Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2119: Chapter 2120: The Consumption Method

No matter what, to enter the door, you must inevitably come into contact with the red light.

According to Reeves’ account back then and their own previous experiences, once you enter the range of the red light, you will immediately be enveloped by a nightmare. Everyone will experience different nightmares; unless they are completely destroyed, the nightmares will not cease.

In such circumstances, how should one deal with the Nightmare Light?

"I’ll try again and see if I can shield the light. If I fall into a nightmare, you’ll pull me out of the range of the red light," said the Tree Spirit, contemplating for a moment and then speaking to Angel.

Angel pondered for a moment and agreed.

Currently, the red light is relatively stable, unlike the red light Reeves encountered in the Star Pond Ruins, which constantly surged and pursued. In this relatively stable red light, to experiment with the characteristics of the red light, they must experience it firsthand. In other words, they must have one of them go in to experience it closely, while the other keeps watch from afar, ready to rescue.

Angel initially wanted to go himself, but the Tree Spirit had already spoken, and the excitement in the Tree Spirit’s eyes was clear. He was obviously filled with anticipation for the upcoming "adventure."

Therefore, Angel thought it over and agreed to the Tree Spirit’s idea.

Although the Tree Spirit eagerly volunteered to explore the limits of the red light, he was not overwhelmed by the thrill of adventure. He cautiously created two glowing leaves; if anything went wrong, the leaves could transform into avatars and provide an extra layer of insurance.

After doing all of this, the Tree Spirit pulled out a Skin Scroll from the Void, exuding a shimmering water-like light, and tore it gently. Around him, a complete mirror shield appeared.

This shield is a composite element spell technique that Angel had never learned, capable of blocking physical optical impacts.

After making preparations, the Tree Spirit nodded to Angel and then proceeded towards the end of the corridor.

Angel followed the Tree Spirit’s steps, releasing the Phantom Limb, letting it follow behind the Tree Spirit. If the Tree Spirit fell into a nightmare, it would pull him out of the red light range.

One step, two steps.

The sound of footsteps echoed in the silent corridor, seemingly in tune with the rhythm of a heartbeat, causing an inexplicable tension.

As the Tree Spirit moved closer to the door, this tense atmosphere heightened with it.

Finally, the Tree Spirit stepped into the red light.

At the moment the Tree Spirit entered the red light, Angel noticed something amiss; he stopped without any warning.

Because the Tree Spirit was facing away from him, Angel instinctively let the Phantom Limb spin around to the front of the Tree Spirit, attempting to use the perspective from the Phantom Limb to see the Tree Spirit’s expression.

But the instant the Phantom Limb entered the red light, Angel suddenly felt a change around him. The walls seemed to melt, and an unsettling danger heralded from behind the melted walls.

Feeling the changes to the walls on both sides, Angel almost immediately judged that he was caught in a nightmare.

Angel hadn’t expected that even just an extension of energy like the Phantom Limb would drag his body into the nightmare once it entered the range of the red light.

This power cares nothing for the basic laws of energy!

The ominous premonition grew stronger; Angel could already see strange figures emerging behind the melted walls.

Faced with this death halo, Angel clenched his teeth, directly severing the Phantom Limb that had entered the red light range, in an attempt to evade the nightmare’s pursuit.

The moment the Phantom Limb was severed, the walls on both sides immediately returned to normal, and the prior ominous feeling disappeared.

Angel breathed a sigh of relief; it seems he had bet right.

Though he succeeded, Angel felt no joy. The nightmare’s range disregarded physical bodies entirely; even extensions of spiritual power or personal energy would be dragged into the nightmare’s rhythm.

This nightmare trait far exceeded his expectations.

A multitude of thoughts jumped through Angel’s mind in an instant, but now wasn’t the time to ponder deeply. The most important thing now was the Tree Spirit’s safety.

Angel focused his gaze on the distance and discovered that the Tree Spirit had already left the red light range.

Angel’s eyes lit up, thinking the Tree Spirit had found a way to escape the red light, but upon closer inspection, he realized the previously circling leaves around the Tree Spirit had disappeared, signaling that the Tree Spirit had escaped the red light by sacrificing the leaf avatars.

Moreover, both leaves had disappeared, suggesting the tree avatar died twice.

The Tree Spirit walked back to Angel’s side, looking sullen: "Failed, neither the mirror shield for physically warding off optical impacts nor the energy shield can shield the Nightmare Light. Once you step into the range of the light, all concealment disappears, nightmares invade every corner."

The Tree Spirit sighed and looked at Angel: "I just saw your expression was strange, what happened?"

Angel gave a bitter smile and explained his situation.

"Even the Phantom Limb couldn’t enter the red light; you were dragged into the nightmare from this side. The effect of this Nightmare Light ignores all logic," the Tree Spirit said. He had previously wondered why Angel hadn’t pulled him out of the red light range, only to find even Angel had fallen victim.

"In that case, the idea of ’one person entering while another is ready to rescue’ is very difficult to achieve. Unless you use non-contact methods to pull someone out."

