"What the hell?!"
Back in the Colorless Realm's holy cathedral, Jilgom—who'd just returned from the outside—looked up and saw a colossal sea beast spearing straight through all three dream layers, plunging to the bottom.
Fuming, he shed his beast form, revealing a handsome face framed by dark-green hair.
His voice shook with rage. "Are you kidding me?! Millia! Dorian! Where are you?!"
A blue-haired girl sauntered over, stretching lazily. She gawked at the massive creature. "Whoa, that thing's huge!"
Jilgom zipped over so fast he left a whoosh of air, then bonked her on the head with a fist. A giant lump popped up.
"Ow!"
Millia shrank back, tears welling as she yelped.
"Didn't I tell you to watch the dream?! And where's Dorian?!"
Arms crossed, Jilgom loomed like a centaur, scolding his junior.
"He went chasing those little toys, right?"
"Oh yeah! That girl's Haki seemed pretty strong. Totally slipped my mind to tell him."
Millia smacked her fist into her palm, then scratched her head and stuck out a pink tongue.
"You little…"
Jilgom's knuckles cracked, veins bulging.
"Hey, hey, boss~ This is a dream, remember? Have a little faith in us!"
Afraid of another hit, Millia threw her hands up in surrender to calm him down.
"Besides, if something goes wrong, you've still got me. Who in this soul-only world could possibly beat me?"
She slung her arms over Jilgom's shoulders and plopped him into a chair at the tea table.
"Ahem. Arrogant woman."
A battered, blue-goo version of Marcus Dorian crawled through the door, leaving a trail of dripping paint across the pristine cathedral floor. Slave animals lurking in the shadows scurried out to wipe it clean.
"Oho~"
Millia jogged over, squatted by the slime, and poked him with a cream-covered fork.
"Rough day, huh? Did that girl beat you? Cry about it outside before coming back?"
A tiny tentacle shot out from the goo, wrapped around the fork, and crushed it.
"It wasn't her!"
He flicked the shards behind him, his voice eerily calm—nothing like his usual self.
"Aw, it's serious-mode Dorian. Boo, no fun."
Millia puffed her cheeks and pouted.
Ignoring her antics, the paint turned to Jilgom. "Boss, you sure your MMA creations can't rebel?"
"No way. Every MMA is under my control. Betrayal's impossible."
Jilgom hugged his halberd-like weapon and stroked his chin.
"Then what the hell is that?!"
What little remained of Dorian stretched a tentacle into an arrow pointing at the distant sea beast.
"Oh. Right!"
The other two at the table blinked in realization. Jilgom frowned, suddenly aware of the oddity.
Wait… why did I instinctively ignore how weird that thing is?
Hypnosis?
No… the dream's authority is being hijacked!
"Shit! That thing's trying to steal the dream itself! We gotta boot it out now!"
Spinning his halberd, Jilgom shifted into full beast mode.
Flames swirled around him as he galloped through the void toward the sea beast.
Miles vanished in a blink. Ghostly light flared from his halberd as he thrust at the monster.
CLANG!
A storm-forged greatsword shot from the darkness, clashing with the halberd in a screech of metal.
A cherry-blossom emblem bloomed at the sword's hilt.
The next instant, a flash of spacetime revealed furious emerald eyes—crystal clear.
"What do you think you're doing to my crew?!!"
BOOM!
Black lightning cracked across the sky. Savage shockwaves roared.
Her will sang. Conqueror's Haki howled.
The overwhelming pressure shattered the flame clouds under Jilgom's feet, sending him tumbling to the ground.
His two teammates arrived just in time to gape.
"Boss Jilgom! You ant—second time!!
Dorian's paint-slime body turned crimson with fury as he roared.
"Aww, it's my cute little sweetheart! Still so gorgeous!"
Millia fluttered in on white wings, cupping her cheeks with heart-eyes sparkling.
"Forget me! Deal with that sea beast!"
Mid-air, Jilgom barked the order before crashing into the ground in a massive dust cloud.
"Yes, boss! My pleasure!"
The blue-haired angel flapped her wings and charged straight at Sakura.
"Oh, it's you again!"
Sakura clenched her fist, conjured a massive ice axe from thin air, and swung at Millia with fury.
CLANG!
A flaming great axe met hers, steam exploding where the blades collided.
"Mmm~ Even our powers match so perfectly."
Millia's beautiful face twisted with sick adoration.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Clash after clash after clash.
Sakura and Millia's axes blurred like phantoms, parrying each other's strikes.
"We've met, but you don't know me yet~"
Millia's voice slipped through the sparks.
"I'm Manmaya Millia, 28, Scorpio, single—never dated. I live in Mariejois, and my family's filthy rich."
"So… wanna come home with me and be my sl—cough—wife?"
The angel girl, eyes full of Sakura, popped the question.
"Huh?! Who's gonna be your wife?! Take your thirsty nonsense somewhere else!"
Sakura grabbed the air with her other hand, now dual-wielding axes wrapped in Haki.
Unimaginable strength surged through her. Every swing grew faster, harder.
"Too fast for marriage? How about we start with dating?"
Millia, struggling to keep up, kept yapping.
"Shut up!"
Sakura spun her axe and slashed again.
In a dark corner, a blob of crimson paint opened its eyes, glaring at the fight.
Spikes sprouted, twisting into thorny vines.
The moment Sakura and Millia broke apart, it launched a sneak attack.
"Die, ant! Red Star: Thorn Fern!!
Dorian turned into a storm of tiny thorn bullets, rocketing forward.
Just as the thorns blurred into streaks of light, a rabbit paw appeared in their path.
"Body: Open!!
A bullet-sized hole snapped open in the fluffy white paw.
The other end connected to the Savage End Station. Dorian—unable to swerve—plunged headfirst into the garbage pool, coated in rancid sludge.
"Son of a—"
Pop. The rabbit closed the portal before he could finish.
"Hey, pirate! I've got this guy. Take care of the citizens!"
Prince Helmod of Elshahe puffed out his chest and shouted, then pressed both paws against Leviathan's skin to open another hole.
Sakura grinned wide and yelled back just as he vanished:
"Got it! Leave 'em to me!"