The bell was rung by Noxana only once.
However, the aftermath of that single ring was massive enough to resemble a natural disaster.
The sound of the bell spread in all directions, covering the entire Dreamland.
Normally, sound diminishes as it travels through a medium, but Noxana’s was not like that at all.
No matter how far it went, no matter what medium it passed through, the bell sound she rang always traveled consistently.
The sound that rang from the deep layers of Dreamland passed through the middle layer, swept across the surface layer, and did not stop.
Eventually, it crossed the boundary of dreams and affected the real world.
"...This is."
Grander, who had been lying quietly on the sofa inside a bright red blood membrane, suddenly got up.
Grander's expression, which had been steeped in boredom, hardened for the first time.Even when dream sand covered the entire Leathervelk, she wasn't this surprised.
A whole city completely paralyzed, even an international disaster that could have greater repercussions, was woefully insufficient to arouse Grander's interest.
But the bell sound that rang now was different.
"Could there really be a living god? Moreover, this power is..."
It was not a good sign.
Grander hesitated for a moment, then immediately shook her head.
This was not a situation for her to step forward.
As she buried herself back into the sofa, her silk-like golden hair sprawled messily across it.
"My disciple. I'll leave this to you. After all, you're probably the only one who can stop this now."
If you fail.
Then...
Grander closed her eyes again.
Her wheezing breath softly echoed inside the red blood membrane.
At the same time the Lumensis Order's Leathervelk branch felt the same thing as Grander.
"The sand is coming over!"
"Everyone hold on! Offer prayers!"
"Ah, it's no use! This is on a completely different level from before! It's too strong to withstand!"
Priests and holy knights who were maintaining the Sanctuary barrier from outside fell one by one.
They weren't dead. They had merely fallen asleep.
But considering that this sleep might never end, High Priestess Remia thought it was no different from death.
"The situation doesn't look good."
Despite seeing the dream sand pouring in from all directions, High Priestess Remia's expression was still full of a smiling grin.
Believers fell with screams, and fear spread like an epidemic, consuming the surroundings.
Some prayed to Lumensis, while others begged not to die.
"High Priestess Remia."
The few remaining people deployed a strong Sanctuary barrier within a narrow range.
Parish Head Freden was one of them.
"We can't hold out like this for long."
"Yes. Even if we hold on, it will be about an hour at most."
"What in the world is going on? Moreover, the bell that rang just now..."
Dream sand became much stronger since the bell sound echoed from somewhere.
Even the holy knights dispatched from the Order couldn't resist and fell helplessly, and even the Parish Head herself was barely managing to protect herself while sweating profusely.
Instinctively, she couldn't shake the anxiety that something on a completely different scale had occurred.
"Priestess, did you already foresee such a future?"
"I've never seen such a future either. What I saw was beyond that. But this is troublesome. The current event has a fate strong enough to twist the future I saw."
"Has the demon finally awakened the heretical god?"
Freden's question was almost piercing the core.
She didn't rise to the position of Parish Head solely through connections.
When Remia nodded, affirming her anxiety, Freden closed her eyes tightly.
"Ah. Lumensis."
The awakening of a god worshipped by demons was nothing short of a disaster for the Lumensis Order.
But there was nothing Freden could do at the moment.
So she sat down, knelt, and offered a prayer to the chief deity Lumensis because that was all a weak human could do.
Uniquely at that place, only High Priestess Remia stared at the storming sand with a smile full of composure.
* * *
Outside the city was literally in a state of emergency.
This was because the dream sand, which had only lingered like smog near the city of Leathervelk, began to spread madly as if riding the wind.
After the great bell sound rang, no one could resist the oncoming sandstorm.
People fell helplessly whenever the dream sand brushed past them.
Even a knight with a strong body.
Even a mage with excellent mental strength and intellect.
Even a soldier with strong beliefs.
Before the dream sand imbued with the power of a goddess, they were no more than ants in front of a wave.
"This can't be."
Aileen, watching the scene from afar, felt her fingertips trembling.
She forcibly shook off the trembling by clenching her fist.
The sandstorm showed no sign of stopping.
The sandstorm, which greedily devoured everything and surged forward, had already reached the vicinity of the barracks where Erendir was staying.
"Protect the Princess!"
"Princess! You must flee!"
The guard knights shouted, but in fact, they knew well that it was useless.
This was not something that could be escaped by running away.
"Everyone, step back."
It was then that Luther stepped forward.
Moreover, in his hand was his exclusive weapon, the solo numbering Gladius arts [Jet Stream].
From the moment he held his strongest weapon, it was clear how serious Luther was.
"Do not move a single step from your position."
Luther sternly warned the people standing behind him.
"If you move even slightly, you'll be torn apart. I don't have the luxury of controlling my power that delicately right now."
Luther said he lacked composure.
Who wouldn't know how much weight those words carried?
-Gulp.
The royal guard knights swallowed nervously and tensed up.
Luther held his sword and stretched his hand backward.
The sandstorm had already approached within reach.
Luther thrust his sword toward the storm that resembled the jaws of a huge beast.
-Pang!
From the tip of the sword that cut through the air, the mystery of the swordsmanship he used activated.
Energy rotating at tremendous speed interlocked with the atmosphere, creating another storm.
Like fighting a massive forest fire with a backfire, what confronted the sandstorm was a storm created through swordsmanship.
Luther didn't just use swordsmanship.
He released the maximum aura he could employ within his limits.
The aura storm collided with the sandstorm, creating an antagonism.
"My God. Facing a storm with just his body?"
People watching Luther murmured with admiration and awe on their faces but Luther's expression wasn't very good.
