Chapter 184 Chapter 184: Awakening (Part 2)
Just as Renji had explained to Eileen earlier, regarding dreams, if you're not aware that you're "dreaming," then even if you're the master of the dream, it's useless. But once you become "aware" that you're dreaming, things change drastically. Renji needed only a thought for the maid, whose body had been pierced by Suthia's scythe, to rapidly heal. The missing arm regrew, and within a few breaths, the maid stood up as if nothing had happened, leaving Eileen beside her utterly astonished.
[Master? But I was... I mean, run, Master, run! Wait, huh?] You'll discover the inception of this content at n0v@lbin★
The maid, revived by Renji, initially appeared confused. She seemed still caught in the threat posed by Suthia. However, when she finally looked around and saw no sign of the corrupted nun, her confusion deepened.
This series of mental activities was perfectly expressed by the maid's tone and facial expressions, making her seem as perplexed as Eileen.
However,
"Alright, let's cut the act. Tell me, who are you ?"
The maid, still not fully grasping the situation, looked around and found no one else. When she realized Renji was addressing her, she tilted her head and asked with a puzzled tone:
[I'm sorry, Master, but 86 doesn't quite understand what you mean?]
"86, never mind. Since you won't say, I'll call you 85 for now. 85, do you know what first made me feel something was off?"
Renji pointed at the maid and said, "Actually, it was you."
[Me?] The maid's face showed even more confusion.
"Yes, because the real 86, for example, taking the sentence you just said, would have spoken like this:"
"86, while showing a confused expression, reflected on what could have possibly made the Master uneasy and said so."
Renji briefly imitated 86.
Observing the silent maid across him, he didn't mind and continued: "You see the difference, don't you? The real 86 doesn't have such a rich system of tones and expressions. That's why she developed a special way of speaking, where she verbalizes her internal thought processes."
"This is the first inconsistency I noticed. The second one was when I deliberately started a topic to make Eileen talk to you. I could understand if others couldn't notice the anomaly in you like I did, but Eileen, having been with you for so long and with her straightforward nature, would never hide her thoughts. She would definitely have blurted out, asking why your way of speaking had changed. But the reality was different."
Renji glanced at the girl next to him, who wore a puzzled expression, clearly believing that the original maid spoke that way in this dream.
Up to this point, the contradictions were fully exposed, and Renji's thoughts became clearer and faster.
was a blank.
Obviously, this was not reality.
And this was the decisive evidence of the "dream" that Renji was looking for.
In that moment, time seemed to stop, everything around turned still, and all the "real" images in his vision turned into glass, then began to crack, and finally...
*Crack. Crack!*
The dream shattered, and that feeling of "surfacing" after deep diving reemerged. But in the collapsing 'phantasm', the only constant was the unchanged form of the maid.
As Renji left the 'phantasm', the last thing he saw was the maid's eyes meeting his own. Those eyes, calm and indifferent, instantly conveyed the impression of an object, exactly as a tool should appear.
Soon after, as Renji regained consciousness and his vision cleared, he found himself in a somewhat familiar setting.
Ideally, he would have returned directly to reality, but that was not so simple.
Clearly, the pitch-black space surrounding him was not the city hall of the Sealed City.
The reason he found it "somewhat familiar" was due to the thick Miasma in the space. This was no longer a dream; this was more like a semi-reality.
Renji had been to this "Miasma Space" before. The last time, he was in the altar pool when an elf took the opportunity to pull his soul consciousness into it.
And this time...
Was it taking advantage of this opportunity to use the 'Dream Entry' method to find him again?
Well, at least now he knew. The mastermind behind the scenes?
He saw a dark-skinned elf sitting on a... cross? at the top of the Miasma Space. Upon seeing Renji, the tentacles entwined around the cross, like tails wagging in excitement, seemed to cheer.
The elf woman licked its lips, gazing down at Renji from its high seat on the cross, its eyes like those watching a prey that had fallen into a trap.
Then, with a frivolous and smug tone, the elf said to the young man, word by word:
"I told you, we would meet again soon."
"Ashen!"