Chapter 131 “Breaking free from the dream”
This Translation is hosted on bcatranslation.com
Duncan looked at the anxious hound, wearing a warm, friendly smile on his face. He sensed that a misunderstanding had occurred between him and the creature. Resolving this would be crucial, and he intended to do it promptly.
However, just as he was about to initiate a conversation, Duncan noticed something startling: a glint of red light flickering in Dog’s eyes, resembling blood. Although Dog’s skull-like appearance revealed no discernible emotions, Duncan sensed an undercurrent of fierce turbulence emanating from the shadowy creature.
In the very next moment, the hound spoke, stuttering as it said, “You… You’re the ‘Mr. Duncan’ we’ve been interacting with for the past two days?”
Duncan was taken aback, puzzled because he hadn’t formally introduced himself. He glanced at Shirley and then at the chain that seemed to link him with the hound. Nobody had spoken, so the only logical explanation was that some sort of information-sharing ability existed between them.
“Yes, that’s me,” Duncan replied gently, eager to mend the misunderstanding. “Is there something you’d like to clarify? Or perhaps something you wish to know?”
“No!” Dog almost shrieked, its body visibly trembling. “We have no desire to uncover any ‘knowledge’ or ‘truth.’ We aren’t interested in prying into your secrets!”
Sighing, Duncan shook his head in a disheartened manner. “I still believe there’s a misunderstanding between us, but resolving it is proving to be increasingly difficult. Let’s let time foster trust between us. For now, though, there’s something I’d like to inquire about.”
The hound lowered its head in acquiescence, “You… please proceed.”
Duncan’s brow furrowed. He was deeply curious as to why his main self, known and often feared in the real world, held such sway among creatures like this dark hound. In his understanding, the deep sea—an environment he thought was closely linked to subspace—shouldn’t instill such fear among shadow demons like this one, often referred to as the mobile natural disasters of the sea.
Yet, it seemed that even these demons, who themselves pose a formidable threat to humans, are equally scared of him, just as humans are. This realization left Duncan perplexed.
Before solving this complex puzzle, however, Duncan knew he had to first address the more immediate issue—this nightmarish realm within Shirley’s dream world.
“I want to know about this dream,” Duncan said softly, turning his attention to Shirley. “I understand this memory is painful for you. If you’d rather not discuss it, feel free to decline.”
Shirley shook her head, offering a subtle but clear response, “There’s nothing I wish to withhold. In fact, I should thank you. Had you not intervened in this nightmare, I would have continued to suffer. What you see here is a recounting of the horrors I experienced eleven years ago.”
“Fire, you say…” Duncan nodded thoughtfully. His eyes then shifted back to the creature known as Dog. “What I witnessed earlier was your initial ‘encounter’ with Shirley, correct?”
Dog visibly recoiled, almost as if trying to sidestep an invisible obstacle. “I was merely an ordinary shadow demon back then,” he admitted.
Intrigued, Duncan pressed on, “So how did you go from being a common shadow demon to having what appears to be a ‘heart’ or consciousness? From what I observed, you almost took Shirley’s life.”
Dog paused, as though contemplating his next words. Finally, he shook his grotesque, skull-like head. “I honestly don’t know. The first thing I remember after gaining self-awareness is seeing Shirley lying nearly lifeless on the ground.”
Taking a deep breath, Duncan looked intently at Dog. His eyes then trailed to the chain that seemed to meld the hound to Shirley, literally linking them together. “And after that incident, you both became inseparably linked?”
“In a way,” Shirley spoke softly, her head lowered, her face obscured by her long hair. “To be honest, my memory of that period is hazy. I was only six years old, and much of my subsequent years were spent simply struggling to survive day by day. If you’re that curious about how I ended up sharing a bond with a shadow demon who almost killed me, perhaps hypnosis could unearth those buried memories.”
Before Shirley could finish, her words were cut off as she felt a large, warm hand gently rest atop her head.
“You don’t have to go through that,” Duncan interjected, his hand soothingly caressing her head as he sensed the discomfort his questions had caused. “I didn’t mean to pry into painful memories. I was merely trying to understand the circumstances surrounding events eleven years ago. You see, it wasn’t just the sun fragment that appeared; there were also numerous cultists, particularly from the Annihilation Sect, who unleashed dark hounds on the city.”
Shirley looked up, momentarily disoriented, but soon snapped back to focus as Duncan continued his line of thought. “Consider this: the evolution of a deep sea demonic creature into a self-aware entity is highly unusual, an aberration of sorts. Have you ever pondered that this sudden transformation might be connected to some specific trigger from back then?”
