Chapter 123: The “Seabed”

Chapter 123: The “Seabed”

The giant biting down on a human leg, its single vertical eye full of blood vessels, did not truly exist. In essence, it was an intense emotion produced by one—or perhaps several—living beings.

This emotion, born from an impression of extraordinary depth, had entered the subconscious. From the island of its own mind, it had spread into the surrounding illusory “ocean,” gradually settling down and becoming a brand. Not every emotion or consciousness could ultimately settle in this way. The overwhelming majority would be worn away by time or scattered by the “seawater.” Only the kind that was exceptionally powerful, or that appeared again and again, could remain.

And once it became a brand—once it became a drop within the collective subconscious sea—it could then influence the surrounding members of the same species in reverse, becoming an ancient “memory” shared by them, engraved into their bloodline.

Therefore, the mythical creature form shown by this illusory giant figure was not only insufficiently clear; many parts of it had been wrongly filled in by subjective consciousness. Under normal circumstances, it should not have rendered Leonard and Audrey unable to look straight at it, with their spirituality falling into disorder and their minds collapsing. However, the madness that came with it, and the extreme fear whose source was unknown, had become almost tangible. It could infect the Mind Body, Astral Body, and even Spirit Body of every living being!

This was the essence of the dangers within the collective subconscious sea. It did not originate from strength, level, or status themselves, but from the emotions and sensations created and branded by them.

Of course, if one encountered a “brand” left behind by a high-level creature or some deity, then one truly could directly see one or several mythical creature forms. The result, however, would definitely not be good: either mental collapse and immediate madness, or complete contamination by the emotions and sensations of that deity or high-level creature. As for what one would become afterward, no one could predict in advance.

In short, here, within this collective subconscious sea, the way one fought was different from the outside world. Sometimes, the more urgently one tried to destroy an illusory figure, the more likely one was to be infected through the emotions that were stirred up.

Precisely because of this, the moment Klein saw the grayish-blue giant, seven or eight meters tall, charge at them, he immediately seized control of his own emotions.

Then he used an illusion.

The targets of this illusion were Leonard and Audrey.

In the eyes of these two Sequence 5 Beyonders, the giant, as tall as a two- or three-story house, no longer carried that mad, brutal feeling that made one tremble from the depths of one’s heart. It seemed ordinary and unremarkable.

Thus, before the true contamination of extreme sensations reached them, Leonard and Audrey remained very calm and showed no emotional fluctuations.

Immediately afterward, Leonard stuck one hand into his pocket, extended his right hand forward, and slightly opened his mouth.

He had originally intended to command the first spirit that, after he became a Spirit Warlock, had been sealed onto his tooth with the archbishop’s help—the Fright Banshee. This was a powerful spirit-world creature with a beautiful face, a rotting body, and a pair of enormous eagle wings. It was skilled at sucking away another person’s consciousness and instilling emotions of fear. However, he soon remembered that he was now not only in Astral Body state, but had also undergone the cleansing of the gray fog. How could there possibly be another spirit inside his “body”?

Having no choice, he switched to using a Requiem’s ability. His emerald-green eyes became deep and shadowed.

The giant’s illusory figure immediately slowed, and its emotions seemed to be soothed to a degree.

At that moment, Audrey also calmly and peacefully spread her arms slightly and used Placate.

An invisible wind blew past. The giant’s illusory figure froze, and the infection it exerted on its surroundings weakened considerably in an instant.

During this process, Klein took out the bronze-green cross covered in spikes. While opening the bottle that contained his own blood and pouring a few drops onto it, he spoke with a solemn expression:

“Light!”

Dazzling, pure, flawless radiance erupted. As Klein’s black windbreaker swayed slightly, the light drowned the giant’s illusory figure.

Almost without any resistance, that grayish-blue giant swiftly melted away and disappeared.

One of the Unshadowed Cross’s main abilities was to erase or purify residual mental imprints!

This was precisely why Klein had brought this Sealed Artifact with him.

And while using the cross from the ancient Sun God, Klein released the illusion, allowing The Star, Leonard, and Justice Audrey to directly “see” the giant’s true appearance, thereby increasing their experience and giving them firsthand knowledge in this area.

Although it lasted less than a second before the giant’s illusory figure was overwhelmed by boundless light, Audrey and Leonard still felt dizzy. Irrepressible terror surged from deep within their hearts, and their minds nearly collapsed.

This did not last long. Audrey instinctively used Placate on herself, calming her emotions. Then she treated the psychological issues of Mr. Star and Mr. World in turn.

“That truly was frightening… So this is what a demigod-level giant is like?” Once the radiance faded, Justice Audrey looked around and sighed sincerely.

In that instant, her understanding of a certain phrase deepened even further:

“Do not look directly at God!”

Even a Saint-level demigod, reduced to a residual image in someone else’s memory, could not be directly perceived or “seen,” much less a true deity.

Leonard was experienced as well. He laughed self-deprecatingly.

