Chapter 305 -: 304 Dream.
Kavin stared silently at Lyra’s battered figure lying on the arena floor, his grip tightening around the sword in his hand.
She was barely able to remain conscious. One of her arms hung limply by her side, her breathing was uneven, and blood continued to drip onto the cracked stone beneath her.
By every normal standard, the battle had already been decided.
Yet instead of feeling relieved, an uneasy feeling slowly settled inside his chest. He couldn’t kill her....as per the rules of the arena.
That single hesitation was now the greatest danger. If she still possessed enough strength to activate her Domain Manifestation, then everything he had fought for until now could disappear in an instant.
That was precisely why he had pushed her to such a miserable state instead of dragging the battle out.
He had hoped overwhelming her completely would leave her with no choice except surrender. It had been his safest option.
Unfortunately... reality rarely followed someone’s wishes.
"Domain Manifestation..."
The moment those two words escaped Lyra’s lips, Kavin’s expression changed. Without the slightest hesitation, he lunged forward and drove a brutal kick into the side of her face.
The impact echoed throughout the silent arena as Lyra’s body was launched across the battlefield before crashing violently against the stone floor, rolling several times before finally coming to a stop near the center of the arena.
Kavin slowly lowered his leg, letting out a quiet sigh. He had reacted as quickly as his body allowed, yet deep inside he already knew it was meaningless.
Once the incantation had been spoken, interrupting it no longer mattered.
Whatever Domain she possessed had already begun to manifest. There was nothing left to stop.
All he could do now was wait... and prepare himself for whatever was about to come.
He didn’t know what kind of Domain Lyra possessed. No one did. Even Magnus had admitted earlier that very few people understood what her Domain actually did.
That uncertainty was what made Domains so terrifying.
Every Domain was unique, and unless someone had experienced it personally, countering it was nearly impossible.
Kavin slowly tightened his grip around his sword before exhaling through his nose. Running wasn’t an option.
There was no point trying to escape something he didn’t understand. If he wanted to overcome it, then there was only one path forward.
Face it head-on.
A bitter chuckle escaped his lips as he quietly stood his ground, his eyes never leaving Lyra’s motionless figure.
Seconds passed in complete silence. Nothing happened. No explosions. No overwhelming mana. No strange changes within the arena.
Everything remained exactly the same, making the silence itself feel increasingly unnatural. Then... something slowly began to change.
His head.
A strange sensation washed over him without warning. It wasn’t pain. It wasn’t dizziness either.
Instead, it was an overwhelming heaviness that settled over his mind like an invisible blanket. His thoughts gradually became sluggish, while exhaustion seeped through every corner of his body.
His eyelids suddenly felt unbelievably heavy, as though he hadn’t slept for days. Every instinct inside him screamed for one thing.
Sleep.
Kavin immediately jerked his head violently, forcing himself back to his senses.
He clenched his teeth, took several deep breaths, and even bit the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood. Yet no matter what he did, the drowsiness refused to fade.
It only continued growing stronger with every passing second, slowly dragging his consciousness downward.
’Is this her domain?’ Kavin thought grimly.
If this overwhelming sleepiness truly was the effect of Lyra’s Domain, then its purpose became painfully obvious.
The moment he completely fell asleep, he would become completely defenseless. Whatever happened afterward would be entirely within Lyra’s control.
Suppressing the rising anxiety inside his heart, Kavin forced himself to raise his head and look toward Lyra once more.
She had somehow risen onto one knee.
Blood still streamed down her bruised face, yet neither of her hands were touching the ground.
Instead, her fingers moved slowly through the empty air, weaving delicate patterns as though she were manipulating invisible strings stretching throughout the battlefield.
Every slight movement of her fingertips caused the suffocating drowsiness inside Kavin’s mind to grow heavier.
His vision blurred.
His breathing became slower.
Even keeping his eyes open now required tremendous effort.
Without wasting another moment, Kavin immediately activated Event Horizon, attempting to transfer this unnatural exhaustion into his future self just as he had done countless times during the battle.
Nothing happened....his expression instantly froze.
Again.
He tried once more, still nothing.
The unbearable sleepiness remained firmly rooted within his consciousness, refusing to budge even the slightest bit.
