The building was coming down around them, and Scar knew it, but Solus was right on their heels, cheering him on, begging him not to stop, and taking care of whatever debris came their way.

As much as he hated it, the commotion said it plainly, a Scarlet Kin was involved. He had brushed off the villagers’ talk of deaths in their sleep and strange dreams, confident that no Dreamwalker could walk through Area 9 without dying. That confidence had been a mistake. He hadn’t been vigilant enough.

One thing was certain, though. If this was a Dreamwalker, it was either a Hostile-level threat or close enough to it that the difference hardly mattered.

Their power could be troublesome, capable of putting all of them to sleep. But as long as Selena’s ghost lived and remained caught in that repeating memory, the Dreamwalker couldn’t use its full might.

"Dance with everything you’ve got, Scar... don’t let Selena fall into sadness. The Dreamwalker feeds on trauma."

Solus said, cutting through the debris with calm precision, clearing enough space for Scar and Selena to dance.

He was already tiring, the dance was intense and unrelenting, but he knew he couldn’t stop. If this mission had any chance of succeeding, it all came down to the dance.

In the corridor leading to the hall, the others were deep in a fierce battle with the creature. Amber’s Heaven’s Garment had changed from black to red, giving her a noticeable boost in agility and flexibility.

Luccy had activated her Protector State. Her appearance had shifted to something close to a cat, yellow lightning crackling across her hands and feet, moving on all four limbs with terrifying speed. At range, Storm launched powerful arrows into the creature without letting up.

Amber and Walker clashed in close combat, sword arts, and technique trading blow for blow. Luccy was the most intense. Her lightning paralyzed on contact, keeping her locked at mid-range. Storm held the long range, arrows flying without pause.

They fought as though they had been training for this for years. But they weren’t doing much damage. The Dreamwalker had too much fat, and whatever damage they managed, it healed immediately. Their attacks were rendered almost useless.

Worse still, its offenses were deadly. They all knew it. One landing and no one was walking away without broken bones.

Amber understood. They needed a single, powerful enough attack to bypass the Dreamwalker’s regeneration entirely: kill it in one shot.

Scar had the perfect flame for it. But the moment he got distracted from the dance, no one could say what would happen.

She understood what this mission meant to Scar. And if she managed to play a significant role in it, the honor wouldn’t just be hers but it would be his as well.

Not one of them had an attack capable of outpacing the creature’s regeneration. Luccy’s lightning paralyzed, but the Dreamwalker appeared to have grown immune, and beyond Storm’s speed, there wasn’t much else to work with.

There was one thing she could do: cut the creature down faster than it could regenerate. But it wasn’t going to be easy. She would have to change Heaven’s Garment to white.

This color had the potential to kill her if her body wasn’t ready, and that had always been enough reason to hesitate. But her master needed this victory. And even through all the commotion, Scar was doing his part, dancing with a ghost without stopping. The least she could do was put her life on the line. Just this once.

She pulled back immediately, calling out to the others to buy her some time. Her heart hammered at the thought of what she intended to do.

Her father had died clearing a path for Scar, and she knew taking revenge on the person who had used justice as a cover to kill him was beyond her, but not beyond Scar. And truthfully, she didn’t harbor any hatred toward Dain. Her father had made his choice.

They hadn’t spent much time together when they were younger, but Scar had played a part in forging the strength she carried now. And she wasn’t going to let anyone kill him in the name of heavenly order.

She wasn’t going to lose someone close to her again. Even if standing against that meant going up against gods. Or the entire universe.

"Amber, how long are you going to take?"

Luccy yelled, and that brief distraction cost her. A strike caught her square in the gut and sent her crashing to the ground. She fought to get back up, coughing blood.

Amber grinded her teeth, annoyed. She was ready to make the change, red to white, but before she could, Walker moved in front of her.

"What the heck did you do? You overgrown cow."

Before he even finished speaking, runes of water began surfacing across his body. His blade turned slick as water, and in two swift swings, he cut the Dreamwalker into pieces. Then, without waiting for it to fall, he launched a water cannon straight into its chest and left a massive hole.

The Scarlet Kin collapsed, its body beginning to regenerate, but not the way it should. It struggled, groaning and shaking, as if something had angered it in a way it couldn’t shake.

In the hall, Scar and Solus remained oblivious to what had unfolded outside. Then something caught their attention. Selena was smiling through her tears... the same smile Scar had first seen when they entered.

She was enjoying the dance, that much was obvious. And the figures around her, difficult to read through the debris as they were, had shifted. They were cheering her on now.

Selena’s memory of that day had changed. And with it, she seemed to finally have reason to rest. Her body began to slowly disappear, and yet she wouldn’t let go of Scar. She kept dancing, even as she faded.

Scar was exhausted. His legs trembled and his back ached. Over an hour of dancing had taken its toll. But watching the smile on Selena’s face, none of that mattered. A woman that passionate deserved a smile. Not eternal trauma.

Before long, Selena’s ghost vanished and the audience with her. Scar dropped to the floor, exhausted, but Solus hurried to speak.

"Let’s go help the others."

Honestly, Scar didn’t want to. Fatigue was one thing his regeneration couldn’t touch, and his body was screaming for rest. But reputation mattered, and so he followed Solus to find the others.

The Dreamwalker was still down, struggling to get back on its feet. But that wasn’t what stopped him. Amber didn’t look like herself. It was as though she were deeply wounded.

Luccy knelt on the ground, a few ribs likely broken, while Walker, surprisingly, tended to her. Storm had his attention on the Dreamwalker.

"I think it can’t fight anymore since Selena’s trauma has ended. It likely drew its strength from the negative emotions she experienced during the fight."

Storm said and then drove a decisive blow into its head, shattering it completely.

"I’m glad this is over."

Luccy said and got to her feet.

While the others spoke of how bizarre the situation was, Scar approached Amber.

"Hey, are you okay?"

She flashed him a practiced smile.

"Not really. How was the dance?"

She couldn’t lie in his presence, that was clear. But she didn’t want to speak about it either. And Scar didn’t want to push. He wanted her to open up on her own terms, not because his abilities gave her no other option.

They decided to leave Area 9 before nightfall and report the mission’s success. None of them had anything left to spend another night there.