Dragon King: Throne of Demons and Gods-Chapter 185: Act III, Scene VII: Beneath the Paper Sky

Bel crossed his arms slowly, brows furrowing.

"What do you mean by that?"

Regulus didn't answer right away. His form flickered slightly, like light passing through smoke.

"I came back some time ago, but I was trapped by the nature of this world."

Bel waited.

Regulus looked up at the fractured glass dome above them, the frozen moon casting a pale glow through the ruins.

"This world... is a world layered over our own. Another dimension."

Bel raised an eyebrow.

"Another dimension?"

Regulus opened his mouth, then paused, visibly struggling to find the right words. His eyes flicked toward the broken ceiling and the unmoving moonlight, as if searching for an explanation in the stars.

Bel tilted his head slightly.

"Use the simplest words you can. Just get to the point."

Regulus hesitated, then gave a faint, dry chuckle.

"Have you heard of 2D and 3D? Imagine the real world is like a 1D space. Just a straight line. You can move forward or backward, but not left, not right, not up. That's our world."

Bel nodded once.

"Alright."

"Now imagine this dream world is a 2D space layered on top of that. Width and height. A plane floating over the line. Everyone trapped here is like a creature existing only in a 1D world, but now we're stuck in a 2D world put over our 1D world. There's a dream Castella over the real Castella."

Bel blinked and touched his chin, thinking.

"A world stacked over ours... A second world over our own."

"Exactly," Regulus said. "This entire space is like a domain. A sanctuary built by the Slumbering King for himself and his demons. Here, their power isn't restrained. In fact, it's unleashed."

Bel looked down at his hands.

"I'm starting to see the picture... Yes, that sounds like what I was imagining."

Regulus nodded.

"To beings like us, this place is like trying to move in a straight line when the world around us is flat and wide. We're limited—like drawing on a piece of paper but only being allowed to draw in one direction. But the demons of the Slumbering King? They can move freely across the whole paper. This world was made for them, not for us."

Bel narrowed his eyes.

Regulus pointed to his own chest.

"When I dreamed of the Slumbering King, I became 2D, too. I was dragged into this layer. And once you're in, the world decides your rules. I could kill his weaker demons, but I couldn't even scratch Hypnos. There had to be a condition, something I didn't understand at the time."

Bel's eyes sharpened, the words striking a chord.

"Yes… That happened to us. One of the archdemons, Morpheus, kept returning, no matter how many times I killed him. It didn't make sense until now. I think this Hypnos isn't different."

Regulus's expression lit up as Bel explained.

"Hypnos is probably like Morpheus. An Archdemon. A demon granted a fragment of the Slumbering King's authority. That's why you could kill the others but not touch him."

Regulus's smile faded, his voice sinking into something colder.

"Yes. This could explain everything I've seen. And that also proves we can't beat the King."

Bel raised his head slightly, a quiet gesture of curiosity.

Regulus's voice turned grave.

"Compared to us, the Slumbering King exists in a higher plane, like a 3D being observing creatures trapped in 2D space. He can see us, touch us, even bend the world we're in to his will. But we can't reach him. Not even see him, not truly. In battle, it means he can attack without ever entering our reach. He stands outside this battlefield and plays with its shape. In this dream world, we're bound by the limits he wrote into the walls. We don't even have bodies here in the same sense. It's not a fight. It's a cage."

Bel stood still, slowly, his eyes turned toward the frozen moon above.

"So this is why it all felt like the right place, but there was nothing."

Regulus followed his gaze. The pale moonlight cast soft blue shades across the broken glass floor.

"Yes," he said. "This is the place. And he is here. But we can't see him."

At the same time, in the deepest part of the dream, Aurus watched the giant half-body of bone and mask, with arms too long and limbs too thin, its white eye open and glowing like a cold star.

The stage was vast and silent, filled with rows upon rows of puppet-like figures frozen in their seats.

"So it really is you," Aurus said calmly, not even raising his voice. "The Slumbering King."

The jester did not reply. It simply watched.

Aurus tilted his head.

"No words? No riddle? With all this setting you used I thought you were more dramatic."

For a long moment, there was only silence.

Then, the voice came. A whisper echoing across the theater.

"You took your time."

The tone was tired, like someone forced to speak after too many dreams.

"You could have broken free the moment you were trapped," it continued. "Why linger in a lie?"

Aurus didn't move at first, finally reaching his target.

"Because that's how people are," he replied softly. "We don't always see clearly. And even when we do, it takes time to let go. That's not weakness. It's... human."

"Human," the Slumbering King repeated, voice laced with vague disappointment. "Always using that as a defense."

He sounded distant now.

"You and the future hero. Your hesitation has already killed hundreds. While we speak, one Sacred lies dead. Another will follow soon."

Aurus's eyes widened.

"You and your past allies, you lung to pride. Confidence. But none of you truly understood the stakes. You threw yourselves into battles against demons, alone or in pairs, certain of your strength. You walked into traps believing you could outmatch anything. You stayed in the most dangerous places as if you were that special. And when you learned that your power meant nothing against us... you shattered."

The jester lifted its skeletal arms. Fingers curled like talons.

Every puppet in the audience stood.

The Slumbering King continued.

"You are not victims. You walk through the world wrapped in power, unaffected by the weight your choices lay on others. You thought your strength would shield everyone, but it only shielded yourselves. While you hesitated, while you wandered, others died. Entire cities were genocided while you played at being heroes. So at last, you don't deserve a clean death. You deserve to feel the pain you passed onto the weak. To suffer it fully... For eternity."

The weight of those words lingered.

Aurus had been silent. But now he trembled, barely.

He looked up slowly, eyes dark as he faced the glowing mask. His voice returned low and composed.

"You talk a lot. But there's only one thing I need to hear."

He stepped forward, breath steady.

"Darwin. His body was found with every bone broken. I got a report that this kind of power was your attribute, and I don't think a pathetic General could take him down. So let's get to the point. Was it you?"

For a moment, the theater held its breath.

Then... one clap.

A puppet near the center clapped.

Then another, then all of them.

A thunder of applause filled the broken theater, and above, the Slumbering King spoke again.

"As I said... You are the worst shard of humanity. But do not worry."

He lowered his hand.

"I will avenge those you ignore."

A low noise began to rise. His aura spilled downward like thick smoke, drowning the air.

"You have reached your destination. Congratulations."

The pressure built until the entire hall seemed to tremble.

But then...

Aurus closed his eyes. The trembling stopped.

He exhaled.

"Thank you."

And then, a weight burst from his body.

The theater bent.

Aurus placed his hand on his sword. He pulled it free, a centimeter at a time. Each movement crushed the ground beneath him, his pressure growing like a rising tide.

The floor cracked, the puppets began to falter.

His voice, when it came, was low.

"Then I'll avenge my brother."

And the stage broke beneath his feet.