Will of chaos - Chapter 2036 2036: Cap 2025: Left with no way out...

Suddenly I notice a large hand coming towards me. I grab Hinata and pull her away.

I appear in the sky where the Twins, Ohara and Xerxes, join me. Hinata is in my arms, being carried like a princess while tentacles swing around us.

The sky is full of creatures, each one looking strange. There are wingless dragons with muscles protruding from their scales, giants made of crystal with heads of branches covered in eyes, spheres made of dozens of rings covered in spinning runes, and even my own creatures that look like chimeras with parts of monsters mixed with humanoid bodies—a horror show.

The hand that tried to grab me before had six fingers with an index finger on each side of the palm. The hand was made of translucent skin, revealing the crystal bones with gray muscles intertwined inside along with the light blue flesh.

The hand was enormous, and the arm that followed was equally enormous, but everything diminished in a flash of light when the owner of that arm appeared.

His body wasn’t covered in clothes, it was also genderless, his face didn’t even seem human, having only one open vertical eye.

He had two legs that ended in sharp blades without feet, four thin arms, and ten ethereal arms behind his back. His presence was strange; his aura was somehow wrong.

That’s when I remembered the three I saw before. What was awkwardly wrong was the lack of Existential Spark in them; it was like trying to strike an illusion in my head.

His eye was fixed not on mine, but on Xerxes, who was beside me. The longing was unmistakable.

“Paradox, you came…”

“Which one of them would you be?” (Xerxes)

“I am Inolakai, the one who trained alongside you and Malakyel.” (Inolakai)

“So you survived.” (Ohara)

“What do you mean by survived?” (me)

“I didn’t know your name, but your appearance matches the accounts of the creature that Guerra faced millennia ago.” (Ohara)

“A test was necessary to measure your power, and what better target for that than one known as one of the strongest Entities?” (Inolakai)

He wasn’t just talking, he was buying time. My instincts sensed more and more eyes on me; if I noticed this, the others would too. That’s why I held tightly to the key that Dream gave us to escape, waiting for the right moment to leave.

The tree of blood and arms that Hinata helped me create had already been stabilized; it couldn’t be destroyed. It was an illusory Abomination, created within a dream between the unreal and the real, a creature made to corrupt everything.

“Just tell me, why?” (Xerxes)

“You had time to think and recover, you weren’t supposed to do this!” (Xerxes)

“We will not be under the control of anything or anyone, we will not be beneath anything, any other outcome is unacceptable.” (Inolakai)

“You more than anyone should understand this, sister!” (Inolakai)

“You resisted him more than anyone else!” (Inolakai)

“You saved us when only eradication awaited us!!” (Inolakai)

“You talk too much for a fucking hypocrite!” (me)

“Stay out of this, Successor of Paradox!” (Inolakai)

“You call her sister and try to buy time for the others to arrive, everyone can see that, so stop all this bullshit at once.” (me)

“You’re no different from Hunger and Greed, you’re a bunch of idiots who want to control everything regardless of the consequences.” (me)

I clenched my hand, destroying the key just as Dream had said, but we weren’t teleported as I wanted. What happened was a portal formed behind us. I didn’t even bother talking; there was no time left. Their numbers were greater than expected.

“YOU THINK YOU CAN ESCAPE!!!!” (Inolakai)

Everyone was following me closely. Ohara was smiling as she fled, her eyes fixed on the Abominable Tree we left behind. Her plan was almost perfect, and that must have been a source of pride for her.

That bastard with the many arms tried to reach us. This was expected; he was very close to catching us, but we had already entered the tunnel Dream had created. As soon as he touched the tunnel, a hand full of long, sharp fingers tried to sieve his body, which he defended by grabbing each finger with a hand, pushing it back.

That was the last thing I saw before the portal closed behind us. The rest of the way was the same as before, a tunnel of mist that led us straight to Dream, but this time we didn’t emerge from that mirror; we emerged from a lake in the middle of a temple where Dream was holding a trembling arm.

