The rippling space created a scene as if reflecting something on the water's surface.

Rudger opened his eyes wide.

"This is......"

"Since you came to ask me about finding this, you must have seen it once?"

Rudger nodded.

The scenery visible around was the fragmentary sight Rudger had seen through the relic's shard was the deep part of Dreamland but wasn't completely identical to what he had seen then.

As could be inferred from the sight of colors mixing in patches here and there, this place seemed to change its scenery frequently.

But the scattered mixture of plains, forests, and deserts, along with ruined relics and the colorful sky...

It seemed impossible that there could be another place like this.

Rudger was curious.

"I heard that only one person has ever seen this scenery until now. How can you implement it so similarly? Perhaps......"

"Are you trying to suggest that I might have visited the depths of Dreamland?"

"It's detailed enough to make me think that way."

"Hoho. It wouldn't be strange to think so. But if you learn even a little about dreams, you'll quickly realize that's not the case. Let's walk for a moment."

Clara led the way, tapping her staff.

Rudger also followed behind Clara.

They walked through the space that mimicked the depths of Dreamland.

Though it was said to be mimicked, Rudger tried to take in as much of the scenery as possible.

'How fascinating.'

This scenery was a kind of magic that brought dreams into reality and implemented them slightly, yet the sensations felt as vivid as reality.

They say that the five senses aren't simply felt in dreams, but when first entering this space, the five senses seemed to mix together in response.

It was difficult to judge what was dream and what was reality with such simple criteria.

This place was reality, but simultaneously a dream.

Dream and reality.

A place that was both, yet neither.

"You seem confused."

"......"

"Wondering whether this is a dream or reality?"

Clara knew what Rudger was thinking even without looking back.

Though he didn't answer, it was essentially a silence of affirmation.

Clara answered as if she had expected this.

"Everyone tends to think similarly because my room is a bit different from reality. But unlike most people, you're more composed. Instead of being flustered, you're trying to analyze what this place is."

"It's also where I need to go."

"But is that important? Whether it's a dream or reality, only the fact that you're seeing it right now, in this moment, is the truth."

Clara's voice held a wisdom whose depth was hard to fathom.

At the same time, it was telling that this space was absolutely not an ordinary place.

"Only this moment is the truth......"

Rudger muttered Clara's words.

After leaving the dreamlike forest where dawn's quiet mist seemed to rise, what spread before them was a sandy beach.

Beyond the golden sand dunes, the sky was still full of starlight.

The Milky Way was beautiful like a painting with purple, navy, and pink colors mixed together.

They walked up the sand dune. It felt like standing in the middle of a desert at dawn.

-Swoosh.

The wind blew, and the desert's sand ridges moved here and there riding the wind.

The sand moved like waves.

Statue structures appeared sporadically throughout the undulating sea of sand.

They were ancient ruins.

Half-collapsed stone pillars, arch-shaped structures worn away by wind and waves, dome-shaped roofs full of holes.

It was incomprehensible how such structures could exist in a dream.

"Isn't it fascinating that such ruins exist in Dreamland, which should be within people's dreams."

"Is it because it was influenced by human unconsciousness?"

"That's what we speculate. Dreamland is said to have emerged since humans were born, when they started dreaming."

"I've heard about the origin of Dreamland too. That it emerged from the point when the first thinking humans appeared, when they started dividing consciousness and unconsciousness."

"It's like sediment at a river's downstream. In the flowing years and history, countless lives repeat birth and death. Within that, bit by bit, like sand deposits piling up, one world was created."

Dreamland was, after all, one enormous world where all humanity's thoughts were collected.

This was why people could enter the same Dreamland even if different people dreamed in different places, because it was a place where all humanity's minds were integrated into one.

Even those stars densely dotted in the sky above were the same.

Those stars were the visualization of dreams of people sleeping somewhere.

Clara continued.

"But this Dreamland wasn't created by humans alone. Humans aren't the only ones who dream."

"You mean the other species?"

"Those children dream too. Even speechless beasts dream. So we can say that the origin of this Dreamland isn't primarily human. Perhaps it was created long before humans were born, and humans were just the first to discover this space."

After crossing several sand ridges, this time, a vast field spread out.

"That was quite an interesting inference. But I didn't come here to know about Dreamland's origin."

"Right. You said you were curious about how to get to the depths."

Despite what could have been quite a rude attitude, Clara accepted it with a ‘hoho’ laugh.

Clara, who had been walking ahead, stopped her steps.

Rudger, who was following, also stopped.

"I told you earlier, didn't I? That in this world, there are beings that must never open their eyes sleeping here."

"Yes. You did."

"That's it right there."

Clara's gaze pointed straight ahead.

Only then could Rudger discover something beyond the field.

It was an enormous structure.

At the same time, he recalled what Marias had told him before.

"That's......"

A massive structure standing alone in the depths of Dreamland.

Unlike other ruins, its surface was smooth despite the wind and waves, resembling an obelisk.

It was clearly not ordinary, being pitch black with green light softly flowing through the patterns engraved in its crevices.

"What exactly is that?"

"I call it a stake."

"A stake?"

While the term stake was strangely fitting, one question arose.

"Isn't a stake usually used to support something?"

"Yes. And to fix something so it can't move."

Clara started walking again and Rudger naturally followed as she moved toward the stake.

"Are you saying there's something near that stake? The something you mentioned earlier that must never open its eyes?"

