Bloed looked at the strange creature that crawled out of the ground with a stunned expression.
"What in the hell is that?"
"[Nightmares]," Elwha replied calmly. "Traumas. Manifestations of the darkness inside one's mind. Most of the time they are not too dangerous. But they can be very troublesome."
At the same time she spoke, a bow materialized in her hand. She then pulled back the bow, releasing an arrow that pierced the nightmare's heart.
But to Bloed's surprise, the nightmare did not die. Instead, it roared angrily and charged towards them!
When Elwha saw that, she frowned and pulled her bowstring back, releasing arrow after arrow that turned the nightmare into a sieve.
Finally, when the fifth arrow hit it, the ugly monster collapsed on the ground before dispersing in the air.
"Sigh, how troublesome." Elwha sighed tiredly.
Bloed, on the other hand, was looking at Elwha deep in thought.
Suddenly, he extended his hand.
Instantly, a saber appeared in his hand from nothing.
"So it's how it works, huh." Bloed nodded to himself.
Elwha stared at him with a startled expression. "Impressive... You learned the trick without needing an explanation. Yes, this place is technically an imaginary world, so you can create anything here and use it as your means of attack."
"Anything? Can I then create a sun and destroy everything if I want?"
"That is not like it works." Elwha chuckled amused and shook her head. "In theory, that is possible. But in practice, your subconsciousness finds it hard to imagine things you are not used to. Thus, it's best if you only use the abilities you can use in the real world. Otherwise, you run the risk of your attack being useless, or even worse, injuring yourself."
Bloed thought for a moment and nodded.
"Let's start to search the core then. I don't like this place."
"You are right. This place is very dangerous, so it's better if we get out of here as soon as possible." Elwha nodded. "Follow me. We will go in that direction." She said while pointing to a strange floating path in front of them.
Bloed shrugged and followed after her.
But as soon as they started to walk, they realized this place was much more chaotic than he thought.
Houses, streets, cities, mountains. Everything was mixed up in a strange way that made one dizzy.
In fact, after a while, Bloed became unable to differentiate if he was moving up or down.
Soon, they reached a door.
Bloed and Elwha looked at each other and pushed the door open.
When they went through the door, they appeared in what seemed a corridor inside a castle.
Strangely, there was no sign of the chaos of before here.
"Where is it?" Bloed asked confused.
"The memories of someone." Elwha looked around and said. "Someone that has not woken up yet."
Bloed nodded in understanding. But in the next instant, his expression froze.
In front of him, he saw a beautiful little girl crying while holding the dead body of a woman.
"Mom, mom… P-Please… M-Mom… Wake up…"
Amber eyes, red hair, and a lone horn in her forehead.
"… Liu Ying." Bloed muttered to himself.
At the same time, his expression turned complicated.
He already had an idea what kind of dream this was.
Seeing the little girl crying inconsolably, Bloed could not help but want to walk towards her.
But a hand stopped him.
"No."
Bloed raised an eyebrow towards the elf princess. Elwha sighed and shook her head before looking at the crying demon girl.
"The wave of soul power released by the Heart of the Forest awakens the most imprinted memories inside one's heart. That what you can't forget no matter what. And currently, this girl is lost inside one of these memories. If you try to wake her up, in the worst of the cases, you will cause an irreparable injury in her soul."
Bloed furrowed his brows.
"Is there a way to wake her up?"
Elwha thought for a moment and sighed. "The best way is for her to wake up by herself. However, very few people are able to do that. After all, these memories are the most important memories inside our hearts. In fact, I was surprised when you did it, Mr. Bloed."
"… What if she is unable to wake up then?"
"Then she will be lost in her dream forever."
Bloed's expression turned ugly instantly.
There was no way he was going to allow something like that.
Seeing that, Elwha grabbed his arm. "Calm down. The situation is not so grave. Once we destroy the core, the Heart will be unable to continue providing soul power to this soul world. By that point, the world will disappear by itself and your friend will return to the real world automatically. With a bit of luck, she will be alright by then."
Bloed could only nod after hearing that.
After all, he did not have any better way to help her.
The pair then got ready to leave the dream. But suddenly, the dream started to crumble.
Elwha and Bloed looked at each other in surprise and excitement, thinking Liu Ying was going to wake up.
It would be much easier to destroy the core with three people.
But to their disappointment, a new scene appeared after the dream shattered.
This time, a beautiful girl was fighting in the desert, defeating monster after monster with a body ridden with injuries.
However, the monsters were becoming stronger and stronger each second, and no matter how many she killed, more monster appeared.
Until finally, a giant serpent appeared.
The serpent was so strong that the young girl was unable to face it. In just a few seconds, the girl was sent flying against a rock, spitting out a mouthful of blood after the impact.
Then, the serpent slowly slithered towards her while the girl looked at it with a gaze full of despair.
But at that moment, a flash of light cut through the desert.
The serpent screamed in pain. Blood flowed out of its neck, dying the desert sand in blood.
Enraged, the serpent looked at the young man who just appeared in front of it, protecting the collapsed girl behind him like a knight in the old tales.
The young man smiled. With a wave of his hand, he brandished his saber again, beheading the serpent with a smooth movement.
Afterward, he turned around, smiled, and spoke to the collapsed girl with a magnetic voice.
"Nice to meet you, beautiful girl. I'm here to save you."
Bloed wanted to die when he heard that.
He was sure as hell he did not say such a corny line when he met Liu Ying the first time.
...
P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels