Chapter 1 Frankly Speaking

Frankly speaking, Lucretia's mind was blank for a moment—blank for nearly two or three seconds before she regained her ability to think and realized what was happening.

Falling into a nightmare of corruption and erosion by the children of the sun was already terrifying. Finding her father, returned from the subspace, deep within this nightmare was even worse. But the most terrifying thing was that the scythe in her hand was about to strike her father's neck.

Now, the scythe had lost control. A faint green fire burned on its black blade and long handle. It was as if it had entered another dimension, beyond her grasp. Lucretia was stiff and desperately tried to maintain her grip on the scythe, finally managing to stammer, "Your... your scythe is very distinctive."

"Do you always act without thinking when you're nervous?" Duncan finally released his hand, and the faint green flames dissipated.

"What's going on here?"

As the flames faded, Lucretia finally felt the scythe, formed from the power of dreams and curses, return to her control. She hurriedly clutched it and took a half-step back, preparing to answer her father's question. But the next moment, a sense of danger suddenly struck from nearby.

The "lesser forms" of the children of the sun had finally reacted, and they clearly wouldn't give her a chance to chat casually. With the light flickering and jumping in the sunlight, several shadows lunged towards Lucretia's back. Without even a moment to think, Lucretia abruptly turned around, her scythe instantly transforming into a long whip entwined with thorns. But just as she was about to lash out, the lunging shadows suddenly stopped in mid-air and revealed themselves, collapsing to the ground as if they had lost their source of power, struggling violently.

At the same time, Heidi, who was controlling several personality fragments to barely hold on, suddenly felt the pressure around her ease.

She transferred her "self" from a dying personality incarnation to another in better condition, then looked in astonishment at the black-clad figures around her, falling one by one, writhing on the ground as if they were fish being scorched by flames.

Their black, unknown material coats bulged and squirmed, and their horrifying limbs began to rot and decompose rapidly. Accompanied by nauseating sounds, a terrible stench and filthy pus gradually spread from their bodies.

Even as a professionally trained psychiatrist, Heidi couldn't help but take two steps back when faced with this scene. Then, as if realizing something, she subconsciously wanted to look up at the sky—but at the instant she was about to raise her head, she forcibly suppressed the urge.

The terrifying experience of witnessing the "child of the sun" when she looked up earlier was still deeply imprinted in her mind, making her afraid to verify her guess.

Just then, she heard the unfamiliar man who had suddenly appeared in front of Lucretia say to her, "It's alright, the sky is safe now."

For some reason, these words seemed to carry some kind of powerful force. Despite having no reason to, a strong impression instantly arose in Heidi's mind: the sky is safe.

She slowly raised her head and looked at the "sun" hanging high in the sky, radiating light and heat.

That "thing" was still floating quietly above the forest, countless twisted, tangled tentacles and pale eyes piled up like haphazardly grown clumps of flesh. The light was like blazing flames, rising and burning on the surface of this deformed and terrifying "flesh mass"—but deep within the flames, a touch of ghostly green was spreading, quickly covering the entire surface of the entity.

The instant she saw those twisted tentacles and pale eyes, an uncontrollable fear arose in Heidi's heart. But soon, she realized that her mind had not been corrupted by this "witnessing."

The pollution from the "child of the sun" seemed to be blocked by the constantly spreading ghostly green fire, or rather...it was being eroded and assimilated by the latter, rendering it harmless.

The dying struggles and roars of the "lesser forms" tormented Lucretia's eardrums. Those black-clad, human-like but inhuman creatures were dying rapidly in the distorted sunlight, as if dissolving in strong acid. She looked at the scene in confusion, turning to Duncan and asking, "What's going on?"

"I've polluted their temporary sun. Now, this sunlight is 'toxic' to them." This was an experience I learned from the "Black Sun Incident" in Prando. These "remnants" can only survive under specific "sunlight."

Duncan said calmly, then raised his head and gazed at the twisted existence still floating quietly above the forest.

He was reminded of the "black sun" he had glimpsed through the "golden mask" before, and the pale ancient god dying under its scorching light. However, compared to the "black sun" he had seen back then, the thing hanging in the sky above this dream world was clearly much smaller and weaker.

So...it seems this is the "child of the sun" that those fanatical cultists spoke of.

