In Collow, Sanctum was undoubtedly the heart and sacred place of the goddess of creation. Almost everything in the land served its religious beliefs. The cathedral was the religious, cultural, and administrative center. The church was the source of education, the clergy was responsible for the management of Sanctum, while the religious building was the most magnificent and complex facility in the Theocracy.
The underground of the cathedral of Louen was not just a crypt but an oversized facility, an underground palace.
The bishop brought Hao Ren and the others came to the entrance of the underground palace, which was right behind the sanctuary, and then walking down a stone ramp and arrived at the underground part of the cathedral a few minutes later. Hao Ren saw a straight and wide corridor extending in front of him. On both sides of the hallway were more corridors and rooms. There was no sunlight here, but shimmering milky-white crystals inlaid on the walls illuminated this place, which was even brighter than the outside.
Almost all of the survivors, in large numbers, were in the underground palace. People, with a look of panic and horror on their faces, wrapped in clothes and blankets, surrounded by family members, were in the corridor. Most of the people had only a few carry-on luggage and small boxes, and some even had nothing. These people left their homes and evacuated in a hurry.
The survivors looked up when they noticed someone coming down from the surface — their eyes, even those of the children, were filled with curiosity, doubts, and nervousness.
“What happened here?” Calaxus could not help but mutter.
“The shield of Asurmen has disappeared, darkness rushed in, and the Nightmares quickly swallowed everyone in the sleep.” The middle-aged bishop who led the way said in a whisper. “Half of the people in the city became the seedbeds of the Nightmares overnight. When we realized what happened, it was too late. It was a strange incident. Your Holiness, His Holiness Holtzman will explain the incident to you.”
The group moved deeper into the underground palace corridor and finally arrived at a chapel. The sacred light of this chapel was still burning, its soft light filled shone through the window of the chapel out into the underground shelter.
In the chapel, an old archbishop, white-haired, was leading a few assistants to perform a sacred ceremony. After it ended, the archbishop turned his head around and saw Hao Ren and Calaxus.
“Cardinal Calaxus,” Archbishop Holtzman greeted. Holtzman was older than Calaxus, but in terms of official position, he was only an archbishop of a diocese, ranked lower to Cardinal Calaxus of Basilica Icon. “I know you and your investigation team. I was in the Basilica Icon when you set off,” Archbishop Holtzman said.
“Archbishop Holzman.” Calaxus nodded back. “I know you too. Your diligence and piety are highly acclaimed in Basilica Icon.
Calaxus briefly introduced Hao Ren, Lily, and Lady Gloom, but did not elaborate on their identities. The cardinal only guaranteed in the name of the goddess that the three of them were trustable allies. “Archbishop, what happened here? How Sanctum fell in just a month?”
“Everything happened quickly within a few days.” The old archbishop shook his head, his face paled. As Bishop Bernstein said earlier, the old archbishop seemed to have been mentally affected by the Nightmares and now was a little wilting. “In the month after your departure, the situation in Sanctum deteriorated, but it was not uncontrollable. Until seven days ago, things suddenly went out of hand.”
“What was going on?” Hao Ren looked somber.
“The light of Asurmen suddenly dimmed. Large holes appeared in the shield above Sanctum, from where the Chaos rushed in, causing massive casualties.” The old archbishop coughed violently. When the archbishop finally calmed down, he continued. “We managed to push back the first wave of attacks. The ecclesiastical guards paid a high price before destroying the monster of Chaos that came through the holes in the shield, and barely keeping the shield working again. But in the evening, we have encountered another wave of attacks. This time, it was unstoppable—it happened in the dream.
In dream–the words instantly registered in Hao Ren’s mind. It reminded him about the outposts wiped out by the Nightmares in the forest at the western front of Taros, and the Shadow of Nightmares that Lily had captured. “The people were mentally attacked in their sleep and then killing themselves after that?”
The old archbishop immediately turned his head. “How do you know that?”
