The sacrifice was complete, and death’s soul nightmare vanished into the air.
The Dream Realm gradually returned to normal with white fog spreading and the night sky looming, the only two stars shining brightly.
The disturbance caused by the sacrifice was no longer visible, but Rod keenly felt something different—a strange sense of oppression in his soul, as if some terrifying entity was approaching him.
He felt as if he had fallen into a dark wasteland, with countless eyes spying on him from the shadows, chilling to the bone, like needles in his back.
Rod clearly knew that the war with the Black Fog had begun.
If previously the Dream Realm had only been sneaking shots, it was now openly firing cannons.
The Book of Knowledge stared at the face of the Obelisk, its pages fluttering anxiously, with chaotic text jumping across the pages.
"No, no, no... don’t let the terrifying ones come, not the Great Demons either..."
The doll calmly said, "Book of Knowledge, don’t worry, the Source feedback is not that fast, we still have time."
The Book of Knowledge suddenly jumped up, its pages flying wildly.
"No need to tell me, there’s nothing beyond my predictions!"
Rod coughed and interrupted their argument, "I want to ask, is there an ultimate source of terror that, if eliminated, would cause Black Fog to disappear and the world to see the light again?"
The Book of Knowledge flipped a page, "I cannot precisely answer this question, as I cannot prove its existence or nonexistence."
"Then why do disturbances lead to invasions? Is the Black Fog sentient?"
The Book of Knowledge quickly wrote, "I don’t know. Searching for the root of the Black Fog and unlocking the secret of its existence has been the greatest challenge for millions of years."
"However, we spent thousands of years verifying that there is a mechanism called Source feedback within the Black Fog. Any disturbance caused by entities that threaten it will, over time and with increasing impact, feedback to the deepest part of Black Fog."
"Such feedback will continuously accumulate, and both disturbance and impact will intensify, awakening more and more indescribable entities, until we are finally annihilated."
Rod smiled, "It’s not necessarily us who will be annihilated."
The Book of Knowledge angrily said, "Our chance of winning is very small now! All because you believed some idiot’s advice!"
"The Dream Realm is a far greater existence than you think. In the past, we dealt an unprecedented strike to the Black Fog, even almost annihilated it. Therefore, in the Source feedback of the Black Fog, our memory persists, and any disturbance related to the Dream Realm triggers intense feedback."
It angrily slapped its pages, highly dissatisfied with Rod’s choice to believe the doll over it.
"Do you know the kind of existence we just sacrificed?"
"A powerful symbiote!"
Rod asked, "What is a symbiote?"
"For millions of years, countless powerful beings have been eroded, polluted, corrupted, decayed, but only monsters that have rotted to the extreme can be called symbiotes!"
"They are the terrifying guardians of the Black Fog, the darkest monsters, the most extreme and twisted beings."
"Do you understand what it means to fundamentally erase a symbiote with a special connection to the Black Fog by using the power of dreams?"
Rod calmly said, "It means we have enraged the entire Dark World, but so what? When we grow powerful, it will always be enraged anyway, and if we are always cautious and timid, we will never become powerful."
The Book of Knowledge flipped a page, but could not write anything.
For the first time, it realized that this peculiar master had an unimaginably different aspect.
The doll looked at its master, a faint divine light flashing in its dim eyes.
Rod smiled, "As the doll said, the world is falling into darkness, and we don’t have much time."
The Book of Knowledge suddenly jumped up, "That’s not what Aphro said, it plagiarized that! I actually knew it long before, I just deliberately didn’t say it."
"Alright, let’s hurry and put these soul dissociations in the storage."
"Right!" the Book of Knowledge commanded loudly, "Aphro, quickly collect these soul dissociations for me!"
The doll made no response and quietly began to move them.
The Book of Knowledge directed busily from here to there, "Be careful! These elements are very precious! If even a bit is missing, the master will dismantle you!"
It turned the page over, writing cautiously.
"Master, you must become stronger quickly. The souls from the nightmare have provided us with ample soul and resources. I suggest that your sacrifice was sensible, especially for that one Strong Source."
Rod curiously asked, "What use is it?"
The Book of Knowledge confidently said, "With the Strong Source, you can ignite the Great Star!"
"What is the Great Star?"
"A fundamentally stronger star, a tier above other stars, but requiring the support of other stars. With our current level, we have two Great Stars to choose from. We can skip the Soul Burner for now."
The Book of Knowledge ran to the soul side of the Obelisk, gently touched it, and the scene inside the soul side swiftly moved, stopping in front of two extinguished stars.