Pannis did not press for further details, because he had already surmised that the unexpected incident Nellie spoke of was the result of his own actions. Thus, he simply shrugged nonchalantly and gestured for her to continue.
"It’s strange, but during the battle, I thought I slled the scent of blood," Nellie said, her eyes filled with confusion as she unconsciously touched her cheek and whispered, "I was attacking Danacus filled with hatred when suddenly I felt the presence of a blood offering coming from my face. It seed as if your blood had splattered onto , for I sensed your scent in the blood. Yet, what I couldn’t understand was that when I reached to feel for it, there was no trace of blood; I could only sll it. After catching your scent, I beca slightly calr, gradually suppressed the resentnt inside , and regained so rationality. But then, the problem arose. Once I had cald down, I began to worry about your well-being, not knowing why your blood would be on . I was eager to figure out how you were, so I really wanted to defeat Danacus quickly. But even in the dream, he refused to cooperate with , adamantly reluctant to be resolved by . I could only intensify my attacks, throwing all my energy into the battle with him."
"Hmm, that corresponds with how you acted in reality," Pannis nodded and said, "I’m afraid the battle you had with Danacus wasn’t just a dream, but sothing that actually took place, only in the Consciousness World. The very fact you suddenly fell asleep was caused by Danacus himself. He had dragged you into the Consciousness World and then launched an attack on you. Those fragnts of mories you saw, even finer than mory Fragnts, were in fact the debris produced from the collision and compression of your Vitality."
"Are you saying that those dreamscapes I saw were all things that truly happened?" Nellie repeated, puzzled, "A portion of the mories I’m certain are my own; does that an the others belong to him?"
"And not just to him, actually. Those mories were probably from countless others," Pannis sighed, hesitated for a while, and finally decided to tell the truth, "Don’t you find it strange that you suddenly beca affected, filled with hatred and loathing?"
"Isn’t that his ntal attack?" Nellie answered confusedly, "I thought it was his interference."
"Uh, well, that’s not incorrect. You definitely were interfered with," Pannis scratched his head, struggling to find the right words, and after a mont of hesitation finally explained, "However, the source of the interference is indeed him, but not the interference he directed at you. Do you understand what I’m saying? Good, I knew you wouldn’t understand; I hardly understand it myself. Let’s put it this way: during the hostile collision of your souls, while you squeezed and fought each other, you were certainly influenced by him. But this influence was likely not actively imposed by him. Rather, it was a passive, collective-range magic that automatically took effect on anyone who entered its range—yeah, sothing like that."
"Wait a minute, you’re saying it wasn’t a dream but sothing that actually occurred in the Consciousness World, let’s not debate the truth of that for now," Nellie said, frowning as if she sensed a vague unease and subconsciously clenched her fists, "Let’s first discuss this passive influence. We’ve all faced Danacus before and never experienced anything like this. Even if you say the battle I had with Danacus was a spiritual one, hence quite unique, we still faced the Soul of Danacus back then, which was also a confrontation of souls. Why weren’t we influenced then? Don’t you find that odd?"
"Do you really want to know?" Pannis’s expression grew peculiar, tinged with a faint pity, as he spoke softly, "I would still advise that it’s better not to dwell on this problem."
"Tell ," Nellie said seriously, "This concerns , and I want to know."
"Alright then, as you wish," Pannis sighed, resigning himself to the truth, "I’m afraid that if it had been any other Deity, or even , this mortal, at the ti of the soul collision with Danacus, we would not have been affected like this. The one who would be affected is most likely just you—at least, you’re the only known person to be affected."
"Is it because I perford the Grimreaper’s Divine Duty?" Nellie tentatively asked. "Is that why I was interfered with?"
"Unfortunately, that’s not the reason," Pannis replied with a bitter smile and a shake of his head. "It’s because..."
"Don’t say it," Nellie’s expression suddenly changed, raising her voice to interrupt Pannis. "I’ve understood."
"That’s why I said, it’s better for you not to dwell on such insignificant questions," Pannis said, patting the knight’s leg. "You did nothing wrong. If there’s soone to bla, it’s Danacus. The interference is just an accident to you, but whether it’s an accident for him is another story."
"Sigh, I should have realized this earlier," Nellie said with a dejected tone, pressing her temple. "Hatred, detestation, twisted minds, wanting everything alive to taste their pain, this is exactly the state of those Twisted Souls in the Forbidden Land of Living Souls. Heh, no wonder I’m the only one affected. Because, in fact, like Danacus, I’ve also gone through nurous Blood Offerings, naturally bearing the wrath of those suffering souls, right?"
"But you are different from Danacus; you usually aren’t hated by these twisted beings. Judging from the collision of your souls this ti, it’s likely that Danacus has always been surrounded by those entities. No wonder when he wielded the power over death, the Undead despised all living beings, acting like a bunch of blood-thirsty madn. Maybe they were also influenced by the Twisted Souls," Pannis said softly in a reassuring tone. "Looking at it this way, those Twisted Souls are quite reasonable, knowing the sacrifice wasn’t your fault, so they don’t cling to you day and night."
"You don’t need to say more about this problem; if there’s a chance in the future, you help resolve the issue with the Twisted Souls," Nellie sighed. "I really wish to resolve it by myself, even if it takes thousands of years, but I don’t have the chance, so I can only entrust it to you."
"You never know," Pannis responded to Nellie, waggling his index finger mysteriously, "I’m not just comforting you, nor am I blinded by emotion. I am telling you very seriously that everything has returned to an unknown state. You shouldn’t rush into any decisions. What exactly will happen in the future will depend on what you’ve just said. So, you shouldn’t think a dream is unimportant; a dream might just explain everything. That’s why you’d better..."
"I know, I know," Nellie interrupted. "That wasn’t a dream; it was real. So I need to face that ’dream’ and tell you all the details, right?"
"Exactly!"
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