[You copied, did you?]
Lucid was recognizing the human in front of her.
An outstandingly skilled mage. At the same time, excellent in close combat and possessing an unshakable conviction within.
His intellect was extraordinary, his situational judgment top-class.
She did not know how high the standard of humans outside was, but at the very least, Ludger Cherish was the elite of the elite.
Even considering all of that, Ludger’s actions were far beyond the bounds of common sense.
Even if this was Dreamland, where imagination becomes reality.
This surpassed that.
“Why surprised? I’ve shown it many times already. Or did it never occur to you that I might imitate you?”
Lucid fell silent.
Ludger’s words were not spoken to mock her.
He truly meant it.
‘Come to think of it, he has shown a peculiarly wide variety of combat methods.’
Though a mage, he wielded a sword, excelled in close combat, and used all kinds of magic without being confined to one.
Far too bloated a fighting style for a single human to possess.
But what if those were not Ludger’s own?
Even now, seeing him freely manipulating the dream-threads in his hand made the speculation into certainty.
How astonishing it was.
“Seems your curiosity is resolved?”
Ludger muttered as he stared at the dream-threads swirling along his hand.
Dream-threads.
It was indeed a peculiar power.
A special force usable only within Dreamland.
One might say it resembled mana of the real world.
But mana could be handled by many methods, while dream-threads could only be shaped by personal imagination and mind.
Because of that, however, the possibilities stretching out were far greater and more varied.
‘So magic that I thought was simply imagination made real... was in fact manifested through dream-threads.’
The moment he realized what the power he had been unconsciously using was, his eyelids felt lighter, as if he had opened his eyes anew.
Ludger realized that the entirety of Dreamland was overflowing with a vast energy.
And that from the moment he entered, he had been influenced by it.
‘So that’s why magic doesn’t manifest properly.’
This power responded to the human mind.
It reacted sensitively to instinct and unconscious thought, interfering with magical casting.
‘So Dreamwalkers must have mastered how to wield these dream-threads.’
Ludger shifted the threads flowing along his hand.
The black current climbed his arm, up to his shoulder, and merged with the shadows wrapped around his body.
“I see. Form is nothing but a means of embodying one’s image. If it is what one desires, then any appearance will do.”
Lucid had wrapped her limbs in dream-threads because that was the form most optimal for her use.
But delving deeper, one need not be bound to such forms.
For instance—like this.
Shaaak!
From Ludger’s back, black wings unfurled wide.
The form he only ever took when expanding Ater Nocturnus to its fullest.
He rarely used it due to the enormous mana consumption, but here in Dreamland, it was different.
[You... what on earth...]
Murmuring so, Lucid belatedly became aware of her own state.
‘I stepped back? Me?’
In an instant, she realized it.
She had stepped back one pace from Ludger.
Before a mere human.
Was she terrified?
No. Impossible. She, who recognized all, how could she recoil in Dreamland before a human?
“Is your belief wavering?”
Of course Ludger noticed her unrest.
“You said you perceive everything, but it seems you aren’t so sure you truly can.”
Lucid bit her lip.
Indeed, she could perceive what existed within Dreamland.
That recognition let her see a few steps ahead and gain the upper hand.
But never before had she faced such an opponent.
When she first fought Ludger, his stratagems and movements lay open in her palm.
But now it was like staring into a pitch-black abyss—nothing was visible.
Worse—
She felt as though the abyss was gazing steadily back at her.
Her position of naturally looking down had reversed into one of looking up.
More than rage or humiliation, bewilderment surged foremost.
And then—
The abyss moved.
Tap.
Ludger stepped lightly forward.
Yet his body had closed the distance to Lucid as though folding and unfolding space.
Almost simultaneously, the shadow that had wavered at where he had been vanished like a snuffed flame.
It was nothing less than a movement that left only an afterimage.
The very step Lucid had first shown in her battle with Ludger—
Now refined through dream-threads into something far more elegant and sophisticated.
Tch.
Lucid clenched her teeth and flared the flames of dream-threads around her arms.
The pink blaze she cloaked herself in was not for offense alone.
If she wished, she could erect a wall of fire for defense.
And its strength was little different from its offensive output.
A flame of simultaneous offense and defense, overwhelming in both.
That was Lucid’s dream-threads.
Combined with her power of recognition, she was the foremost in close combat among the Five Vassals.
Though that recognition did not work on Ludger now—
The raw output of her threads still remained as fearsome as ever.
Shrrk!
But her pink barrier split apart too easily.
One of Lucid’s eyes fixed in disbelief.
Ludger had only lightly swept his arm.
Yet his threads had shattered her defense without effort.
Toward the stunned vassal of dreams, Ludger spoke with scorn:
“You are afraid.”
In his hand appeared a sword forged of lightning.
Lucid barely perceived the arc of its great swing and twisted her upper body aside.
But not perfectly—her shoulder was cut.
So powerful was the blow that even her sturdy body felt the impact.
“Your certainty that you can block me entirely—that confidence is shaken, isn’t it?”
Lucid did not answer.
Rather, could not.
It took all her focus just to perceive and evade Ludger’s assault.
