He staggered around in the maple forest that was burning with flames, and the maple leaves were like pieces of flame butterflies fluttering their wings.
His whole body was covered with burn wounds and blackened by smoke. He seemed to be looking for something or running away from something.
Looking up inadvertently, there was only a dark red in the night sky that was red with fire.
There was no sun or moon in the black-red night sky, only a huge, bleeding wound.
The wound looked like it had been pierced by a sharp blade, or like it had been pierced by a spear. Black, sticky blood trickled out from the wound, forming a sparse waterfall.
For some reason, Aiwass in the dream had to go to the bottom of the waterfall despite being burned.
But every time, Aiwass couldn't get there.
Because when he gradually approaches that direction, he will always stumble and fall due to exhaustion of physical strength. Then he will suddenly wake up, and the clear dream will fade into a moment of panic and worry, only remaining in his mind.
Some vague memories.
But this time, perhaps because Aiwass took the "Drunken Dream Tincture" before falling asleep, his dreams became more stable.
He walked a long, long way and finally reached the bottom of the wound.
It was a small, empty plain in the dense forest. The blood flowing from the wounds in the sky gathered into a huge lake, and in the lake was a small island. Between the empty islands
On top of it, there was a solitary two-handed sword that was stained pure black by the thick waterfall of blood.
Aiwass looked at the two-handed sword intently.
He approached there absentmindedly.
But at this moment, he suddenly heard the roar of a bear coming from behind him.
"Roar--"
Aiwass's pupils suddenly shrank.
He looked back, but his perspective suddenly became shorter.
It was as if he was no longer a human being, but a thin four-legged beast.
In the maple forest burning with flames behind him, a giant bear with flames burning all over his body and scarlet pupils was slowly approaching him.
As it approached, and with its heavy pace, Aiwass felt that the surrounding ground was shaking more and more violently. The whole world continued to fragment and collapse, and more and more powerful fires shot into the sky. From Aiwass'
More and more black blood surged behind him, foaming with white foam, and gradually submerged Aiwass.
The moment Aiwass and the giant bear looked at each other, he saw a human smile on the bear's face.
"——Anyone who uses a knife will be killed by the blade."
A low voice sounded in Aiwass's heart.
This sentence was suddenly burned into Aiwass's heart as clearly as a knife and an axe, and it was painful to touch like a scorch mark from a fire.
Then, a severe feeling of fear struck Aiwass.
He opened his eyes suddenly and broke away from the dream.
"...Xiong Tiansi?"
Before the memory faded away, Aiwass blurted out.
But Aiwass soon realized that it was impossible for him to forget that moment——
Because he felt that his chest was a little wet and itchy. When he reached out and touched it, he could feel the pain. It was like a mosquito bite.
——Aiwass unbuttoned and found three fresh scars emerging on his chest.
It's like three stab wounds, or like the marks left by a bear's claws tearing through flesh and blood.
The blood had just stained Aiwass's white fox velvet pajamas, and had not even been soaked yet - it was obvious that he had just been injured.
It was when Aiwass woke up that the wound appeared on his chest; or in other words, it was because of this wound that he suddenly woke up.
"Lily."
Aiwass sat on the bed and called softly.
Just two seconds later, Lily quietly walked out of the servant's room next door with bare feet. The soft red carpet did not make any sound.
She looked at the wound on Aiwass's chest inquiringly, and her expression suddenly became serious and nervous.
Lily immediately lit a candle and handed it to Aiwass.
Aiwass stretched out his hand and grasped the flame, closed his eyes and prayed devoutly. The room originally illuminated by the candle suddenly became dim again, and the flame in Aiwass' hand shook violently. The candlelight cast through Aiwass
The shadow becomes distorted like a devil.
In Lily's eyes, the scars on Aiwass's chest were recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye.
But soon, Lily suddenly opened her eyes wide——
I saw that the "Sacrificial Fire" technique, which could heal almost all kinds of pain, seemed to have suddenly failed at this moment...
The scar on Aiwass's chest only stopped the bleeding. It did not heal, but scabbed and was covered with a layer of amber-like residue. But if it was torn hard, the wound would bleed again.
Apparently, Aiwass can feel this too.
At this moment, a reminder appeared in front of Aiwass' eyes.
[You have obtained the characteristic: Authority-One of the Brands]
[Authority - Brand One: Xiong Tiansi swings down the claws of the future and declares that he will end your life with such a blow. This is the first brand, and the number cannot be seven——]
[Your chest will always be regarded as a "weak point", regardless of whether you protect it effectively; you will always be noticed and hunted by Xiong Tiansi and his apostles; when you fight the target who is chasing you, this
Each battle is always regarded as a "duel"]
...It’s Xiong Tiansi’s hunting ritual.
Aiwass breathed a sigh of relief, opened his eyes, and let go of the hand holding the candle.
The light in the room became stable again.
"What's the matter, Aiwass?"
Lily asked in a low voice, somewhat anxiously: "Did something happen?"
"It's not a big problem."
Aiwass replied easily.
He chuckled and pointed to the scar on his chest: "This is the mark Xiong Tiansi left on me. He swore that he would kill me with such a vicious blow."
——Tear the chest apart with ferocious claw strikes!
If his attack really fell, what would be left on Aiwass's chest would not be just this shallow scar.
Therefore this dream was just a routine preview of a hunt.
Aiwass woke up from dreams repeatedly before, precisely because he instinctively sensed danger even in his dreams... But before he officially accepted this notice, the nightmare would always haunt him. Let him
Unable to rest normally and unable to sleep and be promoted.
Aiwass vaguely guessed this, so he used Drunken Dream Tincture to stabilize the dream, and then took on this challenge.
Obviously, Xiong Tiansi is very satisfied with Aiwass's choice.
He even smiled!
Today, the imprint left by Xiong Tiansi is like the dotted line nailed out with a needle in advance when "please cut along the dotted line."
Not only did he predetermine the death of Aiwass, he even chose the way to die for him... and determined the final blow in advance. It was as if he had never considered the possibility of failure, let alone "just kill him."
Such utilitarian thoughts.
"This is the style of the former Pillar God of the Way of Power, the 'Supreme Heaven'..."
Aiwass sighed: "The one with greater strength is the strong one, and the strong one does not need to hesitate, regret, or think twice about his actions. When he wins, the strong one will get and dominate everything that the weak one has..."
That was the basic law of the world before "authoritarianism" was born.
The former Supreme Heaven had died long ago and was resurrected in the dream world. He was once again promoted to Xiong Tiansi and had a new constellation.
The imprint that Xiong Tiansi left on Aiwass's chest was to allow his followers and apostles to easily find Aiwass's location. It was like putting a flare on the prey. No matter how they escaped, they could always find its direction.
After all, He is a Tiansi and cannot easily descend to the realm. Therefore, His apostles are needed to act on his behalf and hunt down Aiwass in the material world.
But when Aiwass was branded by Xiong Tiansi, he breathed a sigh of relief.