Caelus watched Stelle hopping around in front of him, then pulling an Origami Bird out from a gap.
"How many does that make? I think I'm still three or four short of completing this map. Oh, right, there's a treasure chest over there!"
"That's not a treasure chest, that's someone's suitcase!"
"Ugh! What kind of decent person uses a treasure chest as a suitcase?"
"You did the same thing on Herta Space Station. Are you planning to do that in Penacony too? Stop it!"
"There's a bird flying in the sky over there that I can't reach. Damn it! Why doesn't this game have a jump button?"
"This isn't a game! And you have knees, so you can jump. Why do you insist on pretending you're restricted and can't jump?"
"You don't understand, March 7th. This is a game. It's boring if you break the rules."
"Sigh! You were acting like you were dying before, so why are you so lively now? Have you forgotten that your new friend died right in front of you?"
"No, I still remember. I'm just using this way to avoid my own cowardice and incompetence. I just don't know what to do. I don't know what the right thing to do is, so I'm using this way to temporarily escape the pain in my heart..."
Stelle's expression suddenly lost its vitality, and the light seemed to fade from her eyes. She stood in place, looking up at the night sky above.
"I still remember. I spent all her remaining credits buying all kinds of delicious food. In the end, she told me that was all the pocket money she had left. I was thinking I would compensate her later, take her out for a proper meal, and help her while I was at it. But why? Why hadn't that promise been fulfilled yet? Why hadn't I treated her to an oak cake even once? Why did it end up like this..."
"I... I can't do anything."
"Stelle..."
"I'm fine, March 7th. Let me be quiet for a moment."
Caelus watched Stelle walk away. He saw her take out her phone as she left and stare blankly at a photo.
It seemed to be a photo of her and Firefly together.
Caelus did not say much. Although he knew the script's arrangement, he would not step in at this moment.
Afterward, he went to find another person, a Galaxy Ranger who called herself Acheron.
But in reality, this Ms. Acheron was actually an Emanator of Nihility. As for how such an existence entered Penacony, she had killed the Duke Inferno of the Ever-Flame Mansion and seized the invitation to Penacony from his hands.
All of this was recorded in the script. Caelus was curious about why someone like her, who had walked so far on the Path of Nihility, could still dream.
How could an existence at the level of an Emanator of Nihility, who had seized so much power from Nihility, still be able to dream, while he could not? Even though their level of Nihility power was basically equal.
And Acheron, who was wandering alone in the dream, seemed to suddenly notice something and turned to look in Caelus's direction.
At this moment, the two looked at each other.
"Have we met somewhere before?"
Acheron turned and walked toward Caelus as she asked.
"This is our first meeting. At least in my memories so far, this is our first time meeting."
"Is that so? Sorry, I don't know why, but I always feel a sense of familiarity from you. Maybe I'm mistaken. After all, my memory isn't very good. Sorry to bother you."
Caelus watched Acheron leave. Her perception was sharp. Normal people would not have been able to detect his gaze, which was hidden behind his ordinary presence. Yet Acheron had noticed it. If not for the layer of camouflage disguising him as an ordinary existence, she would definitely have discovered his strong resemblance to Stelle and would have been able to see the Nihility power hidden within his body.
Thanks to the Memokeeper and Gallagher he had met earlier, both of whom had reminded him that his disguise had flaws, it was now more perfect, ensuring that he would not be discovered immediately.
Caelus stopped thinking about these things and, according to the script's records, arrived at the place where Sunday would eventually have his showdown with the Astral Express and the others, the Penacony Grand Theater.
At this moment, he sat in a corner of the auditorium, closed his eyes, and slowly used Equilibrium to mobilize the power in his body, keeping every shred of power in perfect balance, all opposing each other while constantly merging.
He had already done what he needed to do. Now, he only had to wait for the final moment to arrive.
As he adjusted his state, the real difficulty was not actually the confrontation with the main cast, or even the Aeon behind the scenes, but rather forging a perfect dream that could truly allow people to sleep forever.
After all, the desires of sentient beings were endless. If a beautiful dream satisfied a dreamer's requests without any bottom line, then over the years, the dream might be polluted by the will of all living beings. In the end, even if it grew, it might become an existence similar to the Warp in Warhammer. This was not what Caelus hoped for, so he also had to find a point of balance within it, then bring it into Equilibrium.
This matter was very difficult and especially troublesome, but since he had already decided to do it, he should not complain.
Time began to pass as he meditated.
Aventurine, one of the Ten Stonehearts of the IPC's Strategic Investment Department, used his own death to reveal the existence of the second layer of the dream, but as the price, he endured a slash from an Emanator of Nihility.
The existence of the second layer of the dream was revealed, and the secrets began to gradually surface.
In that second layer of the dream, they saw the deceased Robin. It turned out that she had also died in the dream and subsequently arrived at Dreamflux Reef.
The Trailblazer chased after the Watchmaker's Legacy, solved layers of puzzles, and eventually learned that the Watchmaker was Mikhail, one of the three Trailblazers who had stayed behind.
More and more secrets were revealed, and more and more unknowns became known.
In this process, naturally, Stelle also learned that Firefly's true identity was Sam of the Stellaron Hunters.
The previous separation also made the reunion more precious.
When everything surfaced, people learned of Sunday's plan, decided to resist, and decided to break that illusory dream. As a member of the Stellaron Hunters, Firefly also had to face her own death.
The script continued to play out. When the Trailblazers of the Astral Express united and, after passing Sunday's constant philosophical reflections and questions, walked into the Grand Theater, they saw the mastermind who had been waiting in the center of the stage for a long time.
And Sunday, standing in the center of the stage, did not look at the members of the Astral Express who were slowly walking toward him at first, but instead looked at the young man who had been sitting in the upper-left corner with his eyes closed.
After the members of the Astral Express formally arrived opposite him, Sunday withdrew his gaze and looked calmly at the people walking over.
"I know why you have come. To you, the illusory dream is ultimately fake, and you want to follow the philosophy of Trailblaze and continue moving forward. There is no absolute right or wrong between us. This is a struggle of philosophies... Trailblazer of the Trailblaze, if you feel that what I have done is wrong and cannot be implemented, then defeat me. Only in this way can 'my' plan be ended."
Sunday said this with a smile, and when he reached the end, he emphasized the word "my."
Then he ascended into the sky, and the surroundings and ceiling of the Grand Theater were all torn open amid a burst of light.
Harmonious Choir, Dominicus, appeared.
Of course, all of the above happened within the dream.
The dream of "The One" had already been woven, and all living beings had already fallen into the dream.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)