The Novel's Extra - Side Story 39 – Dream in a Dream (39)

Rachel engaged in a fierce battle where one of the most disastrous events in England’s history had occurred, the Hampton Palace. She marched forward and knocked out her enemies with the back of Galatine’s blade.

She resolved to stop the magic circle at all costs and her party members felt the same.

“Keuk!”

However, the enemy had no intentions of fighting and only stalled for time. Lancaster already finished his preparations to destroy England. She knew very well that not only her, but the real England would also be destroyed if Lancaster activated this gigantic magic circle.

“This looks tough,” Marcus said while smiling with his forehead drenched in sweat.

“We managed to stop the magic circle thanks to the bombs, but… Argh!” He couldn’t finish as an energy blast from an enemy flung him back.

Rachel didn’t have the time to check on him as the same attack struck her too.

Clang!

However, she summoned her spirit just in time and parried the energy blast with Galatine. She pushed back the enemies in front by combining her fire and wind spirit. However, they were still far too outnumbered and severely disadvantaged.

It was ten against a battalion that numbered in the thousands if one counted the undead and monsters as well.

“Rachel,” Sehat called her. “That man called Chiffelin is standing at the core of the magic circle. Can you see it?”

Sehat had been racking his brains the entire time to find a way to destroy the magic circle.

Rachel nodded at his words. As he said, Chiffelin undoubtedly stood at the magic circle’s core judging by the fact that all the mana gathered there.

“We’ll attract his attention, so you should focus on destroying it,” Sehat said.

“SAYS WHO?!” someone suddenly shouted.

A hail of bullets rained on them.

Rachel blocked them with Galatine, but hundreds of mana-compressed bullets immediately followed the barrage.

“It’ll be difficult to charge in,” Rachel said as she summoned her earth and wind spirit to form a barrier against the bullets.

“No, it’s possible,” another voice suddenly spoke.

Rachel felt a chill down her spine and her eyes widened. She turned towards the voice and saw a man standing on top of the Hampton Palace’s roof. He smiled brightly at her.

“I’ll protect you, so it’ll definitely be possible,” he reassured her.

“…”

Rachel stared at him for a while before finally nodding. She could proceed as planned with a light heart now that he arrived.

“I’ll give you the signal,” Kim Hajin said as he pulled his bowstring.

Rachel prepared to dash forward at any second with Sehat, Tilma, Marcus, and the others behind her.

“One.”

Creak…

He pulled the arrow on his bowstring and aimed at Chiffelin.

“Two.”

Rachel infused mana into her legs and summoned her wind spirit to spring forward at any moment.

“Three. Now!” Kim Hajin shouted and released his arrow.

Shwiiiiii!

The arrow ferociously flew towards Chiffelin while burning through every enemy and spirit in its path. Rachel dashed right through the path opened by the arrow.

She headed towards where Chiffelin stood.

Mana would gather at the magic circle’s core just like a human’s mana gathered in their core. They could stop the magic circle if they destroyed that spot.

The enemies rushed in from both sides to close her path, but another arrow and bullets rained down to protect her. A few of the enemies managed to slip past the cover fire, but Rachel’s party members suddenly appeared and blocked them.

“You dare!” Chiffelin growled when Rachel finally reached the magic circle’s core.

Rachel immediately flashed her spirit’s light at the djinn. Chiffelin could feel his body slowly disintegrating from the purifying light.

“Kuuaaaah!”

She shoved the screaming djinn as hard as she could.

“Haaaaap!”

Then she screamed the loudest she ever had in her entire life and stabbed Galatine into the magic circle’s core.

Rumble… Rumble…

Galatine spread the power of Rachel’s spirit throughout the magic circle as if laying down its roots. Rachel squeezed every last ounce of her strength and pushed her spirit deeper into the magic circle.

Her wood spirit manifested into roots and blocked the movement of mana within the magic circle. Her earth spirit shook the ground and hampered the magic circle’s progress. Her water spirit erased and altered parts of the magic circle. Lastly, her fire and wind spirit combined to unleash a powerful blaze that melted the magic circle.

She was showing the classic example of easier said than done right now. The magic circle was enormous and spread across all 243,610 square kilometers of England. Rachel was destroying that enormous magic circle all alone.

