Mary's attack was blocked by Long's blue magical shield. Mary remained calm, casting a slight glance at him as she said,
"You wish to seek the path to your own death?"
With that, Mary soared high into the sky. Her greatsword floated beside her, and with a sweep of her hand, she pointed down at the ground where Long and the others were standing.
The greatsword plunged into the earth, embedding itself in the ground. A ring of power burst out from it, blasting everyone nearby away. Long quickly created a magical shield to lessen the impact of the attack.
Everyone lay scattered across the ground.
With a calm expression, Mary slowly descended. Suddenly, a blue shield appeared out of nowhere, trapping her inside a square cage formed from layers of magical shields.
Long, mounted on Dreamy, pressed his hands together to cast his spell. The cage imprisoning Mary slowly began to shrink, as if trying to crush inward and suppress her.
Mary's eyes remained cold, without the slightest trace of panic. She gave a light flick of her hand, and the greatsword that had been embedded in the ground flew upward, slashing apart the cage Long had created.
The sound of shattered magic made the space explode.
Seizing that moment, Long appeared at Mary's left flank and tried to throw a punch wrapped in magical-shield energy. Mary glanced at him, and a great blade appeared, blocking Long's path of attack.
She kicked Long, sending him flying into the distance and collapsing a section of the castle.
Long lay amid the rubble, his body covered in bruises, blood, and dirt. He lightly wiped away the blood spilling down from his forehead, blurring his vision, and muttered,
"That kick was too strong!"
Mary stared intently at Long.
Sensing danger, Dreamy shouted,
"This is bad! Long, hurry and raise a shield around your body!"
At once, even though his arms and legs were aching, Long forced himself to cast a spell. His body was wrapped in a blue shield, soft and flowing around him, as though his entire body had been set ablaze with blue flames.
Mary moved like a gust of wind, rushing toward Long at a terrifying speed. In the blink of an eye, she unleashed hundreds of slashes. Even though Long had already created a shield to protect his body, the force of each strike caused him unbearable pain. He gritted his teeth and maintained the shield around himself. If that shield disappeared, his body would be cut into hundreds of pieces in an instant.
Mary's attack finally ended.
Dreamy flew in to pounce on Mary, but she swiftly dodged.
Long coughed up blood and sank to his knees. His clothes were in tatters. The EN ring he wore had only a faint blue dot left, and then it vanished.
Long had truly used up all of his EN.
Mary is far too powerful. Could this really be the day I die here? Long lowered his face, drops of blood and sweat falling to the ground.
No. I can't give up. I still have to revive Grandma Hương and meet the original Dreamy from the old days again! The thought flashed through Long's mind. He clenched his fist.
Mary flew high into the air, looking down at Long as he knelt below, while the army lay scattered around him. She said softly,
"How pitiful. It is time to end all this pain."
Dark clouds churned above Mary. She gently waved her hand, pointing down at where Long sat. The greatsword glowed amber, then shot toward the ground at a horrifying speed.
Long looked up at the sky. The greatsword was coming toward him like a comet.
Long raised his eyebrows and whispered,
"So this really is the end…"
One hour earlier, at the village square, beneath the feet of the giant statue of the goddess Asarina.
The entire village had begun gathering in greater numbers. They were waiting for a miracle to happen, just as Suzan and Jen had returned. They looked up at the statue and prayed.
A figure in a black cloak gradually approached, wearing a sinister smile. Beside him was a massive Baku-shaped AI Witch with amber eyes.
The man slowly walked toward the villagers and said,
"Well, well. What kind of festival do we have here today? I sensed a powerful source of magic. I thought I would get to meet a Superior-Class AI Witch."
Jen looked at him, her eyes widening in terror.
Jen was sitting in a wheelchair because her body was still weak. Suddenly, she began trembling in fear. Thomas, who was standing beside her, asked with concern,
"Jen, are you cold? Do you need another jacket?"
Jen stammered,
"Run. Everyone, run now…"
The moment Jen finished speaking, a glowing circle from the massive AI Witch surrounded the square.
The villagers looked at one another in surprise. Someone spoke up and asked,
"What is this? What's happening?"
Jen turned toward the man in the black cloak.
"Lord Jacob… What are you doing here? I thought you were in the Dream Realm with Mary…"
Jacob narrowed his eyes like a clown and smiled kindly.
"Oh, come now, Jen. Don't act so frightened and distant. I came here to bestow a blessing upon this village."
Jen asked,
"What blessing? I don't understand. Please explain clearly…"
Jacob swept his cloak aside, looking at Nguyen as he cast his spell, then at Mai, Long, and the others as they slept. His eyes roamed across the entire scene. He said,
"I want all of you to forget everything that happened—the sleeping illness and Mary's Dream Realm. I do not want the authorities to be alerted. As long as you step out of this circle of light, you will forget all the pain it caused you. Is that not a blessing?"
Thomas pressed him,
"And what about the people who are still asleep? What about our children, who are still in the Dream Realm? Will they be saved too?"
