abnabooks Chapter 504, Section 513: Breaking Through the Dream
Chapter 504, Section 513: Breaking Through the Dream
Chapter 504, Section 513: Breaking Through the Dream (Part 6)
No one was jealous of Lina's misfortune.
"A blessing in disguise!"
Kag was genuinely happy for his companion. Although the power sounded strange, it was clearly very useful, especially in this bizarre environment.
Saruman leaned against the stone wall, looking at Lina with a hint of relief in his eyes. This was the power that great one had bestowed upon Lina? Premonition perception, subtle spatial interference—it seemed His Majesty's transformation had been very successful, granting her truly promising abilities, abilities consistent with that great one's very essence.
This was far better than he had originally expected—merely clearing the pollution and saving his life. Indeed, as Kag said, it was a blessing in disguise.
That adult.
If it really was him who started it, Saruman was filled with unease. At this moment, Lina walked to Saruman's side, squatted down, and asked with concern.
"Saruman, how are you? You weren't hurt, were you?"
She spoke.
Saruman shook his head, forcing a weak smile: "It's alright, thanks to your timely intervention."
He paused, looking at the still dark and dangerous scene outside the crevice. "However, the commotion here might attract other things. My protective barrier—it can't hold for the time being."
His soul and body are currently in a very unstable and weak state. Forcibly casting spells will only aggravate his injuries and may even lead to the collapse of the fusion.
Upon hearing this, Lina glanced at Saruman's pale face, then looked outside, a determined expression appearing on her small face.
"Let me give it a try," she said.
"You?" Kag asked with some concern. "You've only just gained your power, and you must have expended a lot of energy just now, right?"
"Give it a try." Lina didn't say much. She walked to the entrance of the crevice, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, tried to calm herself, and then once again sank her consciousness into the raven imprint deep in her soul.
This time, she no longer sought to attack or interfere, but instead tried to "understand" and "guide" the potential meanings of "protection" or "isolation" contained within this new power.
After all, as beings that roam the edge of time and space, the "Raven's" foresight should not only involve predicting danger but also avoiding it.
The ability to seek a "safe haven" for yourself and your companions?
She recalled the feeling of Saruman erecting the force field, and the protective light Ian gave her in her dream. She combined her strong desire to "protect this small area" with the cold, orderly power in the Raven Mark that seemed to isolate her from chaos.
"It seems like it can work." Then, she stretched out her hands, palms facing outward, and slowly, somewhat awkwardly, began to sketch the opening of the crevice.
There were no complicated magical runes, nor standard incantations.
Only her focused intention and the dark silver light flowing from her palm, more solid than before, remained. This light, like living ink, slowly drew and connected in the air with her will, gradually forming a constantly rotating pattern, simple in structure yet possessing a strange beauty.
The pattern vaguely resembled the silhouette of a raven resting with its wings folded and its head buried under its wings, or a simplified, constantly repeating clock symbol.
As the pattern took shape, a faint but real "field" began to spread out from the center of the pattern.
This "field" is not powerful, far less robust than Saruman's previous force field, and cannot completely isolate physical attacks or powerful energy impacts.
However, the unique "order," "tranquility," and "sense of the passage of time" that it exudes are completely incompatible with the "madness," "chaos," and "sense of time standing still" that R'lyeh is omnipresent!
This creates a subtle conflict and repulsion.
It's like adding a tiny drop of clear, cold oil—a completely different substance—to a pool of murky, churning water. While it can't purify the entire pool, it can temporarily "drain" the filth that's nearby.
"It seems pretty good!"
Lina could sense that this simple "Raven's Sanctuary" was constantly consuming her already limited new power and was struggling to maintain it.
But she gritted her teeth and persevered.
Gradually, the omnipresent and disturbing whispers of madness in the area at the entrance of the crevice seemed to lessen slightly.
The polluted energy flow in the air would be slightly deflected when it approached the magic circle; most importantly, the feeling of being "stared at" and "squeezed" by the omnipresent malice was significantly reduced!
