I dreamed. A dream of the Imperial Capital burning. A dream of the world ending.
The sky blazed crimson. Screams and shouts. Hunters, knights, merchants, townspeople — it didn't matter. Everyone fled as if their sanity had snapped.
The wide main streets overflowed with people, every last one of them desperately racing toward the city gates.
And there, they were stopped by the very walls that were supposed to protect them.
I was alone in an empty room — looking down at it all from high above the Imperial Capital.
It was even higher than the top floor of the "Footprint" clan house where I usually stayed — higher than the Clan Master's office.
Looking down at the capital, the situation was clear. And so was the reason the sky was on fire.
The Imperial Capital Zebuldia — a city with nearly three hundred years of history since its founding.
A river of crimson liquid covered the orderly streets, engulfing everything.
Thick, viscous water crept slowly through the city.
It might have looked like a massive tsunami about to sweep the city away, but there was no sea anywhere near the capital. From above, I could see it flowed with a pattern distinctly different from a natural current.
It was — deliberately targeting lives.
More than buildings, empty carts, or abandoned market stalls, it prioritized children and elderly people scrambling in terror, and the knights trying desperately to restore order.
Any living thing that touched the water ignited like a torch, burning away without a trace in mere seconds.
Empty armor, clothes, and swords lay scattered along the roadside. The air touching my skin was searing hot.
The outer wall that had protected people from surrounding monsters and Phantoms for three hundred years now blocked those same people from escaping.
The Imperial Capital Zebuldia was encircled entirely by walls, and the exits were far too small relative to the population.
At exits that had exceeded capacity, evacuation barely progressed.
The castle visible in the distance already held no trace of life.
Half the city had already become ruins. Buildings untouched, no corpses, yet every life simply wiped clean — those eerily silent streets were deeply unsettling.
Survivors might still be trapped inside the buildings, but with the water surrounding them, escape was hopeless.
The water showed no sign of decreasing. If anything, it seemed to be slowly growing.
That water would eventually leave this city and flood the entire world beyond the walls.
No — that wasn't water. I knew.
It was alive.
The weakest monsters native to this world.
And from that base, something had been created — an abomination that should never have existed.
I'd been told to handle it with extreme care, and I might have accidentally let it get away.
At some point, a girl had appeared beside me, gazing down at the same scene.
Soft, slightly drowsy eyes beneath short, pink-blonde hair. She gave off a gentle impression.
Her plain gray robe wasn't one of the many magically enhanced garments worn by mages for delving into the Treasure Hall — it was a work outfit meant to get dirty, used for experiments.
The girl looked up and turned toward me as if she'd only just noticed me.
Her eyes widened. Her composure cracked despite the crisis, and she spoke in a soft voice as though making casual conversation.
Her words blurred together. I couldn't tell what she was saying, but her sparkling eyes radiated excitement.
I tried desperately to stop her, but no sound came out. Dark despair and panic surged through my body. When I grabbed her shoulders, she smiled shyly, flushed, and threw her arms around me.
No, that's not — I'm not praising you!
I seized both shoulders and pushed her away. And as I shook the shoulders of that girl, who was contentedly admiring the results of her slime, I woke up.
In a pitch-black room, I sat up in bed and shuddered.
My back was cold with sweat. My heart was still hammering wildly.
That was a terrible dream. And annoyingly vivid too — especially the hugging part.
I was a fairly anxious person who had nightmares often, but this was without a doubt the worst one recently.
I breathed slowly to steady myself. I told myself: It's fine. The Imperial Capital won't fall that easily.
Zebuldia's national power was formidable.
A knight order that boasted an undefeated record, plus a mage corps numbering in the hundreds. Hunters lived there too, and plenty of former hunters.
It wasn't just military strength. In knowledge, technology, and research, the empire led the way.
It was unquestionably the strongest nation among its neighbors. And the capital — surrounded by a Treasure Hall where anything could happen — possessed the finest defensive capability of all.
If a catastrophe powerful enough to destroy the Imperial Capital were to strike, no other nation would be able to handle it either.
…Wait. Could this actually be bad?
I conjured the vivid scenes from my dream and shook my head back and forth.
"No, no, no — my dreams have never come true before…"
"Mmm… is something wrong?"
A drawling voice came from my left.
