Chapter 109: The Place of Slumber

Chapter 109: The Place of Slumber

On a battlefield near the capital of Lenburg.

Under the lead of a flaming javelin, clusters of compressed crimson fireballs crossed a stretch of ground strewn with corpses, weapons, blood, and gunsmoke, landing in an area where crude fortifications had been built and setting off a chain of explosions.

Watching smoke billow upward and firelight spread, Anderson dusted off his hands, turned his head toward the adjutant beside him, and said with a smile,

“No idea how much longer we can hold out… Do any of you have any last words you’d like to leave behind? I can help write your wills.”

As he had wished, he saw the furious gazes of the “soldiers” around him. Their thoughts were remarkably united.

Yet the “soldiers” did not act. Their gazes gradually settled, shifting one after another toward other places.

“You actually didn’t respond to my provocation.” Anderson raised a brow. “That means you’re planning a conspiracy.”

Before the adjutant and the “soldiers” could answer, the Hunter smiled and continued,

“You’re planning to surrender, right? You want to use that to protect your family and friends?”

Seeing one gaze after another snap toward him, Anderson clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“You haven’t been Beyonders for very long. It’s only because war broke out, allowing you to harvest potion main ingredients from enemies, that you’ve become Hunters, Provokers, and Pyromaniacs one after another. But when it comes to conspiracy, you’re still far too tender.

“I’m actually curious. Why didn’t you try persuading me to surrender with you? I don’t think I usually behave with any great firmness, and I’m not a believer of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom either.”

At this point, Anderson thoughtfully glanced at his adjutant.

“Did I completely enrage the high-ranking people on the other side, making them give orders that my surrender is not to be accepted?”

The adjutant remained silent for several seconds before saying, “Since you already know, why ask?”

In a single sweep, the nearby soldiers raised their right hands, aiming their palms at Anderson in perfect tacit agreement.

“If I didn’t ask, how could I confirm that everyone was thinking the same thing?” Anderson laughed without the slightest panic.

His left hand rubbed his stomach while his right slipped into his pocket, searching for something unknown.

Just then, the sun high in the sky suddenly swelled, becoming impossibly vast. Blazing golden sunlight shone down, making Anderson and the others completely unable to open their eyes or form any extra thoughts.

Immediately afterward, an illusory tower appeared. Each of its floors was made from thick books, and on every book was a brass-colored eye. The higher the tower rose, the darker it became, and the more it brimmed with madness, destruction, ill omens, disaster, and similar auras.

That tower extended into the sky, as if circling the entire world within itself—including that enormous sun.

…

Backlund, inside the luxurious villa of the Odra family.

All the Sanguine in the metropolis had gathered here, preparing for the result of the war that was about to arrive.

Emlyn White, who had become an earl, stood beside the window with both hands in his pockets. Bathed in light where twilight and night intertwined, he watched his fellow Sanguine uneasily discuss current affairs.

Suddenly, his spirituality was stirred, and he turned his gaze outside the window.

In the garden, clumps of withered yellow grass regained a lush blue-green color and grew rapidly. Before long, they had already reached the height of a person.

Elsewhere in the city, along parts of streets unaffected by the earlier bombardment, trees wildly absorbed nourishment from some unknown source. Section by section, they shot upward, soon becoming tens of meters tall, with thick branches and leaves like umbrellas.

These giant trees connected to one another, half covering Backlund’s sky.

Many buildings were forced apart by them or entangled by branches, leaves, and vines, as though they had been abandoned for decades or even centuries.

In only seven or eight seconds, many areas of Backlund had become a primeval forest.

…

After passing through the open doors and entering the darkness inside the Giant King’s residence, Klein immediately paid attention to the Silver Knight marionette in front of him, the Staff of the Stars in his right hand, and Creeping Hunger on his left palm.

For the moment, none of them showed any mutation, and the corresponding Spirit Body Threads revealed no signs of degeneration.

Only after confirming this did Klein turn his gaze to his surroundings and examine the environment.

The place was submerged in darkness so dense it seemed almost tangible. Beyond five meters, nothing could be seen. The ground was made of grayish-white stone slabs, each as though frozen with twilight. Nothing on the level of the supernatural was revealed.

After thinking for a moment, Klein, whose mouth corners were lifted, reached into the void and made a grabbing motion, attempting to summon an angel here.

In the next second, he burst into laughter, because his connection to the fog of history had become indistinct and unclear.

So this was why the historical projections he had previously summoned lost contact after entering this region.

Laughing as he went, Klein abruptly turned around and walked back toward the place from which they had entered.

“Mr. Wo—Mr. Sparrow, what are you doing?” Derrick asked, slightly stunned. He had also been examining what restrictions had fallen upon him.

With a radiant smile, Klein replied, “Now isn’t the right time to explore this place. I plan to come in again later.”

“You intend to summon a historical projection at Sequence 4 level and test whether it will degenerate or betray you after being brought in?” Colin Iliad asked thoughtfully.

