Escape

Aaron felt a chill on his shoulder, as if a hand had lightly patted him.

However, he absolutely didn't dare turn around. Anything that could eat a person alive would never kindly say, "Have you eaten?" after he turned around.

But the cold spread wildly from his shoulder. In just a few breaths, half his body had already gone numb.

Was this an illusion? Or was it real?

Aaron didn't even dare breathe loudly. He forced himself to calm down.

He couldn't see It or hear It. He could only sense Its presence, as if something were silently watching him from nearby.

This vague, inexplicable sensation alone nearly caused him to lose control of his mind.

An indescribable terror spread through his heart. He didn't know what he was afraid of; he could only tremble. Fear deeply etched into his genes made it almost impossible for him to control his actions.

The last shred of reason desperately held onto the reins of his body, yet those fragile reins were only a hair's breadth from snapping.

Running around would get him killed. Shouting would get him killed. Looking around would get him killed!

Aaron's instincts roared in fury, shouting loudly right beside his ear.

Still, remaining motionless was also a dead end.

The chill behind him grew heavier. The bone-piercing cold made him tremble involuntarily.

Was there still a way?

Aaron endured the fear and thought rapidly.

When he couldn't move, shout, look, or listen, was there any way left for him to save himself?

It seemed... there wasn't?

Should he wait for Sart or Alice?

Aaron immediately erased that thought. Although he didn't know how terrifying this It truly was, even the tip of the iceberg It had revealed was far beyond what Sart and the others could deal with.

Or rather, he realized that this might already be beyond the scope of what human power could resolve.

Aaron could already feel another hand lightly patting him.

This time, he felt as if his internal organs had developed minds of their own, twisting and writhing independently.

He didn't even have time to scream before sudden agony made him let out a ridiculous belch.

A faint bloody aura rushed out with the belch, then reentered his nostrils—thick and carrying a strange, sickly sweetness.

Aaron finally understood what torture Tog had experienced before his death. He was like a drum washing machine, while his internal organs were clothes being violently churned inside his chest.

Then came the wringing and spin-drying.

One belch after another escaped him. Aaron struggled to think. The agony ravaged his nerves, yet it also kept him conscious with the last of his mental strength.

No, there was still one final chance!

In a daze, Aaron finally thought of a possibility to survive against all odds.

Dream Speech: Twisted Language!

Release it on himself!

In theory, fighting poison with poison might let him struggle a little longer?

The first two releases had pushed Tog into the abyss of death. Yet not long afterward, this final chance to release it would become his last hope.

What was this supposed to be?

The heavens showed mercy in cycles—who could escape their retribution?

An inexplicable feeling welled up in his heart. The last fragment of Aaron's consciousness was finally crushed completely. He only felt endless bands of light appear before his eyes, revealing bizarre and fantastical scenes.

He couldn't sense his own body. Everything only felt unreal, as if he had become extremely light and could float with a mere thought.

Having experienced something similar before, he realized in the next moment that his soul had left his body again.

Or rather, was he about to enter that so-called pitch-black Dream Realm again?

In other words, the body below was his...

His instincts moved faster than his consciousness, and he immediately looked down.

He did indeed see himself, thin and frail. But he also saw a shocking scene he had never witnessed before.

A hand hovered silently behind him, even though Aaron couldn't see it.

Yes, Aaron couldn't see that hand, but he could feel it. There truly was such a hand.

At that moment, the soul that had broken free from his body possessed unparalleled sensitivity and spiritual perception. It allowed him to sense the extraordinary aura clinging to that hand.

The instant he sensed that extraordinary aura, an enormous stream of information poured into his tiny, pitiful brain like rivers and seas overflowing all at once.

A soul reacted extremely quickly—the speed of thought itself. Yet even with such a high-speed reaction, Aaron only managed to endure for a single instant.

This was the reason Sart had shouted his warning.

Do not look directly. Do not listen. Do not touch...

Even merely sensing it, or simply becoming aware of its existence, was a disaster.

The palm opened soundlessly and once again lightly touched Aaron, just like a master chef tasting a dish before serving it.

It was confirming the ingredients.

By then, Aaron had long since fallen unconscious. Finally, a light screen silently appeared before his eyes.

The host has witnessed the "Crawling Lord." Due to extraordinary information overload, the information is being forcibly organized and summarized...

Note: The summarization itself will consume Knowledge Points.

Strange Tale Points generating...

The hand that had been preparing to feast suddenly hesitated. The taste of the food seemed to have undergone some subtle change.

Its originally passable flavor had become tasteless and unappealing under this change.

Bloody handprints reappeared on the ground, stamping down around Aaron at irregular intervals, as if It were examining him.

In the end, the bloody handprints headed in some indescribable direction. As they appeared, the blood gradually faded until it finally vanished.

With Its departure, darkness returned. Even without any light, the surroundings seemed somewhat brighter than before.

Because Itself was an existence darker than darkness.

It wasn't until Aaron's groan broke the silence that this space finally came back to life.

"Damn it! Siosand!" The moment Sart turned around, he saw Aaron, twisted almost into a pretzel, and immediately shouted.

Alice stared at Aaron in shock, her expression complicated. She looked at Sart, then at Aaron, who was barely breathing, and hesitated to speak, seeming somewhat relieved.

"I didn't die." Siosand's face was pale as he broke free of the Shadow Bind.

With Tog's death, the Shadow Bind spell naturally became ineffective.

But then It came.

No matter how confident Siosand was, he could only honestly shrink back. Dream Princess, meanwhile, had been forced back into the Dream Realm after enduring that Hand of Shadow head-on.

"I know you must have a Blazing Sun Potion. Give it to him." Sart's tone was firm.

Siosand sneered. "The Blazing Sun Potion is the product of those alchemists. Back then, Teacher went to the Tower of the Sun with great difficulty and obtained three bottles. He used one to break through, one was monopolized by that old fossil from the Astrology Institute, so how could I possibly..."

"Because Teacher sent you here." Sart cut him off directly. "Teacher will give you another one."

The faint sound of someone grinding their teeth could be heard in the air.

"Senior Sart, do you really think you can do whatever you want just because you have Teacher's favor?!"

Sart looked at Siosand's livid face, glanced at Aaron, and nodded very seriously.

He was merely stating a fact.

"Yes, my dear junior."

Aaaaaah!

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TAT