Three more days passed in the waking world, marking a full ten days since Charlie had lost consciousness. Time seemed to freeze within the Empyrean Citadel, standing in stark contrast to the relentless bustle of Orario, which continued to churn, indifferent to the man lying motionless in his bed.
Ais had drastically altered the rhythm of her life. The girl who usually spent every waking second in the Dungeon chasing strength had chosen to cast her obsession aside. Every morning, before the sun had fully crested the horizon, she was already at Charlie's bedside, only returning home when the last streaks of twilight vanished. Her constant presence served as a silent testament to the quiet devotion of a Sword Princess gripped by anxiety.
Meanwhile, the hunger for battle had shifted to Kei. Accompanied by the White Tiger in a chibi form that resembled a cute housecat, she explored the Dungeon tirelessly. Driven by a sense of helplessness over Charlie's condition, Kei pushed herself to her absolute limits. However, her journey was never smooth. In a world fueled by ego and greed, conflict was a certainty.
Seeking trouble or being sought out by it—it was the natural order of things.
After all, humans are fundamentally creatures who enjoy hurting one another. Even knowing that most provocations are the work of idle fools with nothing better to do—a pure waste of time and energy that risks instant humiliation—people still insist on playing such foolish games. They simply cannot resist looking for meaningless trouble.
In Kei's case, the magnet for trouble was even stronger because of the weapon she wielded: a rifle. Such a revolutionary tool, never before seen in this world, acted as a beacon for adventurers hungry for instant power.
But Kei was no naive girl to be bullied; she was a survivor of a harsh post-apocalyptic era. To her, pulling the trigger against those with ill intent was as natural as breathing.
Technically, Kei was still Level 1. Her raw abilities could, at best, handle a Level 2 adventurer or take down a Level 3 through a sneak attack. In a direct, head-to-head confrontation with a Level 3, she stood no chance. This was where the White Tiger played its crucial role. The Divine Beast Spirit possessed enough power to contend with Level 5 adventurers; whenever an opponent too strong for Kei appeared, it would take over the fray.
Thanks to this intense combat rhythm, Kei's status had reached its peak in a remarkably short time, with all her statistical parameters hitting Rank SS. She now lacked only a "Great Feat" to ascend to Level 2.
Elsewhere, Astraea was not idle. She continued to meet with the gods and goddesses of her acquaintance to gather information on Charlie's vegetative state. She visited prominent deities of healing such as Asclepius, Salus, Sekhmet, Dhanvantari, Eir, and even Ixtlilton, searching for a solution or an antidote.
Unfortunately, the healing gods reached a dead end. Furthermore, Astraea refused to let them examine Charlie's body directly, fearing they would detect the unnatural remnants of Arcanum. She was certain this situation had been orchestrated by a specific deity, yet she still did not understand how that god could bypass the restrictions of the lower world to use Arcanum without being detected and forcibly returned to Heaven.
Meanwhile, Aishia and Est remained faithful, tending to Charlie with meticulous care. As a High Spirit and a Sacred Sword Spirit, the two did everything in their power to maintain his physical condition. They wiped his body with warm towels daily, massaged his muscles to prevent atrophy, and spoke to him incessantly. They whispered hopes and gentle words, praying that their voices would pierce through Charlie's subconscious and guide him back to the real world.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
The dreamscape and the waking world are two dimensions running on different temporal axes.
In his unconsciousness, Charlie had no way of knowing how long his body had been lying rigid in the outside world. Although he possessed full awareness within that realm, no matter how hard he struggled or tried to force his eyes open, every effort was in vain. He was a prisoner within his own mind.
Nevertheless, Charlie did not allow panic to seize him. He could faintly feel that the backlash from using the Hundred Gauntlets—which had previously battered his soul for attempting to read the causality of a god—was gradually weakening. The heavy burden pressing down on his consciousness was lifting bit by bit. To him, waking up was no longer an uncertainty, but merely a matter of time.
Since there was nothing else he could do to accelerate the recovery process, Charlie yielded. He chose to let himself drift in the current of memories, experiencing every inch of Rio's life in that parallel timeline.
However, that tranquility was short-lived. Charlie soon realized how naive he had been to think of this dream as mere entertainment.
After he witnessed Rio and Christina reach a "Happy End" that was sweet and perfect, everything changed drastically. His world turned upside down. The first-person perspective that had made him feel one with Rio was forcibly severed, replaced by a third-person view. He was no longer the participant, but a spectator bound to a front-row seat.
The horror returned with even greater intensity.
The experiences from the two nightmares that had previously haunted him—the bitter memory of Celia Claire being forced to marry Charles Arbor and becoming pregnant, and the tragic fate of Ruri and Sayo at the hands of the barbarian Gon—began anew.
But this time, fate had a new target, one far more painful for Charlie to witness.
The tragic and cruel scenario shifted its focus, locking onto Miharu Ayase as its victim. Charlie was forced to watch as the girl was dragged into the same abyss of suffering, while he could only stand frozen, unable to offer even a shred of help.
Should Charlie's sheer rage at seeing Miharu in danger finally trigger his awakening in the real world, or must he witness the tragedy to its bitter end before the "backlash" fully dissipates?
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