"You are the Goddess of Nature?" Gabriel asked. Since the woman seemed to notice his strange expressions, Gabriel wondered if she could also hear him.
Even if it was a dream, he was really curious to know what mess his mind was trying to show him.
"Why are you addressing me with that distant title as the commoners do?" the woman seemed confused, being addressed as the Goddess of Nature. "Call me Eileen like you always do."
"Eileen?" Gabriel frowned. "Where are we?"
Gabriel could only see a green field as far as the eyes could see. It looked like a place he had never been to before, even in real life.
"Heh, of course, you can't recognize this place. It's been a long time since you last came here. When you came here last time, this used to be barren land, but today, it is what you see. This is the beauty of nature."
Eileen fell on the soft grass beside Gabriel.
"I was informed that you came to meet me, but you left in anger. I was also told why that was. Can I apologize to you from his side? My brother didn't know better..."
"Come, I will make him apologize to you personally!" She abruptly stood up like a hyperactive child. She held Gabriel's wrist, making him get up as well.
Gabriel was dragged by Eileen, who kept talking about how wrong her brother was.
Gabriel could only follow along in confusion, wondering just what was happening.
Eileen soon brought Gabriel to the entrance of a beautiful city which was unlike anything he had ever seen. It was the greenest city he had ever seen. It was like Eileen had gone a bit overboard in making the city to her liking. There was grass even on the roads. No carriages were allowed to enter the city. Whoever came inside the city, they had to walk.
In fact, if one ignored all the houses and beautiful structures, this place could easily be confused with a huge garden with exotic flowers that Gabriel had never seen before. There were trees that provided them with shade wherever they went.
"This place..."
Initially, Gabriel was attracted by the beauty of this city, but his mind soon noticed something else as well. He raised his head, looking at all the houses and their positions. He remembered seeing something similar before.
'The glimpse I saw before when I touched the black orb… It was this place...'
Amongst the four glimpses he saw, the second one was something he found really similar to this place. There was a city that was covered in water. It was as if the city had faced a tsunami. Only the top of a few houses could be seen above water.
Whatever portions of the houses he was able to see above all the water were completely identical to the top of the houses here. Even their positions were the same.
"Eileen, is there any sea or river nearby?" he asked Eileen.
Eileen shook her head. "There is a small pond in the middle of the city. Other than that, there is no sea or river nearby. Why?"
'A pond can't bring a tsunami. There is no sea or even river nearby. This city also seems to be on high grounds. Where did all that water come from...? If there is no natural source, that can only mean one thing... Magic. The Mages of Water.'
Eileen brought Gabriel to her castle. She was greeted by the maids who worked for her. Just as she was about to enter, she saw the doors open, and a man step out of the castle, accompanied by two guards.
The man didn't look much older either. In fact, he only seemed to be a few years older than Eileen. As soon as the man stepped out of the castle, he noticed Gabriel. His expressions became twisted again. However, he decided to ignore him for now and not pay attention.
He stopped looking at him and continued walking without caring about anything else.
"Stop right there!" Eileen commanded. Thousands of Vines came out of the ground, blocking the path of the man.
"What?" The man rolled his eyes, stopping.
"I want you to apologize to Karyk for what you said before..."
"You mean that? I wasn't even talking to him, so I couldn't have said anything to him. He was the one hearing what I was speaking with the others. Also, not like I said anything wrong, did I? He is a bringer of death who should be kept as far as possible. He is bad luck. What's wrong with what I said?"
Not only did the man refuse to apologize, he repeated what he had spoken. "The whole world might be afraid of him, but I'm not."
Eileen's brother didn't have any strength of his own. In fact, he only felt proud because his sister was the goddess of Nature. Because he had his sister, he was sure that Karyk wasn't going to do anything to him.
No matter what his sister said, she was always going to side with the family in the end and protect him.
'Again I'm being addressed as Karyk. This can't be a coincidence. Second dream where I'm addressed as Karyk. Another dream where everything looks so realistic. It can't be my mind making up things. This must be the work of the Grimoire.'
Gabriel seemed more concerned about his own self than what this man was speaking. He didn't care if he was called the bringer of death. Those were childish insults for a man his age.
He gazed at the back of his right hand, observing the mark. The mark was completely identical to what he had in real life. However, just like before, he didn't have a mark on his left hand. There was no mark of light on his left hand.
'I should be right. This is the Grimoire of Necromancy, showing me these visions. Since the Grimoire can't talk to me, it must be its way of telling me what happened.'
"In fact, I even heard stories that this guy ate his own family. You think this kind of man deserves our respect? You should stay away from him as well, Eileen. The man who even ate his own family, just what kind of demon must he be?"
The man didn't stop with his insults, going even farther. He still continued.
"Ah?" Even now, Gabriel didn't react. He didn't care what he was called in this dream, but for some reason, his right hand moved on its own.
It was as if the body wasn't in his control anymore.
"You're right. I'm a demon who ate my own family." Words came out of his lips. "But what made you think you could talk to me like that?"
Plop~
Eileen's brother dropped to the ground, lifeless. It was as if Karyk had resisted long enough, but when his sister and family were brought into the equation, he decided to show the man just why it was that the entire world was scared of him!
Eileen froze in place, seeing her brother be killed. It all happened so fast that she couldn't do anything. No matter how favorable she thought of Karyk, she still cared for her brother the most. Even though her brother had a sharp tongue, he was still her brother. And he was killed right before her eyes.
Even Gabriel was taken aback. Just what was happening? How did his body suddenly lose control? He did so many things throughout this dream, like asking questions, but something like this didn't happen.
It was as if he was allowed to have control over minor portions of this dream which didn't change things much, but the core couldn't be changed. It was like the Grimoire specifically wanted him to know what happened here...
Karyk had killed Eileen's brother right before her eyes!
