Sword of Dawn

But the more real this world is, the more vigilant he becomes in his heart.

So he controlled the expression on his face, trying not to let himself show the slightest emotion, and casually praised: "I heard that the Eternal Sleeper is good at creating illusions and dreams, but this is the first time I have come into contact with it personally. I have to say, You are highly skilled in this area."

"If people rely on the so-called senses of sight, touch, and smell to perceive the existence of the world, then as long as these things are perfectly simulated, what is the difference between the so-called reality and illusion?" , "Compared to the sinking and dark reality, wouldn't it be better to have a perfect dream?"

"But in this 'perfect' dream, isn't your outfit a little too eye-catching?" Gawain looked at the white-robed man in front of him, and finally couldn't bear the strange attire and the unmasculine voice of the other party. "No matter what you want to talk to me, you must show your true face, right? And you haven't introduced who you are so far, which doesn't seem to be very in line with the etiquette of talking with people."

"I'm just a mere seeker of the Tao. People who sleep forever don't need any surnames and first names. As for the so-called true face... it really is what people who are bound by the real world would say," the white-robed man sighed, and His image suddenly changed, the mask melted on his face like flowing water, but under the mask was a face that was constantly changing, even switching between the faces of men, women, old and young, "It's a pity People who are bound by reality will never understand how great the dream of eternal sleep is. In this perfect world, the appearance of the so-called individual has become meaningless. So which appearance do you think is more suitable for me? It is this one Zhang... or this one?"

The white-robed man's face was constantly changing, but every face was full of sarcasm and contempt, but Gawain just watched him pinching his face quietly, and waited for half a minute before saying calmly: "Just Let’s change like this, it’s good to keep refreshing.”

The face of the man in white robe suddenly stopped changing, and was fixed on a stern middle-aged face.

"It seems that you have enough patience to spend time with me, but unfortunately I have no patience," the middle-aged man with a stern face finally stopped talking nonsense, and he stared straight into Gawain's eyes, "I'll call your Excellency to This place is actually nothing more than wanting to know one thing from you."

"what's up?"

"What did you see in those lost seas?"

Gao Wen's composure before was more or less a show, but this time the envelopment was real: "What did you say?"

However, the middle-aged man in the white robe took Gawain's bewildered expression as some sort of fool, he frowned: "You don't have to pretend to be confused, you and I both know what the so-called 'Eternal Dark Sea' refers to, Outsiders may not know about your secret voyage, but those who set foot on the voyage with you at that time still came back alive—we all know that you entered the Sea of ​​​​Eternal Darkness with a clear purpose, and there Got something enlightened, maybe even brought something back ... and we were very curious about that."

Gao Wen's heart suddenly turned upside down.

This Eternal Sleeper cultist knows a secret that even Gawain Cecil himself can't remember!

What is the eternal dark sea he mentioned?What did he mention about Gawain Cecil's secret voyage?What is enlightenment and what is brought back? !

Gao Wen suddenly thought of those crystals, those crystals that the original owner of his body entrusted to the Mithril Treasury for safekeeping, but did not leave any impression in his memory-could everything be connected here? !

However, Gawain had to forcibly hide all the shock and psychological fluctuations at this time. He desperately hoped to get something out of the mouth of the cultist in front of him—the other party could never imagine that Gawain Cecil's body was hidden With a foreign soul, this is the breakthrough point to deceive the other party!

"Is it you who want to know, or the Order of the Eternal Sleepers behind you, or... more people want to know?" He looked at the middle-aged man in front of him with a serious expression, without any wavering in his tone.

"If I say that this is just my personal curiosity, you probably won't believe me," the middle-aged man showed a stiff smile, "This is something that the entire Church of the Eternal Sleepers is concerned about--please believe me, with those who are determined to The group that destroys the world is different. Although the Eternal Sleepers are also regarded as a 'cult' by you, everything we do is to protect all living beings in the world. Although our methods are sometimes not understood by outsiders, I think that if The enlightenment you received in the Sea of ​​Eternal Darkness is about the truth of this world...then you will definitely understand what the Eternal Sleeper is doing."

Will Gawain Cecil's enlightenment in the so-called "Eternal Dark Sea" lead him to agree with the behavior of the cult group like the Eternal Sleepers?

This sentence is more informative!

