Chapter 678: You People of Inti (Thank You, Mr. Aurora, for Again Rewarding Baiyin Alliance)

Camus was surprised to encounter Armadina here, his shock far outweighing his delight.

Armadina, behind the window, also spotted the four below; her face snapped back instantly, vanishing into the house's darkness.

Camus froze for a moment, then shouted loudly:

"Don't be afraid—we're here to protect you!"

As he shouted, he sprinted up the stairs toward the second floor of Tavanaco's house.

After visiting the Palm Estate, he was nearly certain Louis Berry's guess was right: the participants of the "Dream Festival" had mostly lost self-control, their actions driven by hidden malice and desire, yet their minds remained clear enough for communication.

Of course, he didn't yet know whether being overtaken by malice and desire caused them to misinterpret others' words, always assuming the worst; nor did he know whether this clarity was truly complete—they didn't recognize it as a dream, and retained little memory upon waking.

Thud-thud-thud—Camus and Ria rushed into the building, leaping several steps at a time.

On the side of Tavanaco's house invisible to Camus and the others, a glass panel set into wooden planks opened; Armadina, clad in a black hunting outfit, slipped out nimbly and descended rapidly along protrusions and crevices in the exterior wall to the ground.

She had barely steadied herself when she suddenly saw a figure watching her from the side.

It was Lu Jianuo, his right arm severed halfway, bloodstains still smeared across his face, making him appear anything but respectable.

Armadina's heart tightened; she instantly pressed her back against the pillar supporting Tavanaco's house, clenched her fists, and lowered her eyelids.

Almost simultaneously, Lu Jianuo's eyelids grew heavy, his thoughts rapidly blurring.

His body collapsed limply to the ground, falling asleep on the spot.

Immediately after, Armadina opened her eyes, withdrawing the forced dream-inducing power she'd been exerting on the man who looked as if he'd just survived a bloody battle.

That would have plunged her into deep slumber too, restricting her movement to nightmare form—unable to shift her physical body—while the opponent wasn't just one person!

Before Lu Jianuo naturally "woke up," Armadina changed direction, preparing to seize the moment and flee the area, seeking another safe hiding place.

At that moment, she heard a voice laced with amusement:

"So you're also an extraordinary person."

Armadina instinctively turned her head and saw Louis Berry standing beside another wooden pillar supporting Tavanaco's house, not far from her.

Louis Berry, with black hair, green eyes, and a handsome face, had one hand in his pocket, leaned back against the pillar, one foot propped behind him, lips curled in a teasing smile as he gazed at her.

The dim crimson moonlight of night fell upon him, lending him an air of mysterious, sinister charm.

Armadina clenched her fists again and lowered her eyelids.

Yet in her spiritual perception, Louis Berry vanished instantly.

She couldn't locate him; she couldn't activate her corresponding ability.

The next second, with her high spiritual sensitivity, Armadina turned her gaze toward the shadow within the open space on the ground floor.

She felt something stirring there.

At the same time, a phantom, drifting voice reached her ears:

"We mean no harm.

"We're unaffected by the 'Dream Festival.'"

Armadina, about to use her spiritual sense to lock onto the invisible entity within the shadow, paused in surprise.

At that moment, Camus and Ria also reached the corresponding window and shouted to Armadina:

"We're here to protect you!"

"We have sufficient self-control."

Assessing the numbers and strength on both sides, Armadina asked, half-skeptical:

"Why aren't you affected?"

Even as she spoke, she kept her focus fixed on the invisible entity in the shadow, believing it to be the strongest among the others—the adventurer Louis Berry—if anything went wrong, controlling him first would greatly improve her chances of escape.

Lumian's body emerged from the shadow.

He glanced at Lu Jianuo, who had woken and risen to his feet, silently admiring Armadina's high spiritual sensitivity, then smiled at her and said:

"Don't you realize we've been coming and going from this house frequently these past few days?

"And you—why are you able to maintain normal self-control?"

Armadina glanced at the house beside her; her suspicion about how Lumian and the others remained awake and rational diminished.

She subtly curled her lips and said:

"Robert took me to Tavanaco's house for a rendezvous—we slept here half the night."

"Did Robert know about this place's special nature?" Camus asked, his heart twisting with jealousy.

Armadina nodded lightly:

"He understands the 'Dream Festival' well."

"What's his relationship with Tavanaco?" Lumian asked thoughtfully.

Armadina thought carefully:

"I don't know—at least I never noticed any intimacy or connection between them."

What did "intimacy" mean? Lumian didn't directly ask where Robert had learned about the Dream Festival; instead, he asked another question:

"Are you an extraordinary person of the 'Night' Path?"

Armadina blinked, hesitating:

"Sort of…"

"Where did you get the potion recipe and its corresponding materials?" Camus, upstairs, asked anxiously.

As they spoke, occasional noises and shouts erupted from plantations outside town and various spots within it.

Armadina's eyes flickered, and she grinned mischievously:

"Can I refuse to answer?"

