Chapter 496

The interior of the temple was vast and dim.

Only strange gemstones embedded in the walls and pillars provided illumination.

The air was thick, damp, and cold, filled with an even more intense mental oppression. Countless dark-purple waves formed from pure mad intent surged from the darkness deep within the temple. As though alive, they circled and flowed through the hall before finally converging upon a raised platform at the very heart of the temple. And atop that platform...

Sat a blurry figure.

The figure sat upon a "throne" made of enormous shells and twisted coral.

Its outline vaguely resembled Lina's, but it was taller and more indistinct, as though shrouded behind a constantly shifting veil woven from the light and shadows of the deep sea.

She was draped in a magnificent yet bizarre robe that seemed to be woven from pearls, scales, and living tentacles, while upon her head rested a crown resembling a miniature green nebula.

"Hm?"

Ian narrowed his eyes as he observed her.

Lina's face was concealed in shadow, impossible to make out clearly. Yet where her eyes should have been, two cold, ghostly gleams flickered, as though they could see through to the essence of one's soul.

She sat there silently, like the "core" of this sinister city, like the "hub" connecting the darkness from which countless streams of mad data poured forth.

Part of the power spiraling through the temple sank into the darkness behind her, while another part seemed to be absorbed and processed by her, then used to subtly influence the workings of the entire dream world in a more "orderly" manner.

Yes.

She was the spokesperson of the "god" within this layer of the dream.

She was a projection born from the personification and manifestation of Cthulhu's vast, chaotic madness—a manifestation