"...What the fuck is even happening...?" Kavin muttered hoarsely.
His legs finally gave out beneath him.
He dropped onto one knee, his sword barely preventing him from collapsing entirely as he stabbed its tip into the arena floor for support.
Even holding onto consciousness now felt unimaginably difficult. His eyelids trembled violently, threatening to close every few seconds.
He knew he could still force himself to stand and attack Lyra... but deep inside, he also knew the truth.
He wouldn’t make it.
Before he could even reach her, he would inevitably succumb to the overwhelming urge to sleep.
Then, a soft voice echoed throughout the arena.
It wasn’t loud or threatening, it almost sounded gentle.
"Go to sleep...succumb to your deepest dream...when you awaken from that dream..."
"You will have everything."
"Everything you have ever desired... awaits you there."
The words wrapped around Kavin’s consciousness like an irresistible lullaby.
Every ounce of resistance inside him crumbled apart. His eyelids finally closed, and his body slowly Stopped moving.
Darkness swallowed everything.
****
When Kavin opened his eyes again, the arena had disappeared.
Silence surrounded him.
An endless black world stretched infinitely in every direction. There was no sky. No ground. No walls.
Nothing existed except an endless sea of darkness that seemed to consume even light itself.
’....where am I?’
His own voice echoed strangely before fading into nothingness. Instinctively, he lowered his gaze toward himself.
The moment he saw his body, his pupils contracted.
His black hair was gone. Golden strands gently rested upon his forehead.
His hands were no longer those of Kavin.
Even his clothes had changed.
Without realizing it, he slowly touched his own face before letting out a long sigh.
’...Julius?’
His appearance had completely reverted to his original body. Golden hair. Golden eyes. The face he hadn’t seen in what felt like an eternity.
’...Is this some kind of dream?’
No answer came.
He slowly looked around once more, but nothing changed. Endless darkness continued surrounding him from every direction.
There wasn’t a single landmark. Not a single sound. Not even the sensation of wind. Curious, Julius pinched his own arm as hard as he could, hoping the pain would force him awake.
It hurt.
But he didn’t wake up.
’....so it’s that kind of dream, huh?’
He rubbed his forehead before letting out a helpless sigh.
’Damn... this is going to take longer than I expected..’
Although he had no concrete proof, he was already almost certain this endless black world was the interior of Lyra’s Domain.
Every clue he had managed to gather before losing consciousness pointed toward that conclusion.
The timing, the strange transition, and the unnatural surroundings all fit together far too well to be dismissed as coincidence.
Judging from the final moments before he blacked out, she had most likely trapped his mind inside this strange dream while their real bodies remained inside the arena.
If his guess was correct, escaping wouldn’t be as simple as forcing himself awake. Dreams created by ordinary means could be broken through willpower or pain, but this clearly wasn’t an ordinary dream.
It was something deliberately constructed, something sustained by magic rather than his own unconscious mind.
However, from what little he had managed to observe before collapsing, Lyra appeared to be maintaining the Domain through constant concentration.
He could still recall her fingers weaving invisible threads through the air with unwavering precision, never pausing for even a moment.
It hadn’t looked like the movements of someone simply controlling a spell after it had been cast.
Instead, it resembled someone continuously supporting it, as though the Domain itself relied on those motions to remain stable.
That probably meant she couldn’t simply cast the Domain and leave it unattended. If her concentration broke, even for a single instant, this dream should collapse on its own.
’Haa...’
A tired laugh escaped Julius as he shoved both hands into his pockets. There wasn’t much else he could do at the moment besides wait and trust his own judgment.
If his assumptions were wrong, then he would simply have to discover that the hard way. Worrying about possibilities he couldn’t confirm would only waste time.
’At least I won’t lose... unless I give up inside this dream.’
The thought wasn’t exactly comforting, but it was enough. As long as he refused to surrender, there was still a chance.
That alone gave him something to hold onto amidst the endless darkness.
With that small consolation in mind, he slowly began walking through the endless darkness, searching for anything that might lead him out.
His pace remained unhurried, his eyes calmly sweeping across the empty void despite finding nothing but the same unchanging blackness.
There was little reason to rush. If an exit existed, blindly running through the darkness wouldn’t help him find it any faster.
However...
Just as he took another step...
Something strange happened.