Chapter 235: The Nightmare Nuke (Patreon)

"So… there seems to be a way… I must say, when I asked you this question, my operational understanding is rather limited— much less performing such an action within it."

And that was more or less true. I'd had time to sit down and chat with Alice about the Dream Sea multiple times, and I had a decent grasp of what it did and how it did it. In some ways, one could even say the Dream Sea was the root of all dream and mind magic— the two tended to be related in some manner. Its practitioners and manipulators could gauge people's psychic frequencies, rewrite sensory cognition, and even submerge themselves into the subconscious to reshape a target's reality from the inside out.

When I first met her, Alice's powers were rather limited. Her previous form was restricted to lightning-affinity users— which was still somewhat true. The thing was, having a lightning affinity allowed Alice to seize control over their bodies, which was still limited to them. But what had changed and grown more potent was her influence over the Dream Sea itself, rather than that ability. She could do that and much more.

If Alice wanted to, she could make people dream a dream so vivid they'd have trouble distinguishing it from their own sense of reality. She couldn't take control of everyone the way she usually did with lightning mages. She didn't have a System screen either— nothing that would allow us to gauge what her skills actually were— so she was figuring it out as she went. But when I said she was getting stronger, I meant it.

But now the question was: why settle for planting a nightmare into a single skull when we could seed a collective revelation across an entire city?

Even if not everyone, even a small subset of the population would do. We could orchestrate it all from the Dream Sea.

The reason for the indirect approach was simple. We were up against a powerful elf. The Elven Queen was similar to the Heavenly Leviathan; she would stymie any attempt at directly making people aware of their incoming doom. So what if we took an indirect approach? Instead of making their physical, waking bodies aware, what if we slip beneath her watch and poison the well of their sleep?

The Heavenly Leviathan was sitting just beside us, reclining against the arched masonry of the high tower, listening to our exchange. We were in the northern spire of a certain citadel in the city— built with exotic architecture, but for some very tall people.

I decided to address her directly. "So, what do you think? You'd be the closest to my adversary here. Would such a method fool her perception, even for a moment?"

She tilted her head. "It should work, Master. But I wouldn't count on it lasting long. Deductors of her caliber do not gaze upon all things at all times; they sometimes chart the wake left by displaced reality to divine the stone that was cast. This ripple will be vast. Her instruments will trace the genesis within moments of the waking bell. But detection after the fact is harmless to us as she will divine the blow only after it has already landed. If your ambition is merely to shatter her equilibrium and afford the cattle above a fleeting chance at defiance, it will suffice."

I was understandably glad to hear that.

My motive wasn't to save everyone— I knew I was incapable of such a feat. There was a godlike entity watching over everything. Every preparation the elves had made was for this very moment; it would not allow failure. Even if I were to go out there, I would not be able to save them.

Even if I were to go back in time, I didn't think I could outsmart the one who knew everything, who had built such a patient scheme and had nearly cornered me— if not for the fact that the Heavenly Leviathan here had fed her wrong cues.

She had built the Colosseum in this image: that whatever progress you made here would have no physical consequence except the experience, and rewards would only be available after you exited into the waking world.

The Queen had no conception that I walked this trial in my true draconic flesh. No conception that pure divinity ran hot through my veins. No conception that I had rigged a second transit through the Spirit Plane.

She believed herself the undisputed master of the board, unaware that an entity far older and patient than her had seeded the board with rot before her dynasty ever took root.

Whenever I thought about it, the whole thing left me breathless. Those circles beneath Varkaigrad were left when the city was first established. It was centuries ago that this scheme had begun, and only once I arrived did it fully start enveloping me.

But it was at a stage where it was rigid— and where there is rigidity, order is paramount. It was like a cauldron filled to the absolute brim, simmering at the exact threshold where surface tension kept the scalding brew from spilling over.

When a vessel is that full, even a clumsy kick will send boiling water sloshing over the lip.

We had no need to overturn the entire cauldron or preserve every single soul to claim a victory, forcing an uncontrolled spill would instantly alter the Queen's scheme. Chaos carried no penalty for us. We were already drowning. The entire burden of damage control would land squarely upon the shoulders of the architect.

That was the parting gift I intended to leave behind. Before I severed my ties with this proving ground, I would make one spiteful bid to wrench Varkaigrad, or whatever fragment of it could run fast enough, from the gears. It was a blood-oath to my future self that I would never again allow myself to be boxed into such a slaughterhouse.

