The Round, Plump Jellyfish

"What's the Spirit Realm? What kind of place is it?"

Diana asked curiously. She hadn't expected this monster to be able to communicate.

"A strange extraordinary human who doesn't know the Spirit Realm exists, yet whose spirit can enter it..."

Perhaps Diana had beaten it into submission. The shadow gave up fighting her completely and drifted back behind the shape glowing with a cyan light.

"The place where matter and spirit intersect."

"The reflection of reason and passion."

"This is the Spirit Realm." The shadow's voice grew more and more human, taking on a faintly librarian-like quality.

Ivan couldn't help propping his chin up with a tentacle again. The shadow's explanation stirred his thoughts.

"This creature is so strange. It can actually communicate and think."

"The Spirit Realm, where matter and spirit intersect... It must be a world where all kinds of spirits gather. Human extraordinary spirits can also enter and leave through special channels."

"The Spirit Realm, the Lord of All Spirits... Hiss... Could it really be what I think it is?"

A sheen of cold sweat appeared on his head. He was growing increasingly uneasy about stealing the identity of the Lord of All Spirits. He had a feeling this ancient god wasn't so simple.

Diana hadn't really understood the shadow's explanation of the Spirit Realm, so she continued asking curiously, "Then, Mr. Shadow, what do I have to do to leave the Spirit Realm?"

This was the most urgent thing for her right now. Since there was a resident of the Spirit Realm she could talk to, she naturally had to seize this opportunity and show some manners.

"Since you're His believer, you naturally have a way to leave..." The shadow clearly didn't want to talk with Diana any longer and resumed its wavering form.

The girl clenched her fists, a golden glint flashing in her eyes as she prepared to charge again. She clearly hadn't had enough of a fight, and she was quite displeased with this fellow who kept hiding its face.

Seeing this, Ivan hurriedly spoke up. "All right. When it's time to leave, I'll take you."

He didn't want any more trouble and planned to use this opportunity to explore the place.

Diana reluctantly lowered her fists, then looked at Ivan beside her.

"The Lord's spirit is such an adorable jellyfish. I really want to touch that round, chubby head..."

Her eyes sparkled. The blue ribbon on the ruffled cuff of her sleeve was about to brush against Ivan.

Ivan hurriedly flew backward, staring at the girl before him in shock.

"Hiss... This girl's thoughts are so dangerous, and she even dares to act on them!"

"Diana."

The majestic voice brought Diana back to her senses. She noticed the jellyfish looking at her and realized that she had just tried to touch the Lord's spirit.

Her face flushed from the roots of her ears. The freckles beneath her eyes looked like cocoa powder sprinkled over a pink cake, making her exceptionally adorable.

She hurriedly withdrew her hand and clasped both hands tightly before her chest. Lowering her head slightly, she looked like a child who'd done something wrong and didn't dare meet Ivan's spirit's gaze.

Diana's heart pounded. "Great Lord of All Spirits, please forgive Your knight for her rudeness."

Her voice was so quiet it was almost inaudible, yet it brimmed with deep reverence and shame.

Ivan simply hovered beside her, quietly observing his surroundings.

The membrane around the Spirit Realm pulsed at a steady pace, its red veins expanding and contracting like something breathing.

A colossal black pillar stood nearby, mysterious symbols carved into its surface like ancient words in a textbook.

After a moment, he finally spoke. "It's all right. It's just that... in the Spirit Realm, your touch can affect its stability."

"You've only just stepped into the extraordinary world. This place is far too dangerous for you right now. You'd better..."

Ivan hadn't finished speaking when a black pillar seemed to appear in front of Diana as if by teleportation.

Before he could stop her, her slender fingers brushed against the pillar unconsciously, gliding over the sunken symbols as she felt their patterns.

A crack suddenly split open in the pillar, and viscous liquid seeped out, running down its surface.

The liquid slowly gathered in the black void, transforming into a deformed flying insect with compound eyes.

The insect tilted its head. Its long wings, shimmering with strange colors, fluttered a few times.

In an instant, a torrent of chaotic, incomprehensible information flooded into Diana's mind.

She felt as if a palette had been spread across her memories, with colorful scenes flashing before her eyes.

There were sacrificial ceremonies from the Old Era, the smoke and flames of war from the New Era, and countless versions of herself poring over ancient books in different eras and places.

The flood of chaotic information washed over Diana's consciousness, fragments of the past, present, and future intertwining and colliding.

"Diana?"

Ivan sensed that something was wrong with her. Seeing her blank, unfocused eyes, he hurriedly sank his consciousness into his spirit.

He discovered that Diana's thoughts were leaping in an inconceivable way, far surpassing the speed of human thought and the limits of human memory.

"What is this thing? Is it affecting Diana's thoughts?"

He glared at the insect. It seemed to notice Ivan hovering in the air; its body shuddered, then turned back into a puddle of slime.

"Why did it disappear... What should I do now? I was counting on that insect to communicate and help me find a solution."

He gritted his teeth and looked at his own body.

"I'll just have to try this first."

Ivan used faith energy to quickly split off some of his tentacles.

"Good thing the Remnant Corpse's spirituality works in the Spirit Realm too."

As the tentacles drifted toward Diana's spirit, her jumbled thoughts finally disappeared, and she gradually calmed down.

"Not bad. As expected of my ability—good for whatever ails you."

Ivan nodded proudly, though a trace of lingering fear remained in his heart.

"I didn't expect everything in the Spirit Realm to be so dangerous: pillars that suddenly move, inexplicable flying insects, wings that vibrate and nearly overload someone's brain..."

He looked around again and noticed the membranes pulsing more violently. It was as if every second they stayed here made the space even more unstable.

Diana's eyes slowly refocused, as though nothing had happened.

Ivan breathed a sigh of relief. He decided to explore the Spirit Realm alone after he'd learned more about it. Pretending nothing had happened, he continued to guide Diana:

"You'd better... leave now, Diana. Do you remember those two symbols you didn't recognize?"

Diana rubbed her temples, unsure why she had suddenly zoned out.

She obediently nodded and silently recalled the symbols.

"Inject your Spirituality—in other words, your spirit—into them, and you'll be able to leave." Ivan's guidance continued.

Hearing this, Diana closed her eyes and hugged Myth of the Era tightly to her chest.

As Spirituality rippled out from her, the twisted symbols on the black stone pillars around her lit up in response.

The darkness beneath her feet rippled like water, engulfing her in a swath of black.

The shadows and pillars around her began to blur, like a background rapidly receding into the distance.

Diana's body slowly turned transparent in that space of red and black, then disappeared completely.

Ivan watched and nodded. With only a little time left, he flew straight toward the shadow from earlier.

"You. What else do you know about the Lord of All Spirits?"

The shadow seemed to open its mouth as Ivan approached.

But before it could make a sound, its body suddenly burst into a cloud of mist and dispersed into the boundless Spirit Realm.

"Was it because I asked something forbidden, or did Diana simply beat it apart..."

He shook his head and sighed, then left the Spirit Realm as well.