"Thinking carefully, the 'options' simulated by the Wheel of Fortune earlier only said Yaloran would be discovered by the Hidden Sage, but none of them mentioned what would happen afterward…
"Could it be that because this involves the Goddess, the Wheel of Fortune cannot 'see' it?"
Turning the thought over, Ebner didn't immediately use the black gemstone at his chest. This team still had unstable factors—those had to be dealt with before meeting Yaloran. Besides, for Klein's sake, Elizabeth and Dast also deserved some protection.
As he stepped out of the room, the eldest of Wallace's attendants hurried up, whispering: "Young Master, the night in this town is strange. Reality and dream seem to blur together... It would be best to leave quickly."
This man was Wallace's bodyguard, a Sequence 5 Mentor of Disorder.
Ebner smiled and waved a hand: "Don't worry too much. We came here precisely for the night of this town."
Perhaps because his tone carried too much confidence, the bodyguard was infected by his composure, thinking his young master had already prepared, and so held his tongue.
When they walked into the tavern's main hall, everyone had returned from their free time and was gathered around the only long table.
At that moment, one of Professor Mosal's students was vividly recounting a supernatural incident from a past excavation, hoping to impress the two ladies.
But Elizabeth, unsettled after Dast's warning, showed little interest. Instead, Smine, the priestess of the Church of Evernight, gasped in rhythm, helping to build the atmosphere.
"...That monster had three eyes, blank as a dead fish! And around its skull writhed black, jointed tendrils, twisting everywhere..."
Just as the student described the eerie vision with rising cadence, he spotted Ebner entering and stopped immediately.
—Before the expedition, the original Wallace had intimidated them with "dragon's might," so aside from Professor Mosal, his three students, including Elizabeth, all harbored subconscious fear of the "patron."
That was why, after Ebner replaced Wallace, Elizabeth felt he seemed far "kinder."
"Mr. Wallace... Night has fallen. Where is it in this town that merits exploration?" Professor Mosal asked, turning his head.
The man's scholarship was excellent, but his social tact was poor—he always spoke directly, often offending without realizing.
Ebner, however, didn't mind. He casually pointed behind the storytelling student, smiling: "A place worth exploring? Isn't it right there?"
Everyone instinctively followed his gesture—and their eyes widened. One by one, they stood and backed away.
Only the student remained clueless. Just as he opened his mouth to ask "What is it?", a chill swept over him. A sticky, icy tentacle brushed across his cheek.
He stiffly turned his head—and saw the very monster he had described clinging to his back. Its three fish-dead eyes stared into his, while the tendrils on its skull reached forward, as if to pull him into an embrace.
As he wet himself in terror, Professor Mosal's face turned grim. He pulled out a golden pipe, tapped it on the table, and golden flames leapt forth, burning the monster away within seconds.
The sight was so shocking that no one had yet relaxed before more monsters, all bizarre and all different, began coalescing from the darkness behind every person—everyone except Ebner—and stepped forward.
Among them, Elizabeth's foe was the most unusual: a towering knight over 1.9 meters tall clad in black armor. Each step rang with the clash of metal. Two red flames, like eyes, glowed behind the visor as he dragged a greatsword scraping the floor, never breaking his gaze from Elizabeth.
Though his form seemed normal, his aura was the strongest of them all.
Elizabeth's baby-fat cheeks went pale. She wanted to run, but her legs wouldn't move. Dast, who had promised her protection, was fending off a ferocious giant bear and couldn't help her.
As despair gripped her in this all-too-familiar nightmare scene—
Ebner suddenly strode forward, stepped in front of her, and stomped hard. The nightmare-born knight shattered instantly.
Then he glanced toward Dast—and his lips twitched subtly.
Because the giant bear in Dast's nightmare looked uncannily like the one Ebner had once turned into using Lilith's Tears.
I remember I "suggested" him to forget seeing me then... And now the bear shows up here... Does his subconscious think I'm the scariest thing? It was just one slap to knock you out—was that so traumatic? How petty!
After grumbling inwardly, Ebner gestured to Wallace's bodyguard, who unleashed "disorder" to restrain all the monsters. Professor Mosal then released the "Flame of the Sun" from his pipe, purging them completely.
Elizabeth, staring at the gentleman who shielded her, was momentarily dazed. Last time too, a man had shattered her nightmare this same way...
And that man was Klein Moretti—Melissa's brother!
Looking closer, though their appearances differed, Wallace's later demeanor and bearing did resemble Klein's somewhat...
Ah, Elizabeth, what are you thinking? Klein has already passed... And right now, danger is at hand. You can't be distracted.
Elizabeth patted her flushed face, forcing herself to calm down.
Of course, Klein and I were both modern people. Our living environments, our education, our core values—they naturally share similarities. That explains the resemblance.
Having "read" Elizabeth's thoughts, Ebner muttered softly, when suddenly another of Mosal's students broke down in panic:
"Wh-what is this? Why do such ghastly things exist?! I-I don't want to investigate anymore! I want to go home! I want to leave now!"
He bolted for the door—
But instantly, many monsters materialized at his side, seizing him all at once.
Seeing this, Mosal's earlier calm shattered. He quickly blessed his student with "Courage" through his pipe and shouted: "Stay calm! These monsters come from your inner fears... Think of your parents! Think of your god! They will give you safety!"
Clearly experienced, Professor Mosal knew never to say "Don't think nonsense," but instead to say "Think of something else." In such moments, with fear clouding ordinary minds, only clear direction could help.
Watching the student struggle futilely against the monsters' grip, Ebner thought:
So soon, he's fallen into a deeper layer of nightmare? The first monsters, though frightening, only pressed on the spirit—illusions of touch, pressure, and cold.
But now, they can physically touch us...
So, we're accelerating into deeper nightmare layers? Has Yaloran relaxed Her concealment?
Then She must be about to act!
With that, Ebner focused more intently on Stephen Humphreys—almost eager to fetch a stool and watch how miserably the Dragon's pawn would fail.
Knowing the Goddess was watching, Ebner was certain the old dragon's schemes would end worse than expected...
After all, "misfortune" too belonged to the Goddess—especially the "calamity" of the night!
(End of this chapter)