"You catch on quickly."

"How strange. Then what is that being, and who drove that stake in?"

"That's also a problem we need to solve."

The towering stake had drawn closer.

It had seemed huge from afar, but up close, its size was beyond imagination.

With a size rivaling the World Tree, and even craning his neck, he couldn't see the top of the stake but Rudger's gaze naturally turned downward rather than upward because 'something' was pinned beneath the massive stake.

"That......"

Deep wariness colored Rudger's voice.

"What exactly is it?"

Even Rudger, who had seen many things, couldn't help but question upon seeing that.

After all, that something didn't take any clear form at all.

"I don't know either. I just know it's something very dangerous."

What was pinned under the stake was something dark and murky.

Something that hadn't properly materialized, seeming both gaseous and liquid.

Perhaps it would look like this if a child roughly molded sewage-mixed mud near a wastewater treatment plant.

It looked like it would wiggle and move if touched right now.

It was basically dark in tone, but various colors were bizarrely mixed on top and felt like looking at oil floating on water.

"Don't worry. That has been sleeping since it was discovered. No, perhaps 'sealed' would be the right word."

That formless thing was peacefully sleeping, pinned by the stake.

"Have you heard about the Dreamwalker who first entered the depths?"

"...Yes. They say he jumped into the depths and saw something enormous."

"Right. This scenery is also exactly what he saw."

"If it was brought......"

"It's been several decades already."

Clara's voice, muttering thus, held longing and sadness for the past.

"The name of the magician who entered Dreamland's depths was Nathanael. He was the former head of the Dream School and my husband."

"...So he saw all this scenery?"

"Yes. This is the last relic he left behind. And it's also a warning. To never enter the depths......"

Rudger nodded but he was curious. Why did Nathanael think of entering the depths?

According to the information Marias Selmore provided, it was for exploring a new world, but.

Really, was that truly the reason?

"If it's such a dangerous place, why are you telling me all this?"

"Did you think I was telling you all this expecting you to accept the danger and give up?"

Clara let out a light laugh.

"Child, you won't stop even if I show you this scenery. I can tell. I see in you the same look as Nathanael. People like that make the same choices. They keep moving forward even if destruction lies at the end."

Clara turned her head to look directly at Rudger.

Those eyes were of someone who fully understood Rudger.

"Isn't that right?"

"......"

"You're quite shy. That's different from Nathanael. When I said such things, he would laugh heartily and affirm it."

"I am not him."

"That's true."

Clara shifted her gaze to the massive stake.

"We have quite many Dreamwalkers in our Dream School. And they're all excellent magicians. Recently, our youngest Julia has been showing outstanding talent. She might become the master of the Dream School in the near future."

"Yes. I know about that from what I've heard."

"But originally, there was one more magician who received expectations like Julia. That child was also young, intelligent, and overflowing with talent."

"If there was one more......"

"That child's name was Franz. He was mine and Nathanael's adopted son, and once the most promising Dreamwalker."

Franz?

It was certainly the first time hearing that name but Rudger felt he vaguely knew who he was.

"That child tried somehow to explore the depths of Dreamland that drove his father mad. But when I wouldn't allow it, he eventually left the Dream School to continue his research independently."

"That means Franz is still continuing his depth exploration now?"

"Yes. And someday he'll jump in there."

"Do you want me to stop him?"

"How can an old person like me force young people's paths? I just wish that if something is bound to happen anyway, someone else would go instead."

"You're more ruthless than I expected."

"You want to go inside, and I want someone to send instead of Franz. Could there be conditions more suitable for both of us?"

Rudger quietly stared at the stake.

The Franz that Clara mentioned was probably that man who was with Zero Order.

He must have created a dwelling in Dreamland's surface layer with dream magic, joining hands with Zero Order to explore Dreamland's depths.

'To think his goal was also Dreamland.'

If Zero Order is helping with that does that mean Zero Order also has some purpose in Dreamland?

What exactly is Zero Order seeking?

At the same time, whether what he was looking for being in Dreamland and the demon Zero Order being involved here.

'Is it really just a coincidence?'

At that moment Rudger saw it.

"Hmm?"

The formless something that had been quietly pinned to the stake squirmed ever so slightly.

"Didn't that just move?"

"Move?"

Clara asked as if puzzled by those words.

"That can't be. That has been sleeping continuously. I've seen this scenery many times, but it has never moved. Moreover, this is just my magic implementing the scenery recorded in the past."

This place is implementing the dream scenery that Nathanael saw.

Strictly speaking, it was no different from replaying a recorded videotape.

Clara said that thing had never moved until now then naturally it shouldn't move.

"But just now......"

But Rudger clearly saw that formless something wiggle.

Yes. Just like now.

Bubbles rose bulging on the surface of the formless being.

Something suddenly appeared on the surface where bubbles had burst multiple times.

They were eyeballs.

More than dozens of eyes large and small looked around, then simultaneously stared at Rudger.

"......"

"......"

Both Clara and Rudger were too shocked to speak.

It was too sudden, and a sight that transcended common sense.

At that moment intense pain struck as if drilling into Rudger's skull.

"Kuk!"

Rudger unconsciously grabbed his head with one hand and lowered his head.

────! ──! ─────!!!

Along with ear-splitting ringing, voices echoed in Rudger's head, voices that should never be heard due to the seal.