Chapter 36: 36. Dream Worlds of The Fool
Hello, this is my first time writing a fanfiction. If you notice any errors, please feel free to give me constructive feedback. English is not my first language, so if you notice any mistakes, please mention them in the comment section at the end of the chapter. Let's begin the story!
Word Count: 3500 Words
Note: Just a reminder that I've changed the Guild Auxiliary chapter. I've made some changes to it. I've removed a couple of NPCs and added a few.
Due to my college work, I was unable to upload the chapter.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Mc Pov
It is quite odd. If anyone had asked me this question during my childhood. I would have surely been overjoyed and happy.
But then, later in my late teen years, I would have laughed it off, yet I would have wished for it in my thoughts.
Unlike my past self from a couple of years back, I am now facing a True Dragon. Unlike the Dragons from the Game Yggdrasil that I have slaughtered. The Dragon in front of me is as much real as me. He is definitely not some stack of codes working to control a 3d model in some virtual world.
I reminisce about the actions and thoughts of my past, laughing at myself for having this line of thought now of all time. It is as if I am resigning my fate, or getting ready to die.
I keep teleporting escaping Typhon's attacks. All the while stacking up with my attacks. Depleting his HP, if it exists. Unlike the game, the attacks that get nullified don't just disappear here. Well, at least when it is not me who is getting attacked.
But I wonder if I will get it today. It's almost two years since I got stranded in this timeline and since I had that dream.
I have had mysteriously words appear in my head whenever I am sleeping or when I am stargazing.
It happens at most random moments.
Laugh leaks out as I think back to the time when I received a line from what I assume to be my incantation to the reality of Marble while taking a shower.
Hum! It went along like this,
[Let the past and future intertwine, and reality bend to my will. And summon the Ancient Horrors that lie beneath.]
It does sound amazing. Though I have got most of the stanzas, the second last one was when I had put the Totem Wolf God to rest. With the last being just after naming Cath Palug as Tower.
Thanks to that, I was able to cover Tower with my coat. The time it gave me was really helpful and it even allowed me to cast a super-tier spell to cover the parts of the body that are not covered by the suit.
There is still a stanza missing. Though I have no proof to back up the claim, it's just a feeling.
*Zap
Hmm! I watched as the lightning struck my foot when I tumbled between my repeated motions of teleporting and casting a spell. I was slow this around or The Dragon Progenitor might have been fast. I watched in third person perspective as the lightning struck my foot just before I teleported.
After teleporting I checked for any injury, and I was lucky. After making sure there was no damage, I teleported again and hovered above spectating the Dragon.
Though I had been Scot-free during these exchanges, the same couldn't be said about the surroundings. Luckily enough, I had managed to get him to concentrate his attacks in the opposite direction to where I had sensed Yaru right after the first explosion.
Well, he was truly lucky this time around. His habit of wandering the forest whenever he is busy thinking of something saved him.
Not that I think about it, but it was also for the same reason that I had met him. Hmm! Was it Fate?
Food for thought.
Turning the direction of my line of thought, I turned to see the Dragon. Putting these distracting thoughts to the back of my mind.
Well, I have at least managed to prove the invincibility of the Suit.
That's one thing off my worry list.
{Primordial Flame}
I cast the spell, beckoning the call a golden hue fire orb materialised in front of me. With every passing second, it grew in size, and the intensity of the flame increased.
Acting according to the spell, the golden orb travelled towards the Dragon at high speeds, resulting in a giant explosion, blinding my vision for a second. Creating a cloud of dust, blocking his and my view completely.
Just as I had gotten myself a room to breathe. I felt a huge torrent of wind clashes against me. Scattering up the cloud of dust.
I was still lucky that he hadn't spotted me.. yet.
Thinking of taking advantage of his carelessness, I was ready to cast the spell but.. I stopped midway seeing him ready his attack. Even though I was standing in the opposite direction from where he was facing his attack.
Following his line of sight, I saw Tower staring intently at Him.
I know that Cath Palug now Tower is a strong being in Nasuverse. He wasn't called the Primate Killer for no reason. Still, he was having a hard time dealing with the wolves.
Though I am unaware of his current predicament, I couldn't let him die. Knowing the strength of my suit and believing in ROB, I directly teleported in front of the Tower.
