I think those lanterns mean that this is all a mental fight in that guys collective consciousness... didn't they showed it as a bunch of lanterns with wishes on them? What if each of those people is just stuck in a dream world and the note is thier current wish as they live through their dreams (thus slowly being corrupted into the fowl angry messages shown in those chapters)? At least that's my guess. Why else would they keep showing the lanterns constantly through the current chapters.