"Look at you."
"You're the Dreammaster, aren't you?"
"Penacony is completely under your control."
"And yet you're resorting to threats like this?"
Evan smiled faintly as he looked at the black crow in his hand.
As the symbol of one of the Family's bloodlines...
This was Dreammaster Gopher Wood's favorite form.
In reality, however...
He could possess anyone.
Not just members of the Family...
But anyone within the Dreamscape itself.
Still...
Did he really think this kind of threat would work?
"What do you mean by 'remnants of Order'?"
"Order... you mean the Aeon of Order, Ena?"
Firefly and Sparkle stepped forward, looking curiously at the black crow.
"...That's a little secret."
"A secret shared only between the three of us."
Sparkle might not know.
But if Firefly claimed ignorance...
That would be far too hard to believe.
Still...
Now wasn't the time to discuss it.
The moment Evan tightened his grip around the crow...
Gopher Wood immediately abandoned the body and shifted his consciousness elsewhere.
Soon...
Three more members of the Family slowly walked in from outside.
"You know..."
"When people first arrive in the Land of Dreams, they instinctively stop walking."
"They make sure they're still standing on solid ground..."
"And then, almost without exception, they look up at the sky."
"Whether in reality or in dreams, gazing at the heavens is human instinct."
"From the day the Golden Hour was completed..."
"It has watched over every extravagant night."
"And now..."
"That night has been thrown into chaos."
"Stained by Elation."
"By Erudition."
"And by Remembrance."
"All because of your baseless suspicions."
More and more Family members gathered inside Dewlight Pavilion.
Sunday quietly stepped back several paces.
This was Gopher Wood's power.
Through Harmony...
He could synchronize over a hundred thousand members of the Oak Family into one.
Rumor had it...
He could even summon the legendary Harmonious Choir.
A feat achievable only by the highest-ranking conductors.
Neither Sunday...
Nor Robin...
Could accomplish such a thing.
Evan watched the ever-growing crowd of Harmony followers with interest.
The scene felt strangely familiar.
The difference was...
When Gopher Wood confronted Acheron, his confidence had first come from his identity.
He was the Dreammaster.
The true ruler of Penacony.
After revealing his first trump card...
He immediately revealed his second.
Over one hundred thousand minds synchronized into one.
But according to Evan's memories...
Acheron hadn't cared about that second card at all.
Which was why Gopher Wood had eventually revealed his final trump card—
The Harmonious Choir.
The strongest force within the Family.
He even listed the one hundred and thirty-seven people he had personally executed, telling Acheron:
Some of them were stronger than I was.
They broke both my arms.
They burned my body.
But in the end... I was the one who survived.
His meaning had been obvious.
He already knew those hundred thousand people couldn't stop Acheron.
He simply needed to stall until the Harmonious Choir arrived.
Then the fight would become two against one.
Unfortunately...
He had underestimated Acheron.
Because he knew she wasn't lying.
And...
He could never actually summon the Harmonious Choir.
He knew perfectly well what was hidden inside Penacony.
If the Harmonious Choir truly descended...
Its first target would probably be Penacony itself.
"Sorry."
"Who said I only walk three Paths?"
As the words fell...
Evan revealed a fourth.
Golden light burst from his body.
It was the Path of Trailblaze.
A moment later...
Amber-colored radiance condensed into a protective barrier around him...
Shielding both Evan and those standing behind him.
The power of Preservation.
Forget Gopher Wood.
Even the two girls behind Evan stared at him in disbelief.
Meanwhile...
A familiar voice echoed cheerfully in Evan's ears.
"Hehehe!"
"This is getting interesting!"
"Aha! Akivili, you fool!"
"And Qlipoth, that old blockhead!"
"Wonderful! Wonderful!"
"Hey, Xipe!"
"Aren't you going to join the fun?"
Outside Penacony...
No rainbow-colored radiance appeared.
