Chapter 244 – Harvest

"Charge!!"

"Let's go!!"

"Fight them!"

The red army moved, rushing forward to their enemies. The blue army responded at the same time. Arrows, spells, and even people's weapons came shooting through the sky. Waves of dense mana flooded forth, threatening to destroy anything in its way. 

Dream, who was in the middle of this, frowned. One of these people would be nothing to him, but there were hundreds of thousands. These attacks would collide with him in between. 

"Stay on me."

Dream covered himself and Melody in his Will as she moved close. The next moment, metal flooded from his body, covering the two up in a diamond shaped pyramid. Dream enchanted the metal, reinforcing it. 

*BOOM*

Then, the attacks collided. A mass of mana crashed down upon Dream's pyramid, washing over it. This was an insane amount of mana and power. Luckily, most of it was deflected, and he didn't even use much energy.

"We're moving."

The next moment, the pyramid was taken down. Dream grabbed Melody before warping space around him. Another thing he had noticed was that space in this world was insanely stable, so it would be much more difficult to just tear it. 

"Wait!"

When he was about to move though, Melody shouted. He turned to her, wondering what she wanted. 

"Let's stay!"

"Stay? For what?"

"We need to find people. Well, these are people! Let's join the Red side! That Red Eye Clan!"

"Join them?"

Dream pondered. They did indeed need to find people. They needed to know where they were. Picking a side wasn't a horrible idea. 

As for which side, Dream didn't particularly care. He knew Melody liked the red side since she was violent like them, so without much thought, he nodded. 

"Fine then. Just stay close. We still can't stay here."

"Sure!"

Melody clapped excitedly. The next moment, the light around Dream bent, making them invisible. Dream then enveloped him and his sister with mana, shooting to the red side. 

"Hm?"

As he approached, the soldiers of the red side frowned. Although Dream was invisible, they could still slightly feel his presence. They couldn't react quickly enough though before that presence shot past them, approaching their back line. 

There was only a small amount of people who noticed him though. Everyone else kept charging forward. It wasn't long before the two armies clashed. Blood spilled and died the grasslands red and blue. The Blue Blood Clan truly had blue blood. 

Dream maneuvered through the charging army, finally reaching the area underneath all the floating ships. There were small ships, large ships, and then flagships. There were still people within these flagships, obviously some kind of military personnel. 

Dream was about to fly up to the flagship when suddenly, he detected someone in front of him. This person was hiding themselves, but he could rather easily detect them. 

"Can I help you?"

"I should be the one asking that."

Seeing as how he was made, the man appeared. This man was geared in assassin type clothing, with a hood that tried to conceal his face. Dream saw past it all though, able to see how this mad was middle aged. Because of Universal Laanguage, they were also able to communicate without the language barrier. 

"Who are you? You don't seem to be someone from the Blue Blood Clan."

"I'm not. I'm a stranger in a new land, and I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was actually hoping to talk to someone who could let me know what's going on."

"Oh? I'm not inclined to believe you, but you truly are a stranger, I'll give you that."

The assassin looked Dream up and down. Dream was dressed in his casual suit, a style of clothing this man had never seen before. It definitely didn't come from the Blue Blood Clan who wore robes like scholars. Then there was the girl behind Dream who wore even more exotic clothing in the form of sweatpants and a tank top. 

Needless to say, they really weren't from around here. Only, it was too much of a coincidence for them to suddenly appear here during the outbreak of a massive battle. He couldn't help but be skeptical. 

"Look, I'd rather not have gotten caught in the crossfire, but I need some basic knowledge. This girl here chose to come here instead of toward the Blue Blood Clan."

Dream pat Melody on the head. She just looked toward the assassin, fighting spirit blazing in her eyes. The assassin was impressed.

"Oh? I see. Well, if this were any other time, I'd help. But we're at war, and I can't be too careful."

"That's what I thought. In that case, what if I offered some assistance?"

"Assistance?"

"Yea. For instance, those two people fighting up there are evenly matched. If I were to join the battle, I'm sure I could at least ensure that your side wins."

"You? Join that battle?"

The assassin went wide eyed. He poked at Dream with his Will, but when it washed over him, he found nothing. The assassin could only see Dream's shell, not a hint of his power. Dream looked like a mortal. At least Melody let out a fierce aura, giving him an idea of her strength. 

The assassin frowned. 

"What level are you?"

"I'm close to becoming a class 5."

"Is that so? You don't have a spirit body though, so how high are your stats?"

"Oh, but I do have a spirit body. You just can't see it."

Dream smiled, causing the assassin to be skeptical. The next moment, he became thoughtful. He couldn't detect Dream's power, that meant he was either really weak or really powerful. The assassin was knew it was the latter. 

As he pondered though, Dream sighed. 

"Alright, let's keep this simple. I'll go help your guy win. Aegis, stick with Melody."

"Of course, my lord."

Saying that, Aegis exited from Dream's body, manifesting in his armor form. Seeing Aegis, the assassin was shocked. Unlike Dream, Aegis let out an unfathomable aura, filled to the brim with explosive power. It was clear that Aegis could stomp this assassin into the floor. 

