Chapter 689: Feathered Ascension

Lu Mi raised an eyebrow, turned back to "Xiso," and offered the same brilliant smile.

The two individuals, trapped in separate scenes, exchanged a glance across the hazy void, then each turned their gaze elsewhere.

ReYasa, Ivelista, and the man and woman who had just arrived in Tizamo Town that night clearly also saw the figures in other scenes; they were all startled and bewildered by this inexplicable anomaly, yet it affected none of them.

The gravekeepers within the same scene as "Xiso" prayed silently, either utterly unaware of the changes around them or treating them as ordinary.

After scanning the surroundings, Lu Mi vaguely understood the current situation.

"Even if this place feels real, every encounter here reflects to some degree into reality—it is still a dream, and under the influence of that black ancient tomb or the cold corpse within, this region has fractured into multiple dream fragments; each time a new group arrives, a new fragment is born…"

"Had it not been for Amandina's or my arrival triggering some anomaly, those in different fragments should never have been able to interact—neither could they attack each other, nor see, hear, or perceive one another's existence."

"This must be why the gravekeepers vanish every time the 'Dream Festival' begins."

"They didn't disappear—they merely exist in a different dream fragment from the festival participants."

"And according to the previous spirit communication results, is this some kind of hiding?"

"But the black tomb hasn't opened yet…"

As Lu Mi's thoughts flashed like lightning, Amandina's voice grew sharper, thick with terror:

"He's standing right in front of me!"

"Save me!"

"Save me!"

Lu Mi stared at Amandina, who kept retreating to evade an invisible presence, yet he could not see the figure she described at all.

In those mere Shiji seconds since Amandina first grew afraid, Lu Mi had repeatedly used "Spirit Sight," "Weakness Detection," and "Fate Observation"—none revealed any anomaly.

He was about to pull out the "Eye of Secrets" and the "Eye of Truth."

Lu Mi reached into "The Traveler's Satchel," unsure what method could save Amandina, who was collapsing from terror, without fully understanding the situation.

The moment his fingers brushed the "Eye of Secrets," Amandina suddenly froze.

After a second, she turned her head toward Lu Mi, looking utterly bewildered:

"He… he turned and walked away."

"He seemed to recognize me…"

"Recognized you?" Lu Mi felt he needed to confirm whether Amandina's mental state was still normal.

Amandina answered with a dazed expression:

"Yes, he nodded at me, then left."

So this was why, after the "Dream Festival" began, anyone wishing to approach the black tomb needed someone who had received the tomb's or the corpse's blessing as a guide? Robert and Father Cali must have played the same role in similar scenes—they just weren't on the "Night" Path and lacked dream-related abilities, so they never noticed… Did those others in the other dream fragments also receive the black tomb's or the corpse's blessing? A thought struck Lu Mi, and he asked Amandina:

"Where did he go? Where did that figure go?"

Amandina's gaze shifted to the edge of her own scene.

Her eyes widened gradually, fear still lingering, yet excitement rising as she raised her hand and pointed toward the dream fragment where the man and woman stood:

"He went there."

"He passed through—he passed through!"

As Amandina explained, Lu Mi and the others all felt the black tomb grow slightly denser and heavier, and the entire region trembled more violently.

Simultaneously, Lu Mi felt a familiar burning sensation in his left chest, yet no whisper—seeming to come from infinite distance yet right beside his ear—sounded in his ear.

His mind grew hazy; he saw a vast water-colored whirlpool, a dim village shrouded in gray mist, and the silhouettes within the village.

There was Pierre Berry, the shepherd who worshipped fate; there was Azema Liziye, Lu Mi's friend; all raised pale arms, as if silently screaming.

Lu Mi also saw his own two-story half-buried house, and Aurora, sitting quietly on the orange-red roof, hugging her knees.

Lu Mi ceased resisting the hallucination.

He now roughly understood what was happening:

As the figure entered another dream fragment, the black tomb's transformation intensified, and its power of the Death Domain remotely "awoke" the souls of the villagers of Keldu.

These villagers were already dead, retaining only fragments of their souls—naturally, they were affected by the power of the Death Domain.

This realization brought Lu Mi the long-absent pain, sorrow, and bitterness.

He "watched" Aurora, her long golden hair falling, her pale blue eyes, clad in a light blue dress, and made no attempt to resist the invisible force of death.