Ddrruu… Ddrruuu…

The sound of cogwheels turning and screeching could be heard before the magic circle finally stopped operating.

“Ah…” Rachel fell to the ground after exhausting all her energy, but someone’s warm embrace caught her before she hit the ground.

She saw that it was Kim Hajin and couldn’t help but smile like a fool.

“You finally woke up…” she weakly muttered.

“Yes, I have. Just leave the rest to me,” he replied.

“Will you be alright?”

Rachel was still worried even though they stopped the magic circle. Chiffelin and the number of enemies still posed a huge threat.

However, Kim Hajin didn’t seem concerned at all and leisurely pointed into the distance.

Rachel squeezed whatever strength she had left and turned to where he pointed.

“Huh?”

A person’s silhouette came into view. This short woman wore a dress accompanied by a tall woman wielding a bow.

Rachel’s eyes widened in surprise.

Aileen and Jin Seyeon had somehow arrived.

“Hey, you criminal! Chiffelin, I’ve come to arrest you!” Aileen shouted.

She sounded adorable, yet dependable at the same time. Rachel passed out with a peaceful look and fell asleep without a single worry.

***

They destroyed the gigantic magic circle, but Lancaster didn’t seem bothered at all. He didn’t expect the magic circle to be completed in the first place. He worried in the dark if he was right.

Was his revenge justified?

He already realized a long time ago that justified revenge didn’t exist. The emotions he buried deep inside himself surfaced again as darkness surrounded him.

Grief initially consumed him and he lost all purpose in life. Then anger and resentment overcame him and he tried to inflict as much pain as possible on Rachel. In the end, he finally realized that his main purpose in life was to destroy the cogs of fate and rewrite the past tragedy that should never have occurred.

However, Rachel viciously fought even in this dream world. She could’ve lived a peaceful and happy life if she just gave in. She could’ve even put down all the burdens she carried.

Despite all that, she chose to fight against this dream. Her subconscious floated around like an aimless buoy, but suddenly shone brightly like a steadfast lighthouse in the dark.

Lancaster recalled the warmth of the tiny girl he once held in his arms. He slowly opened his eyes and saw the princess from the darkness. The princess was smiling in the embrace of another man.

“I regretted it a lot,” he slowly said while looking at her.

“It saddened me too. The fact that all this happened because of you and me.”

He shouldn’t have let Rachel go that day. Lancaster always regretted his actions.

That day’s tragedy wouldn’t have happened if he was a bit more strict with her. If only he fulfilled his obligations as a knight and protected her.

“However, it’ll be different now,” Lancaster muttered while looking down at the shining stone in his hand.

This force had made everything possible. The fragment of miracle that he obtained after painstaking efforts.

“I will make you happy now. In this place…”

Was this what they called a gift?

Lancaster had no idea. He tightly gripped the stone in his hand that sapped his life force in exchange for fulfilling his desires.

“Forever…”

This stone’s power would now complete the world he envisioned and Rachel would be trapped in this dream world forever. She would finally live a happy life without ever realizing that she was trapped in a dream.

Through that, he would finally fulfill his duty as her knight.

Lancaster smiled as his consciousness slowly drifted into the darkness.

He heard the voices of those he dearly missed and slowly melted away. He saw the faces of his beloved family.

***

Chae Nayun ran as fast as she could while only relying on her instinct. England’s scenery whooshed past her and she arrived at the location where the spirit guided her.

It was a warm and cozy garden with bees, flowers, and trees living in harmony.

Lancaster sat at the center of this garden. The flowers and trees peacefully surrounded him. He gave off a gentle aura despite the decades of hatred he harbored.

Chae Nayun slowly and carefully approached the knight. She noticed the faint golden glimmer from a stone after taking a few steps towards him.

“Were you the one who took it?” she asked.

However, Lancaster didn’t reply and kept his eyes closed as if in a deep slumber.

“Are you pretending to be asleep?” she asked again while thinking, There’s no way that’s going to work on me.

She tapped his shoulder and he spoke in a very faint voice, “I have returned…”

“What the hell are you talking about? Returned from where?”

