The copy has 0 error tolerance, and the last words on the ground are all wrong for me.

Chapter 577 The Howler

Faced with Mary's unusual behavior, the scene instantly descended into chaos, and no one knew what had happened.

Only Auriel, who is naturally sensitive to mental energy and can even use telekinesis and mind-reading to some extent, was able to detect Mary's abnormality.

Auriel could sense that Mary was under immense mental pressure, which was causing Mary great pain and putting her at risk of a mental breakdown at any moment.

Even from an observer's perspective, without using her abilities to intervene, Auriel could sense the danger emanating from Mary and instinctively felt fear.

Looking at Mary floating in the air, her experience told her that the girl in front of her was doomed.

The other party will not only die, but may also bring great disaster.

Only one thought remained in her mind: escape!
Before the enemy loses control, slip into another underground passage, close the protective door, and escape as far away as possible.

But just as she was about to leave, looking at the pained Mary, a memory flashed through her mind, and she thought of her sister, Aura.

Aura possesses even greater talents than her, not only being able to read people's minds but also being able to forcibly control others to a certain extent.

Using this ability, Aura became a psychologist. Her forced psychological intervention was very effective; no matter how severe the mental illness, it could be cured under her command-style healing.

However, this ability comes at a price. When Aura helps patients with forced psychological counseling, she herself is also affected by the negative emotions of others.

Even with Auriel's help to soothe Aura's mind, the prolonged use of her abilities quickly led to Aura developing Bio-Net Dissolution Syndrome.

However, Aura died from a loss of control of her abilities before she could participate in the Lullaby Agreement.

At the time, her whole family was praying in church, and like Mary, Aura suddenly looked pained and almost lost control.

Auriel sensed the danger posed by Aura and froze in fear. By the time she calmed down, all the believers in the church had gone mad under Aura's influence, killing each other indiscriminately.

More than two hundred people, including her family, died in that chaos.

That's why she was determined to join the Lullaby Project, hoping to find a way to cure bioreticulosis.

Seeing Mary in pain, she abruptly pulled back the step she had already taken.

She pushed Dylan into the emergency exit, then rushed to Mary and hugged her, trying to alleviate the psychological pressure Mary was under as much as possible.

Auriel possessed great mental strength, but she proved utterly vulnerable to the pressure Mary, as the core of the Great Dream, had to endure.

She lasted less than ten seconds before her willpower was overwhelmed by the immense pressure.

But it was those ten seconds she gained that allowed Mary, in her brief moment of lucidity, to separate Nils from the grand dream, and to retain a portion of Mary's consciousness as a human being.

Thanks to Mary's restraint, the out-of-control Great Dream did not devour all the modifiers, allowing some of the more determined modifiers to avoid turning into flesh and blood monsters.

As Auriel's will gave out and she fell into a coma amidst the light of collapse, the visions in her mental world came to an end.

The visions in Auriel's mental world helped Wu Chang fill in the missing fragments of the story from the day of the incident.
When he searched the ground area of ​​the Central Research Institute earlier, he found no trace of Mary's presence, and there was no mention of Mary's movements in Niels's description.

It turns out that they split into two groups from the beginning. Niels went to the tenth floor of the research institute to take over the main tower of the Sky Tower, while Mary led people to infiltrate the data center from underground and take control of the underground area of ​​the Central Research Institute.

If all goes well, Niels and Mary, as the two cores of the Great Dream, one above the other, will unite their dream to permeate the entire Central Research Institute, making it the cornerstone of the Great Dream.

Unfortunately, Auriel and Dylan's actions dragged the Conservative Party into the fray, and the arrival of the regular army disrupted their plans, forcing Nils to forcibly activate the Great Dream.

Mary, who had been hiding in the secret passage, was directly out of control due to the uncontrolled grand dream.

Upon learning what had happened on Mary's side on the day of the incident, Wu Chang also understood the source of Auriel's psychological trauma.

During the ten seconds of greatest mental stress when the grand dream had just begun, she helped Mary relieve most of the pressure, which explains why she, as a person with mental specialties, was in such a bad state.

It has to be said that Dylan and Auriel were lucky to have met him.

If it were anyone else, they really wouldn't know what to do about Auriel's condition.

Auriel's problem is not just that her mind is on the verge of collapse; the negative emotions she once shared with Mary are now lurking within her, constantly undermining her mental well-being.

The destructive urges and negative emotions that the killing intent wave helped Auriel to release did not come from Auriel herself, but from the modifiers who had lost control in the Great Dream.

To cure Auriel, it is necessary not only to restore her mental state but also to eradicate the remaining negative emotions.

Let alone a player of the origin level like the killing intent fluctuation, even a being with divinity, if the divinity it possesses is not in the direction of the soul, even if a being as close as a mid-level god as Eileen takes action, it cannot save her soul from being shattered.

But when he discovered that the culprit behind Auriel's mental breakdown was not some hidden nightmare, but a pure psychological attack, everything became much easier.

He first exited Auriel's dream and communicated with the raven mentally, explaining Auriel's situation and his solution.

