~Middle layer, central part of Dreamland~

Merilda, who was walking through a place where dream demons prayed endlessly with their hands joined, shuddered.

"I can't believe such a horrifying place exists."

Those things made of wood were surprisingly alive.

The Dream Walkers said that this is the final state of those who get trapped in this world.

Merilda shook her head.

Expanding her knowledge was a pleasure as someone who pursued knowledge, but this place was too dangerous to simply enjoy.

"Selina. Are you okay?"

Merilda asked Selina who was walking silently beside her.

Selina, who had joined them, was strangely quiet.

Rather than being shocked by the current situation, it seemed more like she had something on her mind.

"Selina?"

Merilda called her name once more.

Only then did Selina come to her senses and turn to Merilda.

"Yes?"

"...Are you okay?"

"I, I'm sorry. I just have a lot on my mind."

Selina smiled brightly as usual. But that smile somehow lacked energy.

Merilda couldn't press Selina any further.

She might have done so in the past, but now they were in a crisis situation almost like wartime.

They couldn't afford to lose focus for even a moment.

If they did, the thin membrane protecting her body would collapse in response to that distracted mind.

"Be careful. They say that in this place, if you don't stay alert, you'll be devoured by the world."

Merilda stared at the dream demon beyond the translucent membrane.

In her eyes was a little sympathy and mostly fear, the fear that she might end up like that if she made a mistake.

Her fear doubled when she heard that most of those praying humans were Dreamwalkers.

"Yes. I understand. Thank you for worrying about me."

Selina nodded.

She appreciated Merilda’s concern, but it wasn't something to worry about too much.

Her state of mind was as calm as a forest at dawn.

So quiet that not even the sound of insects could be heard.

She was just concerned about her spirit, Esmeralda.

Esmeralda, who defeated Mirage and then disappeared on her own.

She didn't go somewhere; Selina recalled her by her own will.

If she ever finds herself in danger again, or if she wants to summon her, Esmeralda would respond to that call.

What was important to Selina wasn't that.

'What on earth was it?'

An unknown emotion surges when she sees Esmeralda.

Until now, when Esmeralda was in the form of a small blob, she didn't think much of it.

Rudger had said that it was a very rare dark spirit, or rather, questioned if it was even a spirit at all, but that was all.

It looked cute, and since it made a contract with her, she thought it was fine but that thought changed after what happened before.

Mirage of Daydream, one of the five servants of Nirva, was a terrifying enemy who could create anything through dreams.

It was Selina who defeated such a Mirage.

No, in fact, Esmeralda did it all.

'I couldn't do anything.'

Some might ask if it's not natural for the spirit master who summoned the spirit to take credit but Selina couldn't simply be happy about it.

The power Esmeralda used was different in nature from what she could command, especially that appearance.

That form, transformed by absorbing the dream power used by Mirage, complicated Selina's feelings.

It was a perfect imitation of a human but spirits do not take human form.

As beings born and raised in nature, they resemble parts of natural objects, which may include plants and animals, but never humans.

An exception to this might be quasi-spirit modeled after a human soul.

But Esmeralda took human form.

This alone meant it was definitely not an ordinary spirit.

'Still, it's not dangerous or anything. Rather, it was helpful. And it tried to save me too.'

If nothing else, she felt for certain that Esmeralda truly valued her.

Selina decided to shake off these unnecessary thoughts.

For now, she needed to focus on the present moment.

A large-scale movement of over a hundred people was heading down to the Sacred Library below the middle layer of Dreamland.

The current situation of going there was as dangerous as walking on thin ice.

There was no room to waste mental energy on trivial matters.

It was just at that moment when Selina made this determination a massive vibration shook Dreamland.

A single wave was resonating from deep underground.

The demons who had been quietly praying with their hands folded collapsed one by one, and the slowly moving Dreamwalkers were startled and formed defensive formations.

"W-what is this?"

"What's happening all of a sudden?"

"Everyone stay still!"

Clara Cowen was equally surprised.

Her deep, unreadable eyes turned toward the floor, the source of the vibration.

