Thor planted the seed of [Endless Fury] deep in Bell's consciousness. Once he had confirmed it was secure, he withdrew his awareness again and headed for the next dream.
The scene before him was neither a distorted cartoon world nor the gloomy corridors of the Dungeon.
Moonlight streamed through enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, spilling across the polished marble floor.
Thor looked around and recognized the place.
This was the Loki Familia's home.
It seemed he was in Lefiya's dream.
He understood.
But where was she?
The corridor was empty and quiet, with only his own footsteps echoing through it.
Following his instincts, he eventually stopped in front of a slightly ajar door.
Just as he was about to push it open, an exceedingly faint, satisfied moan drifted through the crack.
"Mmm~"
The sound was gentle and lilting, full of an indescribable sense of comfort.
Thor furrowed his brow and gently pushed the door open.
The scene inside came into view at once.
Ais had taken off her signature blue boots and was wearing only white stockings that covered her legs. She knelt at the edge of the soft bed.
Lefiya, meanwhile, was completely relaxed, resting her head on Ais's lap. Her face was turned to the side, wearing an expression of utter contentment.
Ais lowered her head slightly, holding a long, slender ear pick as she carefully slipped it into Lefiya's ear.
"Is... this okay?" Ais asked softly.
"Mmm~" Lefiya kept her eyes closed and let out an even longer, more satisfied hum. Without thinking, she snuggled closer into Ais's embrace, her face full of unrestrained happiness and ease.
Thor's expression darkened as he watched.
"Lefiya." His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a spoonful of liquid nitrogen poured into warm water, instantly shattering the room's intimate tranquility.
"Waaah—!"
Lefiya sprang upright from Ais's lap, moving so quickly she stirred up a gust of air.
Her bright blue eyes widened as she stared in disbelief at Thor standing in the doorway. The color drained from her face, only for it to turn scarlet the very next second, the flush spreading all the way to her ears.
No matter how you looked at it, she seemed just like someone caught rewarding herself by a family member.
"L-Lord Thor?!" she stammered in denial. "N-no, it's not what you think! I, I... I was just..."
She waved her hands about in a panic, stumbling over her words. Her eyes darted everywhere, anywhere but at Thor.
Thor's gaze calmly swept over her flushed cheeks, then settled on Ais, who was still kneeling on the bed.
Unlike Ais, whose dream was distorted by her deep subconscious, both Lefiya and Bell were in a [Lucid Dream].
They knew perfectly well that they were dreaming, and that they were undergoing nighttime training.
Yet Lefiya was using the dream to indulge in something she didn't dare do in reality...
Thor was so annoyed he nearly laughed.
He clearly remembered Lefiya begging him to let her take part in the nighttime training.
And now she was sneaking off to enjoy herself by making use of his abilities?
"Heh..." Thor gave a low chuckle, the sound full of coldness.
Snap!
He snapped his fingers without hesitation.
The cozy bedroom instantly fell apart.
Lefiya felt her body grow light as a sudden sense of weightlessness swept over her.
"Waaah—!"
She cried out as she landed hard on the cold, unforgiving ground, pain making her grimace.
"Ow, ow, ow~"
Rubbing the spot where she'd landed, she hadn't quite gathered her wits when a familiar stench, mingled with blood and sulfur, entered her nostrils.
Then came the heart-stopping roars of monsters from every direction!
Lefiya jerked her head up, her heart nearly stopping—
The familiar rock walls of the Dungeon stretched before her.
Even worse, an endless horde of monsters stood in front of her!
Thor appeared atop a towering rocky ledge some distance away, looking down at her from above.
"I promised I'd train you strictly. I have no intention of going back on my word."
As Lefiya watched the monsters surge toward her like a tide, fear seized her heart.
Her mind went blank. She had only one thought: run!
"Lord Thor! I'm sorry! I was wrong! I really was!" she shouted, her voice choked with tears. She scrambled to her feet and tried to run in the opposite direction, with not the slightest thought of fighting back.
Thor remained expressionless, paying no heed to her pleas.
Only five seconds had passed.
A swift-moving War Shadow lunged right up to her and swung its sharp claws down hard!
"Ah—!"
Lefiya felt the world spin. Her vision was instantly swallowed by blood and agony.
She could feel her body being torn apart, devoured... Her consciousness sank into darkness amid the unbearable pain.
Yet the eternal darkness she expected never came.
The next second, Lefiya's eyes flew open, and she gasped for breath.
She was back where she'd been standing, completely unharmed, as if the horrifying death had been nothing more than a vivid illusion.
She stared blankly for a few seconds, then suddenly understood—
This was a dream! She couldn't die here!
That realization was like a shot of adrenaline, instantly driving away most of her fear.
The monsters were closing in again. Although they still made her scalp prickle, the feeling that she was safe from harm left her with enough energy to flee in a panic while shouting toward Thor:
"Lord Thor! I really know I was wrong! Please forgive me! I won't do it again!"
Her voice carried the gasping relief of someone who'd just survived a disaster, as well as a hint of ease she couldn't quite hide. Rather than strict training, she seemed more like she was playing an exciting game of tag...
Lefiya had already "died" three or four times beneath the monsters' claws, yet she still did nothing but run around with her hands over her head, making no attempt to fight back.