I didn't give a single fuck that the Elven Queen’s feud originated with whatever atrocities my past incarnation had committed. Let her hate them. But visiting that vengeance upon millions of oblivious mortals who had no hand in the dispute was intolerable. I would settle accounts with her in time. I would climb the steps to her bough-throne and shatter her jaw across the dais myself.

That day was coming. But it was not today.

For now, the fulcrum rested entirely upon Alice.

We would only have a small window to act. Everything hinged on the volume of minds she could saturate with a uniform terror, seed them with a nightmare vivid enough to ignite immediate flight where a gentle dream would be dismissed at sunrise.

"I shall try my best, Mistress. I could begin with a receptive perimeter. Sowing the latent psychic seeds during the daylight hours requires minimal effort. By nightfall, the impressions will take root and bloom the moment slumber claims them."

I nodded. "But the main problem remains. You were saying the way they'd dream would be rather rigid if we were to make it work."

"Yes, Mistress. I am capable of invoking interactable dreams as well, but those take time to create and have a deeper nuance to them. The number of people we could target with them would be much, much smaller if we went down that path. To cast a wide enough net, we must sacrifice nuance for sheer accessibility, quality for quantity. I... I must beg forgiveness for my inadequacy, Mistress. Had I applied myself with greater discipline to the currents that sing within the Sea, perhaps I could have offered a far more elegant—"

Thwack.

I flicked the tip of my tentacle against the crown of her porcelain head.

"Stop that," I rumbled gently. "Cease whatever theatrical self-flagellation you're trying to perform."

I lowered my massive golden snout to her level.

"I am slowly learning that I cannot bear it all alone. I am understanding the boundaries of my own self. And for the first time, I am beginning to comprehend what it means to lean upon another. It fills me with a warmth to know that ones I cherish are willing to bleed in my stead. And yet... there is an insidious poison in my marrow that whispers I have no right to ask it of you. The draconic instinct coiled within my ribs roars that I was born to walk it all alone. The terrified, powerless mortal girl I used to be whimpers that I am nothing but a burden to everyone around me. But standing here, in this hour, I am choosing to drown out both voices. I need what is optimal. And what is optimal is you. You are extraordinary, Alice. This gambit wouldn't even exist as a daydream without your craft. So, hold your chin high. I am grateful to you."

The doll froze entirely. Her body twitched with random motions.

"M-Mistress—I-I—"

 I might have short-circuited her it seemed.

Before I could poke her to see if she was still functional, the space to my left shivered like disturbed water as a pale, veiled silhouette stepped cleanly through it. Water leviathan was back.

Seemed like she was finally ready to tell me her decision. It had been a few hours since then. I'd had an assembly to address, instructions to give Markus on next steps, even sent Curious to the Kovraths to tell them to collect everyone they could from other tribes and inform them of the situation. I wouldn't want to leave anyone behind if that was possible.

And finally, I was discussing plans with Alice— what could be done for the waking world.

It had been more than a few hours, to be honest.

The moment one of her knees hit the ground, I had my answer. "I yield," she whispered with her head bowed low. "If your oath holds true, I shall recognize you as my sovereign from this hour forth."

Yet when she raised her veiled face, her azure eyes were clouded with a certain turbulence.

"You have a question?" I didn't need mind magic to gauge that.

"Only if you grant me the grace of an answer," she murmured, her hands clenching in her lap. "Why? Why undertake any of this?"

I tilted my head, curious.

"I stood in the shadows," she continued with a trembling voice. "I watched everything I built across all this time dissolve into ash. And yet, as I watched you... I saw only an impossible contradiction. You snarled at those mortals. You threatened them with horrific mutilation. Yet you are willingly shouldering an journey that will strain your very existence to its absolute limits, in dragging an entire settlement of strangers through the Spirit Plane purely to deny the void their lives. You are forcing salvation down their throats at sword-point. You did the same to me. Why? My sight cannot pierce your mind. I cannot find the ledger that balances this equation."

First of all— rather alarming reminder that she was listening to all that and we didn't even know. Not even Alice warned me. Guess the psychic invisibility went both ways. That was rather scary. Seemed like Alice was right in her answer of overwhelming her from the get-go with harsh truths and threats.

Secondly, as for her question— "I spared you because I felt an irritating spark of kinship," I answered bluntly. "I saw a cornered beast clawing violently at a rigged cage, and I respected the desperation. I wanted to drag you into the light before you did something so unforgivable that I’d be forced to rip your head off." I lowered my serpentine head down to her level. "Maybe just a gesture that I wished once I had for myself— and probably I did, in the form of this big dream dragon, who I always thought was nothing more than a figment of my desperate imagination.

