“I tell you! We have scoured the entire fort countless times, he cannot be hiding within our walls!”

  “Then where would he be, huh?! He’s picking us off one by one! Two of the missing girls were found dead, and more are popping up every day!”

  “Or worse, this new Dreadbeast consuming Sleepers whole!”

  “Silence!”

  After the gang was led to take what looked like an elevator from the stone age, they had to cross a short hallway into the throne room. As soon as they walked in, they were met with Luscairna guards and a bunch of Sleepers on each other’s throats.

  Thankfully, Evu’Dral, the Fortmaster, immediately intervened.

  “We have gathered here to put our efforts together once more!” Sitting on the throne that was too big for his small body, Evu’Dral announced with authority, unlike the last time Somnu had met him. “Bree’Niu, tell them what we learned!”

  “Yes, your great reverence!” The assistant stepped in front of the luxurious structure, still grasping onto her magical book. “Recently, one of our prior discarded theories was proven true. We had rejected the idea of the Blood Fiend being more than one person as all victims had been subjected to the same skill.”

  “A skill?” A Sleeper asked.

  “Yes.” Arman, who continued writing on a long holographic white board, finally spoke up. “Since we could never connect any of the murders to any single person specifically, we naturally considered the possibility of there being a group of them. However, as the numbers of suspects grew, it had become abundantly clear they do not have the same Aspiration Class, and could therefore not have the same skill across the board, no pun intended.”

  “That doesn’t really answer my question…”

  “The skill we are referring to is this!” The head doctor added his last period on the board with force, although silently, before turning back to clear the line of sight.

  Behind him, the holographic board had a bunch of unreadable text and symbols. Even the images couldn’t be made out.

  “A doctor’s handwriting alright…” Leyna facepalmed, shaking her head slightly in exasperation. Having been revealed to be the head doctor’s assistant, she likely had to deal with this issue repeatedly.

  “Don’t get me started…” Aurora rolled her eyes.

  “That really hurts my feelings, girls!” Arman said with a self-deprecating chuckle and tapped the board a few times.

  Suddenly, all the information came together at the center as if merging, and then scattered about once more.

  Only humans from earth could recognize the text parts, assuming they could read the same language, but that hadn’t been the important part. Instead, two massive images had taken most of the board’s space.

  One outlined a typical human anatomy with a lot of markings and what Somnu guessed was supposed to be the slashes John Doe was known for.

  The second had a perfect copy of the grinning skull symbol, so perfect it made some people tense up upon seeing it.

  The scarecrow gave a single look, then moved on.

  “First, this kind of slashing is different from what this murderer was known for back where I come from.” Arman explained, pointing towards the first image. “It’s excessive and clearly too clean for any blade to repeatedly do it perfectly across the entire body. Therefore, we can be sure it is a skill that can be used by one or few Aspiration Classes.”

  And since a lot of the pawns likely don’t all have violent Aspiration Classes, they couldn’t all have this skill. I can see why they thought that, but… Somnu deduced, leaning on his stick as everyone listened.

  “The perfectly drawn symbol every time further supported this theory, as it would be next to impossible for a group of individuals to perfectly replicate a hand drawn symbol… As much as some of us would like to.” Arman added while pointing towards the second image, clearing his throat towards the end. “However, as dear Bree’Niu was nicely explaining, a new piece of information has changed this thinking entirely.”

  “Yes, thank you kindly lord Arman.” Bree’Niu continued after receiving a nod from the head doctor. Her faint blue cheeks flushed a slight purple, but she kept her composure. “All this could be possible with our new information. The Blood Fiend is able to freely take control and possess other sleepers.”

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  “?!”

  “What?!”

  “You’re kidding me!”

  Both Luscairna and Sleepers alike shuddered in place. Same with Leyna and Mo, while Aurora seemed to narrow her eyes in contemplation.

  “Are you telling me we can be possessed at any time?!”

  “The Blood Fiend could be anyone in the fort, just simply using other Sleepers to do his bidding while he leisurely walks among us?!”

  “Silence!”

  “...”

  As Evu’Dral’s voice resounded once more. The sudden jolt made everyone swallow their words.

  Is this Fortmaster more reliable than I thought…? Was it really that weird book? Somnu shook his head slightly and returned to studying everyone’s expressions at the news.