While far from safe, it at least provided a relatively "quiet" breathing space, greatly relieving the ongoing mental stress on Saruman and Kag.
Kag stared in amazement at the swirling dark silver pattern, then sensed the change in the surrounding atmosphere. He gave Lina a thumbs up: "Amazing! Lina, your new ability is so useful!"
"yes!"
Saruman leaned against the stone wall and clearly felt the faint but real "isolation" effect brought by the magic circle.
This cannot replace the protective barrier.
However, it greatly reduced the burden on him of constantly being on high alert to resist environmental erosion, allowing him to devote more of his remaining energy to stabilizing his chaotic soul state.
He looked at Lina's focused and determined profile, his eyes filled with emotion.
Not only did they survive, they also gained new power, enabling them to protect their companions in dire straits—this time, history truly took a completely different and hopeful turn.
"Thank you, Lina," Saruman said softly, a genuine, much-relaxed smile spreading across his tired face. "This new ability has been a great help."
Hearing Saruman's affirmation, Lina felt relieved, and the fatigue from maintaining the magic circle seemed to lessen somewhat.
"Rest assured and relax. Do you need any treatment?"
She turned around and gave Saruman and Kag a weak but hopeful smile.
The three of them were in this small crevice protected by the power of the newly born "Raven".
They have gained a precious respite.
"It's nothing—I just need a rest—"
Saruman waved his hand, but his gaze involuntarily drifted back to Lina.
This time, he looked even more carefully.
He used not his eyes, but his perception accumulated over a thousand years, and that newly established, still extremely faint resonance related to the power of the "Raven".
He clearly "saw" the stable "Raven Prophet" mark at the core of Lina's soul, radiating a dark silver and time-like aura. It was like the most intricate talisman, protecting her soul from external madness and guiding her towards a new path full of possibilities.
"If he really is the incarnation of a raven, then everything can be saved."
Saruman thought to himself.
The pollution within Lina—was truly and completely eradicated. It wasn't suppression or sealing; it was fundamentally "transformed" and "replaced"!
This is something that none of the methods he remembers could have done!
Even at his peak a thousand years later, he could only achieve deep sealing and slow purification at most; it was absolutely impossible for him to be so clean and efficient, and even to bestow new power upon it!
Only the raven, a symbol of miracles, possesses such abilities.
"A miracle—this truly is a miracle—" Saruman murmured to himself, his heart churning with turbulent emotions. A thousand years of obsession, a desperate, rebellious plan, countless days and nights of researching and praying for the power of the "Raven"—at this moment, it all seemed to have received the richest reward!
He changed!
He truly changed that tragic period of history!
Saruman, through the raven's avatar walking among humans—yes, at this point Saruman no longer suspected that Ian was Merlin; he had realized that Ian was a being greater than Merlin.
Raven!
That bird of the underworld that exists in history!
"I thought we were all doomed! Luckily we met that legend!" Kag didn't have Saruman's complicated feelings; he was more concerned about Lina's physical condition.
He looked Lina up and down, and couldn't help but gently touch her previously scaly arm, feeling the warmth and smoothness of human skin.
"Really—completely healed?" Kag's voice was filled with incredulous surprise. "Not even a trace left? That legend—how did he do it?"
Lina looked down at her hands, feeling the faint but clear new life force within her, and the subtle connection she had formed with Ian deep within her soul. She recalled the battle with the giant of light in her dream, the stripping away of darkness, the chilling bestowal—
Everything still felt like a bizarre dream, but the real changes within her body told her that it was all true.
"He—he's amazing." That was all Lina could say in the end, her voice filled with awe. "He used a method—that I can't understand at all."
at this time.
Lina also realized that these friends were not familiar with Ian.
It might just be a chance encounter in the ruins.
Just then, Saruman, who had been closing his eyes to regulate his breathing and try to stabilize his soul fusion state, suddenly opened his eyes!
It wasn't because he sensed a new danger.
Rather, it was because he "saw" that the "Raven Prophet" mark on Lina's body seemed to resonate with the distant rear battlefield—a very faint but real resonance.
