"Awake?" Siderius said.
Jude quickly got up and helped Caterina to stand up.
"What happened?" The two of them spoke at the same time.
"The two of you have fallen into the control of the Nightmare Phantom. But I released you just in time." Siderius sheathed his sword.
His shiny armor was a complete opposite of the black uniform he had in the real world. It brought him a sense of chivalrous and holiness that the black uniform couldn’t provide.
"What is this?" Jude couldn’t help but ask.
"A suit of armor that is. What else could it be?" Siderius said.
"It’s the best suit of armor I have ever seen." Jude’s eyes lit up with glee. Any man could appreciate a good suit of armor.
"What took you so long?" Caterina said.
"Ah... I have to stay back and catch the culprit." Then Siderius told them about what happened.
"Jeffrey?" Jude shouted in surprise. "It can’t be. He has followed me for decades."
Caterina lowered her head and contemplated. Jeffrey had always been with them. He was their right hand man.
"Jeffrey is a Schizomancer." Siderius said.
"A witch that used nightmares and delusions as his arsenal. Sounds familiar?"
"A Nightmare Phantom. That is correct. Jeffrey has planned for your son to become a nightmare phantom. I know for sure it is."
Jude breathed heavily. His shoulders moved up and down like waves of the ocean. His fists clenched tight.
"That night! I... Was I influenced?"
"I don’t know. But there is a very high chance that it was planned by Jeffrey. One can only imagine what a Nightmare Witch is capable of when he gets his hand on a nightmare phantom.
Jeffrey is still alive and you can question him later. Now, we must do what we came here to do."
Caterina reached out to Jude’s back and gently caressed it. She tried to calm him down.
Jude looked at her. He could see a faint sense of sympathy from her. Her hatred had waived by a lot, knowing what happened wasn’t caused by Jude.
Jude nodded at her and composed himself.
"What do we need to do?" Jude said.
"There are many layers in the dream world. The deeper it is, the slower time will get. We are at the most shallow level, where the Phantom can manipulate the dream and play with us.
To continue to be here will be a futile attempt. We need to go deeper. More precisely, we need to go deeper into your dream, Jude.
Somewhere in your mind, the Phantom placed an anchor in it. We need to find the anchor. Remove it. And kill the phantom."
"This is my son you are talking about. We can’t kill him!" Jude roared.
"It! Not him! Your son is gone! What’s left of him is an amalgamation of his soul! If you truly want him to rest, you will kill the monster he has become!"
Jude and Siderius stared at each other. No one was willing to back down. But Caterina was there.
"Yes, my love?" Jude accidentally used their old way of referring to each other. He realized his mistake and was going to apologize.
I have always done what you want me to do, Jude. Because you were a strong and brave man. You can do anything and won’t stop at nothing. Even if the obstacle in front of you is astronomical.
Time changed you, Jude. But you can do the right thing now. For me and for your son. Don’t be selfish this time. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵·𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮·𝓷𝓮𝓽
Grant our son the peace he was destined to have. Release him from this torment."
Caterina looked over to where the phantom once was. It was destroyed but some of its needles and knives were still present, scattered on the floor.
Jude’s eyes softened. His clenched fist relaxed.
"Caterina... You’re right. I need to do what is right."
He turned toward Siderius. "Tell me, white witch. What do I need to do?"
Siderius’ upper lips curved up into a smile.
The empty space was torn in two once more. The manifestation of Siderius’ soul split the nightmare they were in and opened a path to the neutral dark space.
"Follow me. We need to get out of this nightmare. I knew somewhere safer."
With Siderius’ guidance, the trio left the nightmare and entered his Mind Palace. The Alchemy Door appeared and led them to the stone castle of Siderius.
"Where is this place?" Jude looked around with curiosity.
"A spell of him." Caterina explained. "It is a very high level spell. I can’t detect any magic at all. He is much more powerful than we know, Jude."
The Baron nodded grimly. He could tell by the stable projection of this ’dream’. The nightmare before was very realistic but one could easily notice the difference between the real world.
But here. Everything felt like they were real.
"It is real in some sense." Siderius thought. He didn’t just conjure this place from his imagination. It was created via a very grueling process for over two hundred years. It was as real to him as reality.
"Come inside. The phantom will try to attack us again. I can set up a barrier."
Sideriu activated the Tri-Primes Barrier. The defense that he had used last time to push back the owl and crazy Cateria.
Then, the door of the castle was opened. The black-hair Nora appeared to greet them.
"Teacher." She bowed gently to Siderius then greeted the other two. "Baron of Scalize. High Lady."
"You are?" Jude widened his eyes.
The person in front of him wasn’t a creation of the dream like those lifeless people in the nightmare. She seemed too real.
"I am Master Siderius’ student. Nora Blackcrow at your services."
"Blackcrow? You’re a Starcrow clansman?" Caterina said.
"I once was. But what you see here is just a reflection of her. The real Nora has died."
"Oh? Such a delicate spell..."
The existence of Nora was complicated. Even Siderius didn’t know what she was. So they had decided to just tell everyone that she was a construct.
"The room is ready. Please follow me."