“You fulfilled your part, give me back my children…” (Dream)

“Release them.” (me)

The shadowy creature emerges, freeing all the Avatars. That’s when I saw Nightmare, who looked like me. It seems the fake imitated him perfectly; even his presence was the same. Perhaps that’s why he kept him close; he must have been using his presence from the beginning, or he wouldn’t have been able to deceive me.

Dream waves his good arm and brings all his Avatars to him. They shrink in size until they fall into the palm of her hand, which she holds close. The face that emerges from within her hood this time is that of a middle-aged woman with eyes full of tenderness and love for those in the palm of her hand.

“Thank you for bringing them back, I’ve already closed the dream passages I created.” (Dream)

“We’re not finished yet, you’ll need this to wake them up.” (Lena)

Lena throws the bag, which shatters, leaving millions of crystal cores and hearts floating in the sky above the temple. Dream looks at it and points a finger, causing them all to shatter into dust, which is quickly eradicated, leaving nothing behind.

As soon as everything burned and was destroyed, energy flows swirled around the Avatars, who at least began to writhe, their auras seeming to slowly recover.

“With this, it will only be a matter of time before they invade.” (Ohara)

“Yes, now they have no other choice.” (Dream)

“Perhaps they have no other option.” (me)

“Unlikely, they wouldn’t leave Dream as the only possibility.” (Xerxes)

Ohara’s plan was never to destroy the enemies; she only wanted to destroy their home, the place where they had hidden for countless ages, forcing them to fight openly where Pride has confidence in victory.

It would be impossible for them to only have the paths Dream made as a passage; they were using hostages against her. This was a precarious situation that could not be sustained forever, and they should have known that.

From the beginning, they must have used the Dream paths only as a temporary main passage. As soon as they gained access to our side, they must have sought countermeasures and their own passages for us to use.

Attacking them there was never an option; that was War’s plan, and perhaps he, along with other Entities, would have been able to do it, but there is no reason to fight in the enemy camp when we can force them to fight in ours.

It also seems that Pride and Xerxes have alternative plans. If I wasn’t deceived by that false Avatar, they wouldn’t be either. They did something more, and the Twins were involved with them. I can’t say if this was planned without my knowledge or if it was an opportunity that arose at the moment. I have to remember to talk to them about it.

“Now all that’s missing is the payment you promised, but I still don’t know what you have in mind.” (me)

“I will open a Path of Dreams in your Dimension of Authority. This will amplify your power and also give me an opportunity to materialize a body for myself.” (Dream)

“You can do that?” (me)

“Not without your permission, but we can do it, and then I will ally myself with you. What do you think of this reward?” (Dream)

“I accept.” (me)

I could see the gains I would have even without asking, and I could also see the gains Dream herself would have.

For me, I would have the ability to reach all who sleep through the path of dreams, drawing them to the Star Path, only those with a strong enough Will seeking change.

Dream would also gain something from this, she would gain a physical body, something that her Avatars don’t possess; it would only be a part of it. All the Entities below me, like the Twins and Urd, possess a body; she will probably get one of her own as well, and will still be protecting herself from others again.

Dream extends her hand to me, already appearing before me. I extend my hand and shake hers as well. Nothing more was needed than our Wills; our combined desire created what was proposed.

I could feel the Path of Dreams being created, and I wasn’t alone. The Path of Nightmares was also created; it was different from my sister’s path of dreams.

The Path of Dreams and the Path of Nightmares merge like the two sides of a coin, one path above and the other below, both leading to the same point.

My sister’s path becomes a branch of this great Path of Dreams and Nightmares.

“It is now done.” (Dream)

“I will take them back, I need to recover and help my Avatars recover.” (Dream)

“We will see each other soon, Dream…” (Xerxes)

Dream waves his hand as he disappears along with his Avatars, and the lake from which we emerged becomes an inverted waterfall, carrying the waters to the sky. In its water, the room where we were all sleeping is revealed, and passing through there we would soon awaken in our bodies.