Chapter 2120 Depletes the Energy <TOC> Chapter 2122 Workbench
Translator: SumTLMan
Shortly after Angel fell into contemplation, beams of light began to seep from the walls nearby. When the light reached its peak, a silhouette slowly emerged through the wall.
A man, unclothed and cursing, appeared in front of Angel.
“Tree Spirit Lord,” Angel greeted respectfully.
The newcomer was Tree Spirit. Upon seeing Angel, he let out a weary sigh, “Good, you didn’t rush in recklessly. Otherwise, you’d end up like my last avatar, killed by the nightmare as soon as you entered.”
Killed by the nightmare? Could the substitution spell be ineffective? Angel wondered, “Tree Spirit Lord, is there any other danger inside the room?”
Tree Spirit glanced at the deep corridor ahead and, seeing no other movement, touched the wall. A green vine grew out of it, forming a seat on which he sat down. He sighed, “The situation inside the room is basically the same as outside, with red light everywhere. But while they seem similar, they are not entirely the same…”
“The red light outside is like passing through several lenses, and what’s projected is just a fraction of it, already diluted many times over. The red light inside, however, is the real nightmare.”
Even Tree Spirit, a top entity in the Wizarding World of the Southern Region, couldn’t help but look serious when he spoke of this. It showed how shocking his experience inside the room was.
As Tree Spirit described, Angel gradually understood the situation in the room.
As Tree Spirit mentioned, he encountered no other danger inside, except for the Light of Nightmare. However, the Light of Nightmare inside was completely different. Its color was denser, and upon entering, it felt like stepping into a thick, churning swamp, making it difficult to move.
Using leaf doubles to substitute for death still worked. But unlike outside, after the death of the substitute, Tree Spirit had almost no gap time before being pulled into another nightmare.
In an instant, four leaf doubles were consumed, and ultimately, Tree Spirit’s avatar was killed in the nightmare.
“My avatar is still too weak. If it were my true body, this wouldn’t have happened,” Tree Spirit said with some emotion.
Indeed, his true body was at the peak of power, probably unmatched in energy in the entire Southern Region. Even just in terms of energy consumption, he could act unbridled.
However, the true body of Tree Spirit couldn’t leave the Mirror World at will, so he could only send avatars. The strength of these avatars was at most at the level of a weak True Knowledge wizard, not even as strong as Angel.
“So it sounds like the Light of Nightmare inside the room is similar to that in the Star Pool Ruins. The Light of Nightmare outside the gate, stable and diluted, seems more like a projected window,” Angel commented softly.
Tree Spirit nodded in agreement. According to Reeves, the Light of Nightmare he encountered in the Star Pool Ruins was layered and varied in intensity, chasing all living beings, different from the projected Light of Nightmare outside. The situation inside the door was more similar.
Angel: “This means there must be some special barrier inside the room, binding the true Light of Nightmare.”
Tree Spirit: “That seems to be the case, or else the Light of Nightmare would not stay confined to one area.”
But now, even knowing this, at best, there’s no need to worry too much about the Light of Nightmare spreading. However, the core solution to the problem remains hidden in the fog.
“Tree Spirit Lord, did you see the general layout inside the room?” Angel asked after Poolering for a moment.
Tree Spirit shook his head, “The color of the Light of Nightmare is too deep, like thick dark blood, making it hard to see the surroundings. The only real object I saw was a black coat rack to the left after entering the door. Beyond that, I saw nothing.”
“Black coat rack… Normally, coat racks are placed in entryways and bedrooms. Excluding the entryway, it indeed looks like a bedroom,” Angel said with a headache, rubbing his temples. “However, why would there be such a dangerous Light of Nightmare in a bedroom?”
Tree Spirit: “Perhaps for the owner of the bedroom, the Light of Nightmare isn’t dangerous.”
Angel also thought of this. Just like the creatures of the Nightmare Plane under the Star Pool Ruins, the Light of Nightmare is their object of pursuit, not a threat to be avoided.
Tree Spirit looked again at the dim corridor, patting Angel’s shoulder: “I’ve left a message for Rhine. If he sees it, he’ll definitely come at once. Let’s withdraw for now. Discovering a hidden room is good, but it would be bad to leave our lives here.”
The reason Tree Spirit hurried over was to convey this message.
The situation with the Light of Nightmare was too complex. His avatar, at least being a formal wizard, was instantly killed when facing the Light of Nightmare.
