Within the high-dimensional observation space.
Though the Ice Snow Witch still found herself subjected to occasional glances from High Priest Loren and the Paladin Commander, she had learned to endure the pressure.
After reaching Basement Level 4, it was evident in certain respects that Hyperion was indeed a sensitive, delicate child at heart. She might stray or be led astray for a moment, but that would never change the innate purity and kindness at the core of her being.
The Ice Snow Witch could not see what unfolded inside Hyperion’s illusion; she could only see the figures standing completely motionless on Basement Level 4.
On this floor, any living being caught for the first time in the spell known as "Gentle Land of the Fallen" required an exceedingly long time to have any hope of breaking free.
It was a dream impossible to realize, yet one experienced with consummate realism.
Sometimes, even after realizing it was false, one would desperately strive to deceive oneself just to look a little longer, to savor even a single extra second.
Moreover, "Gentle Land of the Fallen" was originally the ultimate magic refined to its absolute peak by a Tier 9 great demon of the ancient era from their innate magic.
For that ancient great demon, it served as an indiscriminate Tier 9 mass crowd-control spell.
Although the duration of control was somewhat variable, once unleashed in actual combat, its effects were almost invariably unreasonable enough to reverse the tide of battle.
As the Ice Snow Witch pondered this, she suddenly noticed the black-haired, green-eyed girl lying on the floor of Basement Level 4 stand up.
Her gaze was completely calm.
There was not the slightest trace of lingering infatuation with that dreamscape; it was as though she had merely undergone a mildly novel experience.
*When someone breaks free from "Gentle Land of the Fallen," they either savor it in a daze or recoil in lingering dread with palpitations. Why does this one look like she's been awake forever?*
The Ice Snow Witch stared in bewilderment at the black-haired, green-eyed figure.
She could not make sense of the girl's mental state.
This person had even awakened a step ahead of the warden who had entered her dream.
Could it be that, inside the dream of "Gentle Land of the Fallen," she had thrown the conscious warden's mind into disarray instead?
The Ice Snow Witch was overcome with self-doubt. She had never heard of such a thing happening before.
Perhaps the High Priest and Paladin Commander across from her in the high-dimensional space did not know what kind of spell "Gentle Land of the Fallen" was, but the Ice Snow Witch knew the Great Demon Trial better than anyone. She understood intimately just how preposterous the phenomenon before her eyes truly was!
She also could not fathom where Hyperion had found such a girl—one radiating an unsettling strangeness—during her brief time in the Protos Empire.
Compared to Hyperion, this black-haired, green-eyed girl looked far more like a true princess of the demon race's last lineage.
*Could it be that Talia had a child?* the Ice Snow Witch could not help speculating.
No, that couldn't be right. Even if Talia had left behind offspring, what kind of demonic entity would she have had to find to produce a demon descendant of such monstrous talent?
At the very least, Talia had never given the Ice Snow Witch such a bizarre, uncanny impression.
The more the Ice Snow Witch thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
Furthermore, she could not understand why looking at this black-haired, green-eyed human girl inexplicably brought to mind Talia, whom she had not seen in a century.
It couldn't be that Talia was also living in some human kingdom, catching herself a wealthy husband just like Efatia, could it?
***
As the utopian dreamscape began to glitch, crumble, and collapse into ruin, Warden Selena looked around in total disorientation.
Every single word the black-haired, green-eyed youth had spoken to her was rattling her soul, feeling as if it were destroying and negating everything she was.
If, in that youth's eyes, even the Tier 9 "Gentle Land of the Fallen" was merely a game, then once they returned to reality, who would truly rule Basement Level 4?
If even in the realm of illusion she was nothing more than an ant while he was a giant, what meaning was there to her entire life and the hard-won happiness she had scraped together?
Warden Selena was terrified that in her current state, she might plunge back into "Gentle Land of the Fallen" at any second, seized by the spell's opportunity to make her escape reality and forget everything.
Soon, Selena realized she had awakened, returning once more to the familiar Basement Level 4 of Herrom Prison.
Yet at that very instant, she discovered a pair of bright emerald eyes looking straight at her.
The expression held what looked like genuine care. To accommodate her as she sat half-crouched on the ground trapped in a dream, the girl had even knelt gracefully upon the floor opposite her.
Frightened, Selena stumbled backward and fell flat on her backside.
"What... what do you want?"
Warden Selena knew full well that prison regulations forbade attacking other guards. Her single warning strike had long since been expended.
Inside the illusion of "Gentle Land of the Fallen," she was completely outmatched by this black-haired, green-eyed girl.
The moment she stepped off her current floor tile, she would immediately plunge into an illusion.
Even while awake, she couldn't best the girl inside the dream. If the black-haired, green-eyed girl invaded her dreamscape instead, Selena shuddered to imagine what pathetic, disgraceful state she would be reduced to, or how thoroughly she would be toyed with.
And even if she remained rooted to the spot, she would plunge right back into a dream once the cooldown of the current tile expired!
Amidst her panic.
"Rest assured. I won't look into any dreams you don't want me to see," the black-haired, green-eyed girl said softly.
"Eh?"
Selena was certain this person possessed the ability to dominate her inside the dream world. Yet she was choosing to let her go?
Could she not tell that her earlier intrusion into the dream had been steeped in malice?
"You asked me earlier what good thing I hoped would happen today. I told you then: I hope you can find happiness. That was an earnest answer, whether in reality or in a dream."
The Poet of Great Love remained unmoving, deliberately slowing her speech as she addressed Selena.
It was as though she were telling Selena that she took no pleasure in kicking someone when they were down, nor did she deign to use "Gentle Land of the Fallen" to subjugate her.
"...What exactly are you trying to say? Are you pitying me, or threatening me?"
Selena leaned back warily, wanting nothing more than to put distance between herself and the black-haired, green-eyed girl.
"Neither."
The Poet of Great Love closed her eyes and shook her head.
"I simply don't like seeing the misfortune of others."
"Hypocrite! Don't you dare think acting like this will make me feel grateful for your mercy!"
Mustering her courage, Selena let out a cold laugh, as if driven by pure instinct to retaliate against the girl's words.
"Do you even understand what happiness is, or what misfortune is?! Do you have any idea what I went through in the past?!"
Selena demanded agitatedly, convinced this person was just offering cheap, unearned platitudes.
Someone standing safe and dry on the riverbank had no right to look down calmly and lecture a drowning person!
She refused to believe that anyone truly disliked seeing the misfortune of others.
Happiness was inherently relative. Seeing the misfortune of others made people feel fortunate by comparison, while witnessing another's happiness could make someone realize their own misery.
Who did this girl think she was, some noble saint? To grandly proclaim that she couldn't bear to see others suffer!
Chapter 406