Chapter 264 – Decision

The armada of the Red Eye clan shot across thousands of miles each minute. Like this, they weren't long to reach the first outer city of the Blue Blood clan. 

However, despite class 5's coming out to meet them, the fleet didn't stop. Patriarch Thousand Sword simply ordered a large fleet to detach. This group went to meet the enemies, and nobody could stop the barreling advance of the flagship. 

This happened city after city. There were at least a dozen major cities of the Blue Blood clan that they passed, and each time, the patriarch would order fleets to detach. Their orders were to conquer the city, killing major forces before grouping up and supporting other city sieges. 

Not only that, but one of the mile long flagships were left every four cities, acting as mobile operating bases. This ensured the fleets could coordinate across the many cities. 

However, there actually weren't enough men to handle every city. There were four other cities in the deeper parts of the clan that only the main flagship would fly across. Instead of leaving these be though, the class 6's took turns stepping out. 

First, it was one of the ancients that stepped out. The wrinkly old man dressed in red robes flew out of the ship alone as nearly a hundred class 5's came to meet him. 

This seemingly disadvantaged matchup made it look like the old man would be slaughtered. However, after the old man pulled out a spear, chaos ensued. 

The old man zipped around the sky, thrusting out his spear and instantly killing several class 5's with every attack. It only took a minute for every class 5 in the city to fall dead. The old man didn't even glance at the class 4's as he returned to the flagship, the massive construct continuing on its journey. 

Then, the second city came. It was here that the couple stepped out. With Hunt using a bow and Anna using a spear, the duo faced around 200 class 5's. With both of them, the battle didn't even take a minute. It was a mere 30 seconds before the enemies dropped from the sky like rain. Even some class 5's who were hiding in the city were killed by Hunt's ranged attacks. Nobody was spared. 

And after the duo came back in smiling, the ancient who fought before them frowned. Dream chuckled as it seemed like they were competing. 

Come the third city, it was actually Patriarch Star that stepped out. With a sword, this man was able to annihilate over a hundred class 5's in a mere dozen seconds. His attacks were filled with blinding light and blazing heat, incinerating all enemies until their very souls burned. And while the number of enemies was lesser, Dream knew that those few hundred enemies were stronger than even the 200 that the duo faced. Overall, the patriarch had performed much better. 

This caused Hunt and the ancient old man to huff. Patriarch Star smiled at them before looking at Dream. Dream met his gaze and tilted his head. 

"What, are you looking for an evaluation?"

"Nonsense. I just hope our performances are satisfactory."

Patriarch Star spoke with slight sarcasm. While he wanted to maintain good terms with Dream, Dream's casual attitude wasn't the most pleasing. It seemed like Dream was above them, so Patriarch Star wanted to show off a bit, regaining a bit of his image. 

Dream could obviously read his tone. Thus, he spoke with a small smile. 

"Well, if you didn't waste so much energy looking flashy, I might be a bit more impressed."

"Waste?"

"Yes. Here, I'll show you what no wasted energy looks like in the next city."

Dream said that as he turned his head forward. Melody who stood to the side could only giggle a bit as Patriarch Star's eye twitched. 

Sure enough, come the fourth city, it was Dream who handled the enemies. All the class 6's watched him intently. Nobody had actually seen his full power, so they were curious. 

However, upon arriving in the city, Dream didn't exit the ship. He stayed sitting in the command room as 80 class 5's rose from the city and faced the flagship. 

Everyone looked at him oddly. They didn't doubt his power because the rumors were confirmed that he could beat a class 6 into a mess. But did he not at least want to exit the ship to fight? 

Dream disregarded them. After washing his senses over the 80 class 5 enemies, he raised his hand. Everyone in the flagship watched as he snapped his fingers.

*Flick!*

A sound was released. From his fingers, a wave rippled. This wasn't a sound wave, but a spatial wave. 

Then, without warning or sign, all 80 of the class 5's outside dropped from the sky. They didn't scream, and there wasn't even any blood spilled. They just fell, their eyes still looking as if they were alive. 

Seeing this, all the class 6's felt a chill crawl up their necks. They hadn't detected anything from Dream's attack. It was silent, and all energy within the attack was purely directed at its destination. 

The only thing they saw were the souls of those class 5's suddenly snuff out, like a breeze putting out matches. And that wind of death was released from Dream's snap. They couldn't understand what he had done. 

"There. No wasted energy. If there's no wasted energy, then I wouldn't have even sensed your attacks, much less seen them blind me."

"..."

Everyone was silent after Dream spoke. His words were true. In theory. But put into practice, it was extremely hard to do what he did. To control your energy to the point where nobody could sense it took an extreme level of skill and comprehension. 

"Alright, onward. Next city should put us in front of those class 6's. They've had half a year. I wonder what they've prepared."

Dream rubbed his chin curiously as the flagship started moving again. At this time, the class 6's zoned in. They suddenly remembered that they would be fighting the most powerful force of the Blue Blood clan, and they were doing it on the enemy's home turf. While half a year wasn't actually that long to prepare, there was no way they hadn't pulled out every card they had. The reckless battle they were throwing themselves into was actually an incredibly stupid act on their part. 

