The man's heart finally settled down. He had escaped the building corrupted by the subspace shadows, escaped the terrifying mirrors and burning flames, and arrived at the ritual site watched and blessed by the Holy Lord. Now, trustworthy compatriots surrounded him, the flickering lights conveyed reassuring power, and the encouragement and concern of like-minded people were gradually dissolving all panic and tension.

It seemed nothing terrible would happen.

So, the man in the thick black coat took a long breath, then picked up the water glass Duncan handed him, preparing to moisten his throat, which was a little dry from running all the way.

But as soon as he picked up the cup and saw the rippling water inside, he felt a little uncomfortable, and a faint unease rose from the bottom of his heart, so he put the cup back where it was.

Obviously, this was a "sequela" of the previous terrible experience. He felt that he should not touch the drinks in the cup for at least a few hours—if it didn't work, he would find a straw later.

"So what happened?" the gaunt-faced, sallow-haired cultist who had just handed over the water glass asked with concern. "What trouble did you encounter?"

Around the round table, the other Annihilation cultists also turned their eyes to this side, all with curious and serious expressions on their faces.

"That dream... the Nameless Dream mentioned by the Doomsday Evangelist, it has intricate structures and is protected by a barrier," the man in the black coat sighed, still with lingering fear, "The entrance did not 'naturally manifest'. I don't know how the other comrades who tried to enter are doing, but I was blocked. Even those sun remnants were blocked outside, but that's not the worst thing, the worst thing..."

The woman suddenly stopped, looking at the "compatriot" sitting next to her with some doubt, her brows slightly furrowed: "Mar, are you okay? I feel like your face looks terrible..."

The woman in white felt inexplicably nervous, and opened her mouth firmly and softly: "Lin Yan, why... why is your face even worse than before..."

"He is among us," the Envoy said as he returned to the round table, looking at the gathered believers, slowly speaking, "Any moment, any person, any face—he has already entered."

"You are indeed too relaxed, Lin Yan's face has always been like this, sickly," another person next to the round table shook his head, "Continue, what's the most terrifying thing—an abnormal situation wouldn't make you react like this."

"Mar is one of our earliest members," the cult leader said with a grim expression, his eyes sweeping over the two piles of white ashes next to the round table, "When do you think he was 'transformed'?"

The "Envoy" said slowly, then he opened his hands, and continued to speak solemnly as if preaching— "But the good news is, even if the time is short, I still heard a lot of useful things."

"I will find a way to pass on the information about that subspace ghost, including its method of invasion and bewitching power. At the same time, I will stay here with you. As you can see, I have sealed all the passages here."

"Y-yes..." The woman in white felt a burst of relief. Under the gaze of the "Envoy", she was instinctively a little afraid, but she still bit the bullet and replied, "I tracked it to the real world and tried to use mirrors to invade my hiding place, but I found the pattern of its invasion of the real world and blocked those passages..."

However, a substantive gaze suddenly fell on her from across the round table, interrupting the white-clothed woman's statement.

The gray-haired "Envoy" said expressionlessly, raised his hand and pointed forward. In the darkness, a silent and invisible shadow suddenly appeared, and then disappeared silently into the ritual site. In that short moment, the "guilty" woman in white had already lowered her head, her body slumped in the chair.

The person called "Envoy" did not speak. The white-haired cult leader just glanced at everyone in the room with a grim expression, then got up expressionlessly, went to close the entrance of the ritual site, and locked the secret door for emergency evacuation. Then, he whispered a prayer in front of the two doors—

The dark thorns grew rapidly in his prayer, and sealed the door in the blink of an eye.

The woman in white watched this scene in horror. In those short seconds, she couldn't even tell whether what first surged into her heart was fear, regret, or anger. Then, she suddenly reacted and looked up at the "Envoy" sitting across the round table: "I am guilty?"

The thin cultist who was previously responsible for leading the visitors immediately stood up: "Envoy! What are you..."

The sallow-haired, morbidly gloomy "Annihilation Cultist" sighed and shook his head regretfully.

