In the imperial capital, at midnight that may never end, the imperial capital of Golovin, shrouded in a huge gray-blue vortex, has become a paradise for monsters.

There was not a single living life between the ruins, only the icy howls of the surging tide of monsters, and the shells of the evil gods waving their tentacles and raging violently.

This kind of monster condensed by the power of the huge void and deformed often becomes a breakthrough for some void beings to break the barrier between the two realms, but now that the entire void has almost been swallowed up by the Holy Cross, all that remains are the "lonely souls and wild ghosts" that have long fallen.

And these huge monsters have become low-level monsters no different from rotting corpse demons, raging, ravaging everything they see, thirsting for all fresh flesh and blood.

In the dark ruins of the imperial capital, with the last bit of gray-blue light dissipating, the Royal Wizarding Academy, which had been holding on from the whirlpool, was finally breached.

After a bloody battle day and night, the instructors and apprentices in the academy had long since run out of oil, and the remaining materials had been squandered.

The arrival of the little wizard and his party gives them a glimmer of hope, but it also brings despair... The cost of recapturing the imperial capital was too high, and the emperor did not intend to use conventional means, but directly let the dragon burn the imperial capital to ashes.

It wasn't too surprising, but it was tantamount to telling them that what they had done until now was pointless, and that it was another reason for them to decide to die together.

After the last ice barrier finally became unsustainable and broke, the recalcitrant wizards of the Imperial Capital were quickly overwhelmed by the endless stream of rotting corpses, and there was no trace of them.

But these terrible screams did not make Serol feel any joy or joy;

On the contrary, all he has now is endless irritability.

There is really no good way to face the near-immortal Eckhart de Salion, or this empty shell that has connected himself to the power of the Holy Cross and the Holy Grail at the same time by his cleverness, and cannot completely open the barrier between the two realms.

Even if you kill him ten thousand times, this abominable bed bug will still resurrect ten thousand and one times and continue to disgust itself, like... That dog of the Holy Cross.

If nothing else interferes, Seliol doesn't really care about going on or even forever, until the vortex spreads and the world is eroded by the void - the biggest difference between the will in the void and the material world is that there is no concept of time.

Serol had waited for hundreds of years to plan all of this, and had even repeated all the possibilities in the void thousands of times, ten thousand times, and the slightest obstacle in front of him was not even within his consideration.

The real threat is Loren Torino.

That damn stranger hasn't shown up yet... No matter how dismissive Seliol was of his strength, the other Holy Grail in Loren's hand was something he couldn't ignore.

Without the two Holy Grails, he would not be able to truly open the barrier between the two realms, allow the two realms to truly merge, and destroy the foundation of the Holy Cross - unable to do this, even the Black Cross is nothing more than a fallen evil god.

And Seliol always felt that the empty shell in front of him with the consciousness of "Eckhart" was probably not just intended to hinder himself, but also had a purpose that he did not know.

“...... Only Your Majesty truly understands the world and has the power to lead this world to a better future......"

“...... He is the one who is qualified to rule this world, to become the faith of all the people of the empire and the whole world; should be crowned a god ......"

Seriel had not taken the bug's arrogant words to heart, but now it seemed that there might be a real need to be vigilant.

It can't go on like this!

"Boom ——!"

Billowing black fog rolled up around Eckhart, constantly trying to break through his defenses.

Eckhart's face changed slightly, and he swept away the black mist with his backhand, and his fingertips were inadvertently brushed by some black mist that had not had time to disperse, and his body trembled like an electric shock, and a terrifying and cruel scene flashed in his consciousness.

For beings in the void, consciousness is the body, and information is power—even if it is only a fleeting illusion, it is as if it is a desperate old woman desperately clutching her body, dying and howling.

A moment of stunned moments immediately revealed more flaws, and more black mist broke through Eckhart's defenses and invaded his body.

"Uh-huh——!!!!!"

Eckhart, whose face remained unchanged, staggered and forcibly controlled his body to stand still, while raising his arm to disperse the approaching black fog.

But... It's too late.

A steady stream of black mist had frantically torn through his body's defenses and poured into Eckhart's consciousness - the dead Eckhart's body was nothing more than an empty shell maintained by the power of the Holy Cross, and the consciousness that had not yet dissipated was his origin.

Even if you rely on the absolute laws of the material world, you can resist the invasion of the power of the void, but in the face of the power of the black cross, whether it is Eckhart or the Holy Cross... They can only be absolutely crushed, ant-level existences.

It is also the law of the Void World for the strong to override, to accommodate and even wantonly ravage the weak!

Countless horrific sights were like intertwined spider webs, and the black mist completely enveloped Eckhart's consciousness.

Standing in the dark, Eckhart, when he opened his eyes again, everything was ......

It's all still.

Eckhart found himself alone in the intact temple, and in the empty temple, the Black Cross Serol could no longer be found.

Dream World... This was not difficult to detect, and even Eckhart knew how it worked, and even how to escape from the dream world......

"Do you know the number of tiles in this temple?"

A familiar voice sounded behind him, and Rao is Eckhart couldn't help but tremble slightly.

He looked back and saw that the small figure standing in front of the temple door was staring at him indifferently, his hair as bright as fire neat and neat, and his red eyes as pure as jewels, unstained with dust.

"It couldn't be clearer. Eckhart responded indifferently.

"How is that possible?" Or Eckhart de Salion a few decades ago asked: "You can't see everything, no matter how much you remember, you will always forget when you see it." ”

"Then don't look at it. Eckhart shook his head: "In another way, you can know the total number of temple tiles." ”

"Open your eyes and the world is in front of you, close your eyes and you are the world. ”

"Really?" the boy blinked:

"But when I close my eyes, I can't see Grandmother Charlotte. ”

"Grandmother Charlotte, she's not here. ”

"Oh, where is that?"

