In front of the magnificent palace, which was grayish-white in appearance and over two hundred meters high, stood several thick stone pillars, shorter than itself, like a line of straight guards.
Klein could imagine that when the " City of Miracles," Liveseyd, was still floating in mid-air, these stone pillars must have been perched with powerful Dragon.
These are the attendants or servants of the ancient gods.
He then looked up and glanced at the open door, and said to Leonard and Audrey:
"Get closer to me. If anything goes wrong, I will immediately take you out of the world in the book and return directly to the Gray Fog."
This is precisely what gave Klein the confidence to explore this place.
"Hmm." Neither Audrey nor Leonard tried to be brave; they each walked to either side of Klein and walked alongside him.
Using their spiritual flight abilities, the three of them traversed the steps and entered the palace through the extravagantly grand gate.
The first thing that caught their eye was a space so spacious that multiple Dragon could roll around at will, and ancient stone pillars that seemed to support the sky.
On both sides of this hall, there are brightly colored murals that stretch forward and converge behind a massive half-column that would take countless people to encircle.
The colossal pillar stood at the deepest part of the hall, directly in front of it. Without relying on any external objects, it alone could evoke a strong sense of awe and allow one to feel the vicissitudes of time, like a petrified deity.
Almost instantly, a gray-white figure appeared on the giant pillar.
The figure was covered in scales, each one like a solid stone slab; even the faint outline of it seemed like an epic.
" Dragon of Imagination," Ankewelt! The thought had barely crossed Klein's mind when a strangely familiar voice echoed through the extravagantly spacious hall:
"' Dragon of Imagination,' Ankewelt!"
As Klein looked around in astonishment, he heard Leonard say with genuine emotion:
The deep air listened intently.
"The breeze was so strong that I almost dared not breathe..." (Note 1)
... This guy even has the mood to recite poetry, I wonder whose poem he's reciting... Klein turned his head to look at Leonard.
Immediately afterwards, he heard an echo:
"This guy even has the mood to recite poetry, I wonder whose poem he's memorizing..."
At this moment, Leonard looked quite surprised, kept his mouth tightly shut, and shook his head repeatedly in denial.
But the next second, a voice sounded beside him:
"I didn't read anything!"
"What's going on? Strange..." Klein's heart skipped a beat as he realized that the strangely familiar voice he had just heard belonged to him.
And it echoed once more, repeating Klein's fleeting thought.
Then, Justice 'Audrey soft voice, tinged with a hint of murmur, rang out:
"This... this hall allows our thoughts to be directly manifested, even materialized, in our surroundings? Hmm... when I saw that giant pillar just now, I was imagining what the ' Dragon of Imagination ' Ankewelt looked like. I was using the Mind Dragon I had seen before as a model..."
"My words, no, as expected, were spoken by 'the hall'..."
Oh, I see. Luckily, I wasn't thinking about anything strange just now. Hmm, I need to calm my mind... Klein began to try using Cogitation to focus his mind and stop himself from thinking randomly.
At the same time, almost simultaneously, corresponding words rang out beside him:
"... Calm your thoughts, calm your thoughts, calm your thoughts..."
"So this is what Mr. 'World's' inner world is like. Like a child just starting school, constantly emphasizing things he needs to pay attention to. And what he's Cogitation on are actually layers of light orbs. How beautiful! No, no, I didn't think that way, and I never described you like that, Mr. 'World,' really!" As her true thoughts continued to emerge, Audrey finally couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth.
As for Leonard, the sounds of "hahaha" echoed around him.
"These two guys... no, why should I use 'guys'? Be polite, be polite..." Klein sighed helplessly, listening to his inner monologue. "This place is perfect for playing Truth or Dare, maybe we should call it ' Hall of Honesty '..."
"What kind of game is this?" Audrey didn't even need to open her mouth to express her confusion.
"It was probably invented by Emperor Roselle... I need to be careful not to think about things I shouldn't be thinking about. Honestly, it's so difficult to rein in my random, wandering thoughts without Cogitation..." Klein answered, habitually reminding himself, only to be betrayed once again by the hall.
This time, Audrey also laughed out loud:
"Haha, Mr. 'World' has this side to him? I never realized it before..."
"Hahaha, Klein, you've finally met your match! No, what did I say..." Leonard suddenly raised his right hand and covered his mouth.
Unsurprisingly, he heard Miss Justice's "question":
" Klein?"
And someone's complaint:
"Maybe only Marionettization can stop this guy from overthinking... Wait, what am I thinking? Phew, calm down, calm down..."
