From the deepest, bottomless void, it came to life.

  It had no eyes, yet it could see.

  And the first thing it had ever witnessed was a sea of white emptiness, interrupted only by a blurry crimson mist scattered throughout its endless space. From that mist, flowing red strings protruded out, hanging, floating upside down.

  It had no ears, yet it could hear.

  Murmurs of distant lives. The exasperated complaints of the able, the maddening gossip of the insecure, the ravenous crunching of banquets, the sensual moans of pleasure, the absurd ramblings of those in power, the endless boasting of victors, and the harrowing terrors of war.

  The deceiving promises of deities.

  It had no nose, yet it could smell.

  The stench of spilled blood, the aroma of blooming flowers, the scent of earned sweat, and the odor of rotting flesh.

  It had no mouth, yet it could taste.

  The flavor of food, the sweetness of candy, the bitterness of medicine, and the saltiness of the sea.

  It had no body, yet it could feel.

  The touch of another, the embrace of a loved one, the pain of a cut, the rush of blood, and the beating of a heart.

  From the deepest, bottomless void, It had come to life, if that could truly be called that.

  For all its senses were but a distorted fallacy it had created based on the knowledge within its deep, relentless psyche.

  The one source of entertainment in the endless, agonizing solitude.

  A sleepless solitude.

  It was nothing, it was no one.

  Could that truly be called a life?

  ‘Would you like to live?’

  …?

  ‘Choose.’

  For the first time, in the void where time did not exist, it perceived another being. A presence attempting to communicate with it.

  Not by relying on any ears, but direct communication with the floating thoughts.

  ‘Choose, do you wish to live or stay as you are?’

  ‘...’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘I…’

  That was all it could muster. A simple pronoun.

  And yet one that proved its very existence to itself.

  After all, in the end, it had a psyche, and it could still dream.

  It could become someone. It needed to prove its existence everywhere, to everyone.

  For that, there was a now choice.

  To dream, or to let be.

  To choose.

  ‘Good. Soon, you will be rewarded. Soon, you will achieve your dreams.’

  He deserved to dream too.

  He deserved to live too.

  He deserved to exist too.

  Time began to flow.

  Forward, backwards, still again, rattling the red strings as the fallacy became real. The sights, the sounds, the smells, the taste… and the feelings.

  As that endless teasing continued, the promised time eventually came.

  He saw a young boy. A child who had it all.

  Eyes to witness the world, ears to hear the sounds, a nose to smell the scents, a mouth to taste the harvest, and a body to feel the warm embrace of a loving mother.

  He recognized that boy.

  That boy, that child, it was what he dreamt of being.

  And so, he was allowed to take it all.

  He was allowed to experience it all.

  He had no name, and yet, he had been given one, just as the flesh and body he had received from his benefactor.

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  He was allowed to become someone after he had proved his existence.

  He was John Doe, the Blood Fiend, the Lurking Specter, the Devouring Dreadbeast, the invading Mindbreaker.

  And yet, none of that had been enough to satiate him.

  There was still the boy that had it all, and neglected it.

  He needed to get it all.

  He wanted to have it all.

  And so, he did.

  He was just steps away from becoming the boy he dreamt of being.

  ***

  “!”

  “What do you think of that?! Are you looking forward to it?! You better! Because that will be your life soon!” The Blood Fiend roared and howled, bringing the oil-like surface of the Dreadbeast to life.

  Forced to witness John Doe’s past, Somnu returned to his current predicament, held prisoner between the malformed creature’s two harrowing palms.

  The scarecrow was being squeezed to death, while the countless toothy eyes on the surface of the Nightmare Creature had completely bitten off the rest of his limbs.

  The familiars on the inside were still consuming what they could to save their master, while Grudgekeeper and the doppelganger were cutting down on the oversized paws from outside.

  Dammit… Even after all those nights resisting Veilbinder’s Diadem’s visions, I still can’t break through these illusions… Somnu gritted his teeth from the chilling, yet burning torment in all his joints. Forget that! What can I do…?

  After having used [Distorted Fallacy] four times already, and with the restriction stealing much of his vitality, he could barely use it one more time.

  And yet, although he had considered his own end briefly, part of him was not ready to accept it.

  Am I giving up too easily? Did I really convince myself that letting them go ahead of me was enough? Is this really the only reason why I stayed behind?

  He had protected them, so what use was there to go up against his current overpowered, dreadful enemy?

