Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 492: Hidden Objects in Dreams

Luther Kinwis' right eye, enveloped in black pus, gleamed a stronger red glow. With a startling roar, Kinwis swung his right hand again, making a plunging forward gesture.

However, this time, he did not bring flames and heat waves rushing forward. His body actually disappeared into thin air, then reappeared right in front of Shard.

"What?"

Unable to dodge in time, Shard could only raise his two-handed greatsword with his right hand, supporting the blade with his left hand positioned behind it to block.

Clang!

The massive right hand struck like swatting a fly, sending Shard flying outwards.

Above the sea of fire, the Moonlight Greatsword, due to the colossal collision, disintegrated into specks of silver light scattering in the air. Meanwhile, Shard, his body arcing backward, his hands and feet falling forward.

After tumbling on the ground, he didn't have time to stand up; instead, he immediately rolled to the side within the sea of fire to dodge the smashing black giant hand.

Taking advantage of his slow opponent's arm-raising, Shard scrambled to his feet and called forth the Moonlight Greatsword again: he held the sword with both hands, slashing twice through the black pus, then promptly stepped back:

"Doctor! How can he perform spatial movement?"

He shouted hoarsely.

"He is the master of the Dream; any action he takes is possible! But don't worry, since we entered here, I used arcane techniques to make the dream's rules much closer to the real world. After all, he is not a Circle Sorcerer; no more exaggerated abilities will appear, and the so-called spatial movement cannot be frequently used!"

Dr. Schneider's voice came from a position on the first floor to the left, almost right above Shard's head:

"Detective, do you need my help?"

"Not for now, I can still handle it."

The giant hand swept along the burning ground again. This time, Shard did not step backward to dodge; instead, he took a step forward, disappearing, then reappearing behind Kinwis. The oversized hand, too large to attack from the side, gave Shard the chance to thrust at his opponent's head, to see the wound immediately heal, and before the black right hand could strike him, he maneuvered to Kinwis' direct rear, trying to continue attacking from this "safe position."

"You! Will not forgive me!"

Unexpectedly, his body was more agile than imagined. After turning around, his normal left hand reached out to grab Shard's face.

"Great Sin Chain!"

Pitch-black rune shackles flew out from Shard's sleeve, clinging to Kinwis' left hand in an attempt to bind him. But Kinwis, with half his mouth normal and half obscured by black pus, opened it at that moment, and the black pus nearly sprayed towards Shard's face.

Shard's body disappeared again, appearing behind his opponent. The chains from his sleeve flew out anew, binding his opponent's legs. Despite this, Kinwis could still strike at Shard with his right hand without moving his legs.

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Shard, pulling on the chains in his hand to dodge, was about to let the chains bind his opponent's formidable right hand to restrict its power.

But at that moment, a cascade of bizarre rainbow-colored spots unexpectedly drifted down from the broken ceiling above.

"What's this now?"

The burning basement's floor, with the appearance of those light spots, emitted a pitch-black glimmer, which in the flames formed a perfect circular ritual circle.

Ding-dong!

The sound of a bell came from nowhere, and then with a clattering noise, dozens of black metal chains flew out from the glowing ground, instantly binding the irrational dream master from all directions.

He struggled violently, but as the light from the circular base formation on the ground grew stronger, Kinwis' left eye slowly closed, and the red glow in his right eye gradually faded out. He seemed to fall back into sleeping within his own Dream, held in place by those dozens of black chains in the circular area in the center of the sea of fire, ultimately unmoving.

"It's done, Detective."

The doctor's voice again came from above his head; he held a black bell and jumped down from the edges of the broken first-floor. While enhanced by the Dream, his jump looked quite stylish.

Shard hesitantly nodded, retracting the Great Sin Chain. The doctor glanced at the runes on the chain, raised his eyebrows slightly, but made no comment and instead praised him:

"Detective, you've made significant progress recently, now handling these creatures with ease."

"He wasn't that strong,"

Shard stressed again, then motioned the doctor to quickly finish off the creature.

"No problem, now let me show you 'Psychic Alchemy.'"

The doctor had Shard keep shaking the bell while he applied paint and wrote runes on Kinwis, and with methods beyond Shard's comprehension, traced shimmering bands of light in the air with his fingers, merging them with the ritual circle.

Dr. Schneider called the process of extracting 'Mind Crystal' 'Psychic Alchemy', which was very high-level and cutting-edge knowledge.

The entire alchemy process lasted a whole hour in the Dream, and after the doctor's ritual circle and spell words were nearly spread to every corner of the basement, he finally told Shard to stop shaking the bell.

The two jumped out of the basement temporally, standing on the edge of the broken first floor. In the light of the fire, they saw the black light below gradually replaced by pure white, growing stronger and stronger.

"Detective, it seems the negative emotions are pretty strong. Use your 'Moonlight' to purify it a bit."

The doctor suddenly suggested, then closed his eyes. Shard stretched out his finger towards the area below:

"Silvermoon!"

The intense silver light momentarily suppressed the surrounding sea of fire, and when the light extinguished, the basement's white halo even contained specks of moonlight.

