Chapter 66

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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Chapter 66: The City of Dreamers (6)

Oscar scanned the unfocused gazes directed at him, deep in thought.

‘Come to think of it, the butler at the Vince mansion did mention that no stores would be open on Christmas.’

But in this dreamlike street, some shops were operating as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

This upscale restaurant was one of them.

‘Which means... the people working in these open establishments are all…’

They were all distorted entities created by the Nightmare Baron—like Veronica's parents.

The moment he realized that, a waiter silently crept up behind him and swung a wine bottle.

『Wind Bullet』

Without even turning around, he fired a bullet that punctured the waiter's head clean through.

Hissss.

As the dead waiter dissolved into black smoke, the customers who witnessed it murmured in shock.

"Some-someone just died…?"

"A murder, it's a murder!"

"Run!"

Not realizing the waiter wasn't human, the customers screamed in terror and fled outside.

‘Actually, this works out better for me.’

With the patrons gone, there’d be no interruptions during the fight.

He glanced at Veronica and spoke.

"Now you see, don't you? They're not human."

"..."

She was too stunned to respond.

"Hey, you..."

Oscar was about to add something when enemies started pouring in from all directions.

"Tch."

Dozens of figures armed with steak knives, cellos, and frying pans rushed at him en masse.

Leaping onto a table to evade them, he began shooting them one by one in the head as he fled.

‘About 30 of them? If it’s just this many, I can handle it alone…’

Just as he allowed himself a moment of optimism—

Crash!

The front and back doors of the restaurant shattered as another wave of lifeless-eyed enemies surged in.

"Damn it. How many are there?"

There were so many that the end of their procession was nowhere in sight.

It seemed every corrupted entity in the shopping district had gathered here.

‘This might be a bit much to handle alone.’

The number was overwhelming, but the spatial limitations of the building were the real problem.

『Air Explosion』

Oscar cast a wide-area spell from the second floor, blasting back the enemies climbing the stairs.

He shouted loudly.

"Veronica! Snap out of it!"

"..."

Despite his repeated cries, she remained frozen, overwhelmed by confusion.

"What’s going on?"

Veronica’s pupils trembled as she watched the chaotic battle unfold.

"Are we really inside a dream? And my parents—they’re false entities?"

Shaking her head as if to deny the idea, her mind swirled with memories of happy moments spent with her parents.

‘So… all these memories, are they lies fabricated by that Nightmare Baron?’

Her eyes quivered.

Fear crept in.

If it were true, then who was she, standing here now?

From a seemingly ordinary girl with a poor but loving family—

To suddenly being a girl with no family at all.

"Veronica."

Her mother and father approached her, speaking softly.

"Let’s leave this place while we can."

"It’s too dangerous here. Let’s go back home and wait for things to settle."

"...Home?"

At that word, a familiar image flashed through her mind.

A picturesque cottage atop a hill overlooking a green meadow dotted with delicate white flowers.

She remembered hanging laundry with her mother there, while her father chopped firewood nearby.

Even amidst the hard work, they would always smile at each other.

For reasons she couldn’t explain, tears streamed down her cheeks as the memory surfaced.

"Let’s go. Quickly now."

Her mother, looking frightened, gently grabbed her arm and tried to pull her away.

But Veronica’s feet wouldn’t budge.

"Veronica?"

Hearing her name, she asked calmly.

"The white flowers that bloom in front of our house. What are they called?"

"Flowers? Well, they’re just… flowers."

"Daffodils. And if my memory’s right, it was Mom who told me their name."

"I’ve been forgetful lately; I’m sorry. But let’s talk after we leave here, okay?"

"Yes, Veronica, listen to your mother. We don’t know when we might get caught in the fighting…"

"Mom. Dad."

She turned slowly, looking directly at the two of them.

"What are your names?"

"..."

"..."

There was no answer.

Their faces stiffened awkwardly, as if they were malfunctioning, before they let out a long sigh.

"What kind of question is that? You’re not seriously believing what that boy said, are you? I’m your mother."

"Veronica, no matter what anyone says, I’m your father. We’re family. That’s all that matters."

"..."

Veronica glanced over at Oscar.

On the second-floor landing, he was desperately holding back more than a hundred enemies.

The corrupted entities were now using their own bodies to form ladders to climb up.

"Damn it...!"

Cornered, Oscar struggled.

A chef grabbed his ankle while a baker from a nearby shop latched onto his sleeve.

Yet, even then, he didn’t give up, fighting to fend off the endless waves.

"..."

For some reason, the scene reminded her of the time she collapsed pathetically at the power plant.

She recalled the way he had patted her head, reassuring her that everything would be fine.

Veronica spoke suddenly.

"…Stroke my head."

"What? Now? In this situation, you’re asking me to—"

"Do it. Quickly!"

Her mother hesitantly reached out and stroked her head.

Feeling the touch for a moment, Veronica chuckled bitterly.

"…What a joke. People always say a mother’s touch is the best, but it’s nonsense."

After all, the warmest touch she’d ever felt was the one Oscar had given her.

Veronica muttered softly.

"Sorry, but I don’t think I can go with you."

"Veronica! We can make you happy if you come with us!"

"Aren’t we the family you’ve always wished for? If you come with us, you can live without worries, in peace."

"…Maybe."

