The Era of the Great Beasts is Coming to an End

Inside the temple, Yin Shen looked down at the dream spirit. A long silence passed before he finally spoke, his voice mild.

"Redlichia, Polo, and now you."

"Every one of you is so fond of doing things that mean nothing at all."

He continued, "How do you mean to do it?"

Hila spread her arms and floated upward like a flower petal, trailing threads of starlight from within her body.

Her body slowly faded to transparency as an ethereal Dream Egg rose into the air.

The dream bubble within the Dream Egg had already risen as dream fragments and merged with the Spirit Realm. Without it, the Dream Egg had lost its chief purpose as a vessel for dreams.

Yet Hila had hidden within it the dreams granted to her by the divine, the source from which all dream divine technique sprang.

That was what set her apart from every other dream spirit, and what made her so powerful.

"God, these are the dreams You gave me."

The dream spirit gazed at those beautiful dreams. She had seen them countless times, yet each glimpse still left her spellbound.

Their beauty was as wondrous as it was strange. Only the great divine could have made such magnificent dreams.

"They are the source of divine technique. More than that, they are the truth and law of this world."

"They should not be mine alone. They should become beautiful dreams shared by every living being with wisdom."

"Their light should not be mine alone. They should become the hope and the light of this world."

Suspended in midair, the dream spirit gave voice to her deepest prayer in a soaring aria.

"God, let them become the flame that kindles the world! From this place, they shall begin to light the whole world."

The dreams of the divine floated from the Dream Egg, their brilliant starlight illuminating the God-Given Land and the dream islands.

Slowly they climbed into the sky, crossed the dream star sea, and at last descended into the Dream Sun.

At that moment, the Dream Sun revealed its true form.

It was the divine artifact, the Divine Cup.

The dreams of the divine merged with the Divine Cup, taking shape one after another as symbols branded into its walls.

There was the power of ice and snow, shaped like a hanging icicle, the white Art of Pottery, the crimson power of ironworking, and many others.

Together, they formed the power and origin of dream divine technique.

As the dreams of the divine merged with the Divine Cup, change swept through the Spirit Realm.

Rain fell across the Spirit Realm, soon turning to snow.

Frost crept over the Ancestral Fish Swamp until a thick sheet of ice sealed its surface.

Before the temple, Hila cradled the now-empty Dream Egg and watched in wonder as the Spirit Realm transformed through her actions.

Without the dreams of the divine, she was no more than an ordinary second-rank spirit.

The divine asked her, "Is this how you intend to grant the trilobite men the power of dream divine technique?"

The dream spirit Hila nodded. "At the second rank of wisdom ability, a trilobite man gains the power of consciousness projection. That power came from Queen Star's God-Descending Technique."

"Until now, they have used consciousness projection to control living things and ride the Ruhe Beasts."

"But that same consciousness projection can be anchored in the Spirit Realm instead. Then the Spirit Realm can project the power of dream divine technique back onto them."

"Then they, too, will be able to wield divine technique."

"With it, they could make iron, pottery, oil, and every other sort of thing."

Longing shone in Hila's eyes, which seemed to reflect the beautiful world she had imagined.

In that world, there was nothing it lacked and nothing it did not possess.

People treated one another with kindness, and everyone could live happily.

"And there is more! When they die, their consciousness will return forever to the domain of the divine, becoming dream starlight in the sky and going home to the land they came from."

God looked at her. "For their sake, you would give up even this?"

But the dream spirit Hila answered, "God, I am not giving anything up."

"You gave it to me, and one day it will return to You."

Hila lowered her eyes. "King Redlichia once said that on the day we decay, we will lose everything we have ever been given."

"However much You grant me, I cannot keep it forever."

"One day, these gifts will be lost all the same and return to the Great God."

"Lady Hila, are you really going to the trilobite men's world?"

"Wow, I heard the trilobite men's world is really scary!"

"But I heard it's really interesting too!"

"No way I'm going. This garden is our home!"

"Don't go, Lady Hila! God protects us here, but it's much too dangerous outside!"

Little spirits crowded around Hila, plying her with one question after another.

Some burned with curiosity, while others could not bear to see her leave.

Hila looked at her companions. "Mm-hm!"

"I'm only going outside for a little while. I'll be back soon."

The dream spirit made ready to leave the Spirit Realm and journey through the kingdoms of the real world.

She would go in search of a way to make amends for her mistake, and at the same time she wanted to carry her own hope and her own light down into the mortal world.

More important, she intended to perfect the power of dreams on God's behalf.

She came to the temple ready to depart, but first she put a question to God.

"God, what kind of person is fit to wield the power of dreams?"

God turned the question back on her. "What kind of person do you think would be right for it?"

The dream spirit Hila answered at once. "A believer with a pure heart and true devotion to the divine, of course."

God shook his head. "Devout believers alone cannot give you everything you want."

"Only those who hold power can bring about the change you want. Kings. The ones who decide the course of civilizations and of history."

"But to wield the power of dreams, they must pay a price."

The dream spirit asked, "And what is that price?"

Yin Shen replied, "Only a king and kingdom willing to cast aside the power of the fusion monsters will be worthy to receive the power of dreams."

At last, the divine spoke in a flat, even voice. The words frightened even Hila.

"The power I gave Redlichia was never meant to be used this way."

With that single sentence, the age in which fusion monsters carved the world apart was condemned to end.

The age of dream divine technique was about to begin.

The dream spirit began to understand. The devastating power of the fusion monsters would be taken back, and the creative power of dream divine technique granted in its place.

War and destruction would end. Creation and civilization would begin.

A doorway opened before the great gates of the temple, and on the far side of it lay a boundless sea.

The dream spirit had prepared herself and gathered her courage. Yet just as she was about to step through the gate and leave the Spirit Realm, fear and panic seized her.

She glanced back and found God watching her.

At once, her unease vanished.

Then she stepped through the gate of light.