Having sent those troublesome guests into the mire, Nirva turned his gaze toward the remaining scraps.
The Library Keepers, firing precision bombardments from afar.
Their firepower grew steadily stronger as time passed.
That was how the immune system of Dreamland’s mid-layer, the Sacred Library, functioned.
If the opponent proved strong, it raised its output in turn.
For now, since Nirva was simply defending and holding out, that was fine. But should he counterattack, the system would gather that data and evolve once more.
Stronger, faster Keepers would appear to strike.
The Library Keepers were nothing more than extensions of this environment.
No matter how many were destroyed, they would endlessly reproduce from somewhere.
Stronger. Faster.
“I detest such tiresome business.”
He could deal with them if he wished.
But Nirva had not come this far to wrestle with a mindless system.
He had shown his hand in hopes of negotiation, but Ludger had flatly refused.
Battle was inevitable.
In a way, it was just as well.
So Nirva thought as he tilted his head back for a moment.
His gaze was not on the library ceiling but beyond it.
Golden light flashed in his eyes, and a rough map of the mid-layer spread before him.
Countless guests—or rather, sacrifices—moving about.
He focused on those likely to be troublesome to his ritual.
To Nirva, such people were insects.
But there was a difference between a harmless fly and one hiding a poisoned stinger.
A sting might not kill him, but it would hurt and irritate—and no one wished to suffer that needlessly.
Nor could he dismiss them out of hand.
All five of the retainers he had dispatched had been defeated.
That had been the worst outcome, one even Nirva had not foreseen.
“The one most worth my caution is... let me see.”
His golden eyes swept the entirety of the mid-layer.
Dreamwalkers freely traversing Dreamland, Seorn instructors moving with them.
A swordsman with strangely resilient vitality, beastkin, and a small cluster of mages.
There were several who stood out—but one in particular gnawed at Nirva’s nerves.
Zero Order.
Once an Apostle who served God—now a demon.
And still, even now, he commanded a secret order, weaving chaos from the shadows.
If Nirva knew him, that man would at this very moment be plotting in secret.
For Nirva himself would have done the same.
“Your nature has changed greatly, Suruna.”
The great demon Suruna, recorded in the old scriptures of the Holy Theocracy of Bretus.
After his battle with Saintess Arkenis, he had been said to be slain. But now he lived on as Zero Order.
Suruna had once been different.
He had wielded his authority more brazenly than anyone, breaking Paladins and Priests of the Lumenis Church head-on.
Where Nirva had always been the schemer, Suruna had stood in stark contrast—direct, blazing.
“Should I lament it, or welcome it? Back then, you shone so brightly. I thought you would be the one to fulfill the Apostles’ long-cherished wish.”
Thus the title of Great Demon had been his.
At that time, three Apostles moved under Suruna’s banner.
Basara had been among them.
“And yet you’ve ended up in a state not unlike my own.”
But Nirva felt neither pity nor satisfaction at that.
Rather, he realized that this changed Suruna was his greatest threat.
The lion that once relied solely on strength had awakened to cunning.
During Nirva’s centuries of slumber, Suruna had schemed in secret and achieved much.
But was that all?
The Apostle’s authority only grew more advantageous with time.
It was safe to assume Suruna’s own might had surpassed his past self.
“So you would drag down Lumenis, no matter what.”
That resolve deserved praise.
But alas, it would not come to pass.
It was Nirva’s role to ruin Lumenis’s plan.
This was a contest for dominance.
They might share an enemy, but two demons would never join hands.
Their methods diverged too greatly.
From here on, only fierce rivalry remained.
“How you managed to recruit the arrogant Dragon Princess, I do not know. But you should have been more careful.”
For you have already given me cause for caution.
So Nirva muttered, a sly smile forming.
Found it.
The traces of Zero Order—Suruna—remained within the mid-layer.
The man had not departed Dreamland at once.
He had lingered briefly.
And nearby, Nirva spotted a cluster of sacrifices.
“...Hm?”
Their number was small.
Barely twenty.
Children, by the look of it—students of Seorn.
What was this?
Nirva had thought Zero Order had made contact with a blade meant to pierce his side.
But these children did not seem blades at all. Young, awkward, most quaking in fear.
Hardly capable of anything.
Was it mere coincidence? Or some ploy by Zero Order to distract him?
Frowning, Nirva raised his hand.
“A little focus, then.”
Golden sand roared into a storm, erasing all incoming bombardments.
The Keepers that had been sniping him from afar were # Nоvеlight # shredded to fragments in the storm.
They would be replaced soon enough, but for now he had bought time.
In that time, Nirva studied the gathered students closely.
“...Hooh.”
And there—he saw her.
A girl with ash-gray hair.
From her, faint but undeniable energy seeped.
Nirva could not be certain what it was, but he knew—she was the reason Zero Order had lingered.
At once, another thought struck him.
Zero Order would not have acted unaware that Nirva could read such traces. Yet he still made contact?
Perhaps a well-laid bait. A trap.
Nirva considered—but decided quickly.
Even if it were a trap, this was Dreamland.
Here, there was nothing he could not do.
And upon closer look, the girl was even stranger.
Part of her memory had been sealed. Unlike the others, entire years had been cut away.
