Chapter 901

When Lumian saw the bear-like shadow, he confirmed with his spiritual intuition that it was the Black Dream Mo.

He immediately drew the "Sword of Courage" and leapt from the cliff's peak beneath the crimson moon of the dream, the cloak's hood flipping up to reveal his black hair, refined features, and pale blue, deep eyes.

Boom!

White-tinged-blue flames pinned the black shadow shaped like a wild bear to the ground, exploding it into fragments.

The shadow fragments swiftly scattered and reassembled far away into the form of a Mo.

This is not a true dream; most injuries cannot reflect onto the physical body, so direct death is impossible—only mental damage, possibly rendering one a vegetable.

The bear-like Black Dream Mo turned toward Lumian and growled lowly.

With that growl, the scene around Lumian shifted—from the primeval forest at the cliff's base to the village of Keldu, beneath blue skies and white clouds, beside green meadows.

Lumian returned to the old tavern, where a floating, dreamlike green absinthe sat before him, surrounded by countless Guillaume's and countless Pierre's.

They were telling crude jokes, slandering people from other villages.

The familiar scent of alcohol pierced Lumian's nostrils; outside the tavern window, miraculously, appeared the house of Aurora—her figure, clad in a light blue dress and draped with thick golden hair, sat hugging her knees on the roof, gazing at the sky.

One of the Black Dream Mo's abilities is to trap its target in their most cherished, nostalgic scene by feeding on emotions like joy, happiness, and delight, making them unable to break free.

Seeing the female figure holding the iron-black greatsword freeze in place, the Black Dream Mo dropped to all fours and charged forward.

It intended to consume this scene and all the positive emotions it evoked.

At that moment, it felt something burning behind its back and instinctively turned around.

It saw another Lumian—eyes blazing with invisible fury, sword sheathed in fierce black flames.

The Lumian lost in memories of old Keldu dissolved rapidly, leaving only a mirror.

Lumian raised the "Sword of Courage," its blade wreathed in "Flame of Destruction," and slashed the Black Dream Mo from top to bottom, cleaving it in two.

The more he remembered that lost Keldu life—knowing it could never return—the more the nostalgia stung, the more his inner pain surged into rage!

In a faint explosion, suppressed, mad, and violent black flames clung to the two shadow fragments of the Black Dream Mo, continuously burning them until they visibly faded.

The Black Dream Mo's shadow reconnected dozens of meters away, but far weaker than before—Lumian's "Flame of Destruction" had truly damaged the portion of its consciousness that had infiltrated this dream.

Fear surfaced in the spirit-world creature's eyes; it rose upright on two legs, its dark pupils stained crimson.

It intended to use the dream to transform into one of the target's most feared and dreaded images, thereby terrifying them and creating an opportunity for its consciousness to escape the dream and return safely to the Spirit World.

In the blink of an eye, the Black Dream Mo's body swelled to an enormous height, radiating an atmosphere of extreme madness, cruelty, bloodlust, and brutality.

It even conjured near-invisible flames.

The next second, the Black Dream Mo itself let out a scream of utter terror and agony.

It had ignited itself with its own invisible flames; its body was filled with the terrifying aura it had mimicked, nearly erasing its self.

Seeing this, Lumian paused, then smirked and murmured:

"Do you think it's easy to fake something that terrifies and frightens me?"

Can you imitate the Blood Emperor?

Imitating a god means inevitable backlash!

The Black Dream Mo writhed in agony within the dream, unable to extinguish the invisible flames consuming it.

It struggled desperately to escape the dream; Lumian made no move to stop it, instead activating the black mark on his right shoulder and following it into the Spirit World.

The dream's master, Keweil, witnessed through his scattered corpse fragments as the girl with the red moon descending on her back slew the bear-like shadow creature twice, setting it ablaze utterly—his fear and dread gradually lessened.

He stared blankly at her plain, clean profile, at her slightly pursed pale red lips, at her radiant face utterly unlike the monstrous greatsword she wielded, feeling as if he were dreaming.

No, this truly was a dream.

Lumian chased the Black Dream Mo to a spot in the Spirit World and saw its true form already burning on its own; its agonized wails drove away the grotesque creatures nearby.

Lumian watched silently, then flicked a small orb of black flame—bound with fury and intensity—toward the Black Dream Mo, letting it land on its body.

Within seconds, the spirit-world creature burned to ash, reduced to a few specks of deep black powder.

Lumian extended his palm and caught the powder.

…………

In the Astronomical District, in the apartment Lumian had rented for Lu Jianuo and Ludwig.

A little boy dressed in children's formal attire, with a tiny bow tie, poured nearly a hundred milliliters of Liranzhi into a glass, then added Black Dream Mo powder, lemon juice, ice cubes, and a sweet liqueur.

In the end, the full glass of liquor had a golden base, swirling with entwined green and black hues—strikingly beautiful.

"Wow, a drink you'd really want to sip," Franca exclaimed with eager anticipation.

