Aurora Emberlyn was the new girl in Duskville town.

  An aware outsider looking for a new start, yet to be reeled into the rumors and stories that accompany an established community.

  Somnu was the punk of Duskville town.

  A tainted insider whose image and reputation had long been dragged through the mud, by none other than himself.

  Their meeting had been simple, as simple as it could be.

  And yet, the punk who had lost his spark, the lone scarecrow who had been on the verge of accepting the consequences of his own actions, had seen a new light on that bus.

  It was almost comical, falling in love at first glance. He hadn’t even met her eyes.

  Perhaps a crush then? A simple infatuation with a stunning stranger?

  That was surely a common enough occurrence, but not to Somnu.

  The reason had been as simple as their meeting.

  She was a way back into the world, an outsider he could get close to without the burdens of the past.

  The hope of a forsaken path, the light of a forgotten night.

  However, he hadn’t been ready. He had fallen far too deep for the rope of hope to reach him.

  He had to crawl, climb, bleed and sweat his way back out, over and over again.

  And by the time he had…

  The love, the crush was no more.

  By the time he had met her again, standing in front of his sister’s lifeless body, his feelings had all but disappeared.

  Truth was, it wasn’t only his feelings towards Aurora.

  He had gotten over his sister’s brush of death too quickly, even the supposed death of the only person who kept pulling him back up.

  He had convinced himself that it was all fine, that he could still fix it all.

  And yet, in the process of considering everything logically, he hadn’t noticed what he had truly been becoming.

  In the process of protecting them, he was losing to the madness of the Nightmare Realm.

  Perhaps he wasn’t only losing his body parts, but parts of his soul as well.

  Perhaps Somnu was becoming too much like a scarecrow.

  For right now, as he watched the shining lights glowing in the crimson night sky, he could feel no gratitude, nor joy.

  No hope, just terror.

  “Why are you here, Aurora?! Go back!” He shouted without a hint of restraint, his face twisting into a frown. Still, reflexively, he closed his eyelids.

  “...” As she slowly descended, her valiant figure and glowing lights brightened the surroundings. Her narrow eyes did not match the vibe around her.

  “What’s this?! The girl savior?” The owlbear looked up as John Doe realized the situation for what it was. “Good! Watching you die should finally send him into despair! We’ll be one soon enough, Somnu!”

  “Get away! Just go back to them!”

  “...”

  Suddenly, Somnu’s cry ignited the multi-colored lights around the girl, making the wind pressure howl around her in all directions.

  “I won’t go back without you, Somnu. I won’t leave you behind.” Aurora spoke, holding her radiant fist up in the air.

  “Die!”

  “!”

  The massive Nightmare Creature flapped its wings and flew up toward the flying superhero. The oversized, oil-like surface of its body, filled with toothy crimson eyes, were just about to catch her, to make a feast of her.

  Despite the countless crows attempting to drill holes in the wings, nothing had changed.

  Only the countless lights from above had gotten brighter.

  “I won’t abandon anyone!”

  With that statement out, the small blinding figure flashed. For a moment, nothing had changed, and then time caught up.

  In an instant, she had descended to the ground with a punch.

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  The Nightmare Creature splattered in all directions, the resulting shockwaves around the ground carried whatever body part and eyeballs further away.

  Seriously…? Dammit! That’s just totally unfair! Somnu grumbled inwardly, remembering Aurora’s previous statement. She really might just be the strongest Sleeper on this Layer…

  “I had a boyfriend once.”

  “Huh?”

  Somnu stood in complete puzzlement, his mouth left half-agape. Aurora straightened her back, adapting a sharp gaze, then began walking towards him.

  “He was handsome, funny, and someone who cared for everyone around him.”

  Um, this really isn’t the time for that… Somnu furrowed his brows slightly, then darted his head around to check on things. “Can we focus? I’m trying to get some revenge here.”

  “He cared for everyone, but never considered his own safety. In the end, he did something reckless, fell into a coma, and died.”

  “...”

  “Despite the fact that he had been sick, I had left him. All alone in that hospital bed, while I traveled with the excuse of searching for clues, for a cure. In all honesty, the truth was that part of me was angry with him for what he had done.” The lights around her began to diminish as she stepped ever closer to the scarecrow pretending to look for his enemy. “In the end, I couldn’t help him, couldn’t save him.”

  “!”

  Seeing her step within a clearer view, Somnu quickly summoned Grudgekeeper on his bare body, covering the dignity he had barely forgotten was flashing the world.

