They had successfully forged a portal to a Dream Realm.
Soon after, Major General Thomson, the Knight Commander in the duchy’s forces, and Gilbert, a Third Order Spirit dium and Adventurer Captain, entered the indigenous tribe under the leadership of Taggart, a Second Order Black Witch.
The grotesquely shaped Totem Pole at the entrance had already been felled by the Black Witches in advance. The dim Divine Light on it indicated that the Guardian Spirits within had likely t an unfortunate fate.
The trio walked straight into the spacious longhouse in the center of the village, which originally belonged to the chieftain. On the ground lay the chieftain’s family, scattered haphazardly. Several adults were clearly Beast Spirit Warriors, originally having the characteristics of tuna, with sharp and pointed noses like spears; now, their exposed skin was also covered with dense Barnacles.
"In theory, there shouldn’t be an intersection between the collective Dream Realms of different Species," Gilbert explained. "This ti, by leveraging the coral disease’s transformation of the Human Species, it was possible for two collective Dream Realms to ’dock’ like two great ships. The longer one stays in the Dream Realm, the deeper these natives will touch the collective Dream Realms of Ocean life, which becos increasingly dangerous. For safety’s sake, I will only make a shallow pass through the Dream Realm this ti. Whether I find anything or not, I will return within half an hour."
Wasting no ti, Gilbert, the Third Order Spirit dium, laid out his plan and then imdiately took out a bag of white quartz powder, the most compatible with the Dream Realm, and drew a pentagram on the ground. In each of the five points, he placed ritual candles of red, blue, yellow, green, and black, corresponding to the elents of Fire, water, air, earth, and the Fifth Elent, spirit. This was the most commonly used Anchoring thod in all Mysticism rituals, symbolizing the Material World.
After lighting the candles, he took out five bottles of plant essential oils with different symbolisms and dripped a drop onto the fla of each ritual candle. Deerhoof herb, symbolizing Guardian, healing, and Demon Break; wormwood for psychic Power and Guardian; Sandalwood for Guardian, healing, exorcism, and Divinity; Artemisia for psychic Power, foresight in dreams, and projection of starlight; and White Acorus for Summoning spiritual bodies.
WHOOSH—!
A cold gust carrying the scent of essential oils swept through the longhouse, opening a hazy door to the Dream Realm.
Spirit dium Gilbert lifted a bone Shepherd Flute and began to play. As the sound of the flute resonated, his Spirituality began to fluctuate violently, and soon three Spiritual Bodies erged from his chest. They were two burly Knights in armor and a Navigator holding a Whale Oil Lamp.
The temperature in the room continued to drop, breath visible as white mist.
This was the Third Order Spirit dium professional ability "Soul Herding":
It can be used to herd others, as well as oneself. Conventional Spirit diums, when herding the souls of other Transcendents and borrowing their abilities, usually offer to resolve their greatest lingering regrets as compensation. After serving for a certain number of years, they are allowed to pass on to the realm of the dead. So Spirit diums also compel souls by coercion, but this can potentially give rise to malevolent spirits or even Fallen Evil Spirits. If such a spirit breaks free from control, it might turn on its master at the first opportunity.
This Adventurer Spirit dium, Gilbert, obviously belonged to the forr category. He nodded to Major General Thomson, saying, "I’m about to enter the Dream Realm. Keep my body and the ritual candles safe, as they are my beacons of return. If anything happens to my body or the candles go out, I might get lost in the deep Dream Realm forever, never to return. Rember this!"
Major General Thomson slapped his chest in assurance, "Rest assured. Besides us, there are three hundred valiant and battle-hardened soldiers from the duchy’s Marines. Nothing will go wrong."
"I Hope so."
A chilling breeze swept by. Gilbert’s soul left his body and, along with the three Transcendent souls he was herding, vanished into the candlelight of the ritual candles.
「Ti ticked away, second by second.」
The soldiers and Supernatural Officers outside all held their Firearms ready, ensuring that not even an insect could crawl in to disturb the ceremony.
However, no enemy appeared. Instead, the clear Sky suddenly filled with gathering storm clouds. Just after the Spirit dium had entered the Dream Realm, thick clouds surged in from all directions, obscuring the Sun within minutes and turning day into Dark Night.
In the Bantaan Archipelago, the rainy season lasts from April to November, and storms always co unexpectedly.
CRACK—!
A massive bolt of Lightning, as if splitting the entire Sky, suddenly tore through the dense clouds, branching out like tree limbs for hundreds of kiloters in every direction. The purple-red bright flash lasted for a good five or six seconds, completely illuminating the dark sea and islands beneath the clouds.
In an instant, CRASH...
Accompanied by flashes of Lightning and peals of thunder, a storm that seed capable of swallowing the sea itself poured down like an endless silver-white waterfall. It instantly reigned over the entire Bantaan Archipelago and the Sapphire Sea, stretching thousands of kiloters.
"This rain couldn’t have co at a worse ti," Major General Thomson frowned, but could only reluctantly order the soldiers to take shelter from the rain in a nearby longhouse. Though it was the tropics, prolonged exposure to rain could still make even the sturdiest of soldiers severely ill.
It seed unlikely that there would be an invasion in such weather.
But what went unnoticed was that, as the torrential rain turned the dry land environnt to sothing closer to the Ocean, the Ocean creatures growing on the natives’ bodies began to release a fine white fog. It not only filled every longhouse in the tribe but spilled out of the rooms, unaffected by the heavy rain, and spread throughout the entire village. The rain-shrouded, isolated tribal village beca dream-like and hazy.
Soon after the soldiers took shelter in the houses to escape the rain, "AHHH—!"
A harrowing scream pierced the curtain of rain, emanating from a nearby house into their ears. The soldiers who had been taking shelter together scrambled out of the house in a frantic dash, rushing towards the longhouse where the Major General and the two others were.
"General, save us!"
"Enemy attack—! There’s an invisible enemy."
But it was completely in vain! Screams, bloodshed, and scattered entrails turned the short path of escape into a grueso slaughterhouse.
Major General Thomson, his eyes about to burst, could not see the shadow of the enemy, only the suddenly appearing claw marks on his soldiers’ bodies, as if made by sharp talons. Then one by one, they fell into the muddy water on the ground. But he needed to protect the Spirit dium and couldn’t abandon his post. Even though so brave soldiers tried to fire back, not only was the gunpowder soaked in the storm, but they also couldn’t see where the enemy was.
It wasn’t until the last soldier died with his belly ripped open, falling tragically re seven or eight ters from Thomson, that he finally, through the puddles on the ground, vaguely saw an ethereal figure that didn’t seem to belong in this world.
It wore a dark brown top hat and a red and green horizontally striped knit sweater. One of its right hands was a tal claw, sharp as blades, and its whole body exuded an air of severe malnourishnt and gauntness. Especially horrific was his face and the exposed skin, covered with grueso scars from severe burns, enough to silence crying children.
And this distinctly morable appearance also triggered a mory the Major General was very reluctant to recall. It was the most Fear-inducing entity related to Dream Realms in the mories of most Silver Continent people—the Curse Spirit: [Nightmare on Banyan Street’s Killer Kruger]!
User Comments
0 comments from readers