Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 816 - 815: Contamination

The boundless darkness surged up, as if a dreamless sleep.

Yet deep within this darkness, suddenly, a warm and steady beam of light appeared, creating a small refuge.

Within the area illuminated by the light, the figure of Selena Gerfen emerged, surrounded by swaying grass blades and unknown flowers on a small patch of ground.

Selena furrowed her brow, looking at the flowers and grass beneath her feet. She couldn’t discern where she was from this tiny glow—it might be a corner of a garden lawn, or a vacant lot behind some building, or even a vast prairie, darkness obscured the overall truth, the light of the dream lantern only allowed her to glimpse the narrow space within five meters around her.

The giant Supreme Narrator like a mountain was gone, that eerie "Duvalt" was gone, the abandoned plains were gone, and even the Wanderers from Outer Realm were gone.

Selena had a slight realization—her mind seemed to be trapped in the prison of deep consciousness.

She just didn’t know what was happening on Gawain’s side... As a powerful Supreme Narrator, He shouldn’t be trapped by such a situation, right?

Selena slightly raised the lantern in her hand, trying to see further away, but the darkness seemed like a tangible curtain shrouding the surroundings, without any retreat.

Suddenly, Duvalt’s voice came from the darkness:

"Do you see it... To us, this is what our world initially looked like..."

Selena held the lantern, and with the other hand quickly sketched the magic symbols to protect her mind, she vigilantly observed around, yet saw no one, only the voice continued coming—

"Limited truth... limited world... limited reality...

"We were born, reproduced, developed on the stage you preset. We cultivated, built, we created, researched, we had our heroes, our stories, our Kings and Knights, our wise scholars and hardworking people...

"We lived peacefully and joyfully on this stage, loyally following the script to survive, we once thought ourselves lucky and abundant—but that was only because we were far from the border of this box.

"Before touching the barrier, no one realized we were prisoners of this world.

"Great Creator, have you felt it, felt the feeling when we first opened our eyes and saw this world... this little bit of light lets you see the grass and flowers beneath your feet, and you can optimistically imagine a vast prairie outside, but in reality?

"The light of civilization expands, beyond darkness... there’s nothing!!"

Suddenly, the curtain of darkness surrounding Selena dispersed, the radiance emitted by the dream lantern became brighter than ever, within that suddenly expanded light, the range that Selena could see rapidly increased, she saw the scene far away from the patch of lawn beneath her feet, and saw things she hadn’t seen before—

A cage, an incredibly giant birdcage, with a small patch of lawn laid inside at the bottom, she stood in the center of this birdcage, just a few more steps forward, she would bump into the dense bars.

Outside the bars was an absolute void.

Selena quietly listened to the voice coming from the darkness, quietly observed the birdcage that trapped her within, breaking the silence softly: "So, you harbor resentment..."

"No, we harbor gratitude... because at least, you created this world, at least, you allowed us to survive and reproduce here for a thousand years... But great Creator, to step out of the cage is the instinct of every intelligent life, have you ever considered this..."

"Actually, you could have gone out," Selena suddenly said, "this is just a stage test, the testers within the sandbox merely had their memories erased, you actually have your own life and identity in the real world, if we had known earlier that being trapped inside caused such severe psychological issues, this test could be ended..."

"No, you still don’t understand..." The voice in the darkness gradually became icy, Selena saw many dark red gleams emerge in the distance, then those gleams pieced together countless eyes, behind the eyes surfaced a gigantic spider body, she saw a divine spider as enormous as a mountain and endless webs appear outside the birdcage, that "God" with eight limbs approached the birdcage, overlooking herself inside, "Of course, you might understand, just making some futile attempts, but none of this matters anymore.

"Today, everything will end, the Creator will sleep within this dream, the creation will leave its cradle, we will eventually see the true sunlight, and then, the story will come to an end..."

That enormous spider deity turned its body, its long limbs gliding along, seemingly prepared to leave, Selena couldn’t help but shout in the birdcage: "Wait!

"What are you... Who are you? Are you Duvalt? Or the Supreme Narrator? Or something else?"

The spider deity paused its steps briefly, spoke in a low murmur: "We are Duvalt... We are also the Supreme Narrator... When gods go mad, Their human nature and divine nature separate, and we... are the part of His humanity."

After answering Selena’s question, this mountain-like spider slowly stepped forward, along the web spread in darkness, moving step by step towards the distance.

"Stop! You cannot enter the real world!" Selena shouted in the birdcage, "Listen, you have no idea the consequences of doing so! A god directly descending into reality would kill countless people, your mere existence would lead to an unmanageable disaster!

"Moreover, you yourself would struggle to survive in the real world, supporting your existence is the dream of mortals, you are a god living within dreams, this is destined!

"And how do you plan to enter reality? All passages are sealed, the Wanderers from Outer Realm have made ready their arrangements, you..."

