The gateway to Dreamshard didn't open—it bled.
A rip in the sky tore itself into existence, its edges dripping stardust. Thunder boomed backward, and the Ember Host formed tight ranks behind Kaito, Isha, and General Kaelyra.
"This place doesn't follow reality," Kaelyra warned. "Time folds. Logic twists. The Sovereign here was once called the Oracle of Collapse."
Kaito nodded. "Perfect place for a surprise attack."
They entered.
And Dreamshard swallowed them whole.
---
Inside, the laws of nature bent.
Mountains floated upside-down, weeping waterfalls into the sky. Trees grew in spirals, and suns flickered in and out like dying fireflies.
The Ember Host pressed forward through gravity storms and illusion storms—battling dream-creatures formed from fear itself.
A wave of giant moths with mirrors for wings descended from nowhere.
"They reflect your worst moment!" someone screamed.
Kaito faced his.
His past self—broken, bloody, crawling through betrayal.
He gritted his teeth.
"I know my worst moment."
Then he slashed.
The image shattered.
The moths dispersed.
His army cheered.
At the center of Dreamshard stood a floating temple—half shrouded in fog, half covered in molten ice.
Isha frowned. "No guards?"
"Worse," Kaelyra muttered. "The Oracle's waiting."
They entered cautiously, each footstep echoing a different version of their voices.
At the altar stood the Oracle Sovereign, draped in chains of memory. Her eyes were pure white, and her hands cradled a blade made of forgotten names.
"Kaito," she whispered, without lips moving. "The blade returns to the forge."
Kaito stepped forward. "I'm not here to be reforged. I'm here to end you."
She smiled without smiling.
"Then face the Dream."
And the world exploded into fragments.
---
Kaito opened his eyes inside a different memory.
He stood as a child, watching his father die again.
"I can save him," he whispered.
"No," came Isha's voice beside him. "You already did—by surviving."
Kaito gripped Nightcleaver and slashed through the memory.
Again.
And again.
Until Dreamshard cracked.
The Oracle screamed, her illusions breaking.
Kaito leapt.
One final strike.
The Sovereign fell, her blade of names shattering into wind.
Dreamshard began to dissolve—turning from chaos to peace.
Kaelyra knelt beside the remains.
"One realm reclaimed," she said.
Kaito looked to the next on the map.
"Two more to go."