Gawain worked harder to straighten his face, staring into the eyes of the middle-aged man, "Who else knows about my affairs in the Sea of ​​Eternal Darkness? How do you know?"

"As I said, some of the people who sailed with you came back alive, and more than one, I can tell you clearly now, including the eyeliner placed by your side by the Eternal Sleeper," the middle-aged man replied frankly, " As for who else knows this secret, please rest assured that there are very few people, even in the Order of the Eternal Sleepers, only a small number of people above the level of the Nightmare Bishop know part of the situation. We have no intention of spreading this secret—it is not beneficial , and the ancient secrets of 700 years ago are not of concern to ordinary people who are forgetful and mediocre."

"I did bring something back from there," Gao Wen decided to relax a little, and then continued the routine, "but how can you be sure that if I learned the truth of the so-called world there, I would definitely understand the thoughts of you cultists? ? In other words - how can you be sure that I will cooperate with you?"

Gawain tried to get the nonsense cultist in front of him to take the initiative to tell the part of the situation he knew, and tell the ins and outs of Gawain Cecil's departure for the Sea of ​​​​Eternal Darkness, but the middle-aged man in front of him suddenly closed his eyes. mouth, it was not until a few seconds later that he opened his mouth with a half-smile: "Yes, of course I know that you will not cooperate with me, and I also know that you will not answer any of my questions. You are a great hero 700 years ago. How could that be possible?" Just because a cultist talked nonsense to you, do you trust and tell him the secret?

"For the same reason, why do you think I am here to talk with you and answer your questions one by one?"

As the middle-aged man's voice fell, all the scenes around Gawain suddenly shook violently, the ancient city of Gondor began to collapse, the magic dome in the sky was torn apart, and bursts of noise emerged in his spiritual world !

He finally knew where the real crisis was, and he finally knew why a cunning cultist would actively reveal so much information when talking to him—even though he had been suspicious and wary of what the other party had just now Conspiracy, but until now, he didn't realize what the other party's conspiracy was.

Something is invading his consciousness!Spying on his memory!

"In the dream of the eternal sleeper, even a giant dragon will gradually sink," the middle-aged man stood up, and the round table with snacks and black tea turned into a wriggling starlight in front of him, and gradually dissipated. "Spirit and consciousness are really amazing things. People rely on it to become a person, but people can hardly control its operation. In a person's subconscious, almost everything runs automatically, even if it is a legendary level. Characters will also show their biggest flaws here."

Gao Wen felt that his memory was beginning to loosen, and an outside "reader" was looking for the entry point of these memories. He was struggling to control his thoughts, controlling those memory fragments that began to emerge in his mind like slides, And controlling all of this brought extremely high mental pressure, which made him unable to speak anymore, and could only stare into the eyes of the middle-aged man.

"You are talking to me here, you are gradually opening the door of your memory, whether you are answering or asking, this 'talking' itself is making connections-including now, you listen to my voice, you accept Following the information from me, in this process, your barriers of will are also constantly disintegrating, but unfortunately, you can hardly stop this process..." The middle-aged man's smile became brighter and brighter, and it was obvious that he had already won In my hands, "Ah, your resistance is indeed very tenacious, which is quite in line with your status as a great hero, but don't you know? The most powerful power of the Eternal Sleeper is not illusions or psychic attacks, but stealing other people's memories and using them process into your own new power...also let this 'memory path' be a kind of springboard, you will forget about this meeting and I will leave a memory in your subconscious after reading your memory The transmission path, so that my will can 'fall' on your body at any time... That's right, that's right, the figure of that poor mercenary appeared in your mind just now, yes, it is that kind of springboard, eternal sleep The reader walks in the world of dreams and thoughts, relying on such a springboard..."

Gao Wen silently sorted out his own memory fragments in his mind, and did not respond to any provocations from the cultists at all. Finally, before the loud noises in his mind became unbearable, he finished the final sorting.

Under the astonished gaze of the middle-aged man in white robes, Gao Wen raised his head, with a long-hidden smile on his face: "Are you sure... want to see my memory?"

The middle-aged man froze for a moment: "You..."

Gao Wen completely let go of the restrictions of his own mind.

"If there is a wall of memory in everyone's conscious world, then this wall of mine is actually not for protecting myself, but for protecting reckless snoopers like you."

