The sight that greeted him was a vast, grand chamber. The room was filled with instruments of every kind lining the walls — violins, harps, flutes, drums, saxophones, and even strange, otherworldly contraptions whose purposes were unknown to him. Each was crafted with extraordinary detail, shimmering faintly under the light and radiating an aura of dreamforce that saturated the air.

  Dreamforce devices? Victor thought in wonder. I wonder how they compare to magic tools or magic artifacts…

  His attention shifted to the centerpiece of the room — a grand piano. It had a polished black surface that gleamed with a reflective sheen, as if it absorbed the ambient energy radiating from the surrounding instruments. Faint, pulsing lines of dreamforce coursed through it like veins. The moment his eyes landed on the piano, he became certain of one thing: this piano was the main source of the dreamforce permeating the room.

  However, what caught his eye even more was what lay beyond the piano. On the far wall hung a massive family portrait, and Victor recognized it immediately. It was Lillie’s family portrait — the same one he had seen during his infiltration of her former home.

  The painting was as vivid and striking as he remembered. A dignified, handsome man with silvery hair and a composed expression stood next to a beautiful woman with snow-white locks and a soft smile that exuded warmth. In the center was a young girl, whose innocent gaze and soft smile closely mirrored her mother’s. There was no mistaking it.

  Victor turned his attention to Lillie, curious to see her reaction to the portrait.

  She had been walking ahead, spreading her arms wide with an innocent triumphant grin. “Behold! The Royal Music Room!” she announced. “This is the heart of Brightmoon Castle — and my most treasured place in all of Toymania!”

  But the moment her eyes fell upon the portrait, she froze and went silent. Her smile faltered, her hands lowering to her sides. Slowly, she approached the painting longingly, as if a veil of forgotten memories had been pulled back.

  “Lillie?” Victor called out but received no response from her.

  For a long moment, she stood silently in front of the portrait. Her eyes locked onto the painting with a deep, aching sadness.

  “Lillie’s family…” she whispered in a barely audible voice, removing the fake mustache and clutching it. “They look… so happy.”

  Victor watched closely, sensing a subtle shift in the atmosphere. The once stable flow of Dreamscape energy began to ripple erratically, no longer smooth and harmonious, and the room grew dimmer, shadows creeping into the corners as if the Dreamscape itself were reacting to her emotions.

  Lillie reached out with a finger to brush against the surface of the painting as though she could somehow touch the figures depicted there. “Why… can’t Lillie remember?” she murmured, her voice trembling. “Why do they feel so far away?”

  Suddenly, the Dreamscape trembled violently. The walls of the room were shaking, and the very space they were in began to flicker in and out. The instruments lining the walls started to emit discordant, haunting notes that clashed painfully against each other, shattering the once-serene ambiance. Victor’s body tensed up as his mana sense detected an ominous presence forcing its way into this space, and the source was the painting itself!

  “Lillie, step back!” he said sharply, but she didn’t respond. Her eyes remained locked on the portrait, tears welling at their edges.

  The oppressive energy intensified, and the piano at the center of the room pulsed violently; it glowed brightly before dimming again. The dreamforce grew even more erratic, swirling chaotically around the room. Victor’s instincts screamed, every fiber of his being alert to the imminent danger.

  And then, it appeared.

  From the portrait itself, a shadowy figure with a single, vertical eye appeared and stared menacingly at both Victor and Lillie.

  “Don’t worry, little child,” it whispered. “Just follow me, and I’ll give you everything you’ve been dreaming of, even your dead family.”

  “Really.” Lillie didn’t seem to realize what was happening as she walked closer toward it. It was the same Dreamscape creature that had pulled Lillie into the Dreamscape previously.

  Dreamscape invasion. The term came to him immediately, a concept he’d read about in the study of the Dreamscape by the past Magus. In unstable areas of the material world where the boundary between realms was weakest, nightmarish Dreamscape creatures could escape into reality to wreak havoc. But this wasn’t the material world — this was the Dreamscape itself. Did the term even apply here?

  None of that mattered now.

  If I want to save Lillie, I have to eliminate this thing! Victor thought, and without hesitation, he took out the Voidborn Orb and prepared to cast a spell.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Victor channeled his infused mana, instinctively activating his intangible spatial shield — a standard practice whenever he faced an unknown opponent. The Voidborn Orb floating above his hand flared with an intense, dark radiance as he began casting {Gap Hole}. A spatial rift materialized in front of him, crackling with Cosmo elemental energy as it absorbed some of the chaotic dreamforce swirling violently around the room, allowing him to easily cast more spells.

  “Don’t you dare interrupt!” The shadowy figure shouted, sensing the incoming attack, but it didn’t lash out with tendrils or any direct physical assault. Instead, it used the dreamforce concentrated within the musical instruments lining the walls. The instruments began to play on their own and started emitting distorted, dissonant notes that materialized into physical musical notes — sharp, resonant projectiles aimed straight at Victor.

  Having anticipated such an unconventional move, Victor chanted quickly, “{Blink}!” and vanished from his spot just as the notes collided with the ground, shattering it with an ear-splitting cacophony.

