In the end, they decided that there was nothing that could be done. If they tore themselves apart with arguing, they would have no chance to get together again before the day of the final battle. And aside from that, they had no idea who this supposed traitor might be. There was a high chance that there wasn't one, and Nightmare had just been trying to trick them. The alleged traitor hadn't done anything yet that they knew of, and there was no evidence pointing to any one member.
Then the time arrived. The armies assembled. Dream himself had a few invisibility potions that he had obtained over the course of the time spent preparing. He had figured that the less time he spent in the same space that the members of Pogtopia were using to prepare, the better it would be for him, and Wilbur agreed.
So, carefully, Dream went out to gather materials for potions. He had nine potions now, but he was loathe to use them, because he hadn't even been able to get redstone to take full advantage of the other ingredients. Nightmare had been mining pretty much the entire time, and Tommy had reported that the main mine was clear, which meant Nightmare was likely creating a new path or exploring caves in general, so anywhere that they went underground had a high risk of Nightmare stumbling upon it.
But as the members of Pogtopia gathered to fight, Dream heard something that made his blood run cold.
Wilbur stated plainly that if they lost he would detonate the TNT he had placed underneath Manburg's land. He had more than eleven stacks rigged to blow at the press of a button, and there would be nothing left.
Dream didn't understand it. How could he just destroy everything they worked for? L'Manburg, their dream, the thing they had fought, died, and bled for. And it wasn't just his decision to make, either.
But to Dream's surprise, no one objected. The only thing he wasn't surprised about was Techno's support for the plan. Of course the anarchist would be all for blowing up...
Oh, no.
Dream started upright from his position against the wall.
Oh, no.
Technoblade was an anarchist. He wasn't doing this to help them get L'Manburg back. He was doing it to destroy Schlatt.
And what happened when Wilbur tried to get his country back, his land back?
Techno could very well detonate the very explosives Wilbur had placed as a fail safe.
Dream pulled out a potion of invisibility, ready to go out there and...
And do what? He couldn't fight Technoblade, not without armor and weapons.
And it wasn't likely he could fight Techno with armor and weapons, either. Technoblade was the undisputed king of Minecraft, a god at PvP. Unkillable.
All Dream could do, once again, was wait and watch.
Wait, watch, and hope.
Wilbur had said, when he had been banished from Manburg, that he would not be the same man again if they ever did return.
Dream only now saw how true that was.
But the surprises were not over. Techno told the members of Pogtopia's army to follow him, and Dream couldn't resist using a potion to follow.
It wasn't hard to figure out what Techno had done. He was never idle, and would not have been while the other members of Pogtopia were worried about the traitor and gearing themselves up for a fight.
Dream watched them descend into a river and through a hole in the bank, and then he watched them come out again, all covered in netherite, shining with enchantments.
Sure enough, Technoblade had delivered on his promise of gear. There wasn't a single member of Pogtopia who wasn't fully outfitted with everything they could carry. Potions, netherite armor and weapons, golden apples, tipped arrows, crossbows. Everything they needed. Everything they could have asked for.
Dream didn't know what he was doing. Once again, he couldn't participate. Just a bystander, again.