"He's standing before that woman," Amandina continued dutifully.

That woman? Camus, Raya, and Lu Jianuo all turned their gazes toward the corresponding dream fragment.

The lady in the light-colored long dress who had just arrived in Tizamo Town that night hadn't heard Amandina's words—she only knew all the patrol members were staring at her.

Her intuition sensed something ominous; she quickly turned her head and asked her companion:

"Deva, do you sense any malice?"

The man in the dark gray suit, called Deva, slowly shook his head:

"No."

In Lu Mi's dream fragment, Amandina, now elated, resumed her "narration":

"He—that figure—reached out his hand!"

"His hand pressed upon—the woman's head!"

The moment Amandina spoke, Deva saw his companion, the woman in the light-colored long dress, suddenly collapse to her knees, her expression stiff, her face unnaturally pale.

Wu!

In every dream fragment, a cold, icy wind howled.

Lu Mi "saw" Aurora on the orange-red roof rise to her feet, her expression dazed, as if sensing something from above.

She opened her mouth and uttered a phrase, nearly instinctively.

Lu Mi didn't understand the language, but he had heard something similar before.

It was the language used by the "Armor Shade" Chen Tu, the same language from which Furanca occasionally uttered single words!

Though he couldn't comprehend it, perhaps due to the soul-level connection between them, Lu Mi faintly grasped what his sister was saying.

She murmured a single phrase:

"The Immortal strokes my crown, binds my hair, grants me eternal life."

In Deva's dream fragment, the woman's hat flew off as she knelt involuntarily.

From her neck, the backs of her hands, her face—pores opened one after another, sprouting white feathers stained with pale yellow grime.

Deva watched this with a grave expression, making no attempt to interrupt her transformation; instead, he stepped back several paces.

He didn't understand what was happening, though he sensed no malice directed at him, he still cautiously kept his distance from the anomaly.

The woman's once-blue eyes had lost focus, appearing profoundly confused and lifeless.

In the blink of an eye, the white feathers stained with pale yellow oil grime erupted wildly from the seams of her dress and between every strand of her hair, as if possessing their own will and life.

Soon, the woman in the light-colored long dress was entirely wrapped in the pale yellow-stained white feathers.

Her body grew lighter, slowly floating upward, becoming increasingly ethereal.

Her blue eyes fixed on Deva, her voice hollow yet filled with excitement:

"I've become a god! I've attained immortality!"

This feather-covered monster hovered above the black tomb, continuously shouting:

"I've become a god! I've attained immortality!"

In another dream fragment, Lu Mi heard Aurora change her words.

Her expression now tinged with fear, she whispered:

"Feathered ascension to immortality…"

The next instant, the ethereal monster, now entirely covered in white feathers and unrecognizable, dove toward the black tomb within her own dream fragment.

She passed through the stone walls of the tomb chamber and vanished within.

Suddenly, the cold, icy wind that had just blown ceased and froze in place.

The black tomb trembled visibly; the tomb door, outlined by hair-thin fissures, groaned heavily, as if someone inside were trying to push it open.

The Aurora before Lu Mi's eyes, the surrounding village of Keldu, began to fade, as if erased by an eraser.

Lu Mi glanced once at the slowly opening tomb door, then turned his head toward "Xiso" Tewanako in another dream fragment.

This dream projection showed no surprise or fear at the recent anomaly; instead, the previously silent gravekeepers around him all rose to their feet.

Splash—the sound of phantom water filled the air as the tomb door of the black tomb fully opened.

With this change, all the dream fragments, previously blurred and distinct, were drawn together by invisible threads and merged.

Deva, ReYasa, Ivelista, "Xiso" Tewanako, and the gravekeepers all appeared simultaneously before the black tomb, near Lu Mi and the others.

"Xiso" Tewanako smiled, as if he had long anticipated that someone among the outsiders would ascend to "godhood," and that the tomb's gate would open at this very moment.

He pulled from within his black robe a golden mask.

The mask appeared forged from pure gold, painted with white and black pigments around the eyes and across the face, appearing strangely grotesque.

Tewanako placed the golden mask upon his face, then, unlike the other gravekeepers who retreated in fear, he sprinted toward the black tomb and the open tomb door.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Lu Mi heard clear heartbeats.

They came from within the black tomb.

(End of Chapter)