“This is the so-called Divine Radiance? Why is it appearing now?”
“Divine Radiance is deeply hidden within your Destiny Ring and soul. Only in certain special locations, or in environments where soul power is prominent, will you manifest this form. Therefore, now…”
Xia De looked up at Miss Louisa, who had stopped and was looking back at him:
“So that’s it. Now, it really is a dream.”
“Oh, Xia De, what’s wrong with you?”
Miss Louisa asked in surprise, sizing him up and down.
Only then did Xia De notice that the Golden-haired girl, with her light makeup, was exceptionally pretty today. Perhaps because it was a bit warm, the three golden buttons on the chest of her white lace-cuffed shirt were unbuttoned at some point, revealing glimpses of the clothes underneath.
“You felt…”
“No need to remind me. If I still don’t understand this, I’d be too stupid. This kind of plot is a bit vulgar and clichéd… Besides, Miss Louisa never calls me by my name directly.”
“Xia De, why aren’t you speaking? Have you found traces of that thing?”
“Miss Louisa” asked in a soft voice.
She took two quick steps towards Xia De, but then somehow suddenly stumbled forward, seemingly about to fall into Xia De’s arms.
But Xia De did not reach out to catch her. Instead, he swung out an arc of silver Moonlight forward. The brilliant light illuminated the third-floor corridor, which had become dim at some point, and passed through “Miss Louisa’s” body.
The Golden-haired girl dispersed into a cloud of black smoke in the light, vanishing into the air.
Xia De did not relax his guard because of this; instead, he stood alertly in place. The light around the corridor suddenly dimmed, as if the corridor itself was absorbing the light.
In this environment, the golden Divine Radiance on Xia De’s body appeared even brighter.
Gradually, the sound of whispers came from all directions. But it wasn’t the whisper of the woman in his mind; it was this dream beginning to whisper. The chaotic and low voices seemed to pour directly into Xia De’s head. At the same time, some crawling figures gradually appeared in the shadows created by the dim light.
The mud-like things born from the dream, as soon as they appeared, their mental pollution ability almost directly affected Xia De himself. A strong feeling of dizziness made him want to faint, but after two “exercises” of facing a god directly, he could still endure the current sensation.
So, a silver Moonlight lit up in the corridor, and an arc-shaped light blade flew out from his hand. Although this light could not illuminate the increasingly cold corridor, it could effectively cut through those terrifying things in the shadows.
As silver Moonlights flew out one after another, the shadows in the dream coalesced into writhing sludge, with slender tentacles clinging to the side walls of the corridor, almost devouring the space.
Xia De knew the current situation was a bit bad, so he summoned the Destiny Ring behind him, took a deep breath, pointed his finger forward, and while fully using Miracle, the silver of the Moonlight seemed to have some of the golden light marks from his body.
The arc-shaped Moonlight Slash cut through the corridor, splitting open the terrifying thing that violated basic human aesthetics. It did not re-coalesce; instead, with a sound like soap Bubbles bursting near his ears, Xia De blinked and found himself standing in the third-floor corridor again.
But the light was normal, and there were no monsters, only Miss Louisa was gone.
He looked down at the golden cracks on his body:
“It seems I’m still in a dream. Can you detect which direction has whisper elements?”
“All directions.”
Xia De nodded and looked around. As he realized this was still a dream, the light grew increasingly dim again.
He tried to retreat from the third floor, but the boundary between the third floor and the stairs could not be approached no matter what, as if this corridor itself was infinitely extending.
Just as Xia De was about to try to destroy the building that formed the dream itself, the door to the right near the stairwell was suddenly flung open from the inside, and then an infuriated Miss Louisa rushed out.
She looked furious, her face flushed red. Before Xia De could test whether this was real or fake, the Golden-haired girl raised her hand towards him, and a handful of strange red flames appeared in her palm:
“Ha, this again. Instead of turning into a Detective, you might as well turn into Luvia or Lei… Hmm?”
She suspiciously looked Xia De up and down, then neatly withdrew her hand, crushing the flames in her palm:
“This time it’s real? Detective, you actually understood this was a dream before I found you? That’s impressive, it seems I underestimated you. But what are these golden cracks on your body? They look very pretty, are you alright?”
Xia De cautiously took a step back, asking in his mind, and only after confirming that although the girl in front of him had whispers, she also had abundant Four Ring elements, did he breathe a sigh of relief:
“It’s so good to see you, Miss Louisa. As for this… it’s a decoration, useless.”
He pointed to himself, and Miss Louisa raised an eyebrow. The Writer’s knowledge was not enough for her to identify what this was:
“Alright, I’ll pretend I didn’t see it, as long as you’re alright. Since you understand this is a dream, then I don’t need to bother explaining the current situation. Honestly, I originally wanted to show you something new and promised there would be no trouble, but something like this happened. Now I’m embarrassed.”
She said with slight annoyance, then pointed ahead:
“Let’s leave the dream and return to reality first. Although the relic has not been out of control for long, and the nightmare is not yet strong, we cannot fight it in the dream; that would be too foolish.”
“Then how do we leave?”
Xia De looked around, hoping Miss Louisa could conjure something like a portal out of thin air.
“The nightmare born from the 【Joyful Dream Brush】 has currently only absorbed a common person’s mental power and blood, and only a portion of it, so the capacity of the dream it can construct is limited. Let me burst it!”
Saying that, the Four-Ring Warlock’s brass Destiny Ring appeared in the surging steam mist, and the Ling Runes of various colors on the Destiny Ring flickered with spiritual light, illuminating the increasingly dim corridor:
“Detective, hold my hand, don’t get lost in the dream. This is a good opportunity; I’ll also show you the combat method of a Ring術士 proficient in the 【inspiration】 element.”
She extended her hand to Xia De, and Xia De directly took it.
Miss Louisa’s core Ling Rune 【The Writer】 flickered, and then the Enlightenment Ling Rune 【Flame】 also began to flicker:
“Detective, my Ring術士 system connects the first Four Rings with the ancient fairy tale, The match girl. Each Ring has a Ling Rune related to this fairy tale, to construct Sublimation Words when advancing from Four Ring to PentaCircle. First, like this…”
Her free left hand caressed the air, and fiery red Ling Runes, like earthworms, seemed to be branded in the air. Subsequently, the entire corridor ignited, but Xia De felt no heat.
In the suddenly fierce flames, he seemed to hear the sound of Bubbles bursting. Then the firelight suddenly disappeared, and they stood in the third-floor corridor of Professor Manning’s house, where the light was normal, and there was no fire.
The Four-Ring Warlock was indeed powerful. Xia De had just broken through the dream with a bit of the Divine Radiance’s power, while Miss Louisa could do the same with a simple Miracle.
“Still a dream.”
Xia De looked around and then at himself again.
“These marks on your body are convenient; a doctor’s dream-entering ability probably fears people like you the most… Alright, let’s do it again then.”
Saying that, Miss Louisa’s core Ling Rune 【The Writer】 and Ling Rune 【Frozen Person】 flickered with spiritual light. Ice-blue Ling Runes were etched into the space, and an extremely cold airflow instantly swept through the entire corridor, until the dream was shattered once more.
