The powerful Shadows of Nightmares—transformed popes of the past and evil force born from Lockmarton’s insanity—as well as their psychic attacks, which were enough to bring down an entire army, had lost their effects because they had chosen the wrong opponent: Noobie. Hao Ren found this explanation incredible.
However, Hao Ren could not find a more credible elucidation than this. Nonetheless, the more he thought of it, the more sense it made. Noobie may have been a weakling, but she was evil through and through. She was hand-picked by the goddess with that cornstarch-glue brain of hers. Hao Ren even speculated that those infected by the Shadows of Nightmares were in better shape than Noobie. It was unnecessary to psychologically attack an already messed up mind.
The outcome was as clear as day: the Shadow of Nightmares were the ones that lost their minds.
Despite that, Hao Ren also had another theory: the outcome of the battle had nothing to do with the Noobie’s mental state, but everything to do with the Malevolence’s nature. As part of Vivian’s contaminated blood, Noobie and Lockmarton’s existence had to be related.
However, all of this was mere speculation.
When the smoke dispersed and the power of Chaos receded, those who fell into a frenzy earlier began to regain their sanity. Hao Ren struggled to hang on to Noobie and ignored her protests. He went up to Calaxus and asked, “How’s it going?”
“Still alive.” Calaxus panted. His voice was filled with grief as he looked at three of his compatriots— a senior knight and two senior clergies. Their eyes were wide opened, and there was a creepy smile on their faces as they lay lifelessly on the ground. Their turbid eyes suggested that their souls were gone.
Among Lily’s guards, an ogre had also fallen.
Hao Ren had done his best to keep those people under his protection, but casualties were inevitable.
“May the goddess bless these pure souls,” Calaxus recited a brief prayer. He then put his negative thoughts behind him and got to his feet. “No one will stop us again. Umm, what is that?”
The senior monk saw the tiny Malevolence that waved and growled threateningly in Hao Ren’s hands.
“Her name is Noobie.” Hao Ren could not think of a better name. “She is my, umm, partner. Yeah, partner, sort of. She came in through a portal and happened to reverse the tide of the battle. Please don’t ask for details as it’s too complicated to explain.”
Noobie had noticed Calaxus, and she bared her fangs at him. “Ghsss! Biubiu!”
Dumbfounded, Calaxus struck off the corrosive energy bolts that Noobie fired at him.
Hao Ren looked into the crowd, searching for someone he had been concerned about all this time.
A voice rang out behind him. “I’m here.”
Hao Ren looked back and saw Lady Gloom. The mysterious woman sounded calm and physically steady; she seemed unaffected by the psychic attacks. Apparently, she had been standing there unscathed since the beginning.
Hao Ren downplayed his sense of doubts regarding this woman and nodded at her. He then turned and continued his journey to the platform above Asurmen through the devastated garden. Everyone followed.
From the garden, they did not encounter any more obstacles along the way.
The Basilica Icon was unusually quiet. After they climbed to the second floor, the negative energy seemed to disappear altogether as if the attack in the garden earlier was just an illusion. The only thing that reminded Hao Ren of the attack was the annoying “biubiubiu” sound coming from Noobie.
The fact that the attacks only happened in the garden on the lower floor, and not in other places worried Hao Ren.
If Lockmarton or his minions were using the Basilica Icon as a seedbed for spawning dark monsters and an obstacle, then that would explain the quietness on the upper level. Lockmarton had completed some preliminary work and abandoned the place.
It was smooth sailing all the way to the platform.
“Here it is.” Calaxus stood on the sky bridge, which connected the two towers. He pointed at the edge of the arc-shaped platform. It was attached to the sky bridge where Pope Auguste VII used to stand, looking at the dimming sacred mount of Asurmen and ordering him to seek hope in the mainland of Ansu. Now, the investigation team had returned upon completing its mission, but everything was different. Destruction and a missing pope were the only things left. Even this sacred platform was shrouded in darkness. “We can summon the gatekeeper here, but I don’t know if she will appear. If she doesn’t, we will have to break into the magic circle below the platform and maybe open the passage to Asurmen. But that would also guarantee that we will not be able to enter Asurmen in the future.”
Hao Ren did not approach the platform. Instead, he turned to look at Lady Gloom, who was silent. “If my guess is right, you should have something to say.”
