"Yes, this is inside your nightmare."
Crown approached, speaking.
"To be precise, it's inside the 'World's Nightmare'... where all of humanity's nightmares gather and stagnate."
As I listened to Crown's words, my hazy consciousness gradually became clearer.
As if waking from a long dream.
And I started to remember.
What happened before I entered this world of nightmares.
***
After Stage 48 ended.
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After seeing Sid's first steps and first words.A few days after we started preparing for Stage 49.
Strange phenomena began to engulf Crossroad.
Some of those who fell asleep continued to sleep, never to wake again.
No one in this world, not even the strongest warrior, can avoid sleep. But once asleep, there was a high chance of losing consciousness.
One soldier who woke up just before losing consciousness among those who had fallen asleep reported to me.
"I heard the sound of a flute in my dream."
"The sound of a flute?"
"Yes, a very sorrowful and mournful... and somehow eerie flute sound..."
People continued to lose consciousness.
Everyone went to bed trembling with fear every night. They fell asleep terrified of hearing the flute sound in their dreams.
And when there were far more unconscious people than those awake, when news started to spread that this endless sleep was spreading to other nearby cities and countries.
That's when it appeared in the sky above Crossroad.
A massive sphere of darkness, rippling like liquid.
The Sky Knights attempted to approach it from the air, but the moment even a hair's breadth touched it, they immediately lost consciousness and fell. And these knights, too, never regained consciousness.
The mages from the Front didn't take long to identify the nature of this sphere.
"It's a materialized nightmare."
"This is... a nightmare?"
"Yes. We suspect it's formed by the nightmares of those currently unconscious, all gathered together."
Materialized nightmares were separating from the bodies of sleeping people, bubbling up into the air.
The sight... was chillingly similar to the countless 'dark cocoons' that exist in the Lake Kingdom.
An emergency strategy meeting was immediately convened.
"We quickly grasped the principle of the magic, but the completion and intricacy of the spell are too exquisite. It seems to be using some lost ancient magic..."
I asked the Front mages presiding over the meeting.
"So can we break it or not?"
"To put it simply, we can't dispel it from the outside."
Junior explained, breaking out in a cold sweat.
"The nightmares gathered in the sky are, so to speak, the 'result'. What we need to dispel is the 'cause' of this phenomenon... which is estimated to be in the core of that nightmare."
"You mean [Element Decomposition] won't work?"
"That's right. What use is it to dry up a puddle if it keeps raining? It's the same principle."
"This phenomenon, it's not a mental status ailment either?"
"Having nightmares is actually a natural thing for humans. Gathering them operates on a different principle from the mental realm..."
This means it's not the kind of phenomenon I can counter with [Unyielding Commander].
As I clutched my forehead, feeling a headache coming on, Junior continued.
"However, while it's difficult to dispel from the outside, if we can find the core from the inside, it shouldn't be hard to dispel."
"...!"
"If we have a catalyst to send our elites into that nightmare, we can dispel the spell from within... and save people from the nightmare."
But what could we use as a catalyst, and how?
After closing my eyes and pondering for a moment, I took a deep breath and said.
"I'll go in myself."
"...!"
"I'll be the catalyst."
Naturally, my subordinates protested, but I was certain.
The only one who could act as a catalyst, maintaining their sense of self without being swallowed by that massive nightmare, and call in allies from the inside.
It could only be me.
Because I was the most accustomed to this kind of trial.
'Above all... we're running out of time.'
Most of those affiliated with the Front had already fallen, and this strange phenomenon had spread across the entire southern continent. At this rate, it seemed poised to engulf the entire continent in just a bit more time.
Before the land was swept away by the waves of nightmares, I had to trust in myself and dive in.
Finally, just after my deployment was confirmed, one hesitant hero asked.
"Um, Your Highness. But... even if you succeed in your mission, isn't it possible that we might fail?"
It was Violet, the illusionist.
I quietly gazed back at her.
"Couldn't we all fall asleep and be swallowed by the nightmare, unable to endure? Then even if Your Highness acts as a catalyst in there, wouldn't it all be meaningless...?"
"No, Violet."
I smiled and looked around at the heroes gathered in the conference room.
"You will endure, without fail. I know it."
I surveyed the faces of my people surrounding me, one by one.
My warriors who were still standing, looking at me with clear eyes, not yet succumbing to the nightmare.
This wasn't a baseless belief.
I knew very well that they would not yield to nightmares.
So-
"I'll be back."
Trusting in my comrades, and no one else.
I decided to willingly plunge into the nightmares of my people.
"When I call, you must come to save me, okay?"
***
And so, back to now.
At the edge of some nightmare, I'm holding the dying sixteen-year-old Sid in my arms, facing Crown who stands right in front of me.
"Haa..."
Exhaling a white breath, I felt my consciousness gradually clearing. I felt my self awakening to my original self, escaping from the 15-year nightmare.
The principle behind how Crown could control monsters with his flute all this time.
It was because he had inherited the authority to rule over 'nightmares' from the Demon King.
And now, as the Demon King's proxy with all authority over nightmares amplified, he exercised his power to the fullest.
He extended his dominion even to the nightmares of people in the mortal world, forcibly abducting their consciousness and collecting nightmares.
'What we have to face in this defense battle is none other than 'nightmare' itself.'
And it was the nightmares of my people, no less.