Those nightmares were ferociously illogical.
Even a senior wizard of true knowledge would probably find it difficult to survive.
Tree Spirit even worried that Rhine might not be able to solve the Light of Nightmare issue, but with Rhine’s foundation, surviving should be possible.
As for Angel, it would be better not to get involved in this murky water.
Angel was silent for a moment: “I still want to try.”
Hearing Angel say this, Tree Spirit was somewhat surprised but didn’t immediately refute. Instead, he asked, “Trying is fine, but if you step into the light range unprepared, it would be akin to sending yourself to death.”
“How do you plan to try?”
Angel thought for a moment and said, “The creatures of the Nightmare Plane in the Star Pool Ruins, whether it’s Boil Gentleman or Minister Nooka, they are not afraid of the Light of Nightmare, but can use it to achieve their goals.”
Tree Spirit frowned: “You mean, using the methods of the aura of the Nightmare Plane?”
Angel nodded, indeed having this idea.
Tree Spirit fell into thought. Although he did not fully understand the unique power of the Phantom Island lineage, he knew part of the power of Phantom Island originated from the Nightmare Plane. Angel and Sanders could manipulate the aura of the Nightmare Plane.
There was some truth in what Angel said. The creatures of the Nightmare Plane seemed not to fear the Light of Nightmare, perhaps because of the aura of the Nightmare Plane?
After thinking, Tree Spirit nodded to Angel: “You can try, but start from the more stable light range outside the door.”
If Angel was only caught in the Light of Nightmare outside the door, Tree Spirit was confident in rescuing him, but if he went inside, then he wasn’t sure.
Angel: “Okay.”
…
When they returned to the end of the corridor, Tree Spirit looked at the gaping maw with bared teeth nearby and asked after a moment of silence, “What do you plan to do now?”
Angel: “I’ll try probing with a Phantasmal Limb.”
Appreciation showed in Tree Spirit’s eyes.
If Angel went himself, even with Tree Spirit nearby, there would still be some risk; but if he chose to probe with a Phantasmal Limb, Tree Spirit could guarantee absolute safety.
Tree Spirit: “Then get ready and start.”
Angel extended his hand, and a tendril seemingly made of pure white smoke slowly emerged from his sleeve. This tendril was the Phantasmal Limb.
After the Phantasmal Limb appeared, Angel began to pile layers of Nightmare Plane aura around it. Once he ensured the coverage was nearly impeccable, he slowly extended the Phantasmal Limb towards a red light not far away.
Ten meters, nine meters… the Phantasmal Limb moved swiftly, quickly reaching the closest point to the red light. Angel took a deep breath and carefully inserted the Phantasmal Limb into the red light.
The moment the Phantasmal Limb entered the red light, Angel did not notice any abnormalities around him. The walls didn’t melt, the ground didn’t sprout an abyss, everything remained as it was.
As he wondered if he had succeeded on his first try, the nearby Tree Spirit suddenly turned his head.
Tree Spirit’s eyes were devoid of color, completely white. His exterior, including his facial skin and all exposed skin, began to peel off like an old, mottled wall, revealing a blurry mesh of flesh and blood.
This was clearly wrong; Tree Spirit was a spirit and this was his avatar, not a flesh and blood body.
Angel was sure that this horrifying form of Tree Spirit was not the real one.
So, there was only one possibility… He was once again drawn into the rhythm of a nightmare.
Tree Spirit in front of him was a monster in the nightmare.
Soon, Tree Spirit, with his skin completely peeled off, had a mouth corner full of red and white muscles but still managed a sinister smile. White, slimy maggots began to crawl out of its eye sockets. These maggots dropped and instantly grew enormous, opening their mouths filled with sharp fangs, lunging towards Angel’s head…
Before the maggots could bite him, Angel felt everything around him change, as if he had returned to reality from a horrific play.
The maggots disappeared, and Tree Spirit returned to normal, with all the eerie events coming to an end.
“I saw that the Phantasmal Limb suddenly stopped moving, and your gaze lost focus, becoming strange. So, I cut off your Phantasmal Limb,” Tree Spirit paused, looking at Angel. “You must have entered a nightmare just now, right?”
Angel nodded, describing what he had just seen.
“The nightmare turned me into a monster?” Tree Spirit clicked its tongue. “The scenarios in nightmares are really diverse. The only constant is that if you’re killed by the nightmare, you truly die.”
