Bab 40: Nightmare Swamp
The girl lay on a simple wooden bed, her forehead covered in sweat. Her expression kept twisting and changing as if she was deep in a nightmare.
Cass tried tugging at her arm, but the other party didn't react at all.
He turned to look at Liz, who was flying in midair.
"It's not usually like this," Liz said innocently.
With that said, she made a tossing motion, and a handful of dust that shone with a golden luster landed on the girl's face. Instantly, the tense muscles on the girl's face relaxed a little, and her eyelids began to tremble slightly as if she was about to wake up.
However, this situation lasted less than ten seconds. As the dust gradually dissipated, she returned to her previous state.
"Generally speaking, she should be awake by now."
Liz looked at Cass with an expression that said: "This definitely isn't my problem."
She wore this expression every time she caused trouble.
Cass sighed and said, "Why don't you try to wake her up using tougher means? She looks like she's just having a nightmare."
Before Liz could answer, a familiar voice came from outside the door.
"It's useless. Her soul is in the Nightmare Swamp now. That's the Moon Realm of the Lord of Nightmare. Ordinary methods can't wake her up."
Cass turned his head and saw Nizemar standing at the door. She had changed into her previous outfit. She had an exquisite repeating crossbow on her back and a silver rapier at her waist.
"You said you would come to me soon. It's so soon?" Cass asked curiously when he saw her.
"I just received new information that the duke is about to take action, so I came to look for you."
As Nizemar spoke, she walked to the bed and placed her hand on the girl's forehead. After a while, she said, "A faerie's Dream Dust will change the effects of the dream according to the user's emotions. The faerie from before had too much going through her emotionally when she fell asleep, causing her to fall into a nightmare."
Cass nodded and said, "I know that. I've experienced it a few times before. It wasn't easy."
"Hey!"
"But it's not to the point of not waking up, right?" Cass ignored Liz's protest and asked.
"Generally speaking, that's the case, but in the tunnel earlier, you happened to encounter the spawn of the Lord of Nightmare. It connected this child's nightmare to the Nightmare Swamp through its authority."
As Nizemar spoke, she took out a letter and quill from her bag and sat at the side to write something.
"Who's the Lord of Nightmare?" Cass asked.
"One of the Void Sovereigns—in charge of nightmares, illusions, and mist, which can turn the normal into abnormalities. The Nightmare Swamp is Her domain, and it's connected to every mortal's nightmare. The Lunar Monster that almost killed you previously is a spawn called the Mist Nightmare under Her command. They can revive inanimate humanoid objects through possession," Nizemar answered as she wrote.
Her words reminded Cass of the puncture wound in his abdomen and the skeletons he couldn't kill.
"Is the Lord of Nightmare the Void Sovereign Duke Simon wants to summon to Currere?" Cass frowned and asked.
"Not necessarily, but it's indeed one of the possible options. The ancient Blackwater Kingdom had a long history of believing in the three Moon Realm goddesses, and the Lord of Nightmare was one of them."
As Nizemar spoke, she stopped writing and placed the letter into the envelope. Then, she got up and took a candle from the candlestick beside him. She dripped wax and sealed the envelope before saying to Cass, "Let's go. There's not much time left."
Cass pointed at the girl lying on the bed and asked, "Then what about her? If her soul is still trapped in the Moon Realm as you said, we can't just leave her here, right?"
Nizemar waved the envelope in her hand.
"We don't have to worry about her. Send this letter to her father. Someone will naturally deal with all of this soon."
Cass asked in confusion, "Why? Who is she?"
Nizemar said as she walked, "Her name is Liliana von Bergman. You should understand when you hear this last name, right?"
…
It should have been almost 20 minutes…
Vincent's adjutant waited at the entrance of the Silverstream Mine in boredom.
The pile of miner corpses had already been dragged away by the Bramble Guards. He believed that his contract partner could definitely make good use of the corpses.
With this in mind, he couldn't help but smile in delight.
This way, after completing the second contract, the gift from the Moon Realm would rise another level. He could even attempt to touch the realm he originally had no hope of reaching in his life.
Now, studying Moon Realm magic was basically an open secret in the Rose Palace's Mage Hall. Only a few pedantic people still guarded the ancient Astral Laws.
Most of these incompetent people who were afraid of change ended up being gradually pushed out of the center of power. Of course, a very small number of people who planned on exposing this to the Church suddenly disappeared without a word.
No one could betray the Whispering Empress.
However, he couldn't figure out why Vincent, who should be more against the Astral Laws than anyone else, was unwilling to join them.
It was said that the duke had prepared the most compatible contract for Vincent back then. As long as he signed it, he could step into the realm that had left him out for 15 years.
Could anyone really resist this temptation?
But that's good too, the adjutant thought.
Before coming here to "suppress the riots," the duke had specially instructed him to strictly enforce the Black Thorn regulations. Anyone who might leak information about the Moon Realm had to be silenced.
Most importantly, the duke even told him meaningfully at the end that if his old friend Vincent became senile, he had to give the order on his behalf.
Would the Sage of Scorching Scars become senile?
The adjutant naturally understood what the duke meant.
Giving him the actual command of the mission to suppress the Silverstream Mine was also him taking a position.
Although Vincent was still undoubtedly the number one person below Legendary, with the arrival of the new age, it was high time the powerhouses of the old age retired.
Especially those from the old age who weren't willing to embrace the future powerhouses.
Under the protection of the three goddesses, even Divine Realm-level magic chanters would probably appear in the future Blackwater Kingdom.
Therefore, the duke must not be disappointed by the suppression mission.
Just as he was thinking about the beautiful future, heavy footsteps gradually became clear from the darkness. He shuddered and looked over.
Vincent von Bergman walked out of the pitch-black mine with a tired expression.
He immediately smiled and went forward.
"Lord Vincent, how's the situation below the mine? Where's that heretical mage?"
"He got away," Vincent replied without any emotion in his tone.
The expression on the adjutant's face froze.
"He got away?"
"Yes, the other party's attainments in lightning spells are very high. I couldn't stop him from opening the portal and leaving."
"But how could you let him run…"
The adjutant couldn't hold back his emotions and blurted out a few words. Then, he immediately realized what he had said. He lowered his head and lowered his voice to make it sound as humble as possible.
"What I mean is that since the other party is a heretical mage, it's impossible for him to be stronger than you, right?"
Vincent shook his head, but he didn't answer his question. Instead, he said to the Bramble Guards behind him, "Go down and tidy up the venue below. This altar can't be used anymore. Everything has to be destroyed."
Seeing the black-armored guards accept the orders and walk into the mine in unison, Vincent turned to look at his adjutant and said, "Return to the Rose Palace with me first. I have something to tell Simon."
The adjutant gritted his teeth and said, "Lord Vincent, with all due respect, I'm afraid that the duke will be very… unhappy for you to let the heretical mage escape at this critical juncture of the duke's plan. Can you track the Teleportation coordinates of that heretical mage? I can go with you to capture him."
Vincent subconsciously smiled bitterly when he heard that.
"You, me, and the remaining Battle Mages can't do anything to that person. More importantly, compared to what he's going to do next, the destruction of the altar in this mine isn't a big deal."
The adjutant looked at the peak Master magic chanter in front of him in disbelief.
"Who is that heretical mage?"
-- Hadiah diterima