His expression of surprise sure is cute. He had really, and not in a comical sense, dropped his jaw.
Ignoring it, I picked him up in my arms showing my back to the Dragon Progenitor.
Still, it is quite a sight seeing these many new expressions transitioning through his face. I had seen it in the anime but I had yet to see this guy show me these many expressions himself.
Not a second later I saw Flame dance around me and the sound of an explosion.
Hmm! This suit is quite amazing. Despite the explosion taking right on my back, I didn't feel anything.
Right when I thought that I had to take things seriously now and fight with full force.
Right when I thought things couldn't get any weirder or amusing hmm!
Right, that's the right word, Amusing.
I saw the final stanza. The words making up the final stanza were floating in front of me. I know that what I am seeing is not quite possible. I think.
It was as if I was seeing subtitles in the real world, but instead, they were my incantation to activate the Reality Marble.
Truthfully speaking, I haven't cooked myself any food. It's not like I could fetch any ingredients except the few raw ones in this ancient period. Right when I have the Food Creation Carpet, ignoring my naming sense.
It is quite a handy tool; in its presence, there is no need for me to challenge myself.
Since I don't drink, I am sure that I can't be drunk and imagining things. Well, I didn't use or consume any random weed or plant. I am for sure not high.
Can this body even get high? Well, they are things that I don't need to worry about. I haven't smoked any substance in the past and neither do I plan to.
I guess it is safe to assume what I am seeing to be real. Seeing that Tower can't see or isn't reacting weirdly. It is safe to assume that it is only visible to me.
So this is it, huh?
----
Omni Pov
Bruce sees the text lining up in front of him. The floating words formed a sentence adding the last part of the incantation for his Reality Marble.
Gears turned in Bruce's brain as he processed the whole information.
Bruce cast the teleportation on Tower to send him to a safe distance from him. Turning around he faced the Dragon. Typhon, sensing the change in his demeanour, readied itself for the Battle.
Bruce stood silent forming the words in his mind, playing the incantation in his mind. HE opened his mouth uttering every syllable with precision.
{I Am The Fool With Dreams}
Not waiting to complete the stanza, Typhon attacked him; responding to it, Bruce teleported above and struck Typhon by retrieving the Vishanti's Staff. Bruce rained down pre-loaded spells in the Grimoire and turned the Staff on the Dragon.
{From Beginning to End}
Yet not waiting for him, Bruce continued.
{The One with No Destiny}
The attack continued, both not stopping.
{Born of Dreams, where my Mind is my World.}
Lightning streaked past his ear, his eardrum ringing with the sound of thunder.
{In the name of the Fool, I command the threads of fate and time.}
*Thunder
{Let the past and future intertwine, and reality bend to my will. And summon the Ancient Horrors that lie beneath.}
Dark clouds darted the sky, blocking sunlight, with a storm brewing on the land. Typhoons taking control of the wind currents.
Despite the harsh check from nature, Bruce stood his ground. Expectations rise within him for his Reality Marble. The whole tension had passed on from his body. With his Reality Marble taking root in his every thought.
{Let the abyssal depths rise, and the sunken city of R'lyeh awaken.}
Not giving him any time he continued.
{Behold, the stage of cosmic dread, where madness reigns supreme.}
Finishing the main incantation, Bruce stopped as he eyed the Dragon in the distance. Dispelling the flight spell, he went down at high speed and just before he crashed into the earth. His fall speed decreased allowing for a soft landing.
He stared at the Dragon closely and had made up his mind. He was going to end the life of the Dragon now. Nothing could stop him from it. And he spoke the final and last stanza of the Incantation.
{ "Welcome to the Worlds from the Dreams of The Fool." }
Silence enveloped the land as they saw a dark orb manifest in the centre, devouring them all in a nanosecond. Both of them, Bruce and Typhon, were fast and saw the whole thing transpire. Yet they couldn't do anything but retire themselves to the black hole-like object. Suck them all in.
But Bruce was sure that he hadn't mistaken it. Just before he got devoured, he saw the dark grey cloud spread across the land, covering everything in its path.