“As for the vast majority of people here, I must say I don't have a grand philosophical manifesto. A healthy portion of it is pure spite. I want to spit directly into the blinding eye of the Divine Dragon, look my arrogant past incarnations in the face, and tell them to take their scripts and shove it up they scaly puckered arseholes. And the rest? Because I just… felt like it? Do I need a reason? Do I truly need a reasonable, justifiable explanation for my actions? Must every breath be weighed against profit and necessity?" I chuckled a bit— it was a bit of a realization for me. " I do it because I have the will, the claws and the desire to see it done. I apologize if my answer was a bit childish and lacking any nuance, but that's purely what it is."

Her eyes widened for a bit, but she stayed silent for a moment before opening her mouth. Her eyes had regained some of their shine back. I didn't know what I did right, but there must have been something. "I understand," she said.

I didn't know what she understood either.

Now was not the time to linger on that, though.

But before I could open my mouth, it was she who spoke first.

"My name is Sibyl, my sovereign," she murmured, dipping her head. "May I... inquire as to yours?"

I paused, blinking my golden slit pupils as a sudden wave of sheer foolishness washed over me. I hadn't even extended the basic courtesy of asking their names. Of course these entities possessed identities; reducing these ancient beings to functional index cards like "xx Leviathan" was atrociously uncivilized.

"Jade," I answered. "Jade Everhart. A pleasure to properly make your acquaintance, Sibyl."

I gestured with a talon toward the porcelain figure sitting there. "This is Alice."

Then my gaze drifted toward the radiant Heavenly Leviathan seated against the parapet.

"And I owe you an apology as well. I can be monumentally stupid when the blood starts pumping. I never asked how you wished to be addressed. Mentally barking 'Heavenly Leviathan' is getting a bit long-winded."

The radiant entity offered a melancholy smile.

"I bear no true name, Master. I was deemed unready for such distinction at the hour of my forging. 'Heavenly Leviathan' was merely an epithet bestowed by the trembling mortals who looked upon my coils from below."

A fresh spike of venom flared in my gut. Every revelation about that divine bitch dragon made me want to dig up her grave and defecate on it. My past incarnations were truly self-aggrandizing sociopaths.

"I have said before that I am not the exact same as your master, but I do have some experience with names. Is there something you wished to be called? And if you'd like, allow me to pick one for you."

Her eyes sparkled at the prospect. "There is nothing in this creation I would treasure more, Master."

I lied about being good with names. I literally named a Netherbeast Barn. I was an absolute disgrace. But seeing her so happy made me sweat a bit— I needed to think of a good name. Hmm. Hmm. What could be a good name for someone like her?

"Before you tax your mind, Master," the unnamed leviathan murmured with a knowing glimmer in her eye, "I believe my newest sister has a thought to share." The yet-unnamed Heavenly Leviathan gestured at Sibyl, who was being a little fidgety. I prompted her to say what was on her mind.

"I… well, I heard what you were planning and while I understand the necessity of striking through the Dream Sea, I believe your approach can be refined."

My eyes shone at the prospect. She was a master of the Dream Sea as well—and someone like her was bound to have far more experience with it than Alice. Having power was like having an hammer, but having mastery was knowing precisely which hairline fracture would bring down the wall.

"Let's hear it," I prompted. "I'm all ears!"

Across the flagstones, the unnamed leviathan smiled softly. I sort of wondered why she hadn't chimed in before, suggested anything. Seemed like the old serpent had likely calculated this exact exchange hours ago.

"Your current blueprint relies upon broadcasting a rigid, uniform narrative," Sibyl explained, her posture straightening. "Yet enforcing a specific script across thousands of minds simultaneously creates an immense cognitive strain for Alice. Instead of dictating the details, you must seed a singular, concentrated emotional frequency, like a resonance of impending annihilation, tethered to the sign of the setting sun. The mortal psyche possesses an innate, terrifying genius for weaving its own nightmares. You do not need to build the fire; you need only drop the spark onto their kindling."

It started as a brilliant tactical adjustment. Then within forty seconds they completely lost me in the esoteric weeds.

It was far beyond my realm of expertise. But Alice was listening to her with focus. They both went back and forth for a bit, and it became increasingly clear that Sibyl had beaten Alice in knowledge when it came to the Dream Sea and mind magic in every aspect. Even though her blindfolded, doll-like face conveyed no emotion, I could feel tense curiosity and surprise from the voice she spoke with.

I just stood there like a big scaly coat rack, nodding along with profound and entirely fabricated comprehension.

In the end, they both worked through refining the plan themselves. I didn't understand much of it, but what they ended up with was something I could only name a "Nightmare Nuke."