Chapter 218: You’re Already in Such a State
Amidst an incessant BUZZZZZ ringing in his ears, Lloyd once again heard the indistinct, maddening whispers, along with several system prompts:
[Ding~ Large amounts of Forbidden Knowledge detected. Please remain lucid.]
[Ding~ Madness Value +????]
[Ding~ Madness Value +????]
[Ding~ Madness Value +????]
[Ding~ Skill Fragment +1]
[Ding~ Skill Fragment +1]
[Ding~ Skill Fragment +1]
With 150 points of Rationality to back him up, plus level 5 Dizziness Resistance, Lloyd wasn’t flustered.
He listened to the familiar ringing in his ears, endured the familiar, excruciating pain and dizziness in his mind, and looked at the familiar figures and scene before him. A strange smile crept across his lips, and he sighed with a hint of nostalgia.
"It really has been... a long time..."
"Bring it on!"
Then, a symbolic starry sky materialized before him. A stick figure was lying deep underground, in a world devoid of light, gazing upward.
Like looking up at heaven from hell.
After gazing upward for an unknowable length of time, the stick figure began to push aside the dirt and sand around it, staggering to its feet.
It tried to reach out, wanting to touch that starry sky, but the distance was too great; It was unreachable.
So It strained to reach, strained to grow taller, its form stretching infinitely until its head touched the clouds, until it could look down and survey all of creation.
But It was still just as far from that starry sky...
Then, the scene shifted. The giant stick figure, now immense enough to touch the sky, no longer seemed to gaze upward. Instead, It began to wander aimlessly across the ground.
As It walked, It saw a patch of giant, luscious mushrooms, so It bent down, plucked them, and put them in its mouth.
As It walked, It saw a swarm of disgusting, writhing crawlers, so It extended its foot and trampled them, grinding them into the dust.
As It walked, It saw a bizarre, twisting vortex, so It reached out its hand, crushed it, and absorbed it into its flesh.
The scene shifted once more. It seemed the giant stick figure could no longer find anything worthy of its attention. It ceased its wandering, ceased its gazing. It simply sat in place, enduring the world’s solitude and deathly silence.
Until one day, a shooting star streaked across the sky.
The giant stick figure finally raised its head once more, reaching a hand toward that star.
The vision ended abruptly there, just like those ancient, mural-style narratives—always without a clear beginning or end.
And the fragmented whispers in Lloyd’s ears had long since grown clear, high-pitched, resonant, and frenzied as the murals unfolded one by one.
"Praise the supreme and great existence! Cast aside Rationality with It and embrace... the madness our Lord desires. Do not hesitate, do not regret. That... is our Lord’s will. That... is our Destination..."
"Praise the supreme and great existence! Destroy Order with It and revel in... the chaos our Lord bestows. Cast off restraint, break all rules. That... is our Lord’s gift. That... is our glory..."
’Damn it, why is this getting so creepy? Just hearing it makes my blood run cold and sends shivers down my spine.’
Lloyd subconsciously shook his head, trying to dispel these increasingly bizarre and malevolent whispers.
But it was to no avail. The voices only grew more distinct, as sharp as a carving knife engraving themselves into the depths of his memory.
As he listened, the whispers no longer seemed so grating. Instead, Lloyd began to feel a sense of closeness and familiarity, even starting to murmur unconsciously:
"Fall into... the Abyss..."
"Touch... reality..."
Just then, Lloyd suddenly felt something soft and gentle slip into his hand. It felt like a small, warm fish lightly rubbing against his palm.
Then, a weak and frail voice, exceptionally gentle, reached his ears:
"Lord Uther... have you come to save me?"
In an instant, the whispers in his ears vanished like smoke, and his vision returned to normal.
Lloyd saw that Elolo had cracked her eyes open. Though her face was still pale and her lips were still tinged with blue, she was forcing a smile, her expression one of a tragic beauty that could break a person’s heart.
She was clearly so weak, yet she still put in the effort to reach out her small hand, scratching weakly at Lloyd’s palm in an attempt to help him.
"COUGH COUGH... You look... like you’re in a lot of pain... Does this... make you feel a little better? COUGH COUGH..."
’But you’re already in such a state yourself...’
A pang of heartache shot through Lloyd. He quickly bent down, gently wrapped his arms around her delicate body, and pressed his forehead against hers.
[Ding~ Madness Value +211]
[Ding~ Madness Value +314]
As his Madness Value jumped, Elolo’s condition visibly improved, and some color returned to her lovely face.
"Hee hee... Your embrace... is so warm."
She whispered softly in Lloyd’s ear.
Then she suddenly sensed something and exclaimed in alarm:
"Oh no! I think... they’ve found you! Quick! Hide under the covers!"
As she spoke, she used what little strength she had just recovered to hug Lloyd’s neck tightly, genuinely trying to stuff him under the blankets.
Obviously, such a childish act wouldn’t solve the actual problem.
Following a series of mechanical clicks and whirs from the door nearby, the heavy, airtight door was forced open from the outside. The robust figure of Miss Xiebeleida appeared in the doorway.
Then, in a mechanical tone, she said in a low voice:
"Detecting... threat... searching... for intruder..."
Meanwhile, on the adjacent balcony, another Miss Xiebeleida was clambering up like a gecko, blocking any potential escape route.
Next, several dull thuds echoed from the ceiling. Three large holes were smashed open with brute force. Amidst a spray of concrete debris, three more Miss Xiebeleidas leaped down from the openings, landing in a circle around Elolo’s small bed.
These Miss Xiebeleidas had the same face and the same figure, and their complexions were the same mechanical, ashen gray.
Elolo was stunned with fear and quickly shrank into Lloyd’s arms.
She had never imagined seeing five Miss Xiebeleidas all together like this.
Just then, she felt an unseen, warm hand gently ruffle her hair.
Although she couldn’t hear a voice, she could vaguely sense words, as if he were saying:
"Don’t be afraid..."
"Close your eyes."
Elolo obediently shut her eyes tight.
At that moment, the Miss Xiebeleidas, who had still been searching for the enemy, seemed to have discovered something and began to close in on Elolo.
Then, they heard a voice they shouldn’t have been able to hear, one filled with palpable, unrestrained fury.
"It seems you still don’t know what it means to court death!"