"Very good, I think the quality of this batch of alchemy products will be better than ever."

The doctor looked very satisfied.

The two waited another ten minutes, and as the halo gradually faded, they jumped back into the basement's sea of fire.

The light from the ritual circle converged into a flaming red blaze, with Luther Kinwis, now returned to normal, sprawling on the ground. In front of his head, three rice-sized, white crystals flickered with light, lying quietly there:

"Look, it's even better than I expected."

The doctor said with a smile, bending down to pick up the crystals:

"Shard, we should head back. Although adventures in the Dream are interesting, they eventually have to end. Look, this went smoothly; I told you I'm a professional."

He tried to grab Shard's hand but Shard instead bent down to touch Kinwis's head, ensuring he could not feel any trace of Human Pus before standing up and grasping the doctor's hand.

"So, what will happen to him?"

"Nothing much, it was just a malicious nightmare for him. Oh, your Moonlight cleared his negative emotions, this man's mood will improve briefly. Get ready, Detective."

He signaled for Shard to close his eyes:

"Three, two, one!"

"Oh!"

The glow of the flame disappeared from sight, and his thoughts once again plunged into chaos.

Maybe just a second had passed, but the moment his consciousness regained clarity, Shard abruptly lifted his head.

He gasped for air, rising straight from the edge of the bed in the darkness. The swift transition between Dream and reality plunged him into brief mental confusion, but he quickly sorted out all the details.

Instead of speaking to the doctor immediately, he once again extended his hand to touch the sleeping Kinwis's head.

After a brief moment:

[No trace of Demon Power exists.]

"Was I purified in the Dream?"

Somewhat disappointedly, he withdrew his arm, and the doctor, now awake, did the same, reaching out to touch Kinwis's head. In the darkness, it was hard for Shard to see Dr. Schneider's expression clearly.

"Very good, he's still asleep, and he won't remember that we appeared in his Dream when he wakes up. This Dream adventure went very smoothly, Shard. As expected, when I act together with you, the chances of encountering unexpected events are reduced."

The doctor said smiling, handing over the three gradually dimming white crystals that now sat in his palm, looking like diamonds:

"Here's what you wanted."

Shard nodded, it seemed that things had indeed come to an end. He needed to notify Luviya quickly that Daknis had already arrived in the city:

"Doctor, I only need two crystals; you can keep the remaining one."

"No no, although casting 'Psychic Shockwave' only requires two crystals, if we encounter an opponent with extremely strong Psychic Power, the Psychic Crystals might crack under the blowback of arcane technique, so it's better to be prepared with an extra one."

The two rose from their seats, restored the bedroom's furnishings to their original state, and cautiously left the house once they confirmed that Kinwis was still sleeping.

"As these Spellcasting Materials require contact with the fingers, I suggest you find a coppersmith or a blacksmith to set these three crystals into a ring. Dream crystals are very solid and extremely heat resistant, so you don't have to worry about them being damaged."

The doctor offered his sound advice, and after they took off their gloves and shoe covers in the hall, they opened the door a crack to check that no one was in the gloomy Black Horn Alley before they stepped out together.

Standing on the step and closing the door, turning the knob to make sure it was locked, they then returned from Black Horn Alley to Lewis Street. Although a long time seemed to have passed in the Dream, only about forty minutes had elapsed since they had entered Luther Kinwis's house.

The time had come to midnight, and although the gas lamps on the street were lit, there was nobody around, making it quite deserted. Breathing in the slightly cold air of the late summer night, Shard felt very good:

"Doctor, thank you for everything this time. This operation really opened my eyes."

"It's nothing, just a minor affair."

Walking along the street side, the standing lamps cast alternating lights and shadows.

Although Dr. Schneider was somewhat proud, he did not show it; the blue-eyed middle-aged psychologist remained very composed.

"However, I noticed that you were actually able to bring things from the Dream into reality."

Shard said, holding the three crystals, as the two planned to leave the area and then find a carriage.

"Psychic Crystal itself is a material that lies between reality and illusion, and through certain means, it's quite easy to transfer them into reality,"

whispered the doctor.

Just then, two terrifying green points of light appeared on the street ahead. But upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a cat crouched in the shadows, staring at Shard. As Shard and the doctor approached, the stray cat ran off along the wall.

"The world of dreams is quite magical, and in dreams, it's possible to hide things. Not only materials like Psychic Crystals but some arcane techniques related to the mind can even store any real existing material inside one's own Dream."

Since it was casual conversation, the doctor didn't mind explaining more to Shard.

Shard nodded:

"Then, Doctor, this arcane technique of hiding things in dreams, could it perhaps...Hmm?"

He suddenly stopped walking, his mouth slightly open as he stared wide-eyed and froze in place.

The summer night's breeze brushed his skin, and by the lamplight, insects danced in their final moments of life. It was as if a bolt of lightning had struck Shard's head, and goosebumps even appeared on his arms.

"Hiding things in dreams?"

Before he realized what he had thought of, he first realized he had realized something important.