Chapter 16: The Sea in the Dream

"Where the hell are you flying off to!?"

She's certainly loud, Salser thought silently, yet she possesses an exceptional figure, and even her soul faithfully reflects that.

As she said this, the soaked Inquisitor lay upon the back of the Dark wizard, whose skin was covered in a thin layer of scales. The bone-chilling sea wind felt like a thousand dull, worn-out knives, pouring into her mouth as she spoke, piercing through her lapel, and scraping at her neck, causing Jeanne to shudder uncontrollably. Salser's bat-like wings, spanning over two meters wide when spread, flapped rhythmically in the air, gliding above the vast expanse of the gray-black sea. The entire sky was shrouded in low, swirling black clouds, and in the distance, a dozen silent sea tornadoes slowly moved—yes—silent, for this eerie place was completely dead quiet. The only sound that could be heard was their voices.

Salser could sense the immense pressure emanating from this strange ocean and the oppressive presence of the swirling clouds that dominated his field of vision. It was as though a giant painting was subtly altering its colors and shapes, piece by piece, poised to persist until the end of time, patiently awaiting his plunge into its depths.

Hopefully, the passage of time within this dream aligns with that of the Warren, I don't want to linger here for too long.

He had no desire to serve as a free mount in this place either, but the corridor inside dream was constantly collapsing. Consequently, when they were forced to open one of the doors to investigate, the corridor disappeared, and the whole world changed—they directly fell into this bitterly cold sea.

Of course—to be precise, it was Jeanne who plunged into the sea. His soul had long been half-demonic, and after spreading his wings, he hung directly in the air.

Afterwards, the drenched Jeanne climbed up Salser's tail and held onto his back.

"I've made a rough estimation of our current situation," the Dark wizard said, ignoring her complaints. "Firstly, this Warren itself might be overlapping between dreams and reality, explaining the presence of those bizarre creatures. Secondly, should we fall asleep here, our souls would likewise descend into the dreams of others. I'm uncertain, however, whether this dream is a manifestation of the collective consciousness of numerous individuals or..." 

As he spoke, he swooped rapidly over the sea surface, his dark red hair instantly smearing all over Jeanne's face. He looked around, the dark horizon was like the mouth of a giant beast, the swirling clouds above constantly rotating, and countless sea tornadoes stretching to the end of his vision. Here, Salser saw no sun, only the dark sea surface emitting a dim, subtle, and almost imperceptible light.

"Dark wizard, I'm freezing my ass off here! Can you slow down a bit!?"

He scoffed, thinking, does your coldness have any goddamn thing to do with me?  "Please, you were the one who insisted on climbing aboard just now. Do you think I'm a free mount? Are you seeking additional services? If you're displeased, dismount and swim on your own,"

"Shut up, it's your duty as a subordinate."

Her tone was really natural when she said that.

Salser turned his neck with a clack, thinking, how shameless can you be? "I've never heard of an Inquisitor requiring a guardian knight as a free mount."

"What a coincidence, I've never heard of a half-demonic Dark wizard crashing into a Church knight's body," she sneered.

"Well, here's one right in front of you."

"Heh, and here's one in front of you too," she laugh grimly.

Salser, with a darken face, dove into the sea.

"I'm going to kill you! You half-demon bastard!" After emerging from the sea again, the Inquisitor, who had a mouthful of icy seawater, spat it all over his neck along with her saliva. She reached out, grabbed the Dark wizard's forked tongue, and pulled it to a length of nearly a hand.

This foolish woman!

With a splash, Salser, while spinning, plunged into the sea with the Inquisitor on his back, like an old eagle just got shot down by a hunter.

This time, he was pulled down from behind by Jeanne.

...

She was floating, her stomach full of salty seawater.

Jeanne gasped and woke up, the world seemed to have submerged her, the corridor undulating beneath her. A cat's back brushed against her face, a bit painful, and she instinctively spat out seawater onto the ground, her mouth tasting like vomit.

"You fool..." Salser also woke up, supporting his forehead. He sat up against the wall, his tone full of displeasure, "How on earth have you managed to survive until now?"

How have I survived until now?

Her light golden pupils looked Salser up and down, then she replied, "By carrying out the justice of the Lord and leading the slaughter of all cultists and dangerous heretics."

"Did your head also get waterlogged when you fell into the sea? That's not what I asked," Salser spat. "Now, my tongue is injured from being pulled by your hand, what do you think that means?"

"What does your tongue being injured have to do with me?" Jeanne changed her expression, sarcastically saying.

"It means that the injuries sustained in the dream reflect in this Warren, you fool!" Salser stuck out his tongue—not the forked demonic long tongue, but a human one, with a few fading finger marks—pointing at it, "Your finger marks are still evident on it, did you think you were playing tug-of-war?"

Jeanne snorted, she put the cat on the ground, stood up, and stretched her stiff limbs—partly because she had lain on the hard floor for too long, and partly because the chill from falling into the sea in the dream was still spreading over her body. After a while, the Inquisitor reluctantly said, "I'll try to pull it more gently next time,"

"Do you intend to fucking pull again!?"

At this moment, the cat named Viola stood up, trying not to make a sound. But Salser and Jeanne still noticed it was awake. It walked between the Dark wizard and the Inquisitor, looked at him for a while, then at the Inquisitor. Then it hesitated and opened its mouth, as if it wanted to comment on the situation:

"Um..."

"Don’t you dare saying any nonsense about this, I'll butcher you."

The malicious tone made Viola shudder, and it obediently shut its mouth.

"Lead the way," Salser crouched down, his hand on the black cat's back, staring into its eyes, "Now we will proceed to kill the Master of the house, I am in urgent need of souls and materials to advance the demonization of this body."

The mind control spell quickly took effect, Viola nodded, then began to lead them.

...

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