There was no one around, Rudger had come to an isolated place alone.

Rudger recalled the final moments before falling into the quicksand.

Just before Nirva dragged everyone into the mire, Rudger activated [Rip Van Winkle] that he was wearing.

Since Nirva's goal was to transport them to another place, Rudger instinctively sensed that he was trying to send them to the depths and responded accordingly.

By activating [Rip Van Winkle], he generated a protective barrier with its dream energy and surrounded his companions to protect them.

However, Rudger himself didn't have enough time to fully deploy it, which caused them to become separated inside the quicksand.

'Still, I used Siesta, so they shouldn't be in danger.'

With Zantman also with them, it was somewhat fortunate.

Rather, now was the time to worry about his own situation.

'I didn't expect to arrive this way.'

He had thought he would go through the process step by step and make mental preparations at the end but Nirva was indeed formidable.

He didn't just sit on his throne waiting for someone to come to him.

Whether it was because he was a butler rather than the master of the house, he diligently moved around trying to eliminate potential threats.

An industriousness uncharacteristic of a demon.

'No. Rather, looking at Zero Order, is that closer to their true nature?'

Rudger thought to himself as he slowly turned around.

"Isn't it magnificent?"

So naturally that it was impossible to tell when he had arrived, Nirva was standing there.

Rudger didn't answer. Nor did he appear surprised.

He had already noticed that Nirva had intended to summon him separately and that Nirva would make direct contact.

Nirva was cunning.

Among the hundreds of thousands of people who had entered the Dreamland, he knew very well who posed the greatest threat to his plans.

"This landscape has continued since the ancient times long ago."

Nirva gazed at the vast scenery in the distance with his hands behind his back.

Rudger slowly walked to stand beside Nirva and stared at the same scenery.

It was a familiar sight.

Yet it was also unfamiliar.

He had seen something similar twice before, and this was the third time, but...

The endlessly changing, mixed world always felt new.

Nevertheless, one thing couldn't be denied.

This scenery was undoubtedly beautiful.

Virtually untouched by human hands, and at the same time, impossible to realize through ordinary natural and physical laws.

Dreams, fantasy, ideals, unconsciousness. The world created by mixing all these things was both complex and simple.

"This place will become our paradise."

"Your paradise, you mean."

"That's a very rude thing to say."

"So are you planning to pass judgment in place of the goddess?"

"The goddess is one who would embrace even disobedient children with kindness."

Rudger recalled the mass impaled on the obelisk-shaped stake.

"...The Goddess of Dreams."

"You know? No, you couldn't help but know. After all, you give off a similar scent."

Nirva laughed as if pleased.

He couldn't understand why he hadn't realized this until now.

"Only after bringing you to the depths where the goddess's touch reaches, I finally realized that you too have divine power dwelling within you."

"Power too strong to control is nothing but a curse."

"Even if it can't be controlled, it's still a blessing. The power itself is very pure. Even if the one who holds it is human rather than a fellow apostle. I respect that aspect."

Nirva turned to Rudger.

"I'll make one final offer. Join hands with me. And together, let's overthrow Lumensis. The deity whispering to you desires that too, doesn't it?"

Nirva read the divine power surrounding Rudger.

That power was familiar.

In the past, when his master, the Goddess of Dreams, was stripped of her sovereignty and sealed by Lumensis, other deities met similar or more terrible fates.

At that time, there was no interaction between them, and they merely existed in indifference, but now the world had changed.

To put an end to the era where Lumensis reigned as the only god they needed to join forces.

"You must know about my bloodline."

"I know that well too. Your suitability. Surely it was arranged by Lumensis."

Rudger remained silent, and Nirva's explanation continued.

"Lumensis turned this world into his fishbowl, or cage, and manipulated the world at will through his minions. But his endless greed didn't stop there. Looking at you, I can tell immediately."

Rudger preempted him, thinking that if he let him talk more, even worse things would be said.

"So, what's your purpose?"

"I already told you. The downfall of Lumensis. Just like yours."

Nirva chuckled.

"How amusing would it be if the well-honed blade that was lost not only turned against the throat of its master? So this is a favor. The deity you serve, and the goddess I serve. We join hands and rise together."

"In this illusory dream world?"

"Do you know what kind of deity the goddess I serve is?"

Of course not.

In fact, he only realized that a deity was sleeping here when he first discovered it in Clara Cowen's room that day.

There was no opportunity to find out what kind of deity it was.

"In the past, humans reverently called her by this noble name. [Noxana]."

Noxana, the Goddess of Dreams.

The shepherd of sleepers.

And the ruler of night and death.

A goddess who has existed since the distant ancient times, and who, despite having her sovereignty usurped by Lumensis, was not killed but sealed in the Dreamland.

"In ancient times, to sleep was the same as to die. For the Goddess of Dreams, death was no different from dreaming. That's why Lumensis sealed her but couldn't completely kill her. He had no right to bring death to one who possessed death."

"It sounds like that death is now awakening."

"You find it ominous? It's merely the distorted flow of the world returning to normal."

"By sacrificing hundreds of thousands of lives as offerings."

Nirva shook his head as if disappointed.

"Don't say that. Considering what's to come, it's just hundreds of thousands. We should think about the greater future. A future that will save thousands, millions."

Rudger also turned to Nirva.

His sharp gaze was filled with killing intent and hostility.

"I thought about it too before giving my answer."

"That's truly unfortunate. To reject even the final ultimatum."

