Upon glancing at the silent Cattleya, Klein suddenly felt a little awkward.
He didn't speak again as he turned and jumped off the boulder. He walked into the black cloister through the half-opened door.
In the square surrounded by a gloomy tower and the buildings, there were remnant fires from a war. Gigantic arrows were embedded in the ground, with the end of their shafts softly wobbling from the wind.
Frank Lee was still digging and planting something, but there wasn't food by his feet anymore, but a pool of flesh and blood.
"What experiments do you plan on performing on them?" Klein, who walked past, couldn't help but ask.
Frank smiled in excitement.
"Plenty!
"For example, all I need is one ox that can satisfy the meat requirements of an entire ship. Every time a piece of meat is sliced off, it will regrow new flesh again!"
... Why is it oxen again? Klein was momentarily unable to provide a response. All he could do was silently draw the crimson moon inwardly.
Along the way, he encountered Navigator Ottolov, who was reading on the ground; Nina, who was almost taking off her clothes due to her inebriation; Heath Doyle, who was hiding silently in the shadows of a corner, before arriving at the hall filled with murals.
At some point in time, Anderson Hood had conjured a reclining chair and was leisurely lying on it, observing the extremely religious and holy murals on the dome.
"Sigh, we're finally about to leave these cursed waters. It will just be another two noons and nights!" Seeing Gehrman Sparrow enter, the Strongest Hunter sighed from the bottom of his heart. "As long as we successfully leave this area, then I'll no longer need to worry about any remnant problems."
Klein originally wished to ask him to shut up, but since he was talking about himself and no one else, he couldn't be bothered. He asked in passing, "Are you from Intis?"
"Barely. My father is from Intis, and my mother is from Segar," Anderson answered, with the full intention of having a chat.
Klein continued taking a few steps forward.
"Then, do you believe in the Eternal Blazing Sun, God of Steam and Machinery, or the God of Knowledge and Wisdom?"
Anderson's expression suddenly turned a little odd.
"My faith was originally in the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, but their priests are too despicable. Just because I failed my examinations, they ignored my ordinarily handsome face and treated me as a ret*rd. Pui! I'm just better at other topics. My intelligence is in no way lacking! My eye for aesthetics and my basic foundation in drawing has always been excellent! Heh heh, before becoming a hunter, my dream was to be an artist.
"Of course, after coming to the sea, my faith is more or less in the Lord of Storms."
Upon hearing Anderson's description, Klein suddenly thought of a joke*—a priest from the God of Knowledge and Wisdom might make such a statement: "He failed his examinations? This child is hopeless. Just bury him."*
He was about to lead the conversation into Anderson's life as a hunter, as he was the only person apart from Queen Mystic who could communicate with him normally in this dream world when he suddenly heard the sound of a door creaking open.
In the depths of the hall of murals, there was the sound of a door opening!
Anderson just mentioned about successfully leaving these waters... Klein felt an inexplicable urge to facepalm himself as he focused his gaze on the source of the sound.
Following that, he saw a man in a short linen robe running out from the depths of the hall of murals and towards them.
The man had luxuriant raven-black hair, but he had wrinkles on his face, as though he had suffered plenty of hardship.
Saint of Darkness Leomaster! Leomaster's good side! Klein recognized the man, and he immediately discovered a tall figure surface in the depths of the hall of murals.
The figure was dressed in thick and heavy black full-body armor. His eyes emitted a deep redness.
He held a huge sword as he chased after Leomaster.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
His metallic boots hit the ground repeatedly, releasing clear and hurried sounds.
It's the real Leomaster! The main persona of the Saint of Darkness!
Klein saw the two approaching figures as he instinctively turned to the side and quickly retreated.
He immediately held himself to the hall's wall before realizing that Anderson Hood had leaped up from his reclining chair at some point in time, clinging close to the other side of the wall.
Sensing Gehrman Sparrow's gaze, Anderson grinned, returning a smile that meant "so you are the same as me."
Who's the same as you? This isn't cowardice. If you weren't around, I would've taken out the Sea God Scepter and fought the Saint of Darkness! I've always been considering what would happen in the real world if I were to help the good Leomaster kill the main persona in the dream...
Yes, there are crewmembers from the Future outside. If Leomaster's main persona really goes mad, Queen Mystic will definitely take action...
It shouldn't be a coincidence that these two fellows left their own dreams and came here... Both parties are already very close in the real world? Perhaps someone had directed the good Leomaster over. Queen Mystic? Many thoughts flashed through Klein's mind.
Leomaster, who was dressed in short linen robes, saw the two men ahead. He had wanted to cry for help, but in the blink of an eye, he discovered that the two of them had escaped to the two ends of the hall, as though they didn't wish to partake in any of this.
"..."
He desperately ran as he rushed out the hall of murals.
