Regarding the situation of being immersed in a genuine dream, Caine feigned unawareness, simultaneously suspending his self-projection maintained for the "Death High Officer" side and attempting to summon a "me" from the historical fissures, thereby obscuring the watchful custodians of this Thudor relic and enabling his true form to gradually escape the dream, slip into the hidden tomb, and carry out the destruction. ——At present, he can only sustain three images within the historical fissures: one is the "Death High Officer" Azk Egers, one is his own concealed state, and whether the hidden state of the hermit leader, Arianna, counts as a distinct image remains uncertain. For added security, before summoning the image anew, Caine must first dissolve one of them. As for Arianna's condition, beyond suspecting a genuine presence, Caine also speculates that upon sensing her past images being summoned in the mountains of Amanda, the abbot of the Night Monastery has deliberately entered a concealed state, vanishing from the real world so that the projection may gain consciousness.
This is entirely feasible—especially for the authority within the realm of the hidden, which often has a clear grasp of its historical image within the gaps of time. For such a hidden angel, Caine could not obtain feedback from the "ancient scholar" to confirm the true state of affairs through the maintenance of historical projection, so he chose to leave things unchanged, to avoid unforeseen complications. Just as Caine was about to summon his past self, the real dream in which he found himself silently vanished, and everything around him returned to normal. He now stood on the cliff face at the entrance, below which rose an imposing, deep-black mausoleum. A plain, unremarkable elder floated in midair, gazing calmly at Caine under the soft light of the moss on the ground and the lamps of the stone pillars within the cliff walls. With a sigh, he spoke in ancient Fussak: "You were not deceived by the dreams I wove." The elder’s hair was completely white, yet dense, and his face bore few wrinkles, with no particularly distinctive features.
Is the "Dreamweaver" of Path 3 a spectator? No—at least, an angel... Caine's spirit tightened, and he said nothing. Immediately, he drew out a silver-white adventurer's recorder, brought it to his lips, and blew. Though no sound emerged, at Caine's side, Renette Tiniel, dressed in a somber, elaborate gown, stepped forward. One of the golden-haired, red-eyed heads she carried projected a rectangular, diamond-like sigil, while the other recited in ancient Hermes:
"Yesterday!"
The messenger had drawn upon the strength of her past self! Compared to the "Serpent of Fate" of Sequence 1, this borrowed power lasted longer. Yet the sigil remained unchanged.
Floating in midair, dressed in a gray-white robe, the elder smiled gently and kindly reminded:
"Do not recite in ancient Hermes before me."
"...Hermes... Is this the Hermes who survived the Second Age and founded the ancient Hermes tongue?" The angel of the "Audience" path... the origin of the Psychological Alchemy Circle... Klein was first startled, then sensed a subtle issue: Hermes had been actively involved in battle, resisting his own will—wasn't that rather high? No, perhaps it was intentional, meant to distract and paralyze us... The extraordinary beings of the "Audience" path are especially skilled at manipulating minds. As this thought formed in Klein's mind, Rénite Tiniçol's two additional heads simultaneously recited in Giant and Elvish: "Yesterday!" The rectangular, diamond-like sigil instantly ignited in transparent flame and dissolved into the void. Rénite Tiniçol's body began to expand rapidly, and her four heads lifted from her hands, hovering and settling upon her neck. One by one, these heads became ethereal, eventually overlapping and merging into a single, unified form.
Instantly, Renette Tiniocer transformed into a doll so vast it resembled a castle, wearing a long black Gothic gown adorned with countless mysterious symbols and entwined with eerie vines, her eyes glowing a vivid, blood-red hue. Her gaze swept over the ancient Hermes, whose mouth remained closed yet emitted no sound. The angel who had been passing through the audience section flashed with a subtle glow and instantly became a plump, white rabbit. "Ancient evil," "Transformation curse!" The rabbit showed no signs of alarm; instead, it began to swell, growing to the size of half a mountain peak, its single step capable of crushing Caine. For the angel who had been passing through the audience, I believed that as long as I felt strong within myself, I was strong enough—my strength would not be constrained by external appearances. As the rabbit transformed into a monster, subtle shifts occurred within the ruins, weaving together reality and illusion, causing Renette Tiniocer to struggle to distinguish between dream and reality.
Klein could distinguish and notice that not only was the messenger girl in a mythical being state, but the rabbit's body was also covered in gray-white scales, various patterns interweaving to form three-dimensional symbols that seemed capable of connecting minds. How terrifying the angels were—right from the start, they appeared in their complete mythical forms. While marveling at this, Klein didn't dare to look any longer. To observe such a full form was both time-constrained and limited by his own status; seeing a complete mythical being would inevitably affect him, inducing a negative condition—something he had to avoid on the dangerous battlefield. As the messenger girl and the dragon-form rabbit fought, Klein used the wind to guide his descent toward the secret tomb, silently reciting a sacred name in the language of the giants in his mind, and at the same time reaching out to grasp at the air. First attempt—failure. Second attempt—failure. Third attempt—still failure!