Klein took a deep breath and began to focus his attention on the matter at hand:
"Let's first look at what the surrounding murals depict. In ancient times, murals were a very important means of recording events, often containing a wealth of information..."
As he made the suggestion, he could hear Audrey's inner thoughts, both laughing and thinking:
" Klein, is this Mr. 'World's' real name? No, don't overthink it, Mr. 'World' will be angry. No, I think it's more likely he'll be embarrassed. No, no, it's all Mr. ' Lies ''s fault, Mr. World, please believe me! Whew, calm down, calm down, focus, focus!"
By using the " Spectator " approach to control her own emotions and thoughts, Audrey gradually calmed her mind and turned her gaze to the mural on her right.
Compared to them, Leonard's ability to control his mind was slightly weaker; there were still echoes of noise around him.
" Marionettization... Has this guy's thinking become this dangerous now? Tsk tsk, so this is your true inner self, huh? Haha, Miss ' Justice ''s reaction is quite amusing... It's been a long time since I've seen that guy make a fool of himself..."
Once Klein and Audrey were both intently studying the murals and exchanging rapid conversations based on their inner turmoil, Leonard gradually calmed his thoughts and focused his attention.
The mural to the right of the three figures seems to depict the evolution of history, showing scenes of human city building, snow-covered plains, wars and migrations, various kingdoms and city-states, and towers and fruits symbolizing unimpeded communication...
Clearly, these murals begin at the entrance and end at the throne of the " Dragon of Imagination ".
Looking behind him, Klein suddenly spotted a familiar figure.
It was a colossal Dragon with deep blue eyes and icy scales.
That's Yurizan, the " King of the North "!
"This... the development of the world in this book is based on these murals?" Klein thought to himself as he quickly scanned the pages and discovered scenes of many indistinct adventurers hunting frost Dragon and opening the gates of departure; scenes of melting ice and snow, the emergence and prosperity of city-states like Pesot; and the increasingly cold weather, indicating the beginning of a new story.
"Will the scenes depicted in the murals become reality in this book's world? Justice?" Audrey couldn't suppress the thought.
"This wall, this painting, they all look so ordinary, not even as good as the works of those street artists... No wonder it's the abode of the ' Dragon of Imagination,' is this the power and authority of the ancient gods...?" Leonard remarked with similar sentiments.
"Possibly." Before Klein could offer a more tactful answer, he heard his own inner voice say, "Let's look at the murals on the other side and analyze everything."
Leonard and Audrey did not object and followed him to the other side.
During this process, they discovered that even spirits could not fly inside the palace.
Because the murals were so huge, Klein and his companions were able to see the contents clearly after walking for a short while.
The very first mural near the entrance caused Klein's pupils to dilate suddenly.
In the painting, a book with a hard cover is held in the hand of a Giant with an indistinct face, grayish-blue skin, and One-Eyed vertical eye!
"This..." Klein heard his own shocked and hesitant voice.
In the murals that followed, the common protagonist was that parchment-bound book with a dark brown cover: it was obtained by Elf; the words on its surface changed; it was collected; it was obtained by one different person after another, wandering and "wandering" until it flew up to the clouds, came to the Starry Sky, and fell into a giant claw.
In the next mural following this scene, the book seems to have no connection to the previous ones, abruptly appearing on the sea, inside a vaguely designed ship.
In the penultimate mural, it is obtained by a man wearing a top hat and leaves the previous ship.
The mural that follows, behind the giant pillar that resembles the throne of the " Dragon of Imagination " Ankewelt, depicts the encounter between the book and an antique quill pen.
With this, all the murals are finished.
"008!" Leonard's astonished voice echoed in the hall.
"The ' Dragon of Imagination ' wanted to complete the set with this book and that pen? What would happen? This almost happened when we were dealing with Ince Zangwill... But in the end, it didn't. Because the book ended up in my hands, sacrificed to Mr. ' The Fool,' or Adam was prepared for this and deliberately provided assistance?"
"By the way, in the travelogue, the Ascetic had just mentioned ' Angel of Imagination ' Adam when the Frost Dragon attacked the camp... Was it the will of the travelogue itself that prevented him from finishing, or Adam already heard it, turned his gaze over, and provoked a certain reaction?" Klein's thoughts were in turmoil, and he put them into words one after another.
During this process, he could only control himself to treat the " The Fool " as another being.
As he spoke, Audrey's thoughts also emerged:
Will the content depicted in these murals become reality in the material world?
Note 1: Quoted from Tennyson, Godeva.