Fantasy Clock～Dream Ruler～

The dream tavern never closes, and after being occupied by dreamers, it is noisy day and night, without a moment of rest.

Zuo Xibai put down his wine glass as before, and left the tavern on his own. The man sitting next to him didn't take his eyes off him for a moment, until he walked out of the tavern and his figure was out of sight, then his eyes drifted back to the wine glass left by the King of Pirates of Dreams.

"Tsk tsk, something is wrong with our king."

"This...how can you tell? Isn't he the same as before? If there is no evidence, I guarantee you will be dealt with."

The man sneered, snapped his fingers to create a flame out of thin air, lit the end of the cigarette unhurriedly, and took a deep puff of the cigarette. Then, with a cigarette between his two fingers, he pointed to the wine glass on the table. His fingernails bounced off the wall of the glass and made a sound, and the wine splashed onto the table.

"Let me ask you, isn't he not happy if he doesn't drink two glasses on a normal day? He has never left any wine, and every time the remaining wine glass is empty. Sometimes he only drinks one glass these days, like today... Tut tut."

Having said that, he sneered again and said:

"—I didn't drink half of the glass."

"Just based on this kind of thing? Wang used to be depressed all day long, but he may be in a good mood now, so it's normal to drink less, right?"

"If the situation changes suddenly, it will definitely remind us with tiny details."

The movement of the man raising his wine glass paused, and he seriously stretched out his index finger to teach the other party a lesson.

"Also, even if he is in a good mood according to what you said, then he must be in a good mood because of the Dream Thief thing? If not, then he is very likely to have betrayed us."

"How can such a thing be speculated without any basis!"

"Then may I ask you, has anything good happened to us recently?"

"I...it's true that there is no good thing. The group of "wild dogs", the black death god, and the mirror master made a big fuss yesterday. But "betrayal" and the like, you can't draw conclusions so hastily!"

"Well, you're right—"

The man prolonged his voice on purpose, his tone full of sarcasm. He put down the wine glass with a sneer, pulled out the spear from behind, pulled out the paper towel next to it, and wiped it carefully.

"If Pirates of Dreams doesn't make a counterattack plan, sooner or later we will have to act on our own. The first target is the black god of death."

＊＊＊

The remote and secluded wasteland blows gusts of grassy wind. Zuo Xibai lay on his back on the grass with his hands behind his head, looking at the sky that was becoming more and more blood red from afar.

"I finally understand now. You chose this place as the place where we met because the location here is remote, and generally no rulers will come. Then, you don't have to worry about your followers, or Dream Thieves staring at us Alright."

Mei Shirato, who was sitting on the grass with her right knee bent, looked sideways at him. She hesitated, thought for a long time, and suddenly said:

"Maybe this may sound harsh, but I'm telling the truth—I don't think you are like someone who voluntarily summoned accomplices, formed an alliance of Dream Thief, and then stepped up to the position of Dream Thief King. It’s a puppet that others push into this position.”

Such speculation is not groundless. Because Zuo Xibai didn't look like he was worried about being discovered by those who followed the white ghost, but rather worried about being discovered by the dreamer. In the past few days, he has also repeatedly mentioned that he has a "sense of betrayal" that betrayed the Dream Thief.

Mei Baitu didn't know what the "sense of betrayal" he meant, but he barely understood that the word had a rebellious meaning. The so-called "sense of betrayal" was a certain emotion that the betrayal he pursued could bring him.

If Zuo Xibai was the founder of Dream Thieves Alliance, then he should not long for this "sense of rebellion", unless the founder was someone else, and he was promoted to this position not out of his own will. alternatives".

"Don't mention this." Zuo Xi Herbs brought up this topic hastily, and he didn't know if he didn't care or didn't want to bring it up. He thought of what Baitu Mei said the day before yesterday, and asked in a confirming tone, "Are you really ...and leave when he comes back?"

"Yes. As soon as he comes back, I will withdraw from the domination war."

