Chapter 1298 - The Swallowed Reality (2/2)

“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!”