The Deceitful One

​​An otherworldly aura of fear and terror instantly spread across the entire ocean! Just from the mere presence alone, the waves began to churn and rise to the height of a tsunami!

The clouds parted from the center of the sky, however, there was no sunshine. Instead, the atmosphere turned darker and gloomier. Thunder rumbled across the sky and soon it began to pour heavily!

All these changes in the surroundings just from the mere presence! This was the aura of a powerhouse!

Benny stood standing on the surface of the ocean, surprisingly enough, the water around him was calm. Just calm enough for him to maintain a foothold.

However, everywhere else, a raging storm was brewing! Bryan was shocked out of his wits by the sudden change around him.

He wanted to expand his spiritual sense outward and check just what had happened, however, he was suddenly warned by Benny, 'Bryan, do not look at Uncle Octopus with your spiritual sense!'

Alarmed, Bryan inquired "W-Why not?"

'Your spiritual sense will be instantly obliterated! He's not someone you can pry into using your spiritual sense!' Benny replied solemnly.

Bryan gulped involuntarily and began to sweat nervously. He couldn't help but mock inwardly, 'I guess, it's a good thing that I'm blind.'

Meanwhile, Cthulhu who had just risen from the ocean, looked intently at Bryan who was still sitting on top of Benny.

After observing him for a few minutes, he nodded inwardly, 'As I thought! He is indeed the Blessed of the Dreamworld!'

His body then began to turn smaller by the second. And within a few moments, his entire body had transformed into a humanoid figure, standing at 8 feet tall.

He was now wearing a dark blue robe, his complexion had changed from dark blue to regular fair skin. He had a bald head and sported a thick beard made of black tentacles!

However, his eyes remained the same, darker than the abyss!

With both hands clasped behind his back, Cthulhu calmly walked toward Bryan and Benny.

On the other hand, at being stared at by Cthulhu for so long, Bryan couldn't stop his body from trembling in fear! His heart was throbbing and he felt as if it would tear open his chest and jump out!

Never in his life had he felt such terror! Not even the Rank 4 Sean Marx could make him feel this way! Bryan had now completely confirmed that the person in front of him was the strongest being he had ever met in his life!

'Bryan…' Benny called out to him.

Snapping out of his daze, Bryan tried to take a few deep breaths to calm down his raging heart. However, it was to no avail. He realized that the closer Cthulhu was getting to him, the faster his heart was beating and the more terrified he was becoming.

Bryan was now alarmed! He felt that if his heart continued to beat the way it was beating, it might explode in a few minutes. He couldn't help but gasp for air!

Cthulhu realized what was happening to Bryan and waved his arm! All of a sudden, the overwhelming pressure along with the otherworldly terror that Bryan was experiencing, vanished!

GASP!!

Bryan couldn't help but take a large mouthful of air. He sighed in relief and muttered under his breath, "W-What the hell was that!?"

He truly felt that he was going to die!

"Bryan Lombardi," Cthulhu stood right in front of the duo and spoke calmly, "We finally meet."

Turning his head toward the direction of the voice, Bryan gulped nervously. He still didn't dare to release his spiritual sense. He got off Benny's back and landed on the ocean's surface.

He walked a few steps forward and bowed in a respectful manner, "It is my honor to meet you…uh…"

Bryan didn't want to call him by his name! Hell, he didn't even want to think of his name, fearing that he might die!

Cthulhu looked at Bryan's awkward expression and replied in a solemn voice, "You can address me as The Sleeper."

Although Bryan felt that it was a weird name, he didn't dare to mock it in his mind, afraid that his thoughts would be read like an open book.

He bowed once again, "It is my honor to meet you, Mr. Sleeper."

Benny who had now transformed back into a small cat, rushed towards Cthulhu and jumped into his arms, 'Uncle Octopus!'

Cthulhu couldn't help but smile faintly, "Benjamin, it has been a while."

Benny began to lick his paw and replied, 'Maybe for you. But for me, it's only been a couple of days.'

Cthulhu stroked the fur on Benny's head, causing the latter to purr in comfort. He then looked at Bryan who was nervously looking down at the surface of the ocean, afraid to even look at him.