The "he" Baitu Meiyi said was her boyfriend, and she often mentioned him inadvertently when chatting with Zuo Xibai, so Zuo Xibai knew that she had a fiancé who had been away for many years. The "coming back" that Bai Tumei said meant that her fiancé was willing to stay by her side, rather than a short, occasional visit home.

"What if...he doesn't come back?"

When Zuo Xibai said this, he deliberately did not look directly at Baitu Meiyi, but turned his head slightly to the other side, looking at the sky, so as to avoid her gaze. Baitu Mei was silent for a rare long time, as if she was seriously thinking about this question.

"The opportunity to come to this world is him. If he had stayed with me, I would not have tried lucid dreaming that night, and I would not have received the invitation from the dream madman. This incident was caused by him, so, It is also up to him whether I continue."

"so?"

"If he doesn't come back, I will accept the fact." Baitu Mei said this with a smile, and said half-jokingly, "Even if you stand in front of me, I will desperately take away the person who dominates the war. Victory."

"Hey, stop bragging!! You may not be the one who wins!"

Zuo Xibai imagined the possibility lightly on his lips, but his heart was empty.

What about after this petty betrayal? Will the unchanging life that caters to the ambitions of others change?

If I leave the position of Pirates of Dreams, will I continue to participate in the domination war?

Mei Baitu entrusted her choice to her boyfriend, so how should I choose?

When his heart was gradually swallowed by confusion, a perception that was enough to make him shudder emerged spontaneously.

——Someone, other than himself and Baitu Mei, is nearby.

No one should have a reason to go to such a remote place, it cannot be purely passing by.

Zuo Xibai was awakened by this suspicion, and hurriedly stood up from the grass, and Baitu Yayi also stood up almost at the same time.

However, the expression on her face was different from the tense Zuo Xibai, but the expression on her face when she met an acquaintance.

"Arkite!" She beckoned, with a warm smile in her voice, "How did you get here?"

Zuo Xibai was stunned for a while, then looked at the purple-haired boy dressed as a knight walking towards him.

"As the knight commander, I should be by the princess's side all the time. I am worried about the princess's safety, so..."

Before the boy could finish his serious speech, Bai Tumei stretched out his index finger with a blushing face, and poked the boy's forehead.

"Arket, what about you, don't say "princess". You may be a knight, but I'm not a princess! I'd rather you call me White Ghost like others... although I don't like that name either."

Alket showed a embarrassed look, he wanted to refute Baitu Mei's words, but seeing Baitu Mei's serious expression, he swallowed his persistence forcefully. Arkaite looked at Zuo Xibai at the side again, frowning in confusion.

"Excuse me, princess, is this...?"

"I told you not to call me that anymore, can't you change your mouth? Forget it, this one is..."

As soon as Baitu Yayi missed Zuo Xibai's name, he heard him cough dryly, and suddenly remembered his request when he told her name, and quickly changed his words:

"He doesn't want to reveal his name~ But you can rest assured, he is my friend."

"Is that so...?"

Arquette looked at Zuo Xibai again, although he was still not at ease, but since she was her personally admitted friend, he stopped being suspicious, took off his gloves and held out his hand to him. Zuo Xibai didn't pay attention either, and shook hands with him out of politeness.

"Arket, you didn't come to me just to tell me about the duties of a knight commander, did you?"

"Although this is my main purpose, they also asked me to find you back by the way."

Did he even say that the former was his main purpose? Zuo Xibai couldn't help raising his eyebrows, but he didn't say it outright.

"It seems to be about the group of "wild dogs". It may also be about the Dream Thief. They didn't make it clear."

"You guys can't handle it yourself... I'm not interested~"

"I'm afraid, it's not very good." Arquette looked away in embarrassment, and didn't seem to say the reason why he had to go.

"Hmm... okay. I won't embarrass you, the messenger, I'll just go back with you~"

When Baitu Mei saw Arquette's expression, she understood the inner reason - the self-righteous followers launched some kind of plan in the form of persecution, and now they need Baitu Mei's appeal.

