Invincible
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🕑 Added 2024-11-07 12:30:23 +0000 UTCSkull of the Incubus (2)
Fossils were displayed on the shelves. This was the study of Professor Gomon, where parchments of all kinds were stuck into jars, starting from blueprints. Gomon, who had been sleeping with his head down on the long table, opened his eyes. A magnifying glass was clutched in his hand.
"Huh? Oh, right, I was piecing together the bones."
Scratching his head with a blank expression, Gomon tried to recall. His memory was a bit hazy, but he was certain he had been carefully sorting through the bones he had brought and aligning them in their proper places. During that process, he had cut his hand on the sharp horn of a skull. He had gone to the shelf with the mirror to get a bandage for the wound. But then, he had been startled.
'W-What was that just now?'
As he glanced at the mirror, he had seen someone sitting on the table. It was a man with extremely pale skin. But when he turned his head, no one was there. Gomon slumped into his chair, letting out a deep sigh. It must have been a hallucination from reading too many old books recently. Shaking it off, Gomon grabbed the magnifying glass again to continue his work. However, the bones had disappeared.
"Huh?"
“You’ve already finished, so why not take a proper rest?”
A sudden voice broke the silence, and Gomon slowly turned his head. Surprisingly, he didn’t feel alarmed. For some reason, it felt as if he were about to have a casual conversation with an invited guest. Gomon blinked.
"Huh?"
A naked man was leaning against the wall. He had horns on his head, wings on his back, and a black tail swayed gently beneath him. His pale skin shimmered like stars. Despite his dazed state, Gomon realized that this sight was beyond reality.
"Am I dreaming?"
"Yes, you are. This is all a dream, a lucid one, if you will. Isn’t that nice? If there’s something you want, just imagine it. Consider it my thanks for waking me up."
Gomon thought it was a convenient situation. He had always wished he could live without sleep—how much more time he could have spent on research! Even though it was just a dream, if he was conscious, he could make use of the time.
"Researching in a dream, huh? Not bad."
Gomon opened a half-burned book lying nearby. It was the tome that had helped him find the bones. The man’s interest was piqued.
"What book is that?"
"Oh, this? An ancient text I’ve been studying."
Frostheart had once been seized by the Kingdom of Belam. This book was written by them. Though, when the Academy returned to the Empire, half of it had been burned...
"War is always the problem. They burn everything, leaving future generations ignorant of history."
As Gomon grumbled, the man yawned, bored.
"Is reading something like that really your wish?"
"Don’t belittle it. There are so many questions. So many theories pop into my head, it makes my brain itch."
With a sigh, Gomon handed the ancient text to the man.
"It’s said that this records the history of the war at the time, but it's hard to decipher. How exactly did they invade the fortress, and why did they bury those bones in the backyard?"
The man smirked.
"Oh, that? I could tell you."
"Huh?"
"It was the work of an incubus. An incubus that came down to the human realm and fed on their dreams."
Before he knew it, the man's bare skin was now concealed by a stylish gentleman’s suit. Since it was all just a dream, Gomon accepted it and asked, "An incubus?"
"Yes, that's right. An incubus."
Gomon thought it was a nonsensical claim. The idea that a creature whose existence was uncertain had taken over Frostheart was hard to believe. Yet, the man continued speaking, as if recalling the past.
"The incubus, having awoken from a long slumber, learned the new customs of humans and presented himself as a gentleman. 'I will give you pleasant dreams, in exchange for nourishment,' he proposed this deal to the king of a country called Belam."
The origin of the incubus legend was in Belam. There was an old folktale about a foolish incubus who tried to swallow the kingdom with sweet words but ended up being outwitted by a wise king and killed. It was a well-known classic story. However, what the man was saying differed slightly from the original tale.
"But, surprisingly, the king made a better offer. He promised to grant the incubus land in exchange for helping with a certain task. The incubus thought it wasn’t a bad deal. He considered creating a 'Dream World' in the region and inviting humans in. The entrance fee would be dreams, and in return, he would provide pleasant experiences."
