Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Chasing the Dream (1)
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Just before entering Nabez to fight the Phantasmic Disaster.
I decided to deal with the demons first rather than the disaster.
[The disaster is more dangerous, so why prioritize the demons?]
‘There are too many variables.’
All the preparations to take down the Phantasmic Disaster were complete. No matter when or how we encountered it, there wouldn’t be any issues.
The demons, however, were a different story.
Even the protagonist Fabian could barely escape them with his life.
And that was only thanks to Lutia’s sacrifice.
I had absolutely no intention of facing that kind of future.
‘Fabian clashed with the demons after defeating the disaster and exhausting himself, but we’ll take them out first at full strength.’
That was the conclusion I’d reached.
“Maria!”
And that plan was a resounding success.
Right after dealing with Xenon, I searched for Maria.
Thankfully, thanks to Margal’s rampage, it wasn’t hard to find her.
‘Whoa, this is no joke.’
I’d thought Xenon was strong, but the traces of Margal’s destruction looked like a disaster itself had passed through.
All the buildings had collapsed, and the ground was charred black, still radiating faint heat.
In the center of it all, Maria sat slumped over, breathing heavily.
“You okay, Maria?”
“Ah, Clay... you’re here.”
For some reason, a crowd of mercenaries had gathered, but they kept their distance from Maria.
The looks they gave her even carried a hint of fear.
“It worked?”
“Yes.”
“And the demon?”
“I don’t know the details from my dream. But suddenly, flames erupted over his entire body, and he burned away.”
According to Gransesia, demons disappear upon death in a form symbolizing their power or authority.
For example, Veil from the vampire clan I’d killed had melted into blood.
Margal’s must have been flames.
“And Gransesia?”
“She’s grumbling. Says there wasn’t even any satisfaction in it.”
“No satisfaction...”
This was a demon of earl rank, no less.
A monster even Fabian hadn’t dared face and had simply fled from.
To think her evaluation of him was just that.
It was utterly absurd.
“Really... she truly is the saintess.”
At that moment, Maria looked at the ring on her finger with a strange expression and murmured.
Eye of Simosa.
The Atel family’s sacred relic said to house the saintess’s soul.
Maria had been skeptical when she first received it, but now she seemed fully convinced.
“How many conversations have you had by now? Why the doubt?”
“Ah, it’s just... she’s so different from the image I had in mind... Ah, sorry! Lady Gransesia.”
As Maria spoke, the Eye of Simosa flashed intensely.
Well, considering how that one talked, it was actually more surprising to believe she was the saintess.
“Ah, anyway, here you go, Clay.”
Maria removed the Eye of Simosa from her finger and handed it to me.
Gransesia must have said something pretty pointed.
[What’s that supposed to mean, ‘different from what I thought’? Seriously, if she’d just seen me one-shot that demon, she wouldn’t talk like that!]
‘...One-shot?’
[Ah, he was pretty tough, I guess. He even talked back after taking my hit?]
So demons of earl rank were that sturdy.
The way she said it like she was inwardly surprised made it sound like a compliment.
“Good. Then...”
I scanned the surroundings.
As my gaze swept over them, the gathered mercenaries shrank back with frightened eyes.
Among them was the Blackskull guild’s vice-captain, watching me with tense eyes.
‘He’s a better guy than I thought.’
Even with Lutia’s request and Maria’s commission, this job carried huge risks.
Yet he’d accepted it and stepped up so responsibly. His personality seemed rough but not bad.
Of course, that’s why he’d helped Fabian fight the disaster in the original story too.
‘In the original, the mercenary group suffered such heavy losses they basically disbanded...’
But that wouldn’t happen now.
They’d had to fight the disaster back then, but now they just had to evacuate people.
“Max... or should I say vice-captain?”
“...Call me whatever.”
“Sorry to ask, but we need a bit more help from you.”
I glanced at the snow falling from the sky.
All that was left was taking down the disaster.
“It’ll be over soon.”
* * *
Max felt like he was dreaming.
‘To think we’d survive a demon right in front of us.’
And it was a top-tier one, no less.
A demon like that could have crawled out of any regional legend or myth without anyone batting an eye.
The kind of being that could single-handedly destroy a small kingdom.
That’s what he’d always thought...
‘And it just dies in an instant.’
The moment Maria touched the demon’s body, it stiffened up solid.
Then, not even minutes later, it burst into flames and vanished on its own.
The monster that had wiped out the area in one blow and sent countless mercenaries flying.
“We’ll evacuate the people and stand against those controlled by the disaster.”
At Maria’s calm words, the Blackskull mercenaries and numerous others nodded.
No one mocked or looked down on her anymore.
