Not only the equipment made with legion-level magic cores, or their owners.
Those who have faced their fears, overcome their nightmares. They are all my Nightmare Slayers.
All of them had resisted this world’s nightmare and were waiting for my call in the outside reality.
And they answered my call.
Flash! Flash! Flash!
At the end of the heroes appearing one after another, a spear knight in dazzling white armor and a knight in black armor with twin swords descended behind me.
“Whoa, long hair! Oh my, what’s this, it’s our long-haired senior!”
Evangeline exclaimed in shock upon seeing me, and,
“My lord.”
Lucas, who saluted me, stretched out his hand to the side.
Cha-rrrr-ruk…!
Then, pieces of light gathered from inside the Sword Coffin, coalescing into the form of a long ceremonial sword.
Lucas, kneeling on one knee before me, respectfully held it out.
“Thank you.”
I took this Nightmare Slayer — [Light and Shadow], then drew it in one motion, transforming it into a flagpole.
A dazzling flag of light unfurled in the empty air, raising magical walls around us.
Simultaneously, the armor that only fragments remained on my right hand — [Lord of the High Tower] — also restored to its complete form, covering my entire body like a coat.
We stood atop the fortress, fully prepared.
“…!”
Behind the mask, Crown’s face contorted as he looked this way.
But that emotion didn’t seem to be anger or dejection.
“Yes, of course…”
To me, that emotion seemed,
“As expected of the final player, you should at least do this much-!”
closer to relief.
Piiiiiiiii…!
With Crown’s sharp flute sound, the monsters rushing towards us accelerated even more.
Thud thud thud thud thud-!
Their numbers are infinite.
Truly making the entire horizon boil, an endless horde of monsters surges forward.
We’ve never faced such numbers in all the previous defense battles combined.
Yet, despite how daunting it should be for all my comrades,
“Let’s begin!”
No one is afraid.
In fact, when you think about it, it’s only natural.
We are Nightmare Slayers.
Natural enemies of nightmares, masters of nightmares.
Knowing this is a dream, there’s no reason to fear the infinite enemies rushing towards us…!
Damien, smiling brightly, fired [Black Queen] without hesitation first.
Boom-!
With a tremendous firing sound, a dazzling magic bullet pierced down, completely annihilating all the enemies in one direction from the infinite monsters charging at us.
“Let’s go-!”
Following him, Kuilan, Kellibey, Verdandi, Torkel, Mikhail, Zenis, Evangeline, Lucas… everyone began the battle against the infinite monsters, wielding their weapons.
Each time their weapons are swung, their ultimate techniques burst forth, literally sweeping away the pouring monsters.
Everyone is one against a thousand, ten thousand against one.
In this world of nightmares, the Nightmare Slayers were all exerting near-invincible power.
However.
Thud thud thud thud thud…!
The enemies are also infinite.
Following Crown’s rat legion, the army of greed, anger, and ignorance, and the Apocalypse Knights he had summoned in reality, all sorts of unimaginable, tremendous monsters flooded in ceaselessly.
Eventually, a stalemate.
The invincible warriors keep defeating infinite enemies, but the battle situation remains fixed, unchanging.
Moreover,
Saaaa…
The enemy commander is approaching.
The ‘Sleepless Lake Princess’.
Even in a dream, she is different in terms of existence.
Because she, too, is a master of nightmares.
Therefore… what we must do has been decided from the start.
“Junior!”
I shouted to the mages gathered preparing magic.
“You’ve properly prepared the method to dispel the nightmare from within, right?”
End the nightmare itself.
We came this far to use this method from the beginning.
“Of course, Your Highness!”
Junior, Dearmudin, and the other mages all grinned at once.
“We even have an ‘expert’ in this field with us!”
And so, standing at the center of the continent’s best mages drawing a joint magic circle was…
“This development again, again!”
Our illusionist, Violet.
“Stop making an ordinary person like me save the world all the time!”
“What ordinary person? You’re already a hero in an epic! Don’t try to back out!”
I stretched out my hand forward.
“Tear this nightmare apart, Violet-!”
“When it’s an order from you, of course I have to…!”
Grumbling but still perfectly completing the magic as always, Violet shouted.
“Illusion Domain, Maximum Release-!”
Boom…!
A dazzling light burst forth from Violet, and the next moment.
Rumble…
Crash!
The world began to collapse.
The sky cracked and shattered, pouring down, and the earth’s axis shook as the ground plunged downward.
Violet is a Nightmare Slayer who has faced her inner darkness and overcome it, and moreover, has swallowed a dragon’s orb and surpassed her own limits.
She is one who deals with ‘daydreams’.
When the illusion unleashed with full power by such a nightmare slayer collided with the world that is nightmare itself, cracks instantly appeared.
And, in the collapsing and shaking world-
“Found it!”
Junior discovered the source of the spell that created this world by collecting people’s nightmares.
“[Elemental Disassembly]-!”
Junior’s ultimate technique, fired without a moment’s hesitation, detonated.