Confused, Shirley blinked a couple of times before hesitantly asking, “You mean the sun fragment could be responsible?”
Duncan shook his head decisively. “I doubt it. No one truly knows the capabilities or nature of the sun fragments. However, according to Suntist doctrine, they don’t grant sentience to inanimate objects or beings. That suggests the catalyst for Dog’s transformation might be something else entirely—something unrelated to the sun fragment.”
Shirley’s eyes widened in realization, her thoughts finally untangling from their confused knot. “You’re suggesting that there might have been additional anomalies, beyond just the sun fragment, that appeared in Pland eleven years ago?”
“It’s just a hypothesis, nothing more,” Duncan said, patting Shirley gently on the shoulder before pulling his hand away. “But there’s always been something unsettling about the narrative surrounding that incident eleven years ago. There’s an inherent contradiction that’s hard to ignore. According to the fanatical descriptions of the Suntists, the sun fragment is a holy relic with specific, well-defined powers. However, the chaos that broke out eleven years ago doesn’t neatly fit within that framework. The government documents even indicate that cultists from groups like the Annihilators and Enders were captured. Why would they be involved if this was solely a Suntist affair?”
Duncan paused for a moment, then continued, “Sure, one could argue that the sun fragment’s power is so overwhelming that even those who don’t believe in the sun god could be affected, plunging them into madness. But that explanation falls apart when you consider anomalies like Dog.”
He leaned in a bit closer, his voice tinged with urgency. “Taking this a step further, there are numerous other inconsistencies we’ve glossed over—like the mysterious ‘fire,’ and how the memory of it is retained only by you, Nina, and a select few. Why do only certain individuals remember the odd happenings in the sixth block? We’ve been attributing everything to the sun fragment, but is it really that all-encompassing? Can it really account for all these disparities?”
Duncan was visibly pensive as if wrestling with questions that had been lingering in his mind even before today’s revelations. Witnessing Dog’s transformation from eleven years ago had only reinforced his suspicions. Yes, the sun fragment might have sparked the fire back then, but there was undeniably something else—another variable—that influenced the course of events.
Caught in her thoughts, Shirley found it hard to fully grasp Duncan’s complex reasoning. Deep thinking wasn’t her strong suit. As she stood there, somewhat bewildered, Dog’s voice echoed in her mind with urgent rapidity: “Shirley, are you alright? Did he place some kind of curse on you when he touched your head? Are you still in your right mind?”
“I’m fine, Dog,” Shirley reassured, her tone tinged with mild irritation. “You’re overreacting.”
“Overreacting? You were in direct contact with a being who could potentially drive anyone to madness!” Dog’s mental voice escalated into a pitch of anxiety. “How do you feel?”
Shirley paused to consider the question, her hand absently drifting to the top of her head. The last time someone had caressed her hair in that gentle manner, she had been a little girl, and it had been her mother tucking her in for the night.
“It feels warm,” she said, her voice tinged with a hint of wonder.
Dog was flabbergasted. “Shirley, I think something’s seriously wrong with your cognitive faculties right now.”
Annoyed, Shirley snapped back, “Just be quiet!”
Duncan wasn’t privy to the internal communication between Dog and Shirley, but his mind was focused on another point of interest. His gaze shifted to the window, tinted with a haunting reddish hue, and he posed a question: “What exists beyond that window?”
Caught off guard, Shirley could only stammer, “Huh?”
Duncan clarified, lifting his arm to point towards the mysterious window: “Outside this room, what do you see? What’s out there?”
Shirley hesitated, blinking as if waking from a deep sleep. “I…I don’t know,” she finally admitted, a realization dawning upon her. “I’ve never actually thought about it. Every time I find myself in this dream, I’m confined to this very room, trapped in the nightmare that takes place here.”
Duncan moved toward the door, his hand hovering over the handle. He turned back to look at her, his eyes meeting hers. “But you’re not confined anymore,” he said, his voice carrying a note of enticing promise. “Don’t you want to explore what lies at the boundaries of your own dream world? To see what’s beyond this room that has held you captive for so long?”
His question hung in the air like an invitation, offering her the chance to explore a realm she had never thought to venture into—a realm that, until now, she had not realized she was free to discover.
Thanks for the chapter!~
so a power that hides within peoples dreams?
I want more scenes of him destroying op enemies without knowing like the fish