Could such a person be called normal?
Nirva felt not only caution but deep curiosity.
How strange.
That he should feel drawn to her.
Nirva stretched out his hand.
And with golden sand, he seized the girl and those around her in a single grasp.
* * *
Rine finished scanning the surroundings and returned to her original spot.
“Did something happen?”
“No. Nothing. This area is safe, senior.”
At her words, Freuden could not shake off a feeling of doubt.
But since Rine did not say more, he could not force the issue. He simply nodded instead.
Rine sat down and recalled the conversation she had just had—
the one with the man who had introduced himself as Suruna.
—I’m not curious at all.
Rine had rejected Zero Order’s offer outright.
Of course she was curious. How could she not be, when it concerned her?
But that was one thing, and joining hands with such a suspicious man was another.
The Zero Order she saw through her Judgment Eye was like darkness itself given human form.
Though no hostility was directed toward her during the talk, his very existence was harmful to the world.
He was someone who should never be allowed close.
—Very well. If you say so, then so be it.
Even though his proposal had been turned down, Zero Order showed no sign of regret.
—Normally, I would have taken my time and spoken at length, but the situation doesn’t allow for it now. We’ll meet again.
Now that he had confirmed the owner of the Judgment Eye truly existed, there was no need to stall.
The only reason he lingered quietly here was because this was Nirva’s domain, Dreamland.
If he revealed his hand even slightly, who knew what that insidious Nirva might do.
—No... perhaps he has already noticed.
—What?
—Nothing. Just speaking to myself.
He had waited hundreds of years.
A few more months meant nothing.
—Yes, I accept your refusal. But know this: the offer stands for as long as you live.
—...Lies.
—Whether lie or truth, you will be able to judge for yourself, won’t you?
Rine swallowed hard at those words.
This man truly did know about her eyes.
—...Still, it will never happen.
—Will it not?
Zero Order grinned.
That sly, confident smile of one already certain of victory made her stomach churn.
—Hmph. And yet I cannot help feeling betrayed. I searched as you asked, and yet it was hidden from me all this time. By Ludger, no less.
—Professor Ludger? Hidden? What do you mean by that?
—Ah, whoops. Was I not supposed to say that?
Pretending it was a slip of the tongue, he brushed it off, though every move was calculated.
Rine’s expression hardened visibly.
At the mention of Ludger’s name, her mind grew tangled.
It was only a short remark, but she was not so dull as to miss its implication.
Zero Order knew Ludger Cherish.
He even hinted at some secret connection, some deal between them.
And that Ludger had been hiding something about her.
But why?
Rine parted her lips.
She wanted to demand answers right there.
But sheer willpower restrained her. She knew instinctively she must not be swayed by his words.
Zero Order smirked at her struggle.
Whether it was amusement at her pain or something else, she could not tell.
—That will be all. I think I’ve left enough of a trace behind.
With that, he vanished like a mirage.
That was the last of their conversation.
‘Does Professor Ludger know about me?’
The more she thought about it, the more signs she recalled.
He had known of her strange mana. During the summoning lesson, too.
And the small but repeated instances of help he had given her.
Looking back, it was strange she had not realized sooner.
No, not strange.
She had known.
Every time she looked at Ludger, she wondered if he was tied to her lost past.
And yet she forced herself to deny it, clinging to the surface-level relationship they shared.
Because she was afraid.
Afraid of the truth that would break everything.
Rine carried a box inside her heart.
So tightly sealed she did not know what lay within.
She only knew it held her lost memories—
and something dangerous as well.
If she opened it, could she bear what lay beyond?
Would it not be better to leave it closed, and simply live on as she was?
She had enrolled at Seorn, the school she had longed for.
She had made good friends, good seniors.
She had even met Ludger Cherish.
Her current life was, in its way, a happy one.
Could she really throw that away out of curiosity?
“Haa.”
A sigh slipped out of her unbidden.
The more she thought, the deeper the mire became.
So this was what it meant for knowledge to be torment.
How blissful ignorance had been. But she knew she could never return to that state.
Even if this crisis ended safely, whenever she looked at Ludger’s face she would remember Zero Order’s words.
“Rine.”
Freuden, who had been watching her with concern, finally called her name.
Just as he reached to rest a hand on her slumped shoulder—
It happened.
Rumble, rumble.
A faint tremor, too small to be called an earthquake.
Stones and dust on the ground shivered.
But Rine instantly sensed danger. Her head snapped up.
“Rine?”
“We have to move!”
Her eyes widened at the sight before her.
The ground was staining black with darkness.
Her warning came too late.
Fwoosh!
Golden sand erupted upward, piercing the ground.
Five colossal pillars of sand rose.
Like the fingers of some vast hand, they closed upon Rine and the surrounding students at once.
Their screams were swallowed by dream-sand.
When at last the golden hand sank back into the earth—
Nothing remained.
* * *
“Out of the frying pan, into the fire.”
Ludger closed his eyes briefly at the sight before him, then opened them again.
Hoping it was an illusion.
But no.
It was reality.
Dreamland’s reality.
“I never thought I’d arrive here like this.”
The sky was a chaos of colors, muddled together.
The landscape, all too familiar, seen twice before.
Ludger had fallen into the depths of Dreamland.