After acquiring the nightmare’s true main mission, Annan knew what he needed to do.
He first dragged the table to the middle of the corridor, then put the paper strip back into the letter. Next, he entered the “guillotine room” with a lit candle and lit all the candles inside.
Then, Annan directly lit the candle on the table outside.
He had originally thought of entering the guillotine room again, chopping off his own head, and returning to reality.
However, that was no longer necessary..
After Annan lit the candle on the table, he felt a trance and returned to reality again.
At this point, the young Benjamin seemed to have realized what was going on.
He just sat beside the unconscious Evelyn, lowered his head, and drifted off in his thoughts. Annan didn’t know what he was thinking, but he wasn’t in a good mood.
Wow, you lived up to the honorary title “Master Benjamin” in the future!
That’s quick thinking…
Seeing that Benjamin didn’t want to move forward, Annan spoke softly, “Let’s continue.”
He took the initiative to reach out and grab Benjamin’s hand.
It appeared as if Benjamin didn’t want to break free from Evelyn’s hand…
He froze for a moment but stood up with Annan’s guidance.
“Evelyn…”
After walking along with Annan silently for a while, Benjamin spoke hesitantly and asked in a dejected voice, “Do you…
“…want to leave me?”
When Annan heard this question, his footsteps stopped slightly.
Since this was Evelyn’s nightmare in the future, it meant that Benjamin agreed to help her hold the ritual in the end.
Then, Annan shouldn’t have revealed too much…
With the attitude of spilling out too much information might stir up troubles, Annan sighed and whispered, “If I leave this place with you now, I will leave you forever.”
Undeniably, that was the truth.
As soon as Annan said these words, he couldn’t help but be surprised by himself. Finally, I speak in honesty inside a nightmare. What a rare experience!
I’m too kind.
I will do my best in my act here so that you both will have a happy ending in the future.
I’m a kind single person.
Annan couldn’t help but sigh in his heart.
Benjamin, you silly boy. You’re forcing someone who loves you to put up an act.
“Is that so…?” After staring at Annan for a while, Benjamin could only mutter under the persuasion of Evelyn’s sincere eyes.
After that, he remained silent, watching Annan walk to the final room and open the door.
Seeing the decayed and bladeless guillotine, he looked as though he had lost his soul.
Annan couldn’t bear to see Benjamin in this state.
He added in a low volume, “It’s fine, Benjamin.
“The future you… will find me.”
“Really?” Benjamin’s pupils lit up slightly.
Annan nodded solemnly.
Indeed, he came from the future.
Benjamin became a pope, and his primary goal was to travel back in time and cut off Evelyn’s loop.
The time when he learned about this should have been not long before he went to the White Tower.
Benjamin should have obtained the key to the nightmare and learned the truth at that time.
Annan hesitated for a moment but replied in a low volume, “Yes, because… I came back from the future.
“This place is a nightmare.”
Immediately, Annan briefly explained the mechanism of this nightmare and what Benjamin would do in the future.
Since it was just a nightmare anyway, so it didn’t hurt to tell him.
Looking at the child’s despairing expression, Annan couldn’t bear it. He didn’t even know how Evelyn could bear it that time and asked Benjamin to complete this ritual.
“I would like to believe you.” After Benjamin listened to Annan’s narration, he pondered for a long time before slowly nodding. Finally, he said solemnly, “But it’s not because you told me this…
“It’s because you’re Evelyn.”
But I have told you that I’m not the real Evelyn—
Annan was about to refute with this reason, but he suddenly understood what he meant.
At this time, Benjamin hadn’t yet entered the circles of Transcended. Nightmares, loops, the future… these elements were too distant for him.
From his point of view, Evelyn might have made it up to deceive him.
What Benjamin meant was — Even if it was Evelyn who made these all up to deceive him, he was willing to believe in such a bizarre thing.
Annan was silent for a while, and the corners of his mouth raised.
He handed the rope to the young Benjamin with a sincere smile, and he lay down in front of the rotten guillotine.
The next moment, Annan fell into a trance and entered the dream world again.
At this time, he saw another “Evelyn” standing uneasily in front of him, appearing as if she would turn around at any second.
So, Annan stopped her immediately, “Annan, don’t move and don’t look back!”
Hearing Annan’s words, “Evelyn” stopped immediately and stood silently in place.
Annan paused, occupied in thoughts.
