Heart Like Ashes, All Sounds Still

"Don't want to listen?"

"You don't have a choice but to listen!" Luo Wei tightly gripped Tilis's wrist, forcing her to stop struggling and bring her back in front of Usoma.

Tilis couldn't bear to face her teacher like this. She desperately covered her ears and screamed hysterically.

"Ahhhhhh—!"

"I won't listen! I won't listen!!"

But it was no use. Usoma's words still penetrated her mind.

Usoma sighed and spoke with a heavy heart:

"Wake up, Tilis."

"You can't go on like this. This obsessive side of you will only hurt yourself and those you care about."

"Admit your mistakes and change, and everything can still be remedied."

"So, my child..."

"Wake up."

After uttering those final words, Usoma's body dissipated like wind into the air.

Tilis, in a state of utter disarray, stared at the spot where her teacher had disappeared.

"Did you hear that, Tilis?!" Luo Wei tightly grasped her shoulders and shook her limp body.

"It's time to face reality. You can't keep fooling yourself!"

"Tilis! Wake up!"

Wake up...

Wake up!!

Wake up!!!

Tilis clawed at her own hair in madness. She felt the whole world was shouting those words at her, a deafening noise that she couldn't escape from.

Even if she tried to escape, like she had in the past, using her own logic to deceive herself, it was now completely impossible...

Because every word felt like a cold blade, piercing through her fragile heart.

Had I done wrong?

Had I truly done wrong??

In that moment, Tilis's psychological defenses crumbled.

Yes.

Without a doubt, she had been wrong. Her actions hadn't just disappointed her teacher...

They could even end up killing Luo Wei...

It was a meaningless plan! Her obsession would destroy everything. She was a joke, hopelessly foolish!

Tilis laughed bleakly, despairingly.

She had finally woken up, but she had also fallen apart.

Terrifying changes emerged in the Dreamland. The entire world seemed to fracture and collapse, as this was undoubtedly her worst nightmare.

Luo Wei watched as the Dreamland rapidly disintegrated, realizing that it was beyond repair this time. Both of them would soon awaken from the dream.

"Tilis??"

What shocked him was not that Tilis was breaking free from the dream, but her current state.

The light in Tilis's eyes had vanished.

Those once mysteriously vibrant purple eyes were now hollow and empty.

She slumped to the ground, lifeless, like a hollow shell.

The Dreamland was destroyed in an instant.

Luo Wei immediately opened his eyes upon waking up. After regaining consciousness, he quickly looked toward Tilis, who was lying on the hospital bed.

She sat there rigidly, just as she had been in the Dreamland—like a lifeless marionette.

At the same time, a terrifying force erupted from her body, sweeping through every corner of the surrounding area like a tsunami.

Before Luo Wei could even reach out to her, he was immediately thrown back by this immense power.

He was like a grain of sand in the ocean, brutally slammed against the wall by the waves.

The entire underground research facility shook violently as Tilis's power ravaged everything. Tables and instruments shattered into fragments, cracks appeared in the ceiling and floor, and several walls collapsed.

In the midst of the thick smoke, Luo Wei coughed and struggled to lift his head.

In front of him, the source of the power, Tilis, remained motionless.

Luo Wei braced himself against the overwhelming force and stood up.

He took one step at a time, moving toward Tilis's position.

But just then, due to the destruction of the laboratory, sounds from outside suddenly filtered in.

"What's going on!?"

"Tilis?"

"The Vice President! The Vice President is over there!!"

It was the voices of the outside mages. Luo Wei turned around.

Helena's anxious face appeared before him.

"Brother? What happened? Why did the earthquake suddenly start?"

Luo Wei gave a bitter smile and turned his gaze toward Tilis.

Intense blue light surrounded her, and a torrential wave of magic was brewing, even causing the space around them to warp.

That was just the prelude...

It was all over.

They had overdone it, raising a big boss.

Helena's face filled with horror. "She, she's gone mad! What is she going to do?"

"Tilis!?" Margery, the Elder, couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"No! Her magic has gone out of control!" Roens, the Elder, widened his eyes and immediately retreated.

"Don't go near the laboratory! Get out! Everyone, get out of here!" He roared, directing all the mages.

The mages panicked and retreated, but a despairing scene unfolded before them.

The President's massive, undead body appeared behind them.

Luo Wei turned his gaze toward the President, whose body had grown even larger after devouring more mages. The bloated mass of flesh nearly filled the entire corridor.

"Devour!"

"Devour!!"

The President emitted those inhuman sounds again as countless tentacles surged in, and several unfortunate mages let out pitiful cries.

Trapped between Tilis and the President, the remaining mages' expressions grew increasingly desperate.

Seeing this, Margery quickly looked at Roens.

"We have to wake Tilis first! Otherwise, no one will survive!"

Roens knew this well, but he wasn't willing to risk getting close to Tilis.

Margery glanced at him, then resolutely flew toward Tilis.

"Tilis! Wake up! The President has already broken in!"

Tilis's empty eyes turned toward her.

Seeing that Tilis was indeed reacting, Margery became excited and sped up.

"Tilis! The matters of the Inner Circle are the most important! First, let's deal with the President together! Otherwise, our people..."

Although Tilis did show some reaction, as Margery got closer...

The next moment caused Margery's smile to slowly fade.

Because the catastrophic, annihilation-inducing energy finally erupted.

Margery was instantly torn apart.

All the mages didn't have time to react before they were swept up by the energy, bursting into clouds of blood in the air.

The President, who had just charged into the research facility, had always been eager to devour a powerful mage like Tilis. However, when the energy surged over, it let out a painful wail.

Its massive body was as fragile as paper, its limbs torn apart, and its flesh disintegrated, revealing grotesque bones.

Even its bloodied face showed an expression of fear.

And then...

The President turned and fled.

Without looking back...

Luo Wei watched this slightly comical scene and couldn't help but look back at Tilis.

The energy was already within reach. In the next moment, he would be torn apart like the other mages.

Helena, trembling with fear, used all her tentacles to tightly hold onto Luo Wei.

Luo Wei gently stroked her head, accompanying her in silent anticipation of death.

But the torrential energy suddenly halted.

Luo Wei looked surprised as he gazed at Tilis, who was staring blankly at him with those hollow eyes.

Then...

Tilis slowly closed her eyes, her body sagging weakly.

The magic torrent that had been about to annihilate everything vanished.

The world became eerily silent.

"Brother..." Helena opened her eyes in confusion, searching for Luo Wei.

She had thought she was dead.

"Are we in heaven...?"

"But why is heaven so run-down? The nun sisters at the church didn't say it would be like this..."

Luo Wei rubbed her head and gently loosened the tentacles wrapped around him.

"We're still alive, and this isn't heaven."

He moved aside the debris blocking their path and arduously made his way toward Tilis.

Helena followed confusedly behind him.

Luo Wei finally reached Tilis, where he saw her body was like a withered flower, devoid of life.

The witch was dead.

Pushed to her death by himself.