"You know where she is. ”

Eckhart, who spoke in a low voice, was already trembling slightly: "Here... Not her deathbed. ”

"Ah, I remember. The boy suddenly woke up: "I saw with my own eyes that my father was kneeling in front of Charlotte's grandmother's bed, arguing with her grandmother. ”

"Yes, they quarreled, so much so that Grandmother fell asleep, and... And then just... Just ......"

"Just... How's it going......"

Eckhart's voice trembled... The moment this scene appeared, he understood Seliol's malicious intentions.

There are only two ways to escape the dream world, either brute-force it, kill the existence that created the dream world, or find its specially set "key".

With Eckhart's power, neither of the first two is possible... In the face of the void power of the Black Cross, even the Holy Cross is an existence that is crushed by the other party.

So, he had only a third way... Find the key.

And the key that Seliol has carefully designed is himself.

More precisely, to face the deepest memories of oneself, the most impactful and terrifying.

The deepest, the first "horror".

"It's the father... Killed his grandmother with his own hands. The boy pondered and recalled:

"And I watched from the sidelines, saw it with my own eyes and... There is no action. ”

"Not because of fear, excitement or fear, but because... Because my father was a weak man, my father was able to stabilize the turbulent empire under Charlotte's grandmother, because my father's mediocre intellect was easier... By me... Manipulating ......"

"I... Watching my father... Killed Charlotte's grandmother. ”

The boy seemed to be struggling to recall, and told terrible stories in a childish voice.

"But I still have my father, and I can't hear him when I'm so far away. ”

"Yes. Eckhart bowed slightly, and his cold hands and feet trembled slightly:

"So you're not here either. ”

"And where am I standing?"

"Don't you know where you stand?"

"I forgot, I went too late that day, and there were so many people when I went. ”

"No, there weren't many people going, and you can't count how many tiles there are in the temple. Eckhart shook his head, his expression bewildered and confused.

"Oh, I remember, there weren't many people going that day, but there were many, many outside the door. The boy suddenly realized: "It was my grandmother's funeral that day, and they were all standing outside the door. ”

"Why are they standing outside the door?"

"Because... Because... Because ......"

The boy's expression was lost in thought, as if the memories were caught in some kind of conflicting situation, as if the same thing had happened twice in a completely different way.

It can't happen twice with the same thing, so there must be one of them that is false, made up or imagined by the self at the time, and deceived the young self.

"My father just shouted to himself, and the men immediately parted and made way for themselves... This is the first time I've seen that happen. ”

An order was given to the forbidden people to get out of the way......

At that time, the people standing in the temple were already about to come out.

"So... Are they going to stand outside the door?" Eckhart, desperately trying to keep his composure, was trembling from head to toe at this moment.

The dream world is a divided realm of the void, and it is not the shell named Eckhart that is really trembling, but his consciousness and soul.

The fear of being taken straight to the deepest secret of my heart is no less than cutting out my heart!

"Because... Because they're too late. The boy reminisced desperately, like a dagger, stabbing into Eckhart's heart little by little.

"Because the people inside the door... Not wanting them to come in, they tried their best to keep all the people outside the door out and not let them in. ”

"Standing outside the door are people who don't want my father to succeed to the throne, and there are many people I know, as well as my relatives;"

"Standing inside the door are men who want my father to succeed him, and many whom I do not know, and my servants."

"The man outside the door is unarmed;"

"The men inside the door, fully armed;"

"People outside the door wanted to come in, but they were blocked by people inside the door, and they... Didn't come in, all outside the door... Fell asleep. ”

The young man's immature voice gradually became indifferent: "In their own blood, asleep." ”

"None of them managed to break in, father, Grandmother Charlotte... They are well protected by the people inside the door. ”

"They're safe. ”

Eckhart, who was trembling, bowed slightly, and he had to continue asking: "There are others... Do you know about this?"

The boy shook his head, his expression very convinced: "No one knows." ”

"Why?"

"Because the people who know are gone, the people inside the door, and those who are involved, they are gone. ”

"Charlotte's grandmother was asleep, and her father knew, but her father didn't dare to say it. ”

Eckhart nodded again: "So you came to the temple and met your father after all the dust had fallen. ”

"That's right. The boy nodded, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "I was the last to come, and by the time I came, it was all over, and when I arrived, my father was kneeling beside Grandmother Charlotte."

The people inside the door stood in order, and with a word from my father, he parted them and made a way for me. ”

Clenching his teeth, Eckhart, who could no longer maintain his composure, let out a low breath and spoke:

"So... Do you know the number of tiles in this temple?"

The young man nodded seriously and replied seriously: "I know." ”

"How do you know? You can't see everything. ”

"Then don't look at it, but in another way, you can know the total number of temple tiles. The boy spoke: "I just need to know that there is a pair of feet standing on each floor tile, so I just need to know how many people are in the door." ”

"And I know very well how many people are inside the door, because ......"

"It's me who got them here. ”

Poof——!

Eckhart, who woke up, was shocked, slowly lowered his head, and a black mist like substance turned into a spear, piercing through the heart in his chest and penetrating his back.

The body is just an empty shell, and what is really torn apart is the barrier that Eckhart has built with the power of the Holy Grail to protect the existence of his consciousness.

Now, he was almost powerless to resist in front of the power of the void in Seriel, and he could even feel the other party's power begin to erode his body, and the slightest raise of his hand could destroy his body!

"It's... That's the end. ”

The moment Seliol's words fell, Eckhart, who couldn't support it, finally fell to his knees.