Klein spread his left hand. “No one ever said that once you enter, you can’t leave, or that once you leave, you can’t enter again.”

Although Mr. World’s words sounded a little strange in such a situation, Derrick still felt they made a great deal of sense. After all, when the City of Silver explored its surroundings, they did the same: through one entry and exit after another, one experiment after another, they gradually accumulated information and details, eventually resolving the problem.

Lovia said nothing and expressed no opposition. In her view, being able to make more preparations was unquestionably a good thing.

In an exploration concerning the future of the City of Silver, one absolutely could not be impatient.

After walking back a few steps, Klein suddenly stopped and laughed aloud.

“It seems the master of this place doesn’t want us to leave.”

The faint specks of light that represented the doorway had already been swallowed by deep darkness and had vanished.

Colin Iliad looked around. “Then we can only move forward.”

Seeing the Chief and Mr. World turn at the same time, Derrick inhaled, raised his left hand, and made rings of golden radiance blossom from it, illuminating the surrounding darkness.

One enormous pillar after another, each so large that five or six people could not wrap their arms around it, had portions revealed. Some had only outlines drawn out; others remained hidden in the depths, faint and indistinct.

Derrick withdrew his gaze, preparing to move forward with Mr. World and the Chief.

At that moment, however, the corner of his eye failed to catch another familiar figure.

Derrick’s pupils abruptly dilated. Then, not too hastily, he turned his head, searching for Elder Lovia, who had stood beside him only moments earlier.

The demigod who believed in the True Creator was gone! She had vanished without a sound!

Klein and Colin Iliad noticed Derrick’s abnormality at the same time. Their gazes swept toward that spot, and they discovered that Lovia, dressed in a black robe patterned with purple, had disappeared without the slightest movement—as if she had evaporated into thin air.

Even with the spiritual intuition of a Seer and a Demon Hunter’s ability to scout the environment, at such a short distance, neither had detected when Lovia vanished or by what method she vanished.

The curve of Klein’s smile widened slightly. Without hesitation, he turned his thoughts and let his spirit body enter above the gray fog, merging with the crimson phantom at The Fool’s seat.

Immediately afterward, he cast his gaze toward the crimson star symbolizing The Sun, hoping to use True Vision to find clues.

However, everything remained blocked by that deep darkness. Nothing appeared, exactly as Klein had predicted before entering the Giant King’s palace.

Without time to think further, Klein immediately returned to the real world.

In the span of those mere two or three seconds, only Derrick and the Silver Knight marionette remained beside him.

The Chief of the City of Silver, clad in silver armor, had vanished as well!

“What happened just now?” Klein asked with a warm smile.

Derrick looked at him, stunned, bewildered, and visibly alarmed.

“Didn’t you see it?”

The moment he finished speaking, the shadow beneath Derrick suddenly came alive. It rapidly stretched upward, wrapping him and the sunlight he emitted within itself.

Once the shadow had completely covered Derrick, it merged with the surrounding darkness, becoming indistinguishable from it.

Klein had raised the black cane, intending to stop the mutation from happening, but in the end, he did nothing. He merely watched with a beaming smile.

A few seconds later, standing in the deep darkness, he noticed that his own body was turning black and fading, as though being dissolved by the environment.

Klein likewise made no effort to save himself. With mouth corners raised and head swaying slightly, he simply watched.

After his figure vanished completely, his field of vision changed at once.

The darkness was gone. The grayish-white stone slabs, the surrounding walls, and the massive pillars appeared clearly, all veiled by a layer of shadow neither too thick nor too thin.

Outside the windows there was no sun, no moon, and no stars, yet pale light still spilled in, making the entire palace appear eerie, dim, and desolate.

At the deepest part of the palace stood a very faint layer of shadow, like a curtain.

Lovia, Colin Iliad, and Derrick, who had previously vanished, stood not far away, cautiously observing the surroundings as though they had come to another world.

“A pity. My marionette couldn’t enter.” Klein lifted the Staff of the Stars in his hand and smiled at Derrick and the others.

His indifferent attitude, along with the Chief’s usual calmness, quickly soothed Derrick’s emotions. He was no longer quite so frightened or panicked.

Colin Iliad nodded faintly and was just about to voice his conjecture when he suddenly sensed something and turned toward the deepest part of the palace.

Klein, Derrick, and Lovia made similar movements, one after another.

At the deepest part of the palace, that faint layer of shadow collapsed and vanished, revealing tier after tier of steps meant for giants, and at the top of those steps, an iron-black throne.

Upon the throne sat a man with shoulder-length black hair that curled slightly. His eyes were shrouded in shadow, and his exact appearance was exceedingly blurry, impossible to see clearly. Behind him, layer after layer of illusory black wings drooped down, covering most of his body. His robe was deep black as its base, wound with silver threads, inscribed with complex patterns, and hung with magnificent accessories.

At that moment, the man’s left elbow rested on the armrest. His palm supported the side of his face.

He seemed to be asleep.