Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation(1-3VOL)

Vol 3/Chapter 36: The Traitor

"It is a bit suspicious..."

Elara listened to us intently while sitting calmly in front of us, seeming to contemplate.

"While the daemon you described does match the appearance of a nightmare with its black, smoky exterior that can sneak into Edenmere due to its intangible nature, nightmares don't usually linger after attacking. Unless they were continually trying to manipulate your memories..."

"Are you saying the same thing as those other angels, that it's weird I didn't fall asleep like a normal angel?"

Nicola impatiently interrupted, getting straight to the point.

"If you really can't stand us and think we're too different from the other angels, then just let me and Feliciana leave Edenmere!"

"Nicola!"

I was shocked. While I understood her pent-up frustration after what happened earlier, was it wise to be so rash in front of the Queen? If we angered Elara, there was no telling what consequences that could bring.

And what about Reed and Cyra still in Edenmere? Surely we can't just abandon them.

"No, I think you misunderstood..."

But Elara did not seem angry at all. Quite poised, she even smiled slightly.

"To me, I'm just marvelling at how special your souls truly are. I meant nothing else. Those angels from the guard department earlier also had no ill intentions. It's just that the common sense of thousands of years has been broken, so they feel a bit uncomfortable. I hope you can understand."

"Then why did you call us here if not just to praise our souls?"

Since the Queen was being so conciliatory, Nicola also softened her tone a bit.

"Of course, it's not that simple!"

Elara said, suddenly turning her gaze towards me.

"From what Nomar reported to me, it seems Feliciana was also attacked by a nightmare before, correct?"

"Huh? You know about that too?"

I gaped, not expecting her to suddenly shift the topic to me. What does this have to do with me?

"Aside from why you two can wake up on your own, which we'll set aside for now, I suspect the nightmares may have wanted to access your memories while you dreamed. That's why they lingered instead of leaving quickly."

The Queen seemed to contemplate briefly before continuing her explanation.

"There aren't many methods in this world that can read memories, but nightmares can manipulate dreams to make their target unaware they're dreaming. Then they guide the direction and development of the dreamscape to obtain the memories they want. It's an important method daemons use to steal intelligence."

"Why would daemons want our memories?"

I was disturbed. I didn't realize this was more than just giving us bad dreams - it sounded like espionage!

"Yeah! We're just newbie angels. Even if we were once humans in our past life, why target us?"

Nicola looked confused, unable to fathom what these demons were up to.

"Could they be trying to get information about our old world to attack Earth or something?"

"..."

I didn't know whether to be exasperated by her wild speculation or concerned she might be right. Surely that's going too far off base?