I’ll think about Kadisha’s Apocalypse when I have the chance to meet with her separately.
“So, what should we do? Senior Angelica, should we leave things as they are right now?”
“Huh, what?”
“If we give a little more ‘stimulus,’ it seems like she might wake up.”
The people in the infirmary suddenly snapped to attention at my words.
“Right, right. Angelica’s dream and the angel’s clue… I momentarily forgot due to the shock.”
“Personally, I’d like to think more about the condition for becoming an Angel, but first, we need to save the student. Hmm.”
If Angelica couldn’t wake up, that would be one thing, but if she could, the story would change.
“Phoenix. Is there no problem waking her up?”
“There are a few concerns. But to borrow Miss Yunia’s expression, it’s like realizing that her secret delusional diary has been exposed to everyone here.”
“What.”
“When someone wants to wake up from a dream they desire, a strong shock therapy is often necessary.”
When do people wake up from dreams?
“When a nightmare makes them no longer want to stay in the dream, humans usually wake up immediately. I’m sure everyone has experienced this at least once.”
Everyone nodded.
It’s hard to remember a happy dream, but if you wake up from a terrible one, the memory and experience tend to linger in your mind.
“I’ll slowly make Senior Angelica ‘aware’ of her consciousness through hypnosis. I’ll hypnotize her to lead her out of the world where her desires are realized and bring her back to reality.”
“Will you keep massaging her head while flowing mana?”
As expected of Instructor Esta.
She immediately understood the fundamental reason behind my massage since she herself had felt the subtle flow of mana while receiving one.
“Yes. However, I’m not sure how it will turn out.”
“Not sure?”
“I’ve woken people up by making them realize, from the start of hypnosis, that their desired dream is a false illusion, but I’ve never forcibly woken someone without them realizing it.”
This was a story from the Demon World.
To be more precise, I’ve used hypnosis magic to give even the Dukes of Hell and the Demon King experiences of the surface world.
Esdinas Academy.
In an academy created from the memories of Changyeom and me, the Dukes enjoyed the ‘dream world’.
And if I go a little further, the countless environments I’ve experienced on Earth.
“It’s fine. There won’t be any side effects. Even if it fails, Senior Angelica will just recognize me and play with me in her dream.”
“Th-That sounds dangerous! What if you get trapped…!”
“Miss Yunia, my mind won’t be trapped. It’s more like ‘Senior Angelica will forcefully control the me she imagines as she pleases.'”
“Like being manipulated like a puppet by someone else in a dream?”
“Exactly. Alright, let’s begin.”
Since no one seemed to have any complaints, I reached out and placed my hand on Angelica’s head.
And then—
[Ohohoho!]
“Oho.”
“Isn’t this different from the palace earlier?”
Angelica was dreaming a new dream.
“It seems like she was listening to our conversation in her mind, even while unconscious. The fact that we’re in a ‘battle’ situation suggests that.”
“Is this before the Angel possessed her?”
“Yes. She probably thinks of us as ‘interfering nuisances,’ and based on that perception, she’s fulfilling the things she couldn’t achieve.”
If her twisted, fundamental desire before was to become an empress who controlled men and women while dressed in leather in the palace—
“This could be said to be the world where she ‘won’.”
The dream scenario before us now represents a world where Angelica successfully carried out the attack on the Old School Building and fulfilled her desires.
In other words—
“This is complete [Game Over].”
A world where we lost.
-Hohoho! So these are the students of the Old School Building? They’re nothing special!
Angelica laughed loudly, waving her fan.
-With this, I’ll finally be able to discipline that arrogant woman! Using the mana earned from Silverstar, how dare she mock me after expanding her mana pockets with money?!
Silverstar.
It became clear what triggered Angelica to attack the Old School Building.
“She wanted to secure mana because of jealousy.”
The longing for a means to surpass someone.
That led to the attack on the Old School Building, and in her dream, she emerged victorious.
-Kuuugh…!
-[Cutting Wind] is nothing special either!
Ludmila was overpowered by the students. Some of the students Angelica brought were beaten to a pulp by Ludmila, but Angelica didn’t care at all, only sneering as she gazed at the fallen Ludmila.
“Hah.”
“Hold on, Miss Ludmila.”
Of course, the real Ludmila was visibly displeased to witness her own humiliating defeat in this ‘twisted fantasy’, but she couldn’t hide her anxiety as she alternated between looking at the real me and the me in the dream.
“If Miss Ludmila is being beaten like this… just how badly are you getting beaten?”
Even [Cutting Wind], one of the obstacles, suffered a humiliating defeat.
So, what about me, Angelica’s actual target?
-N-No!
-Get out of the way!
Yunia tried to block Angelica, but Angelica smacked her mana pockets, throwing her aside.
“…”
Yunia held her chest with her hands, but I confidently continued within Angelica’s dream.
-Hey, special admission student. Is your mana really that great?
-…
-Let’s see just how impressive your mana really is.
Angelica approached me, lifting my chin with her hand.
-Strip.
Angelica commanded, but the me in the dream just stood there silently.