After that, Dream rose up into the sky. The assassin saw this but didn't bother stopping him. Instead, he took out a rectangular piece of stone, inserting his mana and speaking into it. 

.........

"Rahh!!"

Up in the sky, the red armored man fought with a raging spirit against he blue robed man. The two constantly exchanges attacks, neither being able to absolutely overcome the other. Despite this, their fighting spirits only soared. Spear collided with sword, sending out shockwaves of mana. 

At some point though, the red armored man heard a voice in his mind. 

"Sir! There's a rogue fighter coming toward you! Report says that he's friendly, but be on guard!"

With that, the voice cut out. The red armored man frowned, wondering why he received such an odd report. As he continued fighting though, he felt a presence behind him. 

With the appearance of this presence came a beam of light. This light shot toward the blue robed man, crashing into him. The blue robed man naturally saw this, but the light moved too fast for him to block. The light pierced into his chest. 

*Zip!*

Upon hitting his chest, the light pierced straight through, continuing to sail into the boundless sky. The blue robed man felt a sharp pain in his spiritual body, causing him to back away with a groan. 

"Agh! Who is it?!"

The blue robed man shouted in anger. He and the red armored man turned to the unexpected third party. They laid eyes on a rather nonchalant young man holding some kind of weapon in his hand. This young man was Dream. 

"Oh? I'm surprised that was so effective. Though, it did consume an entire fusion marble. Again, only limited by my energy reserves."

Dream spoke. In his right hand was a pistol. His left hand also held a marble. This marble was dim, as if it had run out of energy. This was his fusion marble, one of his most powerful energy sources. These marbles were being used as bullets in his pistol. 

This was one of the advanced technologies Dream had created. He could fire bundles of energy faster than any bullet, and these bundles of energy were converted to magical force upon impact through [Arcane Transmutation], able to affect magic and spiritual bodies like a normal magic spell. The only problem was that not all the energy got converted because Dream didn't enchant the marbles to convert their full power. 

Either way, it seemed to be enough to fight a class 5. It pleased Dream. 

"Who are you?"

Seeing how he didn't respond, the red armored man asked. He remembered the transmission he received talking about a third party. 

Dream looked at the armored man. 

"I'm here to help. You should have received that message about a rogue fighter. That's me, and yes, I'm actually friendly."

"Huh?"

The red armored man was surprised. When he swept his Will over Dream, he also only saw the shell, nothing underneath. However, his power wasn't just for show. Unlike the assassin, he could detect a deep, seething power within Dream. He became solemn. Dream had also heard that transmission, something that was usually extremely hard to do. 

"Why are you interfering in this battle? Did they pay you? Whatever they paid, I'll double it!"

The blue robed man hastily spoke. He immediately knew that Dream could threaten him, but Dream also didn't look to be a part of the Red Eye Clan. He looked like some random class 5 that the red armored man hired to help. 

Hearing the offer, Dream could only smile wryly. Maybe he should take whatever this payment was and actually get something out of helping. Since Melody like the Red Eye Clan though, he couldn't really do that. He shook his head. 

"I'm not negotiating. So, mister Red Eye, are we fighting this guy or what?"

Dream spoke to the red armored man. After processing the situation, the red armored man nodded. He didn't why Dream was here, but for the sake of the battle, he had no reason to make things complicated. 

"Yes."

"Damn you! You hire outsiders to interfere in our war?! Coward!"

The blue robed man cursed. With Dream there to tip the scales, he would be the one to lose. 

The red armored man frowned. 

"Quiet! As if you blue bloods haven't called upon other clans to assist you! Now die here!"

"Damn you!"

The two shot toward each other, clashing once more. However, the blue robed man used the collision to suddenly turn and shoot away. 

"I will remember this! You will pay for your dirty tactics!"

"Not so fast."

Suddenly, as the blue robed man started to run, Dream appeared in front of him. The blue robed man's eyes shot open, stunned. 

"How?!"

"None of your concern."

Dream held up his pistol, aiming it at the man's head. The man couldn't dodge the beam of light that pierced through his face.

"Ahh!!"

After getting a hole in his head, the blue robed man called upon all his mana. A headshot to a spiritual body wouldn't actually instantly kill someone. It would take thoroughly destroying the body to kill someone.

Seeing all the mana being summoned, Dream put away the pistol. The next moment, his mortal shell started to crack, revealing the cosmic form underneath. 

The blue robed man watched as Dream's body was sucked inward. Then, when he laid eyes on Dream's full cosmic form, his soul shook. 

*Freeze!*

The mana he was controlling suddenly stopped. All of space, mana, and matter within a 3 mile radius ceased moving as it was encompassed by a gray mist. This was Dream's Will. Even the soldiers below found their bodies frozen in place, as if time itself had ceased to move. All eyes fell upon Dream's cosmic form, that terrifying window to the universe. 

"A class 5 soul. Since I'm going to kill you anyway, I may as well get something out of it."