After confirming that it was feasible, he waved his hand to signal the killing intent wave to go out first.

Judging from Wu Chang's posture and the murderous intent emanating from him, he knew that his boss was about to use a trump card. He was very curious about what level his boss's trump card would be, but he understood the rules of the game, so he obediently left the building and did not try to spy on it in any way.

After sending out the killing intent, Wu Chang took out the Kunyuan Life-Protecting Lamp from his personal space, lit the wick, and handed it to Auriel.

The Kunyuan Life-Protecting Lamp can reduce all damage to the user, including mental damage. The moment Auriel got her hands on it, she felt much less burdened physically, and even her mind became clearer.

"What an amazing lantern! Its light seems to warm my spirit. Is this Professor Eugene's latest achievement?"

Wu Chang shook his head and said:
"This is not the power of technology, but a gift from the gods."

Upon hearing the word "god," Auriel frowned, unable to help but recall the day Aura lost control.

Inside the church at that time, nearly a thousand people were driven mad by Aura's power and fought each other. The tall statue in front of the church just silently looked down at everything, letting the blood flow like a river below, without the slightest change in its expression.

The divine blessing sounded more like a mockery to her.

Wu Chang could tell what Auriel was thinking from her expression, and he said:
"Don't misunderstand, the deity I'm referring to is the eternal light of my family, not those empty shells."

Auriel repeated softly:

"The Light of Eternal Purity?"

Looking at Auriel's curious expression, Wu Changdu wanted to give himself a thumbs up. Even while doing missions to save people, he didn't forget to spread his faith. If the Eternal Light Church had KPIs, he would definitely be the top seller.

He said:
"Once you regain your senses, I will take you to my Lord's church, and then you will understand."

"Now all you need to do is relax your mind and body and follow my instructions."

Aurelia closed her eyes, relaxed her body and mind, and entered a state similar to sleep.

Seeing that Auriel was ready, Wu Chang entered her mental world again.

This time, he used his talent of "Condensing Emptiness into Reality" to condense a body in Auriel's mental world. Then, he reversed the scene in the mental world, returning everything to the time when Auriel had just opened another underground passage and Mary had not yet lost control.

The visions of the inner world begin here, progressing forward along the path of experience. As Auriel helps Mary share the burden, holding on until the tenth second, and is about to faint from mental exhaustion, Wu Chang says:

"Don't stop, keep going."

The coma was Auriel's self-protection mechanism. She knew that if it continued, her mind would collapse, and she had to withdraw her power back into her body to protect herself.

Wu Chang's command conflicted with her judgment. After a brief hesitation, she chose to trust Wu Chang and continue to persevere, refusing to use her strength to resist the external mental impact.

The next moment, her consciousness was overwhelmed by overwhelming negative emotions, and she died on the spot.

With Auriel's spiritual death, the remaining negative emotions within her naturally dissipated.

Before Auriel's consciousness shattered, she realized Wu Chang's treatment method. Indeed, this would resolve the mental problems that had been troubling her.

But is it really the right treatment to kill the patient in order to make the pain disappear?

If she had just one more second, she would have at least offered her greetings to Wu Chang's family. But the moment she realized what was happening, she was already plunged into utter darkness.

Unbeknownst to Auriel, the flame of the Kun Yuan Protective Lamp in the real world entered her mind and settled between her eyebrows the instant her consciousness shattered.

"Item Skill: Life Protection" "Skill Description: While the wick is burning, if you are attacked with a fatal blow, you will be immune to that attack, clear all abnormal statuses, and restore 50% of your health and 50% of your stamina. Cooldown: One instance."

The Kunyuan Life-Protecting Lamp is Wu Chang's trump card for survival. If he had encountered Auriel as soon as he entered the dungeon, he would definitely not have been willing to use it.

But now that he has tested the upper limit of the dungeon's difficulty and knows that nothing can threaten him, he can use the Life Protection effect to save people.

Not only does it grant immunity to lethal attacks, but it also helps Auriel remove all abnormal statuses, making it a double insurance.

Seeing that Auriel's spirit was re-forming in the firelight, he left her mental world.

He sat on the sofa and waited. A few seconds later, Auriel, who had fallen into a deep sleep, suddenly sat up.

The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Wu Chang, the man who had caused her mental breakdown, and immediately began to curse:

"Son of the Beach, is this how you restored me..."

"Ugh?"

Halfway through her rant, Auriel abruptly stopped. She first touched herself, then mentally assessed her condition.

She discovered that she still had a physical body and had not become a soul. Not only was she alive, but her mind and body, which had been tormented by the mental attacks, had also greatly improved.

"I'm not dead? But I clearly felt my consciousness shatter completely just now."

Wu Chang was too lazy to argue with Auriel. He reached for the Kunyuan Life-Protecting Lamp and said:

"You're not mistaken. You just died once, but the divine power of the Eternal Light reunited your soul, giving you a new life."

“To be brought back to life was a privilege reserved for saints in the past.”

