Chapter 2891: Chapter 2892: The New Core
Not long after, Angel arrived at a corner of the Crystal Origin.
Looking around, the Crystal Origin was still engulfed in a pitch-black darkness, boundless and endless.
At first glance, there seemed to be no anomalies here.
That was until Angel gently stepped on it, only then did the seemingly calm Crystal Origin begin to change. Cracks appeared where Angel had stepped.
A massive amount of mist-like Nightmare Realm aura burst out from the cracks.
As the Nightmare Realm aura continued to diffuse outward, the cracks in the Crystal Origin grew larger, eventually forming a pit so deep that its bottom was unseen.
Regarding the pit’s appearance, Angel seemed to have been expecting it and, without any hesitation, took a step forward and jumped into the pit.
The shape of the pit was somewhat like a funnel, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom.
Initially, when Angel began to descend, there was no sight of any supporting crystal wall around him.
But after about twenty seconds, the surrounding crystal walls started to appear in Angel’s view, growing increasingly oppressive, until finally, the space available for passage was only wide enough for one person.
At this moment, Angel was no longer in a state of freefall; instead, it felt like he was sliding down a "slide."
A winding, obstructed slide.
This "slide," Angel sat for about three minutes, the process was full of ups and downs, with several large loops spinning around, and the speed almost hit its peak, Angel even felt as though his clothes might spark from the friction.
By the time Angel landed, he was still dizzy.
It took a while for Angel to regain some rationality and wobble to his feet.
Unlike the previous pitch-black tunnel, this area was extremely bright, and the source of this brightness was a massive light orb constantly coalescing in the distance.
The dense Nightmare Realm aura surrounding Angel was precisely being emitted from this light orb.
This light orb, which had yet to fully take shape, was undoubtedly the prototype of the Principal Body of the Nightmare Domain.
Unlike the Wilderness of Dreams, this time the Principal Body of the Nightmare Domain didn’t appear on the surface but beneath the Crystal Origin.
Moreover, the Nightmare Realm aura of the Crystal Origin mostly permeated the underground areas, which differs from the Wilderness of Dreams.
Though the Wilderness of Dreams also had some pits, it didn’t possess such a vast underground space as the Crystal Origin. Additionally, in the Wilderness of Dreams, nearly ninety percent of the Nightmare Realm aura was in the high skies, not penetrating underground.
This underground space... no, calling it an underground space didn’t quite fit; it might be more apt to call it an underground world.
Initially, when Angel was monitoring the Eliminators via God’s View, he actually discovered that the Crystal Origin was divided into two different spaces: the world above ground and the world below ground.
Angel estimated that the above-ground world was slightly smaller than the Wilderness of Dreams, but if the underground world was included, the area wouldn’t be that different from the Wilderness of Dreams.
The largest underground world Angel had previously seen was the Black Demon Country inhabited by the Lixia people.
Yet, the underground world of Crystal Origin was much, much larger than the Black Demon Country.
Even if all the Lixia people were moved here, they probably wouldn’t fill it.
Nevertheless, the Black Demon Country had its own ecosystem, even had day and night cycles, while the underground world of Crystal Origin was empty.
Even if Nightmare Realm Power replenished it in the future, Angel found it hard to imagine how to construct an underground world that could accommodate living beings.
Ultimately, this was something for later; Angel merely thought about it briefly before putting it aside.
More than concerning himself with the future of the underground world, Angel’s most pressing concern was the prototype of the Principal Body of the Nightmare Domain nearby that was continuously dispersing and coalescing.
Angel didn’t immediately approach but leaned against the edge of the crystal wall, quietly waiting for the optimal moment.
Currently, the Principal Body of the Nightmare Domain was still in the prototype stage, but certain powers within were already brewing. The invisible oppressive aura naturally emanating from it was so stifling that even Angel felt suffocated.
About five minutes later, the Principal Body contracted once more.
This time, the contraction was tighter and more condensed, shrinking from hundreds of meters to a size of just one person.
This was the smallest shrinkage Angel had seen in the five minutes he had been waiting.
Perhaps if waiting any longer, the Principal Body would shrink even further. But there was no need to wait anymore; the current size was sufficient.
Because it was enough to "constraint."
As Angel thought this, he had already begun to act.
Though not physically moving himself, he was manipulating the green pattern on his right hand, slowly approaching the prototype of the Principal Body.
If a person were to directly approach the Principal Body, Angel guaranteed he would be burst apart by the powers dispersed from it, but the green pattern was different—the Principal Body showed no resistance to it, allowing the green pattern to encircle around it.
—Accommodate, Constraint, Compress!
