“So, that’s what it was.”
Only then did Ludger feel that the missing pieces of the puzzle were falling into place.
Nirva’s words were not a lie meant to escape the current situation.
Because Lumenis had once intervened in the lower realm, it had become difficult to touch the cage again.
So Lumenis tried to dominate the continent through the Church, but even that did not go smoothly.
After the Saintess’s death, without his direct intervention, the Church’s power weakened with each passing year.
Especially under the influence of science.
The beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
Distrust in gods, the growth of philosophy, the development of magitech, the rise of capitalism.
The Bretus Theocracy, whose power had waned, took a heavy blow when it locked its doors about twenty years ago.
That was precisely the time when Ludger Cherish left Bretus together with Grander.
Could this really be unrelated?
No.
Because of his existence, the flow of this world had been overturned.
“Now that you’ve learned the truth, are you lamenting your situation?”
“Hardly.”
Ludger dismissed Nirva’s sneer with a single word.
In fact, he had vaguely felt it for some time.
His talent. This power to hear the voice of God.
That it must be somehow connected to his arrival in this world.
‘The reason is probably because of my purpose.’
He was a vessel.
If a vessel exists to hold something, then its role was all too clear.
“You are a vessel made to contain the power of Lumenis, to control the world in his stead. At this point, can that really be called a vessel?”
If anything, Ludger thought it should rather be called this—
─[Holy Grail].
Depending on what is poured into it, a Grail can exert enormous influence.
But that Grail had slipped from the hands of the Lumenis Church.
Those blinded by greed had kicked away the blessing given to them. How foolish.
That the Grail, painstakingly crafted by the Divine One, now wandered the continent alone.
If only someone had picked it up and used it, it would not have been so tragic.
But this Grail, ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ astonishingly, moved on its own will, filling itself with what it saw and felt.
Not a Grail forced into being by someone else.
A Grail that thought for itself and completed itself.
If a vessel meant to hold God filled itself and completed itself...
Should that not itself be called God?
Nirva felt regret.
From Ludger’s attitude, he seemed to hate Bretus and despise Lumenis.
Nirva also wanted to overthrow the treacherous Lumenis.
Their goals aligned, but their methods were completely different.
In the end, Nirva, who swore loyalty to the Goddess, and Ludger, who sought to change everything by his own will, were like oil and water.
‘If I could only offer this man to the Goddess, then covering the entire world with dreams would be nothing.’
If all went well, perhaps he could even erase Lumenis, who gazed down from the lofty heavens.
They could never join hands.
Since they had parted ways, Nirva had no choice but to kill or capture Ludger by any means.
Ludger thought the same.
“Scheming to the end, I see.”
Shrrrk.
From Ludger’s shadow burst bundles of black tendrils, binding Nirva’s body to the floor.
Ludger now focused all his senses on Nirva.
In case he tried anything.
From the shadowy face that looked down on Nirva, Ludger’s blue eyes flashed sharply.
“It may be meaningless, but at least cutting off your limbs to restrain you shouldn’t matter.”
It was a kind of sentence.
Overpowered, Nirva no longer had the strength to resist Ludger.
Yet he laughed.
As if amused by the situation. As if things had finally gone the way he wanted.
‘Laughing?’
Ludger heightened his vigilance against Nirva.
He poured all his mana and senses into Nirva, determined not to let him do anything foolish.
Ironically, Ludger never anticipated that this would lead to a mistake.
So focused on Nirva, he was late to sense another presence approaching.
Someone dropped from the air and, as if waiting for this moment, plunged a dagger straight into Nirva’s heart.
Thud!
It happened in an instant, before Ludger could stop it.
The blade pierced Nirva’s heart, and golden blood gushed from his lips.
The weapon had been forged over decades, condensed with every kind of power and curse.
With his heart pierced by it, even Nirva could not possibly survive.
Death.
For an Apostle of Dreams, to die in the dream world was the height of disgrace.
