Fake Sampo's gaze fell on Firefly. She had warned Caelus before that Firefly had approached him with other motives, but Caelus simply refused to listen or believe she was trying to help.
"Of course. Just look at the relationship we have now."
Caelus raised an arm and draped it around Firefly's soft shoulder. At this point, hesitating any longer would make him look like an idiot. Since he had chosen to trust Firefly, he would see it through to the bitter end. Firefly was a little embarrassed by his embrace, but after a token struggle, she let him hold her.
"You really are too blind. You've disappointed me too much."
Fake Sampo continued speaking. Caelus tilted his head, feeling that she did not seem to be here to pick a fight. Instead, she seemed more like a stuffy parent trying to break up a couple.
"Hey, hey, hey, who the hell are you? We're a perfect match, made for each other. What gives you, you freak, the right to object?"
Caelus was not one to take things lying down. Seeing fake Sampo oppose his relationship with Firefly, he did not remain silent and immediately fired back.
"Freak..."
Fake Sampo looked as though she had swallowed a fly. Although she enjoyed disguising herself as others, being called a freak still dealt a blow to a girl's pride.
"You're a woman pretending to be a man. If that doesn't make you a freak, what does? Don't tell me you're one of those people whose biological sex is female but identifies as male. That might fly in some backwater place, but the whole galaxy doesn't have a correctness buff for you. Run into some hot-tempered aliens, and they'll grind you to dust on the spot."
Caelus put his smooth way of dealing with people to work, advising fake Sampo to turn back from the dark path while she still could. That was not something a normal person would do.
"You, you, you filthy bastard!"
Fake Sampo completely snapped. She glared at Caelus and waved her hand, summoning several large red goldfish. The fish swam through the air, and Caelus and Firefly suddenly felt overwhelmingly sleepy, collapsing to the ground as sleep took them.
Before Caelus completely lost consciousness, he only saw fake Sampo's body rapidly shrink. A beautiful girl with black twin-tails and two red vermilion dots beneath her eyes appeared before him. She wore almost nothing on her lower body, exposing her long, slender legs and wooden sandals. The red polish on her toes was especially eye-catching.
The twin-tailed girl slowly walked over to Caelus. Under his gaze, she raised her foot and forcefully stepped on his face. At that point, he completely lost consciousness.
"Why are you rewarding me?!"
Caelus jolted awake with a delighted cry. Before falling asleep, he seemed to have been stepped on by a wonderful jade-like foot. It had felt as comfortable as a massage, but when he woke up, there was nothing on his face.
Caelus stared blankly at the scene before him. He had encountered the Masked Fool on the street, yet now he had been transported into a guest room at the Daydream Hotel. He recognized the distinctive keyhole-shaped doorframe, but this was not the room where he had fallen asleep. There was no dream pool here, nor was Acheron by his side.
"A dream within a dream? Are you playing Inception with me?"
Caelus muttered to himself as he searched the room for clues. He found a desk piled with documents and books. Numerous clock faces hung around the room, but every one of them showed distorted time. None worked normally, seemingly hinting that the flow of time here had stopped.
After looking around for a while, Caelus decided there was nothing else worth investigating. He walked to the door, pushed it open, and stepped outside. The corridor beyond shared the room's oppressive purple-and-white palette. The lights were off, and the only illumination came from Memory Matter floating in midair. It resembled fish, suspended in the air as it provided light.
"Firefly?"
Caelus spotted someone standing in the distance. He could tell from her outfit that it was Firefly. Hearing him call her name, Firefly turned around and looked at Caelus with delight.
"Thank goodness, you're here too."
Firefly spoke happily. Being transported somewhere unfamiliar greatly tested one's tolerance for stress, but seeing someone familiar nearby immediately made it much easier.
"You're here too. But what's that by your feet?"
Caelus was also happy to see someone familiar, but when he looked down, he saw a small, ugly black thing lying at Firefly's feet. It looked like a monkey doll, and he could not help asking about it.
"This is a monster's corpse," Firefly said with a smile.
