Chapter 233

Words : 2129 Updated : Oct 5th, 2025

Chapter 233 A heavy silence hung over the training ground, as though the world had come to a complete stop. But then Amir suddenly returned to his position, making it seem like nothing had happened. However, Zayed, who hadn’t moved from the center of the training ground, was completely baffled. “What are you talking about all of a sudden?” “...” “It must be worse than I thought. Forget about sparring; I should take you to the hospital—” Swoosh! A chilling sound resounded throughout the training ground. Moving his gaze from Amir’s dagger, which he had narrowly dodged, to Amir’s face, Zayed displayed utter shock on his face. “Amir, you—” “If only I had a little more time, we could have settled this through talking.” Amir knew. He knew that Zayed only appeared lighthearted and was actually more thoughtful than anyone. But they didn’t have the luxury for a lengthy conversation right now. Tightening his grip on the daggers given by Se-Hoon, Amir took a stance. “I’m sorry, cousin.” Thud! Amir shot forward and slashed his dagger. Startled by the sharp attack, Zayed quickly retaliated. Clang! Four daggers simultaneously clashed in midair. Compared to Amir, who mercilessly slashed toward Zayed's vital points, Zayed could only retreat, barely fending him off. “Amir! Wait a minute—” What on earth was happening? Unable to comprehend the sudden attack, Zayed tried to reason with Amir, but Amir relentlessly pressed his assault. Thud thud thud! Pressing forward, Amir created ice spikes with Frost Alchemy and had them rain down from all sides. Encircled by them, Zayed quickly moved to counter the incoming spikes. Swoosh- Zayed slashed through them all, leaving a mist of purple sword aura that lingered in the air before exploding outward in all directions. Bang! With almost absurd ease, Zayed blocked all of the incoming attacks. However, Amir had anticipated as much and calmly continued to unleash his onslaught. Crack! Extending the length of his dagger with Frost Alchemy to deceive Zayed, tricking his sense of distance, Amir abruptly froze the ground beneath Zayed to break his balance before lunging forward in one swift motion. Again, ice spikes rained down from all directions toward Zayed. But now they were mingled with silent, transparent ice blades. Observing the fight from the side, Se-Hoon couldn’t help but be impressed by how smoothly Amir exercised the series of attacks. He’s improved a lot. While Amir’s Frost Alchemy hadn’t changed much, it was obvious that his dagger techniques had evolved significantly. He must have been pretty upset about losing to me back then. Perhaps, after being forcibly shown his vulnerability when his Frost Alchemy was neutralized, he began focusing on training his close combat skills. From how he was fighting, he might even stand a chance against an A-rank opponent if he launched a surprise attack. It was an astounding rate of growth compared to the Frost Dog’s. Woong- Unfortunately, it still wasn’t enough to defeat the opponent in front of him. Zayed’s sword trembled, leaving countless afterimages that filled the surrounding space. In an instant, Zayed cut through Amir’s relentless barrage with his wall of sword aura. He then grasped the opening and effortlessly slipped a dagger through, striking back. Clang! “Guh...!?” The situation was overturned with a single move. Unlike Amir, who failed to break through Zayed’s defense even once, Zayed did it with a single move, not even needing to aim for vital spots. The sheer difference in their levels made Se-Hoon narrow his eyes. He might not be the strongest, but he’s definitely an S-rank. Even after a long period of confinement in the Dream Castle, Zayed had grown stronger. And while that alone was shocking enough, Zayed’s dagger technique truly caught Se-Hoon’s attention. How many techniques did he mix? If Amir’s technique was just his family’s dagger technique with some variations he added, Zayed’s technique was so convoluted that its origins were unrecognizable. It was a chaotic blend of countless dagger techniques, pieced together with ruthless efficiency. A technique developed after countless failures... Rather than focusing on the picture the puzzle pieces formed, Zayed had created his dagger technique by seemingly only caring about fitting the pieces together by shape and breaking them if they didn’t fit so that he could start all over again. His technique was the result of cold, mechanical repetition. It was what earned him the title of S-rank in the dream realm. It was a method that felt eerily familiar to Se-Hoon, who was watching Zayed intently, for some unknown reason. Slice- “?!” Surprising everyone, Zayed’s sword aura slashed through Se-Hoon’s upper body all of a sudden, spraying blood everywhere. Seeing Se-Hoon collapse, Amir’s eyes went wide in shock. “I guess he really was the cause of this all,” Zayed muttered calmly, a stark contrast to Amir. “What did you just...” “The Dream Demon probably sent him. How bothersome.” Sighing, Zayed turned to Amir, and, with a voice now full of pity, said, “Amir, it’s you that is playing into the Dream Demon’s tricks right now.” “What are you talking about...?” “Do you really think this is all a dream?” Amir’s eyes wavered. Everything felt so real, it screamed that it was reality. And even though he had memories that told him the world wasn’t real, he couldn’t definitively claim they were true. After all, with the power of dreams, the Dream Demon could easily create memories that felt this vivid. “I...” “You must be confused. Someone as sharp as you would have already come up with several explanations to patch the holes. But look.” Slice- Blood began slowly pooling, dripping to the ground from the light cut Zayed had made on his arm. “Hey...!” “If I really was dreaming, like you said, something should have changed the moment I felt the pain. But nothing has.” The sight of blood trickling down Zayed’s arm, the pungent smell of iron, and the onlookers murmuring as they watched—everything felt too real. At this, Amir’s eyes finally began trembling. He quickly tried to process everything from the start. This place was definitely a dream; he knew that. And yet, faced with the undeniable reality, he found himself questioning