"Which one is Groselle?" In the dream, Leonard stared blankly ahead.
There was a huge bonfire, surrounded by more than a dozen gray-blue-skinned, upright cyclops that looked no different to him.
To be honest, even without the " Faceless's" abilities, I wouldn't be able to recognize them... To me, if there were no differences in age, hairstyle, height, scars, clothing, or maturity, all Giant would look the same... Klein muttered to himself, then calmly turned his head to look at Miss " Justice," as if to say, "You're just an ' Spectator,' this shouldn't be difficult for you."
Audrey pointed to a Giant was gulping down a drink, occasionally letting out a loud shout of praise:
That's Groselle.
"It seems that in the customs of the Giant, affirmation and praise are not expressed through clapping, but through shouting; the louder the shout, the greater the degree of praise."
Miss Justice is acting like a folklorist... Thankfully, it's just shouting, not singing, otherwise the noise would be even worse. Clearly, the Giant here aren't good with music; their shouts just now had no rhythm whatsoever... Klein nodded slightly and said to Audrey " Justice ":
"Let's begin the guidance."
As Audrey stepped forward, Leonard stepped back, raised his right hand, and stroked his chin, saying:
"Tell me, in the Second Era, which extraordinary race widely possessed the Beyonder Characteristic of the ' Evernight ' pathway?"
"Isn't it Demonic Wolf?" Klein glanced at Leonard, wondering if the poet had contracted the traditional " Nighthawks " ailment of poor memory.
"I know," Leonard said, maintaining his previous posture with a slightly strange expression. "Then how did they Acting the ' Midnight Poet '? Or rather, Potion called ' Midnight Howler ' back then?"
"Initially, there were no Potion names..." Klein was inadvertently led astray by Leonard, and the image of the guy squatting on the ground, howling at the moon, immediately flashed into his mind. He couldn't help but mutter, "This might suit you better. No need to write poetry, it's very simple."
Leonard's lips twitched slightly as he said:
"There are different types of poets, and I'm the chanting type."
As the two chatted, Audrey guided them further, and Groselle's dream successively revealed places such as the " Forest of Decay," the " Desolate Tunnel," a corner of the " Giant King's Court," Dawn Town, and the Nation of Gold.
Since Groselle was not a servant of the Giant King and other "gods," he could only occasionally see these high-ranking beings when he was on duty in the " Forest of Decay " or certain palaces and passageways of the royal court. Moreover, he dared not look directly at them and had to kneel on one knee and bow his head to greet them. Therefore, the images of the Giant King Ormir, the Giant Queen Omebella, and the Giant King, " the God of Dawn " Badhair, were not presented directly in the dream, but existed only in the form of portraits.
Similarly, Grosser knew very few secrets and his grasp of history and world affairs was far inferior to that of the "Elven Singer" Shatas. However, an interesting point is that within the "Giant Court" and among the giants, the synonym for "traitor" is Suniasolem. They claim that it was this ancient god who betrayed the alliance and caused the fall of Lilith, the progenitor of the vampires.
Klein was highly skeptical, because the hot-tempered Soniathrym was clearly not good at this kind of thing.
That " Queen of Calamity " does seem to have the ability, but the problem is that what she is plotting is very difficult to hide from her consort, the true Old God, Soniathrym... In comparison, it is more reasonable for the Giant King Ormir to be a traitor... While Klein was making a rough analysis, Audrey changed the direction of the conversation, trying to let Groselle show what he saw and heard outside the " Giant King's Court ".
Unfortunately, this Giant left the royal court, passed through Dawn Town, and arrived in the Nation of Gold. Not long after, he obtained the travelogue and entered the book, but he did not know much about the local customs and people of the region.
"The most valuable piece of information right now is how to avoid the front lines after penetrating deep into the area of the ' Giant King's Court ' from ' Afternoon Town,' and enter through the ' Forest of Decay ' and ' Desolate Tunnel.'" Audrey finished her guidance and walked back to Klein and Leonard's side. "This will be extremely useful for Little ' The Sun ' and the others' upcoming exploration."
"Yes, we can tell him that at the next gathering," Klein nodded.
He was about to suggest entering the Sea of Collective Subconscious through Groselle's dream world when Audrey suddenly looked back, as if deep in thought, and said:
There's one detail that doesn't quite make sense.
"What details?" Leonard carefully recalled what he had just seen and heard, but found nothing suspicious.
" Justice," Audrey said, glancing at "the world."
"The rule that only the Ancient God could enter the ' Forest of Decay,' where the father and mother of the Giant King Ormir are buried, is highly unreasonable."
Klein hadn't initially noticed anything wrong with this detail, but after Miss " Justice " mentioned it, he suddenly had some ideas and carefully said:
" The Giant King's father and mother are essentially the Progenitor of the Giant race; normally, they should be objects of worship and sacrifice for the entire clan..."