Looking over, Liliz was sitting up as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
The girl from my dream — her face bore a slight resemblance to Citry, and I couldn't help but grimace.
Liliz and Citry were sisters by blood. They differed in hair length, eye shape, height, and more, but when Citry and Liliz dressed up and made a real effort to disguise themselves, they became virtually indistinguishable.
Liliz smiled at me, entirely guileless.
"Morning, Klye. Sleep well?"
Clad in a thin, loose nightgown, Liliz stretched luxuriously, then latched onto my arm — which was already racing in the worst possible way.
Liliz's body temperature, brimming with energy, ran considerably higher than mine. Being embraced like this made a thin sheen of sweat break out across my skin.
Definitely the cause of the nightmare. She wasn't there before I fell asleep…
I considered complaining, but what was the point of saying I'd had a nightmare?
Without a word, Liliz's legs entwined with mine.
The ring fitted around her ankle pressed against my skin, slightly cool.
It was the standby form of Liliz's Treasure Weapon, "Origin of the Heavens." It took the shape of boots during use but transformed into a metal ring when inactive.
Liliz lived by the creed of perpetual readiness. She never removed her Treasure Weapon — not when showering, not when sleeping. The only times she took it off in a day were the briefest of moments.
A faint, sweet fragrance drifted from Liliz pressed close against me.
The arms hugging me, the chest, the supple legs coiling around mine — everything was soft and warm. The sensation of her skin rubbing against mine sent a sensual pleasure creeping up from deep inside my brain.
When she was being quiet, she looked like an ordinary girl.
And the hobby she pursued with that as bait was genocide against anyone foolish enough to approach.
As I silently caught my breath, Liliz asked in a sweet, coaxing voice: "Hey, Klye — are you free today?"
"What about Tinno's training?"
"Hmm… if I push too hard, he might break, so today's off."
"And yours?"
She held full mastery of her sword style and had inherited the name "Peerless Shadow" from her master, but she was hardworking. Between training Tinno and her own sessions, she was busy even while staying in the capital.
To my question, Liliz offered a sly grin.
"Today's off for me too."
…Was that really okay? Well, it wasn't my place to interfere.
I didn't know what she planned to do, but with Liliz as my bodyguard, going out would be safe enough. My schedule was empty anyway.
This wasn't the first time Liliz had dragged me around.
Especially since I'd stopped accompanying her on Treasure Hall delves, these outings had been gradually increasing.
A leader's job included joining in for morale. Well, it was about the only thing I could do… and if she wanted me there, I wanted to say yes.
The fact that she was perfectly well-behaved while we spent time together was another reason.
I decided to forget the silly nightmare I'd just had.
It was just a nightmare. Just a bad dream.
Caused by sleeping alongside Citry and Liliz, who both tossed and turned all night. What a pair of sisters.
"Sure. I'll come with you."
"Yay! Thanks, Klye!"
Liliz squealed and buried her head against my chest.
I patted my overly affectionate friend's head and let out a small sigh.
§ At the entrance of the clan house, Liliz was glaring up at a large man with a gaze fierce enough to make monsters flee barefoot.
Whether the other party was a noble, a knight, a battle-hardened warrior, an acquaintance, or even a senior officer from the Explorer's Guild she belonged to, her attitude never changed.
Liliz's outfit was different from her usual Treasure Hall gear — far too casual to be mistaken for a hunter's attire. She wore no belt with a knife, no weapon of any kind. Black still dominated her color palette, but it was a skirt, and her midriff was bare.
However, one thing remained unchanged from her Treasure Hall outfit: the black Treasure Weapon covering most of her legs down to her knees tapped irritably against the floor.
She'd been in a good mood moments ago. The whiplash was extreme.
"Klye is busy today, you know? Don't bother us with your pointless nonsense. I don't have time to clean up some small fry's messes, so get lost."
"Liliz…? You came back already? What happened to the 'City of Ten Thousand Demons'? You know the policy — any Treasure Hall of Level 7 or above requires a report after clearing."
The small berserker had Gaark making a face more displeased than he'd worn in recent memory.
He'd known Liliz long enough to understand just how exhausting she was when she was in a foul mood.
Behind them, Kaina — who was no former hunter — and the other Guild staff watched the two with pale faces.
Ah, terrible timing.