Closfia actually entered this nightmare before? Ha, no wonder she was so familiar with how to access the 'ruins,' even 'guessing' that the necessary conditions involved 'a full moon night and tranquilizing herbs'…
I really thought she deduced it based on the confessions of that merchant leader… But thinking about it now, maybe that merchant caravan just happened to enter the ruins on a full moon night and retrieve the 'treasures' because she had orchestrated the whole 'script'!
After all, sailing at night is dangerous, even if the Intersea is safer than the Sonia Sea. In hindsight, it really doesn't seem logical.
Hmm… The reason she didn't take away all the valuables on her previous visit was because she still needed those things to set up her plan, right?
And considering Closfia's request for Dunn and me to 'perform' tomorrow…
Could this be the ritual she prepared for advancing to 'Dream Weaver'?
As thoughts raced through his mind, Ebner couldn't help but be impressed by Closfia's level of scheming. Roselle was right—'beware of the Spectator'!
Of course, that doesn't include a certain 'Greed' who was foolish enough to go head-to-head with an angel…
Regaining his focus, Ebner realized that the "retracing" had ended. After a moment of contemplation, he stepped forward, holding the journal of the giant descendant he had obtained from Gwen, and approached the massive castle built into the mountainside.
He paused, recalling the intelligence he had gathered from the giants he had helped earlier, before deciding to take a risk. Activating "Pure White Eye," he began to "analyze" the castle.
Almost immediately, the structure became abstract in his vision, transforming into an entanglement of three distinct colors—orange-red, pitch-black, and pale white.
The pale white lay at the bottom, the orange-red above it, while the pitch-black half-encased the other two from the outside. They opposed each other yet fused together, maintaining a bizarre equilibrium.
"Twilight," "Darkness"… and even traces of "Death"! So the entrance to the 'Death God' ruins is inside this castle? No wonder everyone in the retraced scenes, except Closfia, chose to enter…
Halting the "analysis," Ebner thought for a moment, then took out the "holy balm" Captain Arsenoff had given him through Cullen. He applied it to the "Cursed Tudor Emblem" to minimize its negative effects before fastening it to his chest.
After making his preparations, he took a deep breath, simulated the power of a "Living Corpse," and knocked on the castle's massive doors.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
The heavy thuds echoed through the silent space. Moments later, the nearly five-meter-tall hardwood doors swung open.
Standing in the doorway was a bearded, one-eyed giant who, upon seeing Ebner, let out a hearty laugh. "Doctor Strange, welcome.
"And once again, thank you for my 'salvation,' for allowing me to awaken from my slumber."
Ebner immediately recognized this giant—it was one of those he had helped escape their nightmares earlier. However, in his vision now, this giant had completely transformed into an undead!
What is this? Has this twilight-shrouded castle been connected to the Underworld?
The abstract image of the castle he had just seen flashed through Ebner's mind, but he maintained a warm demeanor as he exchanged pleasantries with the giant, who introduced himself as "Chekhov." Led by the giant, he stepped into the castle's interior.
The ground floor hall was massive—at least half the size of a football field. On both sides stood numerous suits of armor and weapons, some of which were clearly Extraordinary items… Unfortunately, all of them were sized for giants, rendering them completely unusable for a normal human.
By the time he retracted his gaze, Chekhov had already led him to the base of a grand staircase. The giant came to a halt and said in a deep voice, "Doctor Strange, the lord is waiting for you in the reception hall on the second floor.
"My status does not permit me to ascend, so I can only escort you this far."
Escort? Does that mean if you weren't here, there would be other dangers lurking in this castle?
Ebner detected something off in his words. He scrutinized the hall's layout once again. Initially, he saw nothing unusual, but then he noticed the candleholders on either side, glowing with an orange-red light…
More specifically, the hidden danger within those lights!
I see… There's something lurking within the 'light'? A power similar to the 'Silver Knight's' ability to 'hide within light'?
Is this something that has been 'corrupted' and 'evolved' by the power of the 'God of Combat'?
—Based on his earlier "analysis," Ebner was nearly certain that this nightmare had originated from the aftermath of a divine battle between the Goddess and the God of Combat.
Anyone who enters without permission would likely be attacked by these things…
So, the arrangement of helping the giants and half-giants break free from their nightmares wasn't just about helping me 'digest' my potion—it was also to reduce the dangers within this castle…
As Ebner remained silent, deep in thought, Chekhov mistakenly assumed his hesitation was due to something else. He added, "There is no danger on the staircase itself; it is their 'forbidden zone'… However, once you go up, it is best not to look back."
Ebner snapped out of his thoughts, glancing at the red-carpeted staircase. Suddenly, everything became clear.
This place is, after all, still within a nightmare. While this castle contains aspects pulled in from reality, it is also merged with the giants' subconscious imagery of their royal court. The staircase before me isn't a 'real' one—it exists only in a 'psychological' sense. Where it leads depends entirely on the intention of the person climbing it.
