Chapter 217 – Home

"Alright! We move on our target in 5!"

In the former territories of Russia, a certain group of Supers was assembled. 

This group was an attack squad from the Dark Knight Alliance. The person who shouted was the vice-captain, the girl in red armor who was assigned to communicate with the aliens upon their arrival. 

Now though, she was all the way on the other side of the world. This was normal. All guilds in every country frequently sent attack groups to different sections of the globe in order to carry out raids on settlements of monsters. One of the most frequently visited areas was the former country of Russia, which had fallen as a result of being the epicenter of the demon appearance. 

This was where this particular attack group was, and their target was a small settlement of demons that looked like a large village. 

Soon after shouting, all the Supers were equipped with armor and weapons and standing at the ready in front of the vice captain. She looked them all over, nodded, and then turned around. Not far from them was that village. 

"You all know there's a couple class 3's there, so stay on guard and don't get caught by one. I'll handle them. You guys just need to take care of everything else. Now, let's get started."

Not feeling like wasting words, the girl started marching toward the village. All the troops behind her, consisting of over a dozen class 2's and over a hundred class 1's, followed close behind like a well trained army. 

*Screech!*

Not long after marching toward the village, screams were heard. It was the demons, and they had noticed the arrival of the troops.

"Mages!"

The girl shouted and pointed her hand toward the village. Moments later, the mages in the group raised their staffs or opened their books,  launching predetermined spells. 

*Woosh!*

*Boom!*

*Scream!*

The lances of elements and mana hurled over toward the village, causing various bright explosions and immediately killing dozens of demons. That much was inconsequential though, and soon, over a hundred more demons charged out of the village and ran straight toward the troops. 

"Guardians, to the front! Mages and archers, fire your volleys! Warriors, begin your attack! Charge!"

"Charge!"

Hearing their leader, everyone got into position and began their frontal attack on the demons. The mages kept releasing their signature spells and the guardians with shields rushed up front, creating an impenetrable wall of enchanted steel. And finally, behind them came the warriors, supers who specialized in attacks with melee weapons like swords. 

*Boom!*

The two groups quickly clashed in the middle, and claws streaked down the guardians' shields. Right behind them, several people came over with spears and stabbed at the demons from behind the guardians. Arrows also flew over their heads, landing in the middle of the demon horde and releasing various spells. 

Bodies constantly fell, stacking up in front of the guardians that stood strong like a wall. All of them had extensive experience and skills and were able to handle the ruthless attacks of the unorganized horde. And even when some demons got past, the warriors who radiated bloodlust immediately jumped on them like beasts, tearing them apart as fast as they could. 

There was one person though who deviated from the standard procedure. It was the vice-captain, the girl with blonde hair and red armor. She was flying through the horde with two swords, hacking and slashing. Blood flew, staining her armor, swords, and the ground with pools of red. 

Despite the chaotic slaughter that she carried out though, her actions, technique, and movements were refined and graceful, like a dance. Her swords cut through air and flesh in twirling motions, and the trails of blood the followed the tip of her blade created streaks that looked like majestic but powerful waves. 

With this technique, she moved through the enemies in front of her like a fish in water. At least, that was until she felt a powerful presence burst out from the village. 

"You puny little girl! I'll have your head on a pike!"

A large class 3 demon who wielded an axe suddenly burst out from the backlines of the horde, charging straight toward the girl with overwhelming bloodlust. Not only that, but she could feel the faint presence of two class 3 archers on one of the buildings in the village. They were all gunning for her. 

"Hmph."

She didn't care though and just snorted. Getting rid of the small fry around her, she prepared herself to clash with the axe wielding demon. 

The two quickly covered ground and approached each other. Then, the demon jumped high in the air, raising his axe to slam down on top of the girl. 

However, something odd happened next. 

The girl raised her two swords, deciding to meet the falling axe head on. However, when the axe came down and clashed with her swords, it actually disintegrated like it was dirt. 

*Thud*

"Hm?"

The demon landed on the floor, baffled as he looked at his hands. The axe that he held previously was now a cloud of dust, drifting off into the air. The girl, who had been expecting a hard impact, was also thrown off by the sudden change of events. 

The two looked at each other, confusion on both their faces. Neither could explain what just happened, and it put them in an awkward standoff. Something even more shocking happened next though. 

*Zip!*

A projectile suddenly flew through the demon's head, creating a hole, but causing no sound. The demon stood upright for a second before collapsing, dead. He didn't even realize that he died. 

"What the..."

The girl looked at the demon corpse incredulously. Was someone interfering with their battle? She stared at the dead demon for a while, but then heard some odd noises.

*Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud*

The girl turned around, and the entire demon horde, which had just been raging a few seconds ago, all collapsed dead. The entire army of supers looked around weirdly, wondering what exactly happened. Even the class 3 demon archers which had been in the village were lifeless on the floor. 

