Chapter 28: They Think They Are Still Alive

The red moon hung high.

In the desolate, frigid wilderness, a mutated monster lay in a pool of blood, its body a mangled mess. The scales on its hide glinted with the cold moonlight, yet patches of exposed skin revealed that it had once been human.

Hermione picked up the condensed characteristic and searched the corpse and its surroundings for any possible relics. However, having wandered the wasteland for far too long, the creature yielded no objects that could confirm its identity.

Yet, having witnessed the monster’s behavior during their brief struggle, Hermione realized it had once been a "Mind Reader" Beyonder.

"Two years ago, a wandering human capable of interpreting others' psyches arrived at the tribe. Our philosophies didn't align, so he merely exchanged some supplies and continued on his way..."

Utilizing the power of "Dragon Scales," Hermione smashed a large pit into the earth with her bare hands. As she buried the creature, she sighed, "I never imagined he wouldn't make it very far..."

A fallen one from the "Visionary" pathway dying in such a place was no coincidence; Hermione, aware of what lay ahead, knew this well. It was a manifestation of the law of Beyonder characteristic convergence.

"We are not far from the destination now..." Hermione brushed the soil and withered twigs from her clothes and looked toward Amanises. "I must rely on you for the road ahead."

The darkness only made Amanises’ vision clearer. Her gaze pierced through the mist ahead, and her expression grew slightly solemn. Within the ruins of the human tribe ahead, she sensed the aura of divinity, however faint it might be to her spiritual perception.

As they pressed on, traces of human life began to emerge. Crossing a fence that had rotted beyond recognition amidst the thickets, a cluster of silent, low-lying stone houses appeared before them.

Hermione’s gaze swept over the surroundings with a hint of nostalgia. "This was once a fairly large human tribe, also under the protection of the Giants. Before I reached adulthood, I accompanied the tribe’s then-living 'Councilor,' old Mr. Marr, to visit this place many times."

"Their leader, known as the 'Mentor,' was a powerful Beyonder with the ability to perform 'Psychological Inculcation.' Mr. Marr brought me here when I was young to seek guidance from that predecessor, and I benefited greatly."

Her eyes drifted to the human skeletons on the ground, arranged in a strange, deliberate pattern. Suppressing her fluctuating emotions, she pointed in the direction that stirred her intuition and sought confirmation from Amanises. "Over there... is there something unusual?"

Amanises nodded. "Yes. But there are quite a number of vengeful spirits ahead."

Hermione’s eyes deepened. Activating her Spirit Vision, she saw the blurred, spectral figures that barely maintained their human forms. A dense mass of spirits.

They were the humans of the tribe who had once lived here.

The vengeful spirits were performing a strange, rigid dance in unison, and then, with perfect synchronization, they plunged their arms into their own throats—reaching in to an impossible depth.

Then, as if pulling something out from within, they performed a vague motion that Hermione could not quite discern.

Amanises, seemingly seeing the scene with far greater clarity than Hermione, said faintly:

"These lingering spirits are repeating their final moments."

"They believe they are still alive."

"Judging by these remnants, it aligns with the 'Mental Plague'—a psychic manipulation ability of the Mind Dragons that drives large groups to insanity."

Hermione exhaled softly and said in a gentle tone, "Can you... 'lay them to rest'?"

The night deepened. Countless black specks diffused throughout the area, gathering into a river. The rising darkness surged like water, submerging the spirits' ankles, legs, and ribs...

The spirits ceased their eerie, repetitive motions. They looked at one another in vacant confusion, a flicker of emotion seemingly stirring in their hollow eyes. But as the dark river engulfed them completely, the spirits dissolved into the shadows.

The black tide did not vanish; it surged toward the depths.

Following the wake of the dark tide, Hermione walked toward the place that tugged at her mind. In the center of what had been the tribe’s square, she saw a dragon.

A gray-white dragon with an incomplete body.

A sudden headache blurred Hermione’s vision; a thirst rising from the depths of her heart threw her consciousness into chaos, and a sense of dread crawled from the base of her spine to the rest of her body.

Yet, under the influence of some mysterious power, these sensations were not enough to drive Hermione into madness. A cool, firm hand grasped her wrist, and the soothing power brought her comfort and calm.

The gray-white dragon’s golden vertical pupils opened and fixed upon Hermione. It fluttered its tattered, membrane-covered wings, assuming a predatory stance.

Hermione murmured softly, "So she really was here... But why, after all these years, did she not leave? Is she still alive..."

"Her mind... can hardly be called alive; only the body retains a certain level of activity."

Amanises frowned as she observed the strange state of the gray dragon, keeping a close watch on its movements. "Its physical state is dire—a sign of prolonged starvation. And now, it is showing clear signs of predatory hunger. However..."

Amanises paused. "Its desire to fight is directed entirely at me."

The gaunt, gray-white dragon suddenly soared upward. Fine, hard dragon scales grew and erupted from its gray skin like steel, carrying a maddening psychic fluctuation as it lunged toward Amanises.

"Alien! Die!"

In a trance, Hermione heard a familiar, ethereal female voice, though it was but a lingering obsession echoing across time.

Amanises did not even strike. She sighed lightly, for the sudden exertion had exhausted the very last thread of vitality within the gray dragon’s body.

Before the massive dragon could reach Amanises, its body shattered into crystalline fragments, like a giant, broken crystal.

Seeing this, Hermione parted her lips slightly, but in the end, she only sighed with a complex expression.

"Other passing transcendent creatures have been killed by its death throes before," Amanises said, scanning the surroundings. "But it is quite a coincidence; this was its final outburst. Had a creature without divinity approached, the sheer psychic madness would have been enough to drive them to suicide."

"There are traces of a human here—is this the 'Mentor' of the tribe you mentioned?" Amanises looked at Hermione with mild curiosity.