"ugh... Damn it, why does this place hurt?"
Under the dim lighting, Elliot’s grumble echoed in the room as he examined the aching spot on the side of his chest.
For a moment, he thought something had attacked him or something like that.
But he didn’t feel any threat around him... well, except for the person standing in front of him staring at him with those black eyes.
Elliot looked at his bed, which had become slightly distant, then at Kyle, who was also lying outside his bed, before turning his head back to Caius, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.
"Did you kick us trying to wake us up?.. or something like that?"
Caius stared at him in silence for a few moments, thinking about what was happening now, before shaking his head and replying sarcastically. "No... why would I do something as rude as that?"
"Because my chest hurts and both of us are outside our beds."
"Well, maybe I would do that if you refused to wake up... and it seems that just happened."
He tilted his head slightly as he stared at Elliot with an indifferent expression. "So since you’re a great hero who managed to overcome the ordeal, would you kindly enlighten me on what’s happening before the lives of these poor sleepers end... I mean instead of sitting there wondering whether I kicked you in your sleep or not?"
Elliot blinked at him for a few moments, then with a faint click of his tongue, replied. "Something similar to what happened on the train when we tried to transport the Artifacts, but this time instead of a pleasant dream, I think it’s a nightmare... or reliving bad memories... I’m not entirely sure yet."
Caius raised an eyebrow. "Let’s just shorten things quickly..."
"You stayed conscious using that ability of yours, and there you managed to realize what was happening and carve your way out... so did you learn the cause of all this?"
Elliot had previously told him about that ability during their fight against the Demon of Dreams in the past, so it wasn’t hard to deduce that.
And it seemed Elliot understood that as well.
With clear disappointment, he shook his head and answered. "I tried... I stayed there for a while trying to figure out what caused this, but there was nothing strange around me except blue flowers that hadn’t bloomed."
"And even after I broke the nightmare and got out, I didn’t find myself in front of the creature like what happened last time."
Caius nodded at his words, placing his hand under his chin as he thought about what he had just said. "Blue flowers, didn’t find it... then maybe it exists in the physical world unlike the Demon of Dreams."
He raised his hand, rubbing his temple as he tried to remember something. "I think I read about this somewhere."
While Caius tried to remember exactly where he had heard about this, Elliot stood up from the ground and glanced at Kyle lying outside his bed.
"So how long was I asleep?"
Caius answered without giving him any attention. "About five or six hours."
"Much shorter than I expected." Elliot muttered, before being interrupted by sudden words.
"Nightmare Flower."
Elliot was surprised upon hearing this strange name, and a question formed on the tip of his tongue, but before he could ask, Caius answered as he clapped his hands together.
"Nightmare Flower is a Rank 5 monster, it affects anyone who sleeps within a certain range of the main body and pulls them into a chain of recurring nightmares, each worse than the last." Caius recited the words one after another as he had read them in the past.
Elliot listened seriously before asking the most concerning question now. "So are the others in danger right now?"
Caius shook his head. "Yes... and no."
His eyes drifted to Kyle on the ground before he continued. "Unlike the Demon of Dreams, this thing doesn’t feed on their lives themselves, so they’re not in danger of dying, but the problem lies in their minds... from what I remember, many people went insane and lost their minds even after being pulled out of those nightmares."
"In the end, many of them lived with mental impairment."
Elliot clenched his jaw unconsciously. "How do we get them out quickly?"
Caius shrugged calmly. "Well... simply kill the main body as fast as possible."
"Did the book mention the range of influence of this flower?"
Caius shook his head. "It varies from one to another depending on its strength... but it ranges from three kilometers and above."
Elliot’s hand moved unconsciously as he ran it through his hair nervously. "Finding it will take time even with your perception."
But unlike him, Caius didn’t seem bothered or nervous. "It’s fine, they can hold on long enough... only a few hours have passed so they’re still in the safe phase..."
"Maybe."
With that, he stretched his body slightly as if preparing for something. "So I’ll go search for and deal with that thing, and you stay to guard them here."
They couldn’t both leave and abandon the others without any protection in the end.
But Elliot had a different opinion. "What if we just carry them away from here... won’t the flower’s effect stop if they leave its range?"
With disappointment, he replied. "Unfortunately no... it has already invaded their dreams, so doing that won’t solve anything."
Elliot sighed. "Can you handle it alone... even if it’s related to minds, it’s still Rank 5."
Caius hesitated for a few moments before answering. "Let’s say it’s fifty percent."
Elliot shook his head in resignation before stepping toward the exit. "I’ll check on the others first."
"The others..." Caius muttered, before a frown appeared on his face as if he had just noticed something.
In the next moment, he quickly stepped toward the room’s exit as his voice echoed behind him. "Maybe I’m not the only one awake."
Elliot was surprised, but before he could ask, he had already left the room.
He quickly followed him and saw him enter the girls’ room. He followed with some hesitation at entering a room meant for girls while they were sleeping.
"What exactly is going on..."
The words stopped on the tip of his tongue as he stared at the silhouettes of the girls sleeping there.
Both Izel and Ellen were lying peacefully in their beds.
But unlike them, Leona wasn’t asleep.
Instead, she sat on her bed hugging herself, her head buried between her knees... she looked afraid, very afraid.
Even Caius looked stunned at the sight.
He hadn’t realized it earlier because he hadn’t really paid attention to them... why would he when he thought they were just resting.
But now he realized that Leona had woken up at some point.
’What happened to her?’ he thought as he looked at the frightened girl in front of them.
Her body was trembling uncontrollably, and it seemed she hadn’t noticed their presence until this moment.
"Leona... are you okay?" Elliot’s voice echoed in the room as he approached her.
But even then, the girl didn’t react and remained in that state. "Leona..."
His voice echoed again before he reached her and placed his hand on her shoulder, shaking her slightly.
But nothing.
Caius also approached, a confused expression on his face. ’What the hell happened to this girl?’
"Hey Leona...." Elliot called again, but louder this time.
And this time, he got a response.
Leona raised her head, pulling it out from between her knees, her blue hair falling back, and under the dim lighting, her face was revealed.
Leona, who usually wore a smiling expression... even after everything they had gone through, from Talia’s death to Asfaria, she had always been the most cheerful among them all...
But now she looked like a completely different person. Her face was pale... pale like someone who had returned from death itself.
While dried tears left marks on her terrified face... her eyes were hazy, lost in her own world.
As if she were looking at two places at the same time.
Elliot and Caius looked at each other, suspicion written across their faces.
"What happened to you?" Caius asked, suspicion rising again toward the Nightmare Flower.
But the only response they received was a few broken words. "I... where am I..." It seemed she was completely unaware of her surroundings.
With a few steps, Caius moved closer and knelt in front of her to meet her line of sight.
"Leona, get a hold of yourself... whatever happened, it’s over." His words echoed as he tried to pull her out of her strange state.
And it seemed to have some effect, as her eyes began to regain some clarity.
But in the next moment, tears formed in her eyes and flowed down her cheeks again as she spoke a few broken words.
Words that made the others’ hearts sink.
"Everything ... everything will end."