At the moment the green pattern constrained the light orb, a series of abilities were activated by Angel.
The Principal Body was effortlessly bound by the green pattern.
A few minutes later, the Principal Body, amidst the "constraint" of the green pattern, once again shrunk, ultimately becoming the size of a fist.
When the Principal Body shrank to this point, it finally took shape—
A diamond-shaped crystal.
...
Ensuring the Principal Body had formed and had been constrained by the green pattern, Angel finally stepped forward.
The oppressive feeling from before had dissipated, and Angel smoothly reached the Principal Body.
From afar, the Principal Body of the Crystal Origin looked like a white diamond-shaped crystal, but upon closer inspection, inside this diamond-shaped crystal, the ’white’ was actually swirling clouds.
Paired with the outer green pattern wrapping like thorns, it had a touch of dreamy beauty.
It resembled a delicate forehead ornament.
However, if one were to truly treat it as an accessory, it would mean courting death. Any power flowing out from within it could burst a person apart.
And this bursting wouldn’t just affect the body in the Crystal Origin but would also impact the Spirit Sea in reality. Therefore, without substantial power, one wouldn’t even have the qualifications to gaze upon it.
Based on previous circumstances, Angel would likely start pondering where best to hide this diamond-shaped crystal. But now, Angel wasn’t considering how to conceal it but rather silently speculating in his mind about the depth of its power and whether there might be authority capable of suppressing the Forest of Memories.
Mere speculation wouldn’t suffice; testing it personally was necessary.
Thinking about this, Angel took a deep breath and retrieved the pre-prepared Scroll of Fortune from his pocket.
Angel silently murmured to himself: A power capable of suppressing the ’Forest of Memories.’
While murmuring, Angel tore open the Scroll of Fortune...
...
Two flowers bloom, each expressing a different branch.
Elsewhere, upon the dark and vast Crystal Origin.
A "freak" with scales sat alone at a long table lit by candlelight.
She was Laplace, whom Angel had left here alone.
With her scales activated, Laplace’s visual range was very far. She actually witnessed Angel’s path and saw him enter the underground.
Nonetheless, she didn’t follow him nor utilized her scaled perception to investigate what lay beneath the pit.
Instead, she sat silently at the long table, contemplating the experiences of recent times.
Since taking on The Sage’s task to set the Reflection of the Heart for Angel and his party, it seemed something had started to gradually change.
Later, Angel suddenly asked her to help experiment with the Sweet Dream and Glaipnir’s Prophecy, seemingly affecting some subtle and imperceptible streams of fate.
In Glaipnir’s own words, it’s like a small butterfly stirring its wings in flight, the breeze it creates pushing predetermined fate toward an unknown future.
What seems insignificant now may be looked upon as a major life event in the years to come.
Like now, Angel asked her to think about what kind of Authority she intends to carry, which sounds like an inconsequential gift, but perhaps this choice will guide the future path to unknown directions?
Laplace fell into a long contemplation.
However, after pondering for several minutes, her brow suddenly furrowed.
"Underground... something’s wrong!"
Feeling the anomaly, Laplace immediately kicked away the table and chairs, her hooves tapped lightly, showcasing the muscular curves on her thighs, and she leaped thirty meters into the air.
Looking down from above, Laplace clearly saw the ground shaking, like insect eggs about to break, stirring restlessly.
This vibration continued and gradually intensified, tearing fissures across the crystal surface.
Laplace initially thought someone was targeting her, but looking at the scarred earth and the cracks extending unknowably far, she realized this was not some targeted action.
It might really just be an "accident."
But how did this "accident" occur?
While Laplace was puzzling, there were more anomalies below, and this time, not only was the ground affected, but even she, suspended midair, was affected.
The cracks on the ground naturally left behind a lot of crystal debris and residue; at this moment, influenced by some unknown power, this debris began to float upward.
The floating speed from the ground was slow, but once airborne, it accelerated and gathered like a surging wave.
Several aggregation points appeared near Laplace, forcing her to dodge frantically.
Laplace also tried not to avoid them, but the power within the debris was too strange, possessing a strong penetration ability. Although shedding scales could ward off to some extent, warding off once would lose one percent of the scale’s defensive energy.
Don’t underestimate one percent; generally speaking, debris comes in counts of hundreds at a time. If Laplace received it with her face, there would definitely be an explosion at contact.
Thus, knowing this debris was troublesome and being careless would be costly, Laplace could only dodge.
So much debris gathered like crystal moths flying everywhere, dispersing powder as they flew, even making Laplace’s dodging quite embarrassing.
Fortunately, this situation did not last long.
