Volume 4: The End of the World Chapter 81: Wandering in Dreams
Dream Wandering, a side quest that William had experienced in the past.
A sudden plague swept through a remote town. The residents of the entire town became unable to sleep from one day on, and could only let their fatigue accumulate until they fell into strong hallucinations and auditory hallucinations.
Not long after, a strange stranger came to the town, claiming that he could cure the plague.
After gaining the trust of the townspeople, the stranger used a variety of alchemical materials and a certain tree sap with a strong hallucinogenic effect to prepare a green alchemical potion. After drinking it, the townspeople really got long-lost sleep and dreams...but the dreams were not peaceful.
This is a typical Moon Realm style of doing things - those who drank the potion had their souls controlled by the Nightmare Lord, Clawmara, and fell into an endless nightmare.
William still remembered that when he was carrying out this mission, he also drank the alchemical potion directly and fell into the nightmare swamp. Then, in that bizarre dream, he successfully rescued the townspeople.
Not only did he rescue all the people, he also sneaked into the palace of Juamala and carried out a standard player-style looting. So when Juamala's ethereal incarnation finally came to the world, this ethereal king who was supposed to be neutral was directly turned into an irrevocable red name.
Now that time has passed, when William saw a similar potion again, he naturally understood something.
After coming to his senses, the hazy fog gradually formed furniture with specific shapes around William. At this moment, he seemed to be standing in a magnificent palace surrounded by thick fog. The curtains full of symbolic meaning were drawn up in front of him layer by layer, and countless whispers and murmurs began to echo around him.
"There's no need for all this pomp and circumstance."
Seeing this, William said this bluntly to the being behind the seven curtains.
This is the end of his fall into the dream - the bedroom of Jaumala.
As he finished speaking, a slightly sentimental sigh responded to him. The sound passed through the curtains of the seven layers of nightmares, instantly calming the whispers and murmurs of the surrounding dreams.
But the other party did not say anything else, as if hesitating.
"You're beating around the bush to create an opportunity for a private meeting. What exactly do you want to talk about?"
William didn't intend to waste time talking to the other party and asked directly.
Originally, those forest elves were already equivalent to patients with "sleepwalking", and using this alchemical potion to control hallucinations was completely unnecessary. Jumala could directly modify the perception of those people and create an effect similar to "illusion".
If one only wanted to control them to complete the ritual, there was no need to use those expensive and ineffective potions.
But from another perspective, in addition to creating a state similar to "sleepwalking", the biggest effect of that alchemical potion is to cause the souls of living creatures in this world to fall into the nightmare swamp.
Or rather, an invitation.
This was also the reason why after seeing the expensive and ancient alchemical potion, he drank it without hesitation for too long.
Even if he was wrong, it didn't matter. With his connection with his body, and his mental strength, going back was just a matter of thought.
And it turned out that he guessed right.
The silence didn't last long before Jaumala's signature sweet voice came from behind the curtain.
"I hope you can give up the idea of continuing to struggle in this timeline... If so, I am willing to help you contact your companions on the other side through dreams, and let them pull you back to the normal timeline. You can leave Ravenwood after that, and no one will die."
The Nightmare Lord spoke in a tone that was extremely inconsistent with his status, and spoke in a tone that sounded like an exhortation.
William frowned when he heard this:
"And watch the whole of Ravenwood turn into a kingdom of the dead, a dead place where no living thing can survive?"
William replied.
He originally thought that the other party would talk to him about some more realistic topics.
"But the dead land is what Ravenwood was originally like. The five thousand years of life here was just Camilla's mercy."
Zhuamala replied, and without waiting for the other party to refute, he continued:
"Camilla's actions are just to put the correct history back on track. There is no need for you to stop it. This is because this is not a war that determines the future, but only to deal with some problems left over from the past."
"The correct history is chosen by the people of this world. It has nothing to do with you in the Moon Realm. If you just want to discuss such a boring topic... I'm busy now. There is an entire race that needs to be saved. I'm sorry I can't keep you company."