"How did it die?"
"I don't know. It was already dead when I got here."
The smile on Firefly's face did not change, but Caelus did not dare ask any further questions. The corridor behind her was littered with an entire row of monster corpses. Caelus knew when to take a hint. There were some things he should not ask too much about, or he might be the next one lying there.
Ignoring the monsters' miserable deaths, Caelus and Firefly discussed things and decided to head toward the hotel lobby. This place was bizarre, but the hotel's layout matched that of a real hotel. In any case, heading somewhere familiar was the right move.
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A Strange Dream
"So, where exactly is this place?"
Caelus and Firefly talked as they walked. At first, Caelus had thought the Masked Fool was retaliating against him by throwing him into some prison, but now it did not seem to be the case.
"I don't know. What I can say for sure is that this is still a dream. Look, aren't all my limbs intact?"
Firefly shook her head. Her knowledge of dreams was limited to the Golden Hour, and she knew nothing about other places. As she spoke, she even showed off her hands and feet.
"Don't make dark jokes at a time like this."
Caelus felt both distressed and helpless. He was starting to wonder whether Firefly was missing arms or legs in reality, but at least she was still as beautiful as ever. He took her hand, unwilling to let her say such unhappy things again.
A faint smile appeared on Firefly's face. Holding hands once led to countless times afterward, and she no longer felt shy about it. Being led along by Caelus felt wonderful, and she could not bear to let go.
Caelus and Firefly passed through the strange corridor. Along the way, they saw many bizarre sights: fish swimming in the sky, floors that pulsed, and words appearing on the walls.
These white words sometimes appeared on the walls and sometimes floated in the air ahead, as if an invisible person were writing them. Anyone fainthearted would probably pass out at such a haunted sight.
The text resembled diary entries. Someone was searching for a person named Mikhail, who seemed to be an elder of the diary's author. The words revealed a strong sense of dependence.
"What a strange place. I feel like this is... like someone's dream."
Firefly voiced her guess. When it came to dreams, she was far more experienced than Caelus and could spot certain details at a glance.
"The Masked Fool's dream?"
Caelus thought of the jade-like foot that had sent him into this dream. It really had been a beautiful foot. If he could hold it in his hands and savor it properly... Besides, although he had only caught a fleeting glimpse, the Masked Fool's true form was a beautiful girl too. If they had not clashed under such strange circumstances, Caelus would definitely have pursued her.
"Doesn't seem like it. She doesn't seem like someone who would depend on anyone. And with a dream this large, the Family must know it exists."
Firefly shook her head. A person's dream was certainly different from Penacony's dream. She had experience in this regard. What Firefly meant was that this place seemed like the other side of a dream, like an image reflected in water.
"So the Family really is hiding something."
Caelus followed Firefly's train of thought. Firefly neither confirmed nor denied it. They had originally had no intention of getting involved in the Family's conspiracy, yet they had been dragged into it anyway. Some things simply could not be avoided.
"By the way, when you were looking for me on the street earlier, was it just a coincidence?"
Caelus and Firefly continued onward, shifting to a lighter topic. The Golden Hour was such a vast place, yet Firefly had managed to find him. That was quite a coincidence.
"No. I sensed something out of place in the dream world, so I specifically went looking for you."
Firefly answered honestly. She had previously said that aside from certain secrets, she would be honest with Caelus about everything. There was nothing to hide now.
"What you said... my companions said the same thing."
Caelus recalled the topic he had discussed with his companions in the group chat. He took out his phone to check it, only to find that there was no signal at all, just as expected.
"Everyone on the Star Rail Express must have discovered something. I wonder whether it has anything to do with this place."
"Caelus, you said the Masked Fool impersonated me to get close to you earlier. She didn't do anything strange, did she?"
Firefly changed the subject quickly. Girls tended to care more about such things, and her curiosity could no longer be contained.
"Here, hold my arm with both hands."
Caelus held his arm out before Firefly. Without thinking much of it, Firefly wrapped both hands around his arm. The intimate gesture between lovers made her smile shyly.