“Sequence 4 is indeed the level at which life undergoes a qualitative change. However, that fear just now was merely so-so. It still wasn’t as intense as what I felt back when I faced a pregnant woman.”

Are poets all braggarts by nature? At that time, you could still control yourself. Just now, you were already close to collapsing… However, if Megose had successfully given birth to that child, we probably would have collapsed and lost control into monsters just by taking a single look… Klein inwardly grumbled about Leonard while feeling somewhat wistful as old memories were stirred.

“Was she a demigod pregnant woman?” Audrey asked with no small amount of curiosity.

“No,” Leonard shook his head. “But what she carried was the offspring of an evil god.”

So that was it… Audrey asked no further, because she knew very well that the adventure and exploration had not yet ended. Wasting time was not wise.

She immediately looked toward Gehrman Sparrow, who wore a black windbreaker and held the bronze-green cross and metal bottle. Revealing a slight smile, she said,

“Thank you for influencing our senses just now.

“Mm. Where should we go next?”

As an experienced Spectator, from the contrast between before and after, it was not difficult for her to determine that Mr. World had helped them just now.

Klein restrained the unconscious movement of wanting to furrow his brows. He looked left and right and said,

“Does this collective subconscious sea not have a core region?”

“No.” Audrey shook her head seriously. “Wherever there are living beings, there is a collective subconscious sea. There is no such thing as one place being nobler than another. This illusory sea does not truly surge. The circumstances in different regions mainly depend on the surrounding environment. We call this the ‘sedimentation effect.’ Simply put, the collective subconscious sea within Loen differs greatly from that of Intis, because what primarily settled there were the strong emotions and sensations of generations upon generations of Loenese people. In turn, this also influences the people of the two countries, causing them, to some degree, to possess different temperaments or personalities…”

After briefly explaining, Justice Audrey gave her conclusion:

“Since that is the case, how could there possibly be a publicly recognized core region of the collective subconscious sea?”

Klein nodded and asked thoughtfully,

“In other words, you cannot provide any effective suggestion as to where we should go?”

Mr. World is so direct… If this were any lady or gentleman with a more fragile heart, they would certainly feel embarrassed now, as though they had been hurt… As Audrey’s thoughts shifted, she saw The World, Gehrman Sparrow’s dark-brown, nearly black eyes. They were not at all mad, nor were they cold. They were calm and profound.

This… Audrey immediately understood. Mr. World was deliberately behaving in this way to let her personally experience all kinds of minor problems that could arise in a joint operation, so that she could accumulate more experience.

“Yes,” she admitted frankly, not at all embarrassed.

Klein nodded inwardly and then looked toward The Star, Leonard.

“Do not look at me. My domain lies in dreams, not in this strange collective subconscious sea,” Leonard immediately said, waving his hand.

Compared with Miss Justice, he had participated in countless joint operations and knew very clearly that one absolutely should not force oneself when one should not.

“Then follow me.” Klein withdrew his gaze, passed the Unshadowed Cross—which had once again become stained with bronze-green—into the hand holding the metal bottle, and took out a gold coin.

Cling!

As the gold coin flipped through the air, he caught it in one hand. Without looking at the result, he distinguished the direction and began walking.

This is divination… Audrey came to a sudden realization.

Looking at The World, Gehrman Sparrow’s stern and calm profile, and at his figure in a black windbreaker, silk top hat, and carrying a bronze-green cross, she inexplicably had the feeling that he resembled a missionary.

Leonard, meanwhile, naturally recalled something from the past.

It was the first case he and Klein had worked on together: searching for a kidnapped child. Back then, Klein had also used “divination” to lead the way, while he had followed beside him.

Compared with that initial immaturity, he is now so skilled it feels as though he has already been in the mysterious world for more than ten years… Sigh. In truth, it has only been a little over a year… Leonard kept both hands in his pockets, following slightly behind Klein with a trace of emotion.

Audrey glanced at him and detected the change in his emotions.

Mr. Star and Mr. World are not merely acquaintances in reality. They are very likely quite good friends—the kind who have met rarely during the past year or two… While forming this judgment, Audrey did not slow her steps. Combining what she had learned, she observed the details of their surroundings and distinguished which places might hide “whirlpools” or have “dangerous creatures” lying in wait.

With her assistance, Klein led the way very smoothly. They did not directly encounter another brand like the “giant’s illusory figure” from before.

Sometimes they walked straight; sometimes they turned. After an unknown length of time, the view before the three suddenly opened wide.

What appeared before them was an “abyssal trench.” In the center of that trench lay a city the size of an island.

The city’s foundation was grayish-white. Upon it rose one grand stone pillar after another, dozens or even over a hundred meters tall. Some stood alone and lonely; others together supported ancient, towering palaces. As a whole, the city was both strange and magnificent, not something ordinary creatures could have built.

Although Audrey did not recognize this city, one thought instantly emerged in her mind:

“City of Miracles, Levished…”