Hans' body instantly expanded to dozens of meters.
A body covered in black fur and a wolf's head made of skull.
The Beast of Gevaudan looked up at the sky, emitting a red gleam from inside the skull.
The Beast of Gevaudan, perched atop [Nursery Rhyme], raised both hands to block Noxana's palm.
The Beast of Gevaudan boasted a massive size comparable to a tall building.
But even the Beast of Gevaudan was smaller than just one of Noxana's palms.
That's how enormous Noxana was, and the difference in size was overwhelmingly significant.
-Kuwoong!
A massive shockwave erupted as the Beast of Gevaudan's outstretched arms made contact with Noxana's palm.
But contrary to expectations that it would be crushed like an insect, the Beast of Gevaudan was withstanding Noxana's hand."Hans is holding on!"
Seridan shouted joyfully at the sight, but Violetta shook her head.
"He won't last long. Look there."
The Beast of Gevaudan's arms began to tremble.
It knelt on one knee, and its body slowly leaned downward.
In a pure contest of size and strength, the Beast of Gevaudan was starting to lose ground.
-Awoooooo!
Howling erupted simultaneously from the three heads of the Beast of Gevaudan
It was an ability that could partially disperse even the power of Nirva, the apostle of dreams.
But Noxana's hand did not stop applying pressure, as if the howling was insignificant.
-Crack!
The arm muscles of the Beast of Gevaudan bulged and then burst through the skin, spraying blood.
It regenerated at an incredible speed, but the wounds couldn't heal completely due to the additional pressure.
Noxana’s power surpassed the Beast of Gevaudan's vast vitality and regenerative ability.
The fact that this was merely a light gesture to ring the bell gave an idea of the disparity between them.
"Leader! He won't be able to hold on much longer!"
"Don't worry. I've finished my preparations too."
Rudger adjusted the coordinates and intended to move to Hans' side but [Nursery Rhyme] wasn't going to just sit by and watch Rudger's actions.
A vast torrent of energy scattering in all directions.
It didn't reach Hans on top, but it occupied all other spaces, meaning that a careless coordinate shift would result in being torn apart by the energy.
"Where do you think you're going!"
It was Alex who blocked it.
As Alex exploded his aura at the tip of his sword and swung a slash, the black wave shot by Nursery Rhyme split like firewood.
Rudger fixed his coordinates through the clearly opened path and melted into the shadows.
Rudger reappeared directly beneath the Beast of Gevaudan.
"You've held on well."
Rudger pressed his hands together as if in prayer.
As the expanded dream essence and magical power mixed, four silhouettes made of gold sprang up around the Beast of Gevaudan from four directions.
Jigukcheon (持國天).
Dhritarashtra (Dhṛtarāṣṭra).
Damuncheon (多聞天).
Vaisravana (Vaiśravaṇa).
Gwangmokcheon (廣目天).
Virupaksha (Virupaksha).
Jeungjangcheon (增長天).
Virudhaka (Virudhaka).
The guardian deities responsible for the four directions rose up and faced Noxana's hand.
For the first time, Noxana's massive hand stopped in place.
In the meantime, the Beast of Gevaudan, having recovered its broken arms, growled and widely opened its skull-like head.
-Whoosh!
Golden horns began to sprout above the head of the Beast of Gevaudan.
At the same time, one of its burning red eyes turned blue.
Bluish magical power began to gather in the wide-open mouth of the Beast of Gevaudan, then shot in a fan shape toward Noxana's palm.
A massive blue pillar rising toward the sky began to push back Noxana's hand.
The breath, squeezed out with all its might, pierced through Noxana's palm and shot far beyond the back of her hand.
The blue flash crossing the sky of the deep layer pierced through to the sky of the reality boundary created by Noxana.
People in both the deep layer and reality clearly saw that spectacle.
"That is..."
Sedina, who had been anxiously watching the battle, opened her eyes wide at the familiar blue beam.
That attack made of pure magical power was undoubtedly the magic cannon that Hans had demonstrated when he became a spirit beast.
