Chapter 656: Suction
Nixie’s Dao Heart rampaged around the room like a tornado, with water droplets speeding up becoming thin blades that started to rip apart everything it touched. Her heartbeat slowed down, yet the power surge from her Aubility Power ramped up even higher. This contrast put a lot of strain into her already damaged heart.
But just as the Dao Heart was about to reach its breaking point, Michael held his hand out and pushed the battery closer to Nixie.
Immediately, the Aubility Power got diverted into his battery, as if they were magnetized.
The water droplets in the room started to slow down, and the intensity in which it thrashed around got visibly weaker.
All the Aubility Power generated by Nixie’s awakening were getting instantly siphoned by the battery, giving it no chance to wreak havoc in her Dao Heart.
Juniper could see Nixie’s conditions improving greatly. Even as the Aubility Power generated by her Dao Heart increased almost exponentially, it all seemed to be absorbed by Michael’s battery!
"How is that possible?!" Theodora gasped.
Aerith was amazed with her. She finally knew how Michael could survive against those seemingly impossible to dodge attacks. He was absorbing them!
"Amazing..." Juniper muttered. She couldn’t believe that a mere 4th stage Maugnetic could somehow survive an onslaught from an awakening of this level. His Diva and his Aubility must be incredibly powerful if he could pull off such a feat.
Meanwhile, the battery in Michael’s hands reached a hundred percent, prompting him to replace it with another immediately.
"What should we do next?" he asked Juniper.
The senior apothecary turned her focus on Nixie’s Dao Heart. "Keep on doing whatever you’re doing. I’m going to need to peek inside in order to fix the leaks."
As Juniper used her hands to pry the Dao Heart open, more and more Aubility Power leaked out, which Michael happily absorbed with his battery. He was like one of those nurses in an operating table with a vacuum that sucked out all the blood to keep the surgery clean. Except, in this case, the ’blood’ he was getting was even more valuable than gold.
Juniper whispered a few unintelligible words, casting her spells vocally. She began fighting through the Aubility Power in Nixie’s heart, fixing and mending the holes that were damaged throughout the process.
Everything seemed to be going great, with Nixie’s heartbeat slowly returning to normal. Even the Aubility Power that was running amok started to taper off, with signs of slowly becoming weaker and weaker.
However, at that moment, Nixie’s heart seized. It stopped beating.
"Damn it!" Juniper cursed. "Her Dao Heart is experiencing failure!"
"What was the cause of this?" Michael asked.
"It’s not us who did this. It’s Nixie herself. She is subconsciously rejecting the healing that I’ve been giving her Dao Heart. Because of all the pain and suffering she’d experienced, she now wants to get rid of her own Dao Heart!"
Reed and his wife held hands. "Don’t give up, Nixie! We’re here for you!"
"Miss Juniper, what can we do?"
After going this far, he didn’t want all their efforts to suddenly be in vain. Nixie was still a child, and there was still a chance for her to live a normal life. If she could just recover, then he could show her that her Dao Heart could be healed from the curse!
"We’ll have to go in there," Juniper said with determination.
"Go where?" he asked.
"Inside her Dao Heart. Inside the very void of her soul. That’s where we can find Nixie’s subconscious. It’s the only way that we can convince her that we’re helping her."
As soon as Theodora heard this, she immediately objected. "Going into a person’s subconscious void? It’s extremely dangerous, even more so when going alone! I’ll go with you!"
Juniper shook her head. "Your cultivation is too strong and may create an adverse reaction from Nixie."
"But—but!"
"I can do it alone. It’s the only way that we can save her. And we have to save her," Juniper declared.
And just as Juniper was about to step forward, Michael volunteered himself. "I’m going with you," he said. "You’ll need someone to absorb the rampaging Aubility Power in her Dao Heart."
Juniper looked at him, her face serious to convey the severity and danger of the situation. "Entering the subconscious void of a person is a dangerous tightrope. It’s not just our bodies that are going inside, it’s our souls as well.
One wrong move, and you can get lost within the chasm of her own mind, never getting out."
But despite her warnings, Michael didn’t back down. "You won’t change my mind," he affirmed.
Reed and his wife were incredibly moved with Michael’s actions.
"Thank you," Reed said to Michael. "Even though we don’t know each other, you’re already risking your life to save my daughter. Thank you."
[Kukuku... dangerous? The void is my playground,] Harbinger cackled. [But it’s good that they think so. They’ll be more indebted to you and you can earn Sand Dollars to fund our cultivation.]
Harbinger being so confident in this endeavor was definitely easing his worries. But he would have still gone through with it even if Harbinger wasn’t here with him.
Juniper then looked at him, giving him one last chance to back out. "Are you ready?"
"I am."
Juniper began counting on his fingers before eventually jumping inside Nixie’s Dao Heart. Her entire body got sucked inside the open heart, allowing her to go directly into Nixie’s subconscious.
Michael jumped after her. He felt himself get smaller and smaller until he felt like he was falling into a giant white abyss that blinded him for a few seconds. The only thing he could see or hear was the sound of Harbinger cackling with excitement.
A few seconds later, his momentum stopped.
He opened his eyes and saw himself in a completely different environment.
He wasn’t in a different room or in a different city.
He was underwater!
And judging from the fact that there was just an endless abyss of a dark blue ocean everywhere he looked, then he could safely assume that he was probably thousands of meters below sea level.
Thankfully, it seemed that this place didn’t follow the laws of physics at all since he could still breathe normally underwater.
"You made it."
He turned around and saw Juniper floating behind him. She, too, was breathing normally in the ocean, as if they had become a part of the Mermen species.
"The subconscious void of a person is a representation of their very souls. It’s their fears, their ambitions, and their excitements. It is everything that makes a person, a person.
Usually, someone’s subconscious void shows everything that they want or need in life. A mountain of gold, plentiful harvest, etc.
As for Nixie, her subconscious features the deep ocean. She has lived her whole life underwater, but was unable to explore it fully because of her curse. That’s why the ocean around us looks bleak, featureless, and endless.
We need to find her and show her that life is still well worth living."
They were supposed to find Nixie in her subconscious, but everywhere Michael looked, he could only see nothing but an endless ocean.
"Where—"
His words were interrupted as he saw something dark on the corner of his eyes.
He turned around, his eyes widening as his gaze sized up the monstrous shape in front of him.