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Thereafter, its prisoners would be forced to fend against Qantal\'s imaginary beasts while protecting their dream cores.

Each dream world worked like a separate dimension. If your dream core breaks or you die while trapped inside the Dream Tree your soul perishes.

In short, you die.

But if this was all. I wouldn\'t have called Illusive Dragon invincible inside the Dream Tree.

Dream Tree was a unique skill that targeted \'everyone\' inside the range. And that includes Illusive Dragon too.

It was a complex skill with its own ups and downs. But as the skill holder, Qantal has managed to master the skill. 

He can ignore the negative consequences of being caught in Dream Tree while only reaping the positive parts.

As a result, he has almost infinite strength inside the Dream Tree.

He won\'t get tired, he won\'t get injured, he won\'t run out of mana. As long as the Dream Tree is successfully triggered, Illusive\'s victory is almost guaranteed.

It was while I was carefully recalling Qantal\'s abilities and the ways to counterattack, the elf obstructed my path.

"Where are you going?" asked the elven woman.

She had purple hair that reached her hips. Her face was small and angular. There was a beauty mole under the left corner of her lips. 

The mole combined with her fairly large bosoms gave her a motherly aura.

In terms of beauty, she was comparable to Setsuna – I hated to accept it but that chicken was in a league of her own in terms of appearance.

Faena\'s eyes held a strange conviction as she stopped me from moving further.

"Why is an elf here?"

"…It\'s because we wanted to know more about the letter you gave us." answered Faena with a bit of difficulty.

The letter I sent the elves talked about mainly one thing: I knew of the upcoming destruction of the world.

Elves are able to converse with the World Spirit, Beatrice, with the help of the World Tree located in their village.

Being a special existence, the World Spirits cannot interfere with the world freely. Nevertheless, Beatrice was the most compassionate among the World Spirits. 

She tried to warn her people about the upcoming destruction of the world – Coalescence. 

Knowing that elves were frantically searching for clues about Beatrice\'s message, I sent the letter in hopes of finding a cure for Lumine.

It was surprising that the Priestess of the elven clan – the only one capable of conversing with Beatrice through World Tree – herself came searching for me

However, there was a time and place for everything. 

"We\'ll talk about this later."

The Dream Tree and Qantal were more pressing matters at the moment. I didn\'t have time to explain the situation to Faena.

Besides, if she was here, there was a possibility more elves left the village with her. I couldn\'t let them meet Lumine.

Or it could spiral into another troublesome matter.

"Where are you going?"

"You are crossing the line."

I stared at Faena coldly while she used magic to keep me from moving. 

Dammit, from her reaction she knew about Lumine and me. 

Her actions indicated that Faena was trying to stop me from meeting with Lumine.

"Move. I won\'t repeat myself twice."

"...!"

I let my mana pressure explode into the surroundings. Faena flinched and staggered, sensing the amount of mana comparable to elves.

The corridors were rather empty. It was strange considering today\'s event should\'ve made the palace busier. 

Faena probably used some kind of magic to ward off people before meeting me.

"Shouldn\'t you look into someone\'s eyes while talking to them?" said Faena while trying to collect whatever dignity she had left after being scared by a human less than 1/10th her age.

I pulled my gaze away from the window.

\'The Dream Tree should be bigger than the palace in size. It would be visible from every corner of the capital. It clearly hasn\'t bloomed yet so why am I anxious?\'

I had to take the Lumine and hurry to the plaza in front of the Imperial Palace. It was the only palace inside the capital large enough to host the Dream Tree while it blooms.

"I\'m going to meet Lumine."

As long as Lumine was with me, both of us would enter the same dream world if I couldn\'t stop the Dream Tree from blooming. 

\'With Lumine, the price I would need to pay would be huge. But I should be able to avoid the worst case scenario.\'

Faena glared at me. She spoke in a grave tone, suppressing her wrath. "I won\'t allow you to meet that Succubus. As the Priestess of World Tree it is my duty to stop that lascivious woman."

"..."

Closing my eyes, I tried to find the core of her magic binding me. For some reason, the sinister sense of foreboding was only growing stronger. 

I needed to leave, even if that meant using the Crown of Massacre.

"You might not realize it yet. But your desire to meet her is because of her witchcraft. You are about to become her sla–"

Thud—!

Suddenly, Faena fell to the ground.

Before I could realize what was happening, heavy drowsiness attacked me. My feet staggered as I almost fell next to Faena.

My thoughts were starting to become sluggish. 

I… I wanted to sleep.

A strong desire to sleep was taking over me.

Spurt!

Without thinking twice, I stabbed a dagger into my thigh. Unbridled pain burst from the injury but it brought much-needed clarity.

\'This is… Dream Tree\'s effect…\'

Biting my tongue, I limped toward the window. The sight outside was the same as earlier.

A terrifying silence enshrouded the capital.

No matter where I saw, there were no signs of Dream Tree\'s appearance. Let alone the massive tree, I didn\'t even find a single branch.

\'H…ow…?\'

My thoughts were beginning to break. 

I didn\'t know how or where but it was clear…

The Dream Tree had bloomed.

I was too late.