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The lady in the black court gown slowly turned her head, quite charmingly. Her deep grey eyes, bright yet tinged with sorrow, made one feel an irresistible urge to pity her. Yet, her words carried no emotion as she asked:
"Why hasn't Elena caught up yet?"
"Bearing the will of the Primordial will cause her already poor condition to deteriorate further. What's more, there was also the divine punishment brought down by the storm at that time," Katarina Pelle said, her tone unruffled, dressed in a sacred white robe.
"How truly miserable! I hope the next time we hear her name, it's not for us to retrieve her characteristics."
The lady in the black court gown's sigh was laced with undisguised schadenfreude, seemingly delighted to witness her companion's tragic plight.
Katrina neither agreed nor disagreed with her words, merely walking slowly through this dim, illusory, and not quite True Mirror World.
A moment later, they exited the illusory path and stepped into another area of the Mirror World. The surroundings suddenly brightened, and layers of rich colors replaced the deep gloom.
"...The Spirit World! ...When?"
A hint of astonishment flickered in Katrina's eyes. As her gaze swept around, her eyes landed on the place they had just exited behind her.
There stood a rapidly fading and disappearing bronze-colored grand door, covered in mysterious patterns and filled with an indescribable aura. On the inner side of the door was the dim, illusory, and not quite True Mirror World.
As this bronze door vanished, the Mirror World and the Spirit World were once again disconnected.
Katrina's loosely draped hair distorted and expanded, standing on end. Each strand intertwined, resembling small snakes dancing in the air.
Beside the beautiful woman in the black court gown, wisps of dark, illusory flames flickered, gently floating with the sway of her skirt, like an extension of her black court gown.
As soon as they moved, whoosh! whoosh! sounds exploded in their ears. An inexplicable, violent wind surged around them, seemingly from reality yet also from illusion.
The wind carried various wills, some strong, some despondent, blowing from all directions. Katrina and the lady in the black court gown trembled uncontrollably, as if something extremely terrifying had descended upon them. Their bodies, minds, and spirits were all in an uncontrollable state.
An invisible, transparent breath suddenly pierced through the Spirit World and landed on them, directly stimulating and harming their mind and spirit bodies.
Their bodies instantly stiffened as if struck by lightning, their spirits tore, and their spiritual bodies seemed to be pierced through, unable to even utter a cry of pain.
The dark, illusory flames flickered continuously, then suddenly extinguished, and the dark snake-like forms dancing in the air distorted, as if an alien consciousness had been born within them, beginning to intertwine and attack each other.
All sorts of thoughts surged in their minds: at times impulsive, at times hesitant, at times brave, at times fearful.
These chaotic thoughts prevented them from making correct judgments and actions. At the same time, they caused their spirits to be tainted with various seemingly heartfelt notions, leading to a strong self-destructive tendency, wishing they could tear or destroy themselves right then.
In the collective unconscious ocean, invisible to the naked eye, a terrifying storm, laden with fear and panic, instantly formed.
The nearby "sea surface" continuously churned with huge waves, shimmering with layers of light and shadow, carrying complex and chaotic consciousnesses that repeatedly battered the consciousness islands of the two Eternal Witches, effectively destroying their mental barriers and forcibly cramming fear and panic into their minds.
Katrina felt as if every organ in her body had developed its own thoughts. They were each reacting differently, even repelling and opposing each other.
"...Spectator," she murmured, her eyes slightly unfocused, as if layers of illusions appeared before her.
It was a grand and peculiar structure, suspended high in the sky, with towering, grey-white stone pillars covered in strange patterns, like a temple or a palace, surrounded by white clouds and mist.
Within the mist, a colossal figure occasionally streaked by. They possessed enormous, bat-like wings, resembling the dragons of myths and legends.
"Is this... a dream?"
Katrina murmured. Around her, wisps of illusory dark flames rapidly shot up, expanding outwards along invisible transparent threads, forming an exaggerated "spiderweb" wreathed in black flames.
These "spiderwebs" were unstable, constantly shaking and trembling, just like her emotions, extremely volatile and on the verge of collapse at any moment.
Her consciousness island and spiritual world were undergoing intense erosion and infection; the plague, which had been hidden in the mental storm, had begun to spread.
The intense self-destructive tendency made her tremble uncontrollably. The surrounding transparent threads snapped one by one, and the dark flames flickered, extinguishing and reigniting repeatedly.
Katrina collapsed to the ground, emotionally shattered. She pressed her hands tightly against her head, as if only intense pain could bring her a sense of security.
The instant her spirit was on the verge of collapse, a grand, warm, and indescribable consciousness descended.
The plague that had been raging in her consciousness island and spiritual world seemed to have met its True master, instantly submitting and attempting to counter-infect the Ancient Dragon who had created them.
"Plagues and viruses are all within my authority."
A voice, alluring, murmuring, and mocking, echoed through this dreamscape.
This voice restored some calm to Katrina. She finally saw her surroundings clearly and saw Clarice, who had been standing beside her all along.
She recalled her recent internal struggle and her attempts to break through the dream's limitations. Those were clearly attacks between the two of them.
How terrifying is the Spectator. From the very beginning, without us even realizing it, and before we had even entered the Spirit World, we had already fallen into His trap. This must be an angel, an angel of the Spectator pathway!
Amidst her swirling thoughts, she saw the surrounding clouds disperse, and a majestic figure appeared before her eyes.
It was a grey-white giant dragon. Its eyes were pale gold, its pupils vertical, exuding immense majesty. The moment He appeared, the entire sky seemed to prostrate itself at His feet.
The King of Dragons who once ruled the sky, a myth from ancient times, Ankewelt, the Dragon of Imagination.
This thought irresistibly surfaced in the minds of Katrina and Clarice. They instinctively wanted to gaze at this figure that existed only in myths and legends.
He was covered in a thick layer of grey-white scales, upon which were inscribed complex and three-dimensional mysterious symbols. They extended inwards into His flesh and outwards into the surrounding void, as if interwoven into something not belonging to the True world.
Just by seeing Him, their spirits became disordered, their thoughts uncontrollably distorted. The various thoughts that had just been suppressed resurfaced in their hearts, and an intense, destructive impulse swept through their minds.
"Do not look, do not listen."
"All of this is false; there is no need to believe it."
A gentle voice echoed in their ears, like a loving mother's admonition to her child.
The various thoughts constantly arising in their hearts were suppressed by an incomparably grand and indescribable will.
This consciousness seemed to originate from within them, yet was also superior to them, skillfully and powerfully crushing and shattering the consciousnesses and emotions that had arisen from the corruption.
"Ancient Dragon... Why interfere?"
The descending consciousness seemed to want to negotiate, but its response was the appearance of another figure.
This was another giant dragon, unlike the grey-white of the Spectator pathway. He had bronze-colored scales, covered in many intricate and strange patterns, like solidified mercury.
Compared to the Dragon of Imagination, His figure was more slender and lighter. His pupils were encircled by a pale blue glow, appearing cold and rational, filled with wisdom.
As this giant dragon's figure appeared, specks of bronze light emerged around Him, swiftly moving and outlining one mysterious symbol after another.
"Dragon of Wisdom?"
The consciousness that had descended into this dream, upon Katrina and Clarice, hesitated. His voice carried a hint of doubt and questioning.
A moment later, the bronze-colored Dragon of Wisdom's eyes subtly shifted, seeming to become more agile. An aura of madness, destruction, ominousness, and disaster spread along His body, instantly filling the entire dream, as if to encompass the entire dream world within Himself.
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