It is … evaporating!"
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