Chapter 51.2

The soldiers stirred, shaking their heads and blinking their eyes as they came to.

"Am I coming out of a hallucination?" one of them asked, releasing the person next to them whom they had been gripping tightly. "Ow! You're nails dug into my skin!"

Commander Wood lowered his head and rubbed his temples, squinting his eyes. "Are you all awake?" he hoarse.

"I seem to remember hearing His Majesty's voice before. At first, I thought I was just imagining it, but then I heard it again. And then...the hallucination."

He raised his head tiredly, and his eyes widened in surprise. Kevin was standing at the end of the line, and the huge beast was sitting far away.

"Your Excellency Fassbender!" he exclaimed. "I'm so sorry about the chaos before. It was all so overwhelming that I didn't even realize you were here."

Kevin smiled. "It's quite alright, Commander. I understand that you were under a great deal of stress."

Commander Wood looked around in a daze, his mind still reeling from the events of the past few hours.

"So why did you follow me here?" he asked Kevin.

Kevin shrugged. "It's a long story," he said. "But in short, I'm following you now."

Wood frowned. "I thought I heard His Majesty's voice just now," he said. "But I could have sworn it was coming from the beast."

Kevin smiled. "That was me," he said. "I was just yelling."

Wood stared at him in disbelief. "You were yelling?" he asked. "But why?"

Kevin shrugged again. "I don't know," he said. "I guess I was just trying to scare you."

Wood shook his head. "Well, you succeeded," he said. "I'm still not sure what's going on here."

Although Kevin's voice was completely different from Oswald's, in the chaos of the previous situation, when no one could see who had been blown away by the wind, how could anyone have the experience to carefully distinguish the timbre of the voice?

Commander Wood was still a little confused, but for the time being, he took Kevin's words seriously. Perhaps Kevin's voice was different from usual when he was in a hurry.

The soldiers who were closer to Kevin woke up one after another, and they were all startled by the sight of Sirius, who was not far away.

Especially Oswald, who had a cold-blooded expression on his face that seemed to say, "I will kill anyone who approaches me." He really did not look like a friendly creature.

Deputy Commander Nick stared at the beast in amazement, his eyes widening in disbelief. "That--what is it?" he asked, his voice hushed.

Kevin rubbed his wrist and replied, "Sirius."

Nick's face was a study in confusion. "What's that?" he asked. "I've never seen anything like it on the mainland."

This fearless warrior had, in the space of two sentences, referred to His Majesty the Emperor as "Dongxi" and then "Baozier." It was clear that he was not long for this world. Kevin turned to Sirius, his face a mask of glee. He was clearly enjoying the show.

Oswald was speechless.

A soldier said weakly, "I seem to have seen Sirius in some legend, but I always thought it was just a myth. I never expected it to be real."

Nick turned to Kevin and asked, "Your Excellency, is this your pet?"

Kevin nodded without blushing and said, "Yes."

Oswald glanced at him silently, and his eyes seemed to say, "You're full of it."

The humble Lord Kevin Fassbender raised his eyebrows and walked to the side of the giant beast. He smiled and stroked the dog's head, then picked up a furry ear.

He leaned over and whispered to Oswald in a voice that only he could hear, "If you have any objections, keep them to yourself."

Nick said, "It helped us block the wind just now, right? I thought it was a giant eagle or something, and I wondered why its wings were so big. Where did you get it, sir? We should catch some too. The soldiers will love them."

Before Kevin could answer, Nick spoke up bravely. "Oh, right! Is your pet male or female? If it's female, can it give birth to a litter and a half?"

Kevin and Oswald exchanged glances that were both strange and amused. The humble Lord Kevin Fassbender, who was begging for a beating, smiled and lay down on the dog's head.

Oswald narrowed his eyes murderously. If it were not for cleanliness and face, he would have killed Nick, this unlucky thing, and thrown him out.

"Let's not mention these trivial matters," Kevin said, leaning on Oswald's dog's head. "Don't even think about Sirius. He's mine, and you can dream on that. Now, let's get down to business."

His posture was not correct, but his expression became serious in an instant. "What happened to those corpses in the secret passage? What happened to you?"

As soon as this question was uttered, the entire advance army fell silent.

Kevin surveyed the room, noting the curious expressions on everyone's face. They seemed eager to speak, but as soon as they did, a dazed look overcame their eyes, as if they were losing their train of thought.

However, they couldn't recall what was supposed to say.

Just as suspected, after a moment of confusion, everyone whispered in unison, "I forgot..."

"Oh no, what did I witness!" Nick smacked his head in frustration, "Why can't I remember? The words were right on the tip of my tongue."

Kevin furrowed his brow, exchanging a concerned glance with Oswald. They both realized that these people had been deceived, but they couldn't determine the nature of the deception or who was responsible for it. It was an enigma.

"Alright, let's change the subject." Kevin pondered for a moment before speaking up, "Did anything peculiar happen before the soldiers died in the secret passage?"

"I remember!" Wood replied eagerly, "We took a brief break in the secret passage for about two hours. Everyone took turns resting against the stone wall to catch a few moments of sleep. Some had dreams, others did not."

Kevin inquired further, "What happened to those who didn't dream?"

Wood looked down, his voice solemn, "When we encountered that entity, they all perished."

Kevin's frown deepened, "So you're saying that you did witness something before reaching the exit, but you can't remember what it was. And when you encountered this entity, those who hadn't dreamt died, while the dreamers survived?"

Wood nodded gravely, "Yes."

Kevin pressed on, "What did you dream about?"

Wood's voice grew heavy, "Old Rose Castle."