It's as if the "source" of that brand is carrying out some intense action behind the scenes, one that affects the "Raven's" very power.
Then, an even more obvious change occurred!
Lina's body, her body that had just returned to normal, on the surface of her skin where the traces of mutation had completely disappeared, there was an extremely faint, dark silver light and shadow, like the pattern of raven feathers, that flickered for a very short time! Although it was so fleeting that even Kag didn't notice it, it was clearly captured by Saruman, who had been closely watching her!
This is not a recurrence of pollution! This is—a passive resonance and brief manifestation of the power of the "Raven Prophet" caused by the intense actions of an external source!
What does this mean?
This means that Ian Prince, the "Your Majesty," not only successfully healed Lina, but is also currently, in some way, intensely wielding the power related to the "Raven"!
He's fighting! He's fighting that terrifying being! And the level of the battle has reached a profound level, involving the application of the mysterious concept of "raven"!
"He—is still fighting for us—" Saruman's voice choked with emotion, a mixture of gratitude, guilt, and heartfelt admiration for the responsibility of the strong.
He knew that Ian could have simply left; with his strength, escaping that dream and leaving R'lyeh wouldn't have been difficult. But he chose to stay, to confront the terrifying source that even Saruman's future self found incredibly troublesome. That was truly a magnificent spirit!
"We should be grateful that we have encountered a merciful God."
Lina knew Ian's status better than anyone else.
at this time.
Kag and Lina followed Saruman's gaze and looked again at the area behind them, which was shrouded in distorted buildings and chaotic energy, and was emanating increasingly terrifying fluctuations.
Although they couldn't see the specifics, the oppressive atmosphere, as if the world were about to collapse, made them realize that a battle far beyond their imagination was unfolding there. All they could do was wait, pray, and believe that the legendary young man who had created miracles could bring about another miracle.
Time slowly slipped by in the anxious wait. Every minute and every second seemed exceptionally long.
Sudden-
"Look! Lina!" Kag exclaimed in suppressed surprise, pointing at Lina's arm.
On Lina's arm, the stubborn, almost invisible pale gray marks left by the black lines that represented pollution were visibly fading and disappearing at a rapid pace! It wasn't the feeling of being peeled off, but rather as if they were being completely "erased" from the level of "existence"!
At the same time, Lina's previously pale face quickly regained its color, and the newly born "Raven Prophet" power deep in her soul seemed to receive some kind of powerful "nourishment" and "stabilization," and began to flow and grow automatically and gently, making her feel a comfortable warm current flowing through her whole body, and the feeling of weakness quickly subsided!
"What is this?!" Lina herself was shocked as she looked at the changes in her body.
Saruman suddenly stood up, staring intently at Lina's changes, and sensing that the violent dark aura emanating from the battlefield behind them seemed to have reached a peak.
Then—it began to decay and become chaotic? An unbelievable, yet seemingly the only reasonable, deduction flashed through his mind like lightning!
Could it be that His Majesty is not only fighting, but also somehow "purifying" or "stealing" Cthulhu's power, and that this "processed" power is being fed back to Lina, the "Raven Prophet," accelerating her recovery and growth?!
This idea was too shocking, but Lina's rapid recovery and the change in the atmosphere of the battlefield behind them seemed to confirm it!
"He succeeded—he might really—" Saruman's voice trembled with excitement, and a tear even welled up in his eyes. It wasn't sadness, but an indescribable excitement and relief that came from witnessing his dearest friend's fate being rewritten across a thousand years, witnessing despair being dispelled by hope!
Although Kag did not understand the underlying reasons, he was overjoyed to see Lina recover her health at an astonishing speed, and even her aura was stronger than before!
"That legend is really that powerful!" Kag couldn't help but roar, forcefully swinging his fist as if to vent all the pent-up frustration and despair he had felt earlier.
Lina felt the surge of power within her and the complete sense of "purification." She looked up behind her, her eyes filled with boundless gratitude and an almost religious reverence.
faith.
It is usually at this time that they begin to be born.