Chapter 46: Blood-Red Eyes in the Abyssal Night

Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Blood-Red Eyes in the Abyssal Night

Jeremy tried to mobilize his magic power to forcibly escape the dreamscape space, but only a few faint sparks flickered at his fingertips before extinguishing.

Even disconnecting his consciousness was completely ineffective. In this bizarre dimension, he could not cast any forbidden spells; the only thing he could summon was his Sacred Weapon.

Sensing the invisible pressure surrounding him, Jeremy frowned. It seemed that in a situation where the dream master’s realm was significantly higher, he could only bide his time and wait until the magic circle’s effect expired to escape.

Without any hesitation, he withdrew his defensive stance and decisively plopped down onto the cold ground.

The space sank into silence for about ten minutes, until a shrill burst of laughter suddenly tore through his eardrums. The rough, grating sound was like thousands of sharp thorns scratching against glass, making one’s scalp tingle with numbness.

Amidst the pitch-black, eternal night, the temperature plummeted so deeply that his breath turned to vapor. Combined with that ear-piercing sound, it all created a suffocatingly oppressive pressure.

Jeremy narrowed his eyes slightly, the muscles across his entire body unconsciously tensing. Whose dream was this, after all, to exude such dark, resentful energy?

Originally, he had no interest in prying into other people’s secrets, but...

The moment the tip of Jeremy’s shoe moved, it struck a stiff, rough object rolling underfoot. He bent down and, relying on the darkness, picked it up.

Based on its shape and cold, coarse texture, it was a bone.

Not just one. All around him, scattered everywhere were piles of dry bone fragments. Jeremy maintained his indifferent expression and slowly stood up. With every step he took, a chilling crunch echoed as the bone fragments were crushed beneath his heels.

The atmosphere was truly too sinister. Just standing in one place waiting caused a sense of irritation to rise in his chest, so Jeremy decisively groped his way forward, following the direction of those bizarre sounds.

It was unclear how long he had walked, but finally, a faint glimmer of light appeared before his eyes. It reflected from an architectural structure that looked like the only "door" existing within this spatial realm. Although the surroundings were still swallowed by darkness, thanks to that feeble light, he could clearly see the general layout.

However, the moment he stepped through the door of light, Jeremy’s pupils contracted slightly. His footsteps froze in place.

Behind the door lay an imprisonment realm exactly like a purgatorial abyss. Countless pitch-black demons, wearing twisted faces, shrieked and swarmed, packing the area tightly in all directions.

And right in the center, atop a mountain built from tens of thousands of stark white bones, a young man in white clothes was kneeling on the ground. The youth’s broad but emaciated shoulders were pierced by massive iron chains. The chains exuding an evil chill pinned his limbs down securely, with every link sinking into his flesh and hooking deep into his marrow.

The youth slumped his head against the mountain of corpses. Right at the position of his heart, a pitch-black iron nail pierced through his chest; the mangled flesh and skin around it were being fought over and gnawed on by the demons to the point of a bloody mess.

The light was already flickering weakly, yet it deliberately avoided the youth’s spot, not sharing a single ray of warmth. The youth’s entire face and body were obscured by the ferocious swarm of demons crowding around, making it impossible for Jeremy to clearly see the boy’s appearance. If not for the flat chest and the masculine muscular contours faintly visible beneath that tattered, bleeding layer of clothing, Jeremy would have found it hard to distinguish the person’s gender.

The hair color was entangled in black mist, blending into the darkness. At this moment, besides extreme shock, a sharp flash of curiosity sparked in Jeremy’s mind. Whose nightmare... was this, after all?

Pale light condensed in his palm, and the Sacred Weapon in the form of twin blades instantly materialized. Jeremy gripped the hilts tightly, intending to launch himself up and eradicate the demons blocking his view, but the moment the blades glinted, the dreamscape space suddenly shook violently.

It was collapsing. No... more accurately, Jeremy’s magic circle had reached its time limit.

Yet, right at this perilous, hair’s-breadth moment...

Just on the verge of the world completely shattering, the youth atop the mountain of bones abruptly lifted his head. Jeremy held his breath, perfectly capturing a pair of eyes as brilliantly red as a wild beast’s blood.