  Victor reappeared right between the creature and Lillie. “Lillie!” he called out sharply, hoping to snap her out of her trance. “Snap out of it! We’re in danger!”

  Alas, Lillie remained motionless, tears streaming down her cheeks, and this sadness seemed to weigh down the entire Dreamscape.

  No other choice then, Victor thought grimly. All I can do is to beat this entity!

  But before he went on the offensive, Victor grabbed Lillie and moved her away from the painting, carrying her to a safe corner of the room in a split second. He gently set her down, ensuring she was protected from the chaos. Once satisfied with her safety, he turned back toward the creature with a furious expression.

  Victor unleashed his mana outward in a controlled burst, which clashed with the chaotic dreamforce swirling in the room. The collision created visible distortions in the air, as though the fabric of the Dreamscape itself was rippling under the strain.

  The shadowy figure from the portrait narrowed its single, vertical eye. Clearly, it was displeased with the interference. In retaliation, it thrashed wildly, its form shifting to create shadowy tendrils that extended outward. These tendrils coalesced into elongated hands that gripped the furniture around the room, hurling it toward Victor with terrifying force. Simultaneously, the musical instruments lining the walls emitted dissonant, weaponized notes, manifesting as projectiles that aimed directly at him.

  “Tch. Let’s see how you handle this,” Victor muttered with fury. He activated one of his sigils and cast {Gap Hole} multiple times in rapid succession. Spatial rifts formed around him, crackling with Cosmo elemental energy as they expanded and connected into a complex network.

  The incoming furniture and dissonant notes struck the rifts, vanishing into the void-like openings. At almost the same time, the intercepted projectiles hurtled back toward the portrait. Chairs, tables, and sharp, discordant energy barreled toward the shadowy figure, enveloping the portrait whole and causing dust to fill the air.

  “No! No!” A scream echoed through the room, reverberating with desperation and rage as the portrait shattered into countless pieces.

  Nevertheless, Victor’s sharp eyes caught a flicker of change in Lillie. Her eyes which were clouded with sadness seemed to regain a glimmer of clarity. She blinked, looking around the chaotic room in confusion until her gaze landed on Victor.

  “Mentor…? What happened— Ugh!” she winced, clutching her temple as if struggling to piece together fractured memories.

  “Have you gained clarity, Lillie?” Victor asked, moving closer to her. “This place is not safe. Can you open a passage back to the academy?”

  Lillie nodded firmly despite the confusion. “Mm. Lillie will try her best!”

  As she focused on her task, the dust and debris in the room were rapidly sucked into the spatial rifts Victor had created earlier, clearing the air. However, Victor’s senses remained on high alert. The oppressive energy hadn’t disappeared and appeared to coalesce into the piano in the center of the room. It was pulsing brighter and more violent than ever. It’s still alive. It’s hiding… in the piano.

  The piano was the primary source of dreamforce in the castle. If it were to be destroyed, it might cause this Dreamscape realm to destabilize, reducing it to nothingness at worst. Still, there was no other choice; if that was where it was hiding, it had to be eradicated!

  Sensing its impending doom, the shadowy figure hiding within the piano lashed out its tendrils, aiming straight for Victor. He reacted instantly, raising the Voidborn Orb and releasing a burst of mana. A spatial barrier sprang to life in front of him, intercepting the tendrils in a violent clash that sent ripples through the unstable Dreamscape.

  “Ha, the defense of an Elemental Adept Magus is not to be underestimated,” Victor said with a smirk.

  With a flick of his wrist, he directed the spatial rifts scattered around the room to converge. By this time, these spatial rifts were almost out of energy as the Dreamscape was actively attempting to eject them out of existence. The only reason they remained was Victor’s sheer willpower and the continuous flow of his infused mana, which he poured into them relentlessly. But it was draining him. His mana reserves were depleting rapidly, as if he were pouring water into a bottomless abyss.

  “I’ll end it with this!” Victor declared. “{Warpblade}!”

  Several ethereal blades materialized, and with a precise gesture, Victor directed the blades into the rifts. They disappeared instantly, only to reappear from multiple angles, converging on the piano in a deadly assault. Each blade tore through the air, streaking toward the glowing instrument that pulsed ominously at the heart of the room.

  Of course, it wasn’t going to let itself perish without a fight. The piano at the center of the room tried to retaliate by manipulating the dreamforce in the air. Those shadowy, elongated hands formed an intricate web of barriers in an attempt to shield the piano from the incoming ethereal blades, and the other musical instruments also tried to protect it as well. The barriers rippled hard as they absorbed most of the attacks.

  But some of the blades still managed to strike true, slicing through weak points in the web and chipping away at the piano’s surface and even destroying some of the musical instruments. Cracks formed along its polished black body. Still, it wasn’t enough to take it down. He needed to unleash something stronger, and although he had one spell in his arsenal that could do it — {Nova} — the room was far too small. The blast would leave no corner untouched, and there was a significant risk it could harm both him and Lillie.

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