Seizing Dreams

“In the fog!” Yu Hao had just shouted this when Huang Ting raised his hand, and within a split second, the earth shook; the entire maze began to disintegrate and drift away, and the central courtyard kept rising. The corpse giant roared at the skies and stirred up a storm from the ground!

This was Zhou Sheng’s first time not participating in a dream battle, but Yu Hao didn’t have the time to think too deeply about it. Huang Ting stood by the pond and stretched out his hand. Silver particles burst out from within the fog and flew toward his body.

“Everyone, take your places!” Chen Yekai said, “Yu Hao, attract its attention! Everyone else is to provide support and attack!”

Yu Hao spread his wings out and flew. The platform rose higher and higher, and started revolving. The corpse giant spewed viscous blood into the sky, and Yu Hao dodged it several times. The daggers in his hands merged into a staff, then he dove toward the giant. With his wings spread out, Yu Hao’s figure had formed a side profile silhouette under the moonlight.

Meanwhile, Chen Yekai, Ou Qihang, and Fu Liqun made their moves at the same time!

The corpse giant was instantly smashed, and corpses shot out everywhere. Every one of the criminals who had been defeated by Huang Ting crawled up from the ground and roared as they rushed toward them. Without their mounts, everyone could only surround Huang Ting to protect him; fugitives could be seen in all directions.

“Not done yet?” Chen Yekai looked back. Huang Ting’s eyes were slowly regaining their lucidity, and his totem kept streaming into his body.

Yu Hao shouted, “Protect him!”

Four people gathered at the edge of the pond to guard Huang Ting. Every one of them released the firepower they had, and Huang Ting’s body gradually began to emit light.

“Why do I feel like this dream is really chaotic!” Ou Qihang kicked away a criminal that had lunged at him as he shouted to Yu Hao.

“Because Zhou Sheng’s not here! The Golden Crow Wheel can’t work as well!” Yu Hao answered.

“Won’t it be really easy for us to wake up?” Fu Liqun asked.

“The Golden Crow Wheel is charging!” Yu Hao shouted, “There’s no time to explain!”

Yu Hao could only swing his staff around to hit his enemies; the light it released frightened the criminals around him, but it wasn’t able to exert as much power as Chen Yekai and Ou Qihang’s firearms, and he couldn’t be like Fu Liqun who could cut his enemies in half with the halberd he wielded.

“Don’t get into close combat!” Chen Yekai reminded.

Yu Hao was almost dragged into the enemy’s group, but Fu Liqun grabbed his wings and dragged him back.

Meanwhile, Huang Ting’s totem had been almost completely seized back.

Countless fierce-looking criminals stopped their attack and retreated slowly. Yu Hao said, “What do they want to do?”

“Again?” Ou Qihang said, “They can’t be killed ah, if only I could summon my Gundam…”

The criminals gathered once again in the middle of the courtyard and piled themselves up into a corpse giant. Chen Yekai said, “Listen to my orders. Xiao Ou, get ready, we’ll fire together!”

“Three, two…”

“It’s no use.” Huang Ting’s voice rang out from behind, “Let me do it ba.”

The last bit of the totem shattered and burst with a bang, permeating Huang Ting’s entire body. In the next moment, Huang Ting flew up from the ground. While adorned in slim-fit robe, his right hand drew back, and a red magic book appeared in his left hand!

Yu Hao, “!!!”

“Holy crap…” Ou Qihang said.

“Huang Ting!” Chen Yekai shouted.

A flame tornado diffused from the platform with a blast, like white light produced from an explosion. Yu Hao subconsciously shielded his eyes. Everyone shouted at the same time and retreated. Within the flames, Huang Ting’s black hair was tousled in the wind, like a blazing black flame. The pages of the magic book in his hand fluttered rapidly, and the other four people immediately retreated behind Huang Ting.

“You’re right.” Huang Ting said in a low voice, “Since I don’t have much time left, then just liberate myself one last time ba. What’s the point in giving up so easily when I’m still alive?”

In the next moment, countless streaks of lightning strikes descended from the sky, and the maze platform drifted between heaven and earth. Smashed bricks fell within the dreamscape, and the maze platform collapsed completely and turned into bricks that fell to the ground! Lightning gathered in Huang Ting’s hand, as if the apocalypse had arrived, and the rage of the devastating thunderbolt burst out of the Archmage’s hand and illuminated the entire world!

“Good God!” Fu Liqun shouted, “We’re going to fall!”

Yu Hao was about to fly to his companions, but four gigantic floor tiles carried them as they slowly rose into the air. Under the night sky, lightning had gathered into a huge dragon that danced madly in the air and destroyed everything it touched. A glowing symbol appeared between Huang Ting’s brows; with an open magic book in his left hand, he pointed at the sky with his right finger. After the thunder and lightning passed, celestial fire descended endlessly from the skies that shook the earth as they launched a series of explosions! At that moment, Yu Hao felt like he was the only God in this world!

“Enough ba!” Chen Yekai saw that all the corpses between heaven and earth had already turned into ashes. He shouted, “Stop! It’s over!”

“A night with a full moon is when magic is at its strongest.” Huang Ting said in a low voice, “Thank you, brothers.”

