Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2140: Chapter 2141: The Shattered Nightmare Realm

The young skeletal creature named Little Red quickly ran into a Darkwood Forest.

Darkwood is an extraordinarily tall tree, and walking in this forest entirely made up of Darkwood feels as if one has entered a world of tiny people. Moreover, the lush foliage of the Darkwood blocks out the sky, making the entire forest eerie as if it were a Ghost Phantom.

Sanders walked nonchalantly through the forest, ignoring the occasional flickering figures in the Darkwood Forest.

These figures looked like phantoms, moving swiftly with eyes glowing greenly, presenting quite a frightening sight in the dark woods. However, Sanders knew well that these phantom figures were actually a kind of True Illusion Trick used to monitor disturbances in the forest.

This familiar method was undoubtedly the handiwork of Sumishe.

"Only trick-level Phantom of True Illusion; it seems Sumishe indeed suffered a severe injury this time," Sanders mused inwardly.

Soon, Little Red brought Sanders to a crossroads and stopped, turning his head to look at Sanders, as if trying to convey something.

With just one glance, Sanders understood that this so-called crossroads was a psychological suggestion in illusion, compressing the choice at hand into either going left or right.

But in reality, neither choice was correct, as the exit wasn’t at the crossroads.

Going against the direction of the crossroads, Sanders took a step forward, stretched out his finger, and gently pointed. The densely packed Darkwood, as if alive, suddenly parted to reveal a winding path.

Little Red, excitedly holding a rose wreath, rushed down this path.

In the next ten minutes, Sanders faced many such crossroads, some with psychological suggestions, some genuine, and others leading to dangerous nests. Finding the correct path in this maze-like Darkwood Forest required mastery of illusion and an understanding of the caster’s psychology.

This was very simple for Sanders.

After choosing the right path once more, Sanders saw a small cabin lit by candlelight in the forest.

Instead of entering the cabin, Sanders circled around it and gently knocked on the tree stump with an axe embedded in it at the back of the house. The stump’s patterned surface flickered like a ripple, instantly forming a pitch-black passage.

The cabin was still a trap. Here, this was the true final door.

After jumping into the ground hole, guided by Little Red, Sanders walked about a hundred meters down and finally saw a cave situated by an underground river.

Deep within the cave was a castle entwined with dark rose vines.

This Rose Castle was a special Mana Hut, and judging by the style, it was obviously the work of Flora.

In front of the castle was a diminutive crimson figure.

She wore a red long dress, a black veil, no shoes, hovering barefoot in midair, holding a glamorous parasol, and drifted towards Sanders.

Upon closer look, it was Flora, whom he hadn’t seen in ages.

Little Red, upon seeing Flora, excitedly ran over, leaped into her arms... and then vanished.

After Little Red disappeared, an adult skeleton slowly appeared behind Flora, nodding gently towards Sanders before attaching itself to Flora’s back, remaining motionless.

When Flora saw Sanders, her expression and gaze held a hint of excitement. Only when saluting did she restrain her emotions: "Mentor."

Sanders, however, remained calm from start to finish, nodding slightly, neither inquiring about unnecessary matters nor asking why they were still in the radiation zone of the Red Plague followers, directly bypassing her and heading into the castle.

"Sumishe is in the boiling Bloodbath Pool in the basement," Flora, knowing Sanders’ character well, quickly followed and said as they walked.

Sanders: "How has he been these days since contacting me?"

"As long as he doesn’t use illusion technique-level spells tainted by Nightmare Illusion, he’s fine for now."

Sanders raised an eyebrow: "So you haven’t encountered any Red Plague followers these days."

Flora: "Half a month ago, the Extreme Sect sent a team of Heretical Judgment Hall priests here to train, targeting the Red Plague followers. They attracted all the Red Plague followers’ attention, so they haven’t had time to find us."

Sanders said flatly: "Then you were quite lucky."

The Extreme Sect occasionally sends peak apprentices of the Heretical Judgment Hall to train in areas frequented by Demon God followers and territories of Otherworld life, with formal bishops restraining the top-level Transcendents on the other side, while the peak apprentices cleanse various followers. This kind of training has a high mortality rate, with each training being a near-death experience, and those who finally survive become red-robed priests of the Heretical Judgment Hall.

Red-robed priests are the most powerful in the Extreme Sect, and facing Red Plague followers gave Flora and Sumishe some breathing room.

"Are you still planning to pursue the blood fusion incident investigation?" It was the first time Sanders gave Flora a direct look.

The latter hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Yes, this is my opportunity."

