“It’s bad! They’re swarming us from behind!”
To make matters worse, the constructs were rushing toward the rear of the warship.
In front lay the barrier manifested by [Nursery Rhyme].
Behind, a swarm of constructs like a storm cloud.
They couldn’t deal with the constructs. They first had to break through the barrier before them.
“Focus all your strength!”
Elisa gathered condensed mana at her fingertips and fired it toward the barrier.
The long stream of pink light struck the barrier and then fizzled out like a dying candle flame.
Elisa’s expression hardened at the sight.
“What, I didn’t even use full power, but that was still a strong attack.”
Instead, a tingling pain throbbed in her right hand, the one she had released the spell from.
The others had similar reactions.
Every time a spell struck the barrier, it lost its power and vanished.
The backlash from the barrier was so violent that the mages groaned and staggered back.
Chris Bennimore frowned over his glasses.
“This isn’t an ordinary barrier! It’s generating recoil stronger than the impact applied!”
Alex and Phantos stepped forward, but it was useless.
Their sword strikes and harpoon thrusts collided with the barrier and were hurled back by the rebound force.
Crack-crack-crash!
The tip of the drill snapped, then wore away at an accelerating rate.
Scarlet sparks burst like fireworks.
Ludger’s expression hardened.
He kept producing cubes to replenish the drill, but it eroded and vanished faster than he could create them.
‘Still, I can’t let go here.’
The aerial warship was holding together only because of Ludger.
He was desperately patching the cracks with more steel and replenishing shattered armor.
If he took his hands off for even one second, the aerial warship would collapse.
Perhaps because they all knew this, the others were throwing everything into breaking through the barrier.
“Keep pounding! Even if your limbs break, keep pounding!”
“If we can’t break through here, it’s the end for all of us!”
Just as the Dreamwalkers, still undaunted, were about to strike again, a strange phenomenon occurred in the barrier.
Wooooong.
The barrier’s translucent surface rippled like water, then began forming a black mass at its center.
“Huh?”
The moment someone voiced their confusion, black energy erupted outward in a radial blast, sweeping across the deck.
It happened so suddenly that no one had time to respond; they only shielded their faces with their arms.
But even after a moment, no pain came.
They realized someone was standing in front, blocking the energy alone.
“Ma... Master?!”
The Dream Master, Clara Cowen.
She stood with her staff, singlehandedly holding back the energy released by the barrier.
The old woman was gone. She had rejuvenated to look no older than her thirties, barely withstanding the massive torrent.
Her youth restored meant she was burning all her strength.
Stagger.
But even Clara Cowen couldn’t withstand that overwhelming current alone.
When her body faltered, someone stepped behind her to support her.
At the same time, some of the crushing pressure on her body lifted.
Soon the waves of energy released by the barrier ceased, and Clara barely survived.
“What on earth are you doing! You almost died just now!”
Franz’s voice trembled with anger and grief as he demanded an answer, but Clara smiled.
“What else could I do? This is all I can contribute here.”
“You mean sacrificing your life? You know it was because of that kind of act that Father died, and now you intend to do the same?!”
“Perhaps that’s exactly why. They say husband and wife grow alike through love.”
“You... no. Mother....”
Franz bit his lip hard, his expression tangled with turmoil.
“So you finally call me Mother again?”
Seeing Clara smile gently at him, Franz felt something choke and rise within his chest.
His heart ached as if being torn apart.
“This isn’t what I wanted.”
Franz knew his father would never return.
He was dead, and the departed could only ever live on in memory.
But Clara was different.
She was still alive, and Franz still considered her his mother.
She was his only remaining family.
“What I truly wanted was....”
After avenging his father, Franz only wanted to be with Clara again.
Though many years had passed, he wanted to spend whatever time was left with her.
Even if they could never go back to how things once were, if they could mend that deep rift in his heart even a little, it would be enough.
That would have been enough.
“All I wished was for you to live and be with me, Mother.”
“That’s what I want too.”
“...!”
“I’ve already lost my husband. What mother in this world would want to lose her only child as well? So if it means saving you, I will gladly give my life.”
Because she was his mother.
At those words, Franz’s tears, held back until now, burst forth.
He wanted to sacrifice himself in her stead, but his reason clung desperately to stop him.
His role was not to fall here.
At the very least, he had to destroy [Nursery Rhyme] with the dagger he had honed for so long.
For that, even now, he had to conserve every bit of strength.
“Another attack is coming!”
The barrier stirred again.
Clara gently pushed aside Franz’s supporting hands and stood.
“Mother. No.”
“Franz.”
“No. No! Not you, Mother. Not you.”
Clara shook her head and spoke to him.
“Let me go.”
“......”
“Sometimes, instead of clinging to what flows away, you must let it go.”
“......”
“I realized that too late, but I don’t want you to. And you still have things you must do.”
Franz couldn’t stop his mother from slipping from his grasp.
He reached for her desperately, but Clara walked forward, widening the distance.
His hand couldn’t reach.
Though she was not far, it felt like an eternal distance, unreachable forever.
Franz bit his lip hard.
If not, he would break down sobbing.
The wrinkles on Clara Cowen’s face vanished completely, her appearance now that of a woman in her mid-twenties.
She had reached her prime.
Before, she had always stopped halfway to save her life, but this time was different.
She had become a fully lit fuse, a candle burning at its brightest.
Clara never looked back.
One who was leaving must never look back.
‘No, perhaps it’s also because I’d grow weak if I did.’
As she let out a bitter smile, someone approached her side.
She turned her head and saw a familiar wrinkled face.
“Zantman.”
“Old hag—no, Master. Why try to look cool all alone again?”
Zantman grinned.
At the same time, his body began to return to its younger form.
His beard vanished, his wrinkled skin becoming lively and youthful again.
