Even so, Shannon couldn't back down.
Following the guidance of her supernatural power, Shannon, with Skylar still under the influence of the puppet talisman, stepped once again into the black smoke. However, when they finally emerged from the black smoke and spotted Atlas, they found he wasn't alone.
Standing beside him was Sylvia, the very person he had taken earlier. She lay motionlessly, still in the dreamland created by the Dreambeast.
When Atlas saw the two, he wasn't the least bit panicked. Instead, he wore a smug smile.
A sense of foreboding surged within Shannon. Without further questions, she mobilized her supernatural strength and cast supernatural lightning.
"Boom, with power and light!"
The supernatural lightning, like a serpent, shot toward Atlas. But to her shock, his figure gradually transformed into black smoke and dove straight into Sylvia's body.
At the same time, the surrounding black smoke seemed to be drawn to her, surging toward Sylvia as if magnetized.
Shannon froze in surprise. Though she didn't know his plan, her instinct screamed that it couldn't be good.
She hurried forward, trying to stop the black smoke from entering Sylvia's body. But to her dismay, the next moment, it felt as though her own body had turned to fog, being pulled into Sylvia as well.
Just as she was about to be consumed, a flash of golden light suddenly appeared before her eyes.
"Shannon!" Benjamin appeared before her eyes, tugging her hand without hesitation.
He had thought he could pull her back, but to her surprise, both of them were sucked into Sylvia's body.
For a moment, there was only darkness. When she opened her eyes again, the black smoke was still thick around them. However, this time, a dilapidated house slowly materialized within the smoke.
The house seemed familiar as if she had seen it before.
"It's Isolde's residence in Arenvale," Benjamin stated.
"It's a dream," said Shannon.
What they saw was probably the dream Sylvia had conjured—her dream of returning to Isolde's house after losing her.
"It seems we're been pulled into Sylvia's dream."
As if to respond to their questions, a Stone Turtle slowly emerged from the black smoke. It had a severed animal's leg in its mouth, yet its expression was far from pleasant.
Just moments ago, it had finally tracked down the true form of the Dreambeast within Sylvia's dream, ready to give it a beating before dragging it out. But before it could act, the entire dream was quickly enveloped by a mass of black smoke.
Suddenly, the Dreambeast, who had been at a disadvantage, seemed to gain some kind of rule-based power and managed to break free in an instant.
The Stone Turtle, still grumbling in the black smoke, was searching for something when it unexpectedly spotted the two figures ahead.
It squinted, carefully sensing them, and once it confirmed they weren't part of the Dreambeast's illusions, it tilted its head, its expression clearly asking, "What are you two doing here?"
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