At the door of a suite in the Reverie Hotel, Kallen was finally able to check into Penacony under the escort of an attendant.
When the door opened, what greeted her was a room far beyond the standard in size and luxury.
Standing at the entrance with her hands folded neatly in front of her, the attendant smiled and said,
"Miss Kallen, this is the room Mister Sunday personally arranged for you. If you need anything at all, please feel free to contact the front desk. We will provide service immediately."
"All right, I got it." Kallen waved her off. "You can go."
The attendant added, "Then I wish you an enjoyable performance, Miss Kallen."
With that, she dipped into a small bow and quickly withdrew, her footsteps fading down the corridor.
Kallen shut the door behind her and flopped straight onto the plush bed.
"…It feels kind of average."
She stared at the crystal chandelier above, its flowing lights scattering color across the ceiling, her gaze slightly unfocused.
It was not that the room was bad.
On the contrary, this suite was far beyond the level of what one might call a "temporary accommodation."
There was a private sitting room, a personal bar, and even the bed linens were custom embroidered by hand.
Sunday had certainly been generous.
It was just that Kallen's mind was nowhere near any of that.
She rolled over and buried her face in the pillow, already thinking about what came next.
By the schedule, there were still around half a month left before the Charmony Festival officially began.
For the time being, she planned to stay in Penacony.
But that brought up another problem. At this point, not to mention the Astral Express crew, even the IPC people had not arrived yet.
It seemed she really had come a little too early.
Still, that did not matter. Early was early.
Before everything started moving, getting some rest here was not so bad.
After all, she had been overworked for quite some time lately.
The other two personas were relatively free for the moment, and neither of them had started drifting toward Penacony yet.
Meanwhile, the Family had already prepared an identity for her.
On the surface, she was now a singer of the Iris Family under Harmony, someone who had once gone abroad to study.
Now, having returned, she planned to display her talents during the Charmony Festival.
As for what had happened in the lobby earlier?
Those Family members had already had their memories altered by the Dreammaster through special means.
The Galaxy Ranger Kallen no longer existed. Now she was a pure-hearted singer of Harmony, performing for the love of art!
Well… that was a bit shaky, honestly.
Kallen herself was not all that good at singing, much less at being one of Harmony's songstresses.
There was no way she could go tell the Dreammaster, Actually, I'm tone-deaf, was there?
Ahem. That would be far too humiliating.
Fortunately, the Dreammaster had not chosen her cover identity at random. He had prepared an item for her—
a necklace imbued with Harmony.
According to him, it would allow her voice to imitate the musical cadence of a Pathstrider of Harmony while she sang.
After testing it several times and confirming that it had not been tampered with, Kallen had finally put it on.
Thinking about it now, there were really only two reasons the Dreammaster had cooperated with her so readily.
Either he had genuinely been beaten into submission and had no choice but to pinch his nose and accept this uninvited Buddha into his house—
or he intended to stabilize her for the moment, then slowly probe her and look for a chance to counter her later.
Kallen thought the latter was far more likely.
After all, how could an old fox who had lived this long and run Penacony into what it was today possibly offer genuine trust after just one beating?
"But whatever."
She muttered it to herself and lifted her face from the pillow.
In any case, she had never intended to bare her heart to them either.
Whether it was Order, Harmony, or even the Dreammaster's cherished resurrection plan, all of it was nothing more than a tool to achieve her own ends.
Those things had never been what she truly wanted.
Kallen sat up and closed her hand in the air.
Judah flashed into existence in her palm for a brief instant, then vanished again.
The power sealed within that cross still slumbered, quiet and heavy, like amber in sleep.
But there was something else as well.
Deep within her consciousness lay a field of gray so faint it was almost impossible to perceive.
That was the place where she was most deeply connected to Nihility—and her greatest trump card.
The Self-Annihilator identity was fake. The story about being saved by Order was fake too.
But she undeniably did have a strange, indescribable connection to Nihility.
Kallen closed her eyes and felt the faint pulse coming from that void-like depth.
It was like a heartbeat.
Then she walked over to the dream pool and lowered her gaze to the surface, calm and eerie in its stillness.
The dream pool.
Penacony's greatest invention, and the technical marvel the Family was proudest of.
It was the gateway into Penacony's dreamscape, and once she entered it, she would be fully stepping into the Dreammaster's domain.
But before that, Kallen intended to make a few covert adjustments.
She crouched down and extended one finger, lightly touching the water's surface.
A chill spread up from her fingertip, and beneath the seemingly motionless surface, she could feel countless tiny mental waves stirring.
