"Finally that damnable barrier is up and running again, just in time, as it seems like this night cloud might be one of the more difficult ones to get through..." Unaware of the impending danger heading his way, the branch guild master muttered a few words to himself as he looked at the recently repaired section of the barrier that he had just finished after going through a few of the already stored resources for barrier repair. Ignoring the pain, he felt in his heart knowing that these used up resources needed to be replaced in case something similar happened in the future.
After all, even if those resources weren’t used up immediately or even over the next hundred years, they needed to be there, as repairing the barrier of a dreamscape outpost couldn’t be delayed.
Not just because of the potential attack the outpost might suffer, but also because countless strange dreamscape monsters might discreetly spread their influence through the gap in the barrier and invade the dreams of the adventurers sleeping inside the outpost.
Rare, as something like that might be under normal circumstances as the barrier hadn’t been destroyed entirely, it was still something far more likely than an external attack.
Unfortunately, the dreamscape outpost didn’t find itself in normal circumstances, as there was currently a night cloud around. Meaning that nightmare dreamscape monsters had already begun emerging throughout the floating continent... And these kinds of dreamscape monsters were well known to be far more aggressive and almost always ended up launching an attack on the dreamscape outpost whenever a night cloud appeared.
For this reason alone, the branch guild master had to fix the flaw and damage in the barrier as soon as possible, something he had managed to accomplish faster than expected. Even after being distracted by selling off the nightmare hawks, he ended up cutting down earlier.
Speaking of nightmare hawks, he still felt a sense of anger and rage whenever he thought about them and how they had ended up causing such serious damage to the barrier while he had been busy inspecting the damage.
Squawk-!
Maybe because of this, the second he heard a now rather familiar squawking, he couldn’t help frowning visibly before turning around to see just what kind of bold little chicken dared challenge him after he had torn apart a group of them not long ago.
"Huh...?"
But as he turned around ready to face the bold little chicken daring to challenge him, he was instead met with a sight he wouldn’t forget for a long time, as what looked like a black wave made up entirely of nightmare hawks swept towards him at a terrifying speed. The sheer number of nightmare hawks making even a seasoned adventurer like himself feel a shiver run down his spine as he understood that he stood no chance in the face of so many nightmare dreamscape monsters at the same time.
Well... At least the barrier is repaired and should be able to hold them off...
So, without the slightest bit of hesitation, the branch guild master directly turned around and ran back inside the gate before informing a few nearby guards to activate the barrier before those nightmare hawks had the chance to reach the outpost, something that didn’t have to be said twice, as those guards had already seen the nightmare hawks surging towards them in a seemingly endless tide.
Rumble~
And so, in less than ten seconds, a splendid barrier rose and surrounded the dreamscape outpost. The barrier that had only been active in a passive state now fully activating at full strength to resist the nightmare hawks...
"GUIIIILLDDDD MAAAASTER!"
But as the branch master was about to head towards the core of the outpost to keep an eye on the overall situation and ensure that nothing went wrong, a loud voice yelling out for him suddenly caused him to freeze on the spot as he turned to look towards the wave of nightmare hawks in the distance. Soon enough spotting an unfamiliar creature that didn’t fit in with the nightmare hawks-
"Verdell!? What in the world is that troublesome dwarf doing out there!?"
And on top of that unknown creature that looked like a dragon of some kind, he saw a small dwarf that he recognized calling out to him. Leaving him somewhat speechless, as he had no idea how this little dwarf had managed to get himself into whatever situation he currently found himself in.
Although he was familiar with the dwarf, Verdell, he also knew that the other party always found himself in trouble, this was a first, as he never imagined the unlucky little dwarf to turn into a dragon rider while he wasn’t looking. Even more surprising, as he observed what was happening, he quickly realized that all the nightmare hawks seemed to be targeting this unfortunate little dwarf.
"Look! Isn’t Verdell? And that dreamscape dragon... Isn’t it the one we failed to hunt earlier?"
"Wow, your right! Did Verdell manage tame it!?"
"I don’t know, but with the barrier raised, he won’t be able to enter the outpost..."
At the same time, because the branch guild master wasn’t the only one to have gathered at the edge of the outpost by now, it didn’t take long for others to notice the small dragon riding dwarf rushing towards them.
But at the same time, they also understood that he had come too late, as the barrier had already been activated and essentially sealed off the dreamscape outpost from the rest of the dreamscape. Lowering it to allow him inside wasn’t possible, as the barrier itself was far more complex than a normal barrier placed within a dungeon or to seal off a dungeon entrance. Taking time to reactive and deactivate.
This of course filled those observing the dwarf dragon rider with pity, but there was nothing they could do outside of hoping for him to survive the situation on his own. At the very least, with a fast dragon, he had a far greater chance at surviving than he would have had on his own...
"Damnit! The barrier is already closed!" Around the same time, Verdell, the dwarf in question, also realized that he wouldn’t be able to escape into the outpost, something that also made Scaly aware that she wouldn’t be able to count on the adventurers from the dreamscape outpost to come out to save them.
Even if this was a bit disappointing, she also found it understandable, as the sheer number of nightmare hawks chasing after the two of them would be more than enough to scare off any adventurer or dreamscape monster.
The only positive to their current situation being that they had managed to travel far enough by now that Scaly felt confident that she wouldn’t end up inside a volcano if she used the gate of dreams to escape from the dreamscape.
Instead of that, she felt that it was far more likely that she would end up within the city that should be located on the other side of the dreamscape supporting this already massive dreamscape outpost.
The reason why she hadn’t used the gate of dreams being that she feared doing so would end up just as dangerous considering that there would undoubtedly be countless powerful adventurers waiting around for her on the other side.
The only thing she could hope for being that the powerful adventurers had stationed themselves within the dreamscape outpost instead of the city on the other side, though the chance of that was still somewhat low, as they wouldn’t leave a city unguarded.
But... I don’t really have much of a choice, if I wait any longer, I won’t be able to successfully use the gate of dreams without being attacked...
Whoosh~
Having made up her mind after watching the nightmare hawks getting closer and the dwarf on her back finding it increasingly difficult to hold back the nightmare hawks, Scaly directly began using the gate of dreams to escape from the dreamscape back to the material plane.
As for what happened to the dwarf on her back, she didn’t have the mind to care, as her own safety was the most important.
"Huh? What is- Ahhh!?"
And before the one on her back even had the time to react, the two of them disappeared from the dreamscape. Leaving the nightmare hawks squawking confusedly at each other at the place where the two of them seemingly vanished into thin air.
Unknowingly, it was proven that the gate of dreams didn’t just work on herself, but also seemed to affect anyone who happened to be in contact with, something that ended up saving the dwarf adventurer on her back from finding himself alone midair faced with the angry nightmare hawks, who couldn’t do anything other than turn their anger towards the dreamscape outpost below now that the two of them had disappeared.
A reality that wasn’t missed by the branch guild master, who could only silently cry knowing just how costly it was to keep the barrier up and running with thousands of nightmare hawks attacking it...