Even if this was a dream and they were false entities,

she couldn’t deny that she had felt a fleeting happiness here.

But going with them wasn’t an option.

"My name is Veronica Fricks. A mage of the White Tower."

Her gaze shifted to one corner of the room.

To that idiot, cornered and overwhelmed in the shop’s corner, who had taught her this lesson:

"…A White Tower mage never abandons their comrades."

Especially not for something as fleeting as an illusion.

Crackle! Spark!

Sharp mana crackled around her like electricity.

"Wait."

"Veronica...!"

Ignoring the panicked voices of the two before her, she softly bid them farewell.

"…Goodbye."

『Wind Press』

Boom!

Compressed air crushed the two, dissolving them into black smoke.

Veronica let out a bitter smile.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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* * *

"Argh!"

There was nowhere left to retreat.

Cornered at the edge, Oscar bit his lip as he watched the enemies close in.

Even now, he was whittling down their numbers, but there were far too many.

No matter how many he killed, their ranks didn’t seem to thin.

Oscar-style Martial Arts, Secret Technique Chapter 1:

Wave Sound.

BOOOOM!

Dozens of the twisted beings exploded all at once, scattering into smoke.

Ordinarily, when an ally is horrifically killed beside you, fear is the natural reaction.

But these twisted beings didn’t so much as blink, filling the gaps without hesitation.

“Ah, damn it.”

In a moment of carelessness, he lost sight of one wielding a steak knife.

As Oscar widened his eyes at the frying pan descending toward his head—

Krrrrunch!

A compressed gust of wind fell, crushing the twisted beings, quite literally, into the ground.

Fwoooosh.

As the thick black smoke that had filled the view began to dissipate, an all-too-familiar face awkwardly broke the silence.

“Uh… big sis is here. You’ve been waiting, right?”

“...Don’t call yourself my sister.”

What kind of sister would cause this much chaos?

As Oscar met her sheepish gaze with half-lidded eyes, she avoided his stare and smacked his back.

“Hey, I showed up, didn’t I? Besides, I got here before anything really bad happened.”

“Before anything really bad? Look at me! I’m scraped up here, cut here, and burned over there.”

“...Well, then, isn’t it lucky I arrived before you died?”

What an absolutely selfish woman.

Oscar’s exasperated expression melted into a dry chuckle.

“Ha, you really are a piece of work.”

“Ah, geez, sorry, okay? But seriously, right now….”

She fixed her gaze on the beings surrounding the two.

“Getting rid of these things takes priority.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

Whoosh! Whoosh!

With deft movements, Veronica manipulated the threads woven between her hands.

They were magical threads, conjured from mana.

“Why bother taking them out one by one?”

“What?”

“Let’s sweep them all away at once!”

Ssssshhh!

The magical threads burst forth from her fingers, slicing through the restaurant ceiling.

“This is ridiculous….”

Oscar couldn’t help but grumble, even as he hurled the massive chunks of falling debris at the enemies.

CRASH! BOOM!

The twisted beings crushed under the rubble disintegrated into clouds of smoke.

“See? Feels satisfying, doesn’t it?”

“…Yeah, maybe a little.”

“Take a breather. I’ll handle the rest.”

Whoosh!

She swung a chunk of debris tethered to her magical threads like a slingshot.

With each swing, groups of twisted beings evaporated into smoke.

“Spotted Veronica and Oscar in the marketplace! We’re joining in!”

Senior mages from the White Tower descended through the gaping hole in the ceiling.

Oscar finally felt a wave of relief as he let out a small sigh.

Fwoooosh.

The last twisted being dissipated into smoke.

“What happens now?”

A senior mage approached, asking the question.

Oscar explained everything he knew.

“To my knowledge, once we eliminate all the twisted beings, we automatically wake up from the dream.”

“Really? Then why are we still…?”

“Ah, it’s starting.”

Oscar’s gaze swept the surroundings as he murmured.

Just as he said, the senior mage standing nearby vanished.

As if they had never been there to begin with.

“What the… that’s anticli—”

Before Veronica could finish her thought, she vanished too.

The senior mage let out a sigh of relief.

“So it’s over. We just have to wait, huh? See you outside.”

“Yeah, see you in reality.”

Soon, the senior mage also disappeared.

Now left alone in the suddenly silent street, Oscar instinctively spread his mana.

‘…They’re all gone.’

Detecting no human life signals in his search, he felt reassured—until he heard it.

Clink! Clatter!

Shards, like broken glass, began raining from the sky.

Startled, he looked up to see the world itself crumbling, like old wallpaper being torn apart.

“…”

He’d experienced countless dreams, but witnessing the collapse of the dream world was a first.

‘Is it because this dream space housed tens of thousands of people?’

As the question formed in his mind, he felt it—a gaze from beyond the crumbling sky.

“…”

It was a gaze steeped in malice and contempt for humanity.

But it also bore a sharp, almost obsessive curiosity directed at him.

Oscar’s face hardened.

He had seen such eyes before, on a demon lord.

‘The Nightmare Baron.’

As the Nightmare Baron looked at him, he stared back.

And then, the demon’s deep voice resonated in his ears.

—How amusing.

As if the Baron found this all unbearably entertaining, a low laugh rumbled through the air, and the world shattered completely.

—We’ll meet again, mage.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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