Mystery: The Undead Don't Die from Linking the Fire

Chapter 425 A Grain of Sand in the Era

"Symbol?"

Audrey stepped back a few paces, giving the stage to Hermes and Erihog, vaguely guessing what was going on.

Seeing their reactions, the giant rabbit was clearly disappointed and said indifferently:

"You've been having the same dream for a whole month now, haven't you realized it yet?"

Audrey understood perfectly, but on the surface she asked with a puzzled expression:

"Realize what?"

Hermes said leisurely:

"A new era has arrived, and we are all remnants of the old era. We must find a vessel to transition into this new era."

"Of course, this is not difficult for us."

"But finding a ship with a 'symbol' is not an easy task."

"And you, my friend."

The giant rabbit turned its gaze to Erihog atop the stone pillar, a slight smile playing on its lips:

"You yourself are the symbol!"

Erihog, with its large, greyish-white scales, did not answer; He had not uttered a word since Hermes entered the room.

At that moment, facing Hermes's undisguised hostility, Erihog spread his wings, which were covered with skin, with a whoosh, instantly casting a shadow over the surrounding area.

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

A new era is about to replace the old one, and we are now at the crossroads of these two eras. Everyone must seek change during this period, and angels are no exception. They can either remain in the old era, hindering the arrival of the new era, or transition to the new era ahead of time.

Both choices have the same advantages and disadvantages: the advantage is that everyone prospers together, and the disadvantage is that everyone suffers together.

Clearly, Hermes chose the new era and was unwilling to remain merely an ordinary angel within it. He hoped to go further, even if he couldn't become Sequence 1 or Sequence 0, he at least wanted to gain some symbolic significance.

Hunting the mind dragon Eredhogg is the best choice!

The reason is also very simple.

Erihog, one of the only three remaining ancient dragons, was the overlord of the Second Age in the old era, an angel among the dragon race. However, in the new era of the First Flame, Erihog has also gained immense benefits—he remains an ancient dragon, but is no longer merely a member of the Second Age's dragon race. His identity as an ancient dragon has, in some mysterious way, connected him to the immortal ancient dragons of the Zero Age!

When the new era fully arrives, Erihog could even become an "Immortal Ancient Dragon" by virtue of his status as an Ancient Dragon! Even if he doesn't reach that level, he will at least be a descendant of an Immortal Ancient Dragon and can inherit a trace of the "immortal" characteristic.

This is His 'symbol'!

Even if you do nothing, Erihog will receive the corresponding symbol; this is the gift of the new era!

However, aside from these three ancient dragons, almost no one can directly obtain the corresponding symbol from the New Age, because they have no corresponding relationship with the legends in the New Age. Unless they directly gain the favor of the First Flame, they have almost no chance of "obtaining" the symbol.

But Hermes was clearly not content with this, so he chose to find another way.

Since He cannot obtain the symbol, He hunts down other beings who possess the symbol and seizes their symbol.

That's why He targeted Erihog, secretly connecting His dreams with the labyrinth. But Erihog is an angel after all; how could He be so easily outmaneuvered by Hermes?

Hermes was certainly aware of this, which is why He used the Garden of Eden—the mental city, the masterpiece of the "Dreamer," which was intricately connected to every extraordinary being on the "Audience" path, including the ancient dragons.

Therefore, as long as the maze can be connected to the Garden of Eden, it is possible to find Erihogg's dream invisibly and forcibly integrate it into the maze.

In this way, Hermes could easily find Erihogg and carry out His hunt.

As for Audrey and Boley Dellow, they were completely innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire.

Since they were already in the Garden of Eden, and Hermes's plan was unfolding at that time, they were naturally drawn into the conflict. Of course, this was also their own choice.

After all, if they hadn't rashly entered the labyrinth and had remained in the Garden of Eden, they wouldn't have been drawn into this symbolic conflict.

Hermes did not rush to attack, but instead turned his gaze to Audrey and asked in a friendly manner:

"do you mind?"

No, not at all.

Audrey took another step back, smiling to indicate that she didn't want to get involved.

She had neither the need to seize the symbol of Erihog nor any reason to help Hermes, after all, Hermes was a member of the Twilight Hermits, and in a sense, He should be considered Adam's angel.

But precisely because of this, Audrey was somewhat confused.

After all, Adam could be considered a hardliner of the old era, and the gods, led by him, resisted the arrival of the new era, or at least a new era not led by them. In this context, Hermes's willingness to join the new era and even try to steal the "symbol" of Erihog is tantamount to betraying Adam.

Was it that Adam simply didn't care about such a trivial matter, or were Hermes and Adam not of one mind?

Audrey had no way of knowing the answer, nor could she glean anything from Hermes's attitude.

As angels who act as 'audience members,' each of them is a natural actor. Everything they display is an act, what they want others to see. Therefore, judging their stance solely based on superficial emotions will only lead to the wrong answer.

Moreover, Audrey wasn't sure if Hermes's "defection" was genuine; it might also be part of Adam's plan.

Therefore, she will neither interfere in their battles nor leave; she will observe them, which is exactly what the 'spectator' approach excels at.

Hermes pushed off with both feet and suddenly became enormous, like a small hill.

At the same time, directly above Him, the dark sky suddenly brightened, and beneath His feet, the earth cracked open, spewing forth crimson magma. Then, a blurry and distorted figure appeared behind Him.

The figure was dressed in a simple white robe, making it difficult to discern his features or age; only a vague indication that he was male could be made out.

