A state emergency disaster response unit was established in the Exilion Empire.
The unknown incident that had broken out in Rederbelk had long since reached many ears.
From Rederbelk all the way to Seorn.
An entire metropolis with a population of over five hundred thousand was swallowed by golden dust and fell into silence.
First Princess Aileen immediately gathered people and summoned gifted individuals from across the nation.
Even the nobles and corporations, who were usually slow to act in such matters, moved quickly this time.
Most of their children were enrolled in Seorn, and as parents, they could not simply sit idle.
So they selected and dispatched the first expedition to Rederbelk.
But they never returned.
“This is serious.”
Lutus Wardot frowned as he looked at the distant scenery of Rederbelk.
Originally, Rederbelk was an industrial city, filled with factory chimneys and billowing white smoke.
It was not a pleasant sight even then, but compared to what he saw now, that time seemed better.
The city was covered in golden dust.
It resembled the sands of a southern desert, or finely ground gold scattered in all directions.
It was a sight that one could believe if told that sunset-colored clouds had descended to earth.
From one perspective, it could even seem dreamlike and beautiful—but once you heard what was happening inside, such impressions vanished.
The first expedition had entered and lost all contact.
When they tried to send a second expedition, those nearby suddenly fell asleep just from observing the situation, forcing a retreat.
“It’s spreading little by little.”
Standing beside Lutus, First Princess Aileen gazed at the city. Her expression was more conflicted than ever.
“Are you worried about Third Princess Erendir?”
“Hmph. Why should I care about that fool?”
“If not, then it can’t be helped.”
“...Well, I do think it’s a little pitiful. This isn’t her fault—it’s more like a natural disaster.”
“A disaster, and yet it’s hard to erase the sense that someone caused it.”
Both Lutus and Aileen understood.
That golden cloud had not occurred naturally.
If anything, it resembled the black storm that had once struck the capital.
Which meant that a demon might be involved in this incident as well.
“For now, it’s quiet, but the range is steadily expanding. At this rate, the whole Empire will be covered soon enough.”
“Not just the Empire. Neighboring nations won’t be safe either.”
They had tried many methods to eliminate the golden cloud, but nothing worked.
Not reagents, not artifacts, not magic.
Worse, the moment anyone approached to attempt something, the cloud would draw them into sleep.
“It doesn’t kill, but it plunges you into an endless slumber. So when is the specialist finally arriving?”
“Your Highness.”
At that moment, Aileen’s sword, Passius, came rushing in.
“They’re here.”
There was no need to ask who.
Aileen and Lutus immediately moved.
They arrived at the command center of the response unit, where an elderly woman was already waiting.
“It is an honor to meet the Master of the Dream School.”
Aileen bowed respectfully to the old woman. Though she bowed to no one, this elder was worthy of such courtesy.
Clara Cowen, Master of the Dream School, received the greeting with a face lined with countless wrinkles.
“Yes. It is also my honor to meet the future of the Empire. But now is no time for introductions.”
“Indeed. Then let us begin right away.”
“Children, come in.”
At Clara’s tap of her staff, Dream School mages poured in from outside.
“Huh, what’s all this?”
“My, my. So many lofty folk.”
“I’m tired. Can I just nap here?”
Each entered with some careless remark.
For all the Dream School’s fame, they were far from disciplined.
“So what do you plan to do?”
Lutus asked the Dream School mages.
Since this disaster had plunged people into slumber, only the Dream School could resolve it.
At that, Zantman stepped forward as their representative.
“We’re going into Dreamland.”
Though he often joked with Julia, his eyes now gleamed grimly.
“The root of this incident lies deep in the dream. We must go there and cut it off.”
* * *
“A spectacular sight, really.”
At the edge of a cliff overlooking distant Rederbelk.
Zero Order let out an admiring murmur as he gazed at the city blanketed in golden clouds.
Standing beside him, Franz said nothing.
But his gaze at the clouds was anything but favorable.
“...Ah, I was thoughtless. My apologies.”
“No, sir. It is simply that my own inadequacy frustrates me.”
“Don’t take it too hard. This isn’t your fault. Who could have known that Nirva would seize Gregoryum’s body?”
That day, when Zero Order and Franz abducted Gregoryum.
They had put him into slumber and sent him into Dreamland.
The goal was to confirm whether Nirva, who had long slept in the depths, had awakened.
Since Nirva scorned humans, they assumed he would inevitably tamper with Gregoryum.
Perhaps by keeping him in eternal sleep.
Given Nirva’s nature, he would never let a human simply pass through.
They only had to check whether Gregoryum awoke or not. It should have been simple.
But the timing of his awakening had been odd.
“I should have noticed then.”
Zero Order shook his head.
Cunning as ever, Nirva had instead taken advantage of the human who entered his domain.
He deliberately seized Gregoryum’s inner self and used him as a vessel.
That day, when Gregoryum opened his eyes, he was no longer Gregoryum.
It was Nirva wearing his shell.
And they had failed to suspect it.
“I’ve grown rusty indeed.”
“It was unavoidable. Who could predict that demon’s move?”
“Right? So don’t blame yourself too much.”
“...”
Franz’s silence brought a bitter smile to Zero Order’s lips.