She sat close to Lumian, while on Lumian's other side was Jianna.

Ludwig snatched the "cocktail" and hid it behind his back.

He declared firmly:

"Only enough for two people!"

"You and Anthony drink it," Lumian decided outright.

Franca felt slight disappointment; Ludwig beamed, fetched another glass, poured nearly half the "cocktail" into it, and handed it to Anthony:

"This cocktail is called 'The Color of Dreams.'

"It takes effect one minute after drinking."

Once Anthony took the "Color of Dreams," Ludwig gulped down his portion.

Franca deliberately said:

"Drinking hard liquor at such a young age—isn't that bad? He needs proper discipline."

Her test was ready, waiting for Anthony to be promoted so she could "quiz" Ludwig.

Ludwig shivered inexplicably as Anthony adjusted his state and drank the "Color of Dreams."

It was bitter and sweet, harsh yet soft—it ignited his throat, mouth, and stomach, yet brought a deeply intoxicating sensation.

This was a dream.

While waiting for the "Color of Dreams" to take effect, Anthony prepared his potion.

Franca seized the moment to tell Lumian and Jianna:

"The leader of the Imperialists is a man named Louis. He claims descent from the Gustav family, a descendant of Emperor Rosel.

"According to Nisea's intelligence, some core members of the Imperialists feel Louis Gustav has grown strange since that day—the Vortex Incident—more mysterious, more solemn.

"He's secretly planning something; only a handful of his closest confidants know what it is.

"Nisea has a strong desire to showcase herself and retaliate against society; she volunteered to approach one of Louis Gustav's confidants. I plan to ask '007' to assist and create an opportunity for her…"

Louis is a common name in Trier and Intis, just like Pierre and Guillaume.

Lumian nodded slightly, but before he could speak, Anthony finished his potion and drank the dark liquid speckled with gray-white light.

The taste of "Dream Walker" was similar to "Color of Dreams"—complex, chaotic, layered with many elements.

Lumian and the others fell silent, watching Anthony closely, prepared for any anomaly.

They saw their teammate's face flicker with gray-white scales, then turn deathly pale, as if his soul had left his body; his eyes became hollow, devoid of self-awareness.

After a while, Anthony's eyes first darkened, then glowed with light.

"Success," Anthony said, his emotions rarely exposed. "The sensation of overlooking the world, overlooking everyone's dreams—it's intoxicating. I almost didn't want to wake up."

After his reflection, he calmed himself and briefly described the abilities granted by the "Dream Walker" potion:

"I can directly perceive the form of the mind-world, see the collective unconscious sea; I can 'guide' a target, step by step, to reveal their deepest secrets through dream shifts…

"I can also subtly influence a target by 'editing' their dreams, nudging them to do things they normally wouldn't—this is a gentler, more hidden, harder-to-detect form of 'hypnosis,' though it requires considerable time…

"I can now enter dreams directly, hide within them, and leap from one dream to another, as long as the distance between the two dreams is no more than five hundred meters…"

"A form of 'teleportation' limited by environment and distance," Lumian commented simply.

Anthony nodded:

"It's called 'Dream Shifting.' For me, the spiritual cost is minimal."

Lumian smiled, stood up, and said:

"Now, every member of our team is at Sequence 5 or higher."

…………

Several days later, Anthony went to work normally at the "Green Tree Clinic."

Near noon, a nurse brought in a patient.

It was Keweil, the young man with political ambitions, currently serving as staff for the National Convention.

"Doctor Reed, I've improved a lot—I haven't had nightmares in days," Keweil said happily to Anthony.

He still trusted Anthony; after all, this psychologist had genuinely helped him before.

"This is your own victory—you've passed that stage," Anthony replied normally, offering congratulations.

Keweil touched his golden temple, hesitated, then said:

"My improvement began four days ago. That night, I had another nightmare—in it, a girl descended beneath a giant crimson moon and saved me.

"She was the most beautiful, most elegant girl I've ever seen. But my memory of that dream is fading. Doctor Reed, can you help me remember her permanently? Or let me draw her? Perhaps there's a girl in reality who looks like her…"

Anthony looked at Keweil, then carefully replied:

"I'm sorry, I cannot assist you with this. Obsession with dreams will drive you to another extreme. As your psychologist, I cannot push you into the abyss. I must tell you—it's an illusion you can never reach."

Keweil fell silent for a while, then sighed with profound disappointment:

"Alright."

…………

Astronomical District, Left Street.

Alone in his apartment, Lumian stood by the window, pondering what he must do next:

"The treasure vault of the 'Azure Avenger'… but Mr. Hanged only agreed to let me explore it once…"

Go to Baxi Port and find the place that might have problems; use candle made of corpse oil...

As Lu Mi thought this, he instinctively turned half his body and saw the Lady Magician appearing amid starlight.

The holder of the Major Arcana card smiled and said:

"You should receive your payment today; I'll take you to a place."

PS: Last two days—please vote for monthly tickets~

(End of Chapter)