"Yes, every race has a certain degree of ancestor worship, and the Giant are no exception. As can be seen from Groselle's dream, these guardians often hold their own sacrifices to the two Progenitor outside the ' Forest of Decay,'" Audrey nodded in agreement. "If there are no other influencing factors, the Giant King should occasionally organize key members of the race to worship the Progenitor, rather than stipulating that only he can enter."
"Perhaps the ' Forest of Decay ' harbors immense danger. Weren't the oldest Giant all mad, tyrannical, and irrational? It's not too hard to understand that their corpses pollute the surrounding environment and affect the entire forest after they die," Leonard offered his speculation.
Audrey and Klein both shook their heads, denying the claim.
"If it's just danger or pollution, Giant Queen Omebella the Giant and ' God of Dawn ' Badhair can clearly defend against it effectively. With the help of the Giant King, there should be almost no problem. Yet they are still not allowed to enter the ' Forest of Decay,' not even if they follow that ancient god." Klein simply stated his opinion and speculation, "Perhaps what's buried there isn't just the Giant King Ormir's parents, but other secrets."
"That's very likely." Audrey nodded seriously.
Her face, veiled by a silver mask, revealed a hint of curiosity in her emerald eyes as she shifted slightly.
"If that's the case, what could it be—a secret that can't be known to his wife, children, gods, or his people? Interesting..." Leonard smiled, letting his thoughts wander.
After discussing for a while, the three of them hurried through the " Desolate Tunnel " and arrived inside the " Giant King's Court," attempting to enter the palaces where the Twilight light was frozen.
Based on Klein's experience, this is actually the path to the edge of Groselle's dream.
This time, without him needing to fake the activation of " Creeping Hunger " and use the power of the " Living Corpse " to open the heavy door of the Giant's residence, " Justice " Audrey directly influenced the dream, causing the more than ten-meter-high door to open as lightly as paper. Due to the repulsion of the " Unshadowed Crucifix," Klein was not actually wearing the human skin glove.
Outside the door was a gray, misty world; what lay ahead was no longer the " Giant King's Court," but a precipice.
After briefly discussing the various situations that might be encountered when entering the Sea of Collective Subconscious and having corresponding contingency plans, Audrey materialized a staircase at the edge of the cliff.
The staircase winds and twists, leading deep into a dark, gray, silent, and bottomless Mind World.
Without delay, the three stepped onto the stairs and began their descent.
In this desolate and quiet environment that was almost maddening, " Justice " Audrey would use " Placate " several times every so often.
This was not only to Placate Klein, Leonard, and herself, but also to Placate the subconscious of the gray cliff face Groselle, to prevent it from becoming agitated and corrupting the three's Astral Body or Mental Body.
The countless rotting Giant hands that Klein had "encountered" last time did not reappear. Even the most unbearable feelings of loneliness, silence, and endlessness in this Mind World did not seem so terrible because it was a small team operation and they could talk to each other.
"This is the Mind World, the realm of consciousness. It's certainly different from others. The Star." Leonard looked around, seemingly wanting to express his feelings with a few lines of poetry, but ultimately chose to give up.
In other places or on other missions, Klein might have asked the poet to keep quiet, but here, he felt that whatever the other person said was fine.
" Justice " Audrey was also open to communication, and said very seriously:
"Our direct sensory experience is the essence of this environment; the cliffs, walls, and gray world we see are a reflection of our subconscious here. Other races might not perceive it this way..."
"... I'm only now finding psychology quite interesting," Leonard said with great interest after listening.
Klein glanced at him, refraining from saying that with his personality and habits, he was really not suited for the " Spectator " route.
During this exchange, the three of them walked for an unknown amount of time before finally stepping onto solid but blurry gray ground.
Looking up from here, you can see streaks of light and shadow, densely packed and overlapping, forming an illusory sea.
As Klein, Leonard, and Audrey were about to walk forward, a "flow of water" suddenly surged past, and a somewhat blurry figure rose from within it.
It was a gray-blue Giant, six or seven meters tall, with leather wrapped around its chest and abdomen that resembled dragon scales. Its exposed areas were covered with various patterns, symbols, and markings that defied description and exceeded the normal range of senses.
His single, vertical One-Eyed was bloodshot, radiating an undisguised ferocity and a clear tendency toward destruction, while a bloody human leg was bitten into his mouth.
This is a Giant of Demigod level!
He is a phantom left in the Sea of Collective Subconscious, perhaps from a real encounter of the ancestors of humans or other races, or perhaps from the sights and sounds of Giant like Groselle.
The moment he appeared, that frenzied emotion spread to Klein and the others, like a contagious plague.
This is a world of direct contact between spirit, consciousness, and soul!
P. S.: Requesting votes on Monday!