Modern Awakening - A cultivation, LitRPG, apocalyptic novel

The Dreamer had no choice but to produce a new Dream Body, as much as it hurt themselves to do so at their weakened state. New cracks appeared on their gem, and the stars inside almost stopped moving, but it was better than dying. They also released their Domain of Dreams at once.

Less than five hundred tentacles, all black, materialized around them. At least all tentacles had B+ stats this time because the drow magic formation hadn't come with them. That, and the low drow numbers, gave the Dreamer a chance to survive.

Or so they thought until the world itself started approaching; they couldn't resist another fight against the mists. They tried with all their might to move, but though the prison hole had been invaded, the bindings on the Dreamer remained firmly in place.

Wait, the prison! They were so used to operating outside under certain conditions that they had forgotten they were supposed to be protected there! They wouldn't even need to use their trump card for this!

"Prison Ward, protect your prison!" they demanded, yelling through a mental connection established through the Guardian System. "I demand this be logged and reported too!"

| Report sent

"You had to force my hand, prisoner?" a raspy male voice said as a powerful domain washed over the entire region.

The domain from an A-rank crushed all B-ranks domains at once. It hurt the Dreamer to have that also happen to him, but it was definitely better than dying.

The Prison Warden was a giant lizard in drow terms, a speck of dust compared to the Dreamer's size. He was blue and wielded many items of power, mostly jewelry all over their body. The Dreamer looked at the objects with envy, but the terms of their imprisonment—rather than execution—required them to not touch any magic item.

"Dark elves, you're trespassing," the lizard said. "I understand your enmity against this prisoner, so I'll pretend nothing happened if you just leave."

Tar'Shalon didn't stop approaching.

"I will protect my prisoner, as much as I don't want to," the Warden insisted, and Space twisted, freezing the gigantic world in place. "I don't even have to fight you. I can just relocate the prisoner and block space in a way you can't pursue. Don't die needlessly. Leave, now."

Tar'Shalon shook, and its Bloody Mists flowed out of it, leaving a giant, perfectly round black rock behind.

The Prison Warden recoiled as if struck, probably finding himself at the losing end of a battle of wills even in his domain. External willpower was much easier to overcome in one's domain, especially if you were A-rank. But against billions of wills connected almost like a hivemind? Even the A-rank couldn't instantly put it down.

That said, at least half those souls would have to extinguish themselves for the mists to merely reach the Dreamer because they would have to fight the domain every step of the way. And that was an optimistic estimate that didn't account for the Prison Warding actively destroying the souls.

The enormous gaseous mass approached the Dreamer at a speed that ignored the spacetime continuum.

"Enough!" the Warden bellowed, and the Dreamer started getting teleported away until a new presence washed over them all.

Suddenly, the most beautiful high elf in all existence—or so humanoids said—appeared beside the Prison Warden. She was tall, lithe, with golden hair and golden eyes. She was very, very similar to the high elf the Dreamer had almost killed.

"She was your daughter," the Dreamer said, realizing something.

Alvaerelle Elafir, the pitiful Talent Reevaluation Committee officer whom the Dreamer had hurt to complete their Bounty, was the child of the high elven ruler. A-ranks weren't known for letting people mess with their progeny, and the elves even less so. The Queen of Spring and Autumn had thus allied herself with the drow to get to him.

Despite the alliance not being strictly necessary when one was as strong as her, it brought her two benefits. She could use the drow to check if anyone would help the Dreamer and get the drow's eternal goodwill.

That explained how the Dreamer had not dreamed of the drow approach, how the drow had gotten to this place, and even why the Dreamer's backers weren't around yet.

Maybe the Dreamer would have to use their trump card, after all.

"Yes, she was my most beloved daughter," the Queen said, "and it should have been obvious for anyone with more intelligence than a pixie. How else would a C-rank high elf be sent to a Pioneer Tutorial after the Qilin Incident? Under the wings of the Talent Reevaluation Committee, no less?"

That was a flawed argument; there were all kinds of possibilities for that to happen. Yet, the Dreamer wasn't about to argue. Her mere voice almost tore Reality where they stood. She was at the brink of the mythical S-rank, and the Dreamer even felt the Void waiting beyond the weakened walls of Reality.

"The little elfling doesn't know, does she?" the Dreamer asked. If the officer had known, they would've dreamed of her crying for her mother's help at least once, and then the Dreamer would've known.

"No, she does not. I deemed it safer this way. Yet you made a fool of my plans."

"I have five A-ranks backing me," the Dreamer said, though if they weren't around...

"You had," the high elf said, confirming the Dreamer's guess. "I was negotiating with them when I was informed of quite the interesting piece of news. They weren't happy to know you betrayed your agreement with them to join the Primordial Bridge."

The Dreamer was so astonished they didn't even know what to say.

In the past, they had dreamed of things they shouldn't and tried to use what they had learned in unwise ways. Their lives had been spared for the offense because they were too valuable to be disposed of, one of the only five currently living beings to have ever amassed three favors through their own efforts. However, a tight leash was kept on them, this prison being the ultimate proof of that.

It was a leash they had ripped apart by joining the Primordial Bridge. Everyone was forgiven for all prior crimes when they were recruited, so his captors had lost their hold over the Dreamer.

They had expected their captors to know about it, but not the Queen to have been the one to inform them.

How long was her reach?