"Are you really disappointed?"

Rudger sneered at Nirva.

"Anyone can see you were hoping I would answer this way. Why don't you wipe that blatant smile off your face before you speak?"

"Haha. Oh, was it that obvious? To be honest, I didn't like it from the beginning. Collaborating with another deity? That should never happen."

Golden light blazed like flames in Nirva's eyes.

"This world belongs only to Goddess Noxana. How dare I let it be tainted by the hands of other fallen deities."

"I appreciate your honesty."

From the fact that he tried to sound Rudger out despite having no intention, Rudger could understand Nirva's twisted personality.

It was then that Rudger swung his hand.

The distance between them was close enough to reach with an outstretched arm.

And within that distance, the blade of the sword stick that Rudger wielded was like a flash of lightning.

───!

A momentary flash.

The tip of that blade aimed for Nirva's neck but Nirva didn't release his hands from behind his back.

Instead, the already prepared dream sand moved on its own and caught Rudger's sword stick blade.

It was the dream sand that had easily blocked the librarian's numerous bombardments.

There was no way to break through this solid shield just by swinging a sword stick.

That would be the reality, if this were reality.

Black energy rippling at the tip of the sword.

Rudger's dream energy surrounded the sword stick, drawing one clear image.

It was the future of definitely cutting off Nirva's neck.

The dream energy responded to that, tearing through the golden sand and cutting off Nirva's neck along with it.

"Sharp."

Nirva muttered with his severed head.

This was the second time.

His body crumbled into sand and regenerated elsewhere.

"I see. In the library, you were also suppressing your power."

"Because there were people who could get caught up in it."

"But there are no such people here."

"And no eyes watching."

"That's right."

Nirva spread his arms wide.

"Deciding to eliminate you first was indeed the right judgment."

Nirva had been unsettled by the way Rudger kept catching his eye.

He was curious why a mere human would irritate him so much.

That, combined with what Zero Order had said and the extraordinary abilities Rudger had shown, had reached the level of wariness.

And now Nirva realized what the blade that Zero Order had prepared actually was.

This cunning one. To think he had such a sharp blade.

'And yet you gave me an obvious warning. Did you want me to let my guard down? No, rather, you strangely didn't hide it at all.'

That meant there was something else besides Rudger.

Although he didn't know what it was right now, it was correct to first remove the most dangerous dagger before his eyes.

"I've never shown you my full power, have I?"

"The same goes for me."

Blue light burst from Rudger's eyes.

This was the Dreamland, a space where imagination becomes reality.

There were no eyes watching, and no one to worry about getting caught up in it.

The entire place allowed Rudger to remove most of the constraints he had been suppressing within himself.

Of course, the final constraint must be kept, but apart from that it meant that Rudger could rampage here as much as he wanted.

"You'll regret bringing me here."

It was like removing the muzzle from a hungry tiger.

As if to prove this, a magical formula like a constellation in the night sky spread behind Rudger's back.

That complex and three-dimensional figure was instantly implemented as magic.

Dark clouds formed in the multicolored sky.

The center of those dark clouds rotated like a whirlpool, gradually revealing something huge.

It was a giant sword, glowing softly in white.

It appeared through the dark clouds, pointing its sharp blade at Nirva's crown and falling like a meteor.

A magic different from the existing 6th-tier magic, crafted by Rudger's imagination.

[White Jade Void Sword]

Nirva didn't back down and counterattacked.

The stratum stirred, and the ground rose abruptly.

All the huge soil that made up the floor changed into dream sand and rose.

What was created to counter the sword was another sword.

[Dream Wandering Sandstone Sword]

A giant sand sword made of dream sand collided with the White Jade Void Sword.

The collision of the two swords didn't create an ordinary physical impact.

Instead, it delivered a translucent reverberation to the depths of the Dreamland.

Tuwung───!!!

Like a drop of water falling on a calm surface, the space rippled, creating concentric circles that spread outward.

As the translucent waves swept by, trees were pulverized into powder, and the ground cracked like a drought-stricken rice field.

Even amidst the disastrous waves, the two forces didn't yield an inch.

At least, that's how it appeared for now.

But the attack Rudger used didn't just end there.

The sky was still filled with dark clouds, and the hidden part of the White Jade Void Sword began to reveal itself.

"Hmm?"

Nirva saw the giant hand gripping the handle of the glowing sword.

"A hand? What in the world is..."

Simply dropping the sword wasn't the end.

No.

The sword was just a part from the beginning.

Along with the hand holding the sword, its main body revealed itself through the dark clouds.

A terrifying face that would make even evil spirits tremble in fear.

The bright red flames enveloping its body weren't ordinary flames, they were special flames that incinerate all evil and malicious things.

They were the flames of Garuda, a mythical being.

A miracle that perfectly embodied in imagery, one with the power of Parma, which destroys evil.

It was the implementation at maximum output of what he had briefly shown when facing the Sea Devourer.

[Immovable Golden Light King (Acalanātha)]

Acalanātha twisted his face more ferociously and put strength into the hand holding the sword.

Garuda's red flames swirled like a vortex along the jade-like sword surface, devouring the dream sand sword.

As the flames swept across the blade made of sand, it melted and turned to glass.

That glass couldn't withstand the power of the White Jade Sword and shattered into pieces.

Seeing this, Nirva had to realize for the first time that perhaps bringing Rudger to the depths was a big mistake.