Feathers

Inside a house in Tivanako, Tevanaco Tizamo Town.

Amandina awoke amidst the violent shaking of the building.

She stood up somewhat blankly and looked out the window. She saw that the sky had turned gray and hung low, completely obscuring both the Crimson Moon and the Stars.

In near-absolute darkness, Amandina turned to the side and Library into the distance.

Robert, dressed neatly, slowly got up, looking around sluggishly as if he were still not used to the dark environment.

After the tremors and shaking of the buildings finally stopped, Robert, using his Spirit Vision, discovered Amandina.

He hesitated for a moment before asking, "We're... awake?"

He remembered that before entering the "Dream Festival," he and Amandina had met here under the pretense of a date. When they were passively entered into that special Dream, they temporarily separated, one staying where he was and the other going to the Saint Sien Church.

Amandina glanced again at the suddenly noisy street outside the window, thought for a few seconds, and said, "It should be..."

But I don't know what's going on now.

Robert remembered his dream and fell silent, as did Amandina.

After a long pause, Robert asked in a low voice, "What happened to you afterward?"

Amandina suddenly laughed:

"It's nothing."

Robert shut his mouth again.

Amandina, who possessed night vision, looked at him, smiled with mixed emotions, and said, "Is there anything else you want to ask?"

Robert paused for a moment, then asked, "What happened to you afterwards?"

Amandina, sensing the still darkness of the house, whispered after a long, deathly silence, "I saw the one who gave me strength."

"The one who gave you power?" Robert asked in surprise.

Amandina smiled:

"After we touched that Black Ancient Tomb, we didn't actually fall Past. We only truly lost consciousness after receiving the power."

"How is that possible..." Robert said with an expression of disbelief.

Amandina didn't try to persuade him; instead, she began to mutter to herself:

"Upon gaining extraordinary power, one immediately falls into a coma or Slumber. Upon waking, one has fully mastered that power, and both spirit and body have undergone certain changes..."

"Wouldn't this be considered a low-level version of 'dying first, then living'?"

"What are you talking about?" Robert was increasingly confused.

I don't understand at all!

Amandina's Eyes flickered slightly, and she smiled.

"That person told me; perhaps it was a form of instruction."

"Teaching..." Robert looked at Amandina opposite him, only able to confirm her condition through his Spirit Vision.

He felt that his fiancée was different from before, as if she had grown up overnight.

Amandina wanted to tell Robert about her ordeal in detail, as usual, but a flood of words welled up in her mouth, only to be swallowed back down.

She sighed and said, "Aren't you going to see Priest Kali? He probably doesn't have much longer to live."

Robert snapped out of his reverie and blurted out, "He escaped to that Ancient Tomb and was killed?"

"He is indeed dead," Amandina replied.

Robert's expression shifted repeatedly, but he didn't ask who the murderer was.

Amandina thought for a moment and said, "Before you go to Priest Kali, I need to tell you something."

"The desire you Primordial One felt when you faced him did not originate from your heart; he gained the power to influence you through Ritual and supplications to the Devil."

Robert's Eyes widened suddenly, and his mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Amandina said nothing more, stepped forward, passed Robert, and headed towards the stairwell.

After pressing her hand on the stair railing, she paused and hummed in agreement.

"Let's find an excuse to break off the engagement. I can accept other things about you, but I can't allow my fiancé to leave me alone with Louis Berri to find the Black Ancient Tomb under those circumstances."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your situation, and those who knew in my dream won't tell anyone either."

Robert turned sharply and looked towards the stairwell, where he saw Amandina descending the stairs, her spiritual light swallowed by the deep darkness.

Amandina left the house in Tevanaco and went out onto the street.

She glanced at the gloomy, overcast sky, looked at the scattered lights on both sides, and smelled the dusty air.

After covering her nose with her hand, Amandina walked towards the Palm Manor.

Her steps gradually became lighter.

... and Library

Third Floor of the Police Headquarters in Tizamo Town.

Camus had just felt that Kolobo's trembling had lessened and that he seemed to have recovered when he heard Pain curses coming from the next room.

A thought struck him, so he lit a Candle, went out of the room, pushed open the slightly warped Wooden Door next door, and saw Loban man from Feysac, lying on the ground, clutching his knee and crying out in pain.

The Patrol Team from Tizamo Town was awakened by the Earthquake -like commotion. He tried to get out of bed and find cover, but one of his legs strangely lost its strength, accompanied by intense pain, causing him to fall directly to the floor.

Before Camus could even form a sentence, Riya's voice rang out beside him:

"Don't worry, it's just the mass hysteria mentioned in the surveys. Attending the appropriate Mass will help."