Within those eyes, there was not even a half-ripple of pain or fear. There was only an endless dead silence, a bone-deep coldness, and the ruthlessness of someone who had long considered hell their home. It was a calmness so profound that it sent chills down one’s spine.

"!"

Jeremy jolted awake.

His temples throbbed in waves, and his breathing became rapid. He realized his entire body’s muscles had grown rigid at some point, and his forehead and back were drenched in a layer of cold sweat. His sharp eyes glanced at the desk cluttered with magic diagrams, and Jeremy pushed his hands against the edge of the table to leverage himself up, his tall figure striding straight toward the bathroom.

It wasn’t until he soaked himself in the bathtub, letting the warm water submerge his firm chest and dispel the clammy coldness clinging to his skin, that the nameless, creeping dread gradually subsided.

Jeremy reached up to sweep his soaking wet hair back, rubbing his forehead vigorously. He tried to rummage through every detail he had just witnessed, but bizarrely enough, the images that were already obscured in the dim light faded away as quickly as mist after he escaped the dream.

Even now, the only thing still seared into his mind was that pair of lifeless, blood-red eyes.

Damn it... who on earth was it?

Red eyes... could it be Phoenix? Or was it another student who had accidentally resonated within this dormitory area?

That scene was truly far too realistic, so vivid that it absolutely could not be a normal, spontaneous dream. A sliver of undissolved pressure still lingered in Jeremy’s heart. Unfortunately, the time was too short, and he was completely unable to determine that person’s identity.

Intertwining thoughts ran wild, and he stayed up the entire night just like that.

The next morning, Jeremy brought faint dark circles under his eyes as he went to gather with his teammates. While walking, his gaze quietly swept over the side of Phoenix’s face, assessing every miniscule reaction.

There were no changes. Phoenix was still as taciturn and quiet as every other day. It seemed it wasn’t Phoenix.

On the way into the teleportation system to the Floating Island, Evelyn, walking beside him, had long noticed the low air pressure radiating from Jeremy. She stayed silent for a moment before speaking up frankly: "Your condition doesn’t look very good."

Jeremy raised his hand to gently rub his aching eye sockets, his voice slightly hoarse from a lack of sleep, completely having no intention of hiding it: "I stayed up all night practicing the dream-entering magic circle. I don’t know which lunatic’s nightmare I accidentally connected to, but it ruined my sleep for the whole night."

A nightmare?

Evelyn recalled the knowledge about magic circles that Professor Griffin had explained a few days ago, somewhat understanding the cause of the captain’s fatigue.

Lucius, walking behind, heard this and immediately stepped up to walk parallel with them, slightly tilting his head to look at Jeremy. Lucius smirked, dropping a teasing remark that carried a bit of admiration: "With the captain being this hardworking, how are we supposed to live?"

Jeremy glanced at Lucius, the corners of his lips curling up slightly: "You can try to surpass me and see. Come to think of it, when you guys practiced the dream-entering magic circle, did you experience a situation where your memories blurred, making you unable to remember the details clearly after waking up?"

Evelyn nodded: "Yes, but I could still remember the general progression."

Leon, walking with his arms crossed beside them, indifferently added: "A dream is a projection of someone else’s deepest consciousness. It’s a normal rule for you to be rejected and unable to retain your memories."

Phoenix and Lucius remained silent; it seemed the two of them hadn’t tested this type of magic yet.

Jeremy gave a low hum of acknowledgment: "As long as it’s normal."

No matter what, it was just an illusion of someone else’s mind. Even if Jeremy dug out that person’s identity, apart from satisfying his curiosity, it wouldn’t bring any benefit. Having thought it through, Jeremy instantly withdrew all superfluous emotions, his eyes returning to their usual cold, sharp look as he focused his entire spirit on today’s life-and-death match.

In the waiting area under the grandstand, Jeremy’s group was drawn for the second match. This empty time gap was enough for them to discuss their tactics.

Today’s opponent was the Light Wing Team belonging to the Omnia Department. Captain Anona, possessing Sacred Covenant number 99, had currently reached the Tier One Seven-Star realm. The remaining four members included three Spirit Covenant bearers and one Sacred Covenant bearer, all of whom were at the six-star level.

Judging on paper and by average strength, the Light Wing Team completely crushed them.