Chapter 371: Communication Across the Gray Fog

A moment later, the Prophet avatar gave an imperceptible nod, then closed his eyes, quickly entering a meditative state as his own spirituality began to oscillate in a strange rhythm.

Ripple after ripple of pale blue undulations spread outward like water waves, and behind him, a ring composed of countless gears slowly rotating materialized.

At the center of the ring, an illusory book flipped through its pages continuously. As the ring behind him appeared, the Prophet avatar felt that his connection with his main body had become clearer. Fortunately, those witches hadn't thrown the main body into the hidden world, or he truly wouldn't have been able to find it—just a little short of being able to determine the main body's current state.

As thoughts drifted through his mind, the Prophet avatar murmured in a low voice:

"Follower of Knowledge and Mysteries, Sage from the Unknown, Eye that Peers into Truth, Calamity of the Rorsted Archipelago, great Al Tayens!"

With Klein's help, he transmitted his prayer through the spirit world to Rekdton. Though the petrified main body could not actively respond, it would still automatically answer prayers.

Since he had not spread his Sequence 3 honorific name, Rekdton was not worried about anyone using it to reverse-lock onto him, or being disturbed by frequent prayers, so he had never blocked the automatic response to prayers.

As the chanted honorific name received a response, the Prophet avatar almost immediately used it to reverse-lock onto the main body's location, and perceived his current situation: it was a dim and gloomy terrain, as if on a dark, illusory, not-quite-real path, with many similar paths surrounding it, layered and interwoven, forming a complex and mysterious "spider web."

A blurry grayish-white stone statue seemed to be borne up by something invisible, ceaselessly advancing along this dark, illusory, not-quite-real path. Where the statue's eyes would be, dim starlight eerily permeated, as though it were a living thing.

"... The Mirror World."

The Prophet avatar sighed softly, and the image in his mind quickly faded. Observing for too long might let the witches nearby notice something amiss.

Under the "Telepathic Communication" state, both parties could share senses. The image that had just surfaced in the Prophet avatar's mind and the thoughts in his heart were all clearly received by Klein.

Klein nodded gravely with a slight sigh. He did not understand the Mirror World.

The Seer pathway didn't seem to have abilities in that area either, though I could enter the Mirror World in spirit body form—but if I charged directly into the Mirror World to rescue someone, I'd probably just get ambushed by the lying-in-wait witches and lose my equipment.

As he pondered, his gaze fell upon the peculiar crown he held in his hands. He tried borrowing power from the Prophet avatar to elevate his own strength to the demigod level.

The boundless gray fog around him suddenly surged violently, as if responding to Klein, cheering the appearance of the sovereign above this gray fog.

Sequence 4 was not only a qualitative transformation of one's own strength, but also the key to gradually mastering this gray fog.

The moment the thought crossed Klein's mind, he heard the Prophet avatar's words:

"At Sequence 4, you should be able to rather easily borrow some of the Sage's Castle's abilities, rather than being limited only to the special status brought by this gray fog."

Klein nodded gently, his tone unhurried as he said, "It's time to contact that former Dragon of Imagination."

As his words fell, he leveraged the power of this gray fog, channeling his spirituality into that grayish-white scale.

Upon the grayish-white scale, strange patterns began to extend outward, gradually forming a complete mystical symbol. Merely looking at it made one feel mentally deranged, thoughts twisted, and the spirit body tainted with all sorts of seemingly heartfelt impulses, producing an intense urge to self-destruct.

Was this really just a scale? It felt like that drop of mythical creature blood that Al had analyzed before. As he pondered, Klein relied on his mastery of this gray fog to release the restrictions of this space, allowing the scale to smoothly establish a connection with the mind world.

As the connection was established, above this boundless gray fog, another deep crimson star materialized. It expanded continuously, sending out ring after ring of deep crimson ripples.

Klein then extended his spirituality, touching this newly appeared deep crimson star.

