Somnu swallowed his own breath as he realized he was stuck between the massive slime creature, and the cluster of stone statues looking up at him.

  And if his new friend didn’t show up soon, he had no way out of this.

  His left arm was completely devoured, the skin on the rest of his body was being peeled away, all except for his feet which were being petrified to stone instead.

  Okay, think! I have to do something… To try to prolong it as much as possible… He thought, gritting his teeth once more.

  Forcing himself to move despite the piercing pain of the slime creature making its way up his left arm, Somnu brought Fala closer with his right hand and nodded to her.

  [Crow’s Cohort!]

  Without delay, Fala summoned the three clones, all of them having their feet slowly turn to stone too.

  Sorry, clones… It’s up to you now… Somnu thought as he canceled the summoning of [Crow’s Call] to get the main Fala out of harm's way. Her clones, however, were shoved into the slime creature to be absorbed too.

  [Straw Strike!]

  As the Dreadbeast was busy nibbling on Somnu and the crow clones, the scarecrow created a rope of straws and tied it around the closest stone statue below.

  He immediately pulled himself deeper to the unmoving Specter creature, ripping the rest of what was left of his shoulder from within the slimy beast.

  “Blurghh!”

  The horrifying agony that rushed into him in the process made him quickly lose most of the air he still had left within him.

  Crow-Shit! I can’t… I can’t allow myself to swallow any of the water… He thought, immediately blocking his nose and mouth with his right hand.

  “!”

  Then, suddenly, whirlpools began to appear around the Nightmare Creature, sucking everything closer to it. Somnu was barely able to resist the pull by relying on the still tied up rope of straw.

  Everything below his waist turned to stone once again, but on the bright side…

  BLOOORRRPPPP!!!

  “...”

  The distorted faces on the Dreadbeast were thrashing about in all directions now, panicking, crying… Fearing the inevitable.

  Consuming the half petrified crow clones only made things worse. With those, and with continuing to consume Somnu’s petrifying skin, the massive blob of ooze began to turn into a stone statue too.

  And on top of that, the crow clones were still inside of it, speeding up the process from different parts of its body.

  Seeing the rest of his Terror Cores being consumed, Somnu reached level 99, and with it, the end of what his plan could reach on his own.

  He was too deep to rely on a rope to the surface, nor could he instantly think of any role for Grudgekeeper to play here.

  Wait… Could Grudgekeeper even eat slime? Or… Stone?

  Just as he considered a plan and summoned Grudgekeeper, his vision quickly blurred. All he could see as his mind drifted was the rest of the Dreadbeast being turned to stone at a rapid rate.

  At least… I’ll know my plan worked…

  Somnu’s mind quickly seemed to wander, and just like the last time he had been in this situation…

  The translucent Memento on his head activated, digging itself into his skull and shattering unseen veils.

  ***

  Where… am I?

  Somnu thought, suddenly finding himself drifting in an empty dark void.

  Am I… dead?

  He asked, not quite expecting an answer.

  What is this… place?

  He looked around, but all he saw was nothingness.

  Is everyone… okay?

  He wondered, remembering his last moments, his missing arm.

  What should I… do?

  “?!”

  Just as he began thinking of a solution, the entire space around him suddenly became water.

  He was once again surrounded by clear transparent liquid on all sides.

  What is going on?

  And then, without warning, he plummeted deeper and deeper.

  “Agh!!”

  First, it was the wounds the scarecrow monster gave him when he first got to the Abyss of Lethe.

  He felt those wounds come up again.

  Then second came the bite from the Hopping Turtle.

  Third, the paralyzing feeling from the Slowing Bunny.

  Fourth, the rotting taste of his own flesh and the feeling of the Contagious Corpses feeding on him.

  Fifth, the open wounds on his back from the constant whipping the scarecrow monster gave him during their second encounter.

  Sixth, the throbbing of his brain, the rapid pumping of his heart, the boiling blood running through his veins, the burning eyes expanding out of the sockets, the popping of his tongue, the melting of his crotch, the shattering of his eardrums beneath the maniacal laughter of the countless Nightmare Creatures around him.

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  Seventh, the impaling vines from the Woodland Spirit as it turned him to wood.

  Eighth, the complete loss of eyesight from the Blinding Bats.

  Ninth, the petrification from the gargoyles.

  And Tenth, the peeling of his skin cells, along with his left arm being ripped apart and devoured from the bone.

  One by one, Somnu re-lived those moments, all piling up on top of each other.

  And to make matters worse, in the darkness of lightless eyes, he could still see it.

  A massive grinning skull symbol enveloping him and sending him into an immediate panic attack.

  Some of those he couldn’t even handle on their own, now, his mind was breaking under their combined onslaught.

  Somnu was being ripped apart at the seams. He couldn’t think, he couldn't understand.

  Somnu was losing himself-

  “!”

  Suddenly, a new pain jolted him out of his stupor.

  A sudden piercing chill at the back of his head.

  That’s right… I was… attacked.

  Despite all the pain in his body, Somnu moved his remaining limbs and tried to swim against the current.

  However, he quickly realized he wasn’t being pulled deeper down, but he had been plummeting upwards.

  And so, he began to swim, or attempted to, deeper and deeper down, only to sink upwards into a chaotic spiral.

  Then, at the very center, an image began to come together.

  ***

  “He’s still not waking up…?” A female voice echoed through the room. “That means he’s still alive on that side, right?”