Yet Xipe's gaze remained fixed upon the Dreamscape.
The Aeon was confused.
Have I remained absent for too long?
Why does the power of Paths suddenly seem so... common?
For some reason...
Xipe couldn't shake the feeling that the young man before Her would one day take a portion of Her own power.
Perhaps not as an Emanator...
But with Aha involved...
Something simply felt off.
Surely... I wouldn't personally acknowledge him and let him walk the Path of Harmony...
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
Absolutely.
"That isn't the issue."
"This grand gathering has welcomed far too many guests who were never invited."
"Even though Harmony embraces all things..."
"For the peace of Penacony..."
"I have no choice but to ask certain guests to leave."
"Oh?"
"And what exactly do you intend to do, Mr. Gopher Wood?"
"Do you truly believe you can drive me away?"
Evan smiled as he looked at the countless members of the Family surrounding him.
"You are confident."
"But remember this."
"The Family is humble."
"Never weak."
"The melody of Harmony echoes across the cosmos."
"If you so much as harm a single Family member..."
"The wrath of the Harmonious Choir will pursue you for the rest of your life."
Evan scratched his head.
He honestly couldn't understand.
His identity as a follower of Order had already been exposed.
So why did Gopher Wood keep threatening him with the Harmonious Choir?
Was he really not afraid...
That if one of Xipe's manifestations descended...
It would turn around and beat him to death first?
Honestly...
How boring.
"You're truly dull, Gopher Wood."
"The title of Dreammaster."
"The discord hidden within Harmony."
"What else do you have left to threaten me with?"
"These echoes of the Oak Family standing before you?"
The instant those words left his mouth...
Evan slowly raised his hand.
In the next moment...
Every member of the Oak Family who had filled Dewlight Pavilion...
Vanished.
Dreams...
Were, by nature...
A world of consciousness.
To erase someone's consciousness within such a world...
Was trivial for the Herrscher of Sentience.
Within the Dreamscape...
The only thing capable of competing with the Authority of Consciousness...
Was the Herrscher of Sentience itself.
Not a single member of the Oak Family was innocent.
Erasing their consciousness...
Filled Evan with not the slightest trace of guilt.
"You...!"
The black crow disappeared.
The Oak Family members disappeared.
Even the body possessed by Gopher Wood lost all signs of life.
The Dreammaster's authority was indeed formidable.
But it existed only within the Dreamscape.
Outside Penacony...
His strength would probably fall to little more than second or third tier.
If one truly wished to kill the Dreammaster...
There was only one way.
Just as Acheron had once said...
Destroy Penacony itself.
In a universe like this...
The physical body was often the greatest limitation.
Just look at the Memokeepers.
To embrace memory in its purest form...
They abandoned their flesh entirely.
Every Memokeeper possessed the potential to withstand the power of memory.
By merging themselves into memoria...
They had long since discarded their mortal bodies.
In a sense...
They had already achieved a form of immortality.
Gopher Wood was much the same.
His original body had long been destroyed by war.
He willingly abandoned it...
Becoming one with Penacony's Dreamscape.
Penacony itself had become an extension of his existence.
To kill the Dreammaster...
One would first have to destroy Penacony.
"Let's go."
"The real show is only just beginning."
"The script has already changed."
"Now..."
"We'll see what March and the others choose to do."
Evan flicked the lingering traces of memoria from his fingers before turning to leave Dewlight Pavilion.
Only Sunday remained behind...
Standing there in stunned silence.
Today...
He had witnessed far too many impossible things.
Even Gopher Wood...
Had been defeated.
That Nameless...
The Emanator who walked multiple Paths...
After a long silence...
Sunday's expression gradually steadied once more.
His resolve became even firmer.
If even Mr. Gopher Wood could not defeat this man...
Then only Ena, the Aeon of Order...
Could truly overcome him.
Sunday slowly clenched his fist.
Only Order...
Could save everyone trapped within this dream world.
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