Episode 657: Transformation (1)
After returning to the dormitory, Line continued to worry.
After meeting someone named Catherine, the words she said kept ringing in my head.
‘You said you could tell me what I want to know…’
If it had just been a quick remark, it wouldn’t have been so deeply imprinted in my mind…
Above all, the fact that her sore eyes had improved significantly after meeting Catherine gave Line confidence.
Line closed her eyes…
I felt like I could forget all these complexities if I slept.
Perhaps because there were so many tiring things today, Line quickly fell into a dream.
and·
“uh?”
The moment Line saw the scene unfolding in her dream, she froze without realizing it.
“This····”
dark night
What I saw around me was the ruins of a broken city…
Line, who realized that the scene she had seen in passing had unfolded in her dream, raised her head.
A night sky filled with stars of all colors and the light of the full moon…
In the center, a huge structure was seen floating in the air.
And what connects the structure to the ground is something twisted like a pure white tree branch…
The ruins are filled with various plants…
Floating flower petals and huge thorny branches·
“Why…”
Explosions erupted everywhere and loud noises rang out.
A huge dragon appeared in the sky, a local typhoon raged on the ground, and the gloomy howl of an animal spread out.
If this is not the end, then what is?
There were fallen people everywhere and full of sadness and screams.
She should have run away from this scene, but Line walked forward without realizing it.
At that moment, someone strongly pulled Line along with a feeling on her shoulder.
“What are you doing now?”
“Huh?”
Liné looked back and saw a familiar face.
“Julia? “How are we here…”
The person looking at Line with complicated eyes was Julia Plumheart.
After the Demon Incident, Julia did not remain in Seorn due to work related to the Dream School, but went to the school’s location for a long time.
I never dreamed that I would meet Julia again here.
“I came because there was an earthquake somewhere in the surface world of Dreamland. Suddenly, a huge, invisible dream appeared, so I wondered whose dream it was, but what on earth was this?”
Even though Julia has seen quite a few dreams, she has never seen the dream that Line sees now.
A sight that seems to mean the end of the world…
No, was this actually a dream in the first place?
“What on earth happened to you?”
“I do not know either·”
“This isn’t like a dream. It’s almost real.”
Dreams usually project reality.
However, even the dream that projects such reality has a part that deviates from reality…
For example, sheep suddenly start flying in the sky, or a dog stands on two feet and speaks, or flower petals fall from the tail of a car people are riding in.
A person’s dream is a place where elements of reality are mixed in a discordant manner.
But Line’s dream was not like that at all…
Although this scene itself was unrealistic, it did not feel out of place at all.
“I occasionally heard news from outside, but how did this happen?”
“I am····”
While Rine hesitated to answer, a pillar of light pierced the sky along with a flash of light from a huge structure floating in the sky.
Julia muttered in a trembling voice as her eyes took in the surrounding scenery that suddenly became brighter.
“Wait a minute… this is… the Holy Kingdom of Bretus…”
“The Holy Kingdom of Bretus?”
“I saw it in a picture in a book… The unique pattern drawn by the waterway seen around you and that pure white stone that looks like the remains of a collapsed building are something called Holy Stone…”
Julia said to Line…
“It seems to me that this is not just a dream… some kind of future… yes, this is a precognitive dream…”
“Yejimong?”
“Originally, precognitive dreams are based on data accumulated through all the elements of reality, and what is most likely to happen appears as a dream.”
“But this isn’t at that level…”
“Yes… I was trying to understand why precognitive dreams known to the world occur using scientific principles… On the other hand, this dream you are dreaming is closer to a real precognitive dream… Think about it… Has something like this ever actually happened?”
Julia looked at Line with a complicated face and patted her shoulder as if she felt sorry for her.
“Looking at you, you seem to be complicated in many ways… It’s been a long time since we met again, but it doesn’t seem like we have a long time to talk…”
“···Yeah, I think so…”
As Line responded, she realized that Julia had changed a lot compared to before.
She, who had always pushed others away and was cynical, became more friendly and friendly than before.
The incident she experienced in Dreamland must have made her grow even further…
Even though it is definitely possible to be immersed in sadness…
I don’t know if it was because of that, but Line was able to gather her lost mind…
“Thank you Julia”
“What are you doing all of a sudden?”
