With the opportunity Nill had provided her, Sophia had become a demigod capable of utilizing the power of Time.

Now being capable of reverse-engineering entire worlds and magical systems, Sophia had power that wasn't immediately obvious. It wasn't destructive, or even creative. It was information processing on a transcendental level, but ultimately, it was auxiliary.

What was knowledge if you couldn't do anything with it? Sophia didn't have her own body. She was tied to Dream, and had no intentions of leaving. But that meant her power would only show its effects when combined with Dream's. Once they could cooperate together, she knew that they would take a massive leap in power, beyond even Dream's godly power prior.

But Dream needed to finish what he was doing. He was still searching for that one piece of knowledge. Right now, he was in an odd state of knowing everything and nothing. Present in the concepts of Creation, Annihilation, Life, and Death, he was subject to the vast extremities of all knowledge and fundamental concepts in the universe.

He was searching for the one link that tied together... everything. He wanted to know the relationship between the physical, magical, and the dimensions. This wasn't just forming a scientific theory of everything. No, he wanted to find the most fundamental state of existence. He wanted to find that one particle that could become anything and everything, if it was a particle at all.

But he was walking on the edge of death while doing so. His very existence was being eroded, being the center of conflict between order and chaos. He was barely alive as it was, even in the conceptual worlds.

It made Sophia frustrated. Not just because he was risking himself, but because they couldn't work together until he found what he needed. And she couldn't understand the reason for him taking such an extreme path.

This was like a human learning to fly before it even knew how to crawl. He had been building himself up, step by step, only to throw himself back down the staircase all at once. And now, he wanted to jump straight to the top. It was insanity, and if she didn't know better, just plain stupidity.

She was helpless, though. Unfortunately, this reckless approach to learning had always been Dream's style. His desire for knowledge took precedence over his own life, and perhaps the only thing rooting him to reality was his love for his family and wives. Even when he was being hunted by over half the universe, he didn't hesitate to toss away all his power.

He didn't even discuss it with her. When he realized he had been building his knowledge on a misconception, he so naturally got rid of it all. And when he realized that the basic concepts weren't deep enough to contain the most core units of existence, he threw himself into the highest concepts in the universe.

Regardless, Dream wasn't powerful, and it irked Sophia that she couldn't work together with him.

So she began poking him.

Suddenly, in the spire where Dream sat alone, a figure began to manifest. It just appeared, both real yet beyond reality.

A beautifully sculpted girl, wearing a sundress with long brown hair. She landed barefoot in front of Dream, her pearly blue eyes and cute face scrunched at the sight of Dream's decaying body.

[Hey. I want attention.]

She poked his face, a few flakes of skin turning to ash under her finger.

Dream's head raised after a moment, a few bones cracking under the movement. Still, even with half a face, he smiled.

"Hey Sophia... I haven't seen that form... in a long time."

[Bring back memories?]

"Mm."

Dream nodded, his head lowering back down.

"Sorry, though. I haven't... quite figured this out."

[Hey, I finally entered the concept of Time. I can see all of Information! I can help you!]

"I... know."

[You do?]

Sophia was a tiny bit surprised. She was still one of Dream's soul seas, so she was a part of his soul. She had accepted the God Core of Information, and that obviously affected her soul sea.

But she had still isolated it from Dream so as to not disturb him. Nobody should sense her God Core, and definitely not know about her entering Time.

Dream smiled a bit.

"I can also... see information. Though not as much as... you. Your state of existence... changed after their appearance. Your conceptual existence also... changed. It was isolated... attached to that god core."

[So you could really sense that... And you can see information?]

Suddenly, Sophia perked up.

[You can only see information when you begin to comprehend concepts. So you're comprehending them! Wait, does that mean you've found that piece of knowledge?]

"...No."

Dream shook his head, dashing Sophia's hopes in that he had made progress.

"I am subjecting my... existence to the concepts. I'm attempting to find that piece... by using my existence as a... nexus for their conglomeration. Seeing information... isn't enough. I also need to know a... lack of information. A lack of existence. I need to know the generation of existence... and the destruction of existence. If I can become these things... and none of these things..."

[You're gonna kill yourself.]

Sophia frowned.

The presence of information. Sophia knew that was a form of Life. The generation of information was Creation. The destruction of information was Annihilation.

And the lack of information was Death.

Dream wanted to know all of these things. His existence was being destroyed, created, sustained, and decaying all at the same time. This was a result of being within all the concepts.

And while it seemed like information was this most foundational form of existence... Sophia knew that since there was such thing as a lack of information, information wasn't actually that foundational form.

