Chapter 193 – Safe

As he fought to keep himself awake, Dream suddenly heard a voice. It was Luna, and both she and Iris teleported to his soul.

"I already knew you would stay. Besides, I need your help."

"Hell yeah you do. Look at you. Your soul is so weak!"

Iris snickered as she felt his soul's aura. It was barely there, a testament to how much power it took to clear out the demons like he did. 

Dream just shook his head at her. Currently he was on his hands and knees on the ground, breathing heavily out of instinct. Hundreds of demons surrounded them, and they didn't look happy. However, they weren't attacking. Dream knew why.

"Look at this human! You're definitely one of the strongest. Looks like we're coming out of this with a harvest!"

"Quickly set up the ritual! Don't let him kill himself, otherwise we won't get anything!"

The class 4 demons all shouted at each other as they surrounded Dream. Soon, he could sense a certain power activating in their bodies. They were going to convert them. 

"Oh no you don't."

Seeing this, Iris quickly activated her magic. Black and red mana surged out of Dream's body where she still resided and filled the area, not harming the demons, but directly targeting their mana and scattering it. She didn't have the energy to hurt the demons anymore, and could only buy time by disturbing their magic.

"Hmm, I guess it's time to use that skill huh. This is gonna hurt."

Gritting her teeth, Luna also activated her magic. The one she activated was the power derived from her [Blessed of the Moon] title, and while activated, it would give her nigh unlimited mana and energy. The price of which though was a weakening of her soul. 

From within Dream, silver and blue mana also surged out. Its power surpassed that of Aegis's, and it washed over all the demons within 10 miles of them. 

Not long after, everything within that 10 mile radius suddenly cooled. Ice crystals formed in the air by the thousand, a result of the nitrogen and various atmospheric gasses freezing. Any weak demons were instantly turned to ice sculptures. The class 4's were also significantly slowed not only physically, but magically. Whatever power Luna wielded could freeze both matter and mana alike. 

However, only 20 seconds after Luna activated the skill, it deactivated, and mana stopped surging out of her. Luna's soul then weakened significantly, even worse than that of Dream's. 

However it bought them time. Dream looked up into the sky and saw a little dot.

"...Now."

When he spoke, a thick metal dome suddenly appeared around him. The dome was the one used for the girls' class advancement, and Dream had kept it. While he didn't think he would need to use it in this situation, it was never bad to improvise. 

After the dome appeared, its bottom moved and encompassed the ground below them, totally sealing them in. Aegis's heart then connected to the dome, pumping in his power and activating the enchantments. 

On the outside, the demons were recovering from Luna's frosty attack. It didn't take them long, but it pissed them off even more. 

"Grahh!! Why are these humans always so annoying?! Let's just kill him and be done! He's the last human anyway!"

"No! Just shut the fuck up and activate the ritual! Can't handle a little cold?!"

"You shut the fuck up! That little cold let him seal himself in a ball! Now we gotta break it down!"

"Then let's get it over with!"

Yelling and cursing, the demons started launching attacks at the dome. However, it was much tougher than they thought, and their full power attacks only left scratches. This pissed them off even more, and all the demons chipped in to start cutting through it. 

Unfortunately for them, they would never have the time to chop their way through. 

[3...2...1... Detonate.]

*BOOOOOMMMMM*

With an earth-shattering rumble, the nukes that were launched previously were detonated right over the city. 12 of them went off, and the demons for dozens of miles around were vaporized into nothing.

As this happened, Dream and the girls were buckling down inside their hamster ball. Iris was freaking out, Luna was already passed out, and Dream was about to follow her. 

Fortunately though, the hamster ball really did hold out, although, Dream was taken for an awful ride. The ball was kicked up with the explosion and thrown around for miles. His body couldn't stabilize itself and just flopped around inside. It was just his body though, and his soul wasn't affected. 

That didn't stop him from going to sleep though. After letting Sophia take over, he went and passed out alongside Luna. Iris also went to sleep later when the rumbling stopped under the assurances of Sophia. And thus, the trio entered a deep sleep.

..........

.......

....

After an unknown amount of time, Dream eventually woke up from his sleep. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a wooden ceiling. 

[Good morning sleepyhead.]

Sophia spoke to him and he raised his body. Currently he was in a bed under some sheets. 

"The cabin?"

Dream muttered as he recognized the room. This was his and the girl's room in the cabin. 

