Priscilla's Dream World
I stepped into Priscilla's dream world.
First, I took stock of my surroundings. It was a crowded city. The people looked healthy, their faces bright. A lively place.
Judging by the weather, this isn't the north. Central or southern regions, maybe… but the clothes and the architecture don't match anything I know.
I let the curiosity go. It didn't matter where this city was, or what era it belonged to. This was Priscilla's dream world — a world rooted in Priscilla's memories.
What I need to do is leave this dream world with Priscilla.
The method was simple: make Priscilla understand that this world was a dream.
There's no other way.
Catch the Dream Demon who built this place, along with its contractor Bezel, and free Priscilla that way? Even if you trapped a demon inside a dream world, you couldn't control every detail. And if you forced the dream world shut… Priscilla's mind could collapse along with it.
From their perspective, whether Priscilla's mind broke or not was irrelevant. They only ever meant to use her as a sacrifice anyway.
I started walking through the city. Keep walking long enough and the space around you shifts. That's just how these places work.
"A dragon!!"
Someone among the citizens shouted.
"A dragon?!"
"Where? Where?!"
"There — it's flying!"
A heavy rush of displaced air rolled through the streets. I looked up and my eyes went wide. A Blue Dragon nearly fifty meters long was soaring across the sky — like an entire building taking flight.
…Priscilla? No. The one I saw before looked different. The hide is darker… and the horns aren't the same shape.
The dragon vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared.
What surprised me more was the reaction around me. The citizens didn't panic at the dragon's appearance. They were startled, nothing more. Once it was gone, they went right back to their day as if nothing had happened. From that alone, I could place the era.
An age when dragons were a common sight. An age when dragons actively intervened in the world.
Roughly three thousand years ago.
Doesn't matter.
I reached toward a man walking past. He wouldn't be able to perceive me anyway.
"Huh?"
The solid feel of a human body met my palm. Far more vivid than I'd expected — enough to startle me.
"The hell?"
The man whose shoulder I'd grabbed spun around. A rough face. Short hair, caterpillar eyebrows, knife scars carved across his cheek and forehead.
He glared at me, voice thick with irritation.
"You little shit… take your hand off!"
"Little shit, is it…? Watch your mouth."
"Ha — this bastard's out of his mind— ghhk!"
I summoned Hwaryeonbido, drove it into his throat, and pulled it free. The man clutched his neck, staggered, and collapsed to the ground. I kicked his still-living head a few times — thud, thud — then looked around at the chill that had settled over the street. Every passerby was staring at me.
"What are you looking at."
I leveled the bloodied blade at the man in front of me.
"Eeeek!"
He screamed and fled. Everyone nearby did the same. I chased them down and killed them as I thought it through.
These people can perceive me clearly. And this sensation of killing… it's no different from the real thing. The dream world I entered the first time and this one aren't the same. The gap is significant.
I didn't know what caused the difference. Maybe Bezel had thrown that first dream world together in a panic. This one had clearly been built with time and care.
Or Bezel's skill simply improved over the years.
Knowing full well this was a dream world, I killed without hesitation — then glanced to one side. Armored soldiers were pouring toward me in a swarm.
Soldiers… no. Some of them are knights.
There was no real distinction between knight and soldier here. That was probably accurate for the age.
So this is what the era looks like.
It didn't surprise me much. What did interest me was the combat level of this period's knights.
"Where the hell did you come from…!"
A middle-aged man who looked like the captain bellowed at me.
For an answer, I severed the head of the corpse at my feet and kicked it. The head rolled to a stop at his boots. His face went purple with rage.
"Kill him!!"
At the order, the soldiers moved as one. They surrounded me and closed in all at once — tactics specialized for fighting superhumans… no, for fighting monsters.
Well-trained, at least.
Against an ordinary knight, they might have been a real problem.
But I'm an Aura Master. An Aura Master who wields lightning, at that.
Lightning spun outward from my center and scoured every direction.
Most of the soldiers surrounding me died where they stood, electrocuted. Those who endured the lightning gritted their teeth and charged. I cut them down with my blade.
"Aaaaaaagh!"
It didn't take long to wipe them out.
"That's him!"
"He's no ordinary fighter — engage with your comrades!"
"By His Majesty's command! Kill him at all costs!"
They came like a swarm of ants.
I smiled and welcomed them.
I was just wondering how far my power would carry here… perfect timing.
I cut loose with everything I'd been holding back, rampaging like a madman. Lightning roasted them. Aura blades carved the streets apart.
An Aura Master can destroy a city alone. That common saying was true. The city couldn't handle me. Buildings burned. Peaceful citizens grabbed whatever they could carry and fled. Where they ran, I neither knew nor cared.
