Chapter 247 - Infinite Mage

"It will happen in reality." Reina's words prompted Armin to nod his agreement. Amy, who was deep in thought, asked, "What if we fall into Lilpin? For example, if someone is caught in a floating Lilpin or cannot stop speaking in meaningless murmurs?" "If it's not a situation where all of us get trapped at the same time, we can escape. If you start floating, we can pull you down. If it's meaningless chatter, a slap might bring you back." Amy puffed out her cheek as if she'd already been slapped. "What if we can't escape?" Reina asked. "Eventually, a new focus will be found. But it won't be Shirone's focus—it will be ours. In the end, it would be like dreaming a new dream." "A dream within a dream?" "Exactly. That's why Drimo is called a multi-dimensional world. In your own dream, it's all right, but here, this is someone else's world. If you get deeply entrapped, you may never wake up." Everyone tensed at Armin's explanation. "Don't worry. As long as Shirone heads toward the next exit and we follow him, there shouldn't be any issues." Shirone took a deep breath and grasped the doorknob. "Then... I'll open the door." Upon Armin's cue, the door slowly opened. A faint melody gradually strengthened until the regal performance of a royal court musician stirred their hearts. Amy squinted, recognizing the familiar scene. "This place...?" Countless couples were dancing in the Grand Hall. It was the ballroom of Khazra Castle, where they had been just hours earlier. Realizing he missed something, Armin hastily explained, "The REM realm is a space that shifts fluidly, like a stage for multiple plays. If the background is the Grand Hall, the exit should be nearby." "There's the exit." Shirone pointed across the ballroom. Amy understood the reason. It was the door she and Zion had exited through after leaving the Grand Hall. Shirone must have gone through that door seeking her, leading to this mishap. 'Because of me.' Amy smiled bitterly. If she hadn't followed Zion or had turned down his request, would Shirone be in a different situation now? 'Oh well, I'm pretty deserving of a bit of resentment.' "Stay focused, Amy." Amy hurriedly regained her composure and maintained her sharp focus with another deep breath. "Yes, I'm ready." "Then let's move. Shirone, straight ahead without getting too close." Shirone moved cautiously. He paused when couples crossed his path, to avoid inadvertently slipping into a Lilpin. Amy and Reina fixed their gaze on the back of Shirone's head, while Armin strode along, scanning the surroundings. With a lucid dream certificate for performing a certain mission, he was at ease. 'What exactly happened here?' Considering that real Shirone was on the brink of a horrific death, the situation in the REM realm was likely a nightmare. That bred tension. At any moment, the entire ballroom could morph into monsters, or people could suddenly become driven to madness and violence. Yet, even halfway through the ballroom, nothing out of the ordinary occurred. With their path behind them already lacking focus, it seemed unlikely any incidents would erupt from there. 'This is strange. What nightmare does this reflect?' Spotting something, Armin's eyes glimmered. 'Aha, so that's what it is.' At the center of the ballroom were a man and woman dancing. The woman, wearing a stunning dress as red as a rose, accompanied a man with an unusual appearance. The man's eyes were slanting completely upward, and his upturned nose was paired with lips smaller than a chicken's vent—an impossibly bizarre human visage in reality. 'He must have been greatly hated.' To a third party, such a sight might have seemed inconsequential, but to Shirone, it was surely a nightmare. Armin directed his gaze away, noticing someone serving near the long table. In stark contrast to the royal setting, this figure wore the attire of a nomadic plains tribe. With a red hat and a magnificently grown beard, they puffed a pipe boldly in a non-smoking area. The lone non-projection being, dispatched from Drimo, was the dream-being, Louvre. Louvre caught Armin's eye and winked, but Armin merely glanced back indifferently and turned away. There was no point in exchanging greetings out of curiosity alone. Dream-beings eluded human intellect, acknowledged only because they truly exist. As Shirone reached the exit, the music faded as the preceding vision concluded. Would the Grand Hall still host the ball? Curiosity arose but none dared look back. Master of Consciousness (4) "We've arrived. Open this door, and we should descend." "Indeed. This is where we enter Shirone's unconsciousness." Understanding Armin's words, Amy took a deep breath. Beyond this door lay Shirone's true feelings. Judging by his current state, there were no vile desires festering. Nonetheless, equivalent aspirations might be present. 