When Emma left, David slowly drifted into sleep. When he opened his eyes, he realized he was inside his own subconscious. But everything around him had changed. The place was dark, nothing could be seen.
David felt as if he were standing on water. Suddenly, the space began to shift: above him, billions of stars spun in an endless dance. At times, a faint light fell across his face, only to vanish again.
"What the hell is going on here?.." he muttered.
The silence pressed on him, unsettling, suffocating. After a few moments, everything quieted. David let out a sigh of relief. But he still couldn't move.
Turning his head, he noticed light falling across the right side of his face. Looking upward, he saw… a black mass.
"A black hole?.. What nonsense?!" David's eyes widened.
Yet the hole did nothing. It simply hung in the sky.
Then, to his right, a tree began to grow. David froze, watching it. It seemed familiar, yet he couldn't remember from where. Its leaves gradually turned crimson, like blood. The tree rose a hundred meters high before halting.
Shock spread across David's face—he finally remembered.
"It's you… bastard. Still not leaving us alone?" he said.
No reply came. Only silence.
David understood: there was no point in asking. He tried to move, but his fingers would not obey. There was no pain, only an itching sensation crawling across his whole body. He tried again and again, but it was as if his body were bound by invisible chains.
The itching turned into pain. The harder he struggled, the greater the torment became. Gritting his teeth, David gathered all his willpower and finally broke through the unseen barrier. Agonizing pain pierced him.
"Ha… ha… damn," he exhaled heavily. "I never thought it was possible to feel such pain in a dream…"
Rising to his feet, he looked around. The black hole still hung in the sky, the blood-red tree towered to his right, and beneath his feet water still rippled softly.
Then, ahead of him, he saw a sword. Approaching, he recognized it at once.
"That's… my sword! What is it doing here?.."
David reached out, but the blade pushed him away. As if the weapon itself refused to let its master hold it just yet. When he tried again, his consciousness was suddenly hurled back.
He opened his eyes. He was sitting on the deck, breathing heavily. Still in confusion, he didn't know what it all meant, or what awaited him next.
Yuri came up to him.
"Hey, David, wake up!"
"Huh?.." He flinched.
"We've arrived," the captain said with a smile.
"Really? Look…"
David lifted his gaze—and gasped. Before him stretched a vast city. It looked as if it had been built for those who survived the Trials of Fate. And at its very center, a colossal Pillar of Return soared skyward.
"Whoa… This city is enormous," David breathed.
Yuri nodded.
"You're right."
At that moment, Emma and Lucy emerged from the cabins. Emma's face lit up with joy as she looked upon the city—the three of them had survived. Lucy, on the other hand, couldn't contain herself. She laughed, cried out in delight, as if casting off the weight of all the horrors of the past days.
At last, the ship docked. The trio stepped onto the pier, while Yuri lingered behind.
"I'm sorry. We could only bring you this far," he said.
"It's fine. We're grateful," David replied.
"Haha, thank you. Then I wish you luck," Yuri nodded, returning to his ship.
They hadn't taken more than a few steps when five people in dark cloaks approached them.
The first of them, clearly the leader, spoke:
"You are the ones who survived the Forbidden Zone?"
"Yes," Emma answered calmly.
"I see. Follow us."
With that, they moved ahead. David thought to himself:
"Their speed… I could barely catch their movement."
After ten minutes, passing through a crowd of awakened ones, they arrived at a grand residence. The leader knocked on the door. From within, a voice replied:
"Enter."
They stepped inside and saw a man in his fifties. The pressure radiating from him made even Emma flinch.
He wore a military uniform, his face stern and unyielding.
"My name is Hao Wen. I am from China—on
e of the Four Generals. I was told you survived the Forbidden Zone. Is that true?"