“Just… Thanks to you, my hair is clearer… Next time we meet, I’ll buy you something delicious…”
Line smiled and said goodbye to Julia.
“You know how to wake up from a dream…”
Julia tried to say she would take her there, but Line waved her hand and soon disappeared like a mirage.
As Line disappeared, the world of precognitive dreams she had created disappeared like a mirage.
Julia, who was left alone, let out an exclamation as if it was absurd.
“You’ve changed so much in the time we’ve been together.”
After mumbling that for a moment, Julia looked back and narrowed her eyes.
“Are you done now?”
“Yeah, that’s enough.”
It was Franz who came forward to answer Julia in a dream space where no one thought there would be anyone.
“At first, I didn’t understand why they suddenly appeared and told me to look closely at Rine, but after seeing this scene, I think I understand now.”
“Yes, thanks to you, she was able to calm down. It’s all thanks to you.”
Since Bongri is over, I’ll just leave…
Julia asked Franz as he was about to leave.
“Do you have any intention of returning to the Dream School again?”
Julia was chosen to become a master of the Dream School in the future, but she still felt that she was not good enough.
She was still young and could not handle things as skillfully as Grandma Clara.
In Julia’s opinion, Franz was much more suited to the position of master.
At least for now…
“I still have work to do… tell the members of the academy that I’m doing well…”
Franz disappeared from the scene with a bitter smile on his face.
“···Ugh· If I tell you that, those old people will get angry again…”
* * *
Rine woke up and left the dormitory with a clearer mind.
Outside, as night fell, it was still and quiet…
Liné felt the warmth of the paper in her hand and walked without hesitation along the path led by the soft light.
‘what? here is····’
The place we arrived at as guided was the flower garden tended by Freuden.
In the center of the garden, Catherine stood still with her back facing the moonlight.
“You’re here…”
Catherine, who sensed Liné’s presence even before she spoke, turned around.
The woman in front of me now, without the cheerful appearance I saw during the day, was the very image of a saint known to the world.
“Did you wait here because you knew I would come?”
“Of course…”
“Why are you so sure?”
“Because it’s because of the power you possess…eyes, to be exact…”
Catherine’s sky blue eyes, shining even in the dark, were curved like a crescent moon.
“Because you have the eyes that see the future that I have, and the judgment that can be said to be the original…”
“It’s a judgment plan…”
“This is probably the first time you’ve heard it… It’s not that well-known, and in fact it’s like an old legend in name and reality… However, the fact that you were born with a true judgment eye and that you are drawn to that power is not something like a legend…”
“····”
“Are you curious? “The scenery you saw, what is that power you possess?”
Catherine held out her hand towards Line.
“So let’s go together to Bretus, and there you will know the whole truth about this world.”
Line looked down at the paper in her hand.
The paper that had played its role in helping Catherine to get to where she was turned black and crumbled like sand scattered in the wind.
The worries were short and the decisions were even shorter.
“Let’s go to Bretus”
Line stared at Catherine with determined eyes.
* * *
Although Ludger had finished organizing his introspection, there were still many things left to be resolved.
“Soon this will become a battlefield… Salesin will do everything in his power to kill us…”
Ludger said to his colleagues gathered around him…
“It’s a fight against the whole world…”
“Wasn’t that something you were fully prepared for?”
Everyone nodded and agreed to Alex’s joke.
“Good… In that case, I will refrain from asking any more intimidating questions… The important thing is to take care of the little things right away… Currently, the remaining troops of the second inspection city have gathered outside the outer walls…”
“Even the elites within Galaharad Fortress have been destroyed. Is it going to be at that level?”
“I guess they are trying to solve it somehow on their own terms… Moreover, their problem is not the quality of their troops, but their number…”
“If it’s a number…”
“It means that all of them, ordinary citizens living in this country, can become our enemies.”
All the citizens of the Holy Kingdom of Bretus turn into enemies.
Most of the people living in this country are followers of the Lumensis Church.
If they come rushing in, risking their lives, those who have to deal with them usually don’t feel reluctant.