Once the crystal debris gathered in the air, the sky regained its peace.
However, the sky now was no longer "boring" as before, but filled with various strange objects formed from crystal debris and powder.
The three items closest to Laplace, which had given her the most trouble, were two mirrors and a long whip coiling with barbs like a poised snake.
Laplace initially couldn’t understand what these strange objects were until she approached the nearby round vanity mirror, at which point she vaguely had a notion.
The mirror before her was typical of a noble lady’s mirror, very exquisite, with a frame engraving of paper kite gold patterns. From the appearance, it was unremarkable, but when Laplace looked at its mirror surface, she froze.
Normally, the mirror surface should reflect Laplace’s form.
But this mirror surface was not so.
Initially, it indeed showed Laplace’s form, but gradually, the mirror Laplace became strange—her forehead sank, hair shortened, eyes vanished, a hole opened on her nose, and a giant butterfly emerged, fluttering its magnificent wings, resting on the mirror woman’s face.
Laplace’s scales were also replaced by a spectacular dress composed of butterflies.
If one ignored the woman’s visible insect eggs, her appearance would be quite decent.
Yet she wasn’t Laplace.
In Laplace’s Temporal Body, such a person did not exist.
However... she vaguely recalled a humanoid magic monster within the Dreamworld Sweepers she had killed before?
Could this be a monster from the Sweeper team? But why did it appear in the mirror?
As Laplace focused all her attention on the mirror, the woman inside suddenly extended her hand outward, seemingly wanting to grab Laplace.
Laplace cautiously retreated some ten meters.
When she settled her stance and looked at the mirror, the hand reaching from the mirror and the woman were gone.
Simultaneously, the lady’s mirror began to slowly vanish, seemingly about to disappear into unknown realms.
Laplace hesitated a bit, choosing not to further investigate the lady’s mirror and instead to use this opportunity, before these bizarre objects disappeared, to check other crystal creations.
The second item she inspected was also a mirror. But this mirror was a full-length mirror, able to reflect the entire body. Its frame was uniquely designed, engraved with entangled serpents, hardly the kind of mirror someone would typically use.
When Laplace approached this mirror, it sensed her presence, halting its vanishing process.
Inside the mirror, just like the previous lady’s mirror, started by reflecting Laplace’s form but gradually transformed into a tall figure wearing formal attire, donning a veiled hat, holding a lace-edged folding fan covering the mouth—a noblewoman.
Seeing this noblewoman, Laplace immediately recalled the first Dreamworld Sweeper she had killed—the Nine-foot Snakewoman.
In appearance, she was identical to the previous Nine-foot Snakewoman.
While Laplace pondered this, the mirror’s noblewoman set aside her fan, revealing a split mouth, sharp teeth, and a long snake tongue.
Her true body was indeed the Nine-foot Snakewoman!
As the Nine-foot Snakewoman wickedly grinned in the mirror, the serpent sculptures on the mirror frame suddenly animated, lunging towards Laplace.
Laplace acted as before, retreating. This time, she withdrew a hundred meters before the serpents gradually vanished.
Observing the distant full-length mirror, it resumed vanishing.
Witnessing this, Laplace understood the rules of these crystal creations: they activate upon approach and vanish upon distancing... but where they go afterward remains unknown.
Are these crystal creations new Sweepers, or remnants of prior Sweepers she defeated?
With too few clues, Laplace couldn’t decide, but she distinctly felt a familiar aura within these crystal creations...
While Laplace pondered this, she suddenly felt a tightening sensation at her waist.
Instinctively checking, she found her waist had unknowingly been bound by a long whip equipped with barbs!
Barbs? Long whip?!
Laplace immediately thought of the three crystal creations nearby earlier—two mirrors and a long whip with barbs—but remembered the whip wasn’t close by, so why was she bound?
Turning to see, the whip’s handle was indeed still in its original position, but the whip had slithered snake-like toward her, binding her waist.
The whip’s length just reached her.
Laplace didn’t anticipate such a large "activation" range.
Nevertheless, she wasn’t too worried, as the whip’s binding couldn’t break through her scales’ defenses.
Though the whip seemed harmless at present, the appearance of these crystal creations was too strange. Laplace opted to carefully pry it away.
But as she did, the whip subtly pulled, exerting slight force on Laplace, then voluntarily released.
The whip’s voluntary release was good news, but as Laplace raised her head, she realized everything around her had changed.
She was no longer airborne nor had fallen to the ground; she found herself in a... Rose Garden.
It seemed that just now, the light pull from the whip wasn’t an attack but rather drawing Laplace into an unknown, bizarre space.
