Embers of Embers

Chapter 159 False and Real
This is an endless nightmare. No matter which door is opened, there is still an endless corridor behind it, constantly extending forward, with no end in sight.
The two of them were in a huge maze, and they could only keep running around, trying to find the way out.
The secret blood was surging and boiling, but Lorenzo did not use all his strength. This moment was different from before. He was now carrying Seleu, who was almost incapacitated.
Even after fighting against demons to this day, humans still know very little about demons, and even only understand a very basic part of them.
In the records of the Demon Hunting Order, demons do not have a specific form. They appear in a variety of strange ways, but demons that appear in twisted human shapes are the most common, and they are also the ordinary demons that demon hunters come into contact with the most.
Of course, there are also many demons other than humanoids with different abilities and characteristics, such as the plant-like stomach grass, and the nightmare fantasy that Lorenzo is facing now.
To be precise, the nightmare illusion is an abnormal phenomenon. Human beings in this range will be corroded, hallucinate, fall into a deep sleep, and then be transformed into monsters in dreams.
The demon that brought about this abnormal phenomenon is called the Dream Builder. Only by killing it can this weird illusion end.
"There's no hound, there's no curse, it's just the devil."
Lorenzo jumped to the conclusion.
Ordinary people will not know the existence of demons, just like ignorant believers who blame all these "abnormalities" on unknown gods and curses.
Seleu made a meaningless sound, she hugged Lorenzo's neck, breathing a little quickly.
Lorenzo could feel the heat of his breath coming from his chin, and the girl curled up in his arms like a small animal. This feeling was like picking up a cat on a snowy day, but the problem is that you and Your cat won't be able to return to a warm house, and you are now likely to die in this delusional hallucination.
Now Lorenzo can't feel any so-called beauty, only extremely anxious and angry.
Although he is a demon hunter, there are some demons that Lorenzo has rarely encountered, such as the Dream Builder who can bring about nightmares.
For this special monster, Lorenzo had only seen it in the records of the religious order. Except for this time, he had encountered it during the operation in End Town, but at that time he was only in a dream, and after waking up There is no such weird illusion.
But now this hallucination has transcended the dream and reached reality. This has not been recorded in the book. Lorenzo is only unfamiliar with this, and has never been troublesome before.
Of course, this is not the most troublesome thing. With Lorenzo's ability, in this hallucination, at most the demons can't kill him, and he can't find a way out.
But now the continuous erosion is shrouding this place. The demon hunter with secret blood may be fine, but Seleu in his arms is different. After the Florund potion expires, she becomes in danger.
"Stay awake Seleu! Don't fall asleep again. I only have one damn potion."
He shook the girl vigorously. She squinted her eyes and looked drowsy.
This is really a difficult situation, he hugged Seleu and ran wildly on the endless road.
Lorenzo suddenly remembered the so-called world after death. It was the same, unable to move in any direction and having no end, trapped in it and struggling for eternity.
If you think about it carefully, it is really sad. There is no complete peace and no real relief.
Seleu let out a low cry of pain, she seemed a little bit overwhelmed.
But before Lorenzo could do anything, there was a sudden dog barking, and a pair of scarlet eyes were staring at him at the end of the long corridor, and then in the approaching steps, a hound came out from the darkness , exuding the unknown and ominous.
"The Hound of the Baskervilles..."
Lorenzo whispered the curse and tightened his grip on the sword in his hand.
But the hound didn't attack, just looked at him from a distance, and then a noisy sound sounded.
Something is coming, with urgent calls and steps, like a flock of wildly dancing crows covering this place. The sound becomes more and more intense, coming from all directions, and finally becomes a sharp torrent.
It was the barking of dogs, countless hounds roaring, and their voices converged into a wave.
In the endless corridor, all the doors opened at the same time, and all the sounds became clear. It was the sound of chaotic footsteps. The hounds were running towards here, and then countless hounds poured out. The door came towards Lorenzo.
There was no way out, no matter moving forward or retreating, there were countless hounds. Lorenzo hugged the girl in his arms tightly, his thoughts racing.
This is different from the illusion of the nightmare he knew, the dream was lifted but the hallucinations still existed...or did Lorenzo not come out of the dream at all?
Lorenzo subconsciously clenched the knight sword in his hand. During his time in the Demon Hunting Order, he had been trained in dreams. As long as he knew that he was in a dream, it would be much easier to leave.
Just kill yourself.
But he still had some hesitation, was this really a dream?
What is real and what is unreal.
Lorenzo still remembered the hallucinations he had when he left the Perpetual Pump. After leaving the demon's [gap], his will was severely damaged. Although he was not affected by the erosion, he had many hallucinations.
This made him misjudge reality.
If this is a dream that has not yet come out, then Lorenzo only needs to kill himself to wake up... But what if it is not?What if this is an illusion in the real world?In this case, Lorenzo killed himself with a sword and almost dragged himself into a desperate situation.