He said slowly, and finally gradually felt the icy heat from the "Envoy's" gaze. His agile and numb mind reacted accordingly, and he finally realized—the noise that had been lingering in his mind, and the intangible things that jumped and wriggled at the edge of his vision.

A few seconds later, the body spontaneously ignited, and the white flames instantly devoured his flesh and blood, emitting阵阵nauseating smell.

"Me? I feel very good," the sallow-haired "Annihilation Cultist" laughed, his laughter seemed a little hoarse, "You are too relaxed."

"Now, begin the prayer."

The ritual site was instantly silent, as if an invisible freezing wind swept through here, making the air in this underground room suddenly appear viscous and stagnant.

"What should we do?" someone at the round table asked.

In the suddenly descending and unbearable silence, the woman in white felt a heavy pressure, but she quickly adjusted her emotions and continued, "I first encountered a very tricky psychiatrist. This psychiatrist broke through my specially set up 'psychological secret room', and then in the open area of the Doomsday Dream, I encountered the even trickier sea witch'—things were not too bad at this point. Those sun remnants slowed down the sea witch's actions, but suddenly, Mar Ebner Duncan appeared..."

"...Lin Yan Ebner Duncan, the cursed ghost from subspace," the woman in white said with lingering fear, "He intervened in the Doomsday Dream."

"That ghost messed everything up. Those sun remnants and their 'blood relatives' were simply not worth mentioning. The information from the Outer Realm is inaccurate. Mar Ebner Duncan and the 'sea witch' are not hostile at all—they communicated in front of me, and their relationship was far more harmonious than the Outer Realm speculated.

"Remember the news from Frost? I even suspect... the Lost Fleet has never disbanded at all. The Brilliant Star and the Sea Mist have been secretly carrying out the ghost's orders from beginning to end, and this time...

...I just happened to break their secret. The ghost and his pair of children must also be paying attention to the Doomsday Dream'..."

Mar slowly opened his hands. The Abyssal Demon coexisting with this body had died, and the body gradually turned into ashes.

"Wait," the owner of the gaze spoke. He was a dignified old man with gray hair, piercing eyes, and a low voice with a hint of a leader's seriousness, "Are you saying that you encountered the subspace shadow in the Doomsday Dream, and that you have been targeted by Him?"

The body completely vanished, and countless white ashes silently scattered in the flickering dim light.

The woman in white said slowly, her mind becoming more active than ever before. The previous terrifying experiences began to reorganize and connect in her mind, supplemented by various intelligence that had been secretly spread through various channels recently. Finally, they combined into a very persuasive logical chain, at least enough to convince herself. In this statement, she felt that she had finally straightened out her messy thoughts—and understood everything.

The "Annihilation Cultist" called "Mar" said unhurriedly, and along with his words, a crackling sound came from all over his body. A dark shadow vaguely bound by chains seemed to struggle and dissipate behind him, and his body quickly filled with white cracks, disintegrating and scattering little by little.

The cultists in the ritual site silently watched all of this, and no one made a sound until the burning white ashes completely collapsed. A tall figure broke the silence firmly: "Envoy, we..."

He slowly stood up, his muscles trembling slightly. He accidentally touched the "compatriot" sitting closest to him—the latter raised his head and gave him a friendly smile, but hidden deep in that smile was an indescribable taste.

The Annihilation cultists in the room looked at each other, and finally reacted one by one, their faces showing expressions of horror after sudden realization.

"You are guilty."

"From now on, do not discuss the secrets of our Lord, do not exchange information about the Order—with mortal bodies, we are unable to contend with the shadows of subspace, but the Lord will still witness our courage and perseverance. We will no longer reveal any information to the ghost, no matter what kind of intimidation and bewitchment He wants to impose here..."

"Annihilation cultists—from a certain point of view, their strange 'symbiotic ecology' actually has a natural resistance to me, because the Abyssal Demons' perceptions are very acute, but they don't have enough intelligence to weigh the pros and cons, so it only takes a very short time for these demons to collapse. Then, the 'carriers' transformed from them as materials will be damaged. In the best case, it will only last for a dozen minutes..."