“If this keeps up, everyone will be trapped in Dreamland forever.”
“Then we must eliminate the source as quickly as possible.”
“Eliminate the source? Do you actually know how to resolve it?”
“I know what I have to do.”
They had to eradicate Nirva, who had caused all of this.
To do so, they needed to find where he was.
Considering his abilities and authorities, he would be in the deepest depths of Dreamland.
But remembering that he had briefly manifested outside through Gregoryum’s corpse, they had to assume he could move freely between the middle layers and the upper layers as well.
“For now, we move. First priority is to regroup with the others.”
They needed to join the others and share information.
If this was a world of dreams, then resolving everything alone would be difficult in the end.
‘If Rederbelk was affected, the others would have been dragged inward too.’
They had prepared an emergency escape route for this sort of situation.
But it was hard to believe that would be free from a demon’s authority.
‘First, we should find Sedina, Hans, and Seridan—who fell in earlier.’
Even so, it felt like he could at least guess their heading.
The falling stars were concentrating on a single location.
Shooting stars from every direction bent in arcs toward a narrow patch of ground—a sight one would never see in reality.
But knowing what it meant—that this was a supernatural disaster—made it hard to simply admire its beauty.
“How much farther?”
“We have to go all the way to where those stars are falling, so it’s still far.”
“Walking will take quite some time.”
Julia nodded.
“If we walk, yes. But we’re mages, aren’t we?”
“True.”
The two of them rose into the air using mana.
From higher up, the scenery of Dreamland struck them even more vividly.
A place filled with mysterious forests and plains.
Looking down as they crossed it, they could spot peculiar creatures that lived only here.
A gigantic salamander lifted its head from a marsh and stared at Ludger and Julia as they flew.
The way it flicked its tongue with a wet slurp made it clear—had they come on foot, it would have been a disaster.
“You’re keeping up better than I expected.”
Half admiration, half teasing—Julia’s tone drew only a casual reply from Ludger.
“And you seem even better than usual.”
“Did you forget who I am and where we are?”
“Fair point.”
For a Dreamwalker, Dreamland was home ground.
In dreams, what was impossible in reality could be done as much as one wished.
A Dreamwalker roaming that realm freely could display skill far beyond what they showed in reality.
“If you put your mind to it, can you make something like wings?”
“Wings?”
“In a dream, anything you want should be possible, no?”
Julia’s eyes went round.
“That might be the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard... and yet, annoyingly, it isn’t wrong.”
“Hm. It was only a conjecture—so it really is possible?”
“Not here. This layer is too high. The upper layer is properly within Dreamland’s domain, but the surface layer’s influence is still significant. People’s reason remains largely intact, and the world still carries much of reality’s influence.”
“So the farther down you go, the stronger the influence of dreams and the unconscious.”
“That’s why Dreamwalkers begin their real preparations from the middle layers.”
As they flew, they spotted a field crowded with lights and landed nearby.
“People?”
“Looks like some fell here too.”
These seemed to be those who arrived a bit later; their clothes were of all sorts.
There were factory workers, restaurant staff, a flower-shop girl, a cleaner, a driver.
A few wore garments of quite fine fabric—anyone could tell at a glance they were wealthy.
“So the whole of Rederbelk was affected.”
“This really is the worst-case scenario.”
The gathered people looked utterly bewildered about why they were here.
The world outside had seemed to turn gold in daylight, they’d lost consciousness, and when they opened their eyes, they were in this place.
Of course it was hard to understand with a clear mind.
“Where the hell are we!”
“Everyone, calm down. Will yelling change anything?”
“Do I look like I can calm down?!”
They were huddled together only because the environment was unfamiliar.
Most of them were already in a panic.
At that moment someone in the crowd noticed Julia and Ludger.
“W-who are you people?”
“Don’t be alarmed. We’re just like you—people who fell into the world of dreams.”
Julia stepped forward and spoke.
But the people only looked more confused.
“The world of dreams? What is that supposed to mean...?”
“Is someone playing a prank on us?”
Julia let out a sigh.
These people were complete laymen with no connection to magic.
Even if she explained Dreamland this and that, they clearly wouldn’t understand.
“Y-you! You’re mages, right? Then do something about this!”
“Yeah! If you’re mages, you must know how to get us out!”
The people fixed their eyes on Ludger and Julia as if they had found hope.
Their eyes were full of expectation, but there was a touch of madness in them as well.
To drowning men, the two of them looked like a lifeline.
But what would happen once they learned the truth?
Sensing the turn for the worse, Julia quietly asked Ludger for his thoughts.
“What do we do? They seem to be under some strange misconception.”
Seeing her defer to Ludger, the people chose their target.
Older than Julia and carrying an air of authority—he looked like the superior.
“H-hey there. Get us ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ out. I’ll make sure you’re rewarded.”
“Sir Mage, just tell us where to go.”
“I have something I have to finish today!”
Desperate pleas, each different.
But once the number passed the hundreds, it became nothing but a deafening noise.
Julia frowned at the voices crying out with such frantic urgency.
From begging and bargaining, their impatience grew, and their tone turned aggressive.
“You two are suspicious. Don’t tell me you brought us here.”
“I heard things! That mages kidnap people and experiment on them.”
“A-are they black mages?”
Hostility seeped from the crowd.
Julia was dumbfounded.
They hadn’t even said anything yet, and the crowd was throwing around accusations of black mages on their own.
And despite calling them black mages, they weren’t cowering—if anything, they were glaring.
If you knew the other side was dangerous, shouldn’t you be more cautious?