  Truth was, the blind Sleeper had snuck a doppelganger into the throne room and met with Evu’Dral alone briefly. He had requested to not be named as the source in exchange of giving him more information. Just as Somnu had told his allies and Arman, he similarly requested to be treated as a blind Dreamer so he could potentially sniff out any pawns hiding around the fort.

  This also meant beside Carmella, the Fortmaster would know the true identity of the Unseen Dreadbeast of Lethe. Somnu hoped he could truly rely on Mathros’ advice to trust Evu’Dral.

  As for the other information Somnu had given him…

  “The source tells us that the only Sleepers that can be possessed are those with active fears remaining!” The Fortmaster spoke, his voice resounding through the entire throne room. “Therefore, we will urge everyone with active fears to go out and overcome them as soon as possible!”

  “It’s a new rule of Mirewalker Fort! We hope to reduce the number of possible victims!” Bree’Niu spoke, following Evu’Dral’s lead. “We have means to check if a Sleeper does in fact have an active fear or not! In the next two days, we will be evicting all of those who do! We will provide aid, whether in the form of rations, weapons or information, all for free!”

  “...”

  As the group of Sleepers sank into deep thoughts, Arman walked to stand next to Bree’Niu in front of the throne.

  “This wasn’t an easy choice, but it is a necessary one. We aren’t sure if the possessed remain that way even after their active fears are conquered, but we have to eliminate the possibility of new possessions.” The head doctor argued, keeping his tone calm. “We are still working on finding the exit to this Layer and we are not receiving any new Sleepers since humans from earth made it here a month and a half ago. Meaning, it is best to have everyone ready for when we are to cross to the Second Layer together!”

  “That’s… reasonable.” One of the Sleepers muttered while nodding his head slightly.

  “What of this new Unseen Dreadbeast of Lethe?! What are we going to do about him?!” Another Sleeper grumbled.

  Mo, Leyna and Aurora looked at each other for answers, then towards Somnu, but he simply kept his gaze focused forward, playing to his blind persona instead of shrugging his shoulders.

  Don’t look at me! Hurry up and say something, furrball!

  “Have you forgotten?!”

  “Eep!”

  The Fortmaster’s cold, low voice suddenly sent shivers through everyone’s backs.

  “I have always warned those that break the rules that I will be sending my Dreadbeast after them! For those willing helpers of Blood Fiend, there will be no mercy!” Evu’Dral bellowed, bringing down his fists on the armchairs like a judge’s hammer. “Nor will there be any mercy for those who continue to break the rules that protect everyone’s safety!”

  A bunch of Sleepers swallowed hard, their facial expressions clearly tensing up even more than they had been so far.

  Aside from the Blood Fiend’s requirement to possess Sleepers, this implementation of the Unseen Dreadbeast was another thing Somnu had asked the Fortmaster to do. On one hand, it would strengthen his authority while, at the same time, keeping the fear of the Dreadbeast as fuel for [Fated Terror]. On the other hand, the absolute panic in the fort would be reduced as they finally learned the problem is being actively dealt with.

  Even if that reduced some of Somnu’s strength somewhat, he was okay with it. Removing vicious pawns, and keeping the peace, even if he was using fear and terror to do it…

  Ultimately, that was the job of the scarecrow. It came naturally.

  The only issue he could foresee with sending Sleepers out, was the fact that they could encounter actual Dreadbeasts in the First Layer now. However, it was necessary for his ultimate plan, and he had made sure to instruct the Formaster to send them all out as small parties.

  That way, they could work together to defeat what would be considered boss type monsters on this Layer. If the parties are balanced, the majority should survive and come back even stronger than before.

  “Now, to the next matter!” Bree’Niu announced. “Until yesternight, we had three missing girls. Now two of them have turned up dead. However, one has returned completely safe! Miss Aurora, would you care to tell us where you were?”

  “...” Somnu glanced briefly at the girl, half-expecting her to be hesitating, but instead, it looked as though a fierce fire was lit in her blue eyes.

  “Yes!”

  She stepped forward with near perfect posture, commanding the attention in the room like a newborn star.

  Her head high, and voice clear, she began.

  “I went missing after discovering a secret pathway inside this fort!”