"Hmmm… it actually worked…" Her voice was calm but echoed louder than thunder.

Her body seemed to make snapping sounds as the air and world struggled fiercely to endure this entity.

There was a sense of rejection and wrongness, as if this entity should not be here as if the world itself was begging the omniverse to cast out this cancerous being.

Yet the pleas fell on deaf ears.

She raised her hand, and a book appeared before the eyes of all who were watching.

Her gaze turned to Abellona, then reached upward. When she did, Damon felt himself black out, everyone did.

Different balls of light rose from everyone's glabella, illuminating softly over their foreheads.

This very gesture was simple: all their souls were removed from their bodies without killing them.

It was a casual act, as if the soul were not infinite in its complexities.

However, this very act reduced the arm of the priestess to dust.

She glanced at her arm with an impassive expression. Among the floating souls, the soul of Wendy flew toward the Unknown God's vessel.

She reached into the pure white soul of Wendy and took something out.

"Evolve should buy me a few seconds."

This was the role Wendy had to play in his plan, a few seconds. That was all she was worth in the eyes of a god.

With the skill that allowed its user to evolve and adapt, the Unknown God bought the body of the priestess the time he needed.

The book in front of him flipped its pages as the souls around him began to swirl toward him in a chaotic cycle of multicolored lights.

He approached the dungeon gate, touching it with his palm as the vessel let out a soft crack.

…The dungeon gate began to change, turning pitch black from its edges.

The magic orbs recording the battle fell to the ground.

The cracking sounds grew louder, and then the Unknown God waved his hand one last time as all souls returned to the bodies they originally came from.

Slowly, he took a step. No one knew what he did, no one saw, no one could understand.

His soft footsteps echoed as he controlled the priestess's body like a marionette until he stopped in front of Lilith Astranova.

Looking at the flower in her hair, he smiled.

Her soul snapped back into her body as she regained the ability to move from where she stood still.

The emerald green of her eyes lifted toward the Unknown God, who was using the priestess as a vessel.

"Each petal creates a different world and a different outcome. Your chances end when the flower withers. This is merely an experiment, and your success will affect the overall outcome of my plans to obtain Bellum and Apotheon"

He glanced at the shaken young woman.

"I wish you the will to endure your nightmares… for it has only begun."

Before she could speak, the body of the priestess crumbled away, turning to dust. The ashes of her remains fell on Lilith as everyone's souls returned to their bodies.

Confusion, that was all Lilith felt. She did not understand anything; the why and the how were lost on her.

Why would the Unknown God do anything? She couldn't understand or comprehend it.

She touched the flower on her head, feeling a wave of dread wash over her.

Everyone looked around in confusion.

Sylvia's book returned to her, invisible to others.

Wendy's skill returned to her soul. For the first time, everything was calm, everyone was recovering from the shock of it all.

The magic orbs rose into the sky, hovering as if nothing had happened.

The world that had been frozen could move once more birds could fly, people could speak.

Everything was alright.

It should have been alright… until someone pointed to the dungeon gate.

The gate was slowly being consumed by darkness.

Evangeline's hands trembled, her legs shaking uncontrollably as she gazed at this familiar wrongness.

This horrible blackness, this wrongness was something she, no, they all recognized. It was the same kind of darkness that overflowed in the nights of Lysithara when someone ignited a light source.

Sylvia narrowed her gaze; her focus shifted slightly toward the gate.

She knew what this was all too well.

Leona subconsciously stepped back, as if afraid to provoke what that blackness represented.

Damon froze. He had just regained consciousness, sure he had won. He had defeated Amon, his shadow clone had dissolved after depleting his shadow energy.

Everything should have been well, yet…

Damon didn't even know what to feel. His heart was pounding, and his danger sense screamed at him, there was no escape.

This was no doubt the third act of his quest.

[Despair]

His hands trembled. He wasn't afraid to die, but he could lose more than his life here.

His friends… his loved ones… too much.

This darkness, he recognized it.

He spoke the words like a forbidden whisper.

"Nightmare."

The darkness spread, deeper and more terrifying than any shadow. This was the same darkness the outsider Ittorath was made of.

The same type of darkness from which dark creatures had descended to battle the ancient residents of Lysithara.

A nightmare created by the Unknown God.

"Hahahahahahaha…" Damon laughed, but his laughter was hollow and bleak, filled with hopelessness.

Right, this was just the Unknown God's way. He acted personally to remind Damon that he could not escape from his chessboard.

Man purposes, The Unknown God disposes.

From the gate, something pitch black crawled out. It looked like a massive hand pushing forward, slowly pulling its body through the crack in reality.

The gate expanded like a woman's pelvis during childbirth birthing this monstrosity.

It stood tall easily one hundred meters with four immense arms, its body seeming to be made of hair, and a mouth gaping across its stomach.

Dark. Its form was a deep, devouring darkness, as if it had crawled out from the nightmare of a god.

Its aura was overpowering, divine and monstrous at once.

Yes it was divine.

This was a nightmare.

It reached with its giant hand and grabbed the nearest person. Their eyes turned pale white as their soul was consumed by the nightmare. Their corpse fell to the ground then slowly turned pitch black and rose again.

They all watched in horror.

No words or signals were exchanged.

Screams echoed out as everyone scrambled for safety.

They all understood one truth,

fighting was futile.

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