The scorching shockwave, formed from pure light and heat, rose up, sweeping through everything in the Remnant Dream illusion.
Even the illusion itself became unstable. Annelina's delicate face turned deathly pale, without a trace of color. She had to focus all of her spirit just to barely suppress the illusion's impending collapse.
Although within the Remnant Dream, she, as the master of the Nightmare Butterfly, was theoretically omnipotent like a creator.
However, this skill was by no means truly perfect.
A certain pet beast theory master once proposed the view—"There are no useless pet beasts, only useless Beast Tamers." [hold up, I knew this bastard]
Although this theory master spent his entire life stuck at the second rank and died in frustration, and most of his theories were later proven to be pure, unadulterated toxic chicken soup—
High-tier pet beasts can just beat up on low-tier ones. Don't believe it? Try pitting an Awakening-tier Bobo Bird against an Emperor-tier Red Dragon Whelp.
However, there was one valid point in his theories: even the most powerful pet beasts will inevitably have flaws and shortcomings.
At least at Annelina's current mid-rank Beast Tamer level, her Nightmare Butterfly was still far from invincible.
While the Remnant Dream illusion was incredibly sinister, the nightmare phantoms simulated within it also consumed Annelina's own spiritual power.
This was especially true when the manifested illusion's form and fundamental principles were completely incomprehensible to Annelina; the consumption rate of her spiritual power would increase dramatically.
Just this short period had already shown Annelina the preliminary signs of mental exhaustion.
"However, this must be your final struggle."
Annelina's face was ashen as she stared at Shaya, who stood in the distance with his hands in his pockets.
Although there seemed to be no change in his expression.
To be able to imagine such a complex and utterly incomprehensible illusion, his spiritual power must also be greatly depleted. He was surely just putting on a brave face right now.
And for a Beast Tamer, whose foundation is their soul, the exhaustion of spiritual power basically makes them no different from a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
If she could just hold on a little longer, she could completely drain his remaining spiritual power.
Then, it would be time to savor his soul.
With this thought, a blush returned to Annelina's already colorless face.
Being inside the mental illusion, she could already vaguely sense his soul's fluctuations.
So clear, so pure, carrying an unfathomable depth and sense of mystery. If the other prey she had hunted in the past were like simple home-cooked meals, then Shaya felt to her like an exquisite delicacy from a state banquet, constantly exuding an alluring aroma.
This was only natural.
The quality of the soul of a Beast Tamer genius from the Imperial Capital's Saint Roland Academy was certainly not something those apprentice Beast Tamers from the countryside could compare to.
Perhaps after devouring him completely, her Nightmare Butterfly could gain the opportunity for its next evolution.
Just as this thought flashed through her mind, Annelina saw the originally flickering and distorted phantom prototypes begin to gradually become clear.
They were magnificent cities composed of buildings. For some reason, Annelina felt that the illusion of this city was somewhat familiar.
It seemed to be the Imperial Capital she had visited as a child.
But why would something like this appear in her Remnant Dream illusion?
Annelina's expression was one of bewildered uncertainty. The phantoms manifested in the Remnant Dream should be the things the target feared most, the things they considered the most powerful.
Based on her past experience with "Remnant Dream," the nightmare phantoms generated by those who fell for it were basically either various evil dragons—differentiated only by the color of their scales—or notorious beast kings like the Silver Moon Demonic Wolf, the Abyssal Giant, or the Ancient Starry Beast.
She could barely guess the origin of Shaya's first illusion; perhaps it was some new disposable self-destructing mechanical pet beast developed by those guys from the Steam School in the City of Knowledge.
But the city illusion before her now completely baffled her. Who would be afraid of a city?
In the very next moment, the illusion of the city suddenly began to change.
The perspective of the illusion was abruptly pulled back. The once majestic city shrank suddenly, from the towering edifice that had previously occupied half the illusion's space to a tiny, almost invisible dot.
In its place was a vast, earth-yellow plain that resembled a map. Cities and kingdoms of various sizes were scattered across it, like tiny models.
Is this... a map of the continent?
Annelina's pupils constricted slightly, but the illusion's transformation did not stop.
The perspective continued to pull back.
Soon, an azure sphere appeared before Annelina's eyes. Most of it was covered in sea blue, and the previous earth-yellow plain was merely a few colored patches on its surface.
And in the distance, far from the azure planet, a scorching sphere of much greater size was burning against a background of black nothingness.
Annelina's pupils constricted again.
Although she was only the lowest-ranking baroness, she was, after all, a hereditary noble of the empire, with connections and sources of information that ordinary people could not compare to.
The scene before her reminded her of a rumor that had circulated from the City of Knowledge a few months ago. It had only spread within a small circle of nobles but had already caused a great stir in the academic world—
The land we walk on may not be flat, but a massive sphere.
And the entire world does not revolve around our planet, but rather orbits the blazing sun.
It was just a rumor of a few words, yet he understood it so clearly, even being able to fantasize such a precise image.
Could it be... he is connected to the City of Knowledge and the Steam School?
Before she could carefully ponder Shaya's origins, in the very next breath.
Annelina stared blankly as the once massive, blazing sun shrank once again.
Soon, it transformed from a sun that covered the sky into a speck of dust, a tiny point of light emitting a faint glow.
And beside it, there were tens of millions of similar points of light, slowly flowing along with the black curtain.
Suddenly, a giant hand reached out from the void and grasped this sea of stars, constructed from billions of points of light.
Then, it gently placed it on a chessboard.
And around the chessboard, there were countless similar game pieces, each made from an entire cosmic sea of stars.
Pfft—
A look of horror appeared on Annelina's face as she spat out a mouthful of blood.
The entire illusion could no longer be maintained and instantly shattered into pieces.
"You couldn't hold on? I still had a whole bunch of boxes left to stack."
Looking at the illusion that had shattered into countless glittering fragments around him, Shaya sighed with a hint of unfulfilled regret.
If she had managed to hold on, he had already planned the sequel—
This universe containing countless stars is but a minor world. Three thousand minor worlds make a medium world, three thousand medium worlds make a major world, and a number of major worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges River form a Pure Land of Immeasurable Light.
To make a transmigrator feel fear, it would have to be something on the level of the Lord of the Pure Land of Immeasurable Light, right?
Alas, for a minor noble living in a border city, the continent and the planet were the limits of her imagination.
Therefore, her collapse was quite swift and decisive, which was a waste of Shaya's efforts.
The illusion dissipated, revealing the ceiling of the manor and the dim sky outside the window once more.
Not far away.
Annelina lay limp on the ground, her spiritual power completely drained. Along with the black butterfly that had fallen beside her, she wore a vacant, mind-broken expression.