In front of the grayish-white grand palace that was more than 200 meters tall, there were a few thick stone columns that were slightly shorter than it was, as though they were a squadron of soldiers standing at attention there.
Klein could imagine that, when the City of Miracles, Liveseyd, was still floating in mid-air, these stone columns would definitely have powerful dragons crouching on them.
These were the servants of the ancient god.
He then looked up at the open door and said to Leonard and Audrey, "Stay close to me. Once an accident happens, I'll immediately take you out of the book world and return directly above the gray fog."
This was the main reason why Klein dared to explore the area.
"Okay." Audrey and Leonard didn't try putting on a brave front as they walked to Klein's side and walked alongside him.
Relying on their Spirit Bodies' flight ability, the trio passed the stairs and entered the palace through the exaggerated and magnificent door.
The first thing they saw was a wide space that was enough for multiple dragons to roll around freely, as well as an ancient stone pillars that seemed to prop up the sky.
On the two sides of the hall, there were colorful and beautiful murals. They kept extending forward and intertwining themselves with a huge pillar that was multiple arm spans wide.
The giant pillar was in the deepest recesses of the hall right ahead of them. Without relying on anything else, just the pillar alone was enough to make people feel a strong sense of fear and make them experience the vicissitudes of time. It was like a fossilized deity.
Almost instantly, a grayish-white figure appeared on the pillar.
The figure was covered in scales, and every scale resembled a sturdy stone slab. Just the faint outline of the figure made it seem epic.
Dragon of Imagination, Ankewelt! Just as this thought flashed through Klein's mind, he heard an oddly familiar voice echoing in the spacious hall:
"Dragon of Imagination, Ankewelt!"
As Klein looked around in astonishment, he heard Leonard sigh emotionally.
"The deep air listen'd round ‘Him' as ‘He' rode, "And all the low wind hardly breathed for fear[l]...
...This fellow still has the mood to recite poetry, I wonder whose poem he's reciting... Klein turned to look at Leonard. Then, he heard an echo:
"This fellow still has the mood to recite poetry, I wonder whose poem he's reciting..."
At this moment, Leonard's expression was one of shock. He shut his mouth tightly and shook his head in denial.
But the next second, a voice sounded beside him:
"I didn't recite anything!"
"What's going on? Strange..." At the same moment Klein had this thought, he realized that the strangely familiar voice belonged to him.
As it echoed again, repeating the thoughts that flashed through Klein's mind.
Then, Audrey's gentle and mumbling voice sounded:
"This... This hall is able to let our thoughts present themselves in our surroundings, and is even able to conjure them? Hmm...When I saw that huge pillar just now, I was imagining what the Dragon of Imagination Ankewelt looked like. It was based on the blueprint of the mind dragon I saw before...
"Why is whatever I'm saying—No, indeed, the ‘hall' articulates it..."
So that's the case. Luckily, I didn't think of anything strange just now. Yes, rein in my thoughts, rein in my thoughts... Klein began to use Cogitation to focus his mind and not let his imagination run wild.
At the same time, the corresponding words echoed around him almost in sync:
"...rein in my thoughts, rein in my thoughts..."
"So that's what Mr. World's inner world is like. He's like a child who just started school, constantly emphasizing matters that he needs to take attention of. Also, the image for his Cogitation is actually layers of spherical lights. It's so beautiful. No, no, I'm not thinking of this! I'm not describing you like this. Mr_ World, I_m serious「^ thoughts kept appearing as she finally couldn't help but curl her lips.
As for Leonard, the voices around him were already echoing with "Hahaha."
"These two fellows... No, why am I using ‘fellow'? Be polite, be more polite..." As Klein listened to his thoughts, he sighed helplessly. "This place is very suitable for playing ‘Truth or Dare.' Perhaps it should be called ‘the Hall of Truth...."
"What game is that?" Audrey didn't need to open her mouth to express her doubts.
"It was probably invented by Emperor Roselle... I have to be careful not to think about things I shouldn't think about. Seriously, it's too difficult to rein in random thoughts without the use of Cogitation..." As Klein replied, he habitually warned himself, only to have the hall ruthlessly betray him again.
This time, Audrey laughed and said, "Haha, Mr. World actually has such a side to him. I actually failed to read it in the past..."
"Hahaha, to think you're experiencing such a day, Klein. No, what did I say..." Leonard suddenly raised his right hand and covered his mouth.
Unsurprisingly, he heard Miss Justice's "question":
"Klein?"
