Chương 131: Chapter 129: The Power That Belongs to Everyone

Rayan opened his eyes. He was lying beneath a sky filled with golden stars. For several seconds... He simply stared upward. Something felt wrong. His body was exhausted. His soul felt strangely empty. And there was a terrible silence inside his mind. He tried to remember why he was there. Nothing. He couldn't remember the First Heir. The Hall of Origins. The Dreamers. The World Tree. The Dharma Astra. Nothing. A woman suddenly appeared above him. Silver-white hair. Golden eyes. Tears running down her face.

She dropped to her knees.

"Rayan..." He stared at her.

"Who are you?" Siena froze. Her expression shattered. For a moment... She couldn't breathe. Then she smiled. A broken, trembling smile.

"It's me." Rayan slowly sat up.

"I'm sorry."

"I don't remember you." Siena looked down.

"I know." Behind her... Kael stood silently. Caelum lowered his head. Aster clenched his fists. King Dasrath turned away so Rayan wouldn't see his tears. Sophia watched from a distance. She knew exactly what had happened. Rayan had given everything away. Including the memories that made him who he was. Siena reached for his hand. Rayan instinctively pulled away. Not from fear. From unfamiliarity. She immediately stopped.

"It's okay." She forced herself to smile.

"You don't have to remember me." Rayan looked at her.

"But..." She touched his chest.

"... I remember you." Suddenly... A golden light appeared above them. Across the entire universe... Every living being felt something awaken inside their soul. A farmer. A child. A warrior. A king. A thief. A healer. A dying soldier. All of them. A tiny fragment of golden energy appeared within their souls. The Dharma Astra. Not as a weapon. Not as a power. As a choice. The Dreamers screamed.

"NO!" Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Their voices shook the foundations of reality. The World Tree suddenly exploded with golden light. Every branch. Every root. Every leaf. The entire tree became brighter than the beginning of creation. Sophia looked upward.

"It's done." Archeon stared in disbelief.

"The Dharma Astra has become..." He couldn't finish the sentence. The Final Narrator did.

"... a universal law." The Dreamers began descending. Their enormous forms finally became visible. They weren't monsters. They weren't gods. They were vast beings made of light and darkness. Each one carried entire galaxies within its body. The First Dreamer remained behind them. It looked toward Rayan. The crimson eye softened.

"You gave away your power." Rayan looked at it blankly.

"I don't remember doing that." The Dreamer smiled.

"That's why it worked." The other Dreamers raised their hands. Reality began collapsing. Worlds disappeared. Stars died. The World Tree's roots began burning. Sophia immediately shouted.

"Everyone!" The Seven Authors stepped forward. Archeon raised his sword. The Final Narrator summoned millions of blank pages. Kael drew his weapon. Caelum raised Fimbul. Aster's crimson threads spread across the heavens. Siena stood beside Rayan. Even without his memories... She refused to leave him. The First Dreamer spoke.

"The others have chosen destruction."

"I will not stop them." Rayan looked at it.

"Why?" The Dreamer looked toward the countless worlds.

"Because I finally understand something."

"A dream becomes meaningful..."

"... when the dreamer no longer controls it." It turned toward the other Dreamers.

"You have forgotten why you dreamed." The other Dreamers attacked. The final war began. Rayan watched the sky fill with impossible light. He didn't understand the war. He didn't remember why everyone was fighting. He didn't even remember his own name beyond what others had told him. Yet... When a golden fragment within his soul began glowing... He heard something. A voice. His own voice.

"Protect them." Rayan looked toward Siena. Then toward the burning worlds. Something inside him answered.

"I think..."

"... I remember that much." He stepped forward. Not as a prince. Not as a king. Not as the Dharma Heir. Simply... As Rayan. And the first step toward the final battle... Was taken. The World Tree erupted with golden light. Across countless dimensions, the golden fragments of Dharma entered the souls of living beings. But Rayan... Remembered nothing. He stood beneath the World Tree, staring at his own hands.

"Why does everyone keep calling me Rayan?" Siena stood beside him.

"Because that's your name." He looked at her.

"And who are you?" Her smile trembled.

"Siena." The name felt strangely familiar. Rayan repeated it softly.

"Siena..." Something inside his chest tightened. He didn't know why. But the name felt like a memory trying to return. A violent roar shook the heavens. The Dreamers had begun their assault. Millions of crimson eyes opened beyond the World Tree. Their enormous bodies emerged from the void. Stars moved around them like dust. Entire galaxies existed within their shadows. The Seven Authors immediately raised their weapons. Archeon stepped forward.