Zuo Xibai and Baitu Meiyi looked at each other, and understood what the other party meant tacitly.

Zuo Xibai smiled and offered to propose:

"Since you have something to do, let's stop here today."

The three walked out of the wilderness and came to the T-junction on the edge of the town. Zuo Xibai was going in a different direction from them, so he left first.

Baitu Mei obediently followed Arquette to their stronghold, but she couldn't help thinking wildly.

actually. Only her first few actions were carried out by Mei Baitu with her own will. She declared war on the most powerful dream stealers, causing her initial followers to call themselves "The Ghost Knights" and follow her voluntarily.

But now, these people have transformed into Baitu Meiyi's shackles. Because of her declaration of war on the Dream Thief and their defeat many times, the "White Ghost" became a symbol of fighting against the Dream Thief.

It is a symbol of wishful thinking by followers who will not let this symbol do things against their will.

For example, Baitu Meiyi and Pirates Dream King had a very happy talk.

Once the followers know about this, what will happen afterwards... Bai Tumei herself could not have imagined.

However, no matter how crazy things they would do, Baitu Mei didn't want to take care of them. Because she felt that she had no obligation to respond to their expectations, and all the impressions were imposed on her by them.

In fact, the so-called "declaration of war" against the Dream Thief was only because the Dream Thief invited Mei Baitu, but she wanted to act alone, and couldn't understand their thoughts, so she rejected him face to face, which made the always dominant Pirate The dreamer is exaggerating.

As for the name of the White Ghost, it was because of the widely circulated "Ghost Action" incident that a girl in a white veil sneaked into the Dream Thief's stronghold without anyone noticing and slaughtered Many dream stealers. Because someone saw the girl dressed in pure white and no one noticed her existence when sneaking in, she was called the "white ghost".

But in fact Baitu Mei didn't infiltrate the stronghold and carry out any secret operations. It was a few dream stealers who took the initiative to tie her back to the tavern while she wasn't paying attention, and threatened and lured her to accept their invitation, but they didn't expect her domination ability.

The root cause is that the dream robbers themselves lured wolves into the house, which eventually led to the massacre of dream robbers.

"Yo. You're finally here."

Pushing open the door of the conference hall, a long wooden table was placed in the center of the room, and the chairs on the two sides were filled with four people, leaving only one seat in the middle that could only accommodate one person. Baitu Meiyi didn't exchange greetings, and came to her place with a blank expression and sat down.

"Tell me. This time, who is your target?"

On the seat close to her right, an old man in a suit and leather shoes stroked his long beard, raised half of his mouth slyly, and said word by word:

"King of Thieves."

Zuo Xibai pushed open the door of the tavern, and the atmosphere was still as noisy and noisy as before.

However, there is a trace of deliberation in the air.

"Oh, King of Dream Thieves, welcome...your return."

It was that flattering and flattering man again, Zuo Xibai waved him away as usual, and sat in front of the bar. The bartender offered a glass of wine consciously. It's just that the glass is not the usual beer, but a glass of white wine.

The man sitting next to him leaned his wine glass to his mouth and glanced at him with sideways eyes.

Zuo Xibai raised his wine glass slightly and took a sip, then put down the wine glass, and asked in a steady voice:

"I've been looking at me, what's wrong?"

When he said this, Zuo Xibai didn't even look at him, he just found out that he was looking sideways at him based on his absolute observation.

"Sorry, I'm sorry. I just wanted to ask you, what's the next plan?"

Zuo Xibai was annoyed by this question for no reason. Almost every day someone asks such a question, and then I have to patiently explain my thoughts every day, obviously having no opinion on the so-called "next step".

The growing rebellion in his heart made him not talk as much as usual, but instead threw the question back to the other party.

"What do you think?"

"Here, my lord, what do you mean...?"

The man's eyebrows were slightly frowned, and he instinctively put on a polite smile, looking a little confused.

"I'm asking what you think, do you have any insight on what to do next?"

"this……"

He didn't seem to know how to answer this question, his eyes wandered, and suddenly fell to a certain direction to freeze. Zuo Xibai put down his wine glass, followed his absolute observation and followed the man's gaze.