Gawain stood up completely, quietly watching the middle-aged man slowly widen his eyes of extreme fear, watching him begin to roar wildly, watching his face melt like wax, watching his The body twisted and collapsed, and even after it collapsed into a pool of flesh and blood, there was still a roar coming out of thin air.

"You dare to look at the 10-year surveillance database, don't you want your head?"

Chapter 0168 The Devoured

Gawain didn't know exactly what happened to his soul, but he was certain that his soul had been completely mutated as early as the moment of time travel, otherwise there would be no explanation for why a person hangs in the sky for tens of millions of years Afterwards, he was able to maintain his sanity, and not only his sanity, but also his memory clearly—the frighteningly huge information and data collected by looking down on the earth in the past tens of millions of years, can be accurately and undamaged. Preserved in his memory, it can still be read accurately until now.

But one thing is for sure: the souls of the Sleeper cultists apparently have not undergone this transformation.

Traversing hundreds of thousands or even millions of years of vast surveillance records in mere seconds has devastating effects on cultists who are still essentially mortal souls.

When the mind and soul of the Eternal Sleeper cultist gradually collapsed into meaningless fragments, Gawain came into contact with some fragments of consciousness in a trance. These messy and fragmented data flowed into his mind, in his frighteningly large memory There was an almost imperceptible wave in the body. If it wasn't for Gao Wen's concentration, he probably wouldn't even notice that he had plundered something from the cultist's remnant soul—and after careful sensing, he It was confirmed that it was some memory left by the cultist.

Unfortunately, the amount is small and fragmented and illogical, and due to the chaotic thinking of the cultists themselves, those memories are also filled with a lot of chaotic, distorted shadows and crazy fantasies-worse, due to the intoxication of the eternal sleepers. In the dream, the authenticity of these memories became impossible to distinguish. Gao Wen was not sure how many of those pictures actually happened, and how many of them were made up in the sleepers' brains.

Only based on the few materials that can be read, he understood the "existence" form of the eternal sleeper in front of him.

The other party seemed to have abandoned his body—or transformed his body into some horrible, inhuman form. He saw some crazy rituals in the memory of the cultists, which included limb ablation, The vision of the soul emerging from its body, followed by the scene of the cultist wandering from new body to new body, wandering in the dreams and memories of others.

The Eternal Sleeper appears to have "ascended" his own soul, thereby possessing this terrifying ability to transfer between human minds.

Fortunately, this kind of ascension ceremony is obviously very demanding, and the other party's speeches revealed his status above the bishop in the entire cult group, so there should be very few cultists with this terrible ability, and most of them It should not be active in this world.

The surrounding chaotic space is still disintegrating, and the power supporting its existence has receded. Before this "dream" disappeared completely, Gawain seized the time to concentrate and search hard for the remaining spiritual wisdom of the cultists of the Eternal Sleeper. with potentially valuable information.

……

In the ancient castle in Kantland, Victor Kant was walking hurriedly in the corridor leading to the lower level of the castle. The lights of the magic spar dimly reflected the entire corridor, but beside the old viscount, the shadow But entrenched like some kind of constant decoration, his body cast a vague shadow on the floor, and the shadow stretched and deformed with his hurried steps, as if it had its own will.

The old viscount's eyes were shining with more and more illusory starlight, his footsteps became more and more hasty, and even gradually appeared a little staggering, he came to the lower level of the castle, and a heavy oak door stood in front of him.

Viscount Victor stood in front of the door, hesitation and bewilderment suddenly appeared on his face, as if there was something attracting him behind the door, but he didn't dare to open the door to verify it.

He hesitated like this for a while, and finally put his hand on the door, but before he pushed the door open with all his strength, the door suddenly opened a wide gap by itself.

A faint light leaked from behind the door, and a long-haired woman in a white dress with a lantern leaned out half of her body from the crack of the door. This was a woman who looked less than 30 years old, her skin was fair , with a beautiful face, but with a faint morbidity, revealing a weak and pitiful temperament all over her body. Holding the lantern, she looked at the Viscount standing at the door in surprise and curiosity, and smiled: "Dear , what's the matter? Are you going to let me out?"

