Chapter 787 — Little Patty of Gulan
Blade of Dawn · Page 3 of 4
The star-light polymer above the hall swelled and writhed, and Magnum III's voice entered the mind of every person present: "Hierarch Yuri, Hierarch Magnum, you came close to being contaminated by the Upper Narrator during the mind-calibration process. Based on your own experience, do you believe the Upper Narrator has already glimpsed conditions outside the sandbox through this contamination? Has it extended part of its true body into that town?"
"...I do not believe so, Your Holiness," Yuri said after a moment's thought, shaking his head. "Though that contamination was difficult to guard against, in essence it was still only a projection, and after it failed it displayed no further 'initiative' whatsoever. It should not have established any connection with the Upper Narrator inside Sandbox One."
"The Phantom Town has now vanished completely," Hierarch Magnum also rose to say. "Afterward I 'flushed' it several more times with the mind storm, and subsequent monitoring confirms that data region has been thoroughly cleared. In theory, there is no need to worry about it any further."
"The Phantom Town is gone, but Sandbox One remains," came a low, hoarse female voice. A woman in a black gown, beautiful and mature in appearance, stood up and looked toward the pope suspended in midair. "Your Holiness, it seems we must take some risks. The danger posed by the 'monster' nurtured in Sandbox One has exceeded acceptable limits; there is little point in maintaining the sandbox as it is. We... need to carry out an 'active disposal' of Sandbox One."
Hierarch Magnum glanced at the woman in the black gown. Her ears were somewhat sharper and longer than a human's, showing the traits of elven mixed blood—at least, that was how her virtual avatar appeared.
Magnum nodded slightly. "I agree with Hierarch Miyue's view. Entering the sandbox to confront and resolve the problem directly is likely the only option left. Your Holiness, Hierarchs, we should summon our psychic choir and spirit knight forces."
Yuri's brows knitted tightly. He opened his mouth, took a moment to gather his thoughts, and then spoke. "Our spirit knights are limited in number. Perhaps..."
Before Yuri could finish, a blaring alarm cut him off. A young woman's voice, tinged with nervousness, came through into the hall: "This is the monitoring team—a Great Hollow has appeared outside District 16 West of Illusory Nexus City!"
The Nether Order clerics in the meeting were startled. In the next instant, figure after figure vanished from the hall, and within a heartbeat the twenty-three Nether Sequence clerics had appeared in the sky above the region outside Illusory Nexus City where the Great Hollow had opened.
At the gilded, magnificent border district of Illusory Nexus City, a horrifying rift had punched through the city's outer barrier, joining a small stretch of streets to the vast wasteland beyond. Some nameless force ran riot through the rift, tearing and crushing the districts and wasteland caught in its grip into a gigantic vortex of jumbled light and shadow. Ornate palace vaults, towering spires, smooth-paved streets—all were churned into that dread whirlpool, spinning madly and shrieking without end inside the "Great Hollow"!
The Radiant Order clerics floated above this "Great Hollow," staring fixedly at the spinning shards of light and shadow, every face drawn and grim.
They could see a great crowd of bewildered, panicked believers gathered outside the torn-apart districts, and within that immense spinning vortex there were surely more congregants and faithful who had been caught up in it...
This was no longer a problem that one or two rounds of memory cleansing and regional reset could fix.
Magnum's short red hair stood on end. He looked at Yuri, his tone unusually solemn, his voice as loud as ever: "Hierarch Yuri, we must muster our forces at once—"
"As you say," Yuri said, drawing a deep breath. "We must muster our forces."