But this wasn't a normal situation. They had Dream with them. Everyone was curious about Dream's power, and they were hoping in their hearts that he was even more powerful than rumored. 

Like this, the flagship rapidly shot toward the capital city of the clan. At some point they saw it in the distance. However, before they could reach the city, a beam of light suddenly shot out of its center and into the sky. 

This light rose nearly 100 miles into the sky. Then, it exploded, releasing an absurd amount of mana. This mana formed into a dome that covered the entire city, blocking the entry of the flagship. 

The flagship came to a halt outside the dome. At the same time, class 6 auras shot out of the city. Dream quickly recognized two of them, the old man and barbarian. 

"Damn."

Seeing the dome, Patriarch Star frowned. Dream titled his head, to which he explained. 

"This dome. It's not just protective. If one enters it, they'll be subjected to an extreme amount of pressure. It can hinder the combat ability of even class 6's. This is one of the more well known artifacts of this clan."

"...Well, it better be hiding a lot of its power, because if it's just this, it'll do nothing."

Dream spoke with a bit of skepticism. This dome was basically enchanted mana, and there weren't many people that could trump Dream in enchanting things. 

"What, you think a major weapon that a clan has used to safeguard their clan for thousands of years is just some garbage?"

Suddenly, one of the old ancients spoke. It was the man who had been subjected to Aegis's threat, and he still wasn't happy with Dream. 

Hearing this man, Dream just sighed. The next moment, he teleported out of the flagship, appearing in front of the dome. 

"You! You've dared to step foot in our clan once more!"

After Dream appeared, the barbarian who lost his weapon to Dream roared in livid rage. 

Right after he finished speaking though, the dome around the city shook. His eyes, along with the eyes of every other class 6 in the area, went wide as they watched the dome rapidly retract. The walls rose back up to the peak where it shot back down the path of the beam that supported it. Then, this beam collapsed, shrinking down into itself. 

The moment after, the building that was the source of the dome exploded, releasing a directional wave of absurd power. Surprisingly, the barbarian found himself as the target of this wave. Taking out a weapon, he slashed at the wave. 

Still, the power behind this wave wasn't so easy to handle. The barbarian was blasted into the ground as he deflected the wave upward. 

Then, Dream drifted forward, peeking at the hole in the ground the barbarian was buried in. The class 6's in the flagship also came out at that moment, their faces surprised. After a few seconds, the barbarian came shooting out.

"You damned heathen!!"

"Heh. I'm sure if you had your main weapon, that wave would have been easier to handle, huh?"

"You!!!"

The barbarians face went red. Ever since Dream obliterated his weapon, he had never calmed the wrath that boiled in his heart. To an Asura, their weapon was everything! It was what shaped their being! To the barbarian, it was greater than a wife! And Dream had destroyed this in front of him, slipping away like a snake afterward. 

Even if he lived beyond the upcoming battle, even if he personally killed Dream, he would forever have to deal with this shadow of rage. 

"I'm going to shit in your skull! Your corpse will be desecrated by the peasants who live in the gutters!"

"Oh my, I'm pissing my pants already. Hey, you're the one who made your decision. Now I'm going to harvest your soul. Don't worry though, you at least won't be desecrated. That old man on the other hand..."

His smile fading, Dream turned his gaze to the old man he almost killed. After meeting his gaze, the old man's soul shook. He still hadn't gotten over the horror of Dream's attack.

"He's not going to have an easy ending."

"Silence, you monster! I bet those people you call your allies haven't seen the endless death that rests within you! Patriarchs of the Red Eye clan, this man is an evil being who has slaughtered entire billions below his level!"

Suddenly, the old man bellowed in retaliation. Hearing this, all the nearby class 6's were shocked. They looked at Dream.

The old man continued. 

"Such slaughter is against natural order! There is no power to be gained from killing those far below you, thus, those heinous enough to engage in such mass genocide are to be killed without prejudice! It is the duty of even the slightly moral to rid the universe of this scum!"

"...Dream, is that true?"

After the old man finished, Patriarch Star gazed at Dream. His eyes were complicated. 

No matter what, only killing those at or near your level would assist in gaining power. Even evil beings couldn't simply gain power from doing evil deeds. To gain power, you had to kill those who also had power. This was a truth of the universe under the System. 

So if someone killed enough people, everyone would begin to question the reason for that person doing so. And generally, there weren't any good reasons for an excessive amount of killing. Only being evil or a person who found pleasure from killing huge amounts of people would result in that many deaths. 

And in this universe, even among the extraordinarily powerful, there was still morality. Sure wars were fought all the time, but they always had a purpose. Conflict, the thing that drove growth and ruin, was a truth of the universe that everyone was subjected to. But if someone engaged in acts that brought only ruin and no growth, then they would be in direct opposition to the universe's natural order. By extension, everyone who operated according to natural order would be in opposition to these people. 

