The Villain has Perished



The Daemons moved at a frightening pace. 

After entering the dream worlds, they helped the victims evacuate. 

Although they weren't the owners of the dream tree, for the Daemons, it wasn't hard to create a portal connecting reality and the dream world.

In one such dream world.

Hmmh~!

Yula held a baby in her arms and rocked him slowly, humming the tone she heard during her childhood.

The baby had a blissful smile as it tried to play with her fingers.

Suddenly, a voice echoed.

"You have become quite weak since I last saw you. How many centuries have you been possessing a physical body without leaving it?"

Yula hurriedly turned back. 

She saw Dante strolling through her dream world while sneaking glances at the child in her hands.

"That's 'him', isn't he?"

He ignored Yula's glare and continued.

"At first, I was confused. How were you caught in such a lousy spell? Is it because you became weak after centuries-long possession or did you stay here for the child?"

Hmmh~!

When Yula stopped humming, Dante continued singing the same lullaby. 

"Anyway, since you are real, unlike me, you know about my betrayal, don't you? That means I need to kill you before you divulge my information." 

Suddenly, Dante disappeared from his place and appeared behind her, swinging his sword.

Clang—!

A different blade stopped Dante. His brows jumped when he saw another Daemon beside him.

"Tsk, couldn't you have arrived a few seconds later?"

"Father's command was to save prisoners. Are you trying to go against him, Traitor?"

Dante's eyes widened when Paimon called him by his other name. 

The Paimon in front of him was created by Sol using Dream Tree, she shouldn't know about Traitor as Sol had no information about it.

His gaze altered between Paimon and Yula.

"Did you get those memories from your true self over there?" asked Dante from Paimon while pointing at Yula.

Paimon only snorted in response and asked a question herself.

"Why do you know what your real self did, Dante?"

"Because I'm my real self."

Paimon and Yula's eyes widened. 

The Dante in front of them was the real Dante?

Without verifying his statement, Paimon lunged at him. Unfortunately, Dante disappeared before her attack could land and left a few parting words.

"This is just my astral self. I came to see what was happening here. Either way, I can't defeat you with this body, Paimon. I'll take my leave."

Silence fell.

A few seconds later Yula spoke.

"Thank yo–"

"Shut it"

Her words were cut off and Paimon stared at her with disgust. 

"You left the Spirit Continent for that child and what are you doing now? I can't believe my real self has been reduced to such a pathetic state."

At Paimon's harsh words, Yula trembled meekly. Her behavior which was a far cry from what she once was enraged Paimon further.

"Take that child to our siblings. You can't hide his identity for much longer. When our siblings know who he is, he will have no choice but to follow his destiny."

Paimon spoke harsh words unceasingly as if spewing poison.

"He was birthed to kill Dante. That's the sole reason for his existence."

The baby in Yula's embrace was the core of her dream world. Yula bit her lips when he thought of handing the child – the one who was in reality – to Daemons.

"N..no, I'll protect him. I won't let anyone touch him."

"Hah! You?" scoffed Paimon. "Did you protect him when the Daemons tried to resurrect Father using that child's body? Did you protect him when the Illusive Dragon King attacked?"

Yula couldn't reply. 

It was a painful memory. Although her siblings didn't recognize Sol's true identity, they were able to find out about his quintessential physique.

Thereafter, the Daemons decided to use Sol's body for Solomon's revival.

She protected Sol from his destiny of slaying Dante, only for her to throw him toward a worse path.

Paimon was correct. She had no right to say she could protect Sol. 

Even at this moment, Sol might be in danger but she was trapped in this world.

…

..

.

⟪ A large amount of Causality is moving ⟫

⟪ The existence of Tower grows stronger ⟫

⟪ Boundaries of Worlds are weakening ⟫

Qantal stared at Solomon while retreating with trembling steps.

"H...how?"

In theory, she understood. Solomon might've left the Dream Tree but he won't be able to fight for a long duration outside.

If she fought while focusing on defense for a long drawn-out battle, she had high chances of winning. 

But it was easier said than done.