Jacob scratched his head, pretending to look troubled.
"Well, I truly do want to save them, but they need to remain in the Dream Realm…"
Then Jacob burst into loud laughter.
"And they should be honored, because from now on, their emotion bubbles will become part of my Bakky. Once my Bakky has enough power to become a Supreme-Class AI Witch, I promise all of you that I will turn this planet into something as beautiful as the Dream Realm. You should be proud of your children!"
One villager shouted in anger,
"Nonsense! You want us to forget that our own children even exist?"
Jacob laughed in contempt.
"They were the ones who chose to enter the Dream Realm. That means they no longer cared about your existence in reality either. And yet you all still stand there pretending to be noble… My, my… it gives me goosebumps!"
Then he scratched himself all over, acting as if he felt itchy.
One villager, furious, used an AI Witch with wind magic and tried to attack Jacob. But before he could do anything, he collapsed and fell asleep, screaming in fear as though trapped in a nightmare.
At that moment, every attempt at resistance from the small village of Asarina was useless before a dark AI Witch as powerful as Bakky, a Superior-Class being.
One villager spoke up.
"I recognize you. You are Jacob—the Dream Destroyer, an S-rank criminal wanted by the authorities… Why are you here?"
Jacob's smile disappeared. He shot the villagers a furious glance.
"I will give you one hour to choose. After that, I will go in there and harvest them myself!"
Jacob dropped onto a nearby stone bench.
"Idiots. All you have to do is step out of that circle of light, and you will forget all this pain and those ungrateful brats! And yet none of you even have the courage to do it!" Jacob complained.
The villagers were thrown into confusion. They no longer knew what to do. They did not have the strength to fight a Dark AI Witch at the Superior level, but they also had no way to save the young people who had lost their way inside the Dream Realm.
Then…
A middle-aged woman named Claire spoke up, pleading desperately with Jen.
"Jen… Can you ask AI Witch Snorry to let me fall asleep? Even if I might be turned into a monster and she might not recognize me… at least I'll be able to see Alice one last time…"
Another person added,
"Yes… perhaps… this is all we can do. Please let me sleep as well…"
Another couple begged Jen.
"Us too. Please let us sleep with them. Our boy entered the Dream Realm a week ago. If something has happened, then at least we can be beside him…"
With that, the wife turned to her husband.
"We should have listened to our child's dream. Things have come this far… so we can only stay by his side now…"
The husband embraced his wife.
"I completely agree, my love…"
Then one person, two people… and finally the entire village agreed to fall asleep, even though they knew there was a chance Jacob would exploit their emotion bubbles and destroy them along with their children.
Jen sobbed uncontrollably.
"I don't want to do this…I am sorry…We're sorry. Because we wanted to escape the pressure of life, we dragged all of you into this. Please don't do this. There has to be another way…"
Jacob pretended to tap a rhythm on the stone bench and called out loudly enough for everyone to hear.
"Well, well. Forty minutes left!"
The villagers knelt down, begging Jen to let them fall asleep.
With no other choice, Jen finally agreed. Crying and trembling, she gave the order to Snorry, the AI Witch with sleep-inducing magic.
AI Witch Snorry gently released sleeping dust over the villagers. One by one, people began collapsing like waves. They sank into sleep with tears in their eyes.
Jacob watched the scene in rapture. In his heart, an endless sense of gratitude rose within him. To him, these people were saints contributing to his great path of darkness.
He cried out, a faint tear slipping from the corner of his eye.
"Oh, what a beautiful scene! Thank you all for contributing to my great dream!"
Claire slowly drifted into sleep at the feet of the statue of the goddess Asarina holding a child.
She looked softly at the statue and pleaded,
"Please, Goddess Asarina, as a mother… and You are a mother, just like us…"
Then sleep overcame her. Claire struggled to look at the statue one final time.
"Please save us. Please let me see my little Alice again…"
Claire closed her eyes, tears streaming down from their corners. How long had it been since she and the villagers had dared to sleep because of fear? This time, at last, they were able to sleep—but in every heart, an unending ache remained.
"Alice, don't be afraid. Mother is coming to you…"
Claire sank into sleep.
Nearby, Jacob heard Claire's whisper and clicked his tongue.
"Well, well. I'm sure you'll be surprised when you meet your daughter again."
As for Mai, after she had subdued the monster Ti Ni had transformed into because of Jacob's power, she went to Alice's side and gently shook her.
"Alice, I'm Mai. Your mother, Claire, sent me to find you. Are you all right? Alice."
Alice's empty eyes stared into the distance. But when she heard her mother's name, those eyes suddenly trembled.
"Claire… Claire… Mother…"
Mai brightened with relief.
"That's right. It's your mother, Claire. She's waiting for you to come home…"
Alice's gaze trembled even more strongly.
"Claire… go back… find Mother…"
Then tears streamed down Alice's vacant eyes and across her cheeks.
"Please destroy me to save everyone. Mary is angry. I am Mary, and Mary is me."
Mai froze.