“You’re strict with yourself. Perhaps that’s why you left the School and chose to join hands with me.”
Franz still said nothing.
Zero Order had not expected a reply anyway. It was just a sigh.
“That’s my fate. Of the two arms I call my own, one never stops criticizing himself, and the other wishes me dead. No wonder this body doesn’t feel like mine.”
“...Forgive me.”
“Nothing to forgive. What matters now is how to handle Nirva’s schemes.”
The golden cloud covering all of Rederbelk might look beautiful, but its effect was far from it.
“Nirva’s dream dust. I never thought I’d see it again in my lifetime.”
Demon Nirva.
Apostle of dreams, and even among apostles, one shunned by his peers.
“Touch it, and you fall into eternal sleep. Magic, mental barriers—none of it works. Because it’s not mere magic, it’s ‘authority.’”
And eternal sleep was no different from death.
Thus Nirva was both the Apostle of Dreams and the Apostle of Death.
After “that day,” most apostles had found a shared purpose.
But Nirva had none of that.
He might share the same ultimate goal, but his methods were entirely different.
For his own ends, he would even kill fellow apostles without hesitation.
That was why Zero Order regarded him with the utmost caution.
He had believed Nirva would remain harmless, sleeping deep within Dreamland. But now he was stirring awake again.
“He drags others into eternal sleep, yet he himself does not slumber. Truly ironic.”
And yet, it was an inevitable causality.
So Zero Order was not surprised.
“What will you do?”
“When the greatest goal of your life appears before you, I can’t stop you from chasing it.”
Franz nodded firmly.
Why had he left the Dream School and joined hands with Zero Order?
Because of the one who had driven his beloved father insane.
For revenge.
And now, that very being had fully awakened.
Even from afar, his fists clenched involuntarily.
“But you know, you can’t last long.”
“I know.”
“To be blunt, you absolutely cannot defeat Nirva as you are now.”
Harsh words—but Franz could not refute them.
Zero Order was right.
And yet Franz was determined to fight.
If not now, then never.
“Then if you fight, do it properly.”
“What do you mean by ‘properly’...?”
“I mean throw away all pride if you want to win.”
Zero Order looked at him.
Meeting that gaze, Franz felt something he could not describe in words.
Founder of the Black Dawn Society. A man whose true nature was still shrouded.
His very existence overwhelmed everything around him. But right now, he seemed different.
The eyes he turned to Franz were not those of an absolute ruler.
They were eyes that understood and empathized.
Eyes that pitied, that regretted.
“Don’t forget. If you can’t win alone, borrow another’s strength. Ask for help. Don’t hesitate to bow your head. You want victory, don’t you? Then kneel if you must—just as you once did to me.”
“But there is no one.”
“There °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° is.”
Zero Order spoke with conviction.
“Once you enter, you’ll see. In that dream, someone who can help you most is waiting.”
* * *
Ludger opened his eyes.
To open one’s eyes meant to wake from sleep.
But this was not reality.
So in a dream world, was opening one’s eyes waking—or falling into a new sleep?
It was a strange thought even to himself as Ludger lifted his head to the sky.
The middle floor of Dreamland.
The sky here was clear enough to remind him of daytime outside.
If the upper floor of Dreamland was night, then the middle was the opposite.
There was no sun, yet the blue sky overflowed with light.
Kwoooooooosh!
An ear-splitting roar.
Ludger stared at the endless waterfalls pouring from the sky.
They fell from black holes torn open in the blue heavens.
One of them must have been the passage through which he had descended from above.
“The middle floor feels very different from the upper.”
He looked around.
This was an island. A massive island floating in the sky.
And beyond it, countless other islands.
Each varied in size and shape.
One was a desert, another a tropical jungle, another an enormous lake.
Between them, endless waterfalls cascaded.
That was the middle floor of Dreamland.
“Have people... been scattered?”
Though they had entered almost simultaneously, no one was nearby.
There were at least a hundred islands in sight.
And beyond them, likely countless more.
“Finding someone here will be quite the task.”
He suddenly recalled Julia’s words.
From the middle floor on, you needed a proper guide.
Now he understood why.
“But at least the direction is clear.”
Standing at the island’s edge, Ludger looked down.
Below lay countless more islands, waterfalls crashing between them.
He did not know what lay further beneath.
But if this was the middle floor, then to go deeper into Dreamland, he had to descend.
Thinking so, Ludger leapt from the cliff.
Anyone else might call it madness, but to him it was natural.
The freefall from such a height.
He immediately attempted to cast flight magic.
“...Hm?”
His mana would not circulate properly.
The formation blurred, fraying apart like snapped threads.
He had felt this before in the upper floor, but the resistance was far stronger here.
“They say from the middle floor, the unconscious grows stronger.”
For a mage who drew spells with logic and reason, unconscious interference was a massive obstacle.
But not for Ludger.
He reconnected the severed mana and swiftly rebuilt the formation.
Though there was some resistance, the magic unfolded without issue.
He glided slowly, scanning the surrounding islands.
How far had he descended?
From one island, loud crashes rang out, flashes of light bursting forth.
The pulse of mana rippled across his skin.
“Found them.”
There were survivors there.
Ludger set his course and flew toward it.