Dream was searching for something beyond information.

In that case, there wasn't much she could do to help. She could benefit from this discovery, but she couldn't make the discovery. Even with her entrance into Time, Sophia was limited to knowing all of Time according to her existence, and nothing outside of it.

There was only one way she could make that discovery.

By reconstructing all of existence through Time, and finding that missing piece.

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But that wouldn't happen before Dream ultimately died. To reconstruct all of existence, Sophia would need... well, time. Perhaps if she waited until the heat death of the universe, reverse engineering everything for trillions, perhaps quadrillions of years, she could reconstruct even conceptual existence. But that wouldn't save Dream, and it surely wouldn't help him in this moment.

For how amazing Time was, it was truly cruel.

The corner of Dream's mouth turned up a bit.

"I don't see another... way. Something... about being in the middle."

[The middle of Order and Chaos. And those four concepts you're in...]

"Are... under those two... divided between them. Order and Chaos... they're beyond concepts... and I can't reach them. Not like Luna, or Iris... or Alice."

[Can't reach them? You're in them now. You even had glimpses into Creation. If you four kept going the way you did, then all of you could have risen to the heights of those four concepts. Luna takes over Life, Iris over Annihilation, Alice over Death. With me in Time, we could've become hegemons in this universe. I'm sure that's what Luna wanted... But that's not what you want.]

Sophia peered into Dream. Suddenly, something clicked inside of her.

Her conceptual self shifted through time, through her entire existence. She processed every thought of Dream's as they developed throughout his life.

Then, she stopped at one particular instance. A fairly recent instance.

Dream was in the legacy space, reading through the 13th monolith of Gray Mist.

Gray Mist was the neutral energy between Mana and Rune. This monolith had also mentioned Dust and ash, how they were the orderly and chaotic equivalent to Mana and Runa. In that case, there was a higher equivalent to Gray Mist.

Khroia. The neutral counter to both Dust and Ash. An infinite energy of neutrality. That monolith had merely mentioned the energy, and didn't give any insight into its nature.

Beyond that, Dream had been able to realize both Dust and Ash. The fact that he didn't realize this Khroia meant it was much more elusive, perhaps not even existing within him. It was a combination of Dust and Ash, so it could be considered higher than both.

Sophia hadn't thought much of this particular energy, but as she read through what Dream thought of it, she realized that he didn't just feel strongly about this elusive energy, but was now dedicating his very life to the discovery, or creation of Khroia.

And it wasn't purely due to his pursuit of knowledge.

"Hey... Sophia. Have Luna and Iris... started fighting, yet? Do they hate each other?"

[...Yes.]

She nodded slowly, wondering what he was getting at.

"I see... In that case... they're already dying. They're killing... each other."

[Killing each other... Wait, you mean their singular existence? They occupy one existence, yet two egos, and they've separated into the farthest extremes of order and chaos. You've been the mediary between their Mana and Runa clashing. But now, as they approach a higher level, it'll be their Dust and Ash, their concepts that clash. If Luna reaches the heights of Life and Creation, and Iris the height of Annihilation, then they'll kill the other. And Luna would win, with another concept beyond Iris'. Iris would die.]

Sophia shivered a bit as she connected the dots. She had thought something like this would eventually become a problem, especially after both of them attained god cores and became goddesses. But they had yet to clash and kill each other. Though, if they were to reach even higher...

Sophia's brows wrinkled. There was more to Dream's words.

[You asked if they were fighting, if they hated each other. Why does that indicate the problem becoming prevalent?]

"Concepts... work that way. They aren't mysterious... yet don't affect things directly. Luna and Iris getting into... a fight would achieve the same results as them... clashing internally. If they build armies... attack the opposing faction... bring down their allies... weaken them..."

[Dream...]

Sophia reached out as Dream's mind became turbulent. It wasn't that he was worried, though he was.

[What have you discovered?]

She could feel the intense flame of awe burn within him. He often got this when discovering something new, like a secret of the universe.

His soul trembled a bit. If only she could reach into him without hurting him...

"The concepts... the source of their power... religion."

[Religion?]

"Belief... feelings... ideas... ideology... theories... The universe is composed... of living energy... people. Concepts... are the why behind the functions of the universe. And when the living energy is given abstraction... enough intangible abstract thought... can affect and build... concepts. Concepts only come... from the function of the living energy, that composes the universe. The religion of Order... versus the religion of Chaos..."

It almost looked like Dream was frustrated as he spilled the things he knew. He fervently described this discovery. And it almost looked like the concepts were responding to him as the powers that destroyed his body flared.

