As the explosion's smoke cleared, Nirva appeared unharmed.

"Tsk tsk. If you had just run away, you could have extended your life a little longer."

Nirva's gaze turned toward Seridan, who was firing a howitzer from a distant hill.

"Wow! That old man took my shell head-on and is still fine! He must still be full of energy!"

"That's enough, just keep firing!"

At Hans' reprimand, Seridan fired imaginary shells indiscriminately.

-Swooosh!

The bombs cut through the air and concentrated their fall around Nirva.

Red explosions and massive shock waves spread everywhere but Nirva remained intact even in that intense heat.

His gaze was fixed only on Zantman.

"Did you think I wouldn't know? I had already noticed your plan to rescue Rudger Chelici while drawing my attention."

The reason he didn't stop it was because he had the leisure to do so.

He had the power to deal with Zantman, then pursue and capture Hans and his group as they fled.

"But since you've come looking for me on your own, you've saved me some trouble."

Nirva slowly extended his palm.

The dream sand on the ground rose as if guided by the wind and wrapped around the incoming shells.

-Crunch. Crackle.

The sand compressed strongly, crushing the shells it had enveloped but the amazing thing didn't end there.

The shape of the sand that swallowed the shells changed. And into identical shells, at that.

The shells made of dream sand, emitting golden smoke, were fired toward Hans and Seridan on the hill.

"This is crazy!"

"Evacuate! Evacuate!"

Hans and Seridan immediately fled their positions.

"Think you can escape?"

As Zantman gestured toward the fleeing Hans and Seridan, the flying shells changed direction.

Seridan looked back while running and his eyes lit up at the sight of the shells.

"They have homing capabilities! That's cool! I want something like that too!"

"This is not the time for such talk!"

Just when it seemed they would be caught by the shells.

The perfectly flying shells exploded one after another in midair.

"Tsk."

Nirva clicked his tongue and turned his head.

The hand he had extended was now caught by the strong roots of a tree.

Sedina, who had created those roots, was staring at Nirva with an intense gaze from beside Zantman.

"I commend your will to stand and fight instead of running away. Yes, indeed. Sedina Roschen."

Nirva, who had instantly collected information through dreams, spoke Sedina's name.

Information about Sedina was piling up in real-time.

Eventually, Nirva's face showed interest instead of annoyance.

"A contractor of the World Tree? And a half-elf at that? What an interesting situation."

With that level of skill, she must have been able to make the commitment to face him.

"And even one who freely controls plants, whom outside wizards call the Green Wizard."

When Nirva mentioned the title "Green," Zantman looked at Sedina as if asking if that was true.

"Not Green."

Sedina added shyly.

"Not yet."

"Hmph."

At this rate, his concerns were not unfounded.

As Zantman was having such thoughts, Nirva sneered quietly.

"But you, who are a Green Wizard in reality, what can you possibly do in a dream?"

No matter how impressive one might be in reality, it wasn't easy to fully utilize their abilities in Dreamland, where the unconscious and imagination had influence.

Sedina knew this too, but she didn't back down.

"Even someone like me must be able to do something."

Though she said this, her body was actually trembling.

This was an opponent that even her teacher couldn't face and was defeated by.

To Sedina, Nirva felt like an insurmountable wall but this wasn't her first time experiencing such a feeling.

Hadn't she felt it in the Elven Kingdom too?

Thinking that victory was impossible, that there was no hope, yet she had won.

Breaking through the extreme possibility and making victory a reality.

Sedina had witnessed that miracle with her own eyes.

'It's not difficult. Just think about it. The same scenery I saw that day.'

Sedina concentrated her mind.

Imagine. And recall it. Not as a vaguely lumped image, but in a clear and distinct form where everything is meticulously structured.

'Ugh. My head.'

Trying to operate such massive energy at once caused a needle-like pain in her skull.

Each time, the image she was slowly drawing would waver as if staggering.

"Recall a happy moment."

At that moment, Zantman gave advice from beside her.

Zantman instinctively noticed that Sedina was trying to create something massive that she had never shown before.

"If it's difficult with simple will and imagination, then use a little trick. What we remember most, more than negative thoughts, are the moments when we were happy. Recall that time and implement it based on that emotion."

