“Is that so? The royal city has already fallen…”
In the Rose Cafe, Vakiris slowly put down the cup in its hand, tilting its head to look out the window—at this moment, the dream was drizzling, and the raindrops on the glass window gathered little by little, slid down, and gradually merged with the reflection of its profile.
The expression in those eyes was particularly complex.
In fact, when Roland notified Vakiris by phone, he noticed its fluctuating emotions. Afterwards, it arrived extraordinarily quickly, so much so that its trouser legs were stained with mud, but after actually meeting, it did not take the initiative to ask, and spent most of the time listening to his narration. This contradictory attitude was rare for a Nightmare.
“Due to limited conditions, we didn’t have time to check the results. However, according to the post-event report, the Facade should have been on the God-Forged God at the time. This means that all obstacles to entering the Bottomless Land have been removed, and we are one step closer to the answer.”
Roland did not say any words of comfort.
This was the price of trying to interrupt the divine will, and the other party paid an even greater price. Comfort would be a cheap pity.
With the Nightmare's arrogant self-esteem, it would never want to hear such words.
“Of course, I don’t know what will happen after going there, but as long as I can break free from this cycle of war, I will definitely keep my promise. Next is the clue to Misty Island, considering that the Tianhai Realm has been active on the island…”
“The clan will not assist you in fighting the Tianhai Realm,” Vakiris interrupted for the first time, “Even without a king, the heads of the various tribes will not accept the new situation so quickly. Haikzod might be able to use my name to stabilize the order of the army, but it’s only barely stable. You have to rely on your own strength to eliminate those alien species that crawl out of the sea.”
Thinking of the distance between Neverwinter and the northern shore of the Dawnlight Realm, Roland couldn’t help but frown. The main force on the floating island was the Sky Knight Legion, but the air force alone could not occupy the ground.
“However, gaining the support of one or two individuals is not impossible.” The other party continued, “For example, the Lord of the Sky and the Disaster of Silence.”
“You mean…”
“The Western Front Army is still under Haikzod's control, which means you can connect the north and south through the Continental Spine. With the help of the Distortion Gate, that’s not too long a journey.” When it said this, the Nightmare's expression had returned to normal, “So you just need to move your troops to the northern border of Eternal Winter as soon as possible, and you should be able to catch up with the floating island’s pace.”
“Teleportation migration… That’s a feasible plan.” There was no doubt that since Vakiris had brought it up, it was obviously planning to talk to Haikzod in person. In this way, the plan was almost certain. Although it was not a joint resistance against the Tianhai Realm, it was an extremely ideal result to be able to achieve this step. “Thank you,” Roland nodded.
“I said, all of this is for the clan, you don’t need to thank me.”
“I know, but the ultimate benefit also includes humans, so whether you need it or not, I will say it.”
“Suit yourself.”
The two looked at each other for a moment, and the cafe became quiet.
“…Is that all you wanted to say?” After a moment, Vakiris asked.
“Actually, I thought of a lot at first, but I don’t think you would want to hear it,” Roland said frankly.
“Hmph,” it wore a “you understand” expression, “In that case, you can go back to work—I think after this battle, you should have a lot of things to deal with, right?”
“Indeed.” Talking to smart people was always particularly easy. Roland looked at the clock on the wall. It had been exactly three hours and twenty minutes from entering the dream to now. According to the time difference between the two worlds, the celebration should not have ended yet. “Then I’ll go first… huh?”
He suddenly noticed that there seemed to be some commotion in the alley of the residential area.
Despite the drizzle, people walked out of the shops and gathered on the street; those holding umbrellas also put their umbrellas aside and instead took out their mobile phones from their pockets—their eyes were all looking at the sky, as if they had seen something incredible.
“What are they doing?” Vakiris also noticed this.
“I don’t know, I’ll go out and take a look.” Roland said, getting up and walking out of the cafe, but he was quickly stunned at the door—he saw a thin red line rising straight into the sky in the distance, and then connecting to countless hexagons in the air, forming a "giant umbrella" covering the entire dome!
“What is this? A new laser light show?”
“But its range is a bit too big!”
“I don’t know where that light came from, the city center is not in that direction.”
“Should we go to the street and take a look?”
Everywhere were the voices of people talking about it. The suggestion to take a closer look was quickly responded to by everyone. The crowd began to move out of the residential area, and then more curious people joined in, making the alley temporarily crowded.
“That’s not light,” Vakiris said in a deep voice.
“I think so too.” Roland frowned—although the rain clouds overhead were dense, it was still daytime, and no light could be so conspicuous. Moreover, the thin red line flickered, and something seemed to be flowing inside, just like blood vessels.
And what made him feel the most ominous was the honeycomb-shaped hexagonal "scales." He had also seen a similar scene when the Apostle attacked Jerol, but the barrier at that time was like a mirror, not as transparent as it was now.
Roland first dialed Garcia's phone, and the answer was that the Association Sanatorium had not been attacked, and Jerol was safe and sound, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.
Just as he hung up the phone, his phone vibrated again.
The caller was Fei Yuhan.
“Hello, where are you now? The Association has issued an emergency notice requiring all formal Martial Artists to return to their bases to assemble immediately.”
“What happened?”
“Yunxiao City has suddenly cut off all contact with the outside world. The specific situation is still under further investigation, but… did you see the red light in the sky? It was launched from above Yunxiao City.”
Roland was stunned for a moment. Yunxiao City was hundreds of thousands of miles away from here, how could it be directly visible to the naked eye? This completely exceeded the limits of curvature!
He couldn’t help but think of the red moon that looked exactly the same from any angle.
“…I understand.”
“By the way, is Vakiris also nearby? Call it together.”
Wait… how would it know that the Nightmare was with him? But before Roland could speak, the other party had already ended the call.
“Was that the Association?” Vakiris asked.
“Yes, this phenomenon is probably related to the Apostles.” Roland held his breath, intending to leave the dream first—this matter did not seem like something that could be resolved in a short period of time. It would not be too late to deal with it after the banquet. Moreover, there was an army of witches outside that could provide support at any time, unlike now, when only Ling and Thorne were guarding the cafe.
However, the familiar feeling of dizziness did not appear.
He blinked in surprise and tried again, but the surrounding scenery remained unchanged, as if another world did not exist at all.