And a certain someone's complaint:
"Perhaps only turning them into marionettes can stop these fellows from having wild thoughts. Wait, what was I thinking? Phew, calm down, calm down..."
Klein took a deep breath and began to focus his attention on the matter itself.
"Let's take a look at what the murals describe. In ancient times, murals were very important methods for recording memories. They often contain plenty of information..."
At the same time he made the suggestion, he heard Audrey's inner thoughts laugh and think:
"Klein—is this Mr. World's real name? No, no—Don't think too much about it. Mr. World will be angry. No, I think it's more likely for him to feel embarrassed. No, no—this is all Lie's fault. Mr. World, please believe me! Phew, calm down. Calm down! Focus. Focus!"
Using the Spectator pathway's ability to control her emotions and thoughts, Audrey gradually reined in her thoughts and cast her gaze on the mural on the right.
Compared to them, Leonard's ability to control his mind was slightly weaker. There were still plenty of random thoughts resounding around him.
"Turning into marionettes... Is this fellow that dangerous now? Tsk tsk, so this is what's truly on your mind. Haha, Miss Justice's reaction is very interesting... I haven't seen that fellow in such an embarrassing situation in a long time..."
When Klein and Audrey began seriously looking at the murals and were exchanging their thoughts through the stirrings in their hearts, only then did Leonard gradually calm his thoughts and focus his attention.
The mural on the right depicted historic developments. There was a scene of human construction, scenes of snow- covered plains, war and migration, various nations and cities, as well as towers and fruits that represented zero communication barriers...
It was obvious that these murals started from the entrance and ended at the Dragon of Imagination's throne.
Towards the end, Klein suddenly noticed a familiar figure.
It was a gigantic dragon with bluish-blue eyes and ice-crystal scales.
It was the King of the North, Ulyssan!
"This... The book world's development is based on these murals?" As Klein's thoughts were exposed, he quickly looked back and found many blurry-faced adventurers hunting the frost dragon before opening a door to leave. The snow and ice melted before flourishing cities like Pessote appeared. They then discovered the weather turning cold, implying an end in which a new story was about to unfold.
"The contents of the murals will become reality in this book world?" Audrey couldn't help but have such a thought.
"This wall, this mural looks very ordinary. It's not even as good as the works of street artists... As expected of the Dragon of Imagination's residence. Is this the power and authority of an ancient god...?" Leonard similarly had poignant thoughts.
"It's possible." Before Klein could give a more tactful reply, he heard his own voice. "Let's look at the murals on the other side before putting everything together for analysis."
Leonard and Audrey didn't object and followed him to the other side.
During this process, they realized that even their Spirit Bodies couldn't fly in the palace.
As the murals were huge, it didn't take much walking before the three of them could see the corresponding content. The first mural near the entrance made Klein's pupils suddenly dilate.
In the mural, a giant with blurry looks, grayish-blue skin, and a single vertical was holding a hard-covered book in his hand!
"This..." Klein heard his own shocked and hesitant voice.
In the subsequent murals, the common highlight was the goatskin binding. There was a dark brown-covered book: it was obtained by the elves; the words on its surface changed; it was being put into a collection; It was obtained by different people, and it kept exchanging hands until it flew above the clouds and came to the cosmos where it landed on a gigantic claw.
In the next mural, the book seemed to have nothing to do with the scenes in front. It suddenly appeared over the surface of the sea and stayed inside a blurry ship.
In the penultimate mural, it was taken away by a man wearing a top hat before he left that ship.
The next mural was located behind the gigantic pillar suspected to be Dragon of Imagination Ankewelt's throne. It depicted that the book from before met a classic quill.
At this point, all the murals came to an end.
"0-08!" Leonard's shocked voice echoed in the hall.
"The Dragon of Imagination wants to create a set with the book and quill? What will happen? When dealing with Ince Zangwill, this scene almost appeared... But ultimately, it didn't happen because the book landed in my hands... before I sacrificed it to Mr. Fool. Otherwise, Adam was already prepared against it and deliberately provided some help?
"Oh right, previously while inside Groselle's Travels, the moment the ascetic mentioned the Angel of Imagination Adam, the frost dragon attacked the camp ... It was because the book itself didn't allow him to finish his sentence, or had Adam heard his thoughts which became a connection for ‘Him' to see and cast his gaze over, stirring up a certain reaction?" Klein's thoughts wandered before sounding it out loud.
During this process, he could only control himself to treat The Fool as another existence.
At the same time as he "spoke," Audrey's thoughts appeared:
"The contents on this mural will become reality in the physical world?"
[1] Adapted from Tennyson's Godiva.
