"...At that time, I didn't pay any attention at all."

The monster spoke with a tone of regret.

"You didn't need to pay any attention at all. We were just three ordinary people without any memories. You had the right to not care... I usually comfort arrogant fools like you this way."

What it was facing were Little Ye and the junior, along with the ritual executor they had chosen. Lin Ye didn't even know what gave it the confidence to overlook such an obvious flaw.

"...Even if everything you said is true, then why didn't you let me destroy the base back then?"

The monster forcibly suppressed its rage; it still had a sliver of a chance to turn the tables.

"You know the answer to that question better than I do, don't you?

How does it feel to get hit by your own ultimate move?

Although instinct is a powerful ability, judgments made purely on instinct aren't necessarily accurate. Destroying the base back then could indeed have dealt you a heavy blow, but it wouldn't have completely killed you. At that point, you could have pulled us all into the Dreamrealm and fought us to the death.

Instead of being like now, deeply fused with the base and even using your ultimate move on yourself."

While drinking tea in the Dreamrealm, Lin Ye had been struggling to suppress the corners of his mouth. If the monster had chosen to fight them to the death in the Dreamrealm, the final outcome would have depended on how much influence Mia had over the Dreamrealm.

That wouldn't have been a very good choice.

"...So not only did I miss the only flaw, but I also missed the chance for a fight to the death?"

The monster sounded as if it had accepted its fate, its voice becoming exceptionally calm.

"Correct. And you are currently missing your last chance to turn the tables. Right now, you must be wanting to concentrate your power to perish together with us, or to capture us as hostages, right?

Why do you think I've been wasting so much breath talking to you?"

Lin Ye had returned to the second floor of the base on the other side. He picked up the cold black tea and finished the last sip.

Originally, Lin Ye had prepared to use his Instinctive State to withstand the monster's final counterattack.

But the outcome was already decided the moment Mia gained control of the Dreamrealm and used it to break through the base's blockade.

The sacrificial offering died. The ritual ended.

……………………………………………

In the opulent lounge, three people and one dinosaur sat on soft high-backed chairs, enjoying afternoon tea.

"You predicted that I would incorporate Parasitic Threads into the base, which is why you drove that monster into the interior of the ritual? Was all of this planned?"

Lin Ye looked at Little Ye and voiced the question in his heart.

"I'm not that perverse. Unlike you, I prefer to live more spontaneously. I only thought of this plan after seeing that base... By the way, normal people don't use Parasitic Threads as construction materials when building a base." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Little Ye picked up her teacup and took a sip.

"The nature of Parasitic Threads is very special. The more powerful an individual is, the harder it is to detect them, until they are affected. That creature only realized it hadn't truly separated from the base after being implicated.

Even we would have had a hard time dealing with that creature, yet senior managed to resolve it this way."

Gray mist drifted around the junior, making her figure appear somewhat illusory.

"It was just a coincidence. You two probably wanted to utilize the power of the Instinctive State Rule Fragment, right? I didn't even know its effect before."

That Rule Fragment was something Lin Ye had previously obtained from the Waste Stone. He had checked his own body before but couldn't find any trace of the Rule Fragment at all.

"Little Ye has been keeping an eye on senior's situation all along. One of the main purposes of this incident was to resolve the Instinctive State Rule Fragment on senior's body. The only difference between an uncontrollable Rule Fragment and a bomb is that the Rule Fragment is more powerful."

The junior explained.

"Couldn't you have just told me directly?"

Lin Ye hadn't expected this incident to involve so many hidden details.

"If it were any other Rule Fragment, it might have been fine to say. But the compatibility between Instinct and you is too poor. As you grow stronger and stronger, you will habitually try to control everything around you and won't rely on instinct to act at all. So, we created a Dreamrealm where you could only act based on instinct."

Little Ye drank her tea calmly.

"Thanks. If you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have even known about this hidden danger."

Lin Ye had to express his gratitude for being able to return to the hospital and eat the rice noodles from the Cafeteria one more time.

"Is it really okay to possess two completely unrelated Rule Fragments?"

Xivia, who had been listening quietly, suddenly interjected.

"That's precisely why this ritual was needed. That creature possessed a unique talent for fusing rule power. When the ritual ended, senior should have obtained part of that creature's special power. We divided that special power into three portions."

The junior stated the most important purpose of this ritual.

Achieving this wasn't easy. It could only be accomplished within a ritual of this Plane, which required permission from the master of the Plane.

Moreover, Lin Ye had to become a ritual participant; otherwise, the ritual's specifications wouldn't be sufficient to accommodate that creature's true form.

Finally, it required Lin Ye, who had lost his memories, to be able to complete the ritual and kill that creature.

This wasn't a simple matter. Lin Ye, without his memories, could have died at any moment during the ritual. If that had happened, the creature would have completed the ritual, and everyone would have paid a heavy price.

"How do I use it? I can't feel that special power."

Lin Ye planned to study the Falling Rule Fragment after returning. If he could master that special power, things would be much easier.

"Wait until you advance to a high-level spiritual energy user. Your current rank is too low."

Little Ye said casually.

"Do you two know my grandmother?"

Xivia also hadn't expected this ritual to become so 'grand.'

"Of course. She and I are pen pals."

The junior said meaningfully.

"...So that's how it is."

Although the outcome of this ritual incident was quite good, Xivia didn't want to experience it again at all.

Unlike her grandmother, she didn't like gambling.

After explaining the details of this incident, Little Ye and the junior bid farewell to Lin Ye and left the lounge. They still had some matters to attend to.

"I really troubled you this time."

Xivia reached out and shook the dinosaur's front paw.

"No, I should be the one saying I troubled you."

When he came, Lin Ye never imagined that most of the troubles in this ritual were caused by him, the hired hand.

"Hmph, you all should thank me. If I hadn't obtained the authority over the Dreamrealm at the critical moment, none of you might have made it back alive."

Only after Little Ye left did Mia seize control of the dinosaur body.

"True, you were somewhat reliable this time... It's getting late, I should head back too."

Lin Ye said somewhat perfunctorily.

"...That story. Next time we meet, please tell me the middle part of the story."

Before Lin Ye left this Plane, Xivia said to him with a smile.

"It's a promise."

Under the pull of a certain power, Lin Ye's consciousness returned to Ward 419.