Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 875 - 812 Good night, Susanna

"It’s been so long ago, yet it still remains vivid in my mind..." Standing on the shaking ground, Susanna muttered to herself.

The stars in the sky kept falling, and the darkness above seemed deeper than the tides. The sound of waves crashing against rocks, the increased humidity, the forest gasping under its unbearable load, and fantasies veering off course.

The thorny armor slowly receded, revealing a face identical to Irason’s, yet unable to muster even her most commonly worn smile.

"What a pity, the paradise we built with such difficulty..."

The castle collapsed, magic weaved data turned into specks of light, and the embellished layers that Lyle constantly nagged about became charred mud in the realm of dreams, burning away. Even the mood for a stroll was gone, and as the dripping black mud seeped into the ground, Susanna’s position became the only fixed anchor.

"After hiding for so long, I’ve still been found." Corrupting her own created dream realm with Nightmare, temporarily wresting it from the awakening deity’s mind.

"Father God."

Sensing the peering gaze, every inch beside her was filled with feelings of estrangement, a betrayal of all things, this was the punishment bestowed upon her. Connections were severed, perceptions began to blur, like returning to a dark nest, where only parts of one’s own body persisted, muttering the given name.

"Susanna, Susanna, Susanna..."

"Administrator!" "Administrator!"

Susanna’s dilated pupils constricted as she lifted her head to look at the flickering figures before her, the NPCs as replicas in the dream, their bodies also shedding fragments. Though they are compiled personas, they were calmer now than she was. Susanna pressed her lips together, not wanting to tremble before them. She tried to open her eyes wide, glaring at them as if that was what she did best with Irason’s face.

"We’ve already destroyed the spiritual anchors of the Druids of the dream realm. They’re sure to have a headache for a while." The instructor of the Defenders, wielding the spear, flashed a brilliant smile while his shield-bearing arm was already fading into nothingness; the replica of the Defender Knight laughed unconcernedly.

"Right... Your mission is complete, I will grant you release now," said Susanna, stretching out her palm to erase the NPC with the Administrator’s authority before the dream realm capsizes in the deep sea. In Susanna’s view, sparing them from facing the end was an act of mercy.

Her hand was blocked; the Defender Knight deflecting Susanna’s palm with his lance, refusing the Nightmare’s kindness.

"My lord, you are not my queen, you have no right to bestow death upon me," the knight said.

"Why, Father God’s judgment, is much more fearsome than death."

"Then let Him come! Dreya has no knights who flee from collapse."

"To flee from a shipwreck is no shame..."

"The shame is letting a trembling little girl confront everything alone. To face the divine, what the actual entity cannot do, I will do."

Ignoring Susanna standing frozen, the instructor of the Defenders marched on the path to confront the waves head-on.

"I have no intention of surrendering."

"There’s nothing to fear, it’s all just data after all."

"If we fight, we fight together; if we die, we die together."

They all made their choice; the bright outer shells faded away, and the personalities selected by Lyle proved his exceptional judgement. The surroundings lit up; without looking back, Susanna knew who was standing behind her.

"Don’t be discouraged, the ignorant are fearless, and as Nightmare, you fear far more than we do."

"Gatekeeper." He looked up with envy at the towering figure of the gatekeeper angel, with a body as if forged from gold. Now, as the realm of dreams collapses, the spirits created by Holy Light still shine brightly.

"Your body is refined by Holy Light, untouched by Nightmare, my friend. You can leave in peace, and carry some of the Sleepers’ suffering for them in reality."

With the program crashing, the blazing flame sword in hand lost its purpose, and the sacred light descended upon this isolated island. Sensing the creeping darkness, the Gatekeeper rejected Susanna.

"My true self in reality does not need a copy like me to worry. As the anchors holding up the dreamscape disappear one by one, this land will soon sink. Manager, my Holy Light can help you reach that last and sturdiest anchor."

"I should not be the one to reach there." Susanna shook her head, greedily taking a few breaths as the black muck swiftly filled her throat. The Sleeper was reclaiming Its gift. Her silhouette already blurred, the heart of Nightmare opened its arms as though to embrace a glowing friend.

"You promised me, my friend."

Stepping backward, leaning back, the Gatekeeper raised his right arm, conjuring the most familiar and fiercest Long Spear of Light.

"Holy Light will remember your name, my friend!"

The Long Spear of Light pierced through the black mire; she endured the dual pains of burning and corrosion, endured as Holy Light painstakingly split her soul apart. Memories, those warm memories reclaimed her mind, swept away by a warm current, in this final parting. Instinctively reaching out, Susanna found herself pinned to the ground by the spear of light. The light guided the part of her free from Nightmare, away from the dream, flying into the distance, returning what was not hers.

Face, power, memories, existence all dissipated, the blurred figure bathed in light, as exhausted as if after childbirth.

"Elan..." Focusing, the black shell soaked with dark muck murmured.

"We all knew this moment would come; a thief must inevitably pay the price, and this is the lowest price."

"Tiffany has grown, but still has her old habits, a cup of warm milk before bed, her new habit since entering politics. My foster parents occasionally ask me about the time and weather; answer them directly without confusion - they’ve guarded dreams for too long, sometimes blurring reality and illusion..."

"Lastly, it’s your turn..."

"You must understand, what I gave you is not merely what I swallowed back then. This contains more than just your part. Susanna’s sights, sounds, feelings, loves. These are my gifts, a reciprocation for the life you granted me. You yearn for a sister, answers, understanding... Lonely one, let the falsehood that I am grant you truth."

"I have forgiven you, Faelga."

"Now, I will merge with you again, I have not perished, but united into one."

"Now, you’re the true Twin Queen, Faelga."

"Goodnight, Irason."

As Nightmare’s form finally faded and Holy Light dimmed, the chaotic tide engulfed everything—a voice whispering in the ear of the dying light.

"Sorry, Faelga might hold a grudge against you for a while, Elves tend to hold grudges, and she especially so."

Before the Gatekeeper withered, he gave a response.

"A dead man won’t be troubled by hatred, even if your sister passes her grudge on to my true self..."

"There, debts no longer weigh one down."