Deep crimson light surged forth in an instant, engulfing more than half the palace, then quickly gathered and condensed into a somewhat blurry image.

In the image, a grayish-white dragon was perched in a dark and gloomy sea. He was gazing upward at the sky, at the spiritual sky that enveloped everything—that was the spirit world's reflection on the mental plane. "... Fool," a murmuring whisper issued from his mouth.

Klein tilted his head slightly, his glance catching the Prophet avatar seated beside him, and a voice like an inner monologue echoed directly in his mind:

"Let's communicate like this. The demigod-level power from 'Telepathic Communication' can only keep up appearances; face to face, He would easily detect the problem."

Klein nodded gravely; he thought the same.

Having made his decision, Klein directly cast the image that the Prophet avatar had discovered through the connection between the honorific name and the main body, along with his own words, into this deep crimson star.

"Bring him back. The reward is the Groselle Travelogue, and one promise from me."

After doing all this, Klein and the Prophet avatar exchanged a glance, and the two began to communicate silently through "Telepathic Communication": "How am I supposed to fulfill my promise? What if He wants me to help Him return to the position of Sequence 0..."

"He won't make that kind of request directly; it's not equivalent. More likely, He'll have you provide some assistance when reclaiming Leviheid—some pollution from the Sea of Chaos is sealed there."

"Are you sure this is something I can handle?"

"Dealing with the pollution isn't difficult—just toss it into this gray fog. The difficult part is extracting the pollution. It would be much easier if we had an item at the angel level from the Seer or Marauder pathway. I can find some Time Worms with angelic status for you to try."

"... A Meng!" At the mention of Time Worms, A Meng's image automatically surfaced in Klein's mind. A wave of chills surged through him, and he swiftly erased A Meng's image from his mind.

In the dark and gloomy sea of the collective unconscious, Angelweed sat quietly coiled upon an island of the mind, his pale gold vertical eyes gazing somewhat blankly at the sky.

In his field of vision, boundless gray fog churned all around, and in the deepest depths of this fog, a blurry figure sat leisurely upon a high-backed chair, tall and magnificent, as if a deity looking down upon the world.

Even as a Sequence 2 Spectator, he could not peer through this grayish-white fog at the other party.

Is this the Sage's Castle? A completely different feeling from the Sea of Chaos—even more bizarre, even harder to fathom. The moment his thoughts shifted, deep crimson light abruptly flared up in the surrounding fog, surging like a tide, rapidly condensing into a slightly blurry image, while an unhurried voice betraying no obvious emotion echoed:

"Bring him back. The reward is the Groselle Travelogue, and one promise from me."

A promise—this Fool hopes I can reclaim part of my former power. Not meeting me directly suggests His state may not be ideal. There seems to be a Mysterious Secret attendant's characteristic that has never left a trace—has He activated? Or has the Sage's Castle activated? After a brief silence, Angelweed spoke readily:

"Acceptable, but the Mirror World is not a domain I am familiar with. To bring him back from there, I will need some help to locate him."

"Acceptable." As the Fool's response fell, an honorific name appeared in his field of vision.

A moment later, the dense grayish-white fog around him receded, and his vision quickly returned to clarity—around him was still the dark and gloomy sea, and the islands of consciousness standing amidst the waters.

"Follower of Knowledge and Mysteries? Surprisingly not a follower of this Fool or the Sage's Castle."

"Have the activated Origins begun joining forces as well? My former subordinate god, after two betrayals, chose an Origin as an ally?"

Angelweed murmured softly, as if talking to himself, or perhaps mocking something.

Then, he flapped the two grayish wings behind his back, stirring up waves across the dark and gloomy sea, scattering crystalline droplets that flowed with layered light and shadow.

This caused the subconscious gathered around to become somewhat agitated—manifested in living beings as sudden emotional instability, as inexplicable sorrow or joy filled their hearts.

(End of this chapter)