Yet this was exactly what Nirva wanted.
Nirva’s eyes turned to Franz.
Looking at the one who glared at him with hatred, Nirva grinned.
“Th... ank you.”
“What?”
Franz could not understand the meaning of that smile.
No one could.
Who could believe that Nirva had sought death, that he had led himself into it?
Even Ludger, struck with a terrible intuition, wavered on whether to kill him or not.
‘Why? If an Apostle dies, isn’t the Goddess’s resurrection impossible?’
There was still not enough energy to revive the Goddess.
Nirva’s goal should have been to stall for time until then.
“Don’t tell me...”
A chilling thought flashed through Ludger’s mind.
“Is he trying to use himself as a sacrifice?”
It was only a guess. Or rather, he wished it was only a guess.
But Nirva, with a fading smile, nailed down Ludger’s unease.
“My Goddess. Your lowly servant returns to you.”
Shhhhhh.
Nirva’s body slowly turned to sand and scattered.
His true body collapsed, disintegrated completely, leaving only fragments like shards of glass that glittered faintly.
Thus Nirva, Apostle of Dreams, was utterly dead.
But Ludger could not rejoice.
Nirva was dead, yet his death was precisely what he had desired—just the trigger for what was to come.
“Over here! I heard something from this side!”
“Where’s the demon? Did he escape?”
Those who had been pursuing Nirva arrived one after another.
They were shocked to see Ludger unharmed, and again astonished to see Nirva’s traces gone.
“Could the demon... have died?”
“Then what happened? Is it all over?”
Students who had watched the battle from afar cautiously approached.
Relief spread across their faces, believing it was over.
But Ludger’s grim expression did not ease.
“You...”
As Ludger opened his mouth toward Franz, who stood blankly, the Infinite Prison shook violently.
“Wh-what? It’s shaking!”
“Be careful! The caster’s dead—the prison is collapsing!”
The prison rattled with a loud crash.
Frightened students screamed.
“Protect the students!”
“Everyone, be careful!”
But contrary to their fears, there was no great impact.
When the Infinite Prison touched the ground, it crumbled into sand.
Thanks to the soft sand, everyone inside was unharmed.
The outer scenery of the depths came back into view, leaving people bewildered.
“A-are we alive?”
“We lived! We survived!”
Tears of joy fell as they realized everyone who had fallen into the middle layer was safe.
Covered head to toe in sand, but what did that matter?
Survival was all that counted.
Yet among the cheering, some still wore grave expressions.
Masked Alex, reassured to see Ludger unhurt, also read something in his face.
‘What is that? The Leader’s expression...’
As he wondered, Alex’s body froze stiff.
The hairs all over him stood on end.
His muscles locked, the back of his neck tingled, cold sweat ran down his spine.
Phantos felt it too.
His snow-white hair bristled, and primal wildness burst forth from his body.
Phantos’s gaze turned to the colossal obelisk visible in the distance.
“Something is happening.”
That murmur was quiet, almost like talking to oneself, yet everyone heard it clearly.
Right now, in this moment.
Those who had been rejoicing all fell silent at once.
What?
Why is my body trembling?
My voice won’t come out.
People were bewildered by the strange reactions in their bodies.
Their minds could not understand, but the body’s instinct was more honest than anything.
As if on cue, every gaze turned to the same place.
The colossal obelisk tower rising in the distance.
No one knew how such a massive structure could exist in this world, and from it, something black and sticky surged upward.
“What... what is that?”
Someone asked in a dazed voice, but no answer came back.
All eyes, all minds were stolen by the vast spectacle in the distance.
Black.
Like viscous tar flowing out of a factory drain, it bubbled and churned, impossible to describe.
The writhing black mass swelled like an inflating balloon.
Pulsating, it looked like a colossal heart impaled upon a stake.
On its surface, eyes bulged up and floated.
Shrrrk!
Those who saw the eyes froze like stone.