"Something is happening below."

"Below...do you mean the lower part of the middle layer, the Sacred Library that is our destination?"

When Elisa asked, Clara shook her head.

"No. Rather, much deeper than that."

"Much deeper than that."

Elisa's expression hardened.

Below the library, there was only one place left.

"I wonder what's happening in the deep layer."

Clara's voice was full of worry.

"We need to move quickly."

* * *

A Buddha statue made of light rose behind Rudger's back.

Behind the Buddha statue, long arms of light extended, targeting Nirva. It looked like a fan of light rays spreading wide.

The number reached a thousand.

Compared to ten thousand lightning bolts, this number is only a tenth but it was more threatening to Nirva.

Each strike contained deadly Parma energy with a slight trace of divine power.

It would be dangerous if it hit.

"Is that the power of the god you serve?"

Nirva asked as he blocked the Thousand-Armed Arhat's attack with dream sand.

A huge dune undulated like a wave as if it were alive and the Thousand-Armed Arhat's attack couldn't penetrate the thick dune barrier.

Instead of answering, Rudger responded with another spell.

-Screech!

Seventy-two evil spirits appeared and rushed toward Nirva.

The evil spirits, making strange noises, were each terrifying and threatening.

Even the confident Nirva didn't want to come in contact with them.

"Planning to push with numbers? Then I'll do the same."

When Nirva lightly stomped his foot, the dream sand making up the ground surged up then soldiers made of dream sand rose.

Aligned in rows and columns, they looked more like they were made from baked clay rather than sand.

[Somnus Terracotta]

The soldiers made of dream sand raised their spears and swords toward the evil spirits.

The evil spirits, mimicking Solomon's 72 demons, were quite powerful, but they couldn't overcome the soldiers pushing with sheer numbers.

The difference in numbers was too overwhelming.

For each soldier that broke, five more appeared. For five destroyed, ten soldiers took up weapons and perished along with the evil spirits.

-Flash!

A great light spread from the sky, and pillars of light rained down toward the soldiers.

[Ladder of Heaven]

The rain-like bombardment of light mercilessly swept over the soldiers and the infantry couldn't move an inch before the bombardment but Nirva wasn't going to stand idly by.

"Are you challenging me to a battle of strength here?"

The soldiers approached Rudger, who was floating in the air and unleashing indiscriminate bombardment.

It wasn't that they moved, but because the desert floor the soldiers stood on rose like a tsunami.

The sand tsunami and the soldiers riding it targeted Rudger.

Rudger lightly formed a hand seal and thrust it toward the soldiers.

-Bang!

A huge hole in the shape of a palm print was punctured in the center of the dream sand tsunami.

That force not only penetrated the sand tsunami but also aimed for Nirva beyond it.

Caught off guard by this unexpected attack, Nirva's body staggered from the impact.

Seizing that opening, Rudger's body was engulfed in a black shadow.

The burning black shadow disappeared like a candle being extinguished.

Rudger, who disappeared with it, reappeared behind Nirva.

Nirva caught the sword stick aimed at his neck with his finger, without even looking.

"I'll pass on experiencing decapitation again."

"Then how about the heart?"

-Thud!

It was a fist with dream energy swirling around his left hand.

Though it easily pierced Nirva's heart, Rudger's expression hardened.

Nirva's body turned into sand and caught Rudger's hand.

'A fake for distraction. Then the real one is...'

Rudger's gaze turned to a soldier on the tsunami.

One of the soldiers at the forefront turned to Rudger and grinned.

The soldier's appearance changed, and the flat sand eyes now glowed with golden light.

At that moment, Nirva's clone holding Rudger's arm exploded like a balloon.

Fine dream dust particles covered Rudger's entire body.

'Smoke screen? Or poison?'

Rudger changed the plague doctor mask on his face into a gas mask covering his entire face but he couldn't completely block the dream sand.

The dream particles that had already entered through his respiratory system greatly disturbed Rudger's mind.

"...!"

Seeing this, Nirva smiled with satisfaction.

"How is it? It's a poison that makes you dream a very enchanting dream."

