"Three-faced soul, please brand his tongue and palms with hot iron, so that he cannot fabricate lies or swear false oaths." At the Dream Master's request, Sunday offered a prayer.
"Begin. There's nothing I need to prepare." The Dream Master said.
"Yes." Sunday nodded. "Let me ask: Have you always been faithful to your god, and never worshipped another god?"
Dream Master: "Naturally."
"Do you love your god as you love yourself, and always remember Their teachings?"
Dream Master: "Naturally."
"Have you ever strayed from the path your god expected of you and disgraced Their name?"
Dream Master: "Never."
"Have you ever made excessive demands of your god, attempting to go beyond the duty of a created being?"
Dream Master: "Never."
"Then, the final question. Can you swear that you will definitely fulfill everything you have promised, regardless of whether it concerns the past, present, or future?"
Dream Master: "By the Aeons above, if what I say is untrue, or if I break my word and violate my promise, then I shall bear the curse according to the law."
Sunday was silent for a moment before saying, "...They have seen your faith and acknowledge it. Thus, this proves that..."
"Wait a moment." Mr. Yang interrupted Sunday, who was about to state his conclusion.
"What is it, Mr. Welt?" Sunday asked.
"Everyone, there is another question I hope to have answered." Mr. Yang said with a serious expression, "As far as I know, the family's harmony and shared prosperity have never relied on so-called laws... Are the gods the two of you just mentioned really Xipe (Harmony)?"
The expressions of Sunday and the Dream Master changed slightly at this moment, and the latter quickly spoke to Mr. Yang, "Mr. Welt should know that the family's people are as close as brothers and sisters. Under Their light, they embrace unity and stand as one. Any divided heart has nowhere to hide before Harmony.
"Such a delicate and complex musical composition, if not for our divine master Xipe, then which other god could harmonize it perfectly?"
"Perfectly harmonize... That is precisely where the problem lies."
Mr. Yang looked solemnly at the Dream Master. "The one secretly changing Harmony is not an external enemy, but something that was secretly born from this musical composition itself, a discordant note."
At this point, Mr. Yang suddenly thought of the Xipe indigestion hypothesis that Nero had proposed in Dreamflux Reef.
And in this hypothesis, the disaster was attributed to another god.
"In the distant past, there was once an Aeon in this world."
Mr. Yang slowly spoke. "They moved Their knuckles, weaving the laws of the galaxy. Their believers formed the 'Choir Beyond the Heavens,' spreading solemn, reverent hymns throughout the entire universe."
"Later, They fell. The path this Aeon walked collided with Harmony, and They were swallowed and assimilated by the latter."
"The choir that once resounded throughout the universe fell silent for a time. When it played again, it had already become a hymn of harmony..."
"Even when an Aeon perishes, They leave behind an unclaimed Path. Within Harmony, which embraces all things... it is naturally possible for the discordant sounds of the past to quietly emerge as well."
As Mr. Yang spoke, the Dream Master's expression changed slightly. After a brief silence, he spoke, "Mr. Welt... being overly perceptive is by no means a good thing, especially when you are isolated and helpless."
"Hmph. So it really is like that." Looking at the Dream Master, Welt wore an expression that showed he had expected this.
"For the sake of our great undertaking, Sunday, please allow these two to rest for a while." The Dream Master's expression remained unchanged as he spoke calmly.
"What...?" Robin turned her head and looked at her brother in disbelief.
Sunday said nothing and silently began exerting his influence on Robin and Mr. Yang.
Only after he was certain that the influence had truly taken hold of the two did Sunday say to Robin, "I'm sorry, Robin. You, of all people... I didn't want you to know all of this. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned."
"So this is the real reason I can't sing? The shadow covering Penacony is actually..." Robin looked at her brother, feeling countless emotions surge and pile up in her chest, making it difficult to get the words out.
"We were never children of Harmony." Sunday said, "The paradise you and I dream of... should not have been created by Xipe either. The happiness of all can only be promised by one person who stands above all."
"Under law, humanity builds society...
"Under Harmony, we obtain order."
———
Swish!
A dark blade wave mixed with the color of coagulated blood suddenly came from the distance, as if it were going to split the entire dreamscape apart.
Sunday and the Dream Master noticed the sudden attack and quickly retreated, dodging it.
At the same time, a figure rapidly rushed over from the distance and scooped up Robin and Mr. Yang, who had fallen into a daze because of Sunday's methods.
"Professor, I'll trouble you to look after these two for now. My mission isn't finished yet."
Noe handed the two over to Dr. Ratio, who had somehow already arrived nearby, then turned around and returned to face the Dream Master and Sunday.
The blade wave that had been unleashed earlier had already disappeared, leaving behind only a crack in the dreamscape that almost ran across Glaux Avenue.
"A Knight..." Sunday frowned as he looked at the Noe who had suddenly appeared. The Knight's interference could be considered quite a bad situation.
"Sorry, Mr. Sunday. I can't let your and Mr. Dream Master's plan succeed." Noe blinked, then drew her second blade.
"My mission this time is to protect Mr. Welt and Miss Robin, as well as capture Mr. Dream Master. They seem to want you and your incarnations to help us with something."
As Noe said this, a large number of people had unknowingly gathered around them. Facing an opponent like Noe, the Dream Master had no choice but to summon all those incarnations over.
Although the other party was a Knight who believed in Beauty, the pressure the Dream Master felt at this moment was far greater than what he had felt when facing Acheron not long ago.
The power of Nihility that Acheron carried was dangerous, but judging from his observations, she still possessed the ability to think rationally, and her purpose was also quite clear. Therefore, after negotiations, they might not necessarily have to fight.
But the Knight before him was different. She had already stated outright that her target was him.
This was a situation where, no matter what, they would have to fight.
Noe looked at the incarnations gathering around her and blinked, the smile on her face becoming more apparent.
"Oh, there are quite a lot. I roughly understand what They mean now. When we captured the fire demon before, Argenti mentioned that They had a factory..."
At this point, Noe took a deep breath. Her expression became serious, and the air around her changed with it.
The foolish beauty-like air from before vanished completely, replaced by a kind of extremely dangerous, beast-like pressure.
That terrifying pressure, as if it could devour anyone it chose, carried a kind of beauty completely at odds with the common understanding of Beauty.
Under the influence of this inexplicably powerful pressure, it seemed as if the entire Golden Hour had begun to tremble. Some kind of energy leaked from Noe, condensing as if it were tangible. Faces like evil ghosts gradually covered the sky.
"You two, among the Knights who have come to Penacony right now, facing me in direct combat is the worst possible situation." Noe said with great seriousness. "So please resist seriously. Don't accidentally die."
Sunday raised his head, looking at the sky that was gradually becoming strange as Noe assumed her stance, feeling the immense pressure falling upon him and the entire dreamscape.
At this moment, he finally realized what all the Knights had in common.
These strange people who believed in Beauty sometimes had abilities that were truly bizarre, but there was one thing every Knight shared: their stats were all ridiculously high.
At this moment, he hoped he could use the Commandments to influence Noe' attacks, but this kind of ability that exerted a mental influence was difficult to use against a Knight of Beauty.
On the other side, the Dream Master had already controlled his incarnations and sent them surging forward together.
Facing the sea of people rushing toward her, Noe showed no panic at all. Instead, she raised the weapon in her hand and made a plain, unadorned slashing motion.
The heavy pressure suddenly descended along with Noe' movement, falling like the fangs of a gigantic beast, as if it were tearing into the entire dreamscape as its prey.
Almost instantly, the incarnations controlled by the Dream Master were crushed by the pressure, all of them falling face-first onto the ground.