vncnus Page 130
Page 130
“That’s right.” Mino nodded with a confident expression.
"The Demon Clan's operation this time is destined to end in failure."
……
The pitch-black, even night blanketed the entire continent.
In the dead of night, even the giant dragons on the pure white ice peaks are fast asleep, draped in ice and snow.
The ocean, interwoven with countless subconscious thoughts and dreams, appears more vibrant than ever under the moonlight. A dimension that is both ethereal and real exists, running parallel to the stars of past dynasties, forms an ideal kingdom.
The dream dimension.
The silvery-white mirror reflects a mesmerizing luster, and the bronze frame seems to connect to a world, where the illusory figure of the Nightmare Mirror coalesces and solidifies.
Upon entering, the Nightmare Mirror cautiously and warily surveyed the surrounding dreamscape, fearing it might be accidentally blown away by some mysterious "wish" power.
Seeing that this dimension of the dream was still familiar, the Nightmare Mirror finally breathed a sigh of relief:
“Swell’s plan is correct. All we need to do next is to insert the dream memories into Saint Lena’s dream.”
With this in mind, the Nightmare Mirror activated its power of dreams, causing it to float upwards continuously.
The dream dimension has no concept of distance; instead, it is like a pyramid. The more spiritually powerful a human or other race is, the more difficult it is to invade the dream they create, but it is also located at the top of the dimension, making it easy to lock onto.
Soon, the Nightmare Mirror located Lena's dream area, a cold and desolate dreamscape encased in layers of dense ice, exuding an aura that kept strangers at bay.
Ordinary dream creatures would be frozen into ice shards at the slightest touch of cold, but the Nightmare Mirror seemed somewhat relaxed at this moment:
"As expected, the saintess's spirit suffered a severe backlash. These ice layers have extremely fine cracks, making them incredibly easy to penetrate... Wait, what's going on with this dream?"
The Nightmare Mirror gazed with some confusion into the depths of the ice layer. For some reason, it seemed to be able to see a faint, lingering pink color within it.
Logically speaking, this should only occur in dreams filled with joy and happiness.
"Oh, I know!"
The Nightmare Mirror suddenly understood something and confidently asserted, "This must be the disguise color of the Saintess's dream!"
"Hehehe, this saintess is indeed not in a good state right now, actually putting on such a crude disguise..." The Nightmare Mirror chuckled a few times: "Is she trying to mislead me into thinking that she is suffering from the backlash of positive emotions? How naive!"
No matter how you look at it, it's impossible for that legendary Ice Saintess to have such a strong positive emotion in her dreams, right?
"Never mind that, the important thing is to infuse the dream!"
The mirror of the Dream Mirror rippled, and the phantom of a videotape quickly materialized. Remembering the strategist's prior instructions, it activated the Dream Authority, making some minor modifications to the videotape:
Altering memories is more likely to reveal flaws, but right now the Nightmare Mirror is just adding a small filter to the outer layer of memories, making the whole memory look more sentimental, which will not be noticed.
"Don't blame me, Ice Saintess."
Looking ominously at Lena's dream before him, the Nightmare Mirror pushed the videotape into Lena's dream like a small card through the cracks in the layers of ice.
"Blame it on Mino the hero's unreserved feelings for you, and that heartfelt... message."
……
Holy Church.
The starlight shone through the cracks in the stone bricks, casting a faint glow into the dark basement.
Inside the ice hockey puck, clear water gently enveloped the serene-faced woman, flowing through every strand of her crystalline hair and continuously melting the icy shell that imprisoned the girl.
Just as Pope Brad had predicted, after exhausting the resources he had accumulated over most of his life, he finally pulled Ice Heart back from the brink of death, and even the backlash had been largely alleviated.
Inside the ice hockey puck, Saint Lena's eyelashes trembled slightly, and the ice-blue gem on her chest slowly began to glow for the first time, seemingly about to pierce through the boundary between dreams and reality—
In a pure white dream space.
"Holy Maiden... I... I'm not dead?"
At her chest, the Ice Heart flickered with a somewhat confused light. Upon seeing this, Lena was immediately overjoyed: "Ice Heart, you're awake!"
The dreamlike mist surrounding her gradually thinned, and Iceheart's spirits lifted: "This is... the feeling of the backlash being lifted... Saintess, you actually succeeded? You didn't give up for nothing!!!"
Iceheart was somewhat incredulous. Just recently, it had almost been "amused" to death by Saintess Lena, but when it woke up, it not only won the revival match, but was also about to be freed from the backlash?!
I wouldn't even dare to do that in my wildest dreams!!!
"I don't know." Lena's cheeks were still slightly flushed, but her eyes were now somewhat clear:
"I felt like I was under a 'sage's spell just now, my emotions became incredibly calm, and even seeing the dream memories with Mino didn't excite me. How strange?"
"It would be strange if I were excited!" Iceheart retorted, then looked around, feeling the herbal power gradually dissipate, and breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"That damned Pope Brad! I almost, almost died at his hands! He must be getting old and his mind's gone senile, right? Your Grace, listen to me—"
Somewhat worried about Saintess Lena's mental instability, Iceheart quickly recounted what she had just noticed to Lena:
"So... those dreams you saw were all distorted by the power of emotions!!! They're not facts at all!"
Lena's eyes widened instantly: "What? This...this is impossible!"
She wanted to rekindle her "love-struck" state, but it was suppressed by the "wise state" formed by the source of the artifact. With her mind clear, Lena quickly came to the conclusion that what Ice Heart said was very likely true!