Behind his head hung a halo radiating brilliant light, like a miniature sun; at his feet was a phantom clock divided into twelve sections, each containing symbols representing different times; behind him hung a shadow like a curtain, within which an eye seemed to be silently watching the outside world.

The moment the figure appeared, the entire dream labyrinth shook violently, with gray fragments constantly falling from the void.

Two contrasting sensations, filth and depravity and pure sunlight, rapidly spread around the giant white rabbit, eroding or assimilating the area.

However, the figure clad in a simple white robe always seemed unable to truly take shape, unable to emerge from history and illusion into reality. Whenever his outline was about to become clear, the figure would twist and contort, like a machine whose signal had been jammed.

"The ancient sun god!"

Audrey recognized the true form of that being almost instantly!

This being truly ended the Second Era, having hunted down most of the Ancient Gods of the Second Era; his strength was almost equivalent to that of the Old Ones!

Therefore, even if it is just a woven illusion, it contains a terror that ordinary people cannot bear.

Of course, this woven illusion cannot truly unleash its full power, not even a fraction of it; it merely exists as a symbol.

Because Hermes can only become "real" when His enemies believe that the illusion is real; otherwise, it will forever remain an illusion.

But to try to deceive Erihog, who is on the same path and in the same sequence, is clearly wishful thinking.

Therefore, Hermes created this illusion not because he expected Erihog to take it as real, but simply to frighten him with the illusion of the "Ancient Sun God".

Yes, intimidation—that's Hermes's goal!

As an angel of the dragon race in the Second Age, Erihog must have experienced the glory of the dragon race, as well as its decline, and even the fall of the "Dragon of Imagination," Angorweid.

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

Even a mere illusion could instill fear in Him. That was exactly what Hermes wanted. He could exploit the openings in Erihog's heart to gradually expand His advantage and eventually crush Him!

This is also the most common combat method for high-sequence 'spectators'; although simple and direct, it is effective enough.

Of course, this is the ideal situation.

However, in actual combat at higher ranks via the "spectator" approach, if both sides are at the same level, various methods are unlikely to produce real results.

One can infiltrate the island of consciousness to conduct deep hypnosis; another can guard the gates of the mental body, preventing any external consciousness from entering; one can spread a mental plague, using the vast ocean of the collective unconscious to imperceptibly erode the enemy; and the other can soothe oneself, treat psychological illnesses, and maintain mental health...

At the Sequence 4 and Sequence 3 levels, Saints of the 'Spectator' pathway can also engage in various cunning and manipulative battles using their extraordinary abilities:

You can either set a trap in advance, then subtly lure and manipulate the enemy step by step to break down their mental defenses and hypnotize them; or focus on defense and support, relying on powerful sealing artifacts to defeat the enemy; or directly "dragonize" and engage in a dual battle on both the physical and mental fronts.

Ultimately, these three types of battles come down to who has a deeper understanding of the mental realm and whose will is stronger and more resolute. Whoever has the greater chance of accumulating an advantage step by step in the long-term battle will be more likely to succeed.

But at the angelic level, it's a completely different story.

Since everyone is a true mythical creature, the length of time of 'dragon transformation' is meaningless, and the use of 'extraordinary abilities' is also roughly the same. No one can gain an advantage through extraordinary abilities, nor will anyone be easily defeated because of the other's extraordinary abilities.

At this point, the main reliance is on 'insight'.

Whoever can find the opponent's psychological vulnerabilities can weave corresponding nightmares, directly attack the enemy's mental weaknesses, and destroy their mental defenses step by step, achieving the effect of "scaring them into madness" or "scaring them to death".

This is why the potion name for Sequence 2 of the 'Audience' pathway is 'Insight'.

The word "insight" is enough to explain the fighting style of the angel of the Sequence 2 of the "Audience" pathway.

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

It's just that instead of directly exploiting the enemy's psychological vulnerabilities, it uses a method of weaving reality to gradually drive the enemy into a desperate situation.

On the other hand, although Hermes was only targeting Erihog, the "Ancient Sun God" woven by Hermes not only affected Erihog, but also affected and corrupted all living things in the surrounding area, including both Boley Dellow and Audrey.

Fortunately, Audrey had enough power to resist the effects of the pollution, which is why she dared to stay and watch the battle.

In contrast, only Sequence 3 Boley Dellaud was curled up on the ground, letting out painful howls.

Although he had not completely lost his mind, his spirit had inevitably been corrupted, and even if he tried to heal himself afterward, he could not completely remove the corruption.

Of course, that's assuming he can leave here alive.

But this is obviously impossible.

Neither Hermes nor Erihogg will kill him, but neither will they help him.

Audrey, however, would not allow her trial to fail.

Just then, a girl in a black dress suddenly appeared before Audrey. Looking at the dragon and rabbit chasing each other in the sky, she asked in confusion:

"What's going on?"

"An accident."

Audrey quietly explained what had just happened.

Karula found it somewhat amusing and said:

"The immortal ancient dragons are merely remnants of the old era, so their goal is to transform themselves from remnants of the old era into remnants of an even older era?"

Audrey asked:

"But they seemed to have no other choice."

Not everyone can be like them and gain the favor of 'fire'.

"Why isn't it there?"

Karula's lips curled slightly as she said teasingly:

"They could very well become Lords of Cinder."

Audrey muttered under her breath, "I think they don't want to die yet."

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

Karula glanced at the two angels still chasing each other in the sky and said nonchalantly:

"We need to get to our next match; we can't waste too much time here."

"Is there a next round?"

Audrey blinked; she had no idea there would be a next act.