"Continue."
Yano nodded heavily, took several more Gray Grit Crystals, then closed his eyes again and sank deeper into that gentle flow of spiritual energy.
As more and more spiritual energy was absorbed, the membrane in his mind became nearly transparent.
Just as he felt he was about to touch the core—
In the endless darkness deep within his consciousness, a pair of beautiful eyes filled with indescribable allure opened in the darkness without warning!
Those eyes seemed to hold the turning of galaxies within them, carrying a profound depth and a trace of... icy indifference.
"Urgh...!"
Yano's body suddenly stiffened, and a terror born from the instincts of life itself instantly seized him by the throat.
He felt the blood throughout his body freezing, his bones creaking, his skin hardening frantically.
He was turning into a stone statue at an astonishing speed.
Count Bran, who had returned and witnessed this scene, jumped in fright.
"It's over, it's over, Your Majesty... h-he-he-he turned into stone."
This isn't going to go wrong, is it?
Chen Yu's heart began to pound as well.
Yano struggled desperately in the darkness of his consciousness. The suffocating pressure brought by those eyes and the icy sensation of petrification spreading through him felt incomparably real.
He felt himself falling into an eternal abyss, about to follow in the footsteps of all his ancestors... Endless despair and terror nearly swallowed him whole.
"No!!!"
A roar from the depths of his soul erupted in his heart!
His longing for Laura, his promise to the children, his gratitude toward his boss, his desire to live... all of it instantly shattered the absolute suppression brought by those demonic eyes.
Buzz!
At the very last instant before the stone patches covered his face, the spreading petrification seemed to have its rewind