"So Mino didn't actually fall in love with me at first sight, nor did it develop feelings over time?" Lena touched her face, looking somewhat confused, a hint of disappointment flashing in her eyes.
No, Lena quickly shook her head, suppressing the various thoughts swirling in her mind.
Isn't this exactly what she wanted? Mino still has a bright future ahead of him; she can't let him ruin himself with a moment of impulsiveness!
After all, their relationship... is an extremely taboo subject.
"It's even quite possible that the fact that the hero Mino likes you is a fabrication by the demons!"
Seizing the opportunity, Ice Heart quickly added, "Think about it, from beginning to end, did Mino the Warrior ever explicitly say 'he likes you'?"
"Hmm, it seems not?" Lena paused for a moment, then suddenly came to a conclusion.
Cracks spread throughout the entire dream with a rumbling sound. Ice Heart knew that this was the result of a large amount of negative emotions surging in Lena's heart, but this was for the best. Only by removing the strong emotional imprints left by the backlash could they completely break their self-seal!
For now, all they can do is give their own owners a little blow.
"That's exactly what I'm saying, Saintess! Men are all big jerks!" Ice Heart seduced her with all her might: "Men who don't explicitly confess their feelings are all big jerks! Mino... is the same!"
"He's probably already lost in the idyllic dreams of the Demon King's castle, completely oblivious to everything else!"
Iceheart began to slander her master, even though she knew that the Hero of Light couldn't possibly be that kind of person. But at this moment, these words were undoubtedly the biggest blow to her master!
"Impossible, he wouldn't do that!" Lena blurted out instinctively, but then her expression turned disappointed.
That’s the expression!
Ice Heart gradually became agitated; this was the expression it wanted to see!
It could sense that the dream was about to shatter, at which point both it and Lena would truly awaken! — Mino, you can no longer harm the Holy Maiden!
"Admit it, Your Majesty," Ice Heart said gently, offering a final word of advice, "No matter how much you immerse yourself in your beautiful dream, those memories are distorted."
"In your own memories and dreams, everything is..."
Zi la la.
An unusual sound of gears turning suddenly descended from the crack in the sky.
"This is... an invasion of external dreams? What's going on?!"
Ice Heart looked up at the sky, and the entire gem suddenly froze. From the sky, an enormous videotape fell down.
The outer layer of the dream exuded a familiar yet strange aura. Ice Heart knew very well that it was a part that did not belong to Lena's own dream, but at this moment it was stuffed in like an uninvited guest!
More importantly, as the videotape fell, the fragmented space reacted instinctively, activating the last remaining power of dreams and playing back the memories stored on the tape—
An unprecedented clarity of memory enveloped Saint Lena and the Pure Heart.
Within the dream world, Lena raised her head somewhat blankly, looking at the figure before her, whose face now appeared exceptionally handsome. An incredible light shone in her eyes… At this moment, even she didn't understand the meaning behind the light in her eyes; she simply gazed at the figure and murmured softly:
"Mino..."
The aura of the dream spread out, and Iceheart and Lena, who had experienced countless times, accurately judged that this was also a dream formed from memories: the purest, unaltered true memories!
What will it be in my memory...?
The simple tent could not keep out the wind and sand. Mino, dressed in full armor, sat upright at the wooden table with bright eyes that shone with a piercing light.
I don't know what he was thinking, but a rare hint of softness appeared on his resolute face.
Speaking softly to the air:
"If tomorrow really is the final battle across the entire territory... I really want to see her right now."
The final battle across the entire territory... Lena's heart skipped a beat. She immediately realized that this was Mino's memory on the eve of the final battle, the day before she was captured by the demons!
Who did Mino say he wanted to see? His parents? His sister Shana? Or... her?
Lena's body trembled slightly as she looked at Mino's tender face. She subconsciously tried to dispel the possibility in her heart, but her whole body was burning hot, as if some of the emotions she had not been able to get rid of were still lingering inside her!
Lena knew that this was "love".
As she was about to wake up from the dream, she could no longer deceive her own feelings... Lena's snow-white shoulders trembled slightly, and her "wise state" was constantly wavering. A faint doubt rose weakly from her heart... Even so, why had Mino never said "I like you" to her in person?
Lena looked up at Mino's face with some fear, but her heart suddenly skipped a beat.
On that bright and handsome face, there was not personal affection, but a strong belief and the courage to face death!
A flicker of painful struggle crossed Mino's eyes, but then her tone became as firm as iron:
"No, the victory of humanity is the most important thing, and I can endure anything for that!"
"Even if I have to keep this most important secret to myself, I absolutely cannot let it be exposed!" Mino said firmly, clenching his fists.
boom--!
It felt like countless bolts of lightning flashed through her mind. Lena's eyes widened suddenly, her heart pierced by this unexpected answer!
Is that really the case?
Tears welled up in her eyes, and Lena covered her mouth, feeling deeply ashamed of her earlier doubts. Her composure, as if struck by a heavy truck, began to crumble.
She's still too superficial!
She almost forgot that besides their childhood friendship, Mino and she shared an even more important identity: a hero and a saintess!
Mino was worried that if he revealed his true feelings, it would seriously affect the mutual support between the hero and the saintess, allowing the demons to find a crack in their relationship and bring harm to humanity!
For this reason, he did not hesitate to sacrifice his personal feelings, hiding the sincere feelings that had been brewing for more than ten years in his heart without ever showing any trace in front of her!
"That idiot, that idiot!" Lena, like a happy little girl, kept wiping away her tears, her eyes filled with tenderness: "How could he know I didn't want to if he didn't ask?"