"I do have a proposal that I think is good."

There were three people standing there. Zuo Xibai's gaze skipped over the ashen-skinned giant with a battle ax in his hand, and the young man surrounded by a few sabers, and finally his gaze fell on the leader who was playing with a spear. body.

"You might as well tell me."

"Even at this moment when we are clinking glasses, drinking, and chatting happily, there are a group of ghosts, and wild dogs, swaying in the dark, trying to disintegrate our alliance. If we don't take action, their threat to us will only become more and more serious. "

Having said that, the young man caught the spear thrown into the air by him, with a sharp and sly light in his eyes.

"Now, it's time to defeat the 'White Ghost'."

Zuo Xibai's pupils couldn't help trembling. This week, he thought several times that the Dream Stealer would eventually point the finger at Baitu Yayi, but he didn't expect it to be so soon. He raised his fingers vigorously and clenched his fist.

"No, the time is not yet ripe." Zuo Xibai worked his way through his thoughts quickly, and tried his best to speak, "You must consider not only the white ghost itself, but also her followers. It would be too hasty to attack the white ghost now. Bar?"

"Oh, that's right. We're still thinking too simplisticly."

The young man stroked his chin as if suddenly enlightened. Zuo Xibai also heaved a sigh of relief, he didn't want the fuse to explode so quickly, thinking about how to attract their attention, he returned to the bar and picked up the wine glass.

However, the moment he raised his wine glass, the young man raised his right eyebrow and whistled meaningfully. Immediately after Absolute Observation sounded the alarm, the wine glass in Zuo Xibai's hand lost its support and fell to the bar.

That was the moment when the saberman threw his saber at him, Zuo Xibai threw away the wine glass and lay down on his body, avoiding the flying sharp blade.

The wine glass bounced off the bar counter, and when it fell to the ground, it shattered into several pieces, and the wine soaked the soles of Zuo Xibai's shoes.

"Sure enough. Absolute Sensing just now sensed that the third person besides us is not Arquette, but you?"

The self-talking confession made the young man evoke a sly smile. Zuo Xibai quickly stepped forward to close the distance between them and the three of them. The young man took a step back keenly, and at the same time deliberately waved two fingers to signal the others to do it.

The simple "waving his fingers" was deliberately imitating Zuo Xibai's usual actions towards him, as if it was a form of venting his long-term accumulated resentment. But in Zuo Xibai's view, this is undoubtedly a provocation to him.

"What are you still doing, do it!"

Zuo Xibai yelled at the other motionless dream stealers, but it only caused their bodies to tremble instinctively, and no one obeyed his instructions.

Reassuring himself that "it's the best situation without all the attacks", he gritted his teeth irritably, and observed the moment the giant slashed down the battle axe, then quickly slid sideways to the ground, and the sharp battle ax directly smashed into the wood. One meter below the floor.

The giant didn't hit Zuo Xibai's death spot, and put the handle of the ax around his neck on purpose to restrain him.

Zuo Xibai quickly pulled up his body and stood up. Dozens of sabers were stabbing straight at him. While avoiding the sabers, he circled far and widened the distance to the young man in the middle. Since he hid behind these two people, it meant that it was a breakthrough that could be used.

Using absolute observation to pay attention to the movement of the giant, Zuo Xibai rushed to the young man who was the instigator, bent down to avoid the blade stabbed back by the saberman, and took out a gun and quickly pointed it at the young man's forehead.

"Oh, what a pity."

The young man deliberately smiled, raised his hands casually, and proudly interpreted the gesture of surrender.

Sweat slid down Zuo Xibai's cheeks, he tightened his fingers and squeezed the trigger, hard against the young man's forehead, pushing him back a few meters.

In this case, even if his battle with these three people ends in victory, it does not mean that he has won a real victory.

