"♪ Boguli~ Boguli~ Bogulibo~ ♪"
Caesar hummed in an out-of-tune melody; the raspy voice sounded particularly comical in the empty mental field.
"♪ Popolo~ Popolipopo~ ♪"
Cecilia looked at him suspiciously, completely unable to understand what this Dragon was up to now.
"Are you... are you sure this thing is useful?" she couldn't help but ask.
"Stop talking and learn it quickly," Caesar urged. "This is an ancient Secret Art; I wouldn't teach it to just any Dragon. I'm only singing it once, so whether you can learn it depends on your talent."
"Who wants to learn such a weird song!"
Cecilia said so, but she still couldn't help but prick up her ears to listen.
The melody was simple, and the lyrics were meaningless onomatopoeia, repeating the same few lines.
Adopting a "I want to see what tricks you're pulling" attitude, Cecilia hummed along for two lines.
"♪ Boguli~ Boguli~ ♪"
The crisp loli voice echoed through the colorful light screen, sounding surprisingly good.
As she sang, Cecilia found that her irritable mood actually calmed down quite a bit, and a thick wave of tiredness washed over her, her eyelids starting to fight each other.
This crappy song... actually seems useful?
The Little Silver Dragon yawned and continued to sing along: "♪ Popolo~ Popoli...?"
The singing stopped abruptly.
Cecilia froze; she felt a heavy weight suddenly added to the tip of her tail.
She slowly turned her dragon head, only to see the blue figure who had just vowed to teach it only once, had somehow leaned over at some point, his head resting comfortably on her tail, emitting even snores.
Huh?
Cecilia's silver dragon pupils widened.
He fell asleep just like that?
He really could fall asleep?!
He's using This Young Lady's tail as a pillow?!
...Caesar had indeed fallen asleep.
Back in high school, he had used this tune many times to help him sleep. Once the ethereal intro started, his brain almost reflexively entered energy-saving mode.
Familiar readers have probably recognized it; this is "Jigglypuff's Song," a classic pokémon interlude.
The singer was the earliest Pink Demon, "Jigglypuff," widely known for its light melody and simple lyrics.
Although he had intentionally changed a few syllables to prevent himself from sleeping too deeply, he couldn't resist the fact that Cecilia's loli voice was too hypnotic.
In the real world, the Little Silver Dragon's chubby tail became Caesar's pillow. On the mental level, his consciousness was detaching from his body, sinking toward the depths of that bizarre Dungeon.
The surrounding magenta light screens receded rapidly—
When he opened his eyes again, Caesar found himself in a burning city.
War raged, and wails filled the air.
The Gabite was a bit dazed.
"Boom—!"
A massive bronze shadow swept low over his head, the gale from its wings making him unsteady. That giant Dragon crashed into a nearby tower; the brick structure was as fragile as paper under its metallic scales!
A large amount of rubble collapsed, splashing in all directions toward Caesar's position!
He instinctively turned to dodge, only to find his limbs feeling as heavy as lead.
He couldn't run fast! He wasn't flexible at all!
This feeling was like being chased by a ghost in a nightmare; even though he was dying of anxiety, his legs just wouldn't move.
No, this is a dream.
"Is this the dreamscape? Why does my body feel so awkward?"
Caesar quickly checked the System panel.
[Warning: You are in a Mental Mapping Area. Body Synchronization Rate has dropped significantly. Effort Values are temporarily locked.]
On the panel, various stats had decreased slightly, as if covered by a thick layer of debuffs.
His Rank wasn't very high to begin with, and now his stats had dropped even further.
This was not good news.
Caesar didn't know what would happen if he died in the dream, but according to the tropes of most Transmigration novels, if you're finished in the dream, your real self will likely kick the bucket too—
"Since I'm already here, I can only bite the bullet and go for it."
Caesar tried to activate a skill, wanting to create a Sandstorm to hide himself.
[Bulldoze]!
[Sand Tomb]!
The small combos that used to be smooth felt a strange sense of displacement today, as if operating through a layer of frosted glass; the mobilization of energy was very difficult.
It was like entering a phone password in a dream; the brain remembers it clearly, but the fingers just can't press it right, making one sweat with anxiety.
It took him a while to barely use [Sand Attack] to create a sand-raising area and adapt to this sluggish and displaced body—
Caesar began to use sonar to probe the surroundings, and the results made his Dragon heart turn cold.
The entire ancient city was shrouded in war; once-magnificent buildings were reduced to ruins, towering Ancient War Trees became burning torches, and the streets were littered with the corpses of various humanoid creatures.
He tried to approach a human corpse to see if he could loot it and absorb some Attribute Factors... but the System didn't respond at all.
The sonar feedback was even weirder.
The creatures nearby... seemed to be all dead.
No, more accurately, they were dead from the very beginning.
Caesar saw an orc man in cloth clothes crushed by a collapsing wall; the next second, he saw the same man run out from another street corner with the same terror on his face, and then get crushed by another collapsing wall again.
They were constantly repeating the process of the city's destruction until their own deaths.
This was a sealed, looping nightmare.
Caesar had a feeling that his intrusion... seemed to have broken this cycle.
Thus, all the "actors" stopped and became real corpses.
No.
There was still one living thing.
A gargantuan creature entrenched in the sky above the city—!
Caesar looked up and saw that Bronze Dragon hovering in the air. It opened its giant mouth and continuously spat out gray-black breath below.
Wherever that breath passed, whether burning buildings or struggling creatures, they were instantly corroded and weathered, turning into a handful of fly ash.
[Target: Bronze Dragon Viola (Rank 78)]
[Attribute: Dragon/Steel]
[Status: Historical Echo]
The Rank was actually higher than that Bone Dragon outside!
This must be what that old bone Viola mentioned, its "Past Self" before it became undead.
Bronze Dragons are regulars in Western fantasy works.
But looking at the effect of this breath, it wasn't lightning or force like in D&D settings; this thing was "Time Breath," one shot and it fast-forwards you straight to dust to dust.
This is more like those Bronze Dragons in "World of Warcraft" who toy with time!
"Roar of Time is even here? Are you Dialga too?"
Caesar couldn't help but complain in his heart while moving through the ruins.
He had already seen through sonar that in the very center of the ruins stood a massive altar, almost identical to the one he saw in reality.
According to a normal script, he would definitely have to do something on that altar.
And this Rank 78 Bronze Dragon Viola was undoubtedly the final boss of this place...!
No sooner said than done.
In the distance, a gray-black Time Breath had already descended from the sky, accurately locking onto the area where Caesar was located.
Caesar's scalp tingled, and he scrambled to dive to the side.
Boom!
The light pillar swept past, its power astonishing.
The ruins along the way decayed into sand under the power of time, but this actually made Caesar's [Sand Veil] ability effect even better.
With yellow sand filling the air, he was like a fish in water.
He even had the illusion that his ability had turned into [Sand Veil]... wait.
Caesar glanced at the System panel and was suddenly stunned.
In the ability column, besides [Sand Veil] and [Rough Skin], a new ability had actually appeared.
That was... [Sand Veil]?!