[After you passed out, Aegis flew us up here. Luna and Iris woke up before you and they put you to bed.]

"*sigh* Why am I always the last one to wake?"

[Iris wasn't as weakened as you two and Luna now has absurdly high stamina. She recovered even faster than Iris did despite being weaker than both of you.]

"...Sure."

Dream just closed his eyes and moved his body to the edge of the bed, sitting up. 

Since the world had been overrun by demons, Dream had made plans for everything he had a connection with on the planet. One of these things was the dome where the cabin was. It was the family's little paradise, and Dream didn't want to lose it to some demons. So, he took it. 

After digging out an utterly massive chunk of land about the diameter of the dome, a circle around 2 miles wide, Dream had a legion of his bots build an entire facility around it. This facility was built to preserve the entirety of the land, providing air, water, and mana. It was even built to allow Aegis to attach his heart to it to power it with mana. With all that, the dome and its slice of paradise could live isolated from any planet. 

But this was only part of the plan. As Dream was kickstarting his Haven constructions and the facility around the dome had been built, the entire chunk of land was flown into space!

While it took huge amounts of energy, it was doable. It even required Dream's personal intervention. And after exerting himself for a bit, he alongside many rocket boosters and bots were able to put the land into space. After that it was gradually flown to his factory where it linked up and situated itself. 

This whole project was actually the reason Dream had the daring idea of uprooting the elven Tree at all. If he could fly a piece of land into space, he could pull up a Tree. And he did. This project was also his worst case fallback though. If things really went south and all life on the planet was annihilated, then he wanted to spend the rest of his lonely life with the family in a comfortable place like the dome. 

Either way, now they had the dome safe and sound in space and could live in luxury without the fear of demons destroying it. This was where Dream was currently at.

"Dream?"

As Dream sat there in thought, he heard a knock at the door. Luna came walking in.

"Hey. How are you?"

"Alright. I've recovered."

"That's good. Have you seen?"

"Seen what?"

"The Haven. Your plan was a success."

[She's right.]

After Luna spoke with a wide smile, Sophia started sending Dream data. 

Turns out, he was asleep for 2 days. In that time, the demons had gone back to the dwarven city where an enormous 100 mile wide crater now resided. They scoured the place for an entire day, but after finding nothing but a barren wasteland, they eventually scattered. 

They hadn't found the Haven!

This was Dream's plan. He didn't simply seal off the Haven, but wiped out any signs of its existence. Nothing that would indicate any form of civilization was present. It was why he placed the city so far down underground in the first place. One reason was so he could hide it better. The other was so the Haven could survive the pressure from the nuclear blast above it. 

This was also why they had to fight for as long as they did. Until the Tree finished growing and the enchantments finished merging with the city, the whole place was susceptible to collapse under such pressure. But they had held off for long enough, and even after 12 nuclear blasts, the city stood strong. 

Now, the Haven and its people were truly safe. 

As for the populations, Dream wasn't happy nor sad seeing it. The total population numbered 280 million total. 

90 million dwarves, 75 million humans, 65 million animals, and 50 million elves. 

The dwarves had gotten the best end of the stick as they were mostly centered around where the Haven was built. Unfortunately, the dwarves at any kingdoms outside the main city weren't as lucky. While Dream let more dwarves in, there were priorities to who got admitted first, especially since he couldn't move everyone in time. This resulted in the majority dying.

Everyone had lost immensely. Every single person in the Haven knew people that died. It would be shocking if they didn't. Children lost their parents, parents lost their children, people lost their families and friends. 

However, Dream had made sure to try and do one thing, and that was keep existing families together. When he was evacuating the Empires, he didn't grab random people. He took families at a time. While he also grabbed many individuals, they weren't intentionally separated from their families. The majority of people who lost their family members were the ones taken from the kingdoms. Dream didn't have nearly as much time to sort through those people, and many of them were singled out as a result. 

But most of the people at the Haven still had family members with them. While this majority was only around 60%, he considered it a win. 

And so, everyone was safely sealed inside the vault that was the Haven. Unfortunately, many problems were beginning to arise within. 

The place was in chaos. Everyone was freaking out. They were all scared and confused. One week they were living peacefully, and the next they were moved to a doomsday shelter. While they were all given accommodations and directions on their bracelets, it didn't do much to lessen their confusion. 

As a result, there was lots of crime. People fought over food, belongings, and lodgings. Many had already died, and if it weren't for the ever-present security force comprised of Dream's soldiers, the place would have descended into total anarchy. 