The sight was so grotesque, no sound came from their throats.
Bulge. Bulge.
Countless eyeballs of all different sizes bubbled up and sank again and again.
Some who faced the sight collapsed on the spot, or gagged and retched.
The change did not stop there.
On both sides of the heaving mass, the surface swelled monstrously.
Through the membrane-like skin tore two enormous arms.
From the torn surface, black fluid gushed out in torrents, like amniotic fluid bursting.
Even from afar, its sheer scale made it feel like the ground was shaking under a waterfall.
Thoom!
The giant hands pressed against the ground.
Though it seemed like nothing more than a soft touch, Dreamland screamed as if being torn apart.
─────!!!!
Just a single hand movement.
Yet an entire world quaked.
Slowly, that writhing form began to take on the shape of a human.
The eyes floating across its sleek black surface sank and vanished, and in their place a human head abruptly rose.
It pushed itself up with its hands, raising its torso, looking like a woman with long, flowing black hair.
Its form was like a crude figure sculpted from black wax.
Or like a doll made by pouring wax over a human body.
There was no nose or mouth. Only two white gleams, eyes, shimmered softly across its face like mist at dawn.
Ludger recognized the being at once.
The Goddess of Dreams.
Noxanna had opened her eyes.
“She... resurrected?”
The Dreamwalkers stared at Noxanna with blank faces.
It was then that Clara Cowen stepped forward, scattering her mana.
The calming aura contained within dreams steadied people’s minds.
“Everyone, get a grip. Look there.”
Clara’s staff pointed toward Noxanna’s chest.
“The heretic god’s seal is not fully broken. That colossal structure is still impaling her heart. It’s not too late.”
Her words gave people hope again.
The heretic god had awakened, but that did not mean the seal was completely undone.
Noxanna’s body was still pierced by the obelisk.
She was forming into a human shape and rising, but her movements were sluggish, clearly limited.
Perhaps—
There was still a chance.
“Right. If we strike now...”
“There’s still hope.”
Everyone’s hearts aligned.
Even if fear urged them to flee, now that she had opened her eyes, escape was no longer possible.
Having come this far, they had no choice but to fight, come life or death.
They could not fully wash away the terror, but now they had a faint hope that they could prevail.
“Yes. If the seal still holds, it can be done.”
“We already struck down her Apostle. If she’s not at full strength, we can stop her.”
The first to step forward were the mages of the Dream School.
“Hey, you bastards!”
Zantman bellowed at the top of his lungs to boost morale.
“You’re not thinking of tucking your tails and running, are you?!”
His words were provocative, but the Dreamwalkers responded with grins.
“Don’t make me laugh!”
“If we retreat here, we don’t deserve the title Dreamwalker!”
“The dead are watching us from the afterlife and laughing already!”
Elisa also steadied her mana and addressed the Seorn instructors.
“Everyone, you’re ready, aren’t you? This is the final battle.”
The teachers of Seorn all nodded grimly, prepared for combat.
Rationally, fighting was madness, but with the Dream School shouting like that beside them, fighting spirit welled up.
Ludger too finished his preparations.
His gaze turned to the masked Owens members.
No words were needed.
Even a look was enough. Alex nodded and gestured.
They too would fight.
“Rear units, fall back!”
“Everyone steel yourselves!”
Those assembled leveled their weapons at Noxanna in the distance.
At the signal, they would unleash everything at once.
At that moment, Noxanna’s pale eyes turned toward them.
Rumble.
The goddess raised the two hands that pressed the ground.
Gurgle.
In her palms, the black tar gathered and took form.
It became a sleek, pitch-black bell.
Noxanna was about to do something.
“Attack!”
At the urgent command, spells launched all at once.
Hundreds of mages hurled their magic across the space toward Noxanna.
Yet without so much as glancing at the storm of spells, she calmly stared at the bell.
Ding.
She shook it once, lightly.
And then—
────.
The world went dark.