NOVEL WEB Chapter 40: Chapter 40: The Dreamcutter
[Scene 1 – Invasion of the Flame]
The night was silent in Ashlock Forge.
Kun slept beside the sealed hearth, Elira and the others taking turns on watch.
But inside his mind… the storm had already begun.
It started with a whisper:
> "She should not exist…"
Then the sky turned black.
The dreamscape—usually built from Serai's memories—fractured.
The field of lilies burned in reverse.
The stars began to scream.
Serai appeared beside Kun, eyes wide, her voice shaking:
> "Something's here. Something Kael made."
A tear split the sky.
And he stepped through.
---
[Scene 2 – The Dreamcutter Arrives]
He had no face.
Only a long mask, cracked down the middle, one side painted white, the other red.
His cloak was stitched from discarded memories—half-forgotten names, faces, regrets.
In one hand: a blade made of mirrored glass, constantly reshaping.
In the other: a hook of bone, meant for extracting identity.
> "You are not permitted," the Dreamcutter said, voice layered in echoes.
> "The echo will be excised."
He raised his blade—
And lunged for Serai.
---
[Scene 3 – Twin Flames]
But before the blade could land—
Kun blocked it.
With a shield of blue fire—Eidolon flame, flaring brighter than ever before.
> "She's not just an echo," he growled.
> "She's alive in me."
The Dreamcutter tilted his head. "Then you will both be erased."
The battle began.
Each clash twisted the dream-realm.
Mountains inverted. Skies froze. Time slowed.
Serai joined Kun, summoning embers from her hands.
Together, they fought as one thought, two bodies—flames spinning in synchronized arcs.
But the Dreamcutter was relentless.
Every wound he took turned into a forgotten pain, making him faster, heavier.
> "You are fire," he said, "but I am what fire forgets."
---
[Scene 4 – Descent into Memory Core]
The Dreamcutter pierced Kun's defense and struck Serai in the chest.
She screamed—
And began to fade.
"No!" Kun shouted, catching her.
She clutched his wrist.
> "You have to dive deeper," she gasped. "To where I buried my true name."
> "It's the only place he can't reach."
He didn't hesitate.
He jumped—taking them both into the core of Serai's own sealed memories.
There, they landed in an empty sky—
And at the center stood a mirror.
It showed Serai, age six, crying before the Celestora High Flame Council.
> "I don't want to hold the fire anymore," the girl whispered.
> "It hurts."
> "But I'll do it… if it saves them."
Serai looked at Kun, tears in her grown-up eyes.
> "This is who I was. The choice I made."
> "Now show him."
---
[Scene 5 – The Flame of Choice]
The Dreamcutter burst into the sealed core.
His form began to melt—because this was not his realm.
He raised his hook again.
But this time—Kun and Serai merged.
Their flames became one.
Gold, silver, blue, and a new hue—white flame, the fire of choice.
> "Your power comes from forgetting," Kun said, stepping forward.
> "Ours comes from memory. From sacrifice. From names that refuse to die."
They struck.
The Dreamcutter shattered, screaming.
And the pieces turned into light, returning to the sky.
---
[Scene 6 – Aftermath: The New Bond]
Kun awoke, gasping.
Elira was at his side instantly.
"Are you—"
He reached out and grasped her hand tightly.
"I'm here," he said. "And… so is she."
Inside his mind, Serai's voice echoed softly:
> "Thank you."
> "I no longer dream alone."
Orlan entered with a rush. "The forge just registered a pulse—new resonance."
Rhea added, "Something's changed."
Kun nodded.
> "We created something new tonight."
> "Not a flame. Not a weapon."
> "A bond."
Far away, Kael stood at the edge of a cliff, eyes narrowed.
> "He fused with her."
> "Then it's time to awaken the Fourth Flame."