There wasn't much Dream could do though. It would take time for people to settle down. They would have to get used to receiving all their food and water for free and in unlimited quantities. They would have to get used to the nice living spaces. They would also have to get used to their automated helper on their bracelets. Things were different, but they would soon realize that it wasn't so bad after all. 

That combined with the help of the remaining class 4's would ensure things went smoothly. Dream had made sure to preserve the lives of the main leaders from all the Empires of the world. They would be in charge of running their peoples, a responsibility Dream didn't mind giving to them at all.

Each species received their own section of the city. Dream had separated them into 4 districts, and the respective leaders would run each one. He didn't dare try to merge the different populations into one mass. That would basically ensure the downfall of the Haven. He wouldn't be surprised if a civil war broke out in that case.

With that, the foundation for a successful city was put in place. It would have a rough start, but it would work out in the end.

.....

All this data passed through Dream's head, and he spent a few minutes thinking about it all. Luna just sat down next to him, scratching his back in comfort.

"...We really did it."

After coming to that conclusion, Dream couldn't help but break out into a smile. The whole thing had stressed him out more than he'd like to admit. Hundreds of millions died, and entire civilizations and their histories were wiped from existence. But the remnants had been saved. Life was going to continue on. 

"Yea. We did it. You did it. None of this would've been possible without you."

"...Yea."

"Hehe, it's okay. You can be smug."

Luna teased him as he couldn't help but nod. Was he supposed to refute that statement? He worked tirelessly, and only with his army of workers and soldiers was it possible to do as much as he did. 

"Heh. Sure. Anyway, where's Scarlet?"

"She wanted to make lunch, but she keeps forgetting that she can't cook anymore. We then went and started a movie. She should be in the living room. Mom and dad are there too."

"Alright."

Nodding, Dream got up and walked out.

When he walked into the living room, there were indeed 3 people on the couch watching a movie. They were Iris, Riddick, and Selene. 

The whole place was also lit up as well. Not by lights, but by the sun. The natural light beamed through the windows like it normally did. This was actually a function of the facility that was built around the dome. By using a graphene-glass alloy, they could protect the Dome from the vacuum of space while allowing the light to come through. 

After entering the living room, Dream said hi to the three. However, before he got into a conversation, he decided to step outside for a bit. 

Dream left the cabin, and Luna and Iris followed. As Iris jumped on his shoulders in her fox form, he looked out at the scenery.

The dome was as brilliant as ever. The trees that towered into the sky and created a literal dome out of their branches and leaves were still one of the most awe-inspiring sights ever. There was the bright blue lake and the dock nobody ever used, and then there were the plains around them that were scattered with large bulls, birds, and other small animals. The place created an ecosystem of its own that was entirely run by the core of this place. 

Now though, there was one more thing that caused Dream to stare in astonishment. When he looked up, it wasn't the familiar blue sky and light that poked through the leaves. No, it was now space. He could see the sun whose light was dampened and slightly scattered by the glass, the dark void beyond, and also the many stars that littered the sky. 

Seeing it from the ground under the trees amounted to a surreal sight. It made Dream feel like he had truly risen to an unimaginable height. He could create a sight such as this. He had it all under his control. He felt like the world was in his hands. 

But at the same time, there was still the rest of the universe. Dream knew that this world was only a tiny speck, not just in the universe, but in the places known as the realms. He remembered every word that mysterious man said to him, how he was speaking from another realm. And then there were the factions, like Heaven and Hell. After learning about all this, it made him think that there really was so much more out there to be found. More than just empty space. More than just one or two planets. Places that could create beings of unimaginable power, like the mysterious man. 

He wanted to see it. He wanted to learn, to grow, to expand his powers into something greater. Perhaps most of all though, he wanted to go home. He had spent a long time on another planet, and he had been feeling a bit homesick for a while. Gaining powers and fighting demons would only keep him distracted for so long. But there was no way back, the vast distance made him feel a bit lost, and the literally impossible task of crossing galaxies made him a bit scared. 

There was nothing he could do though. He just had to come to terms mentally with the thought of living here for the rest of his life. The only other way would be to advance his skills and possibly create something that would make space travel a little less impossible. 

That was all for the future though. For now, he just needed to focus on the Haven and the demons. He already had plans underway, and given enough time, he would be able to wipe them out entirely, taking back the planet.