And an excessive amount of killing was one of the great indicators of such people. In this way, the asuras were able to maintain a rather fantastic system due to their widespread ability: Death's Knell. This exposed those who may have breached natural order. 

However, to this complicated situation, Dream only pinched his nose. He turned to Patriarch Star.

"Are we really going to discuss this now? I just want their souls, and they're your enemies. I think our interests are aligned pretty closely."

"...But he's not wrong. This isn't something that can be overlooked. Dream, release Death's Knell."

"But this will make things so unnecessarily complicated... You know what? Fine. Feast your eyes."

Suddenly, Dream wave his hand in annoyance. The next second, he released Death's Knell. 

It was like the surrounding city suddenly turned into a graveyard. With winds of despair and fear, the skies darkened until it was no longer daytime. The class 6's felt their souls chill as the deep abyss of death within Dream was opened. 

Then, ethereal skeletons emerged from the ground below. The spectating citizens were horrified as they saw wraiths and an endless army of undead. Only, because the power wasn't focused on them, nothing bad happened to the millions who bore witness to the ability. 

The atmosphere oozed terror and the darkness of pure death, comprised of both innocence and corruption. The class 6's who saw the deep abyss could surmise how many deaths formed that aura. It was at least a few billion. 

This was the greatest release of Death's Knell they had ever witnessed. As for Melody who had seen this before, she was clenching her fists. Though, she was also confused. 

She knew her brother was extremely powerful. In fact, he was so powerful that tampering with the skill known as Death's Knell should be child's play for someone like him. He didn't have to expose the truth about himself. So why did he?

Then, she saw Dream smile a bit. He spoke. 

"Here it is. Death's Knell. If you want to know so dearly, I've killed a bit over 3 billion people. However, I'm not going to tell my story to you people. Patriarchs of the Red Eye clan, you have two decisions to make at this juncture."

Dream held up two fingers as he casually faced the gazes of every class 6 of both sides. 

"One. You can believe me when I say that I was placed in a bad situation and took the number of lives I did for a good reason. Or two. You can declare me an evil being based solely on this and make me your enemy. Make your decision."

With that, Dream stood there silently. The two patriarchs gazed at him, their minds running quickly. 

Dream didn't need to threaten them. Not only did they know that making him their enemy would be a very dangerous decision, but Dream didn't care about making them a bit fearful of him. They would make the decision they did, and if they didn't want to think about the risks, then so be it. 

And Dream truly didn't care about their decision. To him, more enemies was actually a good thing because that would mean he could harvest more souls. Not only that, but there were really only three things he was truly concerned about: Melody, Aegis, and Tersa. Everyone else was a stranger that didn't mean much to him. Their deaths, even by his hands, wouldn't plague his mind. 

This was why Dream didn't bother concealing the deaths on his shoulders. While he wasn't an apathetic or cold individual, he couldn't concern himself with everyone and everything. Only the people close to him earned his concern. Everyone else would only receive his common decency and friendliness, until of course they made him their enemy. 

For a while, Dream stood between the two sides. The patriarchs thought long and hard about their decision. They were weighing their trust in Dream and the fact of the deaths on his shoulders. Did they believe in his word? Up until now, he hadn't revealed himself to be an evil being. Sure he was blunt and a bit brash at times, but he wasn't evil. Didn't he want to stay out of the war at first? It was only when his sister was threatened that he stepped in and brought about this situation. 

But he was still a stranger. It wasn't like he had interacted with the patriarchs for years, and anyone could hide their true self. Looking back to Dream's sudden appearance in the first place, his origins were a bit suspicious. In fact, everything about him was shrouded in mystery. Nobody actually knew anything about him other than he being a master with spatial magic. 

The two went back and forth between thoughts, wracking their minds. If this was anyone else, then the situation probably wouldn't be so complicated since evil people don't tend to dress so nice and act so friendly. 

Suddenly though, after some time had passed, a woman stepped out. It was one of the younger class 6's of the Red Eye clan, neither an ancient or with the couple. She seemed to stick to herself and hadn't spoken at all. 

"Dream?"

"That is indeed my name."

Dream nodded to the woman. She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment. 

"I sense something in your Death's Knell. Something other than the despair and fear. It's... chaotic."

"Then your senses are probably correct. Do me a favor though and don't say anything else. Let your leaders make their own decision. If they don't want to believe in who I've shown myself to be, then that's their choice."

"..."

Seeing Dream smile at her, the woman was silent and a bit confused. 

The aura she sensed was obviously that of the demons. Only, not many had ever come in contact with demons, so not even the patriarchs may know what their aura is like. However, if they knew that the deaths on Dream's shoulders had to do with the demons, it may clear up many things. Even just the mention of demons would give Dream the benefit of the doubt. 

But he didn't want that. The woman didn't know what he was trying to do. Either way though, she had made her own decision. This man wasn't evil, and she wasn't about to make an enemy of him. 

She stepped back, no longer speaking. The patriarchs gazed at her, but when she didn't say anything, they turned back to Dream. 

Finally, they made their decision. 

Sp4de