Bruce wasn't the only one, even Typhon had witnessed the phenomenon. Even he, with the ability to see through all obstructions, was rendered incapable of seeing through it. It caused the Typhon to contemplate its decision and think of its action.
Worried it looked around to see itself and the Man to be in a dark land or space. It was a weird dimension that they had found themselves in what it thought. It eyed the Man standing on the rippling water in the distance, thinking of the cause of the occurrence. It was then that it appeared to it.
"Reality Marble"
The Man had taken it in a Reality Marble.
Bruce, not worried in the slightest, looked around as it was quite different to what he had seen the time in his dream.
Currently, he was standing on a sea or ocean covering the whole land. It was a dark place, unlike the place he had been to before. Unlike before, when he looked up, it was darkness all around, with the ocean at the bottom. Everything is stretching to Infinity from all sides.
Bruce calmed his breathing as he closed his eyes. Calming his nerves, he opened his eyes, slowly observing the surroundings. But unlike before, he saw thousands and thousands or possibly millions or trillions of eyes darting all across the infinite space.
He checked the ocean below as he felt a mysterious pull from it. Trying to suck in everything.
With the ocean being the only exception for eyes he felt the whole dimension. He let himself be immersed in the dimension and the Reality of Marble.
He understood the reality of this dimension of his Reality Marble.
'This is the Gate to my Reality Marble or the place that I had been last time to.'
He bent down, feeling the water. He took a handful of water in his palm observing it. All the Typhon is nervous about the place. As it couldn't sense Gaia or the outer World or look through the water or even the Man himself now.
Bruce feels the texture of the water and its meaning. He stretched his hand seeing Typhon moving towards him at high speeds. He grabbed empty air facing Typhon; water dripped down his palm following his action.
Answering the call, Giant Rotten Hands, corrupted with Negative Energy and Miasma. Causing curses and corrupting the very Reality movement made its way from the dark water, grabbing Typhon and dragging it in.
Despite his struggle, it failed to pull away from the Hand or break it off. Typhon was half immersed in water when using his all-strength, he pulled off an attack. Tiring itself out, he managed to blast off a hand, but to his fate. Another couple of Hands rose from the water pulling him in.
'I am sure that being the Owner of the Reality Marble, this Dark Water will not harm me. But I am quite scared of going in myself directly.'
Nervous of the dangers under the water. Especially from the incantation stanzas detailing. Bruce summoned a couple of Giant Hands. They opened their palm allowing Bruce to jump on them. Forming a fist and covering Bruce, the Hands sunk back into the Dark Water.
---
In Reality Marble [Sunken City of R'lyeh]
When Bruce opened his eyes, he saw himself sitting at the top of the Grand Temple of R'lyeh. He wondered about the effects of the water when he spotted Typhon just outside the city. With the Giant Wall separating them both.
It was another prowess of his inside the Reality Marble. He could sense everything inside it. He was able to conclude his understanding of it. Detailing its uses, he was happy to find that he could also maintain it for as long as he wished. While he also could know everything inside it and also drag anyone in it.
He was sort of Omniscient in Reality Marble.
Typhon, despite being dragged through the ocean, was tormented by every debuff and curse. With his HP constantly depleting. The Water had tried corrupting his very essence.
Yet he stood staring at the Wall. Guessing that the man was inside the Wall, Typhon blasted the wall as it made his way inside.
"Seriously though. Are all Divine Beats and Machine Gods so overpowered?"
Bruce now had the Omniscient view of the Dimension. Knowing his prowess, Bruce swung his arm commanding the Reality Marble. Following his command, dark, grotesque creatures in Priest and worshipping robes rushed out from their homes surrounding the Grand Temple. Rushing towards Typhon, heeding Bruce's command, they rushed at the Typhon, blindly attacking him.
There were a wide variety of priests and worshipers. Warriors, Archers, Monsters, Casters, Assassins and every class from Yggdrasil. It was not limited to Dark Monsters, but even many Beings from the Races corrupted by the Eldritch Ggods, The Fallen with an array of classes and from different races of Yggdrasil attacked Typhon.
With Giants, Elves, Humans, Undead like Vampires and Skeletons, and even dragons. It surprised Bruce to see the Worshipers of Cthulhu once again and what surprised him most was the lost lambs and the sheep of other Great Old Ones and Outer Gods in the army attacking Typhon.