"Mm, then what?"
"Press it against your chest."
"N-no way."
Firefly had initially intended to do as he said, but then she realized something was wrong. She immediately shot Caelus an annoyed glare and let go of his arm.
"That's exactly what she did. She said she liked me a lot and that I could do whatever I wanted."
Caelus spread his hands, indicating that he had already experienced Firefly hugging his arm. When Firefly heard that, her eyes nearly burst into flames.
"I'm going to set her on fire..."
Firefly gritted her teeth. She cherished the time she spent with Caelus. Those experiences should have been hers, but once an impostor had done them, was that not the same as stealing her experiences? She could not wait to catch that Masked Fool and grind her to dust.
"Hey, there's no road ahead."
Caelus stopped. A wall stood in front of him and Firefly. They had already explored all the other paths, and they had even seen a huge fountain earlier. It was beautiful, but it blocked the way.
Firefly looked around and discovered a stand in the corner by the wall. On it sat a large glass dish filled with churning golden liquid, breathtakingly beautiful to behold.
"What's this dish of liquid gold?"
Caelus also noticed the liquid. He led Firefly over to the dish and looked inside, finding the substance extremely viscous, like glue.
"This looks like... Dream Bubbles."
Firefly boldly reached out to touch it. Before Caelus could stop her, she scooped a round golden bubble from the liquid. Once it left the dish, it seemed to solidify, giving it a strange texture.
"There are Dream Bubbles of the same color beneath that wall over there. Do we need to stick them on? Like playing with modeling clay?"
Firefly pointed at a patch of golden viscous matter beneath the wall ahead. Caelus thought she had a good idea, so the two of them fiddled around for a while. After collecting enough golden Dream Bubbles, they pressed them onto the wall, fusing them with the golden substance that had already been there.
A strange sensation emerged, as though the direction of gravity had changed. Caelus and Firefly walked in the direction gravity pulled them, and when their feet stepped onto the wall, the golden substance gave them a push. After that, they stood firmly in place.
"The direction of gravity changed. In dreams, only members of the Family should be able to alter these settings."
Firefly stood on the wall in surprise. Yet for her and Caelus, what lay beneath their feet was now the ground rather than the wall.
"No, there's one more person who can do it: the Clock Keeper, the creator of dreams."
Firefly quickly thought of a legendary figure who possessed miraculous skills, then excitedly grabbed Caelus's hand.
"Caelus, do you remember all those clock faces we saw along the way? This might be a place the Clock Keeper once stayed."
"Firefly, you're so smart. You're such an intelligent, wonderful girl. When I'm with you, I could practically give up thinking altogether."
Caelus looked at Firefly, whose eyes sparkled. He raised a hand and rubbed her silver hair. Firefly had not said any of that to receive his praise, but after hearing him compliment her guess, warmth filled her heart, and she was happy.
What Could Be More Alluring Than Long Legs?
"Hehe, I'm not that great."
Firefly shyly pressed her head against Caelus's chest. It was even more intimate than holding hands, but to hide her embarrassed expression, the girl could only do this.
Caelus simply wrapped both arms around Firefly's slim waist and held her tightly against him. With such a great opportunity, of course his hands had to take advantage of it. That was how their relationship would progress.
"Let's go."
After staying close to Caelus for a while, Firefly left his embrace with a blush. She could not keep experiencing this sort of thing, or she would be unable to stop herself from liking him. Before completing her mission, she had to hide her selfish desires.
After learning how to use the golden Dream Bubbles, Caelus and Firefly were no longer blocked by walls. They charged straight in the direction they had planned to take and finally arrived before a door that looked like an exit.
Caelus and Firefly held hands. There might be unknown dangers beyond the door, but with each other by their side, they were not afraid. In fact, they even felt that this adventure was not so bad. After going through danger and mysteries together, their relationship rapidly warmed. That was the benefit.
After pushing open the door, they found a long corridor before them. At the end was an identical door. Caelus and Firefly were both confused, but since they had come this far, they could only grit their teeth and keep going. They walked forward, opened the door, and found the exact same scene again, but they could no longer turn back.