"Is the Bridge on its way already?" she asked. "I only came personally to negotiate with them. The drow want your death, but I would gladly accept restitution for letting you live." She turned to the Bloody Mists, who had stopped moving when the Queen arrived. "Trust me this once; I'll explain later."

To the Dreamer's surprise, the bloodthirsty drow listened. The Bloody Mists retreated, and so did all the deployed B-ranks.

"May I speak, Queen Herfiel?" the Prison Warden said deferentially.

The lizard was an early A-rank, an ant in the face of a peak A-rank like the elf. He could protect himself using the prison's defenses but not kill or restrain someone as powerful as her. That meant she could escape and return for retribution with her allies later. When overwhelming power was around, everyone else could only bow down or risk death.

"This is your home, Warden Skarnx," she replied. "Please, go ahead."

"I don't believe the Primordial Bridge is coming," he informed.

"I find that surprising, to say the least," she said. "The Dreamer being here doesn't surprise me, as their release must be negotiated with the Alliance. However, what about the one-time protection ticket all members get? I once fought the Bridge for a mere C-rank who killed a treasured disciple of mine. And now you tell me they will let me kill a peak B-rank who hurt yet didn't kill my daughter?"

The Prison Warden shook his lizard head. "The Dreamer was verbally accepted into the Bridge, so I got notified about it as his Prison Warden. However, when I informed them that the Dreamer was under attack, they told me they couldn't send anyone because the official joining procedures would take a while. In fact, I was led to understand the process will coincidentally take just a little longer to finish as this episode will take to conclude."

The Dreamer couldn't believe it. They had paid three favors for this! It was their trump card!

They tried contacting the Primordial Bridge, but no one replied.

They had been abandoned.

The Queen of Spring and Autumn squinted her eyes slightly, and the walls of Reality became paper-thin. "They'll not be viewed favorably for this. They are supposed to be beyond such petty tricks."

"Yes," the Warden agreed. "Even more so at the current political environment. Everyone will believe they can be pressured with enough political noise."

"Oh? Pray tell. I was focusing my attention on helping my new allies in the past few months," the Queen demanded.

The Prison Ward obeyed like an attendant eager to please. If the Dreamer had been in his position, they would be doing the same.

"Public opinion was already negative about letting the Dreamer manage a Pioneer Tutorial, and it turned into outrage when it was found out the new race was being used in experiments involving the Void Spawn. Hundreds of millions were purposefully fed to the Void to test new tech. Everybody lost too much to the Void, especially our strongest Guardians. Very few can rise through the ranks without killing a lot of Void Spawn and losing companions or family in the process.

"Entire front lines were abandoned as the Guardians marched to their commanding officers to make their anger known, and their commanding officers marched to theirs, and so on until the Universe Superintends were forced to act. Even some old powerful monsters that had been away from the spotlight for a long time appeared to voice their opinion."

"The truly powerful don't care about the new race," the high elf said, then looked at the Dreamer. "But experiments with the Void are forbidden even on our most terrible enemies for a reason. If you got permission to do it to beings who were only one step off from being citizens, who knows when proper citizens will be used in experiments? Are you telling me you didn't dream of that?"

"The Human Rising Star is Void-touched," the Dreamer defended himself out of pride though they knew that was a poor excuse.

That failure, together with how they had been baited by the drow trap, showed they had grown overly dependent on their dreams. If they survived this, they would fix that.

"Intriguing, but that doesn't explain your blindness," the high elf replied. "I heard something was going on with reading the past of the human homeworld. It was mildly interesting then, but now that we know someone who cares for humans can completely fool your dreams, it means an A-rank is involved. You were played."

That was terrible news, yet it gave the Dreamer hope. Such a play spoke of a possible hidden danger against the Alliance!

"Let me live and investigate it," the Dreamer pleaded.

She didn't reply but turned to the Prison Warden instead. "Continue with your report."

"The Void Research Institute is saying the research will help billions not lose their souls, but we all know it'll only help the rich who can pay for new bodies, and even the rich are afraid of one day also being used as test subjects. Only fools don't fear the Void. The tutorial galaxy was invaded twice during the experiments!

"Despite all that, I still found it strange how the outrage seems to be expanding too fast. Your conclusion makes it obvious now. Someone knew the Dreamer would doom the new race and made plans to bring retribution. Things were ready to blow out of proportions beforehand."

"It still doesn't explain why the Primordial Bridge would let the Dreamer die," the high elf said, then frowned.

That frown was all it took; Reality broke at her mere discontent.

Spacetime was twisted and torn like paper. Millions of shears revealed the Void beyond for all to see, pure nothingness that the mind couldn't comprehend.

It tried to consume Reality at once, but the Queen's domain prevented it. So it tried to send Void Spawn through the openings, but it was too fresh a breach. It would take time for the Void to adapt to that Reality enough to produce strong monsters. The high elf's domain crushed all incoming Void Spawn before they could even form.

"The Primordial Bridge was ordered to take the Dreamer in," she concluded, and the tears slowly healed as she calmed down. "They want to put the blame of getting rid of the Dreamer on me instead of denying the request."

"But only the Primordials themselves can force the Bridge to do anything against their will," the Prison Warden pointed out.

There was a moment of silence. The Dreamer felt elated that the Primordials had taken an interest in them. They didn't know why, but that should guarantee their safety. Who would dare to go against—

A cold breeze blew through their gem. It smelled of fallen leaves and dry earth.

The gem and the soul it hosted turned into dust.

They never had the chance to even realize they were dying.