'It's fine. I'm not without blemishes, either. Everyone harbors such feelings.' Shirone hesitated to open the door. A visible conflict arose over descending to the lower level. Eventually, releasing the doorknob, he turned to Amy with a troubled expression. "You don't have to come in..." Suddenly, Shirone's head snapped back, eyes rolling upward. He convulsed as if in a seizure, then collapsed. "Shirone!" Amy hurriedly cradled him, checking his condition. His face was pale, and his chest heaved painfully, as if his breath might cease at any moment. "What happened? What's going on?" With a rumble, the ceiling of the Grand Hall began to collapse. As boulders larger than a person fell, Armin flung open the door and shouted, "There's no time! The unconscious is collapsing!" *** Khazra Castle's food storage. Zenogger's sharp edge finally pierced Shirone's vein. Thousands of blood droplets burst from the wound, spreading slowly as if time itself had decelerated. The repercussions in reality immediately impacted his psyche. With rainfall reaching Level 11, half of the city submerged. Projections drifted atop the torrents, emitting cries verging on screams. Among the crowd flowing to lower ground, the fear manifestation of Egoist, Naid's projection, was mixed. "Kiyaaahhh!" Desperately thrashing their limbs, Egoist tried to escape. But the rapidly rising water overcame them, submerging them beneath the surface with a desperate wail. Secrets of the Abyss (1) Shirone’s mental stage 5. With a creak of old hinges, the door opened. The aura of caution seeped in even before any person stepped forward. After some time, a flustered Arius and a fully armored Zion crossed the threshold. "This is... Shirone’s unconscious?" Zion, faced with an unexpected sight, was bewildered. The fifth stage they arrived at was an endless library with bookshelves stretching beyond the eye's reach. The Spine of Knowledge. Arius quickly discerned that the historical records were organized chronologically on the shelves. ‘This is... beyond incredible, to the point of losing all human touch.’ Having delved into the minds of much greater high-ranking magicians than Shirone, even they had chaotic and disorganized subconscious realms. That was only natural. Having a standardized unconscious for humans would indeed be strange. Zion asked in a disappointed tone, "What is all this? You said we could see everything about Shirone openly?" "It's the Spine of Knowledge." "The Spine of Knowledge?" "A chronological array of history. Creating such a structure is difficult, and even attempting it rarely succeeds. It seems to reflect Shirone’s unique development." Zion scoffed. Shirone grew up as a hunter's child, the lowest of the low. No matter how much he excelled, he couldn't surpass Zion, who received the best imperial education from birth. "Indeed, it's a brute-force approach. Basically, you're saying he stuffed everything in without understanding, relying on rote memorization." "Is that so?" Arius smiled, amused. It was indeed remarkable. Not because a Spine of Knowledge existed, but because it resided in the deeper fifth stage of Shirone’s mind, even below the REM realm. "Pure memorization alone wouldn't allow forming a structure in the unconscious. He understands it all. Thus, the effect is remarkable, allowing any studied knowledge to be organized seamlessly. Unlike mindless information input, it's incredibly efficient." Zion's expression soured. Though his face was obscured by his golden mask's helmet, Arius sensed a murderous aura emanating from him. "So, that’s it…" Zion was vexed. Since childhood, he had mastered everything deemed valuable. No other child could have received better education than a son of Empress Theraze. But his confidence cracked continuously since Shirone appeared on the scene. How could the child of a commoner be better than the emperor's son? Zion's breathing grew more erratic. He glanced at the packed books in the library. In