“…”

Lancaster smiled with a rose in his hand.

“Hmm…” Chae Nayun roughly understood the situation.

Lancaster injected his mana into the Miracle Stone Fragment and probably wished for a dream that continued forever. He probably wished to live in a world that satisfied him instead of the cruel reality that tormented him.

“I’ll be taking this. It was mine to begin with,” Chae Nayun said and took her Miracle Stone.

She infused her mana into the fist-sized golden stone and the fragment with Lancaster slowly flew towards her. It combined with the Miracle Stone in her hand and became whole again.

“Well, that was kinda anti-climatic…” she grumbled.

Lancaster didn’t resist or put up a fight. Of course, she would’ve crushed him and beaten him to a pulp if he did.

“Sigh…”

Anyways, she successfully retrieved the fragment and everything finally ended.

She sighed in relief and bid the knight farewell, “I’ll get going now.”

It was time for everyone to wake up from their dreams now.

Chae Nayun smirked as she looked at the completed Miracle Stone.

However…

Krrrwaaaaa!

A huge amount of mana surged out from the sleeping Lancaster. This powerful energy shook the entire world they were in.

“What the hell?!” Chae Nayun cried out as the Miracle Stone began resonating with this powerful energy.

The Miracle Stone shot out silver threads and bound Chae Nayun.

She screamed in anger, “Hey! Let me go! I said let me go! Why you little! Hey! Wait a minute… Hey!”

The world Lancaster created was Rachel’s dream and didn’t permit Chae Nayun’s existence. She found herself in a different world after she blinked.

No, she had returned to the real world.

“Gasp!”

Chae Nayun immediately stood and looked around. Numerous people slept on beds under a white ceiling.

This place was called the Empty Dream Patient Center at Severance Hospital.

Chae Nayun looked around for a while and muttered under her breath, “Fuck.”

That damned bastard Lancaster used the fragment’s power to expel her from that world. This meant she could no longer interfere in that world and she couldn’t save Rachel either. Rachel would have to wake up from that dream by herself.

“Ah… This has gotten annoying.”

Chae Nayun jumped out of bed and rushed somewhere. She arrived at the hospital’s top floor where the VIP wards were located.

[VIP Ward]

“You can’t enter here—”

“I’m Chae Nayun! Get out of my way!”

Bam!

She shoved the bodyguard guarding the entrance and barged in.

“Kiyahk!”

Rachel lay in bed like a dead person. Evandel slept at her side and chirped like a frightened chick when Chae Nayun barged in.

“Huk… Huk!”

“Oh, my bad. Did I scare you?” Chae Nayun asked before sitting down beside the shaking Evandel and patting her head.

The news flashed on tv.

[Twenty days have passed since the incident caused by the Tower of Miracle. The Sleeping Shockwave sent out by the tower when it collapsed has caused tens of millions to enter an Empty Dream. They are currently not showing any signs of recovery…]

Chae Nayun let out a sigh.

They succeeded in the Tower of Miracle, but something no one expected had occurred and affected the entire world.

The Empty Dream Shockwave happened right after the tower collapsed. It not only affected all the Essence of the Strait members who participated in the raid, but it also dragged in other people like Rachel.

None of the affected had woken up yet.

“Tsk…” Chae Nayun clicked her tongue in frustration while looking at the sound asleep and smiling Rachel.

A person having a wonderful dream would obviously resist waking up from it. Lancaster would win at this rate.

Was this really Lancaster’s ultimate goal? To let Rachel dream forever? Would this quench his thirst for vengeance?

“E-Excuse m-me…” Evandel stuttered and nervously looked back and forth between Rachel and Chae Nayun. The way she twiddled her thumbs looked too cute.

“What?” Chae Nayun frowned and curtly replied.

“That is… That is… That… is… Sniff! Sniff!”

Tears began welling up in the little girl’s eyes after seeing Chae Nayun’s face. All of Evandel’s stress came crashing after seeing Chae Nayun’s scary face.

“Hey hey, don’t cry. Nothing’s going to happen,” Chae Nayun said as she placed Evandel in a headlock and scuffled her hair.

Evandel finally burst into tears at Chae Nayun’s violence.