it. Why can’t this just be reality...? Hearing the bitterness in Zayed’s voice, Se-Hoon shook his head. “There’s no need to blame yourself. Even I almost fell for it. In the first place, this place was designed to be flawless.” Initially, there had been a slight sense of wrongness, like when one woke up groggy. But over time, the dream grew so convincing that it became harder and harder to doubt, even for Se-Hoon. If it weren’t for his habit of confirming reality every morning, he might have fallen for it as well. And if Awakening Dream activated then, it would’ve summoned the Dream Demon. Thinking back on it, it had been a precarious situation. But at least they gained some useful information. “I think that’s enough for explanations. Now, let me tell you what you need to do next. If this goes well, we could incapacitate the Dream Demon in one go.” Amir and Zayed’s eyes simultaneously widened in disbelief. They could incapacitate the Dream Demon, one of the Ten Evils, with one move? Ignoring their skepticism, Se-Hoon continued. “As I mentioned before, the Dream Demon set up this dream realm. However, you, Zayed, are the core of the dream.” “I’m the core?” “Exactly. The Dream Demon probably used you as an anchor to prevent the information from becoming too chaotic. Think of yourself as the owner and the Dream Demon as the tenant.” While the Dream Demon was responsible for creating the space, it was Zayed who had the keys to ultimately control it. “So, if you want, you can flip this whole Dream Castle upside down.” Since the Dream Castle was an extension of the Dream Demon’s synesthetic mindscape, overturning it would deal a critical blow to her. And considering the nature of the Dream Demon’s power, it might even cause her physical body to disintegrate instantly. “...” “...” Amir and Zayed exchanged tense glances as the weight of the possibility sank in. Eventually, Zayed broke the silence. “What do I need to do?” “It’s simple. You need to escape from this half-conscious state by fully waking up.” Bending down, Se-Hoon picked up the white dagger that Amir had dropped on the ground and looked at Zayed. “But once you step out into reality, I can’t guarantee what will happen to you. The aftermath of waking up from this dream might affect you in ways we can’t predict.” While Se-Hoon could protect Amir from any potential aftermath, Zayed’s role as the one who would end the dream meant he would be beyond Se-Hoon’s interference. “So it all comes down to luck, huh...” Zayed turned to look at Amir. “...” Amir was gazing back with a conflicted expression, one that showed he was mature enough to suppress his emotions and focus on reality. Seeing Amir’s growth, Zayed reached out, intending to pat his head. But then he paused, as if reconsidering, and patted Amir’s shoulder instead with a small smile. “Thank you for growing up so well.” Amir’s eyes widened, and his lips quivered. There was so much he wanted to say, but his emotions were far too heavy to convey with words. “Thank you too... for everything,” Amir said quietly, swallowing down his emotions. If Zayed hadn’t been there that day, Amir wouldn’t be the person he were now. Hearing his cousin’s heartfelt gratitude, Zayed smiled with newfound peace and rose to face Se-Hoon. “Try not to make it hurt too much.” “I’ll do my best.” With resolve in his eyes, Zayed nodded. Seeing that, Se-Hoon turned to the silent Amir beside him. “Amir.” “Okay.” Amir stood by Se-Hoon’s side, and Zayed looked at them both. “Alright, see you on the other side.” With the preparations complete, Se-Hoon aimed the dagger at Zayed, imbuing it with the power of Awakening Dream, and projected his consciousness into Zayed’s before thrusting the dagger into Zayed’s heart. Crack! The world around them began shattering. The Dream Castle, Zayed’s dream, and the Dream Demon’s dream collapsed in layers. The outside world unfurled before the three of them. Whirl- The sky was pitch black, a swirl of demonic aura. It overlooked a desolate land, one that had sinister, purple structures looming all around them. It was a hellscape—they were in the City of Nightmares. Se-Hoon froze in shock at the horrifying sight before him. What...? They were supposed to have exited into the Pleasure District, above the City of Nightmares, but instead, they had emerged in the heart of the city. Had they fallen into the Dream Demon’s trap? Panicking, Se-Hoon scanned the area and saw the others around them. “I c-can’t... breathe...” “What the hell? What’s happening?!” “No! I don’t want to go in there!!” People were screaming and struggling, some clutching their throats as they suffocated while others were dragged into the buildings by invisible forces. Seeing the countless individuals caught up in the oppressive environment, Se-Hoon finally understood what happened. Did we destroy the entire Pleasure District...? It wasn’t that they had emerged from it, rather, they had obliterated it entirely. As Se-Hoon tried to process the unexpected turn of events, he suddenly heard a voice behind them. “Ahh...” The voice was grotesquely distorted. “I knew it... I knew that you could wake him up.” Finding the source of the voice, they found the Dream Demon whose body was now little more than a hazy, misty silhouette barely maintaining its form. However, despite being on the verge of death, her voice was filled with joy. “We know this is a dream... yet there’s nothing we can do. All I can do is dream, and all you can do is wake up...” Her words lingered in the air, filled with twisted logic. To fully awaken the grand dream and shake the entire world, one had to experience the deep contradiction between reality and a dream. However, the Dream Demon had already established a synesthetic mindscape, making her unable to embrace it. So, she decided to change her plan upon seeing her Pleasure District crumble at Se-Hoon’s hand. If she couldn’t experience this herself... “What...?” ...Then she might as well just create someone who could. A purple butterfly landed on Zayed’s chest, and Se-Hoon immediately lunged toward it, sensing the ominous energy it radiated. “Now... awaken.” The purple butterfly—one of the Harbinger Shards—burrowed into Zayed’s body.

Chapter 233

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