Sunday had never seen Dreammaster so terrified.
The last time...
Was when Dreammaster had lost his physical body.
That was the first time he had ever experienced true fear of death.
"Mr. Gopher Wood."
"We meet again."
Evan waved casually before finding himself a seat inside the mansion.
He crossed one leg over the other and looked at Gopher Wood with a faint smile.
"I've been looking for you for quite some time."
"I never expected to find you here."
"So the twelve dream districts really aren't connected to one another."
"Oh, and Mr. Sunday..."
"There's no need to be so nervous."
"I'm just here to catch up with Mr. Gopher Wood."
"Even if we've only known each other for a short while."
Evan smiled politely and sat down.
For a brief moment...
Silence filled the room.
Not just from Gopher Wood and Sunday.
Firefly and Sparkle were equally stunned.
Firefly never imagined...
That the man before her was actually an Emanator.
That possibility had never appeared anywhere in Elio's script.
Someone like him...
Becoming an Emanator...
It was almost unbelievable.
As for Sparkle...
An Emanator?
So what?
Even if an Aeon appeared before her...
She'd only be surprised for a moment before treating it as another joke.
Sensing that Evan wasn't planning to attack...
Gopher Wood gradually regained his composure.
The fear in his voice disappeared.
Leaving behind only cold indifference.
"Emanator."
"What exactly do you intend to do?"
Evan slowly closed his eyes.
Ignoring Gopher Wood completely.
Instead...
He focused on searching for the treasure chest hidden somewhere within Dewlight Pavilion.
Soon...
A brilliant golden glow appeared before his senses.
Found it.
"What am I planning to do?"
He opened one eye slightly.
"I'm here as a guest."
"And while I'm at it..."
"I figured I'd help Mr. Sunday catch the traitor."
"We appreciate the offer."
Sunday answered calmly.
"But catching traitors won't trouble an honored Emanator like yourself."
"As you can see..."
"The Family has its own Bloodhounds."
"They're more than capable of finding traitors anywhere in Penacony."
"..."
Evan simply narrowed his eyes.
Without another word...
He shifted his attention entirely toward the treasure chest before him.
A golden chest?
Interesting.
Even back in Golden Hour...
The richest district in Penacony...
The best he'd found was only a silver chest.
Yet here...
Within Dewlight Pavilion—
Penacony's political center—
He had found a golden one.
Well...
That certainly made sense.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! A Golden Treasure Chest has been discovered!]
[Would you like to claim it?]
Of course.
Take it.
[Would you like to open the treasure chest?]
Obviously.
Who would leave a golden chest unopened?
[Congratulations! Treasure Chest opened!]
[Reward obtained: Fragment of the Path of Order.]
[Fragment of the Path of Order]
[A fragment of the Path once belonging to the fallen Aeon Ena, stripped away from Xipe after the Paths merged. Possessing it grants a chance to glimpse the foundation required to become an Aeon.]
"..."
"...What?"
A fragment...
Of the Path of Order?
Order...
The ancient Path that existed before Harmony rose to prominence.
Its Aeon—
Enai.
An Aeon who sought to overturn the inevitable fate awaiting all things.
Thus...
The Celestial Choir was born.
Their eternal songs carried the melody of Order throughout the cosmos.
But with the birth of Tayzzyronth...
The Aeon of Propagation...
The ancient Path of Order gradually declined.
Ena could no longer suppress Propagation.
At that same moment...
The Path of Harmony emerged.
Eventually...
Ena was absorbed by Xipe.
The Celestial Choir lost the very faith that sustained them.
Their once-majestic hymns faded into silence.
And the stars themselves fell quiet.
Today...
Only a handful of recordings preserved by enthusiasts still remained.
Unfortunately...
The last surviving phonograph had been destroyed during the Emperor's War.
From that day onward...
Order disappeared completely.
The Path of Order once possessed two major factions.
The Purity Church.
And the Celestial Choir.
But as Harmony's voice echoed ever louder...
Order was completely swallowed.
Merged into Harmony itself.
"..."
"No, seriously."
"Why are you giving me a fragment of the Path of Order at a time like this?"
"A chance to become an Aeon?"
"You really expect me to believe that?"
Even Sunday...
After becoming the Lord of the Eternal Day...
Hadn't reached the level of a pseudo-Aeon.
At best...
He was merely an incomplete Emanator.
One who could be effortlessly shattered by Harmony's voice.
Still...
It had come from a golden treasure chest.
Ignoring it altogether somehow felt wasteful.
[Please rest assured, Host.]
[This fragment predates Ena's fall.]
[It is a pure fragment of the Path itself, containing the foundation required to ascend as an Aeon.]
"..."
Enai.
The long-devoured Aeon of Order.
Nearly everything that had once defined Order...
Now existed within Harmony.
Compared to the singular nature of Order...
Harmony was infinitely more inclusive.
"..."
"Into the warehouse you go."
"I have no intention of keeping something that'll eventually get swallowed by Harmony."
Whether Aeons...
Or the Paths themselves...
They were all shackles.
Just like Ena had been.
Aeons were born from their Paths.
And in turn...
They became the living embodiment of those Paths.
They appeared omnipotent.
But...
Were they truly free?
Lan existed only to hunt Yaoshi.
Vengeance.
That was the Hunt's very essence.
Nanook existed solely to bring destruction.
Every Lord Ravager merely fulfilled Nanook's will.
Finality.
Elation.
Trailblaze.
Even Tayzzyronth of Propagation.
Every Aeon lived only to embody their respective Path.
But...
Were they free?
No.
Long, the Permanence...
Fell because even he could never fully define true permanence.
After his fall...
Abundance and Propagation emerged from his shattered Path.
Leaving the Vidyadhara...
Unable to reproduce naturally.
The emergence of Equilibrium gave rise to Voracity beyond Preservation.
Abundance appeared opposite the Hunt.
Mythus emerged alongside Erudition.
The universe constantly birthed new opposites.
Honestly...
That was far more entertaining.
"Hehehehehe..."
The instant Evan tossed the Fragment of Order into his system inventory—
Something unexpected happened.
The strange mask resting inside the inventory suddenly trembled.
A bizarre laugh echoed beside his ear.
At that exact same moment—
Inside Dewlight Pavilion...
Sparkle's expression suddenly changed.
Gopher Wood.
Sunday.
Firefly.
All three sensed it immediately.
A strange laughter...
Had somehow pierced through the dream itself.
Who?
Who could possibly ignore Penacony's dreamscape…
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