  It simply allowed Aurora to grab him by the collar and punch him in the face. He didn’t defend, only moved his straw limbs to halt his fall.

  “Master! Hiss!”

  “Caaw! What do you think you’re doing?!”

  ‘Stop!’

  ‘?!’

  The familiars rushed forward to defend their master instead, but his command quickly stopped them.

  “I also couldn’t punch him for the stupid choices he had made, for trying to shoulder it all on his own shoulders.” She spoke again with a forlorn look, standing over Somnu.

  … Ow! The blind Sleeper held the side of his face, rubbing it as his empty, hollow eyes instinctively opened wide. What the hell was that?! That strength is not normal, dammit!

  Somnu had felt different kinds of pain by now, so he could tell, this hand’t been just a normal punch. It had felt as though his very soul had been hit.

  Even so, he could not retort or defend himself. He had already known the frustration everyone would direct towards him next time they met.

  He had simply hoped that would have been in the waking world after everything was taken care of.

  “!”

  “We’re going back, Somnu.” Aurora grabbed him by his collar again as soon as he got up, then held up her other fist once more. “Together.”

  “Woah! Wait! Why are you saying that while charging another skill!”

  “It wasn’t a skill, and I know you’ll try to trick me again.” Aurora sharpened her eyes as she looked him up and down. “You knew I couldn’t see a light in that clone you sent, but you had no choice since you weren’t in the fort anymore. This time, I’m not letting my eyes off of you. The things I’ve done… I won’t go back unless I know I've started to atone for them. And that starts with bringing you back, Somnu.”

  “!”

  “Whether I have to do that with you being conscious or unconscious is up to you!” Aurora’s fist lit up once more as she clenched it, ready to pummel him until he passed out.

  However…

  “Please don’t! Fine, we’ll go back together, happy?” Somnu panicked, holding up both of his straw arms in resignation.

  The thought of being punched again by her, endlessly, terrified him. After all, no matter how much she tried, she could never cause him to pass out.

  He’d sooner black out, or die, before that could happen.

  His [Last Unrested] Personal Title wouldn’t allow it in the Nightmare Realm. Not that it would have been much different in the waking world, with or without the System.

  “...” Looking at the two feather earrings she was still wearing, the scarecrow pursed his lips slightly.

  “Your arms… and legs…” Aurora furrowed her brows as she finally noticed. She loosened her grip and took a step back.

  “A small price to pay when many have already died because of him.” Somnu fixed his outfit and summoned the blindfold his sister had made for him, then looked around again with Naga’s borrowed vision.

  “... You’re doing it again.” Aurora turned around and scanned the surroundings with him. “How do you think the others will feel when you wake up and all your limbs are gone because you wanted to do this alone?”

  “It’s true then… the physical bodies will sync with whatever happened here…” Somnu mumbled, reading between the lines.

  “What’s wrong with you? Why can’t you understand how others feel? You won’t be able to walk or do anything with them anymore. It will break their hearts!” The girl exclaimed, shooting a beam of light at the newly formed leg of the owlbear.

  “Because hearts can be mended as long as they survive! If they die, nothing matters! None of this would mean anything! I can’t stop now and consider feelings when lives are at stake!” Somnu sent flying violet slashes to destroy any other pieces of oily flesh coming together.

  At the same time, he felt strength return to his body, accompanied with a multi-colored glow. It wasn’t enough to bring back any uses of [Distorted Fallacy], but just enough to keep him going.

  “Nothing matters…?” The girl paused, then scoffed. “How idiotic!”

  “Huh?!”

  “Seriously, why am I always surrounded by idiot men?!”

  The two continued their banter as they stood back-to-back, each taking care of their respective side.

  “Speak for yourself, coming here when you had the perfect chance to just leave this nightmare behind!”

  “Of course I would, idiot! How can I go and leave someone behind! As they fell, that’s all they asked for too! They wanted me to help you and bring you back to them!”

  “?!”

  “You matter too, Somnu! Your own life has meaning!”

  “...”

  “Yes, he does!”

  CRASSSHHH!

  Suddenly, from all around the two remaining Sleepers on the Abyss of Lethe, the ground erupted as black flesh exploded up, coming together in a large, almost towering figure.

  A Dreadbeast much larger than before.

  “He does matter!” The giant blob of toothy eyeballs bellowed. “And he is mine!”

  Then, all at once, the eyes glowed a deep, illusory crimson.