Author's wish: Thanks for following and staying to read the story.
Wish you a happy day!
Be a happiest of your today, my readers!
****
Jen stood rigid, her fists clenched and then loosened. Both hands glowed, each wrapped in a sphere of magical energy. Her eyes stared vacantly into the void.
Long shouted,
"Jen, what are you doing?"
As if she couldn't hear him, Jen kept muttering,
"Kill… kill them all…"
Then, suddenly, she vanished. In an instant, she reappeared behind Long. Caught off guard, Long couldn't react in time. Nguyen suddenly appeared, attempting to launch a kick at Jen, but she evaded it.
Long looked at the few EN coins left in his hand and muttered softly,
"Looks like I'll have to use the last of the EN coins the pho shop owner gave me… sorry, Mai…"
Then, he ordered Dreamy to create magical shields to surround Jen. A circular barrier formed from Long and Dreamy's magical shields, enclosing her.
Expressionless, her lifeless eyes fixed ahead, Jen raised her right hand, filled with magical power, and struck the barrier three to four times in rapid succession. Cracks spread across the barrier before it shattered completely. But Long had already appeared behind her. From behind, he locked her by hooking both arms under her shoulders. In response, Jen leaped into the air and flipped backward, slamming Long into the ground.
Pinned beneath her, blood began to trickle from the corner of Long's mouth. He muttered,
"She's seriously strong…"
Nguyen stood watching everything. He only intervened to help Long avoid fatal blows, but he hadn't attacked Jen at all. Long turned and asked,
"Nguyen, why aren't you fighting seriously?"
Nguyen crossed his arms and replied coldly,
"If I stepped in, the match would already be decided. Take your time and enjoy it."
Nguyen smirked. Long felt a surge of irritation and wounded pride, as if he were being toyed with. He turned to Dreamy.
"Dreamy, I don't know if you still retain the old Dreamy's memories, but can you assimilate with me?"
Dreamy "King" replied confidently,
"What kind of question is that? Such a trivial spell is nothing to me! But my core consciousness power is immense—if a mortal assimilates with me, they'll explode. You're not strong enough to handle it."
"Damn it!" Long snapped, dodging Jen's relentless attacks as he ran. Wherever her strikes landed, deep craters formed in the ground. One direct hit would obliterate his body. Long didn't know what would happen if he died in this dream realm, and he didn't dare take the risk. He focused on avoiding injury at all costs.
While running, he used Dreamy to create a shield that blocked Jen's path, causing her to stumble forward. That brief moment gave him a few seconds to catch his breath. He panted heavily, sweat pouring down like rain. This might be the dream realm, but he had entered it with his real body—everything he felt and every injury he sustained here was real.
Long began to stagger. The shockwaves from Jen's attacks sent vibrations that made his head spin.
He paused, thinking, then turned to Dreamy "King."
"Dreamy… assimilate…"
Dreamy "King" snorted, surprised.
"Hmph, you reckless fool…"
Dreamy's body seemed unable to resist. In the past, this AI Witch's body (the old Dreamy) had learned to obey its master's commands at all costs. Even the core consciousness of an AI King Witch couldn't defy that ingrained obedience.
Long and Dreamy "King" began to assimilate.
Nguyen watched the scene unfold, a satisfied smirk forming on his lips.
Blue flames ignited around Long, and his pupils turned bright violet. Beside him stood a massive Poodle, its fur longer, its gaze divine. Wings sprouted from its back, its posture powerful, with occasional flashes of lightning crackling around it—that was Dreamy after assimilation with Long.
Dreamy exclaimed,
"I don't understand—I thought you would've exploded… And what's with my form? I look so strange…"
Long stared at his hands and murmured,
"This feeling… it's incredible… like an endless surge of energy flowing through me…"
Step by step, he advanced slowly, his eyes locked onto Jen like a predator stalking its prey. The sinister evil eye grew uneasy.
"That power is terrifying… Jen, kill him now!"
Jen trembled. She clutched her chest in pain before leaping into the air. A voice compelled her to burn all her energy to finish Long. She resisted weakly,
"I… I don't want to kill people…"
But her body no longer obeyed her. Her hands glowed intensely as thunder roared around them. A surge of energy wind radiated outward, whipping Mai's hair wildly. From the stands, Mai sat beside Suzan—Jen's mother—watching with bated breath. Then she shouted,
"Long, you should dodge! Even if you've assimilated with an AI King Witch, you still need to dodge!"
Nguyen silently observed, waiting for Long's response.
Long looked at Jen.
"I want to test this new power for myself. All or nothing!"
His fist ignited with blue flames as he charged forward. His punch collided with Jen's. A blinding flash erupted, as bright as the sun, engulfing the arena. No one could clearly see what was happening.
Long struggled against Jen's power—she was pouring all her accumulated energy and life force into that single strike. The ground trembled violently as debris lifted into the air. Cracks began to spread across Long's arm.
Dreamy rushed over, shouting,
"You can't fully assimilate with my power! This is your real body—it'll be torn apart! Cancel the assimilation now!"
But Long refused to give up. Since childhood, he had been trained by Miss Huong, the most skilled mage in his hometown, Hope Village. He was used to pain and relentless physical training. This level of injury wasn't enough to break him.
One second passed. Then two. Then several more. Jen showed no sign of stopping. The force behind her punch kept increasing. Long began to feel unbearable pain as his arm was torn apart by the overwhelming power.
Dreamy muttered and cursed,
"Hmph, you idiot… don't expect me to save you again!"
Then Dreamy transformed into a massive blue flame, surged toward Long, and merged into him. Long's violet pupils flared intensely. His shattered arm began to regenerate—only to crack again and instantly heal, repeating over and over, as if racing against the limits of Jen's endurance.
A thunderous explosion erupted. The arena was left in ruins. The spectator stands remained mostly unaffected, protected by an invisible barrier spell, but the battlefield was devastated after the clash of their fists.
As the dust settled, the scene became clear. Long collapsed to his knees, clutching his numb, blood-soaked hand. He struggled to lift his head and asked,
"Did… we win?"
About six meters away, Jen lay motionless. The sinister eye snarled in frustration.
"Useless trash, Jen!"
Long and Dreamy separated. Dreamy ran over and lightly slapped Long's shoulder.
"Good thing I patched your body up, or you would've been torn apart by my power! You reckless kid!"
Long scratched his ear and chuckled awkwardly, exhaustion evident on his dirt-streaked face.
"Thank you… everything's fine now."
The sinister eye burst into laughter.
"Haha, you think you've won?"
Then it vanished without a trace.
A rumbling sound echoed in Long's ears, growing louder and closer, as if something powerful was rapidly approaching. He turned to Dreamy.
"Do you hear that?"
In the sky above, thousands of streaks of light shot toward the arena. Each carried an overwhelming presence, gathering like countless stars and covering the entire sky. Upon closer look, they were young people from the dream realm. All wore silver armor, wielded strange magical artifacts, and were accompanied by Baku-shaped AI Witches with glowing eyes. Every gaze was sharp, filled with killing intent, directed at Long's group below.
Among them was one enormous streak of light—brighter and more powerful than all the others. Its presence alone sent chills down everyone's spine. That light descended calmly into the arena.
Empress Mary had arrived.