"This is the world's nightmare."
Crown uttered calmly.
"It's the culmination of everything humanity fears. And right now, what your people fear most is the end of the world."
An era where doom approaches before our eyes.
All sorts of mythical monsters invading the mortal world, an endless night falling, news of the annihilation of elite forces gathered from all over the world spreading everywhere.
It was only natural for people to fear the end.
"And Ash, you represent everyone living in the mortal world."
"..."
"The 'worst future' among your memories, the most terrible and painful one... has been realized as a nightmare experienced by everyone in the world, adapted to your current situation."
In other words, this ruined world.
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Is it saying that the worst iteration I actually experienced in the past has been recreated as a nightmare shared by everyone in the world?
I quietly looked down at Sid dying in my arms.
"..."
This is not just a story in a dream.
In some world-line I don't remember.
People continued such a difficult and miserable life after the end.
Some young boy born and raised in such a world would have met such a pitiful and sad end.
"And if I fail and die in this nightmare, you make me repeat this post-apocalyptic world from the beginning... is that it?"
"That's right. Until you despair, give up, and declare surrender yourself. Until the moment your heart breaks. This world repeats infinitely. And this time-"
"No, don't tell me how many repetitions it's been."
I glared at Crown with a bitter smile.
"I'll fight to the very last end anyway."
"...Do you really think you can bear the nightmare of all the people you represent, the nightmare that this world itself is having?"
Crown narrowed his eyes behind his mask.
I know.
That this is similar to the hardships his younger sister... Nameless experienced.
That's why I answered proudly, chest out:
"That's why I'm here, Crown."
"..."
Crown smiled bitterly in return and pulled out his flute.
"No matter how hard you try, your world will never be saved, never. You'll just wander this hell for eternity."
"Then I will fight for eternity."
I slowly rose to my feet.
"If that is my mission, I will simply do so."
Thud thud thud thud...!
The sound of monsters approaching could be heard from afar.
Countless monsters revealed themselves, surrounding the ice field where we stood.
"In an eternally repeating nightmare, like my poor sister..."
Crown blew his flute.
"Embrace all the nightmares of the people you tried to save, and be crushed to death...!"
Piiiiiiiii...!
With a long, sorrowful sound, an infinite number of monsters from all directions, and the 'Sleepless Lake Princess', advanced towards me.
I quietly observed this massive tidal wave of monsters.
Now, I could understand.
'This is my fear.'
The nightmare brought on by my fear that all those who follow me might fall into suffering due to my wrong choices.
Perhaps even at this moment, I am afraid.
Knowing well the meaning hung on my flag, the number of lives shouldered on my shoulders, I fear the path I must tread.
But I also know.
That there are those who believed my path was not wrong even in a world like this.
That there are those who told me not to regret.
So-
I continue my strategy.
I walk my path.
I fight, in my own way.
"This is your nightmare, but it's also a world where monsters have triumphed!"
Crown shouted mockingly at me, surrounded by infinite monsters.
"Every time, always, you spoke as if you knew better, but you always lost! Nothing will change this time!"
"No."
I answered with conviction.
"This time is different."
I lightly kicked open the lid of something at my feet.
It was the coffin that this world's Elize had handed over, and Sid had carried all the way here.
A collection of my comrades' relics.
The Sword Coffin.
Clank-!
Inside the opened Sword Coffin were only shattered, broken weapons.
They were all so completely destroyed that they were utterly unusable. They were so thoroughly damaged that I couldn't even remember their exact names.
I picked up one of them.
It was a completely smashed magic gun. With the barrel itself gone, only the trigger and handle remained in an ugly shape.
But as I grasped its handle.
"...!"
The battles I had fought with this gun came vividly to mind, clearing my consciousness.
And the name of the equipment I couldn't remember began to come back clearly.
Yes, the name of this magic gun is [■■ ■]...
No.
"...[Black Queen]."
The moment I uttered the full name of the equipment.
Cha-rrrr-ruk...!
Click! Click! Click!
As particles of light gathered in the air, the broken magic gun was restored.
A long barrel sprouted above the handle that had only the trigger left, and beautiful decorations bloomed in succession.
And right after [Black Queen] was fully restored in mid-air,
Flash!
The particles of light gathered even more intensely, forming a human shape- and snatched that magic gun.
A young man with brown curly hair tied back and brown eyes shining like stars.
The strongest sniper of the Monster Front and my eternal trigger.
It was Damien.
"Did you sleep well, Your Highness?"
As Damien flashed a bright smile, beside him.
Flash! Flash! Flash-!
The other broken equipment also rose into the air one by one, shining brilliantly as they were restored, and their owners appeared in this nightmare as reinforcements, equipping their gear.
A mage with a red staff, a martial artist wrapped in a silver cloak, a shield knight wearing a helmet combined with a laurel wreath.
A dwarf wielding a hammer and chisel, an elf with daggers and a bow, an old man in a black feathered robe...
My comrades appeared endlessly from within the dazzling light, forming a protective circle around me.
I whispered quietly.
"Welcome."
Those who have faced their fears.
Those who have already overcome their most terrifying nightmares.
In my front, we call them this-
"...Nightmare Slayers."
Tearing through the dark night sky, into the world's nightmare-
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My nightmare slayers, who never succumb to fear, appeared one after another.
--TL Notes--
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