The storm he had shot out was being eaten away by the sand as time passed.
'Just once isn't enough, it seems.'
Luther moved his legs as he retrieved his thrust sword.
Taking a step, twisting his waist, swinging his sword.
Each time, an aura like a storm burst out and continued to push back the sand.
The sandstorm was different from ordinary natural disasters.
The power embedded in it was strong enough to easily stamp out even Luther's aura.
If it weren't for Luther's swordsmanship, which deflected attacks with minimal force, everyone in this place would have been swallowed by that sand.
'I've certainly aged. I'm continuously displaying swordsmanship, but in this state, even enduring has its limits.'
The sandstorm continued to strengthen, but his power had limits.
Even now, with each swing of his sword, he continued to struggle against the storm.
Though he self-deprecatingly called himself old, it was questionable whether the situation would have been different had he been in his prime.
This was different from an ordinary natural disaster from the beginning.
'If I step back here, the people behind me will...'
If nothing else, he had to protect the First Princess at all costs.
Determination settled on Luther's face.
The tendons throughout his body writhed, and his muscles swelled further.
Sweat began to form on Luther's robust body.
Those watching from behind bit their lips at the sight of Luther, who remained intact even when three knight commanders attacked simultaneously, now sweating profusely as he faced the storm.
"Commander Luther."
The knights felt powerless at the fact that they could only watch the current situation.
Luther swung his sword in a trance-like state.
He couldn't be careless even for a second.
At this moment, blocking this storm, a momentary mistake could bring down the dam.
-Kwagagak.
Luther's body, with his legs planted firmly in the ground, slowly moved backward.
Luther, who could withstand even a tsunami, was pushed back.
This storm was not something that could be resisted. There are things that even the most outstanding individuals cannot handle.
Such was the power imbued with a god's will but Luther's lips curved into a smile.
If one was difficult, what about two?
"You're late, you damn old man. I thought I was going to die holding out."
"Ho ho ho. Isn't that a bit harsh?"
At the voice suddenly heard from the sky, everyone's gaze turned upward.
Beyond the raging sandstorm, a person's shadow was visible.
"Wh-Who is it?"
"In that storm, unscathed?"
Everyone wondered about the identity of that shadow.
Only Aillen recognized who had just appeared.
"Could it be, you are..."
The eyes of some mages who recognized the old man widened as if they would tear.
"Gr-Great Mage Clinton!"
Clinton Rothschild, a great mage belonging to the imperial family, and one who had reached the unprecedented level of 7th circle [Imperia] by human standards.
The one who hadn't shown himself even during the capital terror incident had, for the first time, taken action.
"I've truly lived long enough to see this. How in the world did this happen?"
Clinton clicked his tongue and flicked his finger like a conductor.
The magical power flowing from his fingertips dominated the surroundings, creating a massive magical barrier.
The radius of the sacred barrier deployed by High Priestess Remia, Parish Head Freden, and a small number of direct elite holy knights with all their might was only 10m.
But the barrier deployed by Clinton alone was much larger, with a radius of 1km.
Given the fact that it was created with just a gesture without any prior preparation, mages found it difficult to even guess how high that level was.
It was like the feeling of witnessing something indescribable, something on a different dimension.
Clinton himself, as if it was nothing, descended to the ground and tapped his waist.
"It's not easy to use magic of this scale after so long."
"An old man and his vanity. Anyway, thanks for the help."
Luther, having caught his breath, greeted Clinton with a grin.
"So, is there a proper way to solve this?"
"A way, huh."
Clinton's narrowed gaze turned to Leathervelk, the center of the storm.
"Even I cannot think of a way to solve the current calamity."
"What? Then why did you come all the way here?"
"I just wanted to confirm it."
At those words, Luther realized that Clinton was not merely looking at the storm.
"...You cunning old geezer. I heard you hadn't been showing up recently. You went somewhere and found something strange again, didn't you?"
"Ho ho. What else can an old man pushed to the back room do? I just wanted to see something a bit strange before I die."
It was too modest for a 7th circle mage. So much so that it might seem like deceiving the other person but Clinton was sincere.
"Unfortunately, it seems the existence of the next level intends to maintain silence in the current situation."
Clinton shook his head as if disappointed.
As someone who studies magic, he wanted to witness what kind of level could now be referred to as a legend but that was just personal curiosity.
It wasn't the essential reason Clinton had come here.
"The wheel of fate that had been rolling slowly has sped up. Now, the end of this world isn't far away."
* * *
Rudger opened his closed eyes.
The touch of dream sand on his cheek was so soft that it made him feel like he was lying on a comfortable bed.
'What in the world happened?'
It was just a moment, but he had lost consciousness.
Rudger slowly rose from his place with staggering steps and his pupils greatly dilated as he looked around.
The people around him had collapsed on the floor, unconscious.
'Everyone, got caught?'
Noxana’s seal had not yet been completely lifted.
It was only a moment ago that she opened her eyes. Naturally, it would take time for her original power to return.
What she showed now didn't even reach one-tenth of her original power.
'Yet this is the result.'
Moreover, this wasn't even an attack aimed at this side.
Rudger could feel it. What Noxana had done was, in human terms, just lightly exhaling.
'This is the true power of a god.'
Even among gods, Noxana’s power was on a different dimension.
Noxana, who symbolized dreams and death itself, was almost at the pinnacle of divine rank.
That's why even when other gods died, she alone wasn't killed but only sealed.
Fight against something like that?
Isn't that madness?
A single method to overcome the current situation flashed through Rudger's mind.
Perhaps, this might be the only way.
"Should I, too, unseal it?"