Angel understood what the Tree Spirit meant by "non-contact methods" — it was nothing more than magnetic, gravitational, or wind suction, etc., to pull the Tree Spirit from the red light range from a distance.

But discussing non-contact methods doesn’t have much significance now. The most important thing now is how to cope with the Nightmare Light.

However, after thinking for a long time, they couldn’t come up with an effective method.

After a moment of silence, Angel asked, "Lord Tree Spirit, can you tell me about what you encountered when you entered the glow range earlier?"

Tree Spirit nodded and recounted his previous experiences.

He encountered danger twice. The first time, the ground beneath him turned into a siphoning abyss, causing Tree Spirit’s avatar to fall into the abyss and perish. The second time, the surrounding space collapsed, leaving no escape, so Tree Spirit once again sacrificed his avatar.

Angel: "The current known information is that once the nightmare judges you to be dead, even if an avatar dies in your place, you will temporarily leave the nightmare."

Tree Spirit nodded: "Yes, but the time of departure is only about two seconds. If still within the glow range, you’ll be dragged into the nightmare again."

Previously, Tree Spirit did not exit the glow range and was dragged into a second nightmare after the first one ended.

"Although it’s only two seconds, perhaps this can be used to our advantage?" Angel contemplated.

Tree Spirit was naturally not foolish. With Angel’s words, he roughly understood Angel’s meaning: "You mean, using a large number of avatars to stack up time for free action?"

Angel nodded, as Tree Spirit’s special ability made it possible to attempt such a special operation.

Tree Spirit thought for a moment: "The avatars consume the energy of my avatar. Currently, the limit of leaf avatars I can create at once is five. That means, at most, we can gain ten seconds of time."

"Ten seconds may not be long, but it should be enough to see the situation after entering the door. We might even find the source of the Nightmare Light..."

After muttering for a while, Tree Spirit nodded towards Angel: "I think we can give it a try. Anyway, even if the energy is depleted, it can be quickly replenished after returning to the main body."

Currently, there are no other plans, only this pure exhaustion method can be used.

Tree Spirit acted upon his words, quickly crafting five leaf avatars and threading them into a leaf necklace, which he put around his neck.

Angel, meanwhile, set up a force field outside the red glow range, so that once Tree Spirit came out from the door, he would be rapidly pulled out from the glow range by the force field.

Once everything was set up, Tree Spirit nodded towards Angel, and with a hint of excitement, walked forward.

As Tree Spirit stepped into the glow range, his steps halted immediately, obviously pulled into the nightmare once more. However, as the five leaves on the necklace turned into four, Tree Spirit regained his senses.

Without any hesitation, Tree Spirit quickly dashed into the door.

Soon, Tree Spirit’s figure disappeared into the red glow behind the door...

From afar, Angel watched the corridor’s end silently counting down from 10, awaiting Tree Spirit’s return.

"Ten, nine... six, five..."

When Angel counted down to 2, according to previous deduction, Tree Spirit should have returned. But to Angel’s surprise,

Tree Spirit’s figure did not appear at the doorway.

"Two, one..."

When the countdown reached 1, the doorway remained empty.

"Zero." Ten seconds had passed, and Tree Spirit did not return as planned.

Angel closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, undoubtedly, an unexpected event occurred in the room involving Tree Spirit. Otherwise, there would not be complete silence.

Angel waited another five minutes, yet still did not see Tree Spirit return.

At this moment, Angel glanced again at the door at the end of the crimson corridor, which appeared like the gaping maw of a monstrous creature, silently mocking him.

Angel, wearing a grim expression, turned around and returned to the initial position of the corridor.

He planned to wait there for Tree Spirit’s return.

It was certain that Tree Spirit’s avatar had encountered an accident. It would not be long before Tree Spirit would send another avatar over.

By then, he should know what happened to Tree Spirit in the room and why he did not make it out in time.

While waiting for Tree Spirit’s return, Angel also quietly pondered. It seemed that relying on Tree Spirit’s avatar consumption had encountered some issues, and Angel wanted to find other methods to solve the Nightmare Light.

Currently, the Nightmare Light was acting incredibly strong, nearly unsolvable.

This was no exaggeration; Reeves had also mentioned that there was no possible way to conquer the Nightmare Light.

However, Angel was certain the Nightmare Light was not unsolvable. Because the Nightmare Realm creatures beneath the Star Pond Ruins had already started to utilize the Nightmare Light.

According to his understanding, Minister Nuka chose the Star Pond Ruins for Xinai’s descent precisely because of the Nightmare Light there. Later, Angel also learned from the Boiling Gentleman that the main ingredient for refining the Power Furnace was the Nightmare Light.

This showed that, for the Nightmare Realm creatures, the Nightmare Light was not a threat, but rather a beneficial resource.

Moreover, they surely mastered the methods to utilize and control the Nightmare Light.

Angel never thought he would face the Nightmare Light directly in the Star Pond Ruins, and thus never asked how to handle the Nightmare Light. Now, he felt powerless.