Clang-!
A halo appeared in the sky and the space began to shatter, and the next moment, the source of the spell was shattered to pieces.
“Ugh…?!”
It was the flute in Crown’s hand.
Through that flute, he had been manipulating nightmares, gathering them, and constructing this world within the nightmare.
And, as the flute shattered to pieces and Crown swallowed a groan…
Saaaa…
The world of nightmares began to quietly disappear from beyond the horizon.
Having lost both the spell that gathered nightmares and the means to manipulate them, collapse was the natural course.
“…”
After surveying this now completely collapsing and disappearing world within the nightmare, I looked straight ahead again.
“…”
The ‘Sleepless Lake Princess’.
She stood motionless before me.
Gazing at me silently with dry teal eyes devoid of emotion from behind her burned morning veil.
“…”
In this world, and in countless past worlds.
This evil being has always destroyed the mortal world and killed my precious people.
Even though it’s a nightmare, experiencing it made me realize how terrifying and fearsome the being before me is.
“Nameless.”
But,
Nevertheless.
“I still… want to save you.”
My heart doesn’t change.
My strategy doesn’t change.
“I think I understand your feelings a little better now.”
A world already destroyed.
Hope that doesn’t exist.
Harsh life and accumulating fatigue.
Comrades who defect one by one, or wear down and fall.
In the midst of all that hell, yet still refusing to give up and lighting a torch…
Your kind heart that willingly tried to shoulder the nightmares of all your people.
Putting myself in your position, I think I somewhat understand how arduous and difficult it must have been.
“I think I truly understand you a little now, at last.”
The nightmare is disappearing.
The monsters in the nightmare, too, scatter into light.
To the vanishing illusory enemy, no… to the real Nameless who must still be suffering in the darkness of the Lake Kingdom beyond.
I whispered.
“Wait. I’ll save you.”
When the world of nightmares collapsed, I found myself standing atop the southern wall of Crossroad.
To my left and right, my comrades stand in neat formation.
And below the wall, on the southern field… Crown could be seen slumped on the ground.
In his bloodied hands, he clutched the shattered flute. This man gazing blankly into space with seemingly transcendent eyes.
“Crown.”
I spoke to him honestly.
“Thank you.”
“…?”
To him looking puzzled, I smiled gently.
“For giving me the final trial.”
“…”
“For making me face and overcome my last fear. Thank you.”
Crown, who had been staring at me blankly, let out a hollow laugh.
“…Say whatever you want.”
Grumbling, Crown reached into his pocket and pulled something out.
It was a shining key.
“Keep it. You’ll need it on your final path.”
Carelessly tossing the key to the ground, Crown gazed at me intently.
“Ash.”
And, after a long while of fumbling with his lips and hesitating to speak.
“…I wish you luck.”
He finally managed to say that.
And the next moment, he scattered and disappeared in a gust of snowy wind.
“…”
After staring blankly at the spot where he had vanished, I turned around.
The nightmare is ending.
My hair that had grown long shortened, and the dragon scales that had covered my body had all disappeared without a trace.
And here, where the world of nightmares had almost completely dissipated, one last trace remained.
“Oh…”
The boy from the nightmare who had collapsed and briefly lost consciousness…
The sixteen-year-old Sid blinked his haggard eyes and looked around.
“Master Dearmudin, Sister Junior, Uncle Zenis, Brother Damien, everyone…”
“…”
“Haha, what’s this. Is it because I’m about to die… Have you all come to welcome me…?”
The boy recognizes them, but they don’t know who he is.
My heroes looked at me in confusion.
“Your Highness, this child is…?”
“…”
Without answering, I quietly knelt on one knee beside Sid.
I know.
This child is not a real being.
He’s just a nightmare, a plausible mix of memories from some long-ago doomed iteration and my fears, a fleeting illusion passing through a night’s dream.
Nevertheless…
I spoke to Sid from the nightmare.
My comrades didn’t press further about who that child was or what his identity was.
They all would have known, in their hearts, in their souls.
Everyone, with resolute expressions, quietly turned to look inside the city.
Voices and lights were spreading like ripples through Crossroad, which had been as quiet as a mouse while people were swallowed by the nightmare.
The nightmare ended, and people returned to their lives.
The forty-ninth defense battle was over.
We survived once again.
The world has not yet perished.
“Let’s go.”
And.
It will not perish in the future either.
Because I will prevent it.
Because I promised to do so.
Looking down at the brightening cityscape, I murmured with determination.
“To the final stage.”
[STAGE 49 – CLEAR!]
[STAGE MVP – Ash(EX)]
[Leveled-up Characters]
— None
[Injured and Deceased Characters]
— None
[Acquired Items]
— Lake Kingdom Castle Key : 1
[Only the final stage remains now.]
— Prepare thoroughly before engaging in the final battle.
— Good luck, player.
]] Get Ready For The LAST STAGE
]] [LAST STAGE : The Only Path]
–TL Notes–
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