Or... the second dream?
The bone-piercing cold swept over his body, and his blood became cold.
No, this is wrong. It was Seliu who fell into the dream. Did he directly encounter the current hallucination, or...
Lorenzo looked at Seleu in his arms, what if it was a dream from the beginning?
From the beginning, from the very beginning, Lorenzo has been trapped in a dream, and he has been trapped in a dream since the conversation with Seleu.
Yes, Lorenzo had already fallen into a dream at some inadvertent moment, and everything now was illusory.
But is the girl in front of me real or illusory?
Lorenzo began to hesitate, illusion and reality were confused together, it was difficult for him to judge.
"Then think about it differently, Lorenzo, you can do it."
Lorenzo talked to himself, as if he could convince himself with it.
The hounds were getting closer, leaving Lorenzo little time to make a decision.
So if it's not a dream, what if this is an illusion that occurs in the real world?
This illusion can only change one's own perception, but it cannot change the real material. In other words, this corridor is not as endless as seen, it has an end. It is just that the illusion misleads one's perception. Maybe what he just experienced Just standing still.
"Seliu, it depends on this time whether you live or die."
Lorenzo whispered.
Seliu didn't respond. She seemed to have a fever and her forehead was hot.
The hounds had arrived, hundreds of them, hungry for flesh.
Lorenzo could use the rising pure flame to destroy the hounds in front of him, but he couldn't protect Seleu in his arms, so he made a decision.
"I will kill you."
Looking fiercely at the hound with red eyes at the end, the witcher jumped out of the window with the girl in his arms the next second, and the broken glass cut the world into countless pieces.
Under the two of them was the endless abyss, and then they fell rapidly under the pull of gravity, heading towards the untouchable bottom. After a few seconds, the knight's sword ruthlessly penetrated into the solid ground.
Feeling the touch from the tip of the sword, Lorenzo knew that he had guessed right, it was not a dream, this was an illusion that happened in the real world,
All that is just an illusion that misleads one's own perception, but it cannot modify the matter of the real world, and it cannot distort space. In other words, the seemingly endless abyss is just a background wall, but if you want to overcome that It's really not easy to feel fear.
Looking up, Lorenzo was already in the street. The street lights were on in unison, and the lights were dimmed in the slowly rising fog.
The giant whale-like airship was slowly cruising in the night sky, the steam was slowly emitting, and there were faint figures on the cold street, but they didn't seem to notice Lorenzo.
Behind him is Stuart's mansion, and it can be clearly seen that a window has been shattered, and Lorenzo jumped out of it just now.
There was no direct confrontation, just a momentary judgment, followed closely by fear. What would Lorenzo do if he really thought it was a dream and killed himself with a sword?
He breathed heavily, followed by vigilance from the bottom of his heart.
Lorenzo is doubting himself.
During that brief hesitation, he was doubting the reality of the world, doubting his own judgment, and doubting Seleu's authenticity.
This is one of the most frightening aspects of confrontation with demons. Self-doubt can crack a gap in the dam against fear, and that gap can become Lorenzo's Achilles' heel.
"I'm……"
Lorenzo chanted it repeatedly, like a magical spell.
It was his morning star, his beacon of sobriety in the midst of falsehood.
"I'm Lorenzo, Lorenzo Holmes."
He kept repeating the name, deepening the mark, and deepening it again, until blazing fire burned in the gray-blue eyes again.
"Lorenzo?"
Seleu slowly raised his head, looking at the demon hunter in front of him with eyes like water.
"Seleu, do you remember what you were doing when I first saw you?"
Lorenzo asked suddenly.
The girl was slightly dazed, as if she didn't understand why Lorenzo suddenly asked this.
Then the witcher laughed and couldn't help but shake his head.
"What a wonderful design..."
He looked down at the knight's sword stuck on the ground. Lorenzo's face was reflected on the sharp sword body. In the reflected world, he was standing behind Lorenzo.
Metanzo's appearance was somewhat similar to Lorenzo's. He looked at Lorenzo with a smile, as if the repeated spell had called him out.
"So this isn't some kind of dream and hallucination, right?"
It's not a dream, it's not a hallucination, it's a more subtle power, a power that Lorenzo doesn't yet understand.
he asked.
Medanzuo in the mirror nodded, and his two cheeks slowly overlapped, without any difference, as if they were the same person.
Then the world collapsed.
The power derived from the false Holy Grail destroyed all interference.
The cold snow swept over everything and dissipated together with the girl in Lorenzo's arms. He was in the cold ice field. The man sat on the bench and looked at him. Before he even had time to say hello to Lorenzo, a surge of emotions The waves smashed the ice and engulfed Lorenzo directly.
Accompanied by the melodious and profound whale cry on the seabed, the [gap] that eroded Lorenzo collapsed.
(End of this chapter)