Lady Gloom’s hood moved slightly, but she still did not say anything. She went up to the platform, and after a while, she finally spoke, “The gatekeeper will be here. She has always been good at saving herself.”
Just as Lady Gloom’s voice trailed off, a light appeared on the platform, followed by a white robe, vague face, and the figure of a young woman. The woman spoke with an ethereal voice, “Saving ourselves is our the priority of our mission.”
“Long time no see, Number One.” Lady Gloom nodded slightly.
“Life in the human world has changed your way of thinking,” said the woman in the white light. “We are always connected. You shouldn’t say long time no see, Number Two.”
Calaxus and others were confused, but Hao Ren had anticipated this. Lady Gloom finally took down her hood. Shortly after, her cloak flickered as if it were a phantom and gradually disappeared.
Under the hood was not a body but a phantom in the form of thin mist and blue light.
Other than the different colors of the light and mist, which made up her body, Lady Gloom was almost identical to the gatekeeper. They had the same energy form, fuzzy face, “body” height and shape, as well as clothing style. They were like replicas of each other.
Calaxus’ jaw dropped to the ground. “You… You are…”
“I am Asurmen,” Lady Gloom looked back. Her face of light and mist was devoid of emotion. The only things that moved on her face were the mechanized lights. Lady Gloom pointed at the gatekeeper in the white light and said, “She is also Asurmen.”
“Both of you are the consciousness of Asurmen?” Lily asked curiously.
“No, Asurmen’s consciousness is still lying in the will hub. We are just the backup copies,” Lady Gloom said. There was a large amount of light dots blinking on her body, and the same was also happening to the gatekeeper, as though they both were exchanging data and resonating with each other. “We simulate your form of being to communicate with you.”
“Backup copies.” Hao Ren nodded as he began to understand. He knew the concept better than Calaxus. “The gatekeeper stayed in Asurmen, while Lady Gloom traveled the worldly kingdoms; it was to ensure the safety of the data.”
“It’s our mission to save ourselves,” the gatekeeper said in a mechanical tone. “Backups must be stored in different places.”
Lady Gloom nodded her head gently. “But now, the situation has changed. The highest-level protocol is in effect, therefore the backup copy must return to the core and get ready to reboot the host.”
“Host? What host?” Calaxus was puzzled.
“We don’t have time to explain,” the gatekeeper interrupted Calaxus. “The intruders have entered the deep layer. Some of my functions have been compromised. I cannot stop them. You must enter Asurmen to intercept them. Number Two, my function is damaged. You need to take over the subsequent operation from me.”
As she said this, the gatekeeper’s light dimmed. Lady Gloom stepped forward and took over from the gatekeeper to open the portal to the interior of the sacred mountain. Calaxus was stunned. “Intruders? Someone has broken into the sacred mountain?”
“They are heading to the final protocol zone,” said the gatekeeper. All of a sudden, her image flickered wildly. After a few seconds, the flickering stopped, but she became dimmer than before. “Correction: interception failed. The intruders have entered the last protocol zone, and the will hub is locked. A reboot is required. Number Two, now it is your turn to take charge.”
After she said that, the gatekeeper dimmed further, crumbled, and finally disappeared.
Meanwhile, a portal appeared in front of Lady Gloom. On the other side of the portal, a crystal chamber was within view.
Calaxus and his men were still plagued by confusion as the sudden revelation of the crystal mount’s secrets had stunned them. But Hao Ren knew what to do. He clapped his hands together, which woke everyone up, and he drew his weapons. “Let’s go!”
At the same time, within the sacred crystal mountain of Asurmen, the barrier made of crystals and light shattered.
Three figures lunged out from the smoke and dust produced by the shattered barrier.
Running at the front was the pope of the Sanctum, Auguste VII.
However, the once majestic and avuncular old man had changed. His face was twisted with black lines all over, and blood veins seemed to be bursting out of his skin. He was also inhaling black smoke and sparks like those from burning sulfur. The pope’s swelled body had almost torn his robe apart, and his right hand was holding a strange sword.
The sword was black and oddly-shaped. It was unlike a blade but more like an irregular fragment. There were no other patterns on the blade except light spots that moved like stars. It seemed like a piece of cosmic debris!