There is less aversion to killing an enemy at the end of a fight, but killing a civilian who presents himself as a meat shield is a bit too much…
“So, first of all, we need to strike here to prevent the remaining remnants from inciting the citizens.”
“What do you plan to do? “Will this body, the great devil, come out and scare me?”
“On the contrary, they will unite even more strongly under the name ‘devil.’ Moreover, if they go out in that way, will ordinary citizens even be scared?”
Surna shrugged her shoulders at Ludger’s point.
“We need to instill in them a more primitive and simple fear. We need to show those who are deeply armed with a heart of faith and have nothing to fear in the world that reality is not easy.”
“Does such a method exist?”
Hans asked…
The only thing that came to mind was that Helya summoned ancient monsters as illusions to scare people.
Ludger said to Hans…
“You must do it Hans”
“Me?”
“Isn’t it time to properly deal with the wildness that resides in your body?”
Hans hesitated…
Thanks to the wolf spirit beast teeth he received from Ludger, he now has two forms of spirit beasts he can utilize.
In addition, it was possible to implement both forms at the same time, perhaps due to an awakening of abilities after the Dreamland incident.
So Hans thought it was enough…
Because I was able to do my job and fight without having to borrow the power of that nightmare anymore…
But that wasn’t it…
Instead, Ludger was urging Hans to use the power of nightmares…
“I am····”
There is no need to go this far, brother.
I am strong enough now that I can fight properly.
“I am····”
Why do I have to use that terrible power that I can’t control?
It’s time to stop. There are many other better things.
All the dark, negative thoughts swirling around in your head.
Hans felt that the eyes staring at him from all directions were somehow scary…
Still, I…
“…I decided to fight…”
Hans took a deep breath and took out a dagger made with ground teeth from his pocket.
Yeah, if you think about it, it was strange from the beginning.
If you didn’t want to use this power, couldn’t you have just thrown away these ominous items?
Nevertheless, he carried it in his arms so that he could use it at any time.
Although he tried hard to pretend it wasn’t the case, it was he who wanted to face original sin more than anyone else.
Ludger said those words because he was able to see through Hans’ inner thoughts.
Hans stabbed his palm with the tip of the dagger.
The beast’s arrogance embedded in the teeth spread through his palms and throughout his body, and Hans’ body trembled and his eyes widened.
The scenery has changed·
The images of my colleagues and my brother around me disappeared and all I could see was endless darkness.
Just when I was thinking about a familiar sight I had seen somewhere, red eyes appeared in the darkness…
The moment I met those eyes, a primal fear that I couldn’t resist flowed out…
Grrrr…
The monster wasn’t hiding in the dark
There was no need to hide, because this darkness itself was a monster.
Faced with a huge black wolf, Hans wanted to turn his back and run away.
A forgotten nightmare came to mind…
It was a dream in which countless black beasts were rushing towards him and tearing his body to pieces.
It wasn’t that difficult to infer that that dream would come true again…
Awww!
The black beast roared, and countless red eyes appeared beneath it.
Comes death, despair, fear and nightmares…
I can’t do it…
I feel like my mind is paralyzed by unbearable fear…
Hans turned around and tried to run away.
-I believe·
Until I heard that voice…
“····”
Hans gave up running away…
Instead, he walked towards the fear rushing towards him with light, trembling steps.
Finally, the moment the distance narrows…
A torrent of black beasts that looked like they were about to bite Hans rushed to both sides.
Hans walked against the black torrent and was finally able to reach the giant beast.
Only then was Hans able to see clearly…
The true appearance of the black beast he was so afraid of…
“I see… this is your true self…”
What took the place of the black beast that had disappeared before we knew it was a very small, doll-like child.
Hans said in a trembling voice…
“I’m sorry… I’ve been running away all this time…”
The first child he bit and killed when he was young.
Although it was said to be unavoidable due to its wild nature…
It was his only original sin that he could not escape…
Hans knelt in front of the girl and shed tears.
“I will never run away again…”
The girl smiled softly at Hans’ answer and hugged his head tightly.
* * *
Hans, who stabbed the dagger in his hand, stood still as if he had lost his mind.
And how much time has passed…
Hans lost the dagger he was holding in his hand and began to change.
“This····”
Everyone in the room was amazed to see Hans change.