"I...no, it's nothing," the old Viscount hesitated for a moment, but in the next second, all the trance and worried expressions disappeared from his face, and he smiled as if nothing happened , looking at the young wife in front of him, "It's okay, I just came to see you. There is still a while before the sun goes down, go back to sleep, get a good sleep, and then get up and have dinner with me."

The extraordinarily young Viscountess bit her lips and said in a low voice, "But dear, I'm not sleepy anymore."

"Be obedient, go back to sleep," the old Viscount shook his head, with a gentle smile on his face, "I will come to you later."

The young Viscountess blinked her eyes and seemed to feel relieved. She nodded, and took the lantern and retreated to the door again. The heavy oak door then slowly closed, and there was a sound of door hinges turning in the empty castle corridor. squeak.

Victor Kant stood at the door for a while, with a dazed expression, then regained his usual calm and peaceful expression, turned around and walked towards the direction he came from...

Near the east border of Ansu Kingdom, in an ancient and hidden cave, the headmistress of the Death of All Things Society, Bertila, suddenly opened her eyes wide.

As one of the "foreign affairs bishops" in the church who frequently contacted other cult groups, she has long maintained spiritual contact with several high-ranking Eternal Sleepers, but this time a Eternal Sleeper bishop rashly contacted Gawain Cecil, which made her feel a little nervous Dissatisfied, it's just that it is a matter of other sects after all, and she has no right to interfere or dissuade her, so she can only wait for the other party to complete the contact before asking if they have gained anything.

She believes that the bishop will definitely gain something—after all, today's Gawain Cecil is no longer in full bloom, 700 years of sleep has weakened his body and spirit, and a nightmare bishop with near-legendary strength is spiritually Competing with such a "pseudo-legendary", it is impossible to fall into a disadvantage.

But what she waited for was not the news of the great success of the Eternal Sleeper Bishop, but a wail from the soul of the other party, and the great fear spread through the spiritual connection.

Afterwards, the mental reaction belonging to the Eternal Sleeper disappeared, as if swallowed by some terrible devourer and completely digested.

Bertila felt the great fear from the spiritual connection, as well as the surprise and panic hidden in the fear, but she couldn't imagine that there was anything in Gawain Cecil's conscious world that could swallow a person. The Eternal Sleeper at the bishop level even made him so terrified before his death—those believers who are good at manipulating people's hearts are experts in creating and enjoying nightmares. How could their minds be so vulnerable?

Amid doubts, Bertila chose to visit several other minds that were connected to her. They were several high-ranking members of the Order of the Eternal Sleepers in Ansu, and they were also the ones who kept in touch with the fallen Bishop of the Eternal Sleepers.

But after the spiritual connection was established, before she asked, a nightmare bishop sent a message: "Bishop Roderick has fallen."

"He was devoured during the spiritual contact with Gawain Cecil." Another nightmare instructor added.

"What happened?" Bertila asked unbearably curiously, "Did he send any news before he fell?!"

The inner spiritual connection between the Sleepers is much stronger than the spiritual connection with outsiders, and Beltera has not heard any words from Bishop Roderick's dying thoughts, but perhaps other Sleepers who are connected can know something.

Several minds in the spiritual connection were silent for a few seconds, and finally, a nightmare bishop replied: "He only had time to send out a word—"

In the next second, the words that Roderick screamed before being devoured, with strong obsession and emotional marks, exploded in Bertila's mind:

"Don't spy on this inhuman soul!!"

……

Gao Wen opened his eyes, and he found himself still standing in the hut where the prisoners were held.

The mercenary leader who was used as a springboard and victim by the Eternal Sleeper has fallen to the ground. This strong man is bleeding from all seven orifices, and his whole head is red as if he had been boiled, and even slightly steaming. His distorted expression is enough to illustrate What horrible pain he suffered before his death, while the mercenary mage was still sitting beside him in a daze, seemingly unaware of what happened beside him.

Hetty, Pittman, Amber and others stood around him, and everyone looked at him with nervous and concerned eyes.

"What's wrong?" Gawain shook his head, completely clearing away the remaining discomfort in his mind, and then took a long breath, "Did I lose consciousness just now?"