The redness in the armored Leomaster's eyes darkened. He continued his pursuit, completely ignoring Klein and Anderson who were clinging close to the mural walls.
By the time they left the hall, Klein, who had some theories in mind, didn't hesitate to take a stride forward and rush out like a hunting leopard.
"..."
Anderson raised his right hand and grabbed at thin air, failing to stop Gehrman Sparrow in time.
"This guy was still rather rational a moment ago. Why did he suddenly go mad? He discovered something? What a strange person..." Anderson looked at the square outside, hesitated a few seconds, and finally chose to follow.
They chased all the way out the black cloister, and they arrived in the region where the Admiral of Stars was. Klein saw the linen-robed Leomaster circling around the boulder to escape his evil counterpart. Then, he took the opportunity and faced the shadow of the Giant King's Court on the opposite mountains, praying softly with ancient Hermes, "The Lord that created everything;
"You are omnipotent and omniscient..."
After making another circle, the good Leomaster continued chanting,
"You are the source of everything great. You are the Beginning and the End;
"You are the god of gods. You are the ruler of the vast astral world!"
With the honorific name spoken, the sea of clouds that separated the two mountains suddenly stirred before slowly splitting apart and revealing a deep crevice at the bottom.
The shadow of the Giant King's Court on the opposite side suddenly sucked up the frozen dusk that was extremely distant!
However, nothing happened after that.
Klein seemed to figure out something as he turned his head to look at the buildings near to the black cloister's door. He saw that, behind a clean floor-to-ceiling window, the beautiful but distant Queen Mystic Bernadette was watching everything that was happening in silence.
She was indeed the one who made the good Leomaster escape from his dream and arrive here... Since a Listener from the Aurora Order was able to bring Little Jack into the Forsaken Land of the Gods, it doesn't make sense that the Saint of Darkness isn't able to do so! When there's no path ahead, and with him seeing the shadow of the Giant King's Court, Leomaster's split personality will definitely wish to escape into it. Hence, he demonstrated the way to enter the Forsaken Land of the Gods to the person observing in secret... Klein retracted his gaze with great certainty.
As for why Leomaster didn't succeed, he believed it was because—he wasn't in the right location!
He needs to be deep in those waters, and he needs to find a particular spot that is surrounded by danger and strangeness. Then, only by chanting the honorific name of the City of Silver's Creator in the dream brought about by the night, will the passage that's hidden in the shadow of the Giant King's Court be opened? Following that, one can enter with the aid of a dream, bringing one's body and ship to transmigrate through the fog that mixes reality and illusion, so as to reach the shores of the Forsaken Land of the Gods? Klein thought of certain possibilities.
To him, the method of entering the Forsaken Land of the Gods wasn't something he needed to care about. If he wished to do so, once he advanced to Sequence 4 and truly obtained a certain level of godhood, he could get Little Sun to set up a descent or bestowment ritual for him to directly descend!
However, if he used this to reverse engineer the way to leave the Forsaken Land of the Gods, it would be extremely useful. This was priceless for the City of Silver!
From the looks of it, the key to leaving the Forsaken Land of the Gods is really in the Giant King's Court, but as to what it is, there's no way of guessing it... Amidst his thoughts, pea vines rapidly grew out from the soil, instantly turning the area outside the black cloister into a green forest, and it also forcefully separated the Saint of Darkness's main persona and the good persona.
Then, Klein saw through the gaps of the pea vines that Cattleya had stood up. She was no longer sitting there hugging her knees.
...
Sizzle!
Derrick first did a roll before he jumped up, cleaving down at the giant's leg which was covered in short, black hair. Stimulated silver lightning smote down, causing the single-eyed monster to tremble as he stood rooted to the ground.
Derrick didn't miss this opportunity as he immediately opened up his arms.
Bright and pure holy light descended and enveloped the mutated giant.
In the brilliance, the monster collapsed with a tragic cry as its body produced black fog.
After a series of battles, Derrick discovered that the monsters produced by the strange Afternoon Town were all afraid of intense light despite their different traits.
Such an experience had allowed him to avoid injuries, allowing his teammates to keep their lives.
After a while, when Colin finished the strongest monster, Afternoon Town was restored to its silence. All the lit candlelights were already extinguished.
The Chief of the six-member council surveyed the area before saying with a sigh, "Let's regroup before we set up camp."
At that moment, the teams that had gathered together had already been reduced to a third. There were only six people!
Colin Iliad's true goal was actually the Giant King's Court, but their encounter in Afternoon Town had made him realize that the exploration couldn't be done in haste. This was because the Giant King's Court might hold deep secrets about the cataclysm, with unimaginable danger. Therefore, he needed half a year or more, perhaps even two years of preparation and preliminary explorations before he could attempt opening it.