Dream's voice echoed in the minds present, like some kind of ethereal god. The blue robed man was horrified as his soul was oppressed. While he was able to fight for control of his mana, it was exceedingly difficult. He stumbled on his words. 

"D-domain! Who are you?!"

"None of your concern."

Dream spoke again, pointing his finger at the blue robed man. A light gathered on his fingertip. Space bent around it, and mana was dangerously compressed. The blue robed man shuddered at the power behind this finger. 

"Aahh!!"

He yelled, bringing forth his full power. A barrier was created in front of him as his own Will was released, resisting Dream's. After that, the light on Dream's finger stopped compressing. It shot out. 

The blue robed man braced for impact. However, the light never came. It disappeared. When that happened, the blue robed man felt his neck tingle. His head spun around him. 

"How?!"

He saw the light, spiraling toward him from behind. It had teleported behind him!

He couldn't react!

*Zip!*

The light sunk into his body. The blue robed man froze, his entire being shuddering. 

Then, lights started to shine from within him. It caused his body to crack open, blue blood spilling from all over. He trembled even more, his aura constantly weakening. 

He could feel an invasive power within him, destroying the connection between his soul and spiritual body. This power was unimaginably precise, not harming his soul in the slightest. However, it was also unfathomably painful. The man's mind threatened to collapse under such torture. 

"Noo!!!"

*Boom!*

With a final shout, the man exploded. His body was reduced to nothing. In its place, a bright wisp appeared. Dream got excited. This was his soul!

"Come here!"

Dream reached out and grabbed the soul. His entire Will concentrated on the wisp, restraining it. Just because the body was gone didn't mean the person was dead. This was especially so for a class 5. 

The blue robed man, now merely a soul, pleaded.

"Let me go! Please!"

"Believe me, you don't want to live through what I'm going to do to you."

Dream spoke, his words dangerously ominous. The blue robed man, or rather his Will and Mind, fell into despair. When he saw Dream's power crash down upon him and threaten to wipe out his being, he couldn't find it in him to resist.

*Crack!*

The blue robed man's mind space completely shattered, his Will dispersing. With that, his being was wiped out. Dream maintained the integrity of the soul. In his eyes, it was now just research material. 

However, not long after Dream killed the man, he could see a bright light in his vision. This light didn't come from the physical world, but rather something far beyond it. Dream suddenly had a thought. This was Divine Light, otherwise known as experience. 

<You have killed the level 472 [Lasker Ming]>

<You have leveled up!>

<Warning! You cannot level up before choosing a class.>

"Oh?"

Seeing the sudden notifications, Dream was surprised. It had been a decade since he had leveled up, and since he was already at the peak of class 4, it only took this single kill for him to gain enough experience. 

He could see that flash of light sink into him before fading. With it, Dream felt a tiny boost in his soul energy and mental capacities. He smiled at this good feeling before focusing back on the soul he harvested.

After covering the soul in a container of mana, Dream locked it down, forcefully keeping the soul from dispersing. After that, he reverted back into his mortal shell. The red armored man, who had been standing at the side, watched as Dream put the glowing wisp that was the soul into his pocket like some kind of common item.

"..."

The surroundings were silent. Even the armies below had stopped fighting. They all looked at Dream with terror in their eyes. Not only had he killed their leader, but he had harvested his soul! If he killed them too, their souls would be harvested! They would never find peace in death!

"Retreat!"

When that word echoed, the blue army suddenly started to run away. Seeing this, the red army snapped out of it and gave chase. Thousands more blue soldiers were killed before the army got back to their ships, quickly turning and flying away. At that point, the red army stopped. They were a bit dazed. 

Was the battle over just like that?

They all turned to Dream who stood next to the red armored man. The red armored man couldn't help but feel fear in front of Dream himself. It was scary to know that his soul could be harvested so easily. 

Unfortunately, Dream didn't intend on revealing the fact that killing the man and harvesting his soul had taken around 25% of his energy. Dream could only do that a few more times in a short time span, especially since his power was being suppressed by the neutron star in his inventory. 

"...What's your name?"

The red armored man carefully asked. Dream smiled. 

"Dream. You can just call me that."

"I see. Well Dream, my name is Durack, and I thank you for the assistance."

"Sure. After this, I have some questions I want to ask."

"Of course. Come with me to the flagship."

Saying that, Durack led Dream to the flagship. At the same time, the red army fell back to their ships as well. 

As he boarded the ship, Melody also flew over to him.

"Hey, good job! I didn't realize you could kill a class 5 so easily."

Melody chuckled. As for harvesting the soul, she didn't really care. She had seen amazing things from Dream far more shocking than harvesting a soul. Besides, he was her brother. She had no reason to feel fear. 

Dream rolled his eyes. Durack just smiled a little as he led the two into the flagship. After arriving at the bridge, Dream was greeted with the fearful gazes of a dozen military officers. When the entire army was back on their ships, the fleet turned and flew off in another direction. 

Dream and Melody sat in a seat as Durack went around settling matters. When he was finally done, he respectfully sat down across from them.