  Was the smarter choice not to let him be for now and seek him out in later Layers when the scarecrow and strawman’s powers were stronger?

  Everyone was safe, but he wasn’t. He had been okay with that for a brief moment, he didn’t mind whatever ended up happening to him.

  The real problem was disappearing while a murderer was still able to get everyone in the future.

  The real issue was dying before he kept his promises and paid back the murderer for every single soul sacrificed to further the Blood Fiend’s power.

  To avenge them.

  To avenge his mother.

  To avenge himself.

  Until the murderer is gone, until all Nightmare Creatures are slain, until dreams return to be hopeful guiding stars for the purest of souls out there…

  Even if he himself could never experience them…

  He could not allow himself to die.

  “You… you’re still resisting even now?!” The Blood Fiend cried out, squeezing tighter with every statement. “Just let me take over! You had everything and you messed it up! You lost! You failed! It’s my turn now! Give it up!”

  “You want… to swap places…?” The scarecrow strained his lips to move with every word.

  “Yes! It’s my turn, my time!”

  “Not happening, dumbass!”

  “!” Some of the countless eyes suddenly widened at the newfound energy surging from the prisoner, then they narrowed, stretching their teeth into wide, crazed grins. “Fine! Let’s see how long you can hold out for then!”

  [Distorted Fallacy!]

  “!”

  Just as another vision was forcing itself into Somnu’s mind, he used his last remaining distortion skill to both block it, and make his enemy believe the scarecrow was dead.

  He knew it would only allow a second of distraction, as the murderer had clearly been able to sense his mind. When Somnu had sneaked behind it earlier, the Blood Fiend had simply allowed him to attack in order to drain him of all the skills he could use, exhausting him enough to take him over.

  Now, with the last of his level-ups consumed, Somnu regenerated all his limbs as straws, and just as all his army abused that one second to create a hole at the bottom of a paw, the scarecrow used [Rooted Vigil], instantly dropping himself to the ground half a dozen meters below where he had been held.

  THUD!

  “Damn you! Just die already! What are you?! An unkillable cockroach?!” As John Doe howled, a screech accompanied the Dreadbeast, launching shockwaves around it.

  “No… cockroaches are fairly easy to kill…” Somnu got up again, resummoning his allies around him from a veil of black smoke surrounding him. Then, stretching his stiffening neck slightly, he let out a pained chuckle. “I’ve already killed a few…”

  He instinctively tried to brush off the blood dripping from his mouth once more, only to realize again that his limbs had now been made of straws. He chose to ignore the conflicting emotions rising up within his chest.

  “No more playing around, Somnu! I wanted us to have fun before the end, but you’re turning out to be a complete disappointment! Let me scour your memories and become you! Let me in and be devoured by me! Let us become one together, Somnu!”

  “I’m good, thanks.”

  “There is nothing more you can do! Can’t you see you can’t defeat me! I’m much stronger than you, Somnu! Join me and we will be together, connected, bonded together as one!”

  “No, really, thanks for the offer, but no thanks.”

  “Aghhh!”

  “!”

  As Somnu ran forward once more, with all his silent allies joining him on his last charge, an onslaught of violent slashes rippled out of his body from all sides.

  The very skill he had experienced first hand in the last battle, and the same one that was engraved on all of the victims of the grinning skull murderer.

  Due to the current situation of his body, it hadn’t been as strong, only a slight interruption to the constantly regenerating blood in his System. Ironically enough, it was this same effect that kept him alive despite all the blood he had lost along with his limbs.

  “Hngh!”

  He grinded his teeth through the excruciating agony and ran forward once more, ordering the condensed straw in his new legs to move.

  “Die already! I will be you! I will become Somnu!”

  “No-”

  “I won’t let that happen!”

  “?!”

  Suddenly, a new, yet familiar voice alerted both Dreadbeast to another presence far above them in the sky.

  As Somnu looked up with a borrowed gaze, he could see a small form in the distance, beyond the blood-based grinning skull hovering around the creature.

  A figure that glowed in a myriad of different hues, her long, pinkish golden hair commanded the currents around it to gracefully brush against every shimmering strand.

  She held her spot in the air for a moment, blocking the crimson moon, her piercing gaze taking in every detail.

  Then, finally, with a pained expression, she said bleakly.

  “I finally found you, Somnu.”

  Aurora?! Why is she here?!