Thinking it was enough, he signalled them to back off. The lambs of the Great Old Ones disappeared in a puff of dark grey smoke. It surprised Typhon a lot. It was the same smoke it had seen before. It cautiously looked at the Man, wondering his identity.
It already had an idea with everything it had seen so far. It was thinking of the connection between the Outer Gods and the Man in front of it.
Just when Typhon thought that it had seen enough for today, the Man took out a golden key-like object.
'Let's just fight him myself. It would be a good warm and I can also check for how I fare in a real fight. The Wolf was quite weak.
So, this is it. I also have those lambs as a last resort.
This Dragon must be just as strong as World Devourer if not even way more than him.
It would also work as the proxy to the fight that I had wished to complete with World Devourer before I was thrown out here.'
Bruce taking out the key, thought of going with a bang. As far he knew Divine Beats were very strong. It was also apparent in their battle back in the Real World. Though Bruce had not sustained any injuries, the same could not be said about the land. The damage caused by his one attack was in a different league than that of the Totem Wolf God.
'That Wolf would have had to spend a whole year stacking upon attacks to even get an attack as strong as The one used by Typhon.'
With the key being activated, red lines stretched out to the sky, opening his vault. Retrieving Ea, Bruce got ready to use it.
But he did use Ravens of Knowledge to check his HP before the attack. Seeing that he, with all those efforts, had only brought his HP down to 97.4%. Bruce took Ea out to do some serious damage to Typhon.
Moreover, most damage Typhon received was from the Dark Water.
Bruce went ahead with it. With his command, a grinding noise was heard from the Ea, as the Red lines on it lit up. With its upper part rotating at high speeds. Bruce swung the Ea.
{Enuma Elish}
A red orb with lightning zapping around the edges that had been formed at the tip of the Ea. Released the high pressure, an intense ray of the beam at the Dragon.
It was a destructive weapon and being the most powerful weapon of Gilgamesh, it lived up to its name.
Despite the destruction caused by it, Bruce quite enjoyed the sound of the Weapon at its full power.
Draining his HP down by a significant amount.
'So, it is true that many Divine Beasts are strong enough to tank Enuma Elish. No wonder they had such a hard time dealing with Bulls of Heaven. Since this guy is also similar to Machine Gods with being Divine Beast. It is not going up to the easy.'
{Skill, Magnum Tenebrosum}
Answering his call, darkness spread out at his back, extending from his shadow. From the darkness came forth dark tentacles slashing away at Typhon.
{Super-tier spell, The Promised Star Fall, Stella}
Leaving no time for it to recover, he went on ahead and teleported right above it.
A Giant with a Giant crashed on it, stabbing the Sword.
{Skill, World Break}
Seeing that it was still standing, Bruce continued with his onslaught as he at last stood at the top of the Grand Temple in his The Fool or the LAST Avatar. Typhon stood on its last leg, staring angrily at the Dark being.
It watched as it awaited its end. It watched the Man raise his right arm above.
{Skill, Sol Nirvana}
"Let's do this with my strongest skill."
It didn't know what skill was. But it knew for sure that this was the end of it. It could sense the strength of the attack.
A mini sun or a miniature sun fell on the city. Its fall was slow, but there was nothing Typhon could do with chains restricting it. As it looked defiantly at the Man swearing revenge, it was for a fraction of a second that it closed its eyes, but when it did open.
It saw the whole sky covered by eyes blinking and staring intently at him. Thousands of giant eyes blotted the sky. All staring at him.
A chill ran down its spine as the Miniature Star clashed against Tyohon bringing an end to him. It's effect spreading all across the Reality Marble as a ripple effect. Bruce got thrown out of the Reality Marble.
It was as if it had all been a dream. But seeing his arms and finding himself in his last Avatar and the Fool Avatar. It was a reminder to everything that took place inside.
-----------------------------------------------------------
**The End**
Drop a comment and leave a review. Be it negative or positive but make sure to give constructive criticism. Also if you think you can add anything of value to the fic, then you are more than welcome to comment. Any thoughts or questions, ask them in the comment section. I'll try to answer them as soon as I can.