“At least two are better than one, no?”
“But if even you go like this, what about the rest....”
“Well, the ones left behind will miss us a little, I suppose.”
Murmuring that, Zantman glanced back.
The fellow Dreamwalkers, who had always bickered with him, were staring.
“Zantman, you....”
Their eyes widened in disbelief at his choice, but no one stopped him.
For him to act this way meant he had already made his resolve.
Once a man was ready to burn everything away, the only thing left to give him was words of support and a push forward.
Chasing futile dreams, pursuing unattainable ideals.
Even if mocked by the world, he would laugh it off.
Because—
They were the ones who walked dreams.
Because they were Dream Walkers.
“Farewell, Zantman.”
“Go on ahead. We’ll be right behind you.”
“Leave the rear to us.”
Hearing their solemn words of farewell, Zantman showed a relieved smile and fixed his gaze forward.
“See? With comrades this reliable, I can go without worry.”
Clara let out a sudden laugh, light and fresh on the youthful face of her twenties.
“Truly, our school is nothing but fools and idiots.”
“Well, of course. Who founded this school, who led it? We’re just a bunch of dunces who followed two fools—Nathanael and you, Master. And as for the future of our school, we’ve made sure it’ll carry on properly.”
Clara nodded at that.
“Yes. Then let us go. The road won’t be lonely.”
“You’ll regret coming with me. I talk far too much. I’ll nag Nathanael to no end once we get there.”
The two Dream Walkers, now in their youth again, slowly approached the barrier.
The black aura gathered atop the barrier quivered at its limit.
Just as it seemed the energy would burst forth—
Clara thrust her staff hard against it.
A violent backlash surged out, her body driven back, but Zantman caught hold of her staff with her, steadying it.
A fierce storm roared, and all the others could do was stare in stunned silence.
The energy amassed on the barrier mingled with Clara’s dream essence, gradually transforming into another kind of power.
Black and green intertwined—like the most beautiful marble a child might hold in their hand.
“Kwahahaha! What a sight to see before I go!”
Zantman’s raucous laughter rang out at the radiant vision.
“And though she won’t hear me—our youngest! Julia!”
Dropping the corners of his grin for the first time, he gave a gentle, soft smile.
“Live well. Don’t cry your eyes out just because I’m gone.”
───!!!!
The sphere of light exploded.
The brilliance was so blinding that all turned their faces or shut their eyes.
Two surging energies had fused and detonated into a massive blast.
Yet amazingly, no harm touched those aboard the ship.
Up to the very end, Clara and Zantman had steered the force so that most of the impact turned against the barrier.
The massive energy that should have been released outward slammed back instead, and for the first time the barrier wavered visibly.
It didn’t just ripple—it split.
A hole opened at its center, just large enough for one person to squeeze through, but it was a hole nonetheless.
“It... it broke through! There’s a hole in the barrier at last!”
For the first time, hope sparked among them—only for the barrier to mock their hope by slowly beginning to repair itself.
“No! The barrier’s closing again!”
Through the narrowing crack, someone jammed his hands to hold it open.
Ludger Cherish.
Shadows wrapped around both his arms as he strained to keep the opening from sealing shut.
Creak-creeeaaak!
The barrier shrieked harshly where it touched his hands.
Ludger pushed the shadow power to its utmost, yet it was barely enough to hold the gap.
“We’ll help too!”
The Dream Walkers rushed to aid him.
Each threw out hooks woven from dream essence, bracing the gap against collapse.
“This is the passage Master and Zantman gave their lives for! Guard it with your own lives!”
“We’ll help as well!”
The Seorn instructors surged forward, lending their strength beside the Dream Walkers.
But even so, they couldn’t fully stop the barrier from closing.
Slowly, steadily, the hole shrank.
Had two people sacrificed themselves only for it to all end in vain?
‘No.’
Selina, staring in helpless despair, heard a whisper.
—Will you be all right?
The voice was so like her own that she almost thought it came from her.
But Selina knew.
It was not her voice. It was Esmeralda’s.
And if she considered Esmeralda’s true nature, perhaps it wasn’t wrong to say it was also her voice.
—You’re still lost in confusion.
Esmeralda pierced straight into her heart.
In the nightmare gifted by Noxanna, Selina had faced the truth of her forgotten past.
That she wasn’t real, but an artificial spirit.
That the true owner of her body, Esmeralda, was gone.
That she was a counterfeit.
Her memories of the past were nothing but scraps of Esmeralda’s happy days, stitched together.
That cruel truth shook Selina’s fragile heart.
“But I...”
—Perhaps the old memories were fabricated. But what about all the memories since you came to Seorn? Were those fake too? Can you call those false as well?
“......!”
Selina shook her head violently without realizing it.
No. At least everything she had lived since coming to Seorn was real.
Laughing with students in class.
Sharing pleasant stories with her fellow teachers.
Commiserating together, dreaming of what lay ahead—all of it was true.
And now.
The feelings she bore toward Ludger Cherish, fighting with all his might before her—
They were absolutely not false.
“Please, Esmeralda. Help us all.”
—For you, gladly.
Darkness spread out from Selina’s body.
But it was not frightening. Rather, it was strange—gentle and warm.
Behind her, the dark spirit Esmeralda appeared, softly embracing her from behind.
Esmeralda’s body poured over Selina like ink, melding into her. Selina’s black hair merged with the darkness.
Her pink locks turned as dark as the night sky.
Her eyes turned crimson.
Her robes shifted, dyed in black to match.
“That’s...!”
Vierno Dentis widened his eyes in disbelief at what Selina had done.
Spirit Camouflage.
Selina had now reached the pinnacle state that a spirit-user could only attain when communion with their spirit reached its absolute limit.