It sounded more like a businessman than the fearsome descriptions from the stories—where the incubus would drain human life energy and leave them as mummies.
"So, what task did the king give him?" Gomon asked. The man's eyes turned sorrowful.
"He asked me to help him conquer Frostheart, promising the land in return. But these modern kings are truly treacherous. Do you know what he did after the task was complete?"
"What did he do?"
"He cut me to pieces and buried me in the backyard."
Gomon squinted his eyes. The man had said "me." As if implying that he himself was the incubus.
"You said 'me'? What do you mean…?"
"Didn’t you find it strange, Gomon? Why were the bones lighter than water?"
Click, click.
The man approached with cloudy eyes.
"That's because they weren't really bones. You see, my body doesn’t decay, even in death. What you thought were bones were just an illusion I created."
From the man's body, streams of blood began to pour out, as if showing how he had been dismembered. Gomon’s eyes widened at the eerie sight.
"S-So, what is it that you want?"
With a chilling gaze, the man answered, "Revenge."
His voice was indifferent yet laced with sharp malice.
"Hmm, after such a long sleep, I feel quite hungry. I suppose I’ll start by devouring the dreams of everyone here..."
The man snapped his fingers. Immediately, the sound of rain outside ceased, and the room began to fill with soap bubbles. Gomon shook his head and reopened his book.
"What a strange dream I'm having."
***
The torrential rain had all turned into soap bubbles. As I was looking for someone to assist me in finding a hidden item, I could see people sprawled across the floor in the hallway, snoring away. A few had regained their senses and were getting up, but most of them, with dazed expressions, were simply chasing after the soap bubbles.
"Hehe, it’s a butterfly!"
"Huh? I’m going to catch it."
"No way, I’m the one who’s gonna catch it! Hehe."
"What were we even doing just now?"
"Who knows? Hehe."
Their minds were completely foggy. If they realized this was a dream, it would turn into a lucid dream. If not, they'd simply wander through the dreamscape, drifting like fools caught in an illusion.
Donatan asked in a flustered voice, "Hersel, what on earth is going on here?"
"I'd like to say we’ve officially turned into a mental hospital... but it looks like there’s some chaos again. Perhaps something that was never meant to wake up has awakened."
Though I had brushed off the situation, I was fully aware of what was going on.
This was evidence that the Dream World had materialized.
The scenario had finally begun.
[Irte, the Dream Incubus]
The category is classified as a humanoid monster, a demon.
Irte is intelligent and capable of speech.
He has three main abilities:
The first is summoning sleep gas.
The second is hypnosis, which can only be used on those who are asleep.
He is so powerful that he can even revive himself after death.
Finally, he has the ability to merge his dungeon, the Dream World, with reality.
At first glance, he might seem immortal and capable of creation like a god, but fortunately, he's not quite at that level.
His weakness lies in the core hidden within the dungeon.
Destroying the core dispels the illusion, and his long-ago confirmed death becomes a reality.
It's not extremely difficult, but considering this is his only weakness, the difficulty is reasonable.
So, who are the ones tasked with defeating him?
They are the key characters in the wizard positions:
Bellman, the barrier master,
Ricks, the master of manifestation,
Edina, the shape-shifter, and their helper, Rockefeller.
Except for Ricks, the first-year students of the Adele Hall's magic department were training under Rockefeller’s lead in a sealed room known as the magic chamber.
Thanks to that, they weren’t exposed to the sleep gas that swept through the area, and they weren’t trapped in the dream state, allowing them to move freely.
“There’s nothing for me to do here, right?”
The setting had been perfectly arranged, and there didn’t seem to be any reason for the scenario to go awry.
Up until now, I’d been dragged into all kinds of chaos and targeted by villains just because I had enrolled in the academy, but I had no connection to Irte.
If the main characters asked what I had been doing while they struggled, I could just say I was dreaming like everyone else.
