Hans’s body swelled in an instant, growing to dozens of meters in size.
His form was covered in black fur, crowned with the skull of a wolf.
The Beast of Jévaudan glared upward, red light blazing from deep within its hollow skull.
Mounted atop [Nursery Rhyme], the Beast of Jévaudan raised both arms and blocked Noxanna’s descending palm.
The Beast of Jévaudan boasted a frame as large as a high-rise tower.
Yet even so, it was still smaller than a single one of Noxanna’s palms.
That was how colossal she was—the difference in scale was overwhelming.
Boom!
When the Beast of Jévaudan’s two arms met Noxanna’s palm, a massive shockwave blasted outward.
But contrary to the expectation that it would be crushed like an insect, the Beast of Jévaudan held its ground against her hand.
“Hans is holding on!”
Seridan cried out in joy, but Violetta shook her head.
“He won’t last. Look there.”
The Beast of Jévaudan’s arms began to tremble.
One knee buckled, his body slowly pressed down toward the ground.
In a contest of raw size and power, the Beast of Jévaudan was beginning to lose.
Awoooooo!
All three of the Beast’s heads howled at once.
It was a howl strong enough to scatter even part of Nirva’s authority as an Apostle of Dreams.
But Noxanna’s palm paid no heed to such cries, continuing to bear down with unstoppable force.
Crack!
The Beast’s forearms bulged until the skin split and blood spurted out.
The wounds regenerated at once, but the pressure was so great that the healing could not keep up.
A power that surpassed even his immense vitality and regeneration.
And this was nothing more than a light gesture, meant only to strike a bell. That fact alone spoke volumes of the gap.
“Leader! He won’t last much longer!”
“Do not worry. I am ready.”
Ludger adjusted his coordinates, preparing to move to Hans’s side.
But [Nursery Rhyme] would not allow him to act freely.
Vast currents of energy raged outward, filling every space except the spot where Hans stood. If Ludger moved recklessly, his body would be torn apart.
“Going somewhere?!”
Alex cut in to block it.
With an explosive burst of aura from his blade, he slashed apart the black wave [Nursery Rhyme] had launched, splitting it like firewood.
Through the path that opened, Ludger fixed his coordinates and melted into shadow.
He reappeared beneath the Beast of Jévaudan.
“You’ve endured well.”
Ludger pressed his hands together.
Dream-energy and mana surged together, and from four directions around the Beast of Jévaudan, golden silhouettes shot upward.
Jikokuten.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra.
Tamonten.
Vaiśravaṇa.
Kōmokuten.
Virūpākṣa.
Zōjōten.
Virūḍhaka.
The four guardian generals of the cardinal directions rose, opposing Noxanna’s hand.
For the first time, her immense palm came to a halt.
In that instant, the Beast of Jévaudan snarled, both shattered arms already regenerated, and opened its bony jaws wide.
Crack!
From its skull sprouted a golden horn.
At the same time, one of its blazing red eyes turned a vivid blue.
From the Beast’s gaping mouth, bluish mana gathered and blasted outward in a fan, straight toward Noxanna’s palm.
A massive blue column shot skyward, forcing her hand back.
That breath, wrung from his very life force, pierced her palm and surged past the back of her hand.
The blue flash streaked across the sky of the Deep Layer, tearing through to the boundary sky of Noxanna’s constructed reality.
Everyone saw it clearly—those in the Deep Layer and those in reality alike.
“That is...”
Sedina, who had been watching anxiously, widened her eyes at the familiar blue light.
That pure beam of mana was undoubtedly the same mana cannon Hans had once unleashed in his beast form.
But whether this light was the ray of victory that would turn the tide, or merely a final desperate candle before extinction, no one could know.
The same uncertainty hung over those enduring endless barrages against the aerial warships above.
“My Goddess?”
Nirva, now a golden bird, instinctively turned within the barrier at the aura he sensed.
As Noxanna’s faithful servant, he could feel it.
The divine body of his Goddess had been wounded.
“How dare some bastard...!”
He bared his teeth in rage, but he had no leisure to dwell on it.
“You bird-brained fool! Where are you looking in the middle of a fight?!”
An old Dreamwalker swung twin massive hammers, and Nirva scrambled back in alarm.
He swung them as if they were props from a comic, but the weight was real—enough to break Nirva’s bones and tear his flesh.
“Pfah. Damn, you’re quick. Why’s it so hard to catch one damn chicken these days?”
“Because you’re old, that’s why.”
“...What?”
The Dreamwalkers, battered and bleeding, laughed as they mocked each other.
Nirva’s eyes burned with fury.
“You leeches. You know you’re no match for me—how long do you intend to keep this up?!”
“Who says we’re no match? Hah, we’ve been going easy on you and you still haven’t realized it.”
“That’s right. I’ve actually been hiding 30% of my power.”
“Only 30%? I’ve been holding back half!”
Nirva frowned.
The more wounded they became, the closer they edged to despair, the stronger these men grew.
Was this what it meant, that when cornered by death, the subconscious would release even greater strength?
“Damn it. If only I had my full body, I could toy with them single-handed.”