The reason why the young man is not afraid is because if he does not shoot, he can turn defeat into victory, and the hearts of the people will not come back to him because of this, he will preach the king's betrayal; and if he shoots, everyone will realize his Betrayal, after that, it will no longer be just 3 people fighting Zuo Xibai, but all the dream stealers, and the name of the Virgin Mary on the real side will also take action.

Either way, it will be his failure. At the moment he chose to betray, such an ending was already doomed.

"Shoot! King of Dream Thief, shoot me?"

Of course Zuo Xibai also understands this truth, so facing the young man's provocation, no matter how angry he is, he can only hesitate.

"If you don't shoot, then it will be my turn."

The young man sneered disdainfully, and slowly lowered his raised hands. As he expected, Zuo Xibai just stared at him and scolded him, but he didn't shoot. The young man faced his gun and turned to the other people who were silent.

"How is it, everyone? Have you got the answer you want? This is your king."

"He betrayed us. He secretly colluded with the white ghost."

The gray giant lamented the crimes of the Thief King, pulled out his battle axe, and echoed the young man's words.

The atmosphere of the tavern was unusually quiet, contrary to the usual noise, only the slight rubbing sound of the ice cubes in the glass melting in the air.

"Betrayer! Betrayer!"

Suddenly, an unusually firm protest sounded from the corner, as if deliberately driving the rhythm amidst the wavering of the crowd. At first, there was only one person repeating the monotonous three words over and over again. After a few seconds, the protest gradually grew, and more and more voices shouted.

When the betrayal became known to everyone, the expected sense of betrayal did not bring any joy to Zuo Xibai, he just melted in the increasingly strong voice, and his hands trembled unceasingly. He wasn't as excited as he'd imagined.

In any case, there is no need to live in this capacity any longer. Because, perhaps even the right to live will be deprived.

"Even though it's sad and sad. But we don't need to be depressed for the king who is indecisive but resolutely betrayed."

The young man took out a letter out of thin air, he opened the envelope in public, and took out the letter inside.

"This is a letter from the ruler of clock number one. He requests a temporary alliance to defeat the 'wild dogs'. The primary target is the 'black death' among them. This will be our next mission. Willing to revive Come on, please follow our steps."

After finishing speaking, the young man raised his hand holding the letter paper, and glanced at everyone in the tavern. One after another, someone reached out to accept his call, and a group of more than a dozen people was formed in a short while.

"Thank you for your wise choice. Let's go."

"Then, how to deal with the king?"

Hearing someone's question in the corner, everyone focused their attention on Zuo Xibai, but before the young man could put forward a suitable opinion, someone shouted a slogan loudly like heckling:

"Tie it up! Tie it up!..."

For a while, the tavern was filled with the same sentences again, repeated over and over again. The young man brushed Zuo Xibai's shoulder arrogantly. He stopped in his tracks, hooked his neck suddenly, and whispered to him in this unusually exciting atmosphere:

"People in society have different personalities. For example, extroverts will eat away at the desire to communicate that introverts should have, and pessimists are too dazzled by the light emitted by optimists to dare to open their eyes. It is like a food chain that restrains each other. Even if In dreams, this food chain is also applicable, sometimes manifested in the restraint of dominance, and other times, it is a manifestation that is no different from reality.”

Having said that, the young man stared at Zuo Xibai's dull eyes, and poked his chest vigorously.

"Like, your desire to betray, and everyone's hatred for betrayers."

At first, under the coercion and temptation of the behind-the-scenes, Zuo Xibai put on the crown like a shackle.

Finally, amidst the wanton booing of the crowd, the crown was taken away arbitrarily and turned into an unattainable afterglow.

＊＊＊

"Arquette...the "His Royal Highness" you are talking about, why didn't any of us see her figure?"

On the dial of the clock as transparent as the surface of a lake, the young man with naked skin as hard as steel looked at the others, and his unintentional words sounded a bit malicious to Arquette.

"Speaking of this matter, it's true~" Sakura put her index finger on her lower lip, and said thoughtfully, "I often see you standing here alone, talking to yourself, but it seems to be real. Someone stays next to you, it's like you're talking to someone you can't see."