No one knew whether that light would be the light of victory to overcome this situation or just the last candle of final resistance.
The same was true for those who were enduring against the endless war of attrition on the airship.
"Goddess?"
Nirva, who had become a golden bird, turned his head unknowingly toward the energy he felt from inside the barrier.
As Noxana's faithful servant, Nirva could feel that the goddess' sacred body had been damaged.
"How dare, which damned bastard...!"
He tried to show his anger at that fact, but Nirva had no luxury for that now.
"Hey, you chicken-head! Where are you looking in the middle of a fight?"
Nirva hastily retreated at the sight of an old Dream Walker wielding huge hammers in both hands.
Although it looked like effortlessly swinging ton-unit hammers as if in a cartoon, that weight would break bones and tear flesh even for Nirva if it actually hit.
"Tch. You're disgustingly quick. Why is it so hard to catch one chicken these days?"
"Just getting old, that's all."
"What?"
The sight of Dream Walkers chattering and laughing among themselves while bleeding from wounds all over made flames of anger burn in Nirva's eyes.
"You leeches. You must know you're no match for me, so how long do you plan to keep this up!"
"Who's no match? Good grief. We've been taking it easy on you, and you still haven't come to your senses."
"That's right. Actually, I've been hiding 30% of my power until now."
"What? Just 30%? I've been hiding half of mine!"
Nirva frowned.
These guys. As they took wounds and the situation became more desperate, they were getting stronger.
Could this be exactly the situation where the unconscious exerts more power when faced with the risk of death?
'Damn it. If I had my complete body, I could toy with them with one hand.'
Nirva wanted to go help Noxana right now, but reality was different.
The Dream Walkers that charged again not only tied up his feet but began to become increasingly threatening.
They had always been coordinated, but now it was different.
Despite being many, it felt like facing one person.
Nirva felt a sense of déjà vu from that sight.
'Threads?'
He could faintly see threads fluttering on the Dream Walkers' heads.
The threads were complexly intertwined and connected with each other, and Nirva realized what they were.
"You bastards, could it be..."
"My goodness. I thought you were chicken-headed, but you're quite perceptive. That's right, we're currently sharing all thoughts and imaginations through a link via dream synchronization."
"Are you out of your minds? If humans share dreams like that..."
"Your sense of self might collapse. Who doesn't know that?"
It's not just about sharing dreams.
The judgments and thoughts I'm making right now, and even the deep subconscious mind I hold.
All of those things are linked and shared.
There was a great risk that if done wrong, one's sense of self would be destroyed and mixed with others, no longer being one's complete self.
"But so what?"
"What?"
"You seem to have forgotten, but if we can't do anything here, aren't we all finished anyway?"
"Right, right. If we're going to die anyway, isn't it better to fight with the resolve to die?"
"And, strangely, my head feels clear and clean right now."
The Dream Walkers laughed like madmen.
He thought the mental link through dream synchronization would mess with their heads, but it was the opposite.
It might be dangerous for strangers who know nothing to share dreams with each other, but the Dream Walkers were different.
They had shared hardships for more than decades.
They were closer than friends and more like family than family.
Within the school formed by those that everyone else called oddballs, their bond was not something outsiders could easily evaluate.
The Dream Walkers spoke to Nirva simultaneously.
"And right now, our purpose is only one."
Dozens of voices speak at once without a trace of discord.
"To completely crush you!"
A large hole was punctured in Noxana's palm.
Everyone was relieved that the hand that was about to ring [Nursery Rhyme] had finally stopped but Rudger's cold expression didn't soften.
The goddess' pierced black palm was starting to regenerate at a rapid pace, squirming like sticky tar.
The sight of it filling the empty space was so disheartening.
[Nursery Rhyme] shot energy in all directions as if in desperation.
Bombs created by Seridan exploded around, scattering flames and light, and the storm made by Violetta was torn apart.
Alex, Pantos, and Arpa also worked hard to bash [Nursery Rhyme] from all directions to draw its attention.
