Chapter 644 - 56: Breathing and Guiding ’Entering the Hall

Chapter 644: Chapter 56: Breathing and Guiding ’Entering the Hall

Mickey’s breath caught for a moment.

He saw those eyes—

Deep within the pitch-black pupils, a light was now burning.

The light shifted between gold and Crimson, one moment as dazzling as molten gold, the next as blazing as the setting sun.

Like two inextinguishable flames, they illuminated his pale face.

As that gaze swept over Mickey, he felt a chill shoot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

The young man’s gaze swept over the crumbling walls, the ever-spreading cracks, and the kneeling Rodrick, finally landing on Mickey.

"So that’s how it is."

The voice was soft, almost inaudible, yet it reached Mickey’s ears with perfect clarity.

Those eyes, burning with light, met Mickey’s gaze directly.

Mickey felt his mind detonate with a BUZZ.

Under the stare of those eyes, he saw countless images—

He saw the young man standing before a tall tower. Beside him was a girl in a black leather skirt and thigh-high boots, clinging to his arm with a brilliant smile.

He saw them enter a magnificent, golden building, with people bowing and scraping before them.

He saw the girl say something like, "I’ve booked the whole place," her tone filled with willfulness and dominance.

’Is that... an auction house?’

’Is that... the Silver Tower?’

Mickey was stunned.

These images, these scenes, these people—

He had never seen any of them before.

’How could I be seeing this?’

’How could I know?’

Before he could recover from his shock, the scene abruptly changed.

He saw the girl standing on a battlefield, surrounded by countless bizarre creatures. The sky was an eerie, grayish-white, a jarring contrast to the deep blue Magic Robe she wore.

She was fighting.

Fighting for her life.

She was...

Trapped.

The image vanished in a flash, so quickly that Mickey almost thought it was an illusion.

But he knew it wasn’t.

That was what burned in the young man’s eyes.

They were two Paths.

One Path led to the magnificent building, to the girl with the brilliant smile.

The other led to that unknown battlefield, to the trapped girl.

Mickey’s lips moved, wanting to say something, but no sound came out.

The young man’s gaze remained on him.

No emotion could be seen in those burning eyes.

He just quietly watched this tear-streaked man from the dream, kneeling on the ground.

Then, the young man moved.

He moved with a speed Mickey couldn’t possibly react to.

He didn’t even see the young man’s movement, only felt a gust of wind rush past him.

Then, a sharp pain erupted from his chest.

Mickey looked down.

He saw the young man’s hand had pierced straight through his chest.

The hand had entered from his back and exited through his chest. It was palm-open, and a warm, viscous liquid flowed between the fingers.

’Is that... my blood?’

Mickey’s mind went blank.

He felt no fear, no pain. He just stared blankly at the hand piercing his body, at the blood gushing out, at the droplets that looked just like his own, scattering in the light.

"W-Why..."

His lips moved, letting out a hoarse, almost inaudible sound.

He received no answer.

He only felt the hand inside his chest clench lightly.

Then, it pulled away.

SQUELCH.

Mickey’s body fell backward.

He hit the ground hard, his eyes still wide open, staring at the young man standing before him.

The young man had withdrawn his hand, his palm open.

There, a diamond-shaped crystal lay in it.

The crystal was about the size of a baby’s fist, completely transparent, and emitted a faint silver glow.

Rodrick’s eyes widened. He looked at the crystal, then at Mickey, and finally at Murphy.

His face turned from deathly pale to ashen, then from ashen to a ghastly gray.

"L-Lord... You... You’re all right?"

His voice trembled with uncontrollable fear.

Murphy looked at him coldly, his burning eyes devoid of any warmth.

"Rodrick."

His voice was calm, yet it made Rodrick tremble.

"It’s time you woke up."

Rodrick’s lips quivered violently. He wanted to speak, but no sound came out.

Murphy continued,

"Don’t forget why you brought me here."

Rodrick froze.

’What was the reason I brought the Lord here?’

His mind was a chaotic mess, thoughts flashing before his eyes like a whirlwind.

’To make money?’

’No, that’s not right.’

’To hunt nightmare creatures?’

’That’s not it either.’