Of course, I hadn’t been affected by Irte’s hypnosis.
[Threat detected. Type: Hypnosis.]
[1-second invincibility activated.]
"Hehe."
So, with my free body, all I needed to do was leisurely find a bodyguard, sneak into the dungeon, and grab the hidden item there.
Hopefully, this time, they can handle all the hard work themselves.
***
At the Adele Hall café, Leana opened her eyes.
As she lifted her head, a few strands of red hair stuck to her lips.
"Mm..."
Out of habit, she straightened her hair and looked around.
The café was filled with people wandering about in a daze.
Floating soap bubbles drifted through the air, and people chased after them gleefully.
"It's a dragonfly!"
"It's a fairy!"
"No, it's my love letter!"
It was a truly bizarre sight.
‘Am I dreaming right now?’ Leana thought, and with that thought, her mind seemed to clear a little.
She then noticed Silla, who was slumped over the table in front of her.
Leana gently shook Silla's shoulder.
"Silla?"
"Uh, ugh..."
Silla rubbed her eyes as she slowly woke up.
Leana blinked her cloudy eyes slowly.
"Silla, what were we doing?"
"We were drinking tea."
"Oh, right. What were we talking about?"
"Uh... your fiancé, I think?"
Their conversation, in sluggish voices, continued.
"Oh, right. But, did I even have a fiancé?"
"Uh... Hersel?"
"Huh? That’s strange. Did we really?"
As Leana said this, Silla looked around.
"By the way, why are we at a ball?"
"A ball?"
To Leana, it just looked like the café.
"Yeah, you know, the people dancing the waltz over there."
They were just people following soap bubbles with wobbly steps.
"There’s even a band over there, hehe."
But the band consisted of people humming awkwardly, sounding like pigs being slaughtered.
It was clear that Silla hadn’t taken any drugs.
It seemed they were trapped in some strange dream.
***
The interior of the club floor was now dyed a dark color.
The cloth had all turned into red carpets, and occasional ash floated through the air.
The place had fully transformed into a dungeon with a demon lord's castle theme.
The students wandered around with dazed expressions, giggling to themselves.
"Has this place always been like this?"
"Huh? Maybe? Feels kinda like home. Am I dreaming?"
At that moment, the students suddenly turned their heads toward the sound of clanking armor.
Clank, clank.
I hid among the crowd of students, watching it.
It was a fully armored knight, but its interior was completely hollow.
This was one of the dungeon monsters that filled the castle, one of Irte’s minions.
Clank, clank.
Luckily, it didn’t notice me and passed by.
Just then, one of the girls who had been talking earlier wrapped her arms around the knight’s back.
"Alend, right? Oh, wait. The armor seems a bit big... or is it just me? Oh well. Can you take me to my room?"
"What? Are you saying you won't give me a piggyback ride now that I'm all grown up? Ugh, whatever. This is a dream anyway. I'm just going to get on."
The woman slapped the armor with a light thud and forcibly climbed onto the knight's back. The armored knight ignored her and continued on its path, carrying her along.
Donatan spoke curiously, ‘Strangely, it's not attacking.’
Minions never attack those lost in the dream. It made sense; those people were their energy source. Killing them would serve no purpose. The only ones they attack are those, like me, who aren't trapped in the dream.
But where on earth is Riamon? I've been wandering around, but I can't find the guy I had pegged to be my bodyguard. I can’t exactly head to where Mircel and Erucel are either. That place is swarming with minions, and they’re much stronger than your typical undead foes.
As someone who can only use limited ‘physical telekinesis magic,’ I wasn’t confident I could break through that horde. Still, just standing here doing nothing wasn’t much of an option either. I began to quietly walk, softening my footsteps.
Then, suddenly, some guy with a spaced-out look pointed at my face and shouted, "It's a teddy bear!"
What the heck? This guy’s out of his mind.
I was about to ignore him and keep walking when, unexpectedly, someone called my name properly.