Her mind couldn't forget the unparalleled might Solomon exhibited earlier. Nor could she forget how brutally they were sealed by Solomon millenniums ago.

Her unconscious fear made her unable to exert her full strength inside Dream Tree and caused her defeat. 

She was making the same mistake after leaving the Dream Tree.

"S..stop! Don't come near me. How can you even maintain yourself outside the Dream Tree!?" 

When Solomon didn't stop, Qantal showed. "Slavery, help me!"

No aid came to her cry and she continued retreating in her human form on all fours.

Solomon opened his palm. On it, a silver cube was floating.

"It's a Dream Seed."

He showed its information for Qantal to see.

[ Dream Seed (A+++++) ]

It clicked inside her mind when she saw the seed. 

"You are using the Dream Seed to manifest yourself in this dimension!? It's the same process on how the dream tree pulls others in the dream world but opposite."

<Dream Tree> was Qantal's C+++ rank unique spell. 

As a unique spell, only she was capable of using it. Her physique, her mana pathways, her astral body, her soul world, her knowledge. All of it was indispensable for the spell to work.

Other than her no one could use <Dream Tree>, or it wouldn't have been called a unique spell.

However, not only Solomon learned and used her unique spell. He reverse-engineered it and increased its output by over a thousand times.

In layman's terms, Solomon created a magic that could self-sustain his dream body in the real world.

⟪ A large amount of Causality is moving ⟫

⟪ The existence of Tower grows stronger ⟫

⟪ Boundaries of Worlds are weakening ⟫

"I should leave or Coalescence might arrive today only."

Qantal's brows jumped at Solomon's words. He would return the control of body to Sol? 

Why? Such a question appeared in her mind. 

Solomon was a tyrannical ruler who would never help others without a reason. It seemed Solomon read her mind again as he answered.

"This body doesn't belong to me. Why should I fall to the level of thievery when 'I' am not the real 'me'?"

At his words, Qantal narrowed her eyes unknowingly. The reason Solomon gave seemed logical, he was a prideful king. 

But she felt as if he was hiding a crucial detail.

Before she could complete her thoughts, Solomon interrupted her.

"It's time for you to sleep."

Qantal shouted and tried to fly away.

Threads of mana flew out of Solomon's fingers and wrapped around her thickly. Soon, Qantal was encased in a golden cocoon.

He clenched his fist and the cocoon shrank.

Qantal's wails and shrieks echoed as she tried to escape being crushed alive. However, Solomon continued indifferently.

⟪ A large amount of Causality is moving ⟫

⟪ The existence of Tower grows stronger ⟫

⟪ Boundaries of Worlds are weakening ⟫

When the Cocoon became smaller than a thumb, he held it over his mouth and ate it.

He took one last look at the capital and closed his eyes, intending to return.

The humans were slowly waking up after being rescued by Daemons.

As for the Dream Tree, it hadn't disappeared because Qantal wasn't dead. She was in a state of limbo inside Solomon.

She wasn't dead but she wasn't alive either.

Suddenly, the clouds split apart and a colossal spear made of light descended. The attack had come from hundreds of miles away but it carried enough strength to obliterate the Imperial Capital.

Solomon's brows creased. But he decided to help Sol last time before leaving, after all, Sol was going to pay the debts with interest.

He swung the back of his palm. The mana rampaged before turning into a golden wall and clashed against the spear of light.

Shockwaves erupted over the Imperial Capital, destroying infrastructure. However, Solomon didn't save the people dying from it.

He wasn't intending to help Sol more than necessary.

[ Hand of God: Wrist (C+) ] 

Solomon had used just enough strength to stop the spear of light. If he did more, a large amount of Causality might move again.

As for how Sol would deal with the other intruder inside the Imperial Capital as well as the one behind the spear of light, it wasn't Solomon's concern. He had done his part.

Before Solomon could leave, he felt the dimensions clashing against each other.

"I used more power than necessary."

⟪ A large amount of Causality is moving ⟫

He read the notifications.

⟪ The Tower has descended ⟫

⟪ Boundaries of Worlds have disappeared ⟫

⟪ Coalescence will begin in 10 seconds ⟫