The parade continued its advance toward the castle. Upon the allegorical floats, enormous balloons represented different individuals. The first float carried a balloon shaped like Rastaban, while the final one bore the likeness of the Sand Merchant himself. At the center of that same float stood a massive gift.
Hidden deep within the mechanism of the first float, Efa and Rin waited.
Efa:
"Alright… we're in position. We should thank the boys for this."
Rin:
"First we just need to find a way to get out from underneath without being noticed, and then—"
Suddenly, a voice echoed from above them.
???:
"I'm quite fond of first-degree inequalities…"
Efa flinched.
Rin:
"That voice… it's coming from inside the giant gift…"
---
Elsewhere, beneath the castle…
Hastur groaned.
Hastur:
"…Damn… that hurt…"
He found himself in a dark chamber beneath the floating structure. The room was circular, with only a single exit. Beside him lay Greujeur.
Hastur grabbed him by the collar.
Hastur:
"What kind of scheme is this?! You set a trap for me!"
Greujeur:
"W–Wait, sir! How could I possibly trap you when I don't even know who you are?!"
Hastur:
"Oh, don't play games with me. We met just a week ago. In your office."
Greujeur stared at him, utterly bewildered.
Greujeur:
"My office? I was away all week at Papaya Viron — a highly sought-after hotel in the East!"
Before Hastur could respond—
A colossal mass of sand erupted beside them.
Hastur barely dodged.
Greujeur did not.
The darkness trembled.
A voice emerged from the void.
???:
"Just as I suspected…"
It was the Sand Merchant.
Sand Merchant:
"You and Greujeur made quite the fools of me. Trying to sabotage my business — that I could tolerate…"
His voice thundered, shaking the chamber.
"BUT TO DARE RUIN MY DAUGHTER'S BIRTHDAY… THAT I WILL NEVER FORGIVE!"
His body began to crumble like shifting dunes. His golden eyes twisted into spiraling vortices of sand.
Hastur swallowed hard and readied himself.
In a blink—
The Sand Merchant appeared before him.
A gigantic hand of sand formed around his own and struck with monstrous force.
Hastur was sent flying.
From within him, Vassila — Lilith the dragonfly — emerged.
Lilith:
"You cannot defeat him."
The Sand Merchant's pupils condensed into dense whirlpools. Filaments of sand burst forth like distorted rays, slicing violently into Hastur's abdomen.
Hastur:
"What the hell was that?!"
Lilith:
"I warned you. You've exhausted Rastaban's power… along with many others."
Then—
The sand did not attack directly.
It surged.
The ground shook like a violent earthquake.
Colossal elephants burst from the walls, crushing stone beneath their feet. Hastur leapt just as a wall of ice formed beneath him. The impact shattered it instantly — but it bought him a second.
The sand, though frozen, began to flow again.
Hastur:
"What?!"
Reality twisted.
The battlefield warped.
A cliff appeared.
The void opened.
Hastur stopped.
His gaze sharpened.
His ability activated fully.
He searched for inconsistencies — wind, pressure, temperature.
"…Mirages."
The void collapsed.
His foot landed upon an invisible platform of pure ice.
The desert reformed into monstrous shapes — serpents, dunes, living walls.
Hastur raised his hand.
A burst of freezing air exploded outward.
Spikes of ice tore through the sand — yet every destroyed form regenerated into another.
An endless battlefield.
So he changed tactics.
He stopped trying to destroy.
He fled while fighting.
Ice formed with every movement — ramps, barriers, pillars — allowing him to redirect and evade the relentless sand.
But the pressure mounted.
The air thinned.
The sand sought to crush him.
To suffocate him.
To erase him.
Hastur concentrated everything.
The ice darkened.
Densified.
An absolute wave of frost erupted from his body, freezing the sand for several meters.
He launched himself toward the lone visible exit.
Behind him—
Cracks spread.
Then a voice, calm and amused:
???:
"No matter what you believe you are escaping… if you believe it is real, it becomes real."
Lilith:
"You're finished."
Hastur:
"Oh, come on…!"
---
High above Dream City…
A man wearing a clown mask observed the parade.
???:
"Sand Merchant… you could be far stronger. Yet you restrain yourself."
His voice dripped with cruel amusement.
"All because of your daughter…"
He snapped his fingers.
The sky exploded.
Fireworks erupted in dazzling colors.
But they did not fade.
They fell.
Burning fragments rained upon the crowd.
Cheers became screams.
Panic became carnage.
Worse still—
Some guests froze mid-terror.
Their expressions twisted.
Smiles stretched unnaturally wide.
They turned on one another.
Dream City descended into chaos.
From above, the masked man watched.
"A celebration is only complete… when it reveals the true nature of its guests."
---
Harvey:
"What the hell is happening?!"
Arata:
"Move! We have to find Efa!"
They charged into the madness.
---
On the castle balcony…
Akané stood paralyzed.
Below her, Dream City had become a nightmare.
Her eyes locked onto the float carrying the enormous gift.
Figures surrounded it.
Attacked it.
"No…"
Her voice broke.
"…Not him…"
Tears streamed down her face.
She ran.
Ignoring everything.
Ignoring everyone.
She reached the float just as it violently lurched.
The massive gift tipped.
Then crashed.
The lid burst open.
A body fell out.
Akané staggered forward.
"…My beloved…"
She collapsed beside him.
But the crowd closed in.
Desperate, she shielded him.
She fought.
She begged.
But she was too weak.
Blows struck her.
Her strength faded.
With trembling hands, she leaned down.
"Forgive me…"
She kissed him.
Then her body fell lifeless beside his.
---
"GET AWAY!!"
A wave of freezing air swept across the scene.
The crowd froze solid.
Arata and Harvey burst through.
---
Above the castle—
Glass shattered.
Two figures were hurled into the sky.
Hastur and the Sand Merchant collided midair before plummeting downward.
But during the fall—
The Sand Merchant saw her.
His daughter.
Broken upon the float.
"AKANÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ!!!!"
For the first time—
The sand trembled.
---
Far above Dream City, another masked figure appeared.
Abyssael.
Abyssael:
"Oh my… quite the disturbance."
He slowly raised his arm.
The sky fractured.
Then tore open.
A colossal creature emerged.
Massive.
Apocalyptic.
Its mere presence shattered the archipelago.
Dream Desert collapsed into ruin.
Amid the destruction, Rin was violently swept away.
Rin:
"Sooooorry… and… thank you, Efa…"
Efa:
"RIN!!!"
As all hope seemed lost—
A gentle blue light emerged from beneath Efa's hood.
A small glowing bird appeared.
Its radiance enveloped them.
Their bodies shrank.
Became weightless.
The bird carried them away from annihilation.
---
When silence finally returned…
Among the ruins, the clown-masked man appeared once more before the grieving Sand Merchant.
The moon itself twisted into a smiling face.
"So… will you accept my invitation now?"
Sand Merchant, trembling:
"The one with the odd eyes… will be there."
Moon:
"Of course."
Sand Merchant:
"Then you have my answer."
---
Elsewhere…
The glowing bird gently lowered the survivors into a vast, flower-filled prairie.
They were alive.
Somehow.
Hastur:
"…How did we survive that?"
No one had an answer.
Efa stared at the bird, deep in thought.
"I don't fully understand… but Miralyn… Dante…"
She clenched her fists.
"I know I'm connected to this."
Hastur nodded quietly.
"Yes… We follow the bird."
Rastaban, still dazed, held Akané.
"…But first… we need a doctor."
The group moved forward.
Toward the unknown.
Toward Dante.
For in this world—
All roads now led to him.