The moment the dream began to warp, everyone's attention was seized—everyone except Bledsoe and Li Yue, for whom nothing mattered but resolving the trouble right in front of them.
Li Yue hurled her blood sword into the Death Abyss. In an instant, boundless blood-light erupted from the abyss, and a violent, scarlet power swept across the sea. The savage strike cleaved the water, tearing through the flames Bledsoe took such pride in and slashing straight toward his ship.
The sheer force of the blow was enough to move everyone. Even the dream itself began to shift violently. Mists from the sea swirled around Bledsoe's ship; the strike forced its way through the fog, and though much of its power was sapled, it still left a deep gash in the hull of the ghost ship, even causing the wood to cave in.
Bound to his vessel, Bledsoe instantly spat out a mouthful of blood. While the injury didn't seem fatal, it was certainly a severe internal wound. Li Yue summoned her blood sword back. Within the mist covering the sea, countless black phantoms lay in wait, their silhouettes triggering fragments of memory to flash before her eyes.
Those figures... are they me?
Before she could make sense of it, a golden spear was hurled from the mist. Li Yue leaned aside to dodge. She thought she had cleared it, but in the next heartbeat, the golden wooden spear pierced her heart with unerring precision.
What a... familiar feeling...
The aura of death in her eyes deepened as the splitting headache intensified. She stared at the thick mists on the sea as various magics began to rain down upon her. Even then, she maintained her composure. She tried to pull the spear out, but finding it stuck, she simply gave it a heavy shove, letting the shaft pass entirely through her body.
The black blood crystals formed by the Death Abyss blocked the incoming spells—pure, ancient magics that had never evolved, the kind that only existed in legends.
She then picked up the spear and snapped it over her thigh. The golden wooden spear slowly crumbled into golden dust in her hands. While the Death Abyss could still hold out, she thought of Bledsoe, who was trying to use the dream to escape. For some reason, she felt a surge of humiliated rage. She swung her sword once more with savage force; though it wouldn't kill him, it would ensure he couldn't recover anytime soon.
“Let’s go...” The Death Abyss enveloped the ship, carrying them to another edge of the sea. She marked a location on the map, and the aura of death around her vanished instantly, as if she had tucked it away.
She tossed the map to Sharon. The flashbacks were leaving her exhausted. Her chest felt hollow, and Sharon could see the shocked expressions of the sailors standing behind her.
“Are you... alright...?” Sharon swallowed hard, glancing from the map to the sky above the waters they had just left. That entire region was now pitch black, and the darkness was slowly spreading toward them. Though it was a terrifying sight, the rate of expansion was remarkably slow.
“Just a minor wound... I’ll be fine after a bit of rest. It was only a pierced heart. That spear was a simulation created by the dream; otherwise, it might have actually been life-threatening.” Li Yue’s tone was calm. As she spoke, the flesh inside her chest was already writhing, regenerating itself.
She let out a yawn and walked slowly back to her cabin. A wave of weakness washed over her. The shattered memories made her magic fluctuate, making it difficult to concentrate and slowing her recovery.
Furthermore, that spear... it actually possessed the attributes of a divine artifact, dealing a significant amount of damage to her.
She lay down on the bed, her head tilting to one side as she drifted into a dream.
In the dream, she was colossal. She could feel her body covering the majority of the world's surface. Although most of that surface was underwater, she felt she could return to the land at any moment.
She felt an unprecedented sense of freedom, yet a fierce hatred and rage burned within her chest. She looked around; mountains were collapsing, and magma was erupting from the depths of the earth.
She saw the primordial god governing "Destruction" move from the roots of the tree to its topmost branches. His flames seemed capable of extinguishing everything in existence. Though he did not yet possess his full power and his authority had not even begun to take shape, he was still formidable.
Truly... powerful... as expected of one of the primordial authorities...
She watched from afar, knowing that these gods would not die... unless... A girl stood atop the head of the giant snake, her long hair fluttering wildly in the air. Her gold vertical pupils were locked onto those high and mighty gods at the top of the tree.
Have they ever imagined themselves covered in blood...? Likely not. They have been perched on high for too long. A group of hypocrites, yet they made the world fear her, the one who governed death.
They have caused no small amount of chaos themselves... Selfish gods... my colleagues... Die.
She pulled a blood crystal from her chest, and a longsword appeared in her hand. In the distance, the bodies of the gods were destroyed by fire, only to regenerate instantly.
You don't have an authority yet? That’s fine. I do...
She leaped high into the air, heading straight for the sacred halls. Behind her, the silhouette of the giant snake swallowed the figure on the throne in a single gulp.
Your fated time to die has arrived... King of the gods, in this moment, even a blade of grass could kill you. It doesn't matter who kills you; all that matters is that you are dead... As for the future, I do not know. Perhaps you will simply be devoured by me.
Magic fell from the heavens like meteors. Stars crashed into the earth, and the world began to break apart. Magma erupted from the mantle, and the divine halls in the astral realm shattered one after another.
She pulled her longsword from a body, a mocking smile on her blood-stained face. So what if I am trapped in a dream? My sword can grant you death. Everyone dies. Every god here will be granted the concept of death... Let us die together... Let the curtain fall on our era and complete my great revenge...
The pain that isolates the mortal world... no living being will ever have to endure it again... Just like this... sever the connection with the astral realm... let it all end...
Her broken body fell from the burning, shattered sky, plunging into the mortal ocean along with that massive dream. This world could not contain her, and she knew it... any place of eternal rest must remain unknown.
The dream came to an abrupt halt. Li Yue snapped awake, clutching her head as a soul-piercing pain tore through her. Meanwhile, out on the deck, the bewildered crew was screaming in shock.
The tomb of that god was now right before them, rising slowly from the depths of the sea...
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