(Drake's POV)
Once everything was dealt with, we received notifications once more. It seemed that this Dream Dungeon was still somewhat similar than the others we've visited, offering good rewards by completing Trials.
Ding!
[You've completed the Trial successfully! You will be rewarded Special Rewards for your efforts.]
[You received: [Technomancy Divinity Fragment] x5 [Dungeon Divinity Fragment] x5 [Divine Treasure Chest (S+++ Grade)] x1 [Nexus Company Personnel Authorization Card Fragment (1/2)] x1]
[You gained +150.000.000 Divine Power.]
FLAAAASSHH!!
Suddenly, a silver-colored item materialized in the middle of the area, as I swiftly grabbed it. The item in question was the last I got, the Authorization Card Fragment!
It was exactly half of the card, in fact. There's another room right to the opposite side of this one. I am assuming I can get the other half in there, right?
"Well, it's finally done." Benladann said. "Now, can we talk about what we even saw in that dream?"
"Seems to have been the memories of someone. Were those memories of someone from our world, even? It felt like some futuristic Earth." Miranda commented.
"It was weird and confusing…" Tyrannus said.
"Yeah I didn't get what was happening at all."
"I already forgot about half of it."
"Something about… A Quantum thing?"
Tyrannus and his warriors had also seen the whole dream but couldn't really understand much. However, from what I could tell, these were memories of someone.
Either the Demon of Dungeons, or… Jonathan, whoever is this guy, he's not the Demon of Dungeons because that guy's Japanese. And this blondie was certainly not of that ethnicity.
"I'm confused too." Emerald said.
"I think I didn't paid too much attention…" Benladra giggled a bit.
"Jonathan… It made me sad the world was dying." Kate seemed to have paid attention though.
"System?" I asked her.
["I don't know… But that man, it somehow… it feels as if I had seen him before."]
"Odd…" I muttered. "Can you remember something else?"
["N-No, sorry… But maybe if we keep seeing these fragments?"]
"Yeah, I guess we could figure out something if we see them all." I agreed. "And we also have people to save in here. Let's keep moving. To the next area!"
I led my entire party to the opposite side of the hall, the metallic door was right there, ominously inviting us in… After we were ambushed by so many mechs before, everyone was naturally nervous about it.
And it also happens to always be right after the dream, where we all feel slightly dizzy… But there's nothing much that can be done.
I would love to modify the dream a bit more with my Dream Magic, but Belle said that if I try to do that, the entire Dream Dungeon might collapse because of how delicate it is right now.
Because it was made out of a Distorted Dungeon Dimension, if I play around too much with its foundations, everything might collapse, with us included.
"Get ready for anything." I said, pushing the gate open. "Let's go."
FLAAASH!
.
.
.
Similarly to before, Drake pushed the gate open, revealing to everyone the visions of this Dream Fragment, which might have belonged to someone's memories.
The scenario was almost the same as before, but this time, the blonde man seemed much older, perhaps twenty years older than before.
He had a gray beard now, and his blue eyes were focused on a large screen in front of his office. There, the video of a catastrophe that had ruined their world was being played.
In there, it could be seen several scientist and professors surrounding a huge metallic gate, where countless huge cables were attached to all across the center of the room.
"And this is it, ladies, and gentlemen. After years of trying to find a limitless energy source that could one day bring us to the stars, we're about to harness the power of the Universe itself!"
"Well, if it works…"
"Of course it's going to work! We've run so many tests in the simulations! This is our first step towards a new era, everyone."
Jonathan squinted his eyes as he glanced at the video, feeling both sorrow and frustration at the overly joyous attitude of these people.
They walked away from the room and into an adjacent area, where they could witness things through an incredibly resilient glass.
The gate simply leading to the other side of the walls suddenly lighted up, the cheers of the excited scientists could be heard all around…
TRUUUMM…!
A blue and white light emerged from within the gate, suddenly beginning to spark several times. Space itself started to distort around it, generating glass-like cracks on the empty air.
Crack, crack… CRACK!
"I-It's working!"
"Is this the core of the universe, the roots that sustain all of creation?!"
"Such cosmic light… This is… incredible!"
"Sir, it's stable! Particles of energy are beginning to be harnessed by the generators… Energy levels are- maxed already?! It is incredibly efficient! And endless!"
"W-We've made it…" The man that seemed to be in charge muttered. "A sustainable and endless source of energy! With this… not even the sky is the limit, not even the stars are the limit! We will-"
CRACK… CRAAACK!
However, the gate suddenly started to generate strange sounds, the cracks began spreading further outside, absorbing the cables and everything else.
The blue and white light changed its color, turning deep red.
"W-What?!"
[WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!]
Several alarms were activated, the scientists suddenly panicked. The man in charge screamed to turn off the gate…
"Turn it off! Quickly! It is becoming unstable!"
"We can't…! We've already pressed and nothing is happening!"
"W-What…?!"
Jonathan's face changed into utter horror as he watched the red light continuously expand everywhere. The screams of the scientists as they tried to escape could be heard, as the walls and everything else…
Was being covered by countless red crystal roots, filling it all with a toxic and alien energy that consumed everything.
"Gryyaaaggh!"
"O-Open the door!"
"Uuaaaggh…! IT BURNS! IT BURNS!"
"M-My body… I'm turning into a crystal?!"
"HELP! HEEELP!"
And in between those screams of help, the video was cut…
This was the very last video captured before everything was engulfed on red.
"Why…" Jonathan muttered. "Why did we pretended to be Gods?"
The blonde man glanced into the window; the world was covered on red crystals…
"We're nothing but fools."
The door behind him opened, a young lady called for him.
"Professor, we need you in the incubator! I think we've made a breakthrough!"
"We did?!"
Jonathan's face immediately lighted up, as he ran into the adjacent room, where there were a few scientist and mostly robots.
There, the place where the tree once was, seemed empty. The tree nowhere to be seen. instead, there were several "incubators" small glass tubes, with trees inside.
Each tree was slightly different, but they were all made of strange-colored crystals intertwined with dark red wood.
"Three of them are responding to the light, and their growth has begun to multiply rapidly."
"Professor, they're finally growing properly!"
"The children of the previous one that already perished… so they persist."
Jonathan smiled faintly, caressing the glass as he saw the small trees glowing with mystical lights…
"You're our last hopes…"