Sedina did as Zantman instructed.

Seeing this, Nirva frowned.

'The energy is being organized.'

Unlike the dream energy that had been fluctuating outward without proper control, Sedina's energy now changed to be very orderly.

It was like looking at a calm sea, as if wondering when a typhoon had ever raged.

At the same time, Nirva felt a slight sense of crisis.

His intuition warned that something was coming.

"You asked what I could do?"

Sedina stared at Nirva with clearer eyes.

"I can at least summon the World Tree."

Just as Nirva was about to speak a massive wall rose up before his eyes.

'A tree?'

Nirva widened his eyes as he saw the tree that had instantly shot up high enough to pierce the sky.

What cast a massive shadow and rose up was a tree that matched the size of the obelisk that sealed the goddess.

The sacred tree that elves revered like a god, the World Tree.

The World Tree, which could turn the entire continent into a jungle if it so desired, appeared in Dreamland.

'She created the World Tree? And just one person at that?'

Even if Sedina Roschen was a contractor of the World Tree, she shouldn't have possessed this level of skill.

That's why he hadn't been paying much attention to her.

But now, Sedina Roschen has clearly grown into a threat.

In that brief moment, in a direction that even Nirva himself had not anticipated.

"It's still just a fake imitating the shape!"

Sedina, who had climbed onto the World Tree, looked down at Nirva and answered.

"That's right. Compared to the real one, it might certainly be lacking."

-Woooong.

The World Tree vibrated, at the same time, night fell in the deep layers of Dreamland.

"Wow! What is that?!"

Seridan, who was watching the scene from a distance, exclaimed in admiration.

Contrary to the darkness that had fallen around, the leaves of the World Tree were filled with light and glowing white.

It was a scene that made it understandable why elves prayed to and revered that tree.

"This is insane."

Hans, from a distance, gazed at the World Tree with complicated emotions.

The unpleasant memory of that destructive light being directed at him came to mind.

But now, the fact that this light was an ally couldn't be more reassuring.

Though it probably wouldn't be heard, Hans wanted to say these words to Sedina.

"Fire away decisively. Junior."

Immediately after, a long beam of pure white light was fired along with a flashing radiance.

A pillar of destruction combining an intense luminosity that hurt the eyes and thermal energy that made the atmosphere boil dropped straight toward Nirva.

Even if it didn't reach the power of the original, the World Tree is still the World Tree.

With just a portion of its power and authority, it was enough to turn the surrounding area into a wasteland.

The pure white light engulfed Nirva and deeply embedded into the ground.

Then, the energy concentrated deep underground spread and caused a massive explosion.

-Poof.

Like a volcano erupting, the ground swelled like a bubble and a red flower bloomed from within.

"Good heavens."

Zantman, from atop a branch of the World Tree, couldn't close his mouth at the scene unfolding before his eyes.

He had given advice, but he didn't expect such an excellent result.

He couldn't say he hadn't underestimated her because she was a student.

Zantman unknowingly let out a hollow laugh.

"Our youngest has made at least one proper friend."

At this rate, he felt embarrassed for making a fuss alone trying to buy time.

After being hit with an attack of this magnitude, even Nirva shouldn't be intact.

That thought changed when he saw a structure slowly revealing itself from within the explosion.

"What's that now?"

It was in the form of hands clasped as if in prayer.

Eventually, the hands opened from side to side, revealing Nirva from within.

"A bit hot."

Nirva was intact within that explosion.

There were some minor injuries. His clothes were singed, and his skin had slight reddish burns but that was all.

Having only those minor wounds after taking an attack of that magnitude astounded Sedina.

"...It was an attack fired in all seriousness."

Sedina bit her lip.

Inwardly, there was a sense of anxiety that maybe...

Facing it as reality, she felt anew how extraordinary Nirva was.

Sensing that emotion, Zantman advised:

"We just need to buy time. Give up on ambition. Our goal is to endure, not to defeat that monster."

"...I understand."

Sedina commanded the World Tree.

The leaves of the World Tree glowed, and golden spears poured down like a shower toward Nirva.

Each spear was a rain of death that could tear flesh and crush bone.

