"Collective consciousness." Friday said. "Converting different voices into one, serving a common movement. Either eliminate dissonant voices or assimilate them."
——
[Robin welcomed Stelle's arrival, but Stelle was still curious about what she had just done.]
["Don't worry. She simply used the resonance of [Harmony] to tune you, so you can control your body more freely in the dream." Sunday elegantly explained from the side: "The beautiful dreams of Penacony are essentially worlds constructed from memetic matter. Only by mastering its nature can you move freely within it."]
[After briefly explaining the principle to Stelle, the siblings went about their own business. Stelle also received a message from March 7th. She was currently shopping in the Moment of Dusk and asked Stelle to go to the dreamscape store first to check in for her.]
[People came and went in the dream, where it seemed any fantasy could become reality. She even saw an advertisement billboard promoting itself and even stopped her directly.]
["What are the benefits of SoulGlad? Whoever guesses right gets one for free!"]
["Uh… If I don't drink it for a day, I feel terrible all over." Stelle casually made something up.]
[The SoulGlad billboard was very satisfied with Stelle's answer. It hopped and jumped enthusiastically, stuffing a bottle of SoulGlad into her hand.]
[Stelle marveled at the wonder of the dream and soon arrived at the dreamscape store March 7th had indicated.]
["Welcome to the Dreamscape Sales Store, Trailblazer of the Astral Express!"]
[What surprised Stelle was that the owner of this store was actually a huge eyeball. It slowly protruded from a wooden door wall, fully half the size of an adult.]
[It called itself Dr. Edward and could let Stelle experience all kinds of novel and wonderful dreams. It could tell at a glance that Stelle was a tourist visiting Penacony for the first time and enthusiastically helped her pick out her first Dream Bubble.]
[It came from a private anonymous donation. It was said that the memories inside… belonged to the fallen Aeon Akivili!]
——
Overlord.
Sebas pushed open the heavy obsidian doors. The metal door knocker emitted a low hum under his palm.
Before his eyes unfolded a magnificent hall — obsidian pillars reaching straight to a giant mural of the Sacred Kingdom on the dome. This was the noble territory of the Kingdom that no one was allowed to violate, yet Sebas walked through it as casually as if taking a stroll.
The demon creatures enjoying wine and revelry all turned their heads at once—
"Lord Emanator of [Abundance]!" A small demon flapped its tattered wings and flew over. "Are you also following this trip to Penacony?" Its sharp claws pointed at the Celestial Screen. "This time it's from the Aeon's perspective!"
"…"
Sebas did not answer directly. Instead, he looked around the palace at the demons with extreme disgust — just half a month ago, they had all been human nobles of the Sacred Kingdom, but Demiurge had transformed them all into low-level demons using his "demon conversion" ability. At first they were dissatisfied with their appearance, but they eventually accepted the excuse of "Mara-stricken bodies."
"Why are you all paying so much attention to Akivili?" Sebas frowned. "Have you lost your loyalty to [Abundance]?"
"N-No, absolutely not!"
Not everyone in the upper echelons of the Sacred Kingdom believed they were Emanators of [Propagation]. According to Demiurge, at least the Sacred Queen and her Holy Knights had not accepted their so-called "Propagation's Blessing." The ones who had accepted were mostly useless nobles.
But Demiurge said there was no need to worry. He would handle the Sacred Queen personally. Sebas only needed to steady this group of Propagation-believing demons, and they could act as fake Emanators of [Propagation] to remotely control them from behind the scenes and become the actual rulers of the Sacred Kingdom.
"Is that so… Then prove it."
As soon as the words fell, Sebas's figure trembled slightly.
In almost the blink of an eye, his hands had swept across all the demons' faces. When he opened his palms, he was holding more than a dozen pairs of demon eyes.
Screams erupted almost instantly. The demons clutched their blood-soaked eye sockets and wailed uncontrollably.
Sebas threw the eyeballs in his hands away in disgust and calmly walked out of the hall. Solution stood obediently outside the door and handed Sebas a pair of clean white gloves.
"Lord Sebas, why did you take their eyes?" the girl asked.
"The Celestial Screen is about to show the image of the Aeon of [Trailblaze]. We may soon witness the Aeon of Trailblaze displaying His might."
Sebas coldly glanced back at the wailing demons: "Their regenerative ability is quite strong. They will recover on their own after a while. I will not allow them to harbor any disloyal thoughts toward [Propagation] after witnessing the might of [Trailblaze]."
The might of an Aeon could casually destroy countless star systems. Even Lord Ainz, the Supreme Being, was probably nothing more than an insignificant speck of dust in the hands of an Aeon.
"I will use pain to seize their attention and, at the same time, show them the regenerative power of [Propagation]."
The girl was still somewhat worried: "But… pretending to be Emanators of Abundance carries great risk, doesn't it? That Galaxy Ranger…"
Thinking of Acheron, the girl's heart sank. It felt as if her heart was rapidly falling from a height, like plunging into an icy abyss.
"If a Galaxy Ranger like Acheron comes, I will follow Lord Ainz's plan and retreat immediately. As for these demons who think they have 'Mara-stricken bodies'…"
Sebas adjusted his gloves indifferently.
"…We'll just leave them for the Galaxy Rangers to slaughter as they please."
——
[Stelle pressed her forehead against the Dream Bubble. The dream inside actually appeared in her mind.]
[In the scene appeared…]
["Trailblazer of the Astral Express, do you plead guilty, Pam?" Pom-Pom looked at Stelle with a serious face.]
["What is this doing?" Stelle had no idea.]
[Dr. Edward: I will not make any explanatory or suggestive comments about the content of this Dream Bubble. In this Dream Bubble, you will share the memory of the bubble's owner and personally experience what he saw and heard.]
[Pom-Pom: "The crimes you have committed are unforgivable, but the Conductor respects everyone's right to obligatory labor…"]
["—Do a thorough cleaning for me, Pam!"]
[Stelle discovered that this Dream Bubble even required her to do the voice acting. So she chose another gender version of herself and used a male voice to voice Akivili.]
[Pom-Pom: "Then, do you and the other passengers admit responsibility for the following malicious incidents—"]
["You drove a snowmobile into the Tekoam Grand Dome, disrupted the order of the venue, caused the match to be interrupted, and led to twenty Trailblazers and yourselves performing unpaid labor for three months to repair the severe damage to the exterior of the Grand Dome—"]
["—Do you plead guilty, Pam?"]