Beautiful Dream

"Lilith?! What an idiot!" The Giant King Aurmir's voice rumbled like thunder, shaking the palace of the Giant King's Court.

"This time, I'll kill both the Demon Wolf and Lilith!"

The frenzied, brutal Light of Twilight gleamed in Aurmir's single eye. The void, life, even the gods would wither beneath that twilight.

He, Lilith, and the Elf King had once formed an alliance to fight the Ancient Gods, including the Dragons and the Demon Wolves. But what ally could ever compare to his queen?

Killing Lilith would let Giant Queen Omebella try to devour her!

"Once I've devoured the Demon Wolf, the Dragons, Elves, and Alien Species will all submit to me! Then I'll find a chance to devour that bird!" Aurmir's ambitions were certainly grand.

He seemed to have gone completely mad, though. The Giant King was much better off when he was in a god's state.

God of Dawn Badheil, Goddess of Harvest Omebella, and God of Honor Budral—none of these three Giants were first-generation Giants. The characteristics within them were relatively pure, allowing them to remain lucid.

"Father God, the Golden Kingdom is under attack!" Badheil rumbled.

"Go deal with them!" Aurmir needed to keep a close eye on the Demon Wolf and plot against Lilith. His wits were nearly spent, so he simply ordered Badheil to go suppress the attackers.

"Yes!" Badheil gripped a two-handed greatsword and strode out of the Giant King's Court, leading a powerful troop of Giants toward the Golden City.

"You've become one of the Lord's Angels of Dreams?" Medici's expression was remarkably complicated.

His loyalty to the Ancient Sun God was beyond doubt. He had proved it with his life in the later era.

But this Angel of Dreams had appeared in such a bizarre way...

Medici shook his head. Under other circumstances, he would certainly have mocked him, but this was wartime. He was against the enemy, not his own side.

Soon, Truman and Medici reached the outskirts of the Golden Kingdom.

They were already close to the Giant King's Court. The Giant Race guarded the area, and the subordinates of other Ancient Gods sometimes ventured nearby, too.

Medici had come here to intercept those other gods' subordinates, making an already tense situation even more chaotic.

"Here comes one! A lone Dragon!" Medici's eyes lit up. His legion sprang into action behind him, empowering him with an invisible force.

Medici was now a Sequence Two Weather Warlock of the Hunter Pathway. The legion he commanded was the Hunter Legion, which the Kingdom of the Sun God had spared no expense to cultivate. It even included several Saints!

On the mystical level, Medici and his legion became one, their power surging wildly as they fixed their eyes on the Dragon swooping down from the sky.

The Dragon roared. Its enormous black-and-gold body flickered in and out of view among the clouds.

It looked like a giant lizard with broad, leathery wings. Even its smallest scales were the size of a human head, and its fierce, draconic head bore two dark golden eyes.

"Roar!" The Dragon growled as if it sensed danger, wary of something.

"Winged bug!" Medici's insult immediately drew the Dragon's full hatred.

The Dragon regarded Medici coldly, but the next moment, it roared in rage. A terrifying torrent of information swept everything away, plunging the entire world into collapse!

It was a dream!

When the Dragon looked down at them, Medici and his legion had been dragged into the dream.

But Truman was unaffected. He was immune to dream attacks, and the Badge of Divinity kept him absolutely clearheaded.

Using the Robe of the Sage, he transformed into a stream of chaotic information and tore the dream apart.

"A Dragon with a mix of Reader and Spectator characteristics. It must have barely retained its own consciousness under the pacifying treatment of the Dragon of Imagination."

Information streams flashed through Truman's eyes as he tried to forcibly analyze the Dragon.

The Dragon in reality sensed the danger and beat its wings. Countless spells erupted from them, hurling wind, lightning, frost, and shadows toward the legion behind Medici.

At the same time, psychic power spread out. The Dragon intended to leap into the Sea of Collective Subconscious and fight there!

But the hem of Truman's Robe of the Sage fluttered. "Mystical Reenactment: Peach Blossom Spring!"

Peach blossoms made entirely of information streams drifted down, lending the scene an ethereal beauty. The main feature of Peach Blossom Spring was isolation!

The Dragon could no longer leap into the Sea of Collective Subconscious.

The Dragon's head snapped around, its eyes fixed on Truman as a strange power stirred.

For a moment, Truman felt an uncomfortable sensation, as if his secrets were being probed.

"Want to look? Then take a good look!" Truman snorted and held the Book of Dreams up in front of himself.

Roar!

The Psychic Dragon's body and Spirit Body fell into a frenzy. Unable to control itself, it plunged from the sky, its probing gaze cut short.

Pacifying the mind was the specialty of this Pathway, however. The next moment, the Dragon beat its wings again and steadied itself—but it no longer dared use "Insight" to look at Truman.

The experience had terrified it beyond words. Even without glimpsing the true essence, it had nearly lost control and exploded!

"That's it?!" Medici snorted. He charged forward and swung his greatsword. Countless blue-white flames gathered into spears, surging toward the Dragon in a dense hail and piercing through every spell.

Heavy leaden clouds abruptly gathered. Medici swung his greatsword, turning it into a streak of swordlight. The clouds burst with terrifying lightning, flames, wind, and icy snow!

Roar!

The Dragon bellowed, and Medici's body stiffened. It was as if a virtual personality had formed inside him, fighting for control.

Then came a terrifying Dragon Breath that engulfed Medici.

"I called you an idiot, and you still won't admit it?" A taunting voice rang out from the Dragon's back. Under the protection of a Curtain of Shadows, Medici emerged from the void and struck with his sword. Blazing Thunder crashed down upon the Dragon's body.

Smack!

A wing fell from the sky and slammed into the ground.

The Dragon howled in pain and abruptly rammed its head into the barrier of Peach Blossom Spring.

Insight! A Sequence Three ability of the Reader Pathway, said to reveal the world's rules and wrench them open.

The Dragon seized the fleeting gap in Peach Blossom Spring and tried to leap into the Sea of Collective Subconscious once more.

Medici swung his sword again, severing the Dragon's second wing.

The Dragon had no time to think. It only wanted to escape. The prophetic ability it possessed told it that if it did not flee now, it would die!

"Dragon Breath!" Truman pointed, and a Psychic Dragon's breath attack aimed at the Spirit Body struck the Dragon's head.

The Gloves of the Ancient—"Reenactment" at the Planeswalker level—reproduced the Psychic Breath the Dragon had just used against Medici.

The Dragon's already fragile mind seemed ready to burst. It frantically charged toward the exit of Peach Blossom Spring.

Bang!

Peach Blossom Spring was smashed open, and the Dragon leaped into the Sea of Collective Subconscious.

The Dragon was about to use the collective subconscious to leap away when it suddenly realized it was still in the same place. Its frenzied gaze turned blank.

Even its "Insight" was directed at an open book drifting with Dream Phosphor.

Dreamlike power stirred across its pages, constructing a dream that was neither wholly real nor wholly false.

From the very beginning, escape had been nothing more than a beautiful dream.