I caught one woman. Ordinarily I'd have rounded up every beauty in the city — more is always better — but unfortunately, I had a goal: find Priscilla.
"Hhk— nngh! Y-you scoundrel…! My father will never forgive you…!"
Squelch. Squelch.
I held her against me as I walked out of the city. The woman in my arms had pink hair. She'd been wearing an elegant dress of fine fabric; now she was naked, impaled on me as I carried her.
"Ah, yeah. That pussy feels pretty good. What's your name?"
"Gorne Kaisias…! I am the first princess of this nation— ghk! Kyaaaaaaah…!"
Thud. Thud. Thud!
I gripped her waist and drove into her hard. Gorne clamped her mouth shut — then her eyes rolled back and she screamed like an animal. She'd been a virgin.
Princess of Kaisias.
I didn't know the country, but being a princess apparently meant a tight pussy. And until moments ago, this one had been untouched.
"Thanks to you, hunting for Priscilla won't be so boring."
If I ran into a woman more to my taste along the way, I fully intended to drop this one and switch.
Slap. Slap.
I was humming to myself, walking the road outside the city, still buried in her — when Gorne the princess simply vanished.
She hadn't run. She was just gone. Cold air touched my still-hard cock. Even the fluids that had soaked it were gone.
I looked back. Where a burning city should have been, there was only dense forest.
"…Dream world. Figures."
I clicked my tongue.
One week into exploring the dream world.
I was bored. I wanted out — back to reality — sooner rather than later.
Even when I found a beauty, she never lasted. Step outside a set area, or let enough time pass, and she disappeared. Having a woman vanish mid-sex was its own special kind of frustration.
Disgustingly vast. Far too vast.
This dream world was built from Priscilla's memories. That was the problem. Priscilla was an Ancient Dragon — a high dragon. The memories accumulated over thousands of years dwarfed anything a human could hold.
I'd been moving almost constantly for a week, sex breaks aside… and I still hadn't found Priscilla.
At least the flow of time here doesn't match reality. Small mercies.
I was crossing a wasteland when a cave appeared out of nowhere. I gave the entrance a few idle knocks, then went inside. From the mouth to the passage beyond, the cave was absurdly spacious.
In a wide chamber deeper in, two Blue Dragons lay coiled in sleep.
One was a massive Blue Dragon nearly fifty meters long; the other was a smaller one, about ten meters. I knew at once the smaller one was Priscilla. Her face was strikingly similar to the Blue Dragon I'd seen before entering the dream world.
Priscilla's past? That big one is probably a parent.
Living with a parent was a little unexpected. Dragons, as I understood it, spent about fifty years with their offspring teaching magic and other knowledge, then left.
Well, exceptions exist… kh—?
An overwhelming pressure locked my body solid.
Crack.
I forced Noecheonryu's lightning through my system and barely managed to move again.
The source of the pressure was right in front of me. The great Blue Dragon was staring at me with long black pupils set in blue eyes.
—Judging by your attire, you are no human of these parts. A traveler? Reaching this place speaks well of your skill. I will grant you a single chance. Leave.
I was not Yuria. Going one-on-one with a dragon — an ancient-class dragon, no less — and winning was not something I had any confidence in.
"Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Leaving right now. Absolutely leaving."
I turned on my heel and walked straight out of the cave.
The small Blue Dragon beside the large one.
Was that little dragon truly the real Priscilla — the center of this world?
Maybe. Maybe not. Probably not. The Priscilla I know wouldn't want to go back to her childhood.
I needed to distinguish carefully between the false Priscillas and the real one.
I walked without stopping.
The moment you stop in this dream world, you risk becoming trapped in it yourself. Being stuck in a place this vast might still be entertaining for a while… but I didn't like the fact that the world was fake.
Day twenty-five…. Even I'm starting to wear thin…. Is there any better way to do this?
I sighed heavily and kept walking.
Sharnell. Where the hell is she and what is she doing? Wandering around unable to find Priscilla, same as me? Come on. I trusted her with this — she can't just flake.
The reeking swamp around me transformed all at once.
Crash. The cool sound of waves. I tasted salt on the air and scratched my cheek.
A small village over there. Population under a hundred at a glance…. No chance Priscilla is in a place like this. Haa. Another miss.
Motivation gone, I dragged my heavy legs toward the fishing village. You couldn't expect beauties in a settlement that small.
Rest a bit, then move on.
As I walked through the village, a white mansion came into view. It sat on a hill — a finer-looking house than the rest.
A noble's residence? Probably the lord of this fishing village. Even small territories have their nobles. Could be a knight of quasi-noble rank, too.
I changed direction.
If I was going to rest, I might as well do it somewhere decent.