“A similar thing happened on other continents.” Hao Ren briefly described the disasters of Nightmares at the border of Taros. “But I didn’t know the same thing has happened to Sanctum.”
“The nightmare attack we encountered is somewhat similar to what you have described, but it is not the same.” The old archbishop shook his head. “The Nightmares did invade the dream, but it did not cause mass casualties initially. Instead, it created a large number of soulless puppets, which eventually spilled over into the real world. I think you have already seen those things lurking on the outside in the square.”
“You mean those zombies?” Lily was wide-eyed.
“Zombies? No. They are not zombies.” The old archbishop glanced at Lily. “Those are not real-world beings; they are nightmares—the nightmares of Louen residents who have fallen into the world of nightmare.”
“Nightmare? What does it mean? You mean those are just an illusion?” Lily could not wrap her brain around.
“Things like phantoms walking and gradually affecting the real world. It will continuously blur the boundaries between reality and dreams,” the old archbishop said. “The first wave of nightmare attacks occurred late at night when we were exhausted and fell asleep after defeating the monsters of Chaos. You could imagine how terrible the consequences were. Most people were swallowed up by nightmares with almost no resistance, and those mentally strong enough to wake up and those who did not fall asleep for a variety of reasons accounted for less than one-tenth of those attacked. When we broke free from our dreams, we found that many people around us were still asleep. We were unable to wake them up no matter what we did. After that, shadows began to wander on the streets. Those were the Nightmares that the sleeping people released. They are similar to the host body, devoid of sanity, and could only wander around. Anyone who comes into contact with these shadows will be mentally infested and gradually becoming a new seedbed of the Nightmares. The Nightmares instantly controlled more than 80% of the city. We gathered all of the survivors and hid in the cathedral, unreachable by the power of the Nightmares. Here, we can sleep without worry.”
The old archbishop took a few deep breaths. He was weak and breathless, especially after conducting the blessing ceremony.
Calaxus had to keep on asking questions, unfortunately. “Are all survivors in this church? Are there any survivors out in the city?”
“I can’t say for sure if everyone is here, but at least 90% of them.” The old archbishop nodded. “We have been sending people to collect food and other resources while searching for survivors every day. At first, they found survivors occasionally. But as time goes by, there were fewer and fewer survivors found. No one could never sleep, and people who could persist until today are probably gone.”
“We saw some pedestrians who were seemingly in a hurry and did not look like the Nightmares on our way here. Many residents in the houses responded to us. Are those not survivors?” Hao Ren asked.
As if the old archbishop already anticipated this question, he immediately shook his head. “That is another nightmare—the nightmare of the city.”
Everyone looked at each other.
“Louen is an ancient city with thousands of years of history. We have been living here for generations; people are buried here. The old city is like a soul container, carrying the thoughts and memories of millions of people from different generations. These thoughts and memories settled and gave the ancient buildings and streets spirituality. The city still remembered its past glory. But when the Nightmares came, the thoughts and memories also fell into these shadows and were distorted into Nightmares.”
Hao Ren recalled what he saw and heard earlier—those shut houses, the fearful and hurried pedestrians, and the hostile and resentful voices. They were so real that they did not look like a dream.
But it was indeed a dream that took place in the real world.
The boundary between nightmares and reality had almost disappeared. If this trend continued, it would not be long before nightmares replaced the entire real world of Sanctum.
“What about Fidelinopolis?” Calaxus’ face was gloomy.
The old archbishop glanced at Calaxus. “This is what I’m going to tell you; a horrific thing happened to Fidelinopolis. As early as the first wave of attacks, Fidelinopolis had unilaterally stopped the magic link with all its lower-level churches. At that time, the Chaos had not yet broken through the shield, but Louen’s sacred crystal had not been able to receive the signal from Basilica Icon. We decided to take an immense risk by sending a reconnaissance team to check out the situation of Fidelinopolis. What we found was shocking: Fidelinopolis has disappeared out of thin air, leaving behind only a large piece of scorched sulfuric earth, and giant craters!”