"...Who's out there?! This raid has been claimed by the Dark Knight Alliance! Nobody is allowed to interfere!"

"Man, so this really is a business for you guys. The demons on this world are awfully tame compared to what I fought."

Suddenly, a voice came from the direction of the village. Everyone turned to the sound and saw man standing amidst the corpses. He was dressed in sweats and a short sleeve shirt, looking like an average young adult who was just going for a stroll. 

"Scarlet asked me to spare the demons and just let them continue to produce so there wouldn't be a shortage of enemies to fight. Maybe I'll have to reconsider wiping them out."

"Who are you? And why have you interfered with our raid?"

The girl asked coldly, keeping her swords at the ready as she stared down the man. She knew he was powerful since he instantly killed every demon in the area. The contrast between his supposed power and laid back appearance though created a weird disconnect, causing her to wonder who the hell this guy was.

The man just looked at her though and smiled. They stared at each other for a second, and during that time, the girl's eyes went wide. 

"Why, I just wanted to say hi to my little sister."

"Y-you..."

"Hehe, how's it going, Melody? You miss me? It's been a few years."

"You... you..."

The girl, Melody, stumbled on her words as she looked at the man, stunned. He was Dream, her older brother.

Dream tilted his head at his sister who couldn't seem to speak. 

"Yes?"

"You... You asshole! Get away from me!"

*Woosh!*

Yelling and turning around, Melody dashed off into the distance using both flight and her powerful strength. 

Dream watched stunned as she disappeared in the distance, running away from him. He and the other soldiers looked at each other awkwardly.

"Uhh, sorry about that. I'm just gonna... go."

*Pop!*

Suddenly, Dream disappeared into thin air, leaving behind all the flabbergasted soldiers. 

...........

"Stop running!"

"No!"

"I just wanted to say hi! What kind of reunion is this supposed to be?!"

"Just go away!"

"You know I can outrun you right? Just stop and let's talk!"

"No! Get away from me!"

"Ugh! Then you leave me no choice!"

Dream, who was chasing after his childish little sister, shook his head and sped up. He instantly appeared in front of her, causing her body to slam into his.

*Thud!*

"Oof!"

Melody got the wind knocked out of her and she fell to the floor. Dream just stood there though. She was a class 3, and he knew her power level easily just by looking at her. He wasn't worried about any injuries. 

"Come on, Melody. Talk to me."

"...No."

"You know I came to you first right? I know it's out of nowhere, but this was not the reaction I was expecting."

"..."

Melody sat on the floor silently as he joked. Looking at her, Dream went quiet. After a bit of silence, he spoke again. 

"I'm sorry."

"..."

"What I did back then... I'm sorry if I hurt you."

Dream kneeled down in front of Melody, who just stared at the floor. After some silence though, she spoke.

"Why would you do that?"

"I... was in a dark place. A really dark place. I had lost everything-"

"No."

Melody interrupted, a hint of rage in her voice. 

"You had us. We didn't go anywhere."

"...Yea."

"We were there for you. We didn't shut you out! You could've talked to us! So why did you go and do it, huh?!"

"..."

"You were selfish! You were impulsive! You didn't even give us a chance! Why did you do it?! Why did you leave us?! Why did you leave me?! Did you even think about us?!"

Melody yelled at the top of her lungs, eventually picking herself up off the floor and approaching him. Dream just stood there quietly as tears streamed from her eyes.

"Answer me! Why'd you do it?! Do we mean nothing to you?!"

"...No."

Dream shook his head and looked into her eyes seriously.

"I... At the time, I felt as if I lost everything. The hole I dug was too deep to see you guys. I... was selfish, yes. I didn't even think about how it would affect you all. And I don't expect an apology to be enough."

Dream put his hands on Melody's shoulders, who was angrily looking at him with red eyes and tear stained cheeks.

"I'm going to make up for it. I'm not going anywhere now. I was stupid back then, and... well, I guess I can't really say it was the worst mistake of my life, but it definitely wasn't one of my brightest moments."

"...You're a dumbass."

"I know. Now come here."

Nodding to her, Dream pulled Melody in and gave her a hug. She curled up into his chest a bit, sniffling as she started to cry more.

Her muffled voice came from beneath.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't help you. You were all alone..."

"No, don't start blaming yourself. It was my choice. That's all over now though. I'm back, and I'm not going anywhere. Alright?"

"...Okay..."

Melody nodded as tears wet Dream's shirt. They both stood there for a while in the middle of nowhere, letting out emotions.

...........

"Sniff... Ugh, god. What an asshole. Do you know how long it's been since I've cried? I feel like a child now."

As she started to calm down, Melody and Dream separated. He chuckled at her.

"Yes, this is a much different image than what I saw not long ago. What are you, some kind of general now?"