So, I have returned to that time…
He quickly calmed down and continued, “Hurry up and lie there… Ah, you don’t have to raise your butt. En, I will mention a key phrase to convince you to trust me, players and planning. Alright? Hurry up, stop wasting time…”
Annan didn’t even have to search for it from his memory because he could easily say something like that.
Seeing the “Evelyn on Life x 2” lying obediently in front of the guillotine, Annan looked at the rope connected to the guillotine beside the guillotine with some hesitation.
Do you want me to cut it off?
The idea promptly rose in his mind, but he didn’t even have the time to follow suit when the rope suddenly started burning by itself..
It’s Benjamin in reality!
The guillotine fell, cutting off Evelyn’s head. The head simply fell off and landed in the white flower basket.
Strangely, Evelyn didn’t bleed much after her decapitation.
In other words, her blood had coagulated for a long time.
Seeing her hairless, scar-filled head fall into the flower basket, Annan was frozen in place for a while.
…Evelyn, she has been dead for a long time.
Annan thought. He observed the corpse on the guillotine and the skin in the dream world, which gradually became transparent.
The corpse also began to shine, gradually turning into particles of light and disappearing.
His body absorbed those light particles.
His soul seemed to grow more robust, and the transparent feeling dissipated.
Countless Transcended knowledge emerged in Annan’s mind. It was the gift of the Pale Princess.
Annan already had knowledge of most of this information… but for Evelyn, this was an introduction to a whole new world.
At that moment, Annan seemed to realize something.
When Evelyn was at Life x 1, did she come up with this solution to enter the crack between life and death?
She figured out that she could store her soul in a nightmare…
While Annan was in his thoughts, the power of unfamiliar elements flowed in Evelyn’s body. It gave off a similar feeling when he activated the [Frost Sword].
Is this the power that belongs to a Silver Rank?
What element is this?
Annan’s mind raced. His hand gently brushed the rope, and it repaired itself quickly. He caressed the flower basket, and the pure white flower basket became brand new. Annan pulled the guillotine to the highest point again and tied it back in place.
Annan then went back to the ground and picked up the chain at the door.
He finally saw it…
Countless transparent men, women, and children all smiled and applauded him as if he had just given a perfect speech.
Annan looked down at his body that seemed real and finally bowed to them politely.
Then, those people dispersed again and returned to their previous positions.
Annan moved the statue back to its original position, holding the chain back to the “prison” in the basement.
He reached out and touched the door lock, which returned to its initial state.
He closed the door and fastened the chain. He put his hand into the handcuffs and then carefully tightened it. In the process, Annan inevitably scraped his left wrist… It was as if he had struggled hard, leaving some bruises.
Fresh blood rather than dried blood was pouring out of Evelyn’s wrist.
[Health: 80%]
Annan stared at the fresh blood slowly oozing out from his wrist.
To convert dried blood back into fresh blood…Is this also the power of this element?
Reversing the broken, giving new life to the old…
Evelyn’s power isn’t about time and mirror images, but some ability related to new life.
…I see. Annan understood.
Evelyn didn’t travel through time at all.
The real Evelyn had already become a Half-dead Enchantress.
However, as she was about to die, she forced herself to believe that this was reality.
That was why Annan woke up here in the first place.
Evelyn was just a Silver Rank Transcended.
Her power was far from being able to reverse the boundary between reality and the dream world.
But if all this was her dream, then it all made sense.
She constructed such a nightmare to contain her soul. She didn’t die nor did she dedicate her soul to the Pale Princess; the price was that she would keep repeating this never-ending cycle of nightmares.
The only way out was to wait for the future Benjamin to decipher the nightmare messages, cut off the curse, and forcibly intercept her soul.
What an impressive task.
What an incredible level of trust.
[Health: 30%]
Annan suddenly felt a wave of sudden drowsiness, and he subconsciously opened his mission panel.
[Main mission: Create a loop. (Completed)]
[Witness the completion of the sacrificial ritual. (Completed)]
[Light the candles as a Half-dead Enchantress. (Completed)]
[Return to the beginning. (Completed)]
[Health: 5%]
…I did everything I could.
When Evelyn woke up again, she would forget all of this.
It was just a forgotten dream for “Evelyn by the Lake”. “Benjamin” in the nightmare would also be reset.
When she came to the lake, she would still see Evelyn smiling and chatting… until she plunged into the lake, returned to another world, and activated a new loop.
As for how to save your childhood sweetheart, it would be up to you, Pope Benjamin.
Thinking of this, Annan drifted off to sleep.
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Credits to MindMatrix for editing this chapter and improving the readability.