Julia, precocious and rational for her age, found such excessive emotionality hard to grasp.
Only when it came to Sedina did she get emotional; in other situations, she struggled to understand ordinary people’s reactions.
“You filthy mage bastards!”
“Send us back now!”
Ludger, on the other hand, understood their hearts all too well.
Of course they were flustered—frustrated, stranded in an unknown place.
But understanding them and quietly enduring their abuse were two different things.
“Keep talking, and you’ll say anything, won’t you.”
The voice that came from Ludger’s lips shook the crowd.
The mana-infused resonance instantly plunged the surroundings into silence.
Those who had been ready to lash out in rage, fists clenched, realized belatedly what they were about to do and shrank back.
“Listen well. The mages you are so desperate to find have nothing to do with this incident. We too were dragged into this mess as victims.”
Every time Ludger’s sharp gaze swept across them, the people flinched and shriveled.
“And yet you try to pin the blame on us. I find that... deeply unpleasant.”
Only then did they remember what they had forgotten—just how superior mages were.
And in this place, where no one was watching, what would happen if they angered one?
Once the people finally calmed, Julia let out a sigh of relief.
Before the situation could spiral out of control, Ludger had cut it off at just the right moment.
“What now?”
“We’ll have to take these people with us.”
No matter how things stood, they still had to head toward the central zone of the upper layer of Dreamland.
Leaving these people here, only to be attacked by the creatures of Dreamland that lived nearby, would leave a bitter aftertaste.
“Follow.”
At a single word from Ludger, the crowd followed quietly.
It wasn’t only the show of force from moments earlier—there was an irresistible charisma about him.
The panicked, confused crowd fell silent, walking only with their eyes fixed on Ludger’s back.
Julia was impressed by the sight.
To subdue fear so completely, so effortlessly—
“Professor, your skill in handling people is truly remarkable.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Of course it is. Look at them. Just before, they were filled with resentment, yet now they’re trailing after you like children. To them, you may look like their only savior.”
Savior, was it?
Ludger scoffed at the cumbersome word.
But he didn’t bother to deny or reject it.
What others chose to think was beyond his control.
They walked for some time.
In the distance, a large gathering of people came into view.
“Unexpected. They’ve managed to put together something resembling a village.”
Ludger murmured with mild admiration at the sight.
“Of course. This is the first place anyone reaches when they descend into the upper layer of Dreamland. Dreamwalkers come here often, so they built an outpost.”
“An outpost. There was something similar in the Kasarr Basin.”
“We were the original,” Julia said with pride in her voice.
She spoke freely of “we.”
Even if she quarreled with members of her school, Julia clearly held deep attachment to the School of Dreams.
“Still surprising. It was built to hold more than a thousand, yet it’s already full, with people spilling outside as well.”
“Just Seorn’s population alone exceeds several times that.”
“And now with Rederbelk’s population here too... that’s not good.”
Julia glanced at those slumped around the area.
Most were crushed by despair, unable to adapt to the unfamiliar environment.
Even to mages, Dreamland was no easy place to grasp.
So for those utterly unversed in magic, the psychological pressure must be overwhelming.
As they went deeper, familiar faces appeared.
Seorn’s students, having fallen into Dreamland first, were gathered in the village center.
“Professor Ludger!”
One of the teachers tending to the students spotted him and ran over.
“Professor Selina.”
“You’re here too. Are you alright?”
When Ludger said he was fine, Selina sighed in relief, pressing a hand to her chest.
Ludger looked over the students.
Most wore grim expressions, but none seemed devastated.
That was thanks to the teachers who had worked hard for them.
‘But this is only a matter of time.’
Unless the root problem was resolved, the situation could only deteriorate further.
He had just thought to meet the other instructors and discuss matters when—
Rumble.
A massive roar split the air, followed by screams.
The ground shook violently, startling the seated people to their feet.
“Kyaaah!”
Selina nearly fell, but Ludger caught her at once.
“Th-thank you.”
Her face flushed with embarrassment.
Helping her steady herself, Ludger asked Julia,
“Julia. Does Dreamland get earthquakes?”
“Of course not. A world without fault lines cannot have earthquakes.”
“Then what is this?”
“I don’t know.”
Julia, too, was shaken.
“Perhaps... we must consider the worst-case scenario.”
“Worse than this?”
“Think about it. Never before have this many people entered Dreamland. This is unprecedented.”
Indeed.
Normally, aside from Dreamwalkers, only a few deeply sleeping people ever came here.
But now the numbers had surged far past tens of thousands.
A hundred thousand. Two hundred thousand.
And still rising in real time.
“The upper layer is straining under the burden of too many people.”
“Dreamland itself?”
“I told you—Dreamland is like a whirlpool. A quagmire that sinks you even if you stand still. With this many people gathered, what do you think happens?”
“The rate of being pulled down increases.”
Julia spoke with certainty.
“That would almost be preferable. But what if... what if it’s worse than that?”
RUMMMBLEEEE───!!!
Before she could finish, another quake struck.
Much stronger and longer than the one before.
“Aaaah! S-save us!”
“Don’t move! Panicking won’t help!”
“Everyone stay calm!”
The crowd was thrown into panic.
Amid the chaos, Ludger noticed something unnatural.
Craaaack.
The ground split open with a sharp sound.
Before he could even shout a warning, the fractured earth collapsed beneath them.
“Aaaahhhh!”
Over three hundred people plunged into the depths.
Down into nothing but pitch-black darkness—into the deep abyss.