Chapter 323: A Brief Welcome Back

HUMMMM!!!!

"The Lord of Dreams… and Nightmares?" Calyx asked, raising a brow, his diamond-black eyes fixed on the All-Seeing Pond as the last traces of Sunya faded from the future side of the water.

Melvin leaned slightly forward, the blades in his white gaze following the emergence of a temporal portal above the courtyard rather than the departure.

"Is the Lord of Nightmares a secret identity," he said, "or is that something else?"

Akasha looked straight ahead, without showing a hint of emotion.

He watched as the temporal portal finished opening over the pond-stone, and Sunya came through it slowly.

She wore a short white dress that stopped above the knees, with thin straps, a modest neckline edged in green, a narrow green sash tied at her waist, and a small green clasp at her throat.

The skirt swayed with each step, green thread tracing the hem, and sandals gracing her feet.

The braid lay over one shoulder as the portal closed behind her.

'Really...' Akasha thought, his expression as steady as ever. 'Was I dumb enough to let my two identities get this tangled?'

While Akasha didn't catch much from watching Sunya, he did notice that she was having trouble with the Multiverse of the Living Prize—and that she was onto him about his identities.

He couldn't care less about her personal issues, but her suspicion was a bit concerning.

"I have no idea what a Nightmare is," Akasha said finally, glancing at Melvin.

"I am the Lord of Dreams.... Nightmares are not something I've come across too often."

Melvin's eyes narrowed until the black swords in the white of them sat still.

He shifted his gaze from Akasha to Suna, who was now standing in the field.

'Master...' he thought, the word not sounding all that convincing in his mind.

Melvin didn't really care if Akasha was the so-called Lord of Nightmares; what mattered to him was Akasha as a person, entirely and completely.

That was the only reason he stuck around in the first place.

And if Akasha wasn't ready to open up about it, Melvin had no intention of pushing the matter any further.

Sunya's lips curved into a faint smile that never touched her eyes.

She surveyed the courtyard with a slow, deliberate glance.

The pond lay still, its surface perfectly smooth, framed by four colored doors at its edge.

Kalpa's hair shimmered with seven hues, while Melvin's face was cold and pale, and Calyx's diamond-black eyes bore into her, the tattoos along her throat adding to her striking presence.

'The Emperor and Empress of Blackwood,' she mused as her gaze flicked between Melvin and Calyx.

'Hmm, I didn't realize they were his disciples too.'

Her attention then drifted to the Universal Tree of Want behind them, and she lingered on its beauty a moment longer than anything else.

'So… beautiful,' she thought, before her eyes finally found Akasha, already standing with one hand half-raised, as though he had been ready to act before she even arrived.

Her mind began to drift almost at once; before her was a beauty that seemed endless, unfolding more with every glance, imperfect in a way that made tearing her eyes away feel like a chore.

"Lord… Dream," she whispered, her breath growing shallow.

For a few seconds, Nara, the future, and everything else seemed to slip free from her mind.

'Did... he always look like this?' she wondered, surprised at herself for never having noticed him so closely before.

The thought lingered for a moment, threatening to throw her off balance, but she quickly shook her head, just enough to push it aside.

"I'm not sure if you know—" she began, her voice steady and composed, but Akasha cut in before she could finish.

"Oh, I know," he said, his tone certain, fully aware that he would never have extended the invitation without understanding the consequences such an action might bring.

He had already planned to reestablish his Divine Domain, which would resolve any issues that might arise in the distant future.

Yet, he intentionally left a trace, allowing someone to be alerted by Sunya's appearance.

'Soon enough... someone will come from the Bounded Hearts,' he thought to himself. 'But... I need intel from the outside Multiverses.'

Akasha possessed extensive knowledge of the Multiverses, but he was neither omnipotent nor omniscient, so he could not know everything at all times, and his understanding of the factions was limited to broad details.

For instance, he knew with certainty that Sunya, stepping from five thousand years in the future, would draw the attention of a few Time entities and Pantheons.

But he didn't know when or how they would act.

HUMMMM!!!!!

In that moment, as he completed configuring a Dream, it instantly manifested into the waking world.

Purple and white divinity flowed around the entire Mountain, twisting along the stone until a barrier enveloped it completely—hidden from the Bounded Heart's side, yet much like his previous Domain, the purple barrier was clearly visible to him.

It carried the same defensive powers, ensuring no one could enter except members of his Pantheon or those he specifically allowed.

Beyond that, it could also defend against and block the perception of any beings whose total power output was lower than his own.

Once the surge of divinity slowly vanished, Akasha looked at her flashing a smle.

"But," He said as he walked back towards the pond, "I just solved the problem."

Sunya watched him across the short stretch of grass and flowers as he made his way back toward the pond.

"You're even more of a monster than when I last saw you," she said, her white-and-green dress unmoving, the blonde braid draped over her shoulder.

She shook her head, realizing that even after all this time, she still couldn't begin to figure him out—though she was determined to try.

"Honestly, I don't even know if I want to stay around you."

"Well," Akasha said, tilting his head as he pointed to the green door behind her.

"You don't have to.... Nara is waiting for you anyway."

In that moment, Sunya's eyes widened slightly.

"The Celestial Mother…"