Aurelia was quite taken aback by Wu Chang's words and didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Wu Chang called in Killing Intent Wave, who looked at Auriel, who had recovered her health and gained ten pounds, and couldn't hide his surprise.

The leader of the secret passage was indeed extraordinary; this power was practically comparable to the resurrection of the dead.

Wu Chang said:

“I have other things to do. You stay here and continue with your task. Once you’ve completed it, take her to Jacques University to meet up with everyone.”

Just as he was rushing back to Jacques University to hand over the data from the eighth floor of the research institute to Professor Eugene, the dazed Auriel snapped out of her reverie and called out:
"Wait, the god you're talking about, does He really exist?"

Wu Chang turned to look at Auriel and said in an annoyed tone:

"The fact that you can stand here safely already answers that question."

Auriel took a deep breath and then said:
"Can I ask Him, or ask you to save another person?"

Wu Chang asked:

"Who?"

Auriel said:
"She said her name was Mary."

Wu Chang raised an eyebrow, and his gaze toward Auriel instantly became friendly.

Do you know where Mary is?

This time it was Auriel's turn to be surprised. She asked:

"You know Mary?"

Wu Chang said:

"Of course, she's not in good condition right now. Take me there quickly."

Auriel said somewhat awkwardly:

"I'm sorry, I don't know where she is, but she comes to see me every few days to chat. If possible, I would like you to wait here for her to come."

Just as Wu Chang was hesitating whether to agree, a surge of killing intent suddenly emanated from the side, who whispered:
“Boss, perhaps the Mary you’re talking about is the mysterious person who asked me to stay and take care of Auriel.”

"I just received a notification that the mission is complete. She is summoning me to give me a new mission. Follow me, and you might be able to find her."

Wu Chang was stunned for a moment, then realized that he should have thought of it sooner. Only those who were invited could approach the building where Auriel was located. Only Mary, who regarded the entire state of Calais as her domain, had such power.

Moreover, judging from Mary's inner world, on the day the Light of Collapse appeared, after helping Mary share the mental pressure, she fainted and was unable to leave the Central Research Institute, let alone develop this area.

She and Dylan must have been brought out by Mary and settled here.

Dylan didn't want to stay here and wanted to do something, so he left.

Having figured out the connection, he said to the wave of killing intent:
"It's her. Take us there now."

If the entire state of Calais is Mary's domain, then she would definitely be able to detect his presence following the fluctuations of murderous intent.

Therefore, he chose to bring Auriel along, knowing that Mary would understand he meant no harm by sensing Auriel's condition.

With a surge of murderous intent, he found a car and, following the directions given to him by the mission, drove Wu Chang and Auriel toward the edge of Jacques City.

Perhaps it was because the task of healing Auriel was completed that his murderous intent was less restrained. During the journey, he talked about how he received the task of healing Auriel.

According to him, he had never actually met Mary.

When he first entered the dungeon, he was extremely unlucky. He wasn't grouped with the other members of the Arcane Knights. The rest of his team were all solo players, and they were all noobs who had never experienced such a difficult dungeon before.

Shortly after entering Jacques City, they encountered flesh monsters. The group fought and retreated, with those who were slow to run becoming human shields.

In this atmosphere, the crowd quickly dispersed completely.

During the battle with the flesh monster, he displayed the power of the Root of Killing Intent. Just when he and the flesh monster were about to fight to the death, the flesh monster seemed to receive some kind of command, stopped attacking him, and turned to leave.

Then, a mysterious female voice found him, brought him to Auriel, and gave him a task.

Not only had Murderous Intent Wave never seen Mary, but even Auriel had never seen Mary's face. Every time Mary came to see her, it was without warning. She would talk to her through the window for a while, and then leave without warning.

Wu Chang understood that Mary probably didn't want others to see her current state, which was why she contacted them in this way.

The car drove for an hour before finally stopping at the edge of an abandoned building, from which a voice came from.

"Come in."

Just as Wu Chang guessed, Mary knew he had followed her, and the fact that she hadn't left meant there was something to talk about.

Upon entering the ruins, he saw Mary, or rather, the monster known as the Howler.

As the core of the out-of-control dream, Mary retains some consciousness, but her body has been completely transformed into a fleshy monster, making her unrecognizable as human.

She was even more exaggerated than the military intelligence had described; her body had grown to eight meters tall. She was like a constantly changing projection, one second a ferocious beast, the next a giant fish, and the next a giant armored vehicle.

It highlights that my existence is undefined. If I had appeared on Earth two years earlier, I would definitely be at the top of the food chain in the White Tower.

The only constant about her is that no matter what form she takes, her surface is always covered with pustules that resemble human faces.

Each face displays a different expression, but regardless of the expression, they are all filled with an uncontrolled distortion.

These are the altered beings who were transformed into flesh and blood monsters by the uncontrolled dream. Each flesh and blood monster leaves a mark on Mary, causing trauma to her mind.

Mary looked down at the three of them and said:
"I'm sorry to appear before you in this manner; I hope I haven't startled you."

(End of this chapter)