This move from the Archmage had simply overturned everything Yu Hao thought that he had known about Huang Ting. The lightning had turned the maze, courtyard, and criminals into ashes, and they were burned until nothing was left by the celestial flames.

What next? Yu Hao suddenly remembered — without Zhou Sheng, would the sun in this dream still rise?

“The moon is out!” Ou Qihang cried.

The dark clouds that blotted out the sky billowed gently and gradually retreated. Huang Ting, who was hovering in the sky, looked up at the clear and bright full moon.

“Moon?” Chen Yekai wondered.

The four of them looked up together. All of the dark clouds had dispersed, only leaving behind the bright moon that was illuminating the entire dream world. Everything that appeared in front of him had already subverted Yu Hao’s understanding of dreams, but in the next moment, he realised that the moonlight seemed to have another kind of miraculous effect when it shone down upon the world, which was different from that of the sun!

The moonlight illuminated the earth; a sorrowful song travelled over from somewhere far away. The fog in the subconscious was like a tide that gradually receded, revealing distant shores and mountains. A siren was singing at the top of her voice in the depths of the fog.

Huang Ting’s abstruse gaze was cast on the end of the mountains and the sea; the fog that enveloped the center of the dream world dispersed and encircled the mountain range-like highlands.

The moon revealed its gentle face, its silver white light spilling all over the dreamscape.

Under the light, the collapsed bricks between heaven and earth rose one after another and reassembled, supporting a giant garden in the sky that was built against a mountain.

Running water streamed down; the ashes of the rotten monsters drifted in the air and permeated the soil. Countless buds of life sprouted in the Hanging Gardens, unfurling themselves towards the sky. With the siren’s song in the background, a spacious terrace facing the mountains with the sea at its back was piled up with pure white marble. The streams on the mountain meandered over and poured into the pond, while the central courtyard’s pond formed a fountain.

The sea breeze blew; Huang Ting was adorned in a slim-fit magic robe as he stood on the platform, turning his body to face the other four.

“Thank you.” Huang Ting said in a low voice, then closed the red leather magic book in his hands.

The other four walked toward Huang Ting. Yu Hao breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the bright moon.

The sun didn’t rise, but the moonlight seemed to have replaced it temporarily in a certain sense, providing them this most precious light within the dark night.

Yu Hao and Huang Ting looked at each other, feeling deeply moved for a moment. They didn’t know where to start talking from.

“What is this?” Yu Hao asked, “Archmage, your magic book?”

Huang Ting showed the book’s cover to the rest— 《Criminal Law》.

Yu Hao, “……”

Colosseum World.

On the earth, in the arena, Dark Zhou Sheng hovered in the air. He raised one finger to point at the sky; nine dark monsters burst into blazing black flames with a blast and suddenly gathered toward the Great Devil—

The Great Devil’s eyes were bloodshot; black flames shot out from his entire body, from the ground to the sky, as if a shot that could destroy the heavens and earth had been fired at the sky! Ren Chong was caught off guard — a huge piece of the platform below him instantly collapsed. Heaven was rent asunder, the earth cracked, and the world turned dark; the platform in the sky collapsed and fell to the earth, sending flares up with it as it landed!

Zhou Sheng fell to the earth, and with a loud blast, he finally managed to break free from his predicament. Nearly a third of the Colosseum arena had been destroyed! A tsunami blew in the surrounding seas, and a tremendous wave surged towards the arena.

Ren Chong ran quickly to the center of the platform; only a small foothold was left there, and he hadn’t snapped out of his stupor yet. Zhou Sheng landed. On the earth, Satan, with black flames surrounding his body, shot over obliquely like a meteor and suddenly seized the shining shield that was falling through the air in the midst of the rain of bricks plummeting down like a torrential downpour!

In the next moment, Satan shook the shield and turned it into the jingubang, rushed onto the platform, and struck Ren Chong with it as swift as a sudden clap of thunder!

Ren Chong hadn’t yet seen clearly the changes that were occurring right in front of him. He raised his hands hastily to block the hit with his arms, but before anyone could register it, Satan’s move was just a feint, and he disappeared from before Ren Chong’s eyes with a ‘whoosh‘!

The prominence flare encircled Ren Chong’s whole body. Within just a few seconds, Ren Chong had absolutely no clue as to what had happened. He looked at the earth — the stones that constituted the totem had collapsed, and he didn’t know where Zhou Sheng was.

“Who was that just now?” Ren Chong uttered to himself.

Zhou Sheng fell harshly onto the audience seats. The Colosseum arena was already in a mess, and it looked like it had just been ravaged by an earthquake. Zhou Sheng mustered all the strength he had left to crawl up the grandstand and looked up at the ball of shining fog hovering in the air. Faintly discernible sounds of a song travelled out from within the fog.

Zhou Sheng let out a breath of boiling air. He reached out and held the ball of light in his arms, then closed his eyes.

The wave surged and swamped the entire arena; seismic sea waves billowed, and it completely submerged his safe haven, the Colosseum, as well as the floating islands that were scattered about the sea. Icy cold sea water washed over, and quietly washed Zhou Sheng into the depths of the subconscious.

—

Juurensha: DDD: ZHOU SHENG!!! Yu hao, go save him! (The moon instead of the sun was a great touch though)

Zryuu: Huang Ting’s dreamscape is the Hanging Gardens of Babylon: