"At most half an hour."
Sanders paused and looked at Angel, "If in the end, he still cannot fully assume the authority, we’ll need your help..."
Angel nodded; if the authority couldn’t be borne, he could only let the authority return to the earth.
Ten minutes later, there was no abatement in Sumishe’s dire condition.
After another ten minutes, the situation remained unchanged.
Time continued to flow; watching Sumishe’s condition worsen without any sign of recovery, Sanders’ gaze turned heavy as well.
Angel looked at the time; there were less than five minutes remaining of the previously mentioned half-hour.
Angel: "Shall we end it now?"
Sanders said half an hour, but that was actually the maximum limit. Sumishe might not last the entire half-hour.
Sanders pondered, "Let’s wait a bit longer."
Another three minutes passed, and seeing that time was approaching the limit, even Rhein, who had been observing, couldn’t help but suggest, "Let’s call it this time."
Sanders’ Adam’s apple moved slightly, and he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Alright..." Before he could finish the sentence, Sanders’ voice suddenly halted, and his eyes stared intently at Sumishe.
Angel and Rhein quickly looked over, only to see that Sumishe, who had appeared to be at his limit, was starting to improve. Though still sweating profusely, his brows visibly relaxed, and instead of screaming, he was breathing heavily.
"It seems like he succeeded?" Rhein’s eyes flashed with surprise.
Sanders did not speak but continued watching Sumishe, his eyes flickering.
Angel remained silent, immersing his thoughts deeply into the Mind Space, where a tall and robust tree stood in this dark and profound space.
On this lush giant tree that seemed to reach endlessly upward, each branch bore not leaves but glowing points representing authority.
At this moment, there were eight bright spots on the branches.
Seven of these spots were shining brightly, representing the activated authority in the Wilderness of Dreams, excluding the Ability Tree itself.
There was only one spot that looked blurry, as if it could extinguish at any moment.
Angel understood that this was the spot Sumishe was currently absorbing. This flickering spot was located on the main branch, and its volume was quite large, even surpassing the "Energy Selection" and "Energy Level Limitation" authority spots by quite a margin. It was only slightly smaller than "Tree Civilization," indicating that this authority was indeed inclined towards one of the primary rules.
Such a primarily rule-oriented authority and no wonder Sumishe struggled with just one.
Angel silently observed the constantly flickering authority spot. From the current situation, it seemed that Sumishe hadn’t fully integrated yet.
And it appeared there was still some distance before the authority would take shape.
But why did Sumishe’s demeanor appear more relaxed than before?
While Angel was puzzled, he failed to notice Sanders’ silhouette gradually dispersing, but after a moment, Sanders’ form gathered again.
"A small episode occurred in reality," Sanders said softly.
Rhein looked over curiously, "What happened?"
Sanders: "It was a desperate counterattack, a gamble, but it was won."
In the confused eyes of Angel and Rhein, Sanders proceeded to tell what he had seen.
When Sumishe showed obvious signs of relaxation, Sanders felt a bit strange. As someone who had integrated with authority and could sense energy flow, Sumishe didn’t seem to be finished with the integration process. But why did he appear relaxed?
With this doubt, Sanders returned to reality. Then he discovered the reason.
It turned out that Sumishe had made a bet. Before entering the Wilderness of Dreams, he had left a contingency plan, activating his Abyss of Magic Nightmare Realm in a moment of crisis.
Sumishe attempted to leverage the Principal Body of the Nightmare Domain in his Abyss of Magic to share the pressure caused by the authority of the Wilderness of Dreams.
Sumishe’s own Abyss of Magic Nightmare Realm had already reached its limit. If it were reopened and failed, he could only perish. Thus, it was a gamble, a desperate counterattack made by Sumishe.
His luck was apparently quite good.
This recklessness of Sumishe earned him precious time.
"Ordinarily, a typical Nightmare Realm cannot substitute to bear the authority of the Wilderness of Dreams, but this particular authority seems to be highly compatible with Sumishe’s Nightmare Realm. The high compatibility allowed him to succeed. Moreover, this compatibility even hinted at the restoration of the previously shattered Abyss of Magic Nightmare Realm—a double victory."
When the Abyss of Magic Nightmare Realm activated, the information streams that surged out managed to transfer to the Principal Body of the Nightmare Domain. This was the reason Sumishe’s expression had become somewhat relaxed.
Hearing this, Rhein couldn’t help but laugh, "Sumishe is indeed vigorous, and his luck is favorable."
Rhein heard that when Sumishe broke through to a True Knowledge Wizard, it was also through sheer determination. Now, in a desperate situation, he gambled and ultimately won.
Thinking of this, Rhein couldn’t help but sigh, "If Flora could put aside her overly cautious nature, she might have already embarked on the path of True Knowledge."
Of course, such a sentiment is not necessarily reflective. Flora might not have Sumishe’s luck, and relying solely on determination could very well increase the likelihood of failure.
Sanders: "Speaking of Flora, this time Sumishe was fortunate, earning time through a gamble, but the opportunity for this gamble came because of Flora."
Sumishe couldn’t perceive the outside world under the deluge of information streams, let alone reality.
The reason he could activate it smoothly was that before entering the Wilderness of Dreams, he gave Little Red the permission to access his Nightmare Realm.
Having pre-informed Flora that if an incident occurred, she should activate the Abyss of Magic Nightmare Realm for him.
Flora’s judgment of timing was highly accurate, successfully executing the contingency left by Sumishe.
So, Sanders would say this was an opportunity brought by Flora.
During their conversation, on the other side, Sumishe’s authority bearing was finally approaching its conclusion.
...
With external Abyss of Magic Nightmare Realm sharing the pressure, there was little doubt about Sumishe’s authority bearing.
The only variable was whether the information streams shared in the Abyss of Magic Nightmare Realm could be absorbed by Sumishe.
After all, the Abyss of Magic Nightmare Realm existed in reality, while the Wilderness of Dreams was in the rift between the Dream Realm and reality. Although the information itself was conceptual, might time-space differences present an obstacle?
After absorbing the information streams released by the authority itself, Sumishe began attempting to perceive the information streams within the Abyss of Magic Nightmare Realm.
To his surprise, despite every Abyss of Magic Nightmare Realm and Wilderness of Dreams existing in two different spaces, he could clearly perceive the information streams stored within the Abyss of Magic Nightmare Realm.
His Mind Space became the medium for sensing the two Nightmare Domains.
Though he still couldn’t control the Abyss of Magic Nightmare Realm through the consciousness of the Wilderness of Dreams, he could absorb the stored information back into the consciousness.
Sumishe decisively commenced the integration of information.
As the information flowed back, the once missing piece of authority was finally completed.
When the authority coalesced into a whole, the authority’s information that Sumishe hadn’t had time to view before finally emerged in his mind.