She spoke half-truth, half-deceit; she did not hope to truly stop the other side with this, merely hoped to delay that awakened deity through words, slowing Its steps, gaining some time for Gawain, who was somewhere unknown—

She couldn’t see where Gawain was, not even sensing the slightest trace of his presence, but she firmly believed that as an "Outland Wanderer," Gawain could not be trapped as easily as she was. He might be gathering strength somewhere, preparing to deliver a truly fatal blow to the Supreme Narrator, and at this moment, the only thing she could do to help might be to delay time.

But the Supreme Narrator interrupted her, the deep murmurs seemed to come from all directions:

"We no longer care, Creator.

"Perhaps you are right, but remember, human nature is the most irrational.

"As for the ’Outland Wanderer’ you mentioned... ah, so that’s the name of that peculiar existence... unfortunately, he is indeed powerful, very peculiar, but he was the first one we eroded because we perceived his threat from the beginning.

"Erosion started long ago, when you arrived at that woven city-state, when you explored The Temple. Our night visits were a crucial part of the erosion.

"Give up hope, Creator, the hope you relied upon no longer exists, assimilation is complete, the mind of the one you called ’Outland Wanderer’ has long since dissolved in this darkness."

"What..." Selena stared in shock, even the light from the portable lamp in her hand dimmed slightly, yet from the tone of the giant spider, she couldn’t detect any bluffing or deliberate deception—and considering her current imprisonment, there seemed to be no need for the other party to lie further, which finally made her tense.

"You are nervous and disappointed, understandable," the spider God said softly, "It’s unfortunate for us too; he was a very interesting individual whom we couldn’t understand, but we must eliminate all..."

"Eliminating all threats is a good habit."

Another voice suddenly came from the darkness, cutting off the Supreme Narrator.

The voice was deep and slightly noisy, mixed with many different languages, yet its core was clear and distinct. To Selena, it was all too familiar—that was Gawain’s voice!

Suddenly, an extra light appeared in the darkness outside the birdcage, seemingly cast by an invisible moon, reflecting a new land outside the birdcage, web, and deity. A tall and sturdy figure stood upon that land, between Selena Gerfen and the Supreme Narrator!

Selena stared at the figure in shock, but found the "Outland Wanderer’s" state very strange. She saw Gawain entwined with wisps of dark smoke and flames, with additional shadows continuously emerging around him. The scene was eerie and somewhat frightening, but the aura from that tall figure was unmistakably—Gawain, the "Outland Wanderer."

"Why do you still exist?!" The mountainous spider God finally showed a hint of surprise, the red glow near its head suddenly focused entirely on Gawain, "You were clearly eroded and assimilated, your mind... how can you still exist?!"

"Ah, indeed the pollution is quite severe, look at my current state... might even be enough to scare Betty to tears." Encased in black smoke and flames, with shadows continuously emerging around him, Gawain glanced down at his body, his tone rather calm. Meanwhile, the strange marks of pollution on his body also receded at a speed visible to the naked eye as he spoke!

Duvalt’s voice became increasingly astonished: "You... are devouring them..."

"One thousand five hundred and twenty-three years of history, one thousand five hundred and twenty-three years... indeed a long time..." The "foreign pollution" on Gawain quickly dissolved, as he slowly raised his head and looked the Supreme Narrator’s enormous head in the eye, his tone seemed more contemplative, "Must not have been easy, huh?"

Then he shook his head: "Unfortunately, to me, it’s still too brief."

"Enough, we don’t need any surprises!"

The Supreme Narrator Duvalt seemed finally provoked by Gawain, and with an aura that could seemingly tear the entire space apart, an enormous limb raised high, crashing toward Gawain’s head, its pressure and momentum unparalleled to the earlier form transformed into the spider creature on the abandoned plains—

It seemed capable of piercing through the entire world, slicing the border between reality and illusion.

However, the limb strangely halted just one meter away from Gawain.

Then, countless pale golden cracks quickly spread over the entire limb and began to extend upwards.

The Supreme Narrator’s massive body shook violently on the web, seeming that two conflicting forces unexpectedly appeared within it, vying for domination over this physical form. Under this terrible conflict, its surface gradually became covered with more splits, as if it might shatter at any moment!

"What is happening... what did you do..."

Selena heard that "deity" exclaiming, the mental pollution from its cries made her head throb painfully, forcing her to use the full power of the dream lantern to barely maintain herself. She heard Gawain’s calm voice arise, regret tinging his tone—

"Young deity, you are too young; I, a mere mortal, am craftier than you think...

"I let you pollute me on purpose."

Thunder-like voice resounded: "What did you say?!"

"On purpose," Gawain lifted his head, quietly watching as the body of the Supreme Narrator slowly cracked in his vision, "Because some things can only be done by opening the door wide.

"If I don’t accept your pollution, how can I pollute you?"

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