  “We hope so, but it isn’t like we have hard proof evidence or better information on that side of the coin.” A man said. “All we got are ancient texts and ravings hinting at something coming soon.”

  Who are they…? Finally regaining his eyesight fully, Somnu blinked a couple of times before coming to himself and realizing what was going on.

  He was watching his own physical body in the hospital room. It was as if he was the ceiling, looking down at his unconscious self.

  You look like you’re sleeping soundly… but here I am experiencing hell, what gives?

  To his right, he recognized the figure with the silky, golden hair and the leather jacket. It was clearly Mr. Emberlyn’s granddaughter.

  Why is she still coming to my room after so long…? Is this even in the present…?

  Opposite to her, to Somnu’s left, was a man in a white coat, clearly a doctor. Beside the messy ashy brown hair, nothing much was visible.

  “The others are worried sick too, and you won’t even let them in here much.” The blond girl reprimanded, crossing her arms. “If we weren’t in a hospital room, I would probably have kicked your butt right now.”

  “Easy, tiger. You’re still new here, remember? Duskville is a big town, but word spreads around fast.” The man chuckled. “If you beat up their beloved head doctor, everyone will consider you a delinquent girl and stay away from you.”

  “Maybe that’s for the best then. They’re all avoiding me after the Halloween celebrations.” The girl lowered her arms and held onto the side of the bed. “It almost seemed like they felt obligated to show me around that night. I get it, I don’t blame them.” She softened her gaze and looked down at Somnu’s face. “But he… He went just to talk to me and introduce himself.”

  Wait, wait, wait! Why does she know this?! Somnu panicked.

  “Oh? How do you know that?” The man seemed to ask the right questions.

  “My pop-pop asked if he had when I came home… The horror on his usually smiling face when I told them what happened… I still can’t get it out of my head…” She seemed to tightened her grip on the bed handles.

  “The old gramps…? They were close…?” The doctor tilted his head slightly, trailing off in thought.

  Damn you, Mr. Emberlyn! Why did you go and blab about that! Somnu wanted so badly to hold up a fist, wishing he could swing it as someone specific. He could barely hear the sly laughter in the distance.

  “So, it seems. That’s why… I don’t want to abandon him…” She let go of the handles and took a few steps back, slowly tracing her feather bracelet with her fingers. “Dreams don’t work, unless we do. Is there nothing else you can do here, Arman? He has people waiting for him to wake up.”

  “Look, we’re doing the best we can.” The doctor took a clipboard and started flipping through papers. “He’s completely out of it, almost brain dead. I’ve pulled every favor and help I could here, I don’t think we can keep this up much longer at this rate.”

  What are they arguing about exactly…? Why is she so worried about me when she doesn’t even know me? Somnu thought as he watched them both grow silent. Something isn’t adding up here…

  Somnu could at least figure out a few things. The girl and the doctor both have knowledge of the Nightmare Realm and are actively trying to help Somnu for some reason.

  Leyna and Mo, Somnu’s adopted siblings, were also somehow involved.

  I hope they are okay… I’m probably making them worry too much…

  Whatever the case, Somnu wasn’t naive enough to think the girl was just coming to his bedside for the simple reason of him wanting to talk to her during Halloween.

  There had to have been a different reason.

  “I understand your feelings, I do, but whatever happens, we’re not abandoning him.” The doctor seemed to pause for a second, looking into the girl’s eyes. “This isn’t the same as what happened back then, you know that, right?”

  “... Yes.” She replied, dropping her gaze.

  “Whatever the case, let’s hope something changes about his condition soon. Otherwise, my hand will be forced.” The doctor turned away.

  “Forced to do what exactly?” The girl grabbed onto the handles again, her knuckles turning white.

  “To pull the plug.”

  Crow-Shit! They’re going to let my physical body die?!

  Just as Somnu was beginning to grasp the meaning behind the doctor’s words, everything around him disappeared.

  ***

  Pain. Up. Where. Red. Pain. Down. How. Violet. Pain. Left. Why. White. Pain. Right. What. Golden.

  Pain. All-Round. Who. Unseen.

  Pain. Help. Move. Can’t. Stop.

  Pain.

  Mind gone. No.

  Control.

  I am in control!

  Pulling himself out of a swirling chaotic spiral of endless flashes he couldn’t begin to make heads or tails of, Somnu found himself in another complete, empty void.

  “!”

  Then, he got pulled again, deep into the eye of the chaotic spiral.

  A turtle, big as a city. No, bigger.

  Delving into its dead eye, the Nirvia Castle. The throne room. The seat of authority beneath a glowing dream catcher design.

  Translucent unfamiliar writings hanging within the iridescent strings.

  Unfamiliar, yet readable to the spying eyes biding the veil.

  Words of history long lost.

  Saying:

  Third Aeon: The age of Dreamers

  The Faceless Deity, the Goddess of Dreams, broke its vow, transgressed the laws, and invaded the last stronghold, appointing a sovereign.

  One reality became many - One realm split, a tree of worlds blooming with countless branches.

  Faith surged, birthing dreams. Then Sleepers rose, emboldened by aspirations.

  And yet, Fear rose too, unleashing the Nightmares for the hunt, teeth bared, hungering for dread.

  In the end, the last stronghold fell, the last sovereign slain, both forgotten to time.

  And so, once again… Many perished. Many vanished.

  Only one remained.

  The veil collapsed, breaking like shattered glass beneath the weight of truth.

  Shards of memories split, lost within the confinement of chaos.

  Far, in the distance, reality.

  Back to Somnu.

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