"What do you think?" Lumian smiled at her.

Armadina didn't back down; she tilted her chin up, locking eyes with Lumian without flinching.

She saw his smile unchanged, his deep emerald eyes utterly devoid of emotion.

After more than ten seconds, Armadina lowered her gaze, tilting her head slightly:

"I gained it within this dream."

"Within the 'Dream Festival'?" Camus on the third floor was stunned.

He could understand acquiring potion recipes within the "Dream Festival"—if one remained awake and remembered the dream, knowledge could be carried into reality—but could the extraordinary materials needed to brew the potion be brought from the dream into reality?

Could one become an extraordinary person by consuming a potion within the "Dream Festival" and waking up unchanged?

This overturned countless established norms of mysticism!

Before Armadina could confirm, Camus thought of a possibility.

He immediately asked her:

"Are you only an extraordinary person within this 'dream'?"

Armadina wanted to pretend ignorance, but after glancing at Louis Berry, who watched her with a knowing half-smile, she finally muttered:

"I am in reality too—just rarely get the chance to show it."

How could this be? Camus stared down at Armadina, doubting whether all the mysticism he'd learned since childhood was false.

He considered the possibility she was lying, yet he didn't want to doubt the girl who held such a beautiful image in his heart.

At that moment, Lumian spoke calmly, his expression utterly unruffled:

"You haven't consumed a potion, have you?"

Armadina's expression shifted; she puffed out her cheeks and grumbled:

"If you already know, why ask me…"

Not consumed a potion? Camus, Ria, and Lu Jianuo were first startled, then recalled people they'd encountered before, forming their own understanding of Armadina's condition.

It was indeed a blessing—but the exact method remained unclear… Lumian smiled silently, while Camus asked anxiously:

"Which evil god deceived you?"

Armadina looked utterly confused:

"Evil god? What evil god?"

Before Camus could explain, Lumian asked thoughtfully:

"How did you gain your extraordinary power?"

Armadina snorted:

"Why should I tell you?"

The next second, she saw Louis Berry smile—a smile that filled her with inexplicable dread.

"I-it was Robert," Armadina shuddered. "He took me into the forest outside, all the way to a huge black stone, and told me to place my hand on it."

"And then you became an extraordinary person?" Lu Jianuo interrupted, both astonished and curious, forgetting his servant's duty.

Armadina shook her head:

"Then I fell asleep—in the dream. When I woke up, I had extraordinary power."

"Is Robert also an extraordinary person? Did he gain his power the same way?" Camus pressed.

Armadina sighed softly:

"He's an extraordinary person, but I don't know if he gained his power this way—he was already extraordinary before bringing me here into this dream."

Black stone… Lumian stepped out from the basement of the "Xiso" house and asked Armadina with a smile:

"Where's Robert? Didn't he come here to meet you?"

Armadina's expression shifted several times, half-angry, half-amused:

"He had to visit his other lover first, then come to me."

"He has other lovers? Who?" Camus suddenly grew furious.

Amadina's eyes flickered, and after a moment of peculiar hesitation, she said:

"Father Cali."

"Uh…?" "Ah?" Gaimu, Ruiya, and Lu Jianuo all involuntarily exclaimed in shock and confusion.

Even Lu Mi couldn't help raising an eyebrow.

Amadina spread her hands and said:

"He likes women, but he prefers men.

"He said he took me into dreams to gain transcendent power because he felt guilty toward me, yet deeply grateful that after learning his other side, I still kept his secret, didn't tear off our engagement, and continued dating him, being intimate with him, protecting his image."

At that moment, Gaimu and Ruiya said nothing, but Lu Mi sensed their gazes conveying the same thought:

You Andisians…

Lu Mi asked Amadina with a wry smile:

"You can actually accept this?"

Amadina thought seriously:

"Why not? As a marriage partner, Robert is excellent in status, position, wealth, strength, appearance, and even bedroom ability. In the Southern Continent, there are few better choices. Besides, we did have a beautiful romance—he truly loved me, just as he loved Father Cali."

Here, Amadina smiled warmly at Lu Mi and added:

"He even promised me more freedom."

Hearing Amadina's answer and seeing this vibrant, beautiful young girl, Gaimu on the third floor suddenly felt sorrowful.

Something beautiful in his heart had shattered.

Lu Mi glanced up at the fellow and sneered inwardly:

Didn't you already prepare yourself to see Amadina's other side? She's even restrained—she merely stated her feelings plainly, without acting on them.

Hmm, perhaps Amadina deliberately said so much in front of Gaimu to prevent him from falling for her out of pity.

Lu Mi turned to look at Amadina:

"So Robert is now at Saint Cien Church?"

"Yes." Amadina nodded.

Lu Mi grunted and said in a commanding tone:

"Then let's go 'visit' him and Father Cali."

PS: Thank you, Mr. Aurora Society, for your again donating the Silver Alliance!

(End of Chapter)