"...No."
The Eighth Herrscher thought she had misheard. Her smile dissolved in an instant. She looked at Lin cold expression with suspicion. "What?"
Lin quietly watched Hua, who was laughing carefree. He rarely saw this girl, who was still in the flower of her youth, show such a smile.
Did he have the right to strip them of their right to dream?
"..."
Then, could he simply stay in this eternal dreamscape like them?
His gaze swept across the picture-perfect scene of the Fifth Squad gathered together in celebration.
...Absolutely not.
The people standing behind him—those who had died—were always urging him forward.
"Well then. Since that's the case, let's decide this in another way."
The Eighth Herrscher stood where she was, and a mass of mist instantly enveloped their bodies.
When they reappeared, Lin was surrounded by people.
The space was packed densely with humans, filling every corner. They stood in various positions, looking confused, glancing at each other with bewilderment. They surrounded Lin in a circular formation from top to bottom, like some kind of... sentencing ritual.
"Everyone, I apologize for disturbing your beautiful dreams. I am the Eighth Herrscher—the one who provided you with those wonderful dreams."
The Eighth Herrscher stood beside Lin. She smiled, transmitting her voice into the mind of everyone present, including Lin.
"Excuse me, is something wrong? Didn't we make a deal with you? As long as we gave you our bodies, you would let us dream forever."
One person raised a hand to ask, and others began to follow suit. Some shouted loudly in dissatisfaction, asking why they had been forcibly pulled out of their dreams.
The crowd seemed to have no end; there were at least tens of thousands of people. Once they started noisy chatter, it became an endless din in the ears.
"Silence! You scum!"
Suddenly, a sharp rebuke caused everyone to go quiet simultaneously. They shrank their necks and looked at the Eighth Herrscher, whose expression was no longer friendly.
Only after everyone's gaze was fixed on her did she hang that sweet smile back on her face. Placing a hand on Lin shoulder, she spoke in a low voice: "Next, I have something to tell you."
"This man is a warrior who has saved humanity several times. He has fought countless times in places you cannot see, hovering on the brink of life and death every time, losing things you can hardly imagine every time."
"His life consists only of suffering. From his ominous birth, he has existed solely for the goal of saving humanity. The word 'happiness' does not suit him; he is a pathetic soul trapped in a graveyard of the dead."
"He is more noble than any of you, and his life has more value than any of yours. In other words... even if all your lives were traded for his one life, it would be no problem."
Beneath that sweet smile was something chilling. Everyone held their breath, looking at the downcast Lin in bewilderment.
"And I, the Eighth Herrscher—I hid my true face from you. I am actually a 'non-human' born from the disaster known as Honkai, meant to destroy human civilization. His past battles were fought against the Honkai. Most of the 'bitter winters,' 'hurricanes,' 'thunderstorms,' and 'fires' you've known in recent years were caused by Herrschers like me."
This caused the crowd to become even more restless, but the Eighth Herrscher's next words quickly quieted them down.
"But I... do not intend to kill you just like that, nor will I kill other humans. I will do as I promised and grant you eternal dreams. The only catch is that humanity can no longer return to reality. Human history will end with your generation. You will remain in your beautiful dreams until you die of natural causes."
"However..."
The Eighth Herrscher's tone shifted. She smiled and said to everyone, "This brave and kind warrior wants to save you all from this dream that causes humanity to stagnate and perish. He cannot bear to see his compatriots trapped in an illusion."
"This makes me very troubled. I greatly respect the fact that among a group of people like you—who are no different from maggots—such a person could be born. I'm even tempted to agree to his request and set you free."
The noise returned. This time, the Eighth Herrscher shouted with an even colder tone: "Silence!"
"It's just that this respectable warrior is unwilling to override your will."
"But I don't believe you have as much value as he does, so I've come up with an excellent plan."
She tilted her head and spoke softly in a sugary voice—
"If he convinces all of you, then I will release all of you."
"If he wipes out all of your consciousnesses, I will let him go back."
"Of course—"
She raised a finger, finally revealing a cruel, bloodthirsty smile.
"If you kill him, you can continue to stay in this eternal dream!"
"And the only thing you can use to attack him is the small pebbles at your feet. Everyone gets only one!"
"Now then, let us begin—the trial of an anonymous warrior!"
As soon as she finished, the Eighth Herrscher whispered in Lin ear: "Don't bother thinking that killing me will liberate them. For me to destroy the consciousness of these people... is as easy as turning over my palm."
Then, she disappeared before Lin with a smile, leaving only him and the overwhelming, silent crowd.
No one spoke. They all looked at everything in a daze.
What exactly... was this?
If this man could convince them to return to reality, then they would go back.
And even if he couldn't convince them, he could kill them all to go back.
All they had to attack him with was... these small stones?
By everyone's feet sat a small stone about half the size of a fist. The edges weren't sharp; they were nearly oval. This meant that unless they had professional throwing skills, the lethality would be insufficient.
Was this a joke?
But when some of them tried to resist, they discovered in horror that they couldn't move anything except for the one hand meant to throw the stone.
That man, according to what the Eighth Herrscher said, was someone who could fight monsters! If he wanted to kill them while they were immobile, it would be effortless!
What should they do? If they threw stones at him, would he kill them? If they agreed with him, would they save their lives?
"Everyone."
At that moment, the man's voice appeared in their minds as well.
A calm, unhurried voice.
Under the gaze of tens of thousands of people, he spoke slowly:
"Please... come back to reality with me."