After opening doors an unknown number of times, the two finally reached the end of the corridor. It was a bizarre place filled with boxy television sets. Dozens of televisions were embedded in the walls, while more than a dozen were piled on the floor.
"A screening room?"
Firefly did not know how to explain the strangeness of this place and could only guess. There was no path ahead, making it feel as though they had come all this way for nothing.
While Firefly examined the surroundings, every television turned on at once. Like signal-less white screens, their white radiance nearly flooded the entire space.
"The flashing from the televisions is so glaring... Be careful. Something feels like it's coming."
Through her sense of the dreamscape, Firefly detected something inside the televisions. Just as she gave her warning, a narrow purple eye appeared on the white screens. Caelus only needed one glance to know it was definitely not a human eye, but some kind of monster's.
A lance wreathed in flames appeared in Caelus's hand. The moment every television shut off, chaotic darkness surged above them. A purple-black monster poked its head out. Its eyes were at the very top of its head, while its entire head was made of sharp fangs. It had short limbs and a tiny tail, with eyes growing all over its body. A blade was attached to its left arm, and that blade too was made from clusters of eyes.
Spirit Ridge (Four) V Chive Four Then Elk
"What disgusting-looking thing."
Caelus shielded Firefly behind him even as he mocked it. He had faced all sorts of monsters before: Voidrangers, the Doomsday Beast, Great Extinguishers. At least those things looked somewhat human, though. Especially the Great Extinguisher, who really had looked like a juicy peach... This was not the time to think about that. In any case, the monster before him disgusted him, especially under the gaze of the dozens of eyes covering its body. Caelus felt his sanity rapidly slipping away.
"Firefly, don't be afraid. I'll protect you."
Caelus did not turn to look at Firefly's expression. After saying that, he charged straight at the monster. It was disgusting, but a hero could not run away at the last moment.
Caelus rapidly closed in and thrust the Flame Spear at the monster. The creature blocked the strike with its thick arm blade. The flames on the Flame Spear did not harm it at all, and at that moment, a Stellaron phantom had already condensed in Caelus's left hand.
Stellaron Meteor Crash!
Caelus viciously slammed the powerful Stellaron phantom into the largest eye on the monster's body. Intense golden light spread through the surroundings, shattering every television screen. Firefly had already surrounded herself with a layer of flame shield. The power of Preservation was no mere decoration. Only Caelus could use Preservation's power while wielding the power of Destruction against an enemy.
"Awooo!"
The monster's eye was struck directly by the Stellaron Meteor Crash, and it immediately let out a scream. Its long body curled up, then it struck Caelus away with its tail and vanished into the black mist behind it.
Caelus used the Flame Spear to brace himself and stop his retreat. He raised his head, searching the area for the hidden enemy, only to see it suddenly appear behind Firefly. Its hand, which had only four clawed fingers, grabbed Firefly's slender body and lifted her into the air.
"Firefly!"
Caelus's heart sank to the bottom. He was not afraid of the monster coming after him. He was afraid that he was not its target. Yet his sense of danger had come true. The monster had been targeting Firefly, but he did not understand why.
Firefly floated in midair in the monster's grip. She glanced at Caelus, but there was not the slightest trace of panic in her eyes. Even before a monster that could crush her at any time, all she cared about was Caelus. As Firefly clenched her fist, she seemed able to break free at any moment. However, she soon sensed outsiders approaching and loosened her clenched hand again.
A magic circle suddenly appeared on the floor beneath the monster. Five crystallized arms surged from the formation, seizing the huge creature and pressing it against the ceiling. The monster released Firefly as a result, and she drifted downward. Caelus stepped forward and caught her, holding her tightly in a princess carry.
"Firefly, thank goodness. I thought I was going to lose you."
Caelus held Firefly and pressed his forehead against hers. Firefly's expression immediately softened. She raised her arms around Caelus's neck and pressed herself tightly against him, her eyes filled only with him.
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