Secret: The undead do not die in the fire

Chapter 425 A grain of sand in the times

"Symbol?"

Audrey stepped back a few steps, leaving the stage to Hermes and Eri Hogg, vaguely guessing something.

The giant rabbit looked at the two people's reactions and was obviously disappointed. He said calmly:

"I've been having the same dream for a month. Don't you realize it yet?"

Audrey understood, but asked with a puzzled look on her face:
"Realized what?"

Hermes said leisurely:

"A new era has arrived. You and I are remnants of the old era. We must find a ship that can transition to the new era."

“Of course, this is not difficult for us.”

"But if you want to find a ship with a 'symbol', it's not an easy task."

"And you, my friend."

The giant rabbit cast its gaze towards Erihog on top of the stone pillar, with a slight smile on its face:
"You are the symbol yourself!"

Erehog, whose scales were huge and gray, did not answer. He had not spoken a word since Hermes entered the room.

At this moment, facing Hermes's undisguised hostility, Erihog spread his membrane-covered wings with a rustling sound, and the surrounding area was instantly shrouded in a shadow.

All three of them knew exactly what Hermes was talking about, and even Paulie Dellaud could guess it.

The new era is about to replace the old era. Now is the cusp of the two eras. Everyone must seek change during this period, and angels are no exception. They can either still live in the old era and hinder the advent of the new era, or transition to the new era in advance.

The pros and cons of these two options are the same. The advantage is that everyone prospers together, and the disadvantage is that everyone suffers together.

It was obvious that Hermes had chosen the new era, and was unwilling to be just an ordinary angel in the new era. He hoped to go one step further, even if he could not become Sequence 1 or Sequence 0, but at least he wanted to obtain some symbols.

And hunting Erihogg, the psychic dragon, is the best choice!

The reason is also very simple.

As one of the only three ancient dragons left, Erehog was the overlord of the Second Age and the angel of the dragon clan in the old times. But in the new era of the "First Fire Coming", Erehog has also gained huge benefits invisibly - he is still an ancient dragon, but not just a dragon clan of the Second Age. Because of his identity as an "ancient dragon", he has been connected with the immortal ancient dragons of the "Zeroth Age" in the dark!
When the new era comes, Erehog can even rely on his status as an ancient dragon to become an 'immortal ancient dragon'! Even if he cannot reach this level, he is at least the descendant of an immortal ancient dragon and can inherit a trace of the 'immortal' characteristics.

This is His 'symbol'!
Even if he does nothing, Erihog can obtain the corresponding symbol, which is the gift of the new era!

But apart from these three ancient dragons, almost no one can directly obtain the corresponding symbol from the new era, because they have no corresponding relationship with the legends in the 'new era'. Unless they directly gain the favor of the First Fire, there is almost no chance of 'obtaining' the symbol.

But Hermes was obviously not satisfied with this, so he chose to find another way.

Since He cannot obtain the symbol, He will hunt other beings that possess symbols and seize their symbols.

That's why He targeted Erehog and secretly connected his dream to the labyrinth. But Erehog was an angel after all, how could he be so easily tricked by Hermes?
Hermes is of course aware of this, so He uses the Garden of Eden - this spiritual city is the masterpiece of the 'Visionary', and it itself has a close connection with every extraordinary person in the 'audience' path, even the ancient dragon is no exception.

Therefore, as long as the maze and the Garden of Eden can be linked together, Erehog's dream can be accurately found invisibly, and his dream can be forcibly integrated into the maze.

This way, Hermes can easily find Erehog and carry out His hunting.

As for Audrey and Paulie Dellaure, they were just innocent bystanders who were implicated.

Because they were already in the Garden of Eden, and Hermes' plan happened to be unfolding at this time, so they would naturally be involved. Of course, this was also their own choice.

After all, if they had not rashly entered the maze but stayed in the Garden of Eden, they would not have been involved in this symbolic battle.

Hermes did not rush to take action, but instead looked at Audrey and asked in a friendly manner:

"do you mind?"

"No, not at all."

Audrey took another step back and smiled to show that she didn't want to get involved.

She had no need to seize the symbol of Erehog, nor any reason to help Hermes. After all, Hermes was a member of the Order of the Dusk Hermits, and in a sense, he should be considered an angel of Adam.

But because of this, Audrey was a little confused.

After all, Adam can be regarded as a remnant of the hardliners of the old era. The gods headed by him resisted the arrival of the new era, or at least resisted the new era that was not led by them. In this case, Hermes actually took the initiative to join the new era and even wanted to snatch the "symbol" of Erehog. Isn't this equivalent to betraying Adam?

Is it that Adam doesn't care about such a small matter at all, or is it that Hermes and Adam are not of the same mind?

Audrey couldn't know the answer, nor could she analyze anything from Hermes' attitude.

As angels of the "audience" path, each of them is a natural actor, and everything they show is performed, which is what they want others to see. Therefore, if you judge their position only from the surface emotions, you will only get the wrong answer.

Moreover, Audrey was not sure whether Hermes's 'surrender' was true, which might also be part of Adam's plan.

So she would neither intervene in their fight nor leave, she would observe them, and this is what the 'audience' approach is best at.

Hermes kicked his feet and suddenly became extremely huge, like a hill.

At the same time, the dark sky above him suddenly brightened, and beneath his feet, the ground cracked open one crack after another, gushing out red magma. Then, a blurry and distorted figure appeared behind him.

The figure was wearing a simple white robe, his features were difficult to see clearly, and his age could not be determined. One could only vaguely tell that he was a male.

Behind his head, there was a halo emitting brilliant light, like a miniature sun; under his feet, there was an illusory clock divided into twelve grids, and each grid had a symbol representing a different time; behind him, there was a shadow like a curtain, and within the shadow, there seemed to be an eye silently peeking out.