It was clear that this couldn't last long.
"But we've bought time. Haven't we?"
"Yes."
The one who answered that was another man hiding inside Rudger's shadow.
It was Franz.
"It took some time to find the location of the internal core. But this is the end."
[Nursery Rhyme] was implemented in the form of a massive bell, but its core was hidden somewhere inside the giant bell.
Franz had been hiding and searching for that core since the beginning of the fight and now, having finally found the core, Franz drew his dagger.
When Rudger extended his hand, a shadow sphere the size of a fist appeared in front of Franz.
Without saying anything, it was clear that this was the passage connected to the core.
"This will end everything."
It's time to wake up from this cursed dream.
Just as Franz was about to thrust the dagger, his movement abruptly stopped but Rudger couldn't ask what he was doing now because his body had stopped as well.
"Kuh, kheuk!"
The dagger fell to the floor as strength left Franz's hand.
Rudger, with wide eyes, turned his head that wouldn't move and stared straight ahead.
There he saw Noxana staring intently at them.
Two glowing eyes, from which white smoke flowed like dispersing clouds, had been carefully watching Rudger, Franz, and the Beast of Gevaudan.
Even though that was all, they couldn't move their bodies due to the suffocating pressure.
Their whole bodies were not just paralyzed and frozen, but felt like massive rocks were pressing from all directions.
It was difficult even to breathe, and their jaws trembled.
'Even while sealed, just facing her is this much.'
Rudger, gasping for breath, gritted his teeth and endured the pressure.
He met Noxana's eyes with an unwavering gaze.
Yes. Look all you want.
See with your own eyes how far these feeble struggles of humans that you're watching can go.
Rudger slowly picked up the dagger that had fallen to the floor.
Rudger's hand creaked like a rusted automaton.
However, the hand holding the dagger was clearly aiming for the core of [Nursery Rhyme].
Like this, if he just thrusts the dagger through this shadow, everything will end.
'Wait. No matter how sealed, she should be able to move her hands as much as she wants.'
How much trouble had they gone through just because of one palm.
That's how great the gap with Noxana was.
'Why is she just watching now when she could deal with us with that simple movement?'
Suddenly, Rudger instinctively reached one conclusion.
'What about the other hand?'
Rudger tried to thrust the dagger urgently, but pillars that sprang up from all around prevented his action.
What he thought were black, massive pillars were Noxana's fingers.
That [Nursery Rhyme] could fit in one hand.
The size was so massive that it made the four directional deities summoned by Rudger and Hans, who had become the Beast of Gevaudan, look infinitely small.
Rudger felt like Sun Wukong trapped in Buddha's palm.
'So we were in the palm of her hand from the beginning.'
Even their best struggles were nothing more than what the goddess could end with a simple gesture.
But if she could do that, why didn't she end it?
Rudger slowly looked down at the dagger in his hand.
"What, are, you, doing."
Franz managed to open his mouth that wouldn't move.
"Hurry, stab it!"
This was the last chance while Noxana was still.
Even in this moment of Rudger's hesitation, his comrades outside were fighting and sacrificing their lives.
It would be right to destroy [Nursery Rhyme] right now.
But
"No."
Rudger thought that wasn't the answer.
Rudger put down the dagger he had just picked up.
Franz opened his eyes wide in disbelief.
Ignoring that look asking why he made such a decision, Rudger said while staring at Noxana.
"Let's talk. Goddess."
"Now, you want to talk with a god?"
Franz muttered as if dumbfounded by Rudger's words.
‘Ruining everything at the very end like this.’
But the surprising thing happened next.
Noxana, who seemed like she would grab them with her hand at any moment, nodded as if she understood.
Black tar gathered in front of Rudger and soon transformed into the form of a woman with white skin and long black hair.
The excessively beautiful appearance felt rather alienating.
When the woman finally opened her eyes, a soft and pale green light gently flowed out.
"Yes. Child. You want to talk with me?"