At the same time, in the gray, subconscious sea, a desolate island of mind materialized under the feet of the young man who had been separated.
After clearing all traces, Hermes finally looked at Aaron, who had an unusual expression, and gently explained, "Roselle and I are acquaintances. That Card of Blasphemy was the reward for ensuring Bernadette's safe departure from Intis back then. If you want it, I can give it to you after this matter is concluded."
A sense of déjà vu, like a pledge of allegiance… Aaron clicked his tongue inwardly, then smiled and shook his head:
"That won't be necessary. I'm just curious about the subsequent potion formulas of the Spectator Pathway. You can lend them to me for a look when the time comes."
While responding, Aaron, whose aura was rising layer by layer, used the boost of the Law to control the historical projection of "0-08" in his hand and wrote a passage on the island of mind:
"The Mind Dragon, Ariehogg, sensing the residual power of the Quill of Alzuhod, will encounter this body in the dream maze due to the influence of instinctive Convergence!"
The gray-white text vanished into invisible ripples, transmitting towards the depths of the collective subconscious sea. The semi-illusory quill seemed to have completed its mission, completely dissipating even though the historical projection itself had not yet run out of time.
-----------------
In the blurry, gray world, streaks of light and shadow swayed and drifted, densely overlapping to form a deep, illusory sea.
Everyone possesses divinity and is constantly eroded and influenced by the collective subconscious sea. The collective subconscious sea, inherited from generations of human accumulation, carries the deepest cognition and impressions, which is why this gray world is filled with chaos and madness.
Within this gloom, shrouded in mist, clear and ethereal dreams were like stars dotting the night sky. As light and shadow flickered, the outlines of some objects quickly emerged:
A giant stone pillar, dozens of meters high, stood tall, with a slender, lizard-like Monster perched atop it. Its body was covered in large, gray-white stone-like scales, and its eyes were pale gold and vertical.
It was none other than the Mind Dragon, Ariehogg, lurking deep within the dream maze!
Without warning, its two wings unfolded, their frames like metal or leaf veins, covered in gray, mysterious-patterned membranes, almost obscuring the entire space.
Ariehogg, with its large, gray-white scales, ignored the dream maze it had spent a long time constructing beneath its feet. Its pair of pale gold, indifferent vertical eyes peered through the hazy ocean to see a city of mind standing in the collective subconscious sea, and within it, the Corpse Cathedral at its center.
As if some memories had been stirred, the entire dream trembled. Ariehogg let out an angry growl, and blurry light figures detached from its body, merging into the surrounding dream fragments, activating the pre-set barriers.
With a ripple of its gray membrane, Ariehogg had already left the dream it had been hidden in, quickly fleeing towards the deepest part of the collective subconscious, using the interference of the barriers and the complexity of the dream maze.
After violently crashing through a mental doorway, Ariehogg's massive body paused slightly, somewhat surprised to meet the gaze of a pair of indifferent and peaceful eyes.
In the brief moment of its daze, the figure that happened to be blocking Ariehogg's escape path suddenly collapsed inward. The "Visionary" card appeared in a vortex of light particles, and a passage connecting to outside the dream maze was woven.
Ariehogg's breathing intensified slightly. Realizing something, it no longer hesitated. The top of its head turned dark, revealing a "sea" that encompassed everything, difficult to describe in words.
A gray-white giant Dragon, occupying half of the sea, leaped out, carrying a suffocating sense of oppression. Before Hermes's figure could fully appear, it charged towards the passage made of light.
One of its vertical eyes was pale gold, the other a vivid red. The moment it left that sea, a third eye opened on its brow, as if containing dense shadows, seeming to want to stir a certain will deeply embedded in the collective subconscious sea outside the dream maze.
It was none other than Ankewelt, the Dragon of Imagination, after being corrupted by the Chaos Sea!
The instigator, Ariehogg, seemed to have its eyes tinged with a hint of madness as well. It decisively broke free from this dream, but what came into view was not the expected collective subconscious sea, but a dark golden world.
Aaron hovered above the spiritual sky, mobilizing the power of the Nation of Disorder, and using the anchor provided by Hermes, forcibly pulled Ariehogg, who was trying to escape, and the surrounding dream maze into his Divine Kingdom projection.
Having severed the connection with the subconscious sea and blocked the retreat, Aaron ignored Ariehogg, who was fighting like a cornered beast. He raised an eyebrow and looked at the "Eden" standing majestically not far away, halting the summoning of Dabomachie's historical projection.
As early as when the 0-08 projection suddenly disappeared, he had anticipated Adam's arrival. Now, he could more clearly sense that the chaos in the subconscious sea had quietly dissipated, or more accurately, had been devoured.
Manipulating the rules of this sea of consciousness, Aaron narrowed his eyes and instantly arrived at the center of the mind city, before the majestic Corpse Cathedral.
The black doorway, built from piled skeletons, was open. The grand, empty interior of the hall seemed deserted, with only a giant cross remaining.
But under his true vision, the space within the Corpse Cathedral was a mix of real and illusory. The magnificent city supported by giant stone pillars instantly reminded Aaron of the "City of Miracles," Liveseyd, which he had once explored.
The sound of a book closing echoed. Liveseyd suddenly collapsed. Adam, holding Groselle's Travels, stood alone at the bottom of the cross. His clear, infant-like eyes showed no emotional fluctuations as he gently looked at Aaron, who was standing at the entrance of the Corpse Cathedral, neither asking nor urging.
Aaron's gaze was fixed on Groselle's Travels, which was completely different from before. The line of ancient Feysac on its dark brown cover had disappeared, replaced by a half-open bronze Door. In the faintly revealed deep darkness, a cold pupil with deep black eyes and countless dark blue cracks was vaguely visible.
Feeling the abnormality coming from the Nation of Disorder, Aaron took a deep look at Adam, then asked with great certainty but undeniable doubt:
"Is this the Primordial God Almighty?"
"Are you using Ariehogg and the collective subconscious sea to gather His will?"
Adam, dressed in a simple white robe, shook his head and calmly replied:
"To be precise, this is merely the negative personality left behind after Ankewelt's demise, a mental remnant formed after the Primordial will, transmitted by the Chaos Sea's pollution, was assimilated over a long period."
Glancing at Adam, who avoided the second question, Aaron couldn't quite guess what this fellow was trying to do. He probed subtly:
"Like the 'Viceroy of Heaven,' Dark Angel Sasrir, after the Cataclysm?"