Though he said it was poison, it wasn't actually poison.

Rather, it was closer to the opposite.

Rudger's body stopped abruptly like a puppet with cut strings.

He didn't fall to the ground, but remained floating in the air, a sight that looked quite bizarre.

The dream dust used by Nirva penetrates the opponent's mind, makes them fall into a dream and puts them into a very deep sleep.

A dream within a dream and another dream within that dream.

"I'll personally let you dream the butterfly's dream. Though I'm not sure if Rudger Chelici the human will still be there after you wake up."

Nirva slowly approached Rudger.

Having eliminated the most dangerous element, he deserved to enjoy the feeling of victory, if only briefly but as Nirva came within arm's reach of Rudger, he sensed something strange because he saw the faint energy emanating from Rudger quivering ever so slightly.

Nirva turned his body sideways.

Immediately after, the blade of Rudger's sword stick grazed his shoulder.

-Rip.

Nirva's clothes tore and for the first time, he was scratched and golden blood sprayed from the cut wound.

Rudger, with his head bowed and arm extended, appeared in Nirva's astonished eyes.

"What a pity. It was a perfect ambush."

Rudger regretted not being able to stab Nirva's heart.

He had planned to keep his opponent completely off guard before striking, but the sharp-witted Nirva reacted in that brief moment.

Nirva slightly lowered his head to stare at his wound then he turned to Rudger and asked.

"How did you do that?"

Nirva was more curious about how Rudger remained fine after inhaling the dream sand, rather than about being wounded.

"In a dream to begin with, how could I fall asleep again?"

"You should know my dream sand doesn't fail for such a simple reason."

Nirva nodded.

"I see. My dream sand works by penetrating the gaps in the opponent's mind to make them fall asleep. But you, with that solid mind, had not even a grain of sand's worth of gap for it to enter."

Even with an iron fortress, there are minute gaps between the walls.

Even if they were only big enough for an ant to barely enter, that would be enough for Nirva.

Because he could make the opponent fall asleep by detonating dream sand at close range.

But Rudger didn't even have such gaps.

At this point, one might doubt if he was even human.

"Or is that a power you gained from serving your god?"

"A power."

Rudger sneered at those words.

Nirva's eyebrow twitched. Rudger's reaction was too blatantly mocking his ignorance.

He couldn't tell if his answer was wrong, or if Rudger was bluffing to avoid being discovered despite the answer being right.

But one thing was clear.

Inadequate attacks wouldn't work on Rudger.

"This is troublesome."

Even if he tried to eliminate Rudger, it would be difficult to kill him due to his considerable power.

In pure power output, Nirva was ahead but in everything else that sustained the fight, Rudger had the advantage.

Psychological warfare to exploit the opponent's weaknesses, various and extraordinary magic and combat methods, and a strong mentality that could adapt to any situation.

If it was the outside world, he could overwhelm him with raw power, but being in Dreamland, where the mind had a great influence, worked against him.

While ordinary humans become weaker in Dreamland...

Rudger, who was restrained in reality, could use his power more boldly in Dreamland.

"Like giving wings to a weakened tiger."

The only way to subdue Rudger was to drop him into a dream within a dream but with such a solid mind, even that was difficult.

He couldn't guarantee an immediate conclusion with a head-on confrontation either.

Then he had no choice but to shake that solid mind until it cracked.

Nirva knew the method.

"Do you know something?"

When Nirva spoke instead of charging in as expected, Rudger was wary of what this demon was up to.

"While looking for traces of Zero Order in the middle layer, I found quite an interesting child. There was a faint sacred trace, and even her memories were sealed."

When Nirva snapped his fingers, a giant hand made of dream sand suddenly emerged from the ground and spread wide.

Inside were dozens of sleeping Theon students.

Freuden's familiar face was also there.

But what caught Rudger's eye was a girl with ash-gray hair, sleeping peacefully like Sleeping Beauty.

"Rene..."

"I read her erased memories through dreams."

Nirva grinned at Rudger.

"You, you really did something terrible to that girl."