North Borough, Saint Samuel Cathedral.
As soon as Klein entered the Great Prayer Hall, he used the dappled light shining through the wall behind the altar to casually glance around, taking in all the worshippers praying inside.
With just one glance, Klein quickly locked onto his target and walked forward along the corridor without any apparent abnormality.
In the first row sat an elderly man in a black clerical robe, but with a cold aura, pale face, and dry, yellow hair. He was praying intently with his eyes closed. He was one of the internal guardians that Klein had sensed earlier.
He was usually on duty on Fridays... Klein didn't really approach, but moved two rows away, found a seat, and handed his hat and cane to his personal valet Richardson.
Then, as he sat down, he quickly pinched the knuckle of his index finger twice with his left thumb, silently activating the " Spirit Body Threads m" vision.
Suddenly, Klein saw countless illusory black lines appearing before his eyes, densely emerging from the bodies of different creatures and spreading outwards into the infinite distance.
As soon as he settled in, Klein shifted his gaze and focused his attention on the inner guard.
Upon seeing this, he almost cried out, but thanks to the " Clown's" self-control and his anticipation of the unusual situation, he easily maintained his composure.
In his vision, the old man with dry, yellow hair also had " Spirit Body Threads " extending out, but his body was completely black inside, swallowing the origin of those illusory threads, making him completely different from a normal Beyonder!
Sure enough, they had been corrupted by the power of the sealed core, and their souls had undergone changes... In this light, the problem was closer to my second guess last time: they had become part of the sealed core to some extent, and any signs of losing control would immediately trigger the object's instinctive reaction, forcibly calming it down... No wonder the internal guardians had to be volunteers and were already in their twilight years; they should have been fully aware of the consequences... Klein sighed inexplicably, preparing to shut down his perception of the " Spirit Body Threads " and withdraw his gaze.
Just then, he saw a pair of eyes, eyes as black as ink, devoid of any emotion.
Beside those eyes, fine, deep wrinkles gradually extend, resembling Distortion, strange, and mysterious symbols.
These are the eyes of that insider!
He had straightened up at some point, turned his head, and looked at Dawn Dantès with indifferent eyes!
Klein's scalp tingled instantly. He forced a smile and nodded at the other person, as if it were just normal eye contact.
The inner guard slowly moved his head and actually responded.
Then, Klein felt his surroundings suddenly disappear, first becoming blurry, then settling into clarity.
At that moment, he knew he had been passively drawn into a dream.
So, while maintaining his Dawn Dantès persona, he instinctively looked around and found himself still inside Saint Samuel Cathedral, but all the seats were either broken or overturned, spilled everywhere, as if it had been attacked.
The altar in front was covered with cracks, overgrown with weeds, and dusty, suggesting it had been abandoned for a long time.
The sallow-haired internal guard stood beside the collapsed offering box, coldly watching Dawn Dantès, who was dressed in a black suit.
When Klein looked back, he slowly opened his mouth, revealing sharp, pale, and uneven teeth.
Embedded in these teeth are blurry, indistinct, tiny figures with complete facial features and limbs, each with a different expression yet bearing a similar pain, seemingly Imprisonment here, unable to escape.
"Hoo..." The inner guard let out a low growl like a wild beast, his back bending forward.
His clothes bulged out from his ribs and waist, revealing four skinless arms covered with veins.
Then, they grew fine black hairs, and sharp nails popped out from the tips of their fingers.
In just two or three seconds, the relatively normal internal guard had transformed into Monster with eight "legs" lying on the ground. It resembled a spider silently weaving its web in the Evernight, waiting for its prey, or a deformed black wolf, instilling a strong sense of fear in the inhabitants.
At the same time, from within the broken and abandoned altar, two enormous hands covered in black hair suddenly emerged and pressed against the edge. Slippery tentacles, resembling condensed black energy, spread in all directions, instantly filling the entire Great Prayer Hall.
The chilling aura, the extreme fear, and the illusory, enormous, blurry figure gradually revealed themselves, piercing through the invisible barrier.
Out of control? The inner guardian has gone out of control? Klein stood there, instinctively wanting to react, using his special abilities to forcefully break free from the dream, but in an instant, he remembered what had happened before, his expression changed, he made a fearful and trembling face and ran towards the door, looking like he was struggling in a nightmare.
Just a breath later, a tidal wave of cold darkness silently surged in from the outside, completely engulfing the dream and calming everything down.
Klein suddenly opened his eyes and realized that he had fallen asleep at some point, while the dry-haired inner guard had already turned his head away and continued to pray with his eyes closed.
With a slight shift in his gaze, Dawn Dantès looked around with a hint of fear, seemingly still immersed in the dream he had just experienced, not yet completely shaken off the feeling of dread.
After several seconds, he took two deep breaths, looked at the emblem again, and drew a Crimson Moon on his chest.
Only then did Klein have time to reflect on his experience and deduce what had happened:
Because of my spying on his " Spirit Body Threads," he showed signs of losing control and reacted excessively, forcibly pulling me into his Dream Divination to try and deal with the situation.
After that, the sealed core behind Chanis Gate sensed the anomaly and resolved the problem...
The key question now is whether this inner guardian still remembers the source of his near-mutation... If he has gotten used to it, in his current state, he should be quite vague about how the problem occurred... Of course, it may not be my problem; perhaps he himself was close to losing control... Klein looked again at the old man with dry, yellow hair in front of him, observing what he would do next in order to determine how he should respond.
If that doesn't work, he'll use " Creeping Hunger " to escape via " Travel "... Klein made a quick decision and patiently waited for any possible changes.
A few minutes later, he saw Bishop Electra enter through a side door and walk toward him.
Klein's heart tightened, and he spread his left hand, preparing to activate " Creeping Hunger ".
At that moment, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and abandoned his plan.
If the internal watchdogs have already used the dream to inform the bishops of my situation, then I will now be met with a combined attack from many Beyonder members of the church. After all, being pulled into the Dream Divination can prevent other believers from being harmed, so they don't necessarily need to find a bishop I know... This should be more about comforting and Placate... Klein withdrew his gaze and continued to assume a prayerful posture.
Less than a minute later, he finally sensed someone approaching, and quickly looked up to see Bishop Electra speaking gently:
"You don't look too good?"
"I don't know how I fell asleep just now, I had a nightmare, and I'm still scared," Klein said with a self-deprecating laugh.
Bishop Electra sat down next to him and said calmly:
"Dreams are sometimes a manifestation of inner fears."
"As long as you pray sincerely to the goddess and drink holy water, you will be calmed down."
"Of course, the most important thing is not to suppress yourself too much. You should know how to confess to your goddess. Sometimes, a Concealment cry can relieve a lot of pressure."
Klein secretly observed the other party's attitude and read his tone, then quietly breathed a sigh of relief and said:
"I see."
He turned his gaze back forward, lowered his head, clasped his hands, and quietly began to pray.
During this process, he saw the inner guard in front of him get up on his own and walk towards the side door, where a bishop was waiting.
Whew... Klein let out a silent sigh, truly immersing himself in the tranquil surroundings.
Suddenly, a voice arose in his mind, a voice that belonged to him yet was beyond his control:
You think you've done something very Concealment?
"No! Not at all! Have you forgotten that you came into contact with the sacred artifacts of the Evernight Goddess?"
P. S.: I attended a meeting and didn't have any drafts saved, so I secretly typed some on my phone. It's a bit short, I'll update it now and revise it later.