Even the fear in her eyes had begun to fade, replaced by something close to numb surrender.
She was even starting to slow down, as if she planned to just lie back and let the monsters tear her apart. After all, she couldn't die in a dream. The pain would pass soon enough.
Thor furrowed his brow.
He'd underestimated Lefiya's "resilience"—or rather, her determination to give up.
"If even death can't stir your fighting spirit," Thor said, his voice clear above the monsters' roars and edged with coldness, "then let's see what your soul is truly afraid of."
Before he'd even finished speaking, he moved his fingertips. The invisible [Dream Dust] scattered like fine sand, seeping into the dreamscape around Lefiya.
The Dream Dust could reflect the deepest fears in one's heart and give them physical form.
Thor focused, ready to see what would appear.
He had expected something like a monstrous beast that devoured everything, or an illusion symbolizing failure and disgrace...
But the instant the Dream Dust gathered, twisted, and took shape...
Thor's gaze froze.
The figure at his side wasn't some hideous monster.
It was Ais.
But she was nothing like the normally cool and imposing Sword Princess.
Ais's hands were raised high above her head, bound in cold iron chains. The tips of her toes barely touched the ground.
A delicate black lace blindfold covered her usually calm golden eyes.
She still wore her signature pure-white battle outfit, which outlined her slender waist and long legs.
The only difference was that her bare feet, wrapped in sheer white stockings, were now tensed as they dangled without support. Her toes curled and stretched uneasily within the fabric, conveying a fragile helplessness, as if she were at someone else's mercy.
Thor: "..."
He fell unusually silent.
Was this... fear?
He almost wondered if he'd made a mistake with the spell and drawn out some... unspeakable secret desire buried in Lefiya's heart instead.
Rather than a manifestation of fear, this looked more like some kind of... carefully staged... scene?
For the first time, Thor genuinely began to doubt his own abilities.
At that moment, the Dream Dust that hadn't yet dispersed gathered and solidified on its own in his hand.
Hm?
Thor looked down at the object that had appeared out of nowhere in his palm.
A light, white feather.
He lifted his eyes without thinking, sweeping his gaze over the "Ais" illusion hanging beside him in chains, before finally settling on her fully exposed armpit.
Almost on some instinctive impulse to investigate, Thor moved his wrist and lightly traced the feather's tip over that smooth skin.
"Mmm—!"
The bound "Ais" shuddered violently. A soft, suppressed moan escaped her throat, and her whole body instantly tensed, making the chains clatter faintly.
That reaction...
Thor's scalp tingled, and the sheer absurdity of it made him instinctively take half a step back.
Even after his long years and all the strange things he'd witnessed, he still felt a powerful surge of... shock!
This "fear" brought to life in the dream was simply too... outrageous.
Just as he was about to wave the bizarre illusion away, Lefiya, being chased by monsters beneath the platform, suddenly let out a shrill cry.
"I'm, I'm sorry! I'll train properly! Please don't bully Miss Ais!!"
Before the words had even left her mouth, she really did stop her pointless flight. She whirled around, raised her staff, and began chanting without a second thought at the nearest War Shadow!
Her movements were still clumsy, and her mana wavered with panic, but she had genuinely begun to fight back.
Oh?
Thor's expression turned extremely strange.
Had that... actually worked?
He wasn't sure whether Lefiya meant it or whether some strange logic of the dream was at work.
Lefiya eventually ran out of mana again and panted for breath. As the monsters threatened to overwhelm her, she was about to give up resisting.
Thor's gaze returned to the feather in his hand, then flicked toward the "Ais" illusion's feet, wrapped in sheer white stockings.
He hesitated for a moment, but in the end he gently brushed the feather across the sole of her foot.
"Mm..."
The "Ais" illusion shuddered violently again.
Her legs pressed tightly together, and her toes curled up beneath the white stockings.
An unnatural flush spread across her fair cheeks, and her chest rose and fell rapidly.
"Don't—!!!"
Below, Lefiya screamed almost at the same time.
As if injected with adrenaline, she burst into another wave of astonishing determination, swung her staff, and forced back the monsters that had closed in on her before resuming the fight.
Seeing the immediate effect, Thor couldn't help the faint curve of his lips.
"Heave-ho, heave-ho," he drawled deliberately, his voice tinged with amusement. "Lefiya, if you don't try harder, your Ais-senpai is going to..."
As he spoke, the feather's tip lightly brushed over the "Ais" illusion's smooth calf.
"Mmm..."
The illusion let out a suppressed moan, and her body trembled faintly again.
The effect was remarkable.
Watching Lefiya burst into action once more, Thor had to admit that the method worked.
Yet the feeling this "success" gave him was incredibly strange.
His consciousness was now clearly divided among three entirely different dreams.
In one, he was in a cartoon world full of childlike charm.
There, he was patiently guiding little Ais through the basics of the [Wind-Riding Sword Art], playing the part of a gentle father.
In the other, he was here, using an Ais illusion who was bound and being "tormented" to spur Lefiya's fighting spirit.
Thor gave a quiet, surprised murmur. Even he found it a little bizarre...
Where was this intense sense of forbidden guilt coming from?
Before you continue