Just as Claine's mental island began to manifest one white, plump rabbit after another, forcing him to raise his awareness and actively resist, unable to think of anything else, his instinctively extended right hand finally reached into the historical fissure and touched upon a certain image. As he drew his arm back, that image swiftly took shape: a woman in a dark robe, wearing a broad hood, with a graceful face and somewhat vacant, deep black eyes. This was a secret angel of the Night Church that Claine had encountered before. Later, in the misty town, he learned that she was the "Mother of the Night," the daughter of the ancient deity Fregra, and suspected she had become the vessel for the goddess's descent. Since the historical image of the head nun, Arianna, had successfully summoned itself on the first attempt, Claine was certain to try summoning this one as well. He had been chanting the sacred name of the "Goddess of Night" all along!
— Ancient scholars faced an insurmountable limitation when harnessing images captured within historical gaps: they could not summon things of uniqueness. However, instances such as "divine vessels" depended on the strength of divine presence embodied within the historical image and whether such uniqueness was involved. Similarly, if summoning Amun, the original form was insufficient; a duplicate would suffice. For safety, Kline summoned the woman who had smiled at him during the great smog of Beckland—this single instance succeeded after just four attempts! Of course, Kline believed that without the goddess's explicit permission, even with her active assistance, he would never succeed in summoning himself a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand times. The graceful lady did not turn to gaze at the ancient scholar who had summoned her—she simply turned her head and looked toward the secret tomb beneath.
The entire underground ruin suddenly trembled, the massive, deep-black mausoleum beginning to sway and ripple, as if about to be translocated into a hidden realm. At that very moment, two arms extended directly from the outside—one pressing against the greatly enlarged doll, Renette Tini科尔, the other spreading its five fingers to grasp Caine. Each arm exceeded ten meters in length, dark in color, flowing with viscous liquid, and adorned with strange protrusions—some resembling skulls, others solid eyes, or tongues tipped with spines.
"Divine calamity!" exclaimed Seara!
The remaining guards within the underground sanctuary went berserk—some raising their swords to strike comrades, others lifting their rifles to aim at themselves and pulling the triggers. Caine's skin began to crack, and his consciousness was overwhelmed by a growing sense of frenzy, rendering him unable to mount an effective response.
The secret angel summoned by him, following instinct, withdrew his gaze and lifted his eyes toward those two arms that seemed to emerge from the depths of a nightmare. The massive fear caused the arms of "Divine Defect" Seara to tremble slightly—unable to grasp Caine, they were instead caught in a curse by Renette Tini科尔, whose short green fur now spread over them. Soon thereafter, the arms began to fade, struggling fiercely to break free from their hidden state. At that very moment, three figures appeared in the upper half of the underground sanctuary: Roxel, the Great Emperor; William Augustus I, the first king of Roon; and an abstract angel composed entirely of pure light. Charathu's historical rift imagery had now arrived! The presence of so many angels arriving simultaneously caused a ripple effect throughout the space, let alone the intense combat unfolding among them. For a brief moment, the dark mausoleum shook more violently, and subtle cracks began to appear across its surface.
Klein was not at all surprised, as this was precisely his final contingency plan: when the enemy was too strong and well-prepared, making it impossible to create opportunities to disrupt the tomb, he would gather everyone together and generate chaos! This idea was inspired by the encounter outside the city of Bayam. At that time, the "Divine Calamity" Seara and the "Man-Made Death God," along with remote-supporting forces, joined the fray, and the "Sea King" Cotman, the messenger lady Renette Tini科尔, and a half-divine from the Rose School all participated—resulting in an innocent mountain collapsing. Now, Klein intended for the secret tomb within this site to collapse in a similar manner. He simply didn't believe that, when the angels fought with such intensity, they could maintain control over their surroundings! This time, the lineup far surpassed the original.
Not quite yet…then let it be even more chaotic. While克莱恩kept his "spirit threads" anchored, preventing them from rising, he dodged and sensed the mysterious space above the gray mist, gently causing it to tremble through his initial grasp. In the midst of the air, the pale gray mist coalesced, revealing the majestic palace, half-visible. "The Source Keep!" Instantly, the sky above the Saint Wind Cathedral in Bekland deepened, as if a storm were gathering. A bird, gazing toward the lower reaches of the Tassok River and bearing dark circles under its eyes, shifted its gaze. ………… Inside the "First Site" outside Bekland, the sorceress Trist was stripped of several abilities, severely wounded, and on the brink of death. Thud! She collapsed against the cliff wall, nearly embedded, her body streaked with blood. At that moment, she drew forth an object—a rectangular, diamond-shaped talisman. "Yesterday Revisited!"