Arquette turned back and looked diagonally behind her. The girl on the sofa was wearing a white gauze dress, her eyes were full of arrogance and contempt for all beings.

"Your Highness, don't take their words to heart."

"No. I actually didn't notice what you were talking about at all."

Arquette looked directly at the girl on the sofa, feeling a little depressed. He also forgot whether she was Baitu Mei herself, or a phantom imagined by his own wishful thinking. Or maybe it wasn't that he had forgotten, but that he didn't want to remember.

Back to the present, when the Devourer appeared under the blood-red sky and approached him with his mouth wide open, a long sword pierced Arquette's body, bringing his consciousness to Desolate Star.

When his consciousness was about to collapse, he squeezed out the remaining strength in his body and said softly:

"Your Highness, please wake me up over there!"

Only then did Arquette remember that she was the dreamer only he could see. The words of William and Thief of Dreams reminded her of what happened in the domination war. She is not only a phantom of past memories, but also a reproduction of his impression of Mei Baitu.

"Remember... the reason why I participated in the domination war is the desire to realize it with the power to control reality."

I just want to wake up the sleeping Highness Princess, and then protect her forever as a knight.

On the silent desolate star, His Majesty the Princess gently stroked his forehead, and Arquette opened his eyes dimly.

The pure white gauze skirt, the long black hair that hangs over the shoulders, the warm eyes, and the grass below her.

Everything here reminded him of the edge of the town opposite the sea of ​​stars, the endless wasteland, and Baitu Mei who stood on the wasteland and always liked to turn his back to him and look at the sky from a distance.

That day. Alcatel received an order from the "Ghost Knights" to take Baitu Mei back. It seems that there is a very important task to discuss with her. He didn't take it seriously at first, and took Baitu Mei over as the elders of the knight order said.

The ending was beyond Arquette's expectations.

In the middle of the meeting, Baitu Meiyi left the conference room on his own, leaving the elders in the conference room alone.

"Elder... May I ask what's going on?"

"Arket, you go after her too! Don't let her leave here!"

The elders of the Knight Order ordered that Mei Baitu not be allowed to step out of here. as a result. Incidents similar to "Ghost Action" happened again, but this time it was not the Dream Thief who was killed or injured, but the followers of the Ghost Knights.

Alcatel vaguely felt that the stories about the "white ghost" circulated by the knights might be different from the reality, so in the end he didn't try to stop it, but deliberately procrastinated. When she left, he "hurried" to the door without haste.

In fact, he also felt that Baitu Mei had no desire to participate in any actions of the Ghost Knights, but only because of her sense of responsibility, so he responded to their expectations and reluctantly participated in the plans organized by the elders a few times .

But... the balance maintained by this delicate sense of responsibility is not firm after all, and conflicts will only explode at the end of the day.

"Damn! This hateful woman... If I catch her, I will never let her go!"

Seeing the devastated scene, the elder was so angry that the hand holding the crutch trembled violently.

"It's really shameless. Who does she think brought the name 'White Ghost' to such a well-known position? Isn't it because of the rumors we worked so hard to spread!"

"It doesn't have to be her! We just lack a character to act as a symbol!"

"You can't say that! There is no other suitable candidate besides her. Doesn't anyone know where she usually goes?"

Arquette outside the meeting room gradually became convinced of his guess. He confirmed again and again that no one was paying attention to him, and ran to the deserted wasteland alone. He looked around for Bai Tu Mei's figure, but the voice sounded behind him.

"Do you want to stop me too?"

Arquette stopped his movements, and turned around as if relieved.

The pure white gauze skirt on Bai Tuya's body was stained with blood, and there were blood red marks on her fair arms. Her expression was very cold, a few strands of hair stuck to her cheeks, and the long straight hair that had been well groomed in the past was also messed up.

Knowing that she would take his actions seriously, Arquette decided to treat him as an enemy or let her guard down.

Since she asked herself and gave him time to answer, it shows that she has trust in herself.

"No, I'm just here to ask you for the truth."