"Ancestor, it's great that you're fine!" Hetty finally breathed a sigh of relief, and the cold sweat dripped from her forehead the moment she relaxed. She rushed up to check on Gao Wen's situation regardless of her demeanor, "Are you okay? Are you okay?" Right? The mercenary just now burst out with a burst of powerful magic power, and then you stood here motionless, everyone of us was terrified!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Gao Wen comforted his eldest granddaughter, who was already a bit frizzy, and then frowned, "How long have I been unconscious?"

"It's not long, it's only about a few minutes." Pittman also wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "It's a good thing you're fine, otherwise I'd have to go out sideways today—someone will definitely say that something went wrong with me tossing around with counterfeit medicines."

Amber immediately glared at the little old man: "It really has nothing to do with the suspicious ointments and incense you tossed out?!"

"It really has nothing to do with him," Gawain waved his hand, confirming in his mind that the flow of time in that space of consciousness does seem to be different from the outside world. He felt that at least half a day had passed in there, but it was only a few minutes outside, " There was an Eternal Sleeper cultist trying to corrupt my mind just now."

Everyone was shocked: "Eternal Sleeper?!"

Chapter 0169

Hearing Gao Wen's words, everyone turned pale with shock: "The Eternal Sleeper?!"

This was completely beyond their expectations. Even Hetty, who has always been calm, almost couldn't hold her staff. She stared at the leader of the mercenary who fell dead on the ground with wide eyes: "This mercenary is the evil spirit of the Eternal Sleeper." Christians pretending to be?!"

"No, he was just used as a springboard by the Eternal Sleeper," Gawain rubbed his brows, talking about the information he got from the cultists, "This guy probably had a bad dream sometime in the past, and a powerful The Eternal Sleeper cultist left coordinates in his mind with the help of nightmares, so that he became a one-time 'carrier', allowing that cultist to quickly 'come' when needed."

Such a weird fact made Amber get goosebumps: "Why does this kind of cultist sound more evil than the death of all things?!"

"The Eternal Sleeper is indeed weirder than the death of all things," Pittman said in a deep voice. As a Druid who has truly received the inheritance, he knows a lot about cultists. "The Eternal Sleeper is the fallen, Transformed, they were originally priests who comforted people and expelled nightmares, but after the fall, they became experts in weaving nightmares and fears. The most powerful bishops of eternal sleep have the ability to walk in people's dreams , and they can link people and people's dreams together, so that they are more elusive and unpredictable. Their special abilities make them more frightening than ordinary cultists, but the good news is... the Eternal Sleepers It's not as extreme and bloody as Doom or Son of the Storm, they just pull people into all kinds of nightmares or visions, occasionally do kidnapping, but rarely initiate killing."

Hearing this, Hetty also said thoughtfully: "I've also heard about the Eternal Sleepers' Cult. They really rarely cause large-scale deaths, but their actions are more weird than other cults. It's weird, I personally feel that they seem to be hiding some huge plan, and the cult group that doesn't usually kill people is even more terrifying."

Gao Wen felt the same: "As long as it is a dark sect, there is no one that is not dangerous. If they don't kill people, it only means that they will do things that are more terrible than killing people, and those things are harder to prevent than killing people. Besides...Eternal Sleep The latter is the only dark sect other than the Sons of the Storm that deals with the Doom Society, and both the Doom and the Sons of the Storm are cruel and bloody sects, and the Eternal Sleepers who can get along with them... cannot be good people."

"The more I listened, the more panicked I became," Amber couldn't help but rubbed her arms, as if she wanted to rub off the goosebumps, and then she looked up at Gawain curiously, "Then you were dragged by the Eternal Sleeper just now?" In their 'nightmare'? And then? You escaped?"

Gawain smiled: "We competed in the conscious world, and then that guy died, probably not a powerful character."

Amber snorted, and Hetty also looked at her great-grandfather with admiration and conviction. Only Pittman looked up and down suspiciously at Gao Wen: "The eternal sleeper who can carry out the descending of thoughts...will be Xiao Role?"

"Anyway, not as good as me," Gao Wen shrugged, "Anyway, that guy is dead, it doesn't matter how powerful he was in life."

Hetty seemed a little worried: "But the key is why an Eternal Sleeper cultist attacked you... The last death of all things meeting can be said to be an accident. The real target of the fallen druid was Tanzania Town, but this time The Eternal Sleeper is obviously coming for you, and the mercenary leader clearly called out your name when he was 'occupied'!"