"Luna and Iris... Order and Chaos... their concepts fight through their actions. Order wishes to destroy Chaos... and they're being bent to the seeming wills of these concepts..."

[They'll kill each other by weakening the other side. Angels destroy all demons. Chaos weakens as a result. Chaos naturally wants to fight back, so Iris launches attacks on the angels.]

"They don't... even realize..."

[They're falling deeper into their concepts. So deep that they're killing each other through their wars. Their hate isn't theirs, but the concepts'... And you're trying to prevent that.]

"By standing... in the middle."

Dream smiled, glad that hid message was conveyed.

"I initially wanted... to simply find the missing piece and climb up... Creation. We could've taken the four concepts. But then I realized... what the concepts were doing to me. Or more like... what they were going to do. I had seen... glimpses of Luna and Iris' hate... and realized something was wrong. The concepts aren't as simple... as they seem. An ego... isn't so easily retained... in the presence of the highest concepts."

[So you abandoned your knowledge. But I don't remember you doing that for the sake of seeking Khroia.]

"No. Abandoning my knowledge was done... for the reasons you know of. And my seeking out of Khroia... is not purely for the safety of my wives. Only now... I realize that Khroia is the key to not only saving Luna and Iris... but greater knowledge. If they're saved... we can all push ourselves farther. So long as I stand... in the middle."

[It's a win-win. Save Luna and Iris, and attain something beyond Order and Chaos. I admit, it's a correct path. But...]

Sophia observed Dream's body, his soul. At the rate he was going, there was nothing waiting for him but death. He needed to attain Khroia that would allow his being to withstand the clashing of Order and Chaos within him. If that didn't happen, he would be subject to the same thing as every other reckless being in the universe: true, standard death.

[...You don't have much time. Death approaches you. Unless... you need to experience Death to go beyond it, to find what is beyond informational existence. Is that the plan? Die and hope that some part of you retains itself long enough to realize that piece of knowledge? To realize Khroia?]

"Well... If I can do so before then... that would be nice. But my hopes... aren't high."

Dream barely let out a chuckle.

[I don't like that plan.]

Sophia's cute face scrunched up.

[I know there's more that you're not telling me, perhaps because you're unable. I know certain things can't be expressed with words, and I can't tap into your mind out of fear of it degrading under my presence. But I sincerely hope you know more, and that your plan involves more than just killing yourself with the concepts.]

She sat beside Dream. When her hand slipped into his, the degradation of his body slowed considerably, at least outwardly. He still looked almost like a corpse, with half his body full of life and half of it reduced to death.

[I can't help you directly.]

Sophia spoke softly, leaning slightly against him.

[But Time is powerful. I've been thinking, and I think I have a way to go about utilizing my power. I'll reverse engineer the universe using information and my existence, but to do that, I need sources of conceptual information.]

"To know the entire universe... is to have the entire universe within you."

Dream turned his head, gazing at Sophia.

"Be sure to attain that power... first."

[You have no right to say that, despite being correct.]

She smirked at the hypocritical statement, causing him to smile.

"Do... as you wish. But naturally... this requires you to separate... from me."

[I don't want to...]

"Actually... you should have done so long ago. I've been chaining... you down."

Dream head slumped back down, resting.

"Go. Seek all of the universe. Everything that it contains... From the perspective of trillions... In your own, profound way... And..."

Dream snickered just slightly.

"Say hi to that man... Surely, he'll come out sometime."

[...Sure.]

Sophia smiled.

Standing, she stroked his hair before backing away. Then, she disappeared, no trace of her once being there.

............

.......

[Hello, Solomon.]

She stood in the darkness. She received nothing, no information. She was no longer a part of him.

Yet, she smiled. Could he predict the future? He really did learn more and more despite having thrown away all his knowledge.

In that darkness, she saw a gate. A gate of information, but not one that led to Time.

[I guess I'll take you up on your offer. Truly, you've laid a strong foundation. As if... you've been waiting for this very moment.]

She sighed. If this particular being hadn't been on their side, how would things have gone? Could you face someone that could see through Time?

No, he couldn't see through Time. Sophia knew that, despite everything pointing to a contrary conclusion.

[I'll need what you have in order to go as far as I need. Well, I can only trust you. Just put me somewhere advantageous, please.]

With those words, she drifted forward. Actually, it wasn't her that drifted forward, but a small wisp of her.

[Plant a seed and let it grow. What better way to experience Time?]

She mumbled and watched as her tiny incarnation approached the gate.

Then, it disappeared. For a while, there was darkness. But after about 9 months, she saw something.

............

"Congratulations! A healthy baby girl!"