"I reckon, Benny has told you why you're here, yes?" He asked.

Bryan nodded, "He said you could cure me."

"That is correct," Cthulhu replied flatly.

Bryan hesitated for a long time and then finally mustered up the courage and asked, "W-Why are you helping me?"

Cthulhu silently looked at Bryan and then replied, "I sense a lot of distrust in your heart. But that's only fair, considering the betrayal you have gone through."

Bryan clenched his fists when he heard Cthulhu hint at Ron's betrayal. He continued to listen silently.

"The reason I'm helping you is naturally because of Benjamin. But if you're not willing to accept that reason, then all I can say is, there is something much larger at play here and currently you are too weak to know." Cthulhu added.

Bryan gritted his teeth in frustration. He couldn't refute what Cthulhu had said. Although he didn't know what large game was going on behind the scenes, it was true that he was simply too weak!

Sensing Bryan's inner turmoil, Cthulhu continued, "Whether you choose to trust me or not, is up to you. I am willing to help you now so that in the future when you become strong enough, you can help me in return."

Bryan raised his head and asked in disbelief, "Why would you need my help?"

"You cannot comprehend the plans of deities even if you tried to," Cthulhu shook his head, "You are but an insignificant being now. Become strong! And then, you will be able to see the bigger picture! You will be able to see through the illusion!"

For some reason, Bryan felt goosebumps all over his body when he heard those words. He couldn't help but ponder, 'Bigger picture? See through the illusion?'

However, his thoughts were interrupted as Cthulhu asked him solemnly, "So, Bryan Lombardi, have you decided?"

Bryan nodded his head firmly. He would much rather side with Cthulhu who had clearly mentioned that he needed his help in return. Moreover, Benny also seemed to have a good relationship with him.

Although Bryan still didn't trust Cthulhu, he still decided to take this shot.

"Very well." Cthulhu then waved his arm and all three of them disappeared from the spot.

…

In the depths of the Dreamworld, stood a humongous tree. This tree was so big, it seemed as if it was supporting the entire Dreamworld!

The roots of the tree stretched for kilometers on end and its canopy seemed to be piercing the sky! The trunk of this tree was the same as any other tree, however, its leaves were mystical and breathtaking to look at.

Each branch of his large tree had leaves that were neon white in color. They glowed with resplendent light. When looked at it as a whole, the entire tree appeared to be a fleeting illusion!

In one stared at it for a while, they would find that this tree would phase in and out of reality from time to time, almost like a dream!

Suddenly, the void near the base of the tree twisted and tore open, and Cthulhu, Bryan, and Benny stepped out of it! Cthulhu and Benny weren't shocked to find themselves in front of this tree.

However, when Bryan released his spiritual sense to observe his surrounding, he was flabbergasted! He was shocked out of his wits when he realized that his spiritual force couldn't even cover a portion of the trunk!

"What is this tree!?" Bryan muttered in disbelief. His spiritual sense could cover an area of 100m, however, that still wasn't enough to get a proper view of this tree. He just couldn't comprehend how big this tree actually was!

Perhaps, if he still had his vision, he would be even more shocked.

"This is the Sacred Tree," Cthulhu replied in a deep voice, "It is one of the three pillars that support our world."

"One of three…" Bryan mumbled. He couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, "What about the other two?"

"One is in the Waking World," Cthulhu replied as he started to walk towards the Sacred Tree's trunk, "Situated in the lands you humans call, the Northern Continent."

Bryan's mouth was agape and his body trembled ever so slightly from sheer disbelief. All this while, he had thought that the mysterious Northern Continent was uncharted territory and that no one resided there.

But now, he was told that one of the three pillars that supported this world was actually located in that mysterious continent!

'Then, does that mean the Transcendents in the real world also know of this?' Bryan wondered in shock!

He speculated that only the High-String Transcendents were privy to this knowledge and that the Northern Continent was actually inhabited by Transcendents!

Two of the three pillars were located in the Waking World and the Dream World, then what about the third one? Bryan couldn't help but wonder.