Loban, who had been working with Camus to gather information on various unusual events in Tizamo Town, quickly understood Riya's words.

He cursed, struggled to his feet, pulled a Military Flask from under his pillow, and gulped down several mouthfuls of strong liquor.

After his face flushed slightly from drinking, Loban breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I feel my knees are recovering a bit. Sometimes, alcohol is more effective than Mass!"

Camus also breathed a sigh of relief, turning his head to look at Riya, and noticed that his teammate's expression had become somewhat cold.

After what just happened, her Dream Projection completely disappeared, and those emotions and desires returned to her body? Camus wondered if that special Dream was still there, and if there would be another "Dream Festival" next year... Many thoughts immediately came to Camus.

At this moment, Riya said to him, "Let's go out and see if we can save some people. The injured shouldn't be just those who died at the ' Dream Festival '."

Camus paused for a moment, then said, "Okay."

A sense of joy welled up within him, as he felt that Riya had not fundamentally changed despite the return of those emotions and desires.

Following the directions given by the owner of the Briu Inn, Lumian went to the fourth floor and opened the wooden door to the corresponding room.

The near-total darkness receded rapidly under the illumination of a Blazing White Fireball, revealing everything to Lumian's eyes:

Some items had fallen to the ground due to the shaking, tables and chairs had shifted slightly, a small amount of dust had fallen from the ceiling, and the windows were closed but the glass was broken. Apart from these, there was nothing noteworthy, and no human presence was observed.

Lumian looked around but couldn't find any trace of the man and woman.

He frowned slightly and muttered to himself, "According to the original rules of the ' Dream Festival,' dying in a dream doesn't mean dying immediately. After the man and woman woke up, they left Tizamo Town directly?"

"I also plan to come and collect their bodies, and while I'm at it, inherit their Beyonder Characteristic..."

Lumian didn't assume the man and woman couldn't escape the room just because the door and windows were closed. After all, they were two Mid-Sequence Beyonder, one of whom was even a "Demon," and they might have special abilities to solve the corresponding problems.

While pondering whether to search for clues and catch up to clean up the dead on behalf of the "Dream Festival," Lumian casually examined various details in the room.

Suddenly, his pupils dilated, and his gaze froze for a second.

He saw a feather lying quietly under the Armchair by the window, next to the bookstore.

White Feather stained with a pale yellow grease!

Lumian felt a chill run down his spine and silently took two steps back into the corridor.

The man and woman, like Reyasa, were already dead, and had undergone Mutation?

What about their Corpse?

Disappeared?

What different behaviors would humans exhibit after transcending the "Dream Festival" Ascend to Godhood?

With a ball of Blazing White Fireball floating behind his head, Lumian re-examined the room before him, filled with many questions. He felt that the "Corpse" of the man and woman might still be here, but he just couldn't see them.

He cautiously entered the room and approached the Armchair. He felt nothing unusual and found no trace of the invisible entity.

Lumian took out the "Mystery-Peering Glasses" and the "Eye of Truth" from the "Traveler’s Bag" and put them on his face in turn.

He still couldn't see the man and woman; his vision was filled with chaotic darkness, a lightless river, oil-stained feathers, and a confined, deep abyss.

"After returning to reality, they immediately completed their 'ascension' and left this place?" Lumian pondered for a few seconds before activating the Black Mark on his right shoulder.

He was "Teleportation" to a place in the jungle, the edge of a special Dream.

As a "Hunter," after being taken to the Black Ancient Tomb by Amandina, Lumian had memorized the correct route and environmental features. After spending nearly fifteen minutes, he arrived at the area where many tree roots protruded from the ground, resembling numerous gnarled blood vessels.

However, the place where the Ancient Tomb, which should have stood like Black Monolith, was empty and devoid of anything.

"That Black Ancient Tomb only exists in Dream, untouchable in reality?" Lumian began to speculate seriously. "So, the Angel like the ' Pale Empress ' couldn't descend in person, and could only send people to participate in the ' Dream Festival '?"

As his thoughts raced, Lumian's gaze shifted back and forth across the piece of land corresponding to the Black Ancient Tomb.

It was indeed a bit different from the surrounding area; there were no gnarled tree roots protruding from the ground, and it was flat and free of stones.

Lumian Past thoughtfully, took out his Straight Sword, and used it as a shovel to try digging into the soil.

As soon as he dug a small hole, Lumian's eyelid twitched.

Buried beneath the dark brown soil were two White Feather stained with pale yellow oil!

Lumian took a slow breath and dug a little deeper.

Before long, a patch of strange, palm-sized, pale black, slightly damp and sticky soil came into his view.