"Everyone..." His silver sword ignited.

"... this is the final battle." The Dreamers attacked. A wave of primordial darkness descended. The World Tree's branches bent beneath the pressure. Sophia spread her arms.

"World Tree!" Golden roots erupted from every dimension. They collided with the darkness. BOOM! Reality shook. Kael launched himself into the sky.

"You're not destroying our home!" Black celestial flames surrounded him. His sword struck one of the Dreamers' fingers. The impact sent a shockwave through multiple worlds. Caelum followed.

"Fimbul!" An endless frozen domain spread across the void. Aster's crimson threads connected every warrior.

"Together!" For the first time... They weren't fighting under Rayan's command. They were fighting because they chose to. Then something extraordinary happened. A small golden spark appeared inside a dying soldier's chest. The soldier was exhausted. His army had been defeated. His world was collapsing. Yet... He stood.

"I can still protect them." The spark became brighter. A golden blade formed in his hand. Across another world... A mother shielded her child. A golden shield appeared. In another kingdom... A healer reached toward a dying enemy soldier. Golden light surrounded them both. Across millions of worlds... Dharma awakened. Not as a single overwhelming power. But as billions of small choices. The Dreamers recoiled.

"They cannot control it." The First Dreamer watched silently.

"No." Its voice was almost peaceful.

"They were never meant to." Rayan watched the countless golden lights. He felt something inside him. A strange warmth. Then... A memory appeared. A forest. Rain. A young man standing before a monstrous Hollow. Another memory. A sword named Shadowbreaker. Another. His father. Another. Siena laughing beneath a lotus tree. Rayan touched his head.

"These..."

"... are mine." Siena stared at him.

"Your memories?"

"I don't know." He closed his eyes.

"They feel like dreams." Siena gently held his hand.

"Then we'll make new ones." Rayan looked at her. For the first time since losing his memories... He smiled naturally.

"I'd like that." Suddenly... The sky split apart. A gigantic crimson hand descended toward the World Tree. Sophia screamed.

"EVERYONE!" The Seven Authors attacked. Archeon struck with his silver blade. Kael unleashed his strongest flame. Caelum froze the surrounding dimensions. Aster's threads wrapped around the hand. But nothing stopped it. The hand continued descending. Straight toward the World Tree. Straight toward the billions of souls carrying Dharma. Rayan looked upward. Something inside him awakened. Not the Dharma Astra. Something deeper. His eyes began glowing gold. The entire battlefield fell silent.

The First Dreamer looked at him.

"The Astra is gone." Rayan slowly raised his hand.

"Then why..." Golden light gathered around his fingers.

"... can I still feel it?" The First Dreamer smiled.

"Because you finally understood." The golden light expanded. Rayan didn't command it. He didn't control it. He simply chose.

"Protect them." Across every world... Billions of people made the same choice. The golden fragments connected. A gigantic web of light formed around creation. The Dreamer's hand struck it. BOOM! The impact shook the universe. But the barrier held. Not because Rayan was strong. Because everyone was standing together. The Dreamers fell silent. The First Dreamer looked toward the others.

"This is what they have become." One Dreamer answered.

"Then destroy them." Another said:"They cannot be destroyed individually." A third whispered:"Then destroy the source." Every crimson eye turned toward one place. The World Tree's heart. The Origin Core. Sophia's expression changed.

"No..." Archeon looked toward her.

"What?"

"The Origin Core..." She looked at Rayan.

"If they destroy it..."

"... every reality connected to it will collapse." Rayan looked toward the glowing heart of the World Tree. Then toward the approaching Dreamers. He didn't remember the battles that brought him here. He didn't remember being a prince. He didn't remember becoming the Dharma Heir. But he understood one thing. Someone had to protect that Core. Rayan stepped forward.

"I'll go." Siena immediately grabbed his arm.

"You're not going alone." Kael grinned.

"Obviously." Caelum lifted Fimbul.

"Neither am I." Aster's crimson threads wrapped around Rayan.

"Then we're going together." One by one... Everyone stepped forward. Rayan looked at them. Strangers who somehow felt like family. He smiled.

"Then..." He looked toward the heart of creation.

"... let's finish this." Above them... The World Tree opened its final branch. And beyond it... The true form of the Dreamers descended. The final battlefield had been chosen. The Origin Core. The heart of creation. The beginning of everything. And now... It would decide the ending. To be continue....