Ludger stretched his right hand into the air.
When he clenched it, a greatsword imbued with chilling frost filled his grasp.
As he swung, countless shards of ice rose like waves, freezing all around.
Lucid raised her output to the maximum in defense, but the icy spikes pierced through the pink flames, wounding her body in many places.
She countered, slamming her fist against the blade’s flat, shattering it like glass.
But Ludger, unfazed, grasped the air with his left hand.
Whoosh—
A massive staff engulfed in flames appeared.
As his body spun once, fire surged like a storm, devouring the surroundings.
[Khh!]
Lucid ground her teeth and stomped hard.
A massive shockwave burst forth, rending the fiery maelstrom apart.
Yet her expression did not ease.
‘I am being pushed back?’
The more they fought, the more precise Ludger’s mastery of dream-threads grew.
At this rate, he would soon reach her level—
No, he already had, perhaps even surpassed it.
How could a human do this?
Lucid could not comprehend it.
The man called Ludger now appeared utterly unfathomable.
Could she block that monster’s ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) assault?
Even if she struck, could she wound that monster?
Fear sprouted in the tilting battle.
That unconscious dread gnawed at her body.
Even if they were vassals of dreams, that did not mean they completely ruled Dreamland.
They were merely beings born with power here.
In the end, still only existences belonging to Dreamland.
Crack!
The flames around her arms shattered like glass.
Not extinguished, but broken under the weight of power itself.
Lucid’s pupils widened.
Even the pink blaze upon her eyepatch flickered like a candle in the wind.
“If you wanted me dead—”
And now—
The storm arrived to snuff out that candle.
“—then Nirva himself should have come.”
* * *
Julia Plumehart sank to one knee.
She could no longer endure the pressure of the red chains binding her.
Her trembling gaze turned to their master.
He was, in words, darkness clad in a white suit.
From his face streamed two crimson beams of light where eyes should be, and his immaculate suit was accented with a red tie.
On his hands gleamed golden rings and bracelets, drawing yet more attention.
‘Where do such monsters come from?’
The place Julia had reached was a rendezvous point arranged in the mid-layers.
A base to regroup in case they were scattered descending from above.
Built in a safe zone free of the mid-layer’s dangerous lifeforms, it was suitable even for long stays.
But today, unlike usual, the place was occupied not by beasts but by something far more dangerous, waiting for them all.
One of Nirva’s Five Vassals.
Mirage of the Daydream.
In an instant, Mirage had subdued everyone there—including Julia and Selina.
To resist the red chains from every direction was meaningless.
Julia and Selina fought desperately, but against Mirage, who manipulated dream-threads at will, it was not enough.
[Hmm?]
Yet despite their fury, Nirva muttered as though no one present mattered.
[Oh dear. What a pity this is.]
The vassals derived from Nirva could sense each other’s existence.
No matter the distance, they were connected as one.
And now—
One of the Five had fallen.
Lucid of the Lucid Dream.
Hearing of her death, Mirage lamented.
[Considering her nature, she would never have let her guard down. That means an opponent of great power. Not good.]
Mirage had not cared in the least about those gathered here.
He had subdued them all with a mere gesture.
So it was only natural he considered them beneath notice.
But if a fellow vassal like Lucid had fallen, that changed things.
[Originally I intended to observe longer before passing judgment, but I’ve changed my mind.]
He stroked his chin with a hand glittering with golden rings.
His crimson gaze narrowed.
[It seems a dangerous element exists.]
Mirage had been drawn here by a certain presence.
As had the others.
They had sensed those in Dreamland with the strongest presence, and came to erase them.
But in truth, all he found were fledglings.
That white-haired girl showed skill far beyond her age, but that was all.
Maybe later she could be a threat, but not now.
So he had thought little of it—until Lucid’s death.
It was here.
That something which had drawn him.
[Who is it?]
His gaze swept over the students.
Each time his crimson light touched them, those chained shrank and trembled.
The weaker even burst into tears.
[Oh dear. I didn’t mean to frighten you.]
He scratched his head awkwardly, then pointed a finger at a weeping girl.
[But I do hate the sound of sniveling. Could you be quiet?]
Instead, her sobs only worsened.
Mirage shook his head in pity.
[Oh dear, oh dear. Why do people never listen when spoken to kindly?]
Fwoosh.
His crimson eyes flared, tinged with annoyance.
[So then, I must silence you by force.]
At his fingertip formed a red thread, sharp like a pen nib, aimed at the crying girl’s brow.
“Stop!”
Selina leapt forward to shield her.
She had been chained, yet somehow moved.
[Remarkable willpower. I commend you. But if you do not step aside, you will die.]
“I will not let you touch a student.”
At her resolute eyes, Mirage smiled faintly.
[Is that so? Then die in her place.]
A red flash shot from his finger.
Selina squeezed her eyes shut.
But just before it struck—
A black dot opened in the air, swirling wide and swallowing the light.
[What?]
Mirage was taken aback.
The attack had not been blocked but erased, vanished into nothing.
An attack of dream-threads, erased so easily?
[So it was you.]
His crimson gaze curved into a grin.