As soon as the outline of the figure appeared, the entire dream maze shook violently, and gray fragments continued to fall from the void.

The two completely opposite feelings of filth and corruption and pure sunshine spread rapidly around the giant white rabbit, eroding or assimilating the area.

However, the figure in the simple white robe always had difficulty taking shape, unable to step from history and fantasy into reality. Whenever his outline was about to become clear, the figure would distort, like a machine whose signal had been interfered with.

"Ancient Sun God!"

Audrey recognized the true identity of that being almost instantly!

This person is the one who truly ended the Second Age and hunted down most of the ancient gods of the Second Age. His strength is almost equal to that of the Old Ones!
Therefore, even if it is just a woven illusion, it contains horror that ordinary people cannot bear.

Of course, this woven phantom cannot truly exert its own strength, not even one ten-thousandth of it, it only exists in symbolic significance.

Because only when Hermes' enemies believe that this illusion is real can He become 'real', otherwise it will always be an illusion. But wanting to deceive Erihog, who is on the same path and in the same sequence, is obviously a fool's dream.

Therefore, when Hermes created this illusion, he did not expect Erehog to regard it as real. He only used the illusion of the "ancient sun god" to intimidate people.

Yes, intimidation, that's what Hermes is for!
As an angel of the dragon clan in the Second Age, Erihog must have experienced the glory and decline of the dragon clan, and even the fall of Angerwede, the 'Dragon of Imagination'.

Therefore, the ancient sun god is undoubtedly the most terrifying psychological shadow in Erihog's dragon life.

Just an illusion can make him feel fear. This is what Hermes wants. He can take advantage of the flaws in Erehog's heart to expand his advantage step by step and gradually defeat him!

This is also the most common way of fighting in the high sequence of the 'audience' path. Although it is simple and direct, it is effective enough.

Of course, this is the most ideal situation.

However, in actual combat at a high level of the 'audience' path, if both sides are at the same level, it is difficult for all means to produce real results:
One can sneak into the island of consciousness and conduct deep hypnosis, one can guard the door of the mind body and prevent any external consciousness from entering, one can spread mental plague and use the sea of collective subconsciousness to erode the enemy unconsciously, and one can comfort oneself, treat psychological diseases, and maintain mental health...

At the level of Sequence 4 and Sequence 3, Saints of the Spectator Path can also rely on Beyonder Abilities to engage in various intrigues and battles:

Either set up traps in advance, then induce the enemy secretly, work step by step, and defeat the opponent's mental defenses in one fell swoop to complete the hypnosis; or focus on defense and assistance, relying on powerful seals to defeat the enemy; or directly "transform into a dragon" and start a double game both physically and mentally.

In these three types of battles, it all comes down to who has conducted more in-depth research in the spiritual realm and who has a stronger and more resolute will. This will give them a better chance of accumulating advantages step by step in the long-term battle.

But at the angelic level, it is a different picture.

Because everyone is a true mythical creature, the length of time of 'Dragonization' is meaningless, and the use of 'Extraordinary Abilities' is also almost the same. No one can gain an advantage through Extraordinary Abilities, nor will they be easily defeated by the opponent's Extraordinary Abilities.

At this time, the main reliance is on "insight".

Whoever can better find the opponent's mental loopholes can weave a corresponding nightmare, directly attack the enemy's mental weaknesses, and destroy the mental defenses step by step, achieving the effect of "scaring the enemy crazy" or "scaring the enemy to death".

This is also why the name of the potion in Sequence 2 of the 'Spectator' pathway is 'Insighter'.

The word "insight" is enough to explain the fighting style of the "audience" path sequence 2 angel.

Of course, if one can be promoted to Sequence 1, then the writer's extraordinary ability to weave reality is actually a kind of 'insight'.

It's just that it no longer directly acts on the enemy's mental loopholes, but uses the method of weaving reality to put the enemy into a desperate situation step by step.

On the other hand, although Hermes only targeted Erehog, the 'Ancient Sun God' woven by Hermes not only affected Erehog, but also affected and polluted all the creatures around him, whether it was Paulie Dellau or Audrey.

But fortunately, Audrey had enough ability to resist the effects of this pollution, so she dared to stay here and watch the battle.

In contrast, Paulie Dellau, who was only at Sequence 3, was already curled up on the ground, roaring in pain.

Although he had not completely lost his mind, his spirit had inevitably been polluted, and even if he underwent self-treatment afterwards, he was unable to completely eliminate this pollution.

Of course, the premise is that he can get out of here alive.

But this is obviously impossible.

Neither Hermes nor Erehog would kill him, but neither would they help him.

And Audrey would not let her trial fail.

Just as she was thinking, a girl in a black dress suddenly appeared in front of Audrey. She looked at the giant dragon and giant rabbit chasing in the sky and asked in confusion:

"How is this going?"

"An accident."

Audrey softly explained what had just happened.

After hearing this, Carula said with some laughter:

"The Undead Ancient Dragons are just remnants of the old era, so their goal is to transform from remnants of the old era to remnants of an even older era?"

Audrey asked:
"But they don't seem to have any other choice."

Not everyone can gain the favor of "Fire" like them.

"How not?"

Carla raised her lips slightly and said jokingly:
"They can definitely become the Cinderella King."

Audrey complained quietly, "I don't think they want to die yet."

"Since it's none of our business, let's go."

Carla glanced at the two angels still chasing in the sky and said nonchalantly:

"We still have to rush to the next game, so don't waste too much time here."

"There's another one?"

Audrey blinked. She didn't know there was another round.

Carula asked doubtfully:
"Didn't I tell you?"

"Absolutely not." Audrey shook her head and said firmly.