Those were the minds of those already dreaming.
Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of consciousnesses drifting within this artificially constructed ocean of dreams.
Kallen withdrew her finger and examined the faint trace of dampness left on it.
If she was not mistaken, the water held a thread of Harmony's power.
But there was far more malice from Remembrance.
And mixed in there too was the power of the Stellaron.
What was more, the portion belonging to the Stellaron now seemed to be reaching toward Kallen.
As if it were whispering:
Come. Come dream with everyone else.
The world in dreams is beautiful, isn't it?
Why wake up at all?
Kallen let out a derisive laugh.
"A land of tender indulgence…"
She raised one hand, palm downward, toward the pool.
The aura of Nihility seeped out from her palm.
It was an incredibly pale gray, so faint that if one did not look carefully, it could not even be seen.
But the instant that nearly invisible wisp touched the surface of the dream pool, it spread like ink falling into water, racing outward in a way that defied all physical law.
The water began to change.
Nihility had no color. What it changed was the water's very nature.
That was how the power of Nihility worked. It did not need to deliberately corrode or actively attack—merely existing was enough to reshape everything around it.
That was something Kallen had already discovered the moment her adjustment was complete.
Her connection to Nihility ran far deeper than what she had told others.
And now, the authority the Dreammaster possessed within the dreamscape was going to be divided—at least a little.
"That should do it."
Kallen drew her hand back, and the gray aura faded with it.
The pool returned to perfect stillness. On the surface, it looked no different from before. But if someone were to examine it carefully, they would find that the dream-fluid's nature had changed.
The faint pull of Harmony that had once guided sleepers had been replaced by something deeper.
Something that now bore Kallen's mark.
Then Kallen turned away from the pool and crossed to the garment rack on the other side of the room.
There hung the formal dress the Iris Family had prepared for her: a pale violet gown embroidered with delicate iris patterns, with a small family crest pinned at the collar.
Once she put it on, she would officially become the "returning singer of the Iris Family."
Kallen lifted the dress and held it against herself before the mirror.
Perfect.
…
Penacony, the Land of Dreams.
Using the dream pool as a medium, Kallen successfully entered the dreamscape that belonged to Penacony.
The moment she stepped inside, she felt a strange gaze upon her.
She did not need to think to know exactly which peeping tom it was.
Good grief. Was he really that anxious? She had only just entered the dream, and Gopher Wood was already in such a hurry to monitor her?
That was intolerable.
Kallen acted immediately.
The power of Nihility surged out and lashed toward that hidden gaze.
A moment later, after a yelp from someone-or-other, the feeling of being watched disappeared.
"Now that's better."
As she spoke, Kallen summoned Judah and prepared to properly look around this place.
As for why she had summoned Judah?
Because Judah was just so ridiculously convenient.
With a sweep of her hand, the cross instantly transformed into a motorcycle.
Well then. That was absurd.
There was no way something like that could legally be allowed on the streets of Penacony.
Kallen, however, could not have cared less.
She swung herself up onto the bike, and the instant her hands gripped the handlebars, a familiar power surged up from the seat through her whole body.
Preservation.
No matter what form Judah took, its essence did not change. It was still the cross that could suppress and lock down all things.
Only now, it existed in the shape of speed.
"Let's see… how do the roads work around here again?"
Kallen twisted the throttle, and the motorcycle gave off a low roar that sent ripples through the air around it.
She glanced down the road ahead.
The streets were wide and immaculate, the buildings on either side rising high into the sky.
A few pedestrians passed from time to time, but the moment they saw Kallen and the distinctly dangerous-looking motorcycle beneath her, they instinctively stepped aside.
It was not that they had recognized an Emanator.
It was simply that the motorcycle looked very much unlike anything gentle or safe.
Kallen was just about to hit the gas when hurried footsteps came from behind her.
"Miss up ahead! Please wait a moment!"
She turned and saw a man in Hound Family uniform running toward her.
His face was full of alarm, and he was holding something that looked like a recording device.
What, was Penacony really that strict? They would not even allow motorcycles?
And did he have any idea who she was, to dare stop her?
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 147)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter185)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter105)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter215)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 185
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 170
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/1
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 206
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 190
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/23
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 106
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 125
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 90
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 90
My Harem Is Indescribable 80
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 86
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 81
Still playing traditional Honk 65
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 65
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 57
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 45
Transmigrated as Sukuna 59
Checking In in Demon Slayer 59
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 73
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 45
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 36
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 40
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 60
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 30
Why did they assign me to Uma 35
MYGO Beauties 43
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 30
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 31
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