“Right, where is Kim Hajin?”

“Hajin just left…”

“Is that so? He must’ve gone looking for a way to fix this mess. Alright, I’ll be off now.”

“H-Huh? Oh, okay. Then, goodbye…”

Chae Nayun left after releasing the poor girl from her headlock.

Lancaster used the Miracle Stone Fragment to create a dream world for Rachel. This meant she had to wake up for tens of millions to be freed.

Chae Nayun sighed while walking through the corridor and leaned against the wall.

“What am I supposed to do now?” she weakly grumbled.

She finally managed to retrieve the fragment, but couldn’t wake Rachel up anymore.

She could only infiltrate Rachel’s dream in the first place thanks to the connection between the Miracle Stone and its fragment. However, that connection had been lost when she retrieved the fragment.

Despite that, she couldn’t afford to turn her back and leave now. That would leave a very sour, no, bitter taste in her mouth.

She rummaged through her pockets and a box of cigarettes fell out. Chae Nayun bit the cigarette and prepared to light it when she suddenly recalled something that made her crumple the cigarette and throw it on the ground.

The crushed cigarette turned into ashes that littered the floor.

***

Rachel, Kim Hajin, and the others stuck in the dream world returned to Tomer’s continent.

Tomer heartily laughed and welcomed them, “Excellent! You did great! I’ll purify that fake England later, so don’t worry about it. I’ll wipe them off the map!”

“No…” Rachel shook her head.

Tomer probably meant she would exorcise the evil spirits on the other side.

“I hope those people can continue living a normal life… without ever realizing the England they are living in is a fake…”

“Huh?”

“Is that possible?”

“Well, that’s a bit unexpected. I’ll try nevertheless.”

“I’ll visit frequently to help out.”

“Ah, that will make things easier.”

Tomer patted Rachel on the shoulder and asked, “So what are you going to do now?”

Her voice carried a commanding aura befitting a king.

Rachel pondered for a moment before replying, “I’ll need to leave the general assembly for now. I have a lot of things to inform them about. Starting with Xtra and Lancaster…”

“Hmm… You’ll need a trophy to bring back too, right?”

“That’s…”

Tomer called her subordinates before Rachel could respond. Her subordinates rushed over with an expensive-looking chest. Tomer opened it and Rachel’s eyes sparkled at the contents.

“This is an artifact that won’t disappear even outside the general assembly. Of course, I’m not sure what it’s worth in the current market. I think it’ll fetch at least two billion won,” Tomer nonchalantly said.

Forget about two billion, this artifact would easily fetch five billion won outside. What shocked Rachel most was that this chest contained twenty of these artifacts.

She couldn’t suppress her joy and greedily salivated over the artifacts.

“Thank you. I will never forget your kindness.”

“What kindness are you talking about… Geez…”

Knock… Knock…

Someone knocked on the door and Kim Hajin soon entered.

“Are you ready, Rachel? We’re going to leave now,” he said with a smile.

Rachel replied with a bright smile, “Yes! Let’s go together!”

“Erm… but what’s that treasure chest?”

“King Tomer bestowed it to me,” Rachel proudly showed off the chest.

“Wow! Let me take a look,” Kim Hajin exclaimed and walked towards the chest.

The two of them stood face to face with the chest between them.

“Hmm…”

Kim Hajin busily inspected the contents before looking at Rachel.

“…”

The two of them ended up gazing into each other’s eyes.

Rachel felt a strong urge welling up in her chest, but failed to muster the courage. She awkwardly squirmed without doing anything in the end.

“Ehem…”

Kim Hajin avoided her gaze first as his face flushed bright red.

Rachel felt good seeing him like that.

“Ehemehem… What do you think you’re doing in my office? Get out,” Tomer growled and couldn’t stand the strange atmosphere between the two of them.

“Ah, I apologize. We’ll take our leave now,” Rachel bowed and left with Kim Hajin.

She suddenly stopped when she felt a strange sensation throughout her body. Just now, it felt like someone had called her…

“What are you doing?” Kim Hajin asked.

Rachel flinched and shook her head.

“It’s nothing. Let’s go,” she said and continued following him.