Tree Spirit reflected for a moment, then asked, “It seems the aura of the Nightmare Plane can’t stop the encroachment of the nightmare’s light. Do you still plan to continue trying?”
Angel nodded again: “One more try.”
“Using the Phantasmal Limb again?”
Seeing Angel nod, Tree Spirit no longer dissuaded him. If it was just the Phantasmal Limb, no matter how many times he tried, it could stop the process in time, so there was no need to interfere.
Angel extended the Phantasmal Limb again.
However, this time, Angel did not let the Phantasmal Limb face the red light alone. He also followed the Phantasmal Limb forward a distance, stopping at the edge of the light.
Because this time, he intended to make another attempt.
Previously, he had wrapped the Nightmare Plane aura around the Phantasmal Limb, foreseeing a possible failure. Since the Phantasmal Limb itself was already mixed with a bit of Nightmare Plane aura and couldn’t block the light of the nightmare, adding a bit more of the aura had a similar effect.
But this time, Angel wanted to do more than just attach the Nightmare Plane aura. He planned to use it as an energy medium to pry into the material world.
This method of manipulating and utilizing the aura of the Nightmare Plane, even Sanders cannot do. Because the necessary condition is the green rune, which currently only Angel possesses and can use.
Angel looked at the tip of the Phantasmal Limb, slowly activating the green rune in his right eye.
As he moved, Tree Spirit also looked over. Although Tree Spirit is just a low-strength avatar, his vision is not low; he could clearly feel the aura around Angel violently changing.
When Angel’s right eye began to emit a faint green light, a sense of oppression began to spread around.
Even Tree Spirit felt pressure in this oppressive atmosphere.
When the light of the green rune reached its peak, a domain centered on Angel spontaneously appeared around them.
The range of the domain completely enveloped the Phantasmal Limb.
Only then did Tree Spirit say, “Do you plan to use this power to send the Phantasmal Limb into the light range?”
“Yes.” What Angel activated was precisely the “domain” in the green rune of his right eye, which has a defensive effect, capable of blocking attacks and isolating any negative energy, including curses.
Because the range of the domain is not large, Angel must get close to the Light of Nightmare to keep the Phantasmal Limb continuously enveloped in the domain.
As for whether the domain could block the Light of Nightmare, Angel did not know yet, but this was the only method he could activate using the aura of the Nightmare Plane. If this didn’t work, he had no other options.
Tree Spirit did not inquire about the specifics of the power Angel was using; he just nodded to Angel, indicating they could start. He would pay close attention to Angel’s condition, ready to sever the Phantasmal Limb if anything went awry.
Angel carefully approached the red light with the Phantasmal Limb covered by the domain.
The moment the Phantasmal Limb entered the red light, both Tree Spirit and Angel watched the surroundings nervously.
One second, two seconds… As the Phantasmal Limb was illuminated by the red light, Angel’s heart nearly leaped to his throat.
After ten seconds, the Phantasmal Limb was still moving in the red light like a snake, but Angel did not feel any changes around him. He turned his head to look at Tree Spirit, who was staring at him with bright eyes.
“Tree Spirit Lord?” Angel called out tentatively.
Tree Spirit was startled for a moment, then quickly came to his senses, exclaiming, “You… You’re alright?! You weren’t pulled into the nightmare? Or are you trapped in a nightmare without realizing it?”
Angel: “There are no changes around, and I can still talk to Tree Spirit Lord. As long as the Lord is real, I should not be trapped in a nightmare.”
Although he said so, Tree Spirit still found it somewhat unbelievable. He was prepared to provide support at any moment and even thought about waking up Rhine, who was in retreat. Unexpectedly, Angel succeeded?
It might be too early to say it’s a success, but at least the Phantasmal Limb wasn’t affected by the nightmare under the interference of the domain, a stark contrast to the previous situations.
After waiting another thirty seconds.
In this half-minute, both Tree Spirit and Angel remained silent, quietly waiting for the result.
Thirty seconds later, nothing unusual happened to Angel.
Angel thought for a moment and said to Tree Spirit, “The domain might indeed be effective. I plan to step into it and try.”
This time, Tree Spirit did not deny Angel’s suggestion. Since it’s now certain that the domain can shield against the Light of Nightmare to a certain extent, it’s natural to conduct further experiments.
Angel took a deep breath and stepped into the range of the light.
Chapter 2120 Depletes the Energy <TOC> Chapter 2122 Workbench