"I'm the vice guild leader of one of the most powerful guilds in the world. I also rank in the top ten strongest supers in the world. Forgive me if there's an image I need to maintain."

"That's a familiar line. And top ten strongest huh? What level?"

"Just hit 275 not that long ago. Took a lot of demons to reach that level."

Melody spoke smugly and swept back her blonde hair. Dream wasn't impressed though.

"That's it? Man, the demons really have taken it easy here."

"Taken it easy? They've toppled several countries and have a massive territory. They've even tried pushing into Alaska."

"They're trying to get into Canada huh?"

"North Montana, actually."

"...Right."

"Enough about that though. You've got a lot of explaining to do. Where the hell did you pop out of? And how powerful are you?"

Melody poked his chest questioningly. Hearing her, Dream smiled.

"You know those aliens?"

"Yea. I was sent there to talk to them. Don't tell me you're one of the aliens."

"Kind of. More specifically, I'm the leader of those aliens. I believe my avatar told you I was their king."

"...Wait what?"

"I'm their king. I'm the one who brought over the population from a doomed world."

"..."

As Dream spoke with a grin, Melody's eyes went wide. Dream just enjoyed her shocked expression for a bit as she processed the implications.

"You... You're that king?! Those robots, the cities... You built them all?!"

"Well, I ordered their construction, but yes."

"Oh my god... The governments are all freaking out about you."

"Believe me, I know. But it's not like they can do anything. Plus, I left all that diplomatic stuff to Luna."

"Luna? Who's that?"

"A certain special someone. I'll be introducing her along with another certain special someone to you guys soon."

"Oh? A girlfriend?"

"Maybe. Anyway, how about you and I go home? I'm sure you can take the day off."

"That depends. Are all those demons back there killed?"

"Of course."

"Then sure."

"Good. Grab my hand."

"Are we flying?"

Melody tilted her head as she grabbed Dream's hand. He rubbed his chin as he answered. 

"Not really? I recently got a nice little skill and I want to test it out. I would say it's a pseudo-teleportation skill."

"Huh? Teleportation?"

"Close. Anyway, let's go. I'll place us over the city."

Saying that, Dream activated his dimensional tunneling skill. He controlled some aether within him to wrap them up, and then after creating a bubble in space, he formed a tunnel that led to another location. 

He controlled his spatial bubble to head through the tunnel, disappearing from the place they were at and reappearing above a city the next moment. The whole process took about 3 seconds. 

"And we're here."

"Whoah!"

Melody shouted as she began to fall from the sky where Dream teleported to. She quickly stabilized herself though and levitated with some magic. 

"So you're able to manipulate mana as well."

"Of course. It's an essential skill to become powerful."

"Indeed. I thought I gave everyone some magical formulas though?"

"Through the Seeker Program? Yes you did, but those are more so used for high precision applications, like enchanting or cooperative spells."

"What are cooperative spells?"

"Spells that multiple people build and execute. They're usually large scale."

"Wow."

"Yea. I've used one to obliterate a demon stronghold before. Anyway, follow me. I'll show you the new house."

Melody waved him over and flew off toward a direction. Dream followed behind her while laughing inside. It seemed that Earth was basically on the level of Kabaan, at least technically. For Earth that was oriented toward precision, they wouldn't have a hard time developing highly advanced magic spells, just like the cooperative spells. None of the Empires on the other world had that. 

She quickly flew to a more rural area outside Los Angeles. There they came upon a hill, and on top of that hill was a large, luxurious mansion.

"Ever since I joined the guild and became the vice-leader, I've been making tons of money. So naturally I got a house for the family. We all live here."

"Are mom and dad here?"

"Uhh, I'm not sure about dad, but I'm pretty sure mom's here."

"Hmm, yea, I see her. Come on."

After Dream scanned the house, he did indeed see his mother. Getting excited, he quickly flew down to the entrance and walked in. Melody tailed him. 

"Mom! Come here!"

"Melody? I thought you were out on a raid?"

"Well, something came up. Just come here! Someone's here to see you!"

"Alright, alright. I'm coming."

After that, footsteps were heard from the second floor. A figure was turning the corner to some stairs not long after, and Dream's mother appeared.

"..."

Dream was silent as he saw his mother come into view. He knew she had become more powerful, and that power seemed to revitalize her and return her youth. If he didn't know her, he would think she was in her early thirties unlike her actual age which was almost 50. 

Dream's mother, Shannon. A short woman with brown hair and an athletic composition. Dream watched as she laid eyes on him and froze.

"Surprise!"

Melody smiled sweetly as the two stared at each other. They remained like that for a while before Shannon walked down the stairs. She didn't say anything as she approached Dream calmly, embracing him with a hug.

"Welcome home."

Dream smiled when he heard her soft voice. It had been a long time since he had seen his mom, and upon finally seeing her again, relief and satisfaction washed over him. 

"It's good to be back."