After saying this, William turned around and seemed to be planning to leave.
He was waiting for the other party to speak.
"What if I say that if you return to the original timeline now but give up saving Ravenwood, it will be the option with the least loss?"
As William expected, the other party called him.
"Making the entire Ravenwood a death zone controlled by Camilla is the option with the least loss?"
William stopped and turned around to ask, half in a performance and half in a serious tone.
He knew that the reason why he invited him to meet alone in the palace of Nightmare Swamp instead of contacting him directly in the real world through some medium was that there were some thoughts that Zhuamala must not want the other two Void Kings to know.
During the previous conversation in the Moon Realm Rift, he noticed that Zwamala was not as enthusiastic about Ravenwood's affairs as the other two. Instead, she felt a little... regretful about William's choice to fight to the end.
It is naturally impossible for the Void Kings to be united. Although the current deadlock of the entire Ravenwood is a "masterpiece" created by the cooperation of these three goddesses, even when calculating the "contributions" of these three, the Lord of Nightmares should still be the "number two person".
But William, who was familiar with the Nightmare Lord's style of doing things, felt that perhaps this mild-mannered Void King, who was known for being afraid of trouble, had not anticipated that things would develop in the direction that she believed was out of control.
"Then I'm a little curious about what the greater loss will be."
Seeing that the other party did not respond, William continued.
"die."
Jawmaara answered simply.
"Dead? Who died?"
Although he already had the answer in his mind, William still asked cooperatively.
"You die, and then everything you cherish, everything you rebuild after your return, will die with you. If you think you can afford this price, then you can continue to go..."
"Sorry to interrupt... I definitely don't underestimate your power as the Void King, but..."
William interrupted the other party's description of the tragic future without a trace of apology in his tone:
"But what you all failed to accomplish a thousand years ago, now..."
"I know that you are stronger now than before."
Zhuamala also interrupted William and said in her usual tone:
"Although your power scale has not changed qualitatively if the assistance of the 'Holy Spirit Disc' is excluded, your use of magic power has surpassed the imagination of ordinary people. Whether it is the novel use of those magic spells or the use of those instruments, they all demonstrate a higher-level perspective as a suspected Holy Spirit. And more importantly, your actions are no longer as rigid as before, and no longer have such a strong fatalism. If you follow the words of the mockers, you are more interesting than before, and you have revealed more possibilities."
Zhuamala paused for a moment, and William couldn't help but say:
"Go on, I'm listening."
The bedroom then fell into a long silence.
It was as if she wanted him to reflect on what he had just said.
William coughed slightly, breaking the silence and asked:
"So...if I'm really as strong as you think I am, why are you still so sure that I will die in here?"
"You got it wrong. It's precisely because I see the possibility of the future in you that I am warning you now."
Zhuamala replied coldly.
William tapped his forehead with a headache, and then said directly:
"So can't you be more specific? At least give me some reason that can convince me... I know that the so-called 'World Tree' in the center of Ravenwood is Camilla's past body. She intends to use it as a container for her own incarnation, right?"
The vague figure behind the curtain nodded almost imperceptibly.
"So if this is the opponent's trump card... I did defeat Camilla's incarnation with the help of 'Big Mother' and 'Father of the Wilderness'. But you or she don't really think that I can't defeat her incarnation by myself, right?"
William asked back.
“ We never felt that way.”
"Then why do you say..."
William looked strange.
"I...can't tell you."
"Very good, then don't say anything. I wish you a good dream."
Hearing this, William immediately bowed towards the curtain and turned to leave.
Needless to say, there must be some kind of oath, pledge, contract, or some other restriction that cannot be mentioned.
And he and the Riddler never had much to talk about.
"Disaster, wait a minute. If you must do that..."
Zhuamala called him again.
“Before Camilla was reborn as the Hungry Lady, she was not an elf, but a human.
"Also, Flora Cain is special - I don't know if you've noticed. The source of her divine-level magic power is not from the astral world, but from the souls of the tree-like elves of Ravenwood.
"This is all I can tell you without breaking my oath..."