That's why one mustn't 'look back'—losing sight of the 'destination' would mean losing the way. There may not be any immediate danger, but one might end up straying somewhere unintended…
And entering the castle's other areas without the host's permission might not be the wisest idea.
If this were a computer game, the player would definitely turn around on purpose, explore every corner of the castle first, and only then go to the reception hall to meet the NPC, right?
While making this mental remark, Ebner thanked the giant, Chekhov, then touched the "Tudor Emblem" pinned to his chest before leaping onto the staircase steps.
—This staircase was designed for giants, with each step nearly a meter high.
After jumping up a few steps, Ebner suddenly halted, rubbing his forehead as he pondered, I really wasn't thinking… Since this is a psychologically conceptual staircase, similar to a dream environment… Why don't I just use 'Dream Traversal'? Jumping around like this isn't very elegant… It goes against Doctor Strange's persona…
With this in mind, he did just that. In an instant, his form blurred like a spirit of the dream world, and he arrived at the corridor on the second floor.
Waiting for him there was a half-giant woman over two meters tall.
She was the same lady he had encountered in the frozen wasteland of the dream, the one seeking the source of the cold.
Ebner remembered her name—Karenina. She had introduced herself as the lord's attendant.
As soon as she saw him, she was visibly delighted and respectfully greeted him. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, she led him to the door of the reception hall.
"Giant Levin Tolstoy, Lord of Tamik, Sequence 6 'Dawn Paladin'."
This was information Ebner had gathered from the other giants and half-giants, and it was the reason he dared to meet this lord personally—after all, before his "death," the lord had only been a mid-sequence Extraordinary.
However, the moment Ebner laid eyes on this lord, he knew he had made a grave miscalculation. The oppressive aura radiating from this giant far exceeded that of an ordinary demigod!
At that moment, the four-meter-tall giant lord peered down at him with a singular vertical eye, his broad mouth curving into a grin. In ancient Fusac, he chuckled and said, "Thank you for your help, Doctor Strange… You have brought my people back to the castle."
Ebner exchanged a few polite words before seizing the opportunity to make his request—to take the "Five-Colored Glorious Stone" and use the dragon's remains to craft a "Bone Dragon."
"The 'barrier' constructed using the 'Five-Colored Glorious Stone' was originally meant to protect my people's souls, preventing them from sliding further into deeper nightmares… Hmm, this was part of a deal I made with a man named Roselle. He took an angel who had fallen into an evil spirit from here, and in exchange, he set up the ritual outside…
"As for the dragon's skeleton, it does not belong to me. You may use it however you wish."
Perhaps because he had a good impression of Ebner, the giant lord was surprisingly easy to talk to. However, his tone then shifted slightly as he continued, "If you can answer one question for me, not only will I let you take those things, but I will also give you a generous reward."
A fallen angel turned into an evil spirit… I recall from the retraced scenes that a War God Church patriarch chased after the suspected transmigrator, 'Death Consul' Miranda, into the castle… but only the latter came out in the end…
It seems likely that the Church of the God of Combat's angel perished here…
But what did Roselle need a fallen angel's evil spirit for?
As thoughts swirled in his mind, Ebner looked at the giant lord cautiously and asked, "What is it that you wish to ask?"
"There is no need to be nervous. It is much like how you resolved the nightmares of my people… I, too, am trapped in a nightmare. However, thanks to Her Highness Miranda's help, I became the guardian of the 'Underworld' Gate, a role that allows me to awaken in my dreams from time to time…
"In truth, this castle itself is my nightmare!
"And my confusion is this… How exactly did I die? Or rather, what are the forces entangling my nightmare?"
So your nightmare really is connected to the 'Underworld'? That 'Death God' ruin?
Could it be that Azik directly entered there, which is why we were separated?
Turning these thoughts over in his mind, Ebner decided to ask the lord about Miranda, Azik, and Roselle once he had answered his question.
After a moment of contemplation, he looked at the one-eyed giant lord, Levin, and confirmed, "You truly wish to know what is entwined around this castle—your nightmare?"
"Yes… even if it is dangerous!" Levin answered firmly, then added, "Her Highness Miranda and His Highness Aegis never told me… Roselle didn't know what it was either, and as for the others who came here, they were even less informed than Roselle…"
Roselle didn't know? That means when he came here, he wasn't an angel yet… But judging from his presence in the retraced scenes, he was at least a demigod!
This thought flashed through Ebner's mind before he frowned and asked, "Then why do you believe I would know?"
At this point in time, I'm not even on par with the Roselle of back then.
Levin remained silent for a while before finally speaking. "Because the red 'seal' in Roselle's hand told me!
"It said: 'A hundred years from now, a Scholar will come here and resolve all of your problems.'
"'A Scholar with pure white eyes!'"