He longed to rush to Noxanna’s aid, but the Dreamwalkers bound his steps and pressed him harder.
They had always been coordinated, but now they felt on another level.
It was like fighting many, yet also like fighting one.
Nirva ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) felt an uncanny sense of familiarity.
“Threads?”
He saw faint threads drifting from their heads, intertwining with one another.
He realized what it was.
“You bastards, don’t tell me...”
“Well well. For a birdbrain, you’re quick on the uptake. That’s right—we’re sharing every thought and dream through dream-synchronization links.”
“Are you insane? If humans share dreams like that...”
“Our egos might collapse. Of course we know.”
This was beyond merely sharing dreams.
Every judgment, thought, even the deepest subconscious within them—shared.
The risk of one’s self collapsing, merging into others, becoming something unrecognizable—enormous.
“And so what?”
“What...?”
“Have you forgotten? If we fail here, we’re finished anyway.”
“That’s right. If we’re going to die, better to fight to the death.”
“And honestly? My mind feels clearer than ever.”
The Dreamwalkers laughed like madmen.
For others, dream-synchronization would indeed be madness. But for them, it was different.
They had lived side by side for decades.
Closer than friends, tighter than family.
A brotherhood forged in a school of outcasts no outsider could judge.
And so they spoke as one:
“And right now, we have only one goal.”
Countless voices merged without a single discord.
“To smash you to pieces!”
* * *
Noxanna’s palm had a massive hole pierced through it.
Everyone breathed in relief at seeing the hand meant to strike [Nursery Rhyme] finally halted.
But Ludger’s expression remained cold.
Because the gaping black wound in the Goddess’s palm was already filling with viscous tar, regenerating rapidly.
The sight brought despair.
[Nursery Rhyme] lashed out wildly, hurling energy in every direction.
Seridan’s bombs exploded nearby, scattering fire and light. Violetta’s storm was shredded apart.
Alex, Phantos, and Arfa struck from all sides, hammering [Nursery Rhyme] to draw its attention.
But clearly, they could not keep it up for long.
“Still, we bought time. Did we not?”
“Yes.”
The answer came from another man hiding in Ludger’s shadow—Franz.
“It took a while to locate the core. But now, this is it.”
Though [Nursery Rhyme] manifested as a massive bell, its true core was hidden somewhere inside.
Franz had concealed himself since the beginning, searching for it.
And now he had found it.
He drew a dagger.
Ludger extended his hand, conjuring a shadow sphere the size of a fist before Franz.
Without a word, it was clear—this was the path to the core.
“This ends everything.”
It was time to awaken from this wretched dream.
But just as Franz thrust the dagger, his body froze.
And Ludger could not ask why—he was frozen too.
“Ghh—Khhhk!”
Franz’s dagger slipped from his hand and clattered to the ground.
Ludger strained to turn his head, eyes wide.
And there he saw Noxanna.
Her eyes glowed white smoke like dispersing clouds, fixed upon Ludger, Franz, and the Beast of Jévaudan.
That was all.
Yet the crushing pressure paralyzed them, as if mountains bore down from every side.
He could scarcely breathe; his jaw trembled.
‘Even sealed, just eye contact is this overwhelming.’
Panting, Ludger clenched his teeth and endured.
He met Noxanna’s gaze with an unwavering stare.
Fine then. Look as much as you wish.
See with your own eyes just how far humanity’s fragile struggle can reach.
Slowly, Ludger stooped to pick up the fallen dagger.
His hand creaked like a rusted automaton.
But the blade was still aimed at [Nursery Rhyme]’s core.
One thrust through the shadow and it would be over.
‘Wait. Even sealed, she could easily move her hand. We suffered so much from just one palm. Why is she merely watching now?’
And then—
‘The other hand?’
Before Ludger could strike, massive black columns erupted around him.
Not columns—her fingers.
Big enough that [Nursery Rhyme] itself could rest in one hand.
Compared to that, the four guardian generals and the Beast of Jévaudan were nothing.
Ludger felt like Sun Wukong trapped in the Buddha’s palm.
‘We’ve been inside her hand from the beginning.’
So all their desperate struggle amounted to no more than a gesture she could end with a flick.
But then—why had she not ended it?
Ludger lowered his eyes to the dagger in his hand.
“What... are you... doing?”
Franz forced the words through frozen lips.
“Stab it! Now!”
Noxanna’s stillness was their last chance.
Even now, outside, their allies were risking their lives.
Destroying [Nursery Rhyme] now was the logical choice.
But—
“No.”
Ludger knew it was not the answer.
He let the dagger fall.
Franz’s eyes bulged in disbelief, demanding an explanation.
Ignoring him, Ludger fixed his gaze on Noxanna.
“Let us speak, Goddess.”
“...You would speak... with a god?”
Franz muttered in shock.
To ruin everything at the very end—
But then something astonishing happened.
Noxanna, who seemed ready to crush them in her hand, instead nodded.
Tar gathered before Ludger, shaping into the figure of a woman.
Pale white skin, long black hair.
So beautiful it felt alien, almost wrong.
When she opened her eyes, soft green light shimmered gently.
“Yes. Child. You wish to converse with me?”