Gao Wen's expression became serious, he knew that Hetty's worry was not unreasonable.

The resurrected Gawain Cecil has indeed begun to attract the attention of certain dark forces.

Although there are not many memories read from the remnant soul of the cultist, some of his recent thoughts and experiences can be pieced together.Gao Wen was sure that the cultist had been active in the southern border for many years. He left nightmare coordinates on thousands of victims in this area, and the mercenary leader happened to be one of them. He was caught in the slave hunt. It was just a coincidence that Gawain was captured—but the Eternal Sleeper behind the mercenary leader was not watching him every day or two.

From the conversation, I learned that the cultist was very concerned about a certain secret voyage of Gawain Cecil and the so-called "Sea of ​​​​Eternal Darkness", so after Gawain uncovered the coffin and spread the news, the cultist may This contact was already planned.

And the mercenary leader who happened to fall into Gao Wen's hands just gave him a perfect opportunity in advance, but the cultist himself would never have imagined that he would be directly killed by this opportunity...

A Bishop of the Eternal Sleeper just died so unexplainably, but this does not mean the end of the harassment. Gawain believes that there must be other dark sects or mysterious organizations staring at him-the so-called "Eternal Darkness" and "Eternal Darkness" "Secret voyage" may involve a huge secret, which is enough to make the most vigilant and hidden cult bishops take risks, and it will naturally arouse the curiosity of other lurkers.

But the problem is that Gao Wen himself is very curious about what the so-called "Eternal Dark Sea" is!

Up to now, the only thing Gawain can comfort himself is that the Bishop of the Eternal Sleeper died very quickly and neatly. He died on the territory of the Cecil family without causing any disturbance. This may be a warning to some snoopers .

Anyway, if there were any daring ones who wanted to make trouble, Gao Wen had no other choice but to continue. After all, he was now dragging his family, so he couldn't just say a word that didn't agree with him, right?

Pittman looked at Gawain with a serious expression, then at Hetty with a worried expression, he sighed softly, and said with a serious expression: "My lord, I think it's time for you to seriously consider my resignation this time." applied……"

"If you really wanted to run, you would have disappeared by now. Are you the kind of person who would greet the boss well before running away?" Gawain glanced at the shame of the druid, then waved his hand, "Anyway, come here I’ll continue after that, three or two small fish and shrimps won’t be able to cause much trouble, I don’t believe those cultists who have lived with their tails between their legs for 700 years dare to organize a large army to attack them now.”

Afterwards, he glanced at the mage mercenary sitting next to him, who was still groggy.

Seeing this, Hetty immediately asked, "Ancestor, do you want to continue the interrogation?"

Gao Wen shook his head: "It's no longer needed, keep him locked up and we'll see the situation after a while."

He didn't consider directly executing the mage mercenary, but he didn't intend to let him go—if the rescue operation in the northern wilderness was regarded as a battle, the mercenary in front of him was a prisoner of the Cecil family. According to the laws of this era, such prisoners of war will be directly treated as slaves, and they will use life-long labor to make up for the weapons and manpower lost by their masters in capturing him on the battlefield. What kind of reform through labor will be arranged.

The Cecil Territory is currently in short supply, so Gawain doesn't mind letting such a prisoner use his labor force to make use of his value. This is much more cost-effective than execution or exile, but the other party is a second-level spellcaster after all, so throw him directly. Digging in the mines to the west was wasteful, and Gao Wen was not at ease, so what to ask him to do... really had to be carefully considered.

Hetty had no objection to Gawain's arrangement, but she was still very concerned about the purpose of these mercenaries hunting refugees in the wilderness north of the White Water River: "Aren't we going to investigate the matter of the Kant family hiring these mercenaries to hunt refugees? "

"Ah... yes," Gawain couldn't help but rubbed his forehead. It seems that the confrontation with the cultist in the conscious world still had an impact, and he completely forgot the original purpose of interrogating the two mercenaries, " I'm a little tired, so I forgot about this matter. Well, Hetty, Pittman, this matter is entrusted to you two. Before the effects of the potions and rituals are over, ask the Kant family whether they are catching slaves in the Frost Moon. Why. I have to go back and take a rest, and you can tell me the results of the interrogation later."

After arranging the affairs here, Gao Wen returned to his tent.