Nirva walked through the gaps of that downpour as if out for a stroll.

Sedina decided to change her approach.

The roots of the World Tree channeled massive energy into the ground.

Nirva stopped walking and lowered his head to examine the floor.

Small sprouts emerged through the sandy ground.

Their number spread far beyond the horizon, centered around the World Tree.

The sprouts grew at an incredible speed, as if fast-forwarding time hundreds of times.

Sprouts became saplings, and saplings became trees.

New plants grew around the trees.

It takes hundreds of years for a forest to develop but it took less than 3 seconds for the World Tree to create a forest.

Nirva stood at the center of the mouth of this massive beast called a forest.

The intense killing intent felt from every tree, every weed.

Each plant.

This entire forest.

He could feel that they all possessed a will and were intent on killing him.

"To dare to sow seeds and sprout buds in the goddess's land at will. There's a limit to how much one can insult this world."

But despite facing all of this, Nirva remained calm.

"This too must be a trial given to me. So I'll accept it."

He had tried to recover his strength, but now he would have to expend even more.

But it's also true that the process so far has been too easy.

Nirva decided to put in a little "sincerity" at this moment.

Considering what's to come, it would be right to conserve strength.

But as long as there were humans throwing their lives away to interfere, that was just his own wish.

"I'll crush you thoroughly."

Mercy, generosity.

Setting all of that aside.

"Dream."

Nirva muttered softly.

It was a small but intense word that caused a large ripple in the world.

-Rustle rustle.

Sand began to spread around Nirva.

The sand spread with the wind and engulfed the trees.

Trees touched by the sand dissolved instantly, like salt in water.

It seemed like they were simply dissolving, but a closer look would show that they were returning to their original form that constituted the trees, the dream energy.

The spreading sand became a storm, and instantly covered the entire forest except for the World Tree.

The transformation of a lush jungle into a desert took place in the blink of an eye.

"H-how...?"

Sedina was astonished.

At that moment, her body swayed greatly.

The World Tree was intact even in the sandstorm, but that was just for the moment.

In reality, it couldn't hold out.

A massive sand quagmire was slowly swallowing the World Tree.

The kilometer-sized World Tree sank slowly downwards as if sinking into a swamp.

That massive tree was instantly submerged past its base to half of its trunk.

Yet the swamp continued to force the World Tree into its mouth as if still hungry.

"We need to escape!"

"Where to?!"

Zantman and Sedina searched for an escape route from the end of a branch of the World Tree but the size of the quagmire was too large.

It's a sand swamp that's swallowing the World Tree. No matter where they went, all they could envision was sinking down.

All the scenery visible beyond their field of vision was entirely a desert area made of dream sand.

It seemed that Hans and Seridan had safely left the area, but Sedina couldn't do the same.

-Splash.

The branch part of the World Tree began to sink into the sand.

The sturdy branch shattered into pieces with a horrible sound.

It was clear that if they were submerged in that quagmire, they would not only be unable to breathe but would also be ground away by the pressure of the sand.

"Child! Take my hand!"

Zantman extended his hand towards Sedina.

The moment Sedina grabbed it, the bodies of the two soared towards the sky.

Behind Zantman's back, there were wings woven with thread, though it wasn't clear since when but Sedina couldn't view it entirely positively.

If he could have done it earlier, they could have flown to escape sooner, which showed that time had been wasted.

It was evidence that Zantman's power had been depleted significantly.

Even if they flew away now, it would be meaningless if they couldn't escape this desert area.

Above all, Nirva wasn't the type to let them escape easily.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?"

The world flipped.

Sky below. Desert above.

-Whoosh!

Sand poured down like a waterfall from above the sky.

Caught in it, the two people fell with the sand waterfall into the endless sky.

Fortunately, they didn't fall endlessly.

What supported them was a floor made of massive trees.

"T-this is."

A startled Sedina looked around.

Translucent glass had risen like walls and the pouring sand slowly began to fill the inside.

"An hourglass?"

Sedina's face turned pale as she realized where she was trapped.

Nirva spoke to the two people trapped inside the hourglass, slowly being buried in sand:

"Go ahead and struggle hard. You insects."