‘How do you ignore a woman who killed an upper demon?’
‘What if I piss her off and end up engulfed in flames too?’
Gransesia had killed Margal, but to the mercenaries, it must have looked like Maria incinerated the demon herself.
Thanks to that, they followed her orders like obedient children.
“Damn it! Those bastards have weapons now!”
The problem was that the sleepwalkers’ actions were growing more intelligent.
It would’ve been fine if they were just civilians, but when knights and soldiers came at them armed, even the mercenaries struggled to hold them back.
‘We won’t be able to hold them off on our own much longer.’
Now it really was a race against time.
But there wasn’t a trace of worry in Maria’s eyes.
Her hero would surely defeat the disaster.
* * *
“This way!”
At Lutia’s shout, I hurried up onto the rooftop and looked down.
Most of Nabez’s citizens had already turned into Sior’s kin. Breaking through all of them to reach the palace was practically impossible.
But I didn’t care.
I’d only taken out that demon near the palace initially. I had no plans to enter it directly.
“Lutia.”
When I called her quietly, Lutia turned to me with an anxious face.
“You sure this’ll be okay?”
“No other way to even get close. The only option is borrowing your succubus powers.”
Among the various succubus abilities, there was one I wanted from her.
The power to enter someone’s dreams.
“Sior is mentally linked to all his kin. If we use your ability, we can reach his main body somehow.”
Sior was connected mentally to his kin.
Using a succubus’s power, no matter which kin’s dream we entered, we could reach Sior’s dream—his mind itself—from there.
“I get that, but...”
Lutia looked out the window with trembling eyes.
Out there were hundreds, thousands of people turned into Sior’s kin, wandering the streets.
That’s right.
What we were trying to enter was the interconnected dream of thousands.
Meaning we had to navigate a maze with thousands of doors without getting lost to reach Sior.
“Don’t worry until we actually hit a snag.”
“...Okay.”
Lutia tore her gaze from the window and approached a man bound to the bed.
While Maria and I handled the demons, Lutia had secured a target to contact Sior’s dream and waited here.
So I could enter a dream at any moment.
“But when we go in, this guy’ll be fine, right?”
“Of course. It’s not like I’m draining his essence or anything. ...Or are you interested?”
“As if.”
After the pointless banter, Lutia slowly reached out to me.
“Come on, take my hand.”
For a split second, I reached out with my familiar right hand, then hurriedly switched to my left.
Grabbing her hand with the one wearing the Eye of Simosa would spell disaster.
[...Be careful.]
Gransesia said in a grumpy tone.
She seemed frustrated at being sidelined for this mission.
‘You’re not against it?’
[...Well, I believe you’ll pull it off no matter what.]
I chuckled at Gransesia’s oddly sulky tone.
She wielded immense power, but moments like this made her seem like an ordinary girl.
“Might feel a bit dizzy.”
Lutia gripped my left hand tightly with her right and closed her eyes gently.
Then her black tail, dangling from her hips, whipped out like a shot toward the man’s forehead.
Woooong!
The instant her tail touched his forehead, my vision flipped, and I felt my mind being pulled somewhere.
Through a damp, pitch-black abyss like an endless void, I stretched toward a faint light.
The place I arrived at was a bustling city.
“This is...”
Looking up, I saw a clear sky with no snow falling.
The familiar city layout told me this was Nabez.
“So we have to find the right path from here...”
Lutia slowly swept her finger around.
The space rippled, revealing countless passages.
“This?”
“I’m sharing my vision. See? Those are all pathways connected to someone’s dream.”
The walls and streets people walked on, doors and windows everywhere—shadows shimmered in all of them.
All of them were pathways.
‘Insight Eye... doesn’t work here.’
Even with the Eye of Simosa back, maybe because it was a dream, I couldn’t use it.
No talking to Gransesia either, so that made sense.
The only thing I had on me was...
‘Genova.’
The sword hanging at my waist—Genova.
I’d expected it, but Genova was a blade that changed with human will.
It was practically engraved in my soul.
That’s why it could always be with me, no matter the situation.
‘Wait.’
That realization hit me.
‘Right, this is it.’
What I was doing now was the same strategy Fabian used in the original.
Fabian had the special power to hear his sword’s voice, but I doubted that ability alone would solve this.
So our conditions were equal.
Even down to possessing one of the Seven Heavenly Swords.
‘Human Sword Genova.’
The Seven Heavenly Swords resonate when another is within a certain distance.
If I used that...
I drew Genova and approached the shimmering shadows.
Most showed no reaction, but a few faintly resonated with Genova.
‘Haa... no direct path to Sior’s main body, huh.’
After confirming that, I let out a soft sigh.
Looks like I’d have to hop around after all.