-Strip, I said. Oh, or are you waiting for me to strip you myself?
A clear sense of displeasure was visible in Angelica’s eyes in the dream.
“W-Wait a second, the image is…?”
“It’s her dream, but since things aren’t going her way, the dream is starting to falter.”
I reached out my hand.
The Phoenix in the dream reached out toward Angelica.
“There’s a simple way to wake someone up from a dream.”
-What… what are you doing?! If you’ve lost, just follow my orders quietly!
“We solve it using the most primitive and straightforward method.”
-You… you…!
“Senior Angelica!!”
Yunia pointed at Angelica’s body, specifically her hand, which I was holding.
Wriggle, Wiggle.
“…!”
“Kadisha!”
“Yes, checking for bodily responses!”
As soon as her fingers twitched, the instructors sprang into action. Ludmila and Evangeline quickly drew their weapons, preparing to strike at the real Angelica, lying in her case.
They were ready to subdue her instantly if things went awry.
-Where… Where are you putting your hands?!
Confusion filled Angelica’s eyes.
At the same time, the image of the dream world started to glitch, as if it was full of static.
“Is it… magic?!”
“It’s not the magic that’s shaking, it’s the world beyond the image that’s trembling.”
“The dream is…?”
“Yes, Miss Yunia. Oh, and just in case, could you put up a shield in front of me?”
“A shield?”
“Yeah. Hmm… for my face.”
Just in case something happens, I wouldn’t want my face, which was shaped by the Archduke of Hell, to get injured.
“Oh, got it! Just a moment!”
Yunia dragged a chair behind me and stood on it, reaching her hands out to form a shield in front of my face.
“Is this good?”
“Yep.”
I could feel the massive presence of her mana pockets behind me, but Yunia was doing her best not to touch me.
If I leaned back even slightly, we’d make contact, but something else would happen before that.
“Hey.”
-Hey?!
“I’d rather bite my tongue and die than be r*ped by a woman like you.”
-Wh-What?!
At the moment Angelica’s voice burst out,
Smack!
I slapped Angelica’s cheek with my hand, both in the dream and in reality.
Crack!
The image showing the dream world shattered, like a glass cage breaking into pieces.
“Damn b*stard!!”
Angelica’s eyes shot open as she cursed furiously, shouting.
“You pretty-faced bastard, acting all high and mighty! I’ll tie you to the bed and drain your mana dry until…”
Angelica screamed in a fit of rage, but her voice soon began to fade.
“…Huh?”
And then, she became aware.
“Huh…?”
“You’re seeing an unfamiliar ceiling. This is the infirmary of the Old School Building.”
“W-What? What in the world…?”
Angelica had woken up. And she felt eyes upon her.
“Um, why is everyone looking at me like that…?”
“Senior Angelica…?”
“Huh, huh… huh…?”
Only I was giving her a look that seemed to say, “I understand everything.” Angelica glanced back and forth between me and the others with a bitter expression.
“Listen carefully.”
There were two ways to handle this situation.
One was a gentle lie.
The other, the harsh truth.
“An Angel trapped you in an eternal dream prison, sealing your mind so that you would never wake up.”
Though I hadn’t mentioned this to the others, I slipped in the truth as if it were a casual explanation to calm her down.
“I intervened in the dream to wake you up. Through hypnosis.”
“W-What…”
“It’s alright, Senior Angelica.”
Her face turned pale. She was quick to grasp the situation, and unfortunately, she ‘understood’.
“Draining men dry of their mana while keeping them tied to a bed… Any woman wanting more mana would think like that, wouldn’t they?”
“A-Ah…!”
“Since Senior Angelica woke up from the dream, that’s what really matters, right?”
“Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”
Angelica began to thrash wildly inside the magical case in the infirmary’s sleeping quarters.
“Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!”
If the case had been a blanket, she would’ve ripped it to shreds.
* * *
One hour later.
“Angelica will stay in the Academy’s faculty dormitory for the duration of her suspension, during which she will rest and recover.”
Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately), Angelica hadn’t lost consciousness.
She was escorted from the Old School Building by the instructors from the main Academy building.
“Well done, Phoenix. Thanks to you, we now have a clearer understanding of how to deal with those who have become Angels.”
“You’re too kind.”
Both Esta and Kadisha’s faces were filled with relief.
Despite the unprecedented situation involving Angels, the fact that a student who seemed like she might never wake up had regained consciousness was a huge relief.
“By the way, Phoenix.”
“You’re curious about something, Miss Yunia?”
“…Didn’t it bother you at all that Angelica was trying to do something incredibly dangerous to you in her dream?”
“Bother me?”
I looked each of them in the eyes, smiling broadly.
“Why would I care what happens to me in a dream? It’s just a dream.”
Exactly.
It was just a dream.
Whether the heroines beat me to death, killed me, or even… did something else entirely in a dream, I wouldn’t care.
“We saved a person, didn’t we?”
And with that,
“That’s all that matters.”
In the real world, all that’s left is to lead her to… dream a little more frequently.