reality, Shirone couldn't have read thousands of books. Instead, his understood and mastered knowledge had been perfectly categorized, giving the illusion of abundance. "Little bastard!" Zion drew blades from his gauntlet and savagely slashed at the bookshelves. Pages fluttered like goose feathers, and the shelves were sliced cleanly like cheese. Moving to the next section, he wielded dual blades, demolishing Shirone's knowledge structure. "How about this? Huh? I'll mess up everything in your head!" Zion’s voice quivered with exhilaration. "Haha! This is fun, isn’t it? It should've been this easy from the start! More, more destruction!" Arius spoke coldly. "Stop it." Though Zion was not typically one to heed others, this time, he paused. Turning slowly, he saw Arius' steely gaze. It was a lethal glare befitting one hailed among the Magician's Seven. "What? Did you just speak to me?" Though his stomach churned, Zion shot back defiantly. He was Arius’ employer, and employees mustn't defy their employers. Even here in Arius' domain, the mental world, the power of money was pervasive throughout the universe. So long as humans inhabited it. Arius smothered his murderous intent. 'Damn brat...' He had almost genuinely considered killing Zion. What Shirone had constructed, the Spine of Knowledge, was an admirable sight to Arius. Although notorious as one of the Black Line's Magician's Seven, he wasn't inferior to any scholar in intellect. He understood Shirone’s motivation behind constructing this structure like nobody else. Even adversaries could feel a kindred spirit. Had they met under different circumstances, he would have genuinely cared for Shirone. Though, considering Shirone’s personality thus far, he doubted the likelihood of his joining the Black Line. Suppressing his anger, Arius returned to his usual demeanor. Regardless of emotions, he was a professional. Rebelling against an employer wasn't something his principles allowed. "From here, it’s the realm of the unconscious. Reckless interference could cause a malfunction in Ataraxia. So let's cease the destruction and head down." Ataraxia should remain unharmed. The fifth stage is merely the result of the fourth stage. Altering the result wouldn’t change the cause. However, Arius had no desire to see the Spine of Knowledge destroyed, even through Zion's folly. Not out of any fondness for Shirone. But because this place truly satisfied his intellectual sensibilities. The mention of Ataraxia made Zion halt his rampage. He had invested a staggering 4 billion gold to obtain it, so any damage would result in a tremendous loss. "Fine. He's going to die anyway, so I'll leave it at that." Arius smiled, his eyes displaying satisfaction. "Shall we descend now?" While Zion's foolish actions had riled him to the point of boiling rage, there was an unexpected boon. Despite the damage to the Spine of Knowledge, the projection Egoist had yet to appear. Below the REM realm, where there are no projections, Egoist could manifest at any moment to expel intruders. It's one reason even divers with lucid dreaming licenses are reluctant to descend into the deeper realms. 'Egoist isn't manifesting. The time for collapse should be near.' This, indeed, was Arius's intent all along. Even if mental processes are rapid, descending to the fifth stage would mean a considerable amount of time had passed in reality. Shirone likely faced severe, life-threatening injuries. 'Is it possible that I will finally witness Ataraxia?' Arius's eyes gleamed more fiercely than ever before. *** Armin burst through the door, entering the fifth level, followed by Shirone, gasping for breath with Amy supporting him. Having barely escaped the collapse of the REM realm, Shirone could no longer walk and sank to the floor. His pallor was beyond pale, nearly translucent. "Shirone! Are you okay? Try to hold on!" Amy gently cupped Shirone's cheeks, her voice filled with concern. But Shirone roughly pushed her away, responding with a cold tone. "Move aside." Amy stepped back with a sorrowful expression. Even in the dire emergency of a collapsing mental realm, the ice encasing Shirone's heart showed no signs of thawing. His eyes glared upward at Amy, lips twitching as if trying to convey something essential with his end looming. However, as she turned, his mouth closed tight again. With her heart pounding, Amy scanned their surroundings anxiously.