A land of shattered memories. A broken Reverie Hotel.
It was an upside-down, fractured world.
As Acheron and Black Swan fell through it, they landed steadily within that strange space.
"How interesting. An inverted world?"
"Even the power of memory is reversed here."
The two of them landed safely, but when they looked up, they realized—
the place they had landed on was probably not the floor at all.
It was the ceiling.
"Beautiful Miss Acheron, would you care to explore this unknown world with me?"
Having fallen into this inverted and shattered dreamland, Black Swan had regained a bit of her composure.
That overwhelming feeling of being utterly crushed by Acheron had faded for now.
Even if she no longer dared pry into Acheron's memories, Black Swan still remained deeply intrigued by this mysterious girl.
"Sure."
Acheron thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement to Black Swan's invitation.
"I can protect you, messenger of memory."
"And in this world made of memoria, I need your help as well."
"Besides, if we run into anyone from the Family, having one more person around will make explaining things easier."
"...Hm?"
Black Swan looked at the girl before her with mild surprise.
This girl seemed rather different from what she had expected.
She really was... simple.
But if she was this straightforward, then what exactly was that thing inside her memory world?
That thing was nothing like the girl standing in front of her now. It had not been easy to deal with at all.
Really—
it had been terrifying. She had nearly died in there.
Memokeepers had no physical bodies to begin with.
To put it simply, they were all memetic beings.
If she had been erased in the world of memory, then she would truly have died.
Keeping her signature smile, Black Swan looked at Acheron and said,
"It's a pleasure to travel with you, Miss Acheron."
"Mhm. I'm happy to travel with you too, Miss Black Swan."
With that, Acheron held her blade in hand and began exploring the place alongside Black Swan.
It didn't take long before the two of them found a door leading to another room within the inverted space.
"How strange. Why are all the rooms here upside down?"
"The form of this world is changing every second."
"I think this is a hidden space within Penacony."
"There must be some kind of secret buried here."
Black Swan folded her arms over her chest and quietly examined the surrounding space.
To her, a world like this was nothing unusual at all.
In fact, it was so normal to her that it felt almost abnormal.
The reason memoria was so useful throughout the universe was precisely because of its malleability.
At this moment, the place where the two of them stood was technically the ceiling of this room.
And yet, relative to them, it was also the floor.
The entire space had been twisted.
There were even quite a few memoria monsters roaming about.
But just as Black Swan understood the nature of this memory world, for Acheron, these monsters were hardly worth mentioning.
One slash was enough.
She didn't even need to spend any real effort.
"As expected of the famous Galaxy Ranger. Your swordsmanship truly is extraordinary."
"With Miss Acheron protecting me, I suppose I have nothing to fear anymore."
Black Swan spoke in a flattering tone.
"You're impressive too. At the very least, I wouldn't know how to escape a world made of memoria like this."
"If one slash could solve it, that'd be one thing."
"But if there's something hidden here, then that's a different matter."
Acheron slowly sheathed the blade in her hand.
"It's just that this space seems to be sealed by that door."
"Should I just cut it open?"
Frowning, Acheron stared at the tightly locked door before her and fell into thought.
"No need. Let me sense it first."
"If there's another exit, that would be a better option."
Black Swan narrowed her eyes and carefully observed the space ahead, sinking into deep thought.
But only a moment later, her expression turned strange.
"What is it?"
"This space is too distorted. Just as I said before, it's changing every second."
"The moment I find an exit, it disappears."
"What exactly is this place?"
"And where is the real exit?"
"..."
Acheron fell silent, then once again drew the blade in her hand.
Clearly, she was preparing to give the door a clean slash.
What kind of nonsense was this?
A twisted dream world had blocked the way out for both her and this woman. It was thoroughly annoying.
"Then I'll just cut it down."
"W-Wait, Miss Acheron, you—"
Before Black Swan could finish speaking, the blade in Acheron's hand had already been waiting impatiently for its chance.
One strike came down.
It slashed heavily into the door before them.
A blade of light flashed across the space.
"Alright. Let's go."
"Ah... fine. Miss Acheron, could you at least warn me next time before you swing?"
"Understood. I'll warn you next time."
"...Well, I doubt you'd listen no matter how much I said."
Black Swan put away the tarot cards in her hand.
And if one looked carefully, the cards she held bore several familiar figures upon them—
The Fool, Acheron.
The Stellaron Hunter, Firefly.
And one card that carried Robin's likeness.
...
The Golden Hour.
A black crow perched atop the statue of Clockie, while on the ground below stood a small Pepeshi.
Don't let the Pepeshi's small stature fool you.
There was a good chance they were older than you by quite a bit.
"Damn that Emanator of Elation!"
"No, no, no—he's not just an Emanator of Elation, he's an Emanator of three Paths!"
"Who said only three? He has five Paths! Five! That's impossible! There's never been anyone in the universe with five Paths before! That monster's an abomination!"
"Haha, good thing I was clever enough to leave preparations outside Dewlight Pavilion!"
"He killed me! He killed my avatar!"
"What do you mean your avatar, my avatar? They're all me!"
The black crow glared viciously at the people below.
There were Pepeshi, mechanical beings, and various other races.
But without exception—
every single one of them was part of his consciousness.
All of them were him.
The black crow's gaze was chillingly lucid.
Perhaps this was the true seat of Dreammaster Gopher Wood's consciousness.
Who would have thought that the Dreammaster's true consciousness did not reside in any human body at all—
but in a black crow?
"Crows are symbols of good fortune. Yet those ignorant fools have twisted them into omens of evil."
"No one understands that crows are auspicious creatures."
Just like Order.
But Gopher Wood did not dare say such words aloud.
Even though he had already taken full control of this dream world, he still didn't dare.
Because even if the Oak Family numbered more than a hundred thousand strong—
Penacony had five great families.
Though he was the Dreammaster, how could the others possibly be of one heart with him?
"Kill that Emanator! Kill that Emanator!"
"Yes! Kill the Emanator! Summon the Harmonic Choir! Kill the Emanator!"
"Shh! Don't panic! The Charmony Festival is about to begin!"
"But Robin is dead! Robin is dead!"
"Robin is dead, but Sunday is still here!"
"Sunday has already begun to suspect you! Sunday has already begun to suspect you!"
"Enough! You useless fools!"
A hoarse voice burst from the crow's beak, and the people around him immediately returned to normal.
The Pepeshi looked at the Clockie statue in confusion, shook his head, and left Clockie Plaza.
Only the crow remained perched atop the statue, staring at the entire Golden Hour with those deep, ominous eyes.
"Emanator."
"So what if you're an Emanator? Sunday—if you cannot complete our plan..."
"Then I won't mind taking matters into my own hands, my child."
I hold the lives of countless Penacony guests in my grasp.
If that Emanator dares risk becoming wanted by the entire universe...
then I'll admit defeat.
But do you dare?
Emanator?
The lives at stake here aren't just strangers.
Your companions are here too.
Your friends.
The people you care about.
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