Sanders expressionlessly nodded, not making any comments on it. In fact, seeing Flora still in the area of the Red Plague followers, he had already guessed her choice.

He specifically asked just to gauge Flora’s resolve.

Seeing Flora’s unwavering stance, though not outwardly visible, Sanders actually approved in his heart. Once deciding to pursue the path of True Knowledge, no opportunity should be easily passed up.

Of course, blindly disregarding danger is also wrong. However, Sanders knew well that Flora wasn’t someone thoughtlessly reckless.

Soon, led by Flora, they arrived at the underground boiling Bloodbath Pool.

A pungent blood smell, mixed with a stinging sulfuric scent and steaming white mist, wafted over.

Through the thick mist, Sanders saw Sumishe.

He was not in the blood-colored pool but dressed very formally, sitting beside a table outside the pool, enveloped by a clean force field, holding a teacup in one hand and flipping through a skin scroll on the table with the other, resembling an elegant nobleman.

With a gentle wave of Flora’s hand, the surrounding blood mist instantly disappeared.

It was then that Sumishe noticed the visitors at the door.

"Mentor." Sumishe’s eyes flashed with light as he stood up to salute Sanders.

Sanders nodded, acknowledging the greeting.

Without further pleasantries, Sanders directly inquired about Sumishe’s current condition: "Can you still activate the Nightmare Realm?"

Sumishe hesitated for a moment: "The Nightmare Realm has already been damaged by nearly eighty percent and can no longer be activated independently. Forcibly activating it would require the aid of a Mare Stone. But, after activation, the Nightmare Realm would likely continue to crumble."

Sanders took out a high-quality Mare Stone from his button space and tossed it to Sumishe: "Activate it and see."

Sumishe definitely didn’t dare to activate the Nightmare Realm alone, because it would surely collapse, not just possibly. But with Sanders by his side, he felt a bit more confident.

Gripping the Mare Stone firmly in his hand, he said, "Sorry to trouble you, Mentor."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sumishe began to use the Mare Stone.

As the breath of the Nightmare Realm from the Mare Stone poured into him, Sumishe immediately started activating the broken Nightmare Realm. As one phantom shadow after another appeared around Sumishe, his complexion turned pale, veins bulged on his forehead, and blood red began to seep from his eyes.

Flora, as an outsider, could also see that Sumishe’s situation was extremely wrong, and she looked worriedly at Sanders.

However, Sanders didn’t pay any attention to Sumishe. Instead, he leisurely observed the phantom shadows around.

The phantoms looked like a huge black abyssal pit, in which strange shadows flickered from time to time. Although these shadows were just outlines, with Sanders’ experience, he could clearly discern the identities represented by the shadows: goat-horned demon, snake-tailed succubus, flame demon, magma giant troll... bone-winged devil, etc.

These were all Abyssal Demon clans.

When they appeared, they carried the horrific pressure of demons. However, these demon phantoms completely shattered shortly after appearing.

Even the background black abyssal pit began to crack.

The only thing that didn’t shatter was the phantom shadow of a dark golden gargoyle. Although it didn’t shatter, as Sumishe stimulated it, cracks began to appear on its body.

"That’s enough." Sanders seeing this already confirmed Sumishe’s situation.

Sumishe instinctively breathed a sigh of relief, wanting to stop activating the Nightmare Realm. However, at this point, he couldn’t stop it at all, only feeling endless pain emanating from his brain. The Nightmare Realm attached to his Mind Space began to peel away bit by bit, as if it would disappear in the next second.

In Sumishe’s panic, an image appeared behind Sanders, which was the Black Night Tower. As soon as it appeared, it enveloped Sumishe’s broken Nightmare Realm and slowly began to apply power to restore it.

A look of gratitude flashed across Sumishe’s eyes. He clearly knew that this was Sanders’ Black Tower Nightmare Realm. He was consuming the principal body of the Nightmare Realm inside the Black Tower to repair his Abyss of Magic Nightmare Realm.

This kind of intersection repair with the principal body of the Nightmare Realm greatly damaged Sanders’ Nightmare Realm.

After a while, Sumishe finally retracted the Nightmare Realm, but the fragmentation degree had already reached about eighty-five percent.

Sumishe was gasping heavily, suppressing the mental pain, and looked at Sanders. He didn’t speak, but his bloodshot eyes carried a silent question: Is there still hope for me?

"Mentor, can his Nightmare Realm be repaired?" Flora asked at this point. This time, Sumishe had repeatedly used the Nightmare Realm to help them escape the pursuit of the God’s Chosen among the Red Plague believers, leading the already injured Nightmare Realm close to breaking. This made Flora feel uneasy as well.

