[Dreamscape Depth, Abyss]
[Penacony Grand Theater]
Looking at Sunday, who had already been knocked unconscious and was lying face-down on the ground, Argenti withdrew the lance in his hand. He then turned his head and looked at his companion.
Tiriandes's chest opened like a safe, and he was putting the fragments in his hand back into their original positions.
"This is... the third dream layer, right?" Argenti asked.
Tiriandes nodded. "That's right. Obviously, the moment of the final battle has not yet arrived in this dream... The Xianzhou is the same.
"The projection that exists in this dream will deal with him later. Let's go. We still have one more dream layer to visit."
"Did you discover anything?"
"Mm. While attempting to use the fragments to open a path between the different dreams, their power connected me with the source that created the multiple dreams."
"Therefore, I can confirm that the authority to create parallel dreams belongs to Them. At the same time, I also gained the opportunity to observe the overall structure of the parallel dreams."
Tiriandes did not hide anything from Argenti. He explained in the same calm, mechanical voice, always maintained at the same pitch, "In that brief glimpse, I obtained two pieces of information. First, all of us are actually dreaming. Second, there are a total of four layers of parallel dreams."
"We have one more dream layer we haven't seen. I suspect the god's true body should be in that layer."
As he explained, Tiriandes turned and left.
Argenti quickened his pace and caught up with his companion.
"Then do you have any ideas about how to leave this dream?"
"I can't think of a particularly good method at the moment, but there is indeed a solution."
"With the fragments, it would not be difficult for us to leave. But bringing everyone in the entire dream with us would be somewhat impractical."
"Unless we can find someone who can freely wield the authority of Beauty... But there is one problem. They disappeared for a period of time, which makes it impossible for me to determine whether Their true body exists in the four dream layers."
"In terms of their form of existence, They are closer to Beauty than we are. Perhaps Their true body accidentally left the dream during the period when They disappeared."
Argenti listened to Tiriandes's explanation, thought carefully, and then nodded.
If it was Nero, that was indeed possible.
"So, if we want to leave this place together with the others, we need to find someone who can stimulate this dream."
"We're not suitable. Beauty is too gentle toward all things, so it cannot produce the kind of stimulation that comes from dropping an ice cube down someone's collar."
"The god's brute force might work, but it would inevitably cause some mental damage to those who have fallen into the dream."
"Turning these people into mental patients when there are other options would be somewhat irresponsible."
"You mean... go find Miss Acheron?" Argenti continued along Tiriandes's line of thought.
"Correct. The power of Nihility is quite stimulating to any Path. Using it here is just right. Afterward, all we need to do is find her true body and explain the current situation. I don't think she will refuse." Tiriandes said.
"After all, that lady also defeated the Lord of the Myriad Fires." In Argenti's mind, Acheron currently seemed to be something of a chivalrous hero.
"You can be a little more realistic. Even for her own sake, she won't refuse to cooperate." As he spoke, Tiriandes walked into the interior of the Something Unto Death, "Bearing the power of Nihility means that she will have a harder time than other people entering the dream, although she may not care."
"For ordinary dreamers, they cannot sense anything. But the power of Nihility allows Miss Acheron to clearly realize that she is currently in a dream, under the influence of the powers of other Paths."
"Yet this is a cage that can be seen but cannot be escaped. In this complicated, multilayered massive synesthetic dream, even an 'Emanator' of Nihility must destroy the dream to return to reality."
"But once she destroys the dream she is in, she will immediately become trapped in a new parallel dream."
"As someone who controls the dream, part of Sunday should exist here as well. That not-yet-fully-ascended Order, wielding the authority of Beauty while strictly enforcing the law, truly presents a troublesome problem in which one is left helpless."
———
[Dreamscape Depth, Descent]
Argenti and Tiriandes once again boarded the Something Unto Death and set sail. Following the route Tiriandes had already confirmed through the fragments, they traveled all the way toward the fourth dream layer.
Nothing unexpected happened during their journey through the dreams. The Something Unto Death soon landed in a new Golden Hour.
The two knights descended from the magnificent spacecraft and began observing this layer of the dream, hoping that they could find a long-lost companion here.
Perhaps it was Beauty's protection, but the two had unexpectedly good luck. At the end of Glaux Avenue during the Golden Hour, they found Noe. Moreover, they were certain that this was the true body of the Noe they were looking for.
Because when the two knights arrived at the end of Glaux Avenue, this was the scene they saw.
The Knight Lady did not know where she had found countless ropes, and beside her, the people she had tied up had piled into a mountain. At this moment, the Knight Lady still had not stopped working.
While tightly tying up yet another Dreammaster avatar beneath her feet with rope, the Knight Lady curiously asked the professor she had been watching for a long time, "Professor Ratio, since you know all these things so clearly, why haven't you taken action until now?"
"If things reach the point of no return, I will naturally take action. But before that, everything is part of the process of treatment."
Ratio still maintained his aloof tone, but he was not annoyed or angry at the knights' actions.
He was simply explaining that rather than relying on others to support them, he would much rather these people realize the problem themselves and do everything they could to fight against their troubles.
What he hoped would awaken was not limited to the mortals trapped in the dream. It also included the fool who had dragged all living beings into the dream.
This had always been his position, just like what he had said to the genius Screwllum after the incident involving the Phase Flame at Herta Space Station had ended, "There is an incurable disease in this world called stupidity, and it is harder to eradicate than any other illness."
"The Path of Erudition has neither reason nor logic. Geniuses walk among the stars, while the mediocre cannot even follow a single footprint."
"The mediocre deserve to walk on their own, spending their ordinary lives falling down and getting back up."
"But a failed life is still a life. They have the right to taste it to the very end. Only when they fall to the ground with no one to help them up can fools learn how to stand."
"Oh, so that's how it is. Um... Could you come help me for a bit? It's really too slow for me to tie them all up by myself," Noe said.
Ratio: "..."
As Noe continued tying people up while hoping that Ratio would come help her, she suddenly blinked. Her gaze passed over the learned professor and landed behind him, where she saw two of her fellow knights.
The next moment, the Knight Lady raised her hand and waved, a bright smile appearing on her face.
At the same time, she proudly showed off her spoils to them: Sunday and the Dreammaster Gopher Wood, as well as unconscious Mr. Yang and Robin.
"Argenti! Anders! Hehe, look, Mr. Welt and Miss Robin are both fine, and the culprits, Mr. Sunday and the Dreammaster Gopher Wood, have both been caught too!"
"I completed two of Nero's orders in one go. He should praise me, right?!"
Looking at Noe showing off, Tiriandes stood where he was, his blue-glowing eyes flickering. In the end, the Intellitron knight slightly hunched his back and let out a sigh of complete speechlessness.
Perhaps in his eyes, this colleague was beyond saving. She clearly possessed "world-shaking wisdom," yet she happened to have such a very wise-looking appearance. The contrast was simply too strong.
Argenti, meanwhile, revealed a very relieved smile.
The author is a Doctor Truth simp, you know.
"I have mysophobia. I can't stand idiots, fools, or morons. Whenever I see them, I just want to die..."
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