Now, this child of the sun was being rapidly devoured by the polluting flames. The light and heat it emitted was being transformed into something that could incinerate it, yet this bizarre and terrifying "creature" showed no sign of pain. It simply hung quietly and silently in the sky, as if it had no emotions of pain or fear at all.

It simply radiated light and heat, like a real sun.

But Duncan, staring at its pale eyes, couldn't help but feel that this thing actually had thoughts—it was thinking, it was observing, it had a purpose and reason. It wasn't like the dying black sun that only wanted to extinguish itself, nor like the fanatical cultists who only wanted to destroy the world.

What...what is this "creature" thinking right now?

"What are you thinking?" Duncan couldn't help but ask in his heart.

"Can I go back?" In the depths of the vague information returned by the ghostly flames, he heard a voice, sounding calm and gentle. "There's nothing I want to find here."

Duncan's eyes widened slightly for a moment.

But the next instant, just as he wanted to establish more communication with this "child of the sun," a ghostly rumble suddenly came from the sky. Then, the burning ball of flames abruptly contracted into a small point as if collapsing inward. The next moment, the ghostly flames, having lost their target, scattered with a roar.

The "false sun" that overlooked the forest disappeared.

A dim, slightly reddish twilight replaced the "sunny" sky of the previous moment, and the entire forest fell into an atmosphere like dusk.

Lucretia's surprised voice came from the side, "Did you destroy it?"

"No," Duncan shook his head gently, speaking the information he had sensed in that instant, "It left. That wasn't its main body, but just a projection of a child of the sun formed in the dream, like a tentacle used for sensing. Now it's withdrawn that tentacle from the dream."

Lucretia nodded thoughtfully, but soon she suddenly discovered something else, "Wait, what about that Annihilation cultist?"

"He ran," Duncan said casually, "While those 'lesser forms' were dying, he was constantly reducing his presence, and then, taking advantage of the collapse and retreat of the false sun in the sky, he escaped in the chaos."

Lucretia frowned immediately upon hearing this, subconsciously surveying the forest that had fallen into a twilight-like dimness, "Damn...I was distracted too...I should have left a curse on him..."

"It's alright," Duncan just waved his hand, "Let him run for a while."

Lucretia was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, raising her head to look at Duncan, "You...you deliberately let him go?"

Duncan didn't answer her directly, but squinted slightly, as if sensing something, then shook his head with a smile.

Anyway, he's already seen me.

Then, without paying attention to Lucretia's instantly changing expression, he turned to look at Heidi, who was standing uneasily a dozen meters away, constantly trying to reduce her presence.

He came to this psychiatrist—strictly speaking, a group of Heidis—and first checked on their condition.

About seven or eight Heidis had various injuries, with three of them being extremely serious, flopping on the ground like dying fish. Their personalities had obviously withdrawn, leaving only some reflex-based death throes. Two other Heidis seemed to be in good condition, one standing blankly in place, and the other nervously avoiding Duncan's gaze.

Duncan expressionlessly scanned the "group of Heidis" before him, marveling at how wild the paths of psychiatrists in this world were, their schizophrenia being even more schizophrenic than schizophrenia itself. Then, he walked straight past the "Heidi" who was looking nervous and avoiding his gaze, and came to the psychiatrist who was standing with a blank expression.

"Are you alright?"

The "personality incarnation" with the blank expression was startled, and a vivid expression suddenly appeared on her face, "How did you know?" She had of course guessed who the tall, imposing person in front of her, who brought endless pressure, was. She was already extremely nervous, originally wanting to use a personality incarnation to hide herself slightly, avoiding direct communication with this terrifying "subspace shadow," but she didn't expect that not even a second had passed.

"You use personality fragments to protect yourself when you're nervous," Duncan said with a smile, his attitude friendly, "Of course, I didn't expect your 'personality fragments' to be so...powerful before. Now I'm deeply impressed."

"Sometimes...patients with schizophrenia are more difficult to deal with. If there are too few, I can't beat them..." Heidi explained subconsciously, but then she reacted, "Wait, how did you know..."

Duncan smiled, raised his hand, and pointed to the amethyst pendant on Heidi's chest, "Strictly speaking, I gave you this pendant..."