At first, I thought it would be easy.
All I had to do was wait.
If I endured long enough, the corruption would spread, and just like in the original, this place would eventually fall. Then, when the time was right, I would take control, effortlessly claiming victory.
But I had underestimated one thing.
My own limits.
The first few days, I did nothing. I simply sat there, watching, waiting for inevitability to take its course. When the first black stone puppet was taken, I barely reacted. A flicker of unease passed through me, but I shrugged it off.
"They aren't real," I told myself.
Then the second was taken.
Then the third.
By the time the fourth was consumed by that dark, writhing thing, I could feel the weight pressing against my chest. A sickening pressure that made it hard to breathe.
And when the fifth was taken, something inside me snapped.
I couldn't stand it anymore.
I stood up.
The others flinched as I addressed them, my voice cutting through the suffocating silence. I told them my plan, my strategy for survival. At first, they resisted, their hollow eyes filled with resignation. They believed it was hopeless.
So I fought alone.
That night, when the darkness crept closer, I stood my ground, facing that vile, formless creature with nothing but my own two hands. It watched me, amused. And for the first time, it didn't take anyone.
That small victory sparked something within the others. Hope.
And with that hope, we fought back.
We built fortifications, crafted defenses, anything to resist the horror that loomed over us. Night after night, we stood together, pushing it back, holding on to that sliver of defiance.
But hope is a fragile thing.
Just when I thought we could succeed, the creature decided it had played along for long enough.
It changed the rules.
The next night, it took someone.
Not randomly.
The most active defender—the one who had fought the hardest besides me.
As if it were mocking me.
I clenched my fists as dread coiled around my heart, but I refused to stop. We fought. We adapted.
But so did it.
It learned.
And then, one by one, it began taking them. Always the strongest first. Always the ones who believed in me the most.
And it never took me.
At first, my companions clung to hope. But as our numbers dwindled, that hope withered. Despair seeped into their eyes. The fear of the inevitable broke them long before the creature did.
And it was enjoying it.
It was amused by my struggle.
By their fleeting hope.
By the way I kept fighting, only to fail again and again.
I felt like I was going mad.
I tried.
I really tried.
But I couldn't protect them.
Each night, it took another. Slowly. Methodically. Deliberately.
And still, it ignored me.
I screamed at it.
Begged it to take me instead.
Challenged it to fight me.
But it never did. It only watched me. Watched my desperation grow. My rage boil over. My helplessness consume me.
Until, in the end, I was the only one left.
The last black stone puppet had been taken, leaving me alone in a silent, empty world.
And the creature stood there, watching.
Waiting.
Enjoying every moment of my suffering.
I clenched my fists so tightly that my nails dug into my palms, the pain grounding me, keeping me from breaking apart.
I wanted to attack it, to tear it apart, to do something.
But no matter what I tried, I couldn't reach it.
My legs wouldn't move. My hands wouldn't obey.
I could do nothing.
And for the first time in my life, I truly understood what it meant to be powerless.
Then, just when I thought it was truly over—
When I thought I couldn't take another second of this torment—
A familiar sound cut through the silence.
[Your nightmare is over.]
[Prepare for appraisal...]
[Sleeper! Your trial is over.]
[A cruel game of patience twisted into endless torment. The dark force did not simply consume; it toyed with its victims—taking the strongest, the hopeful—leaving behind only despair. A struggle mocked, a battle already lost, yet drawn out for its amusement. And in the end, when all had fallen, only helpless rage remained.]
[You have delayed the plans of fate.]
[Your achievement is remarkable.]
[Final appraisal: Magnificent.]
[The Second and Third Seals are broken.]
[Awakening dormant powers...]
I felt as if my entire being was being tempered, growing stronger.
[Awakening Aspect Ability...]
[Aspect ability acquired.]
[Aspect Ability Name: Undying Conviction]
Description: So long as your will endures, death itself finds no purchase—flesh knits, bones mend, and even the corruption recoils from your defiance.
[Awakening Aspect Ability...]
[Aspect ability acquired.]
[Aspect Ability Name: Imperial Stature]
Description: Where you stand, your enemies falter and courage ignites in your allies—an unshaken pillar amidst the storm.
[You have gained an Attribute.]
[Attribute: Burning Anger]
Description: A storm of wrath roars in your veins, each heartbeat an explosion of power. The deeper the fury, the greater the might—but anger unchained is destruction unbridled.
"Ah, my soul sea. Its been long since I saw it. Huh... ? There is someone sitting on the throne now... looks like me, but... fading."
"And who are these kneeling people ? They seem familiar. There are 4 Nightmare creature behind the throne too. How peculiar."
"I think I hear someone calling me… but who is it? I… forgot," I muttered melancholically.
"Come back."
I heard it again.
This time, a little clearer.