Apocalypse: becoming the hidden Ruler[English]

“Fine,” he said at last, pressing his hand to the door. “If I can slip into someone else’s ‘sweet dream’ again and drag them out, great. Let’s see what kind of paradise our captain’s trapped in this time.”

Millers flashed a cocky grin. “Alright, time to show what real talent looks like.”

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Everyone’s Force energy erupted at once, tearing through the town like a chain of detonations. The air quaked. Concrete shattered. Entire blocks collapsed in seconds.

Phoenix became a human bulldozer, charging through buildings and sending walls crumbling like paper. Axel unleashed his Red Flame Blade, arcs of molten fire slicing through rooftops and stone. Millers fired off round after round of explosives, each blast sending mushroom clouds boiling into the sky.

Vince’s blade split a high-rise clean in two. Kaia and Charles hung back—their psychic abilities were useless for this kind of raw destruction.

“If we pulled this shit in the real world, they’d call us lunatics,” Rosaline muttered, shaking her head. Then, with a half-sigh, she joined in—Force flaring, her strikes leveling another street.

Vince chuckled and nodded toward Millers. “Look at that idiot. He’s having the time of his life.”

Millers was laughing like a madman, waving his hands as he triggered another round of missiles. “Bomb! Bomb! Bomb!”

Rosaline covered her face. “God, what a moron.”

There was a reason the city had banned combat between Awakened—especially high-level ones. Watching them now, it was obvious why. Their attacks tore through the world like artillery fire, reducing the town to a wasteland in minutes.

When the dust finally began to settle, Millers stood panting amid the devastation, staring at the flattened skyline. “What the hell? We leveled everything! Shouldn’t that have woken someone up?”

Every building had been reduced to rubble. Not a single intact structure remained. But there was no ripple—no shift in the shallow dream.

“Maybe we could blast other people out of their dreams?” he asked hopefully.

Charles shook his head. “No. The sweet dreams and the shallow dream are separate layers. Only entrance manifests here—we’d be able to see it.”

Millers groaned, disappointed. “Damn. Would’ve been cool if blowing shit up actually worked.”

“Then why hasn’t Valerie made a move?” Rosaline cut in. It was the question that hung over them all.

Charles went quiet for a moment, then spoke in a low, steady voice. “There’s only one explanation. She’s watching us.”

The words chilled the air.

“She’s not sure she can handle us in the shallow dream,” he continued. “So she’s draining us—slowly. Letting the exhaustion do her work for her.”

Everyone’s faces hardened. They’d all been feeling it—the creeping fatigue, the dull ache in their minds.

“So she’s tracking our attacks,” Millers said, frowning. “But what the hell are we supposed to do? We can’t hit the whole city at once.”

Even a level six Awakener couldn’t cover such an area. The energy cost alone would burn them out.

Just then, a sudden pulse of mental force rolled through the air.

Every head snapped up.

“Valerie?” Kaia said, her voice taut.

Before anyone could react, a sharp, furious voice echoed through the streets—female, angry, and shocked.

“How is that possible?!”

They spun toward the sound. In the distance, a tall woman stood at the edge of the wreckage—her face pale under heavy makeup, her expression twisted in disbelief.

Then, before they could move, she vanished in a blink.

The entire shallow dream quaked violently, then fell silent.

The mental force dissipated like mist.

“What the hell was that?” Vince growled, eyes narrowing.

Axel’s brow furrowed. That energy… it felt familiar. He’d sensed it before.

Vince and Rosaline didn’t hesitate—they launched their attacks at the spot where the woman had been. Charles joined them, the air rippling from the psychic backlash.

The area froze over instantly—Rosaline’s frost spreading in jagged veins—before Vince’s blade tore it apart in a single strike.

But the shallow dream didn’t shatter. It held.

Charles stood still, his face tightening with realization. “That first surge of mental energy—it wasn’t Valerie’s. Someone else struck her.”

“What?!” Rosaline snapped.

He nodded. “Whoever it was hit her true body. She got spooked and ran.”

Millers’ jaw dropped. “So… someone else is out there fighting her?”

A strange silence settled over the group as the truth sank in.

“The psychic force we felt—it was one of our own,” Charles murmured. “Someone already freed themselves. But instead of contacting us, they went straight for Valerie.”

Kaia’s voice was cold. “Trying to steal the kill.”

“Yeah,” Vince said flatly. “Sounds like one of Embercrag’s. They probably broke free early and decided to take the glory for themselves.”

Axel, standing slightly apart from the group, suddenly froze. That familiar aura—the one that had flared and vanished—it finally clicked in his mind.

“I hope it’s not what I think…”

Axel’s voice dropped low as his scalp prickled. He suddenly remembered the faint green glow he’d seen before entering Skyfleet Town—and a bad feeling sank deep into his gut.

“If that’s the case,” he muttered, “we’ve got a serious problem.”

A terrifying hypothesis formed in his mind. He looked up, eyes sharp. “Captain, there’s another possibility. That person just now—she wasn’t from Embercrag, and she wasn’t with Havoc Division either. She might be an Awakener we’ve never encountered before.”

Everyone froze.

“This mission was top-secret,” Charles said, frowning. “No one else should even know we’re here. Unless… she was already in Skyfleet Town, and Valerie’s dream pulled her in with us?”

Axel gave a small nod. Deep down, though, he was thinking something far darker.

If the woman he’d sensed—the one who struck Valerie—was also the person who’d killed Vernon… then none of this was coincidence. Not Shiverstone. Not Skyfleet Town. She was tracking them.

“Whether she’s an ally or an enemy, one thing’s for sure—she’s not working with Valerie.” Axel’s voice steadied. “Let’s focus on breaking the shallow dream first.”

Without another word, he reached into his pocket and pulled something out—a small handful of stones, faintly glowing. He held them out to Millers. “There’s another way to hit Valerie.”

Millers’ eyes widened. “Essence Stones… and Soul Stones?” A grin spread across his face. “Brother, you’re a genius. But… you sure you wanna waste them like this?”

The rest of the team gathered close. Even Charles’s heart stirred when he saw what Axel held.

“I don’t know if they’ll still exist after we wake up,” Axel said, shaking his head. “But right now, we’re out of options. Millers—blow them up.”

Millers’ grin stretched wider. He’d been eyeing those stones for a while, wanting to use them as explosives. Now, finally, permission granted. “Oh, I’ll give you a fireworks show you’ll never forget.”

“Hurry,” Axel warned him, his voice firm. “The longer we stay, the more our mental energy drains.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t rush me.” Millers crouched down and got to work, his hands moving fast. He coated the shells with the crushed Essence and Soul Stones, the dust shimmering faintly. Then, one by one, he planted them across the ruined city.

Meanwhile, far from the chaos, the members of Team Embercrag stood motionless—still trapped in their own dreams like wax figures.

Until one of them stirred.

A woman slowly opened her eyes. Mackenzie. Her gaze flicked around the room, taking in the sight of her still-sleeping teammates. Only one—Dale—was missing.

“Miss Mackenzie, you’re awake!” said a man nearby, a Level 4 Awakener from the Havoc Division. “What’s the situation inside?”

“Everything’s stable,” she said smoothly, recognizing him. “Everyone should wake soon. I just need to recover a bit first.”

The man nodded eagerly. “That’s great news! I’ll report to Mr. Finnegan right away.”

Mackenzie smiled sweetly, watching him leave. As soon as he was out of sight, she pulled a small vial from her coat—a bottle of red liquid—and uncorked it. A faint crimson mist spread through the room, seeping into the air. The mist curled, coiling around the unconscious Embercrag members and sinking into their skin.

She exhaled softly.