Sanders glanced indifferently at Sumishe: "I reminded you before, given your current condition, it’s best not to use the Nightmare Realm. You should rest for a while. But look at you, without stabilizing the True Knowledge level and without repairing the Nightmare Realm, you activated it again."

Flora: "It’s my fault. I was the one who invited him..."

Sanders sneered: "Him helping you is one thing, but using the Nightmare Realm is another. His Nightmare Realm was obtained in the Abyss, where killing Abyssal Demons can, to some extent, repair the Nightmare Realm. Although he can’t go to the Abyss to deal with demons now, when accompanying you to investigate the blood fusion incident, he discovered that the Red Plague believers were also tainted with Abyssal breath, maybe even demon god breath... How could he not be tempted."

Sanders could see Sumishe’s thoughts as if they were laid bare.

Sanders’ words made Sumishe lower his head in shame. Clearly, Sumishe had activated the Nightmare Realm on his own initiative.

The Red Plague believers died within the Nightmare Realm; even if it didn’t repair the Nightmare Realm, it attracted a group of fanatics and nearly led to the destruction of his Nightmare Realm.

Sumishe murmured softly, "I didn’t expect a God’s Chosen to appear."

Seeing Sumishe’s face full of guilt, Sanders snorted and refrained from further commenting on Sumishe’s actions.

"Your current Nightmare Realm is already on the verge of complete collapse. The only way is to abandon the Nightmare Realm, rest for decades, and then reintegrate a Nightmare Realm." Sanders continued, "This is also the safest way."

Sumishe knew about this, but he hesitated.

It’s not that he couldn’t wait decades, but... after resting, where would he find a suitable Nightmare Realm?

The Nightmare Realm is an extremely special demiplane, requiring the intersection of the Nightmare Realm and the real world to have a chance to form. And even if it does form, it may not necessarily suit him.

So, the wait might not just be decades; it could be a much longer time.

As Sumishe was wrestling with his decision, Flora asked, "Mentor, you mentioned almost having to abandon the Nightmare Realm to reorganize. Since it’s ’almost’, is there another way?"

Sumishe raised his head, looking at Sanders with eyes full of hope.

Sanders: "There is indeed another way, which is to have a Nightmare Realm far surpassing your current Nightmare Realm level to repair it for you."

A Nightmare Realm that far surpassed Sumishe’s current level... On hearing this, Sumishe’s face turned pale again; it was impossible.

Flora herself didn’t have a Nightmare Realm and wasn’t aware of the level comparisons. She asked, "Not even Mentor’s Nightmare Realm could do it?"

"No." Sanders paused for a moment: "It would have to be as powerful as the Nightmare Realm of the Sleepless City to suffice."

Flora knew a little about the Sleepless City’s Nightmare Realm. The so-called Nightmare Realm of the Sleepless City is almost a real Nightmare Realm beneath its dome, controlled by a powerful Nightmare Realm creature, which no witcher organization in the Southern Domain has ever dared to set foot in.

Moreover, the dome of the Sleepless City extended over the entire Eternal Night Country. The Eternal Night Country has truly become eternal night, never seeing daylight.

To have a Nightmare Realm of that level to repair Sumishe’s Abyss of Magic Nightmare Realm, even if Flora wasn’t very familiar with Nightmare Realms, she knew this was almost an impossible task.

The air instantly fell silent, and hopelessness and helplessness spread around Sumishe.

Sanders remained silent, quietly observing Sumishe.

Sumishe’s expression was very despondent, and after a long moment, he spoke with a tone of despair: "Then abandon the Nightmare Realm... The sooner it’s abandoned, the sooner I can return to the Barbarian Cave for rest."

After finishing, Sumishe closed his eyes, signaling Sanders to proceed.

However, Sanders did not immediately take action. Instead, as the psychological pressure on Sumishe became heavier, he murmured, "Although my Nightmare Realm cannot help you, there is someone whose Nightmare Realm can."

Sumishe’s eyes snapped open, looking at Sanders with eyes full of confusion.

Flora also looked over, equally puzzled. Earlier Sanders had said that at least a Nightmare Realm of the Sleepless City’s level was needed to save Sumishe’s Abyss of Magic Nightmare Realm... If even Sanders’ couldn’t handle such a Nightmare Realm, who, who could accommodate such a vast Nightmare Realm?!

Under the gaze of two intense and questioning eyes, Sanders softly said, "Angel’s... Wilderness of Dreams."