’Then what was it?’

’What was it?’

Murphy watched him, his eyes betraying no ripple of emotion.

"I had you bring me to the Nightmare World, but not to make money."

Rodrick’s pupils contracted sharply.

"It... It was to..."

His voice was hoarse and broken.

"It was to... get the shipment from the Shaping Domain..."

The moment the words left his mouth, he froze completely.

’That’s right.’

’That’s it!’

’The Lord had me lead the way to the Nightmare World from the very beginning to intercept the Shaping Domain’s supplies!’

’Not to make money, not to hunt nightmare creatures!’

’It was for that shipment!’

’How could I have forgotten?’

’How could I have forgotten something so important?’

Rodrick’s eyes were wide with shock and bewilderment.

Murphy paid him no mind.

He just lowered his head, looking at the diamond-shaped crystal in his palm.

Inside the crystal, tiny points of light flowed slowly, as if they had a life of their own.

Just then—

"L-Lord Melfield..."

A faint voice came from the ground.

Murphy looked down.

Mickey lay on the ground, blood still pouring from the wound in his chest, but his eyes were still open.

Those eyes were filled with disbelief.

"You... You..."

His lips moved, his voice so weak it was almost inaudible.

Murphy looked at him and said flatly,

"Alonso."

Mickey—no, Alonso’s body jolted.

He stared at Murphy, his eyes wide, and a miserable smile suddenly tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"So... so this is the me from a parallel world..."

His voice was intermittent, his breath as faint as a gossamer thread.

Murphy’s brow twitched slightly.

"You knew?"

Alonso lay on the ground, gazing at the young man who had pierced his chest, at that familiar yet strange face. The smile on his lips deepened.

"Knew... Of course I knew..."

His voice grew weaker and softer, but he stubbornly continued to speak,

"I... I read about it in the ancient texts... Those who accidentally enter a temporal vortex... become... the version of themselves from another world..."

He coughed up a mouthful of blood, gasped for a few breaths, and continued,

"I always thought... it was just a legend... I never expected... it was real..."

Murphy watched him quietly, saying nothing.

Alonso’s gaze moved from him to the diamond-shaped crystal.

"That’s... That’s the shipment I was supposed to deliver, isn’t it..."

His voice held a trace of a bitter smile.

"I thought... if I just delivered it... I could get the twenty thousand gold pounds... I could pay off my debts... I could... I could keep living..."

Murphy didn’t speak.

He just watched him.

Watching this man from the Old Realm, from the same world as him, who had walked a completely different Path.

Alonso’s gaze returned to Murphy’s face.

Those eyes no longer held fear or despair, only an indescribable complexity.

"You’re much... much stronger than me..."

His lips moved.

"You have power... status... and someone who loves you..."

"But me..."

He gave a bitter laugh.

"I have nothing... I only have debt... only despair... only a tomorrow that will never come..."

Alonso fell silent for a moment.

Then, his lips moved slightly, uttering his final words:

"In the end... I lost the gamble..."

As his voice faded, his eyes slowly closed.

The rise and fall of his chest ceased completely.

He lay there quietly, his blood staining the grayish-white flagstones beneath him, the miserable smile still lingering on his face.

His dreams died with him.

Murphy stood where he was, quietly looking at the corpse.

The genius Wizard from the Old Realm, the survivor who had struggled in this Otherworld for thirty years, the gambler who had clung to one last shred of hope for a comeback—

was dead, just like that.

Just then—

[Option Two: The Saintess of the Celestial Daoist Sect is locked in a fierce battle with the Blood Sea Gate, trapped in the Ancient Wizard Realm, her survival hanging by a thread. If you take a roundabout route and infiltrate the Celestial Demon Realm to intercept the Blood Sea Gate’s supplies, cutting off their supply line, you can break the siege on the Saintess. Though this plan is perilous, it offers a sliver of hope.]

[Reward: Breathing and Guiding ’Entering the Hall’]

Countless methods on how to absorb chaotic Spiritual Qi in the Nightmare World, techniques for converting that Spiritual Qi into his own Mana, and secrets to maintaining stability in an environment of chaotic Law—

all flooded into his mind.