Am I really hallucinating?

Chapter 694 Sorry

Deep within the winding corridors, two white lights intersected and collided repeatedly in the intricate and ever-changing labyrinthine passageway.

The two lanterns were thrown at the same time, crossing the distance between them and colliding.

Ding!
A sharp crack seemed to freeze the scene, and the next moment, white energy spread like an electric current, raging and destroying a large section of the corridor. Two figures quickly flashed to the location of the lantern.

“【Intense Light】.” Eliadodike reached out directly.

A pale, heavy hammer spun and slammed down on Stratus!

Crack... Crack! The pure white ice crystals shattered. Stratus had conjured ice crystals to protect himself, but he was still sent flying backward by the heavy hammer. He only stopped flying when his feet landed on a changing corridor.

"To be able to fight me with Pharos's body using only the aid of energy and his own abilities, Master is truly worthy of being called Master," Eliadodike exclaimed.

What level is Faros? He was beaten into a three-dimensional pinball in a single exchange.

However, after being taken over by Stratus, he immediately possessed the strength to stall for time with him. This improvement was considerable.

He is also extremely experienced. To this day, Stratus has not yet used mental imagery.

The ability to visualize one's inner vision is inherently a double-edged sword, carrying both benefits and risks. When used by the Lamplighter, it can often turn a seemingly evenly matched battle into a crushing defeat. However, at the same time, visualization itself is a significant weakness for humans.

Using mental imagery is like packaging this weakness before using it against the enemy.

If the mental image is found to have a weak point and is broken through, or even if it is seized on a vulnerable moment before it is fully formed, it will directly cause the lamplighter to suffer a heavy blow, or even lead to defeat.

This risk is almost non-existent for most lamplighters who may spend their entire lives playing with an easy advantage. Once they find the situation challenging, they will habitually use mental imagery to unfold their thoughts.

However, this is not a good habit.

In the current unfavorable situation, maintaining a mental image in battle might make the situation look better, but when facing someone stronger than yourself, maintaining a mental image makes it easy for the opponent to find a point that is easier to defeat.

Therefore, Stratus did not use Pharos's mental image easily, and has been holding onto it until now, waiting for the most suitable opportunity to unleash a sudden burst of power.

Similarly, Eliadosca did not use his mental image because he did not need to.

All he used were special techniques on the power of the pure white factor, and Eliadodike was now a complete surpassing of Stratus.

Stratus had to admit that even with his past body and the image of his lamp, he could probably only hold out a little longer against the current Eliadodic.

dong dong...

Suddenly, they heard the sound of heartbeats in their ears.

dong dong...

With each heartbeat, the two immediately looked at the lanterns in their hands and noticed that the light inside seemed to flicker and fade in sync with the heartbeats.

“This is…” Eliadodike frowned slightly.

"It's a success, Hong Yijia." Etratus exhaled, his eyes suddenly sharpening.

In the moment when Eliado Dict hesitated due to the influence of the heartbeat—the mental image unfolded!

Stratus tossed the lantern over his head, stretched out his whole body, and looked up at the lantern. With a violent jolt, bang!
With Pharos's body as the origin, the huge ice crystal spike suddenly burst open, like a huge ice flower. At the same time, a violent explosion occurred, and the temperature of the entire Thousand Hundred Corridors plummeted, even covering it with thick frost.

At the same time, as the ice flower exploded, ice flowers appeared one after another. Each bloom was accompanied by a powerful explosion of ice crystals. Every ice crystal trembled. As the ice flowers bloomed, it was like a chain reaction. After the first explosion, the endless explosion of ice crystals filled the depths of the Thousand Hundred Corridors.

Eliadodic was not spared; the spreading frost and subsequent explosions engulfed him instantly.

"【aurora】."

A cool voice sounded.

The ice fog was swept away by the white light, and the white aurora spread gently like ribbons. Eliadodike flew in mid-air, completely unharmed.

Then, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

The white aurora cast several beams of light, melting away the ice crystals and penetrating deep into Stratus's body.

Boom!

There was another loud noise.

Pharos was overwhelmed, fine cracks appeared on the surface of the lantern, and he collapsed before he could even regain consciousness.

Stratus was once again blasted out of Pharos's body as a white figure, crashing through the wall and falling into the ruins of the corridor.

Eliadodike walked slowly, but in the blink of an eye he was beside Stratus: "In that situation, you still chose to protect Pharos with yourself... If you had protected yourself more, you might have been able to drain all the power out of this body and try to hurt me again."

“That’s enough, Eliadodic.” Stratus slowly floated up, the dense white light on his body now thin and faint, like a phantom that could be easily dispelled.

"Dragging you to this moment is the last thing I can do for posterity."

"Placing your hopes on a motley crew and a pure-blooded girl who hasn't even received basic training? Although it's not appropriate for me to say it like this, it's precisely because you sacrificed yourself without coordinating everything that we ended up on the path we are on now. The result of entrusting your hopes to others is that the opportunity to determine your future slips through your fingers, causing the world to become what you don't want it to be."

Eliadosco coldly replied, “If you are dissatisfied with me, you shouldn’t have sacrificed yourself back then. There are other lamplighters out there, why did you throw yourself into the lighthouse? Do you know that after you passed away, the capital was in turmoil many times, and I was not the first to undermine your expectations. That’s why I had to break through my own limitations, break through the life constraints of a lamplighter, live to this day, firmly grasp the capital in my hands, not let it be taken away by filthy and lowly people, and make it into what I want it to be.”

Stratus looked at Eliadodice and remained silent for a long time.

Seeing this, Eliadodike seemed to think there was nothing more to say, closed his eyes, and turned to leave.

There's no need to worry about Stratus anymore. With the factor energy depleted, this temporary body that carries the will will soon collapse, and Stratus will face its true death.

Eliadosco.

Hearing the call from behind, Eliadodike did not stop, nor did he respond or even intend to pay attention.

“I’m still very dissatisfied with you… but what you said makes sense.” Strathus paused, then said, “I’m sorry.”

Eliadodike stood there, stunned.

“I don’t think there was anything wrong with me sacrificing myself for Dadu back then. Sacrificing others and sacrificing oneself are different concepts. I am indeed too mild-mannered to be a leader, so I hope you can do better than me after I leave. It’s probably too late to say that now… I’m sorry for leaving without saying goodbye back then, leaving you all alone all these years…”

Eliadodic paused for a long time before slowly turning around.

There was nothing behind him except for a few scattered particles of light.

"Tsk."

Having cultivated his mind and body for many years after transcending the form of life, the Undying Lighthouse, who believed he would no longer experience excessive and unnecessary emotional fluctuations, subconsciously uttered a sound of displeasure. This was a bad habit he had almost forgotten before becoming the Lighthouse.

He then turned and continued walking, his steps firm and unwavering.

(End of this chapter)