Small… they were all so small. What did their little lives matter to an all-powerful god?

Damon watched as the blackness spread to another person, consuming them whole. He clenched his Dealer's Hand tightly, the weapon trembling with his grip.

He had slain countless nightmares before back when he'd gone insane in the dark depths of Lysithara, but this was different.

This was not a nightmare born from the fear or despair of a small entity. This was a god's nightmare.

Everyone stampeded to escape as the giant bent down, its massive palms sweeping through the crowd and grabbing hundreds of people as they screamed and fought to get away.

Hundreds of bodies were crushed together, their shrieks echoing like a choir of terror across the broken land.

Some tried to fight, others clung desperately to the nearest person, driven purely by instinct. A man struck back in panic, freeing himself for a fleeting moment, falling from the creature's grasp, only to realize too late that escape was an illusion.

The bodies that had fallen moments ago rose again, their eyes hollow and lifeless, now puppets of the nightmare's will. They reached out for him, dragging him into their collective darkness until his screams were silenced.

The nightmare shrieked into the sky, its voice a cacophony of despair that shook the heavens.

Damon could only watch. He knew escape was futile. His heart was heavy, pulled deeper into despair.

The unknown god was cruel, but there was always a twisted fairness in his cruelty.

"God would never throw a burden you can't overcome," Damon muttered bitterly, his voice trembling.

There had to be a way. In all this madness, in all this despair, there had to be one.

His eyes flashed toward the dungeon gate.

"The gate…" he whispered, then raised his voice, shouting over the chaos, "Head to the dungeon gate! We have to enter the World Dungeon!"

But no one listened. His words were lost to the screams. Everyone was too consumed by fear, too lost in the chaos. The dungeon gate stood near the nightmare itself running to it meant running toward the danger, not away from it.

Waton, who was close by, slowed his pace. Biting his lip hard, he shouted, "We have to go back, enter the dungeon!"

He turned, but what he saw froze him completely. Anyone who had dared to hesitate, anyone who had turned back, saw the impossible.

The giant nightmare reached out with its enormous arms and grabbed the spatial rift that was the dungeon gate.

The world itself screamed as reality began to tear. The gate cracked and twisted violently, the sound like the universe being ripped apart.

"Reeeeeiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttt!!!" the nightmare shrieked, pulling with an otherworldly strength.

It wasn't a physical structure, it was a rift in space, a dimensional tear, yet this creature ripped it out as though it were nothing more than cloth.

Lifting the spatial rift high like a mace, the nightmare brought it down.

The ground split open, the air trembled, and hundreds were swallowed by the blackness as their screams faded into silence.

But that was not the end. The nightmare's body began to swell grotesquely, birthing clusters of writhing black spores. From them, dozens no, hundreds of smaller nightmares spilled out like a tide of crawling horrors.

Damon gritted his teeth, grabbing Waton's arm.

"Come on run!" he shouted, pulling him along as the wave of darkness chased after them, devouring all in its path.

He didn't know what to do. There was nothing he could do. This creature… it was beyond anything he had ever faced.

Stronger than Ittorath. Stronger than the Keeper of False Truths.

It was beyond the seventh class advancement.

In a single, casual act, the Unknown God had shown him the true difference between man and god. Against a god, the defiance of man meant nothing.

Abellona flew above him, her face pale and shaken.

"We have to get out of the combat zone," she shouted. "We just need to halt the tide! I can open a path, I need time!"

Damon clenched his jaw and nodded.

"Okay…"

He raised his hand, and hundreds of black swords materialized in the air before everyone, forming a barrier of shadow and magic. Taking a step forward, he teleported in front of the horde.

"We have to slow down the tide if we want to escape! buy time for the princess!" he roared, raising his sword high.

"Children of Aetherus! Demons! Goddess races! Fight with me!"

His voice thundered across the battlefield.

sure his words would be enough, he charged anyway.

Waton gritted his teeth and followed. Then Xander, Evangeline, and countless others surged behind him like a desperate tide, choosing to fight despair head-on.

Demons worked with their enemies against this common enemy.

Explosions rocked the battlefield, screams tore through the air.

Waton cried out as heads were torn from bodies, corpses piling like broken dolls. The nightmares seemed enraged by their defiance, growing even more vicious.

"Stop… stop time!" Waton begged helplessly, his voice breaking. But his plea fell on deaf ears. This was the act of a god.

Damon fought fiercely, flames roaring around him, blood dripping from his wounds as he cut through the endless tide.

Lilith battled too, ripping through the lesser nightmares with brutal precision. But in the chaos, a white beam of light shot toward her. She teleported instantly, eyes snapping toward the attacker.

"Sylvia Moonveil."

Sylvia stood amidst the carnage, her gaze cold and distant.

"I've been looking everywhere for you," she said softly. "It's time for payback."

Lilith narrowed her eyes.

"Are yah crazy? Is this really the time for a petty squabble?"

"Better late than never. I'll see you in hell."

Lilith gritted her teeth.

"How about I send you there."

Their battle erupted amidst the chaos, their spells colliding while nightmares swarmed around them.

Waton watched all of it, the dying, the chaos, the desperation. He turned his gaze to Abellona, who was using everything she had to open a way out.

"Hah… my first battle was also a failure…" he whispered bitterly, walking toward Damon, who was still cutting down monsters like a storm of fire and shadows.

He reached out and placed a hand on Damon's shoulder.

Damon spun around, blade ready, only to stop when he saw Waton's face. The young man was smiling.

"I'll handle this," Waton said quietly. "I can buy you time."

Damon's eyes widened. "Waton, what are you—"

"I never told you what my third class skill was, did I?" Waton raised his trembling hand. "I always wanted to stop time… my third skill is called Last Hourglass."

His body began to wither, aging rapidly before Damon's eyes. Youth faded into wrinkles, strength into frailty. In moments, he looked like an old man.

His cracked voice whispered, "Stop time."

The world froze. Every nightmare stopped mid-motion.

Waton's body fell backward, but Damon caught him. His hands trembled; his heart ached as though something was breaking inside him.

"Wagon… why… I promised you wouldn't die…"

The old man's withered hand touched Damon's cheek.

"I know, I stopped time… I was always afraid to use it… Damon, is this… a great accomplishment?" His voice shook as tears welled in his aged eyes.

"Will my father… be proud?"

Damon nodded firmly, even as his throat tightened.

"Yes. He would be."

Waton smiled softly and closed his eyes.

Damon gritted his teeth, lifting his body in his arms. He refused to let him be left behind.

But the giant took a single step and instantly closed the distance.

Its foot came crashing down, crushing Abellona beneath it. The princess vanished into the blackness. Damon's breath froze.

Then, with a sweeping motion of the black dungeon gate, the nightmare consumed everything in its path.

"Leona!!!" Damon screamed her name but she was gone.

"Matia, return to me!" he shouted, recalling his knight into the safety of his shadow.

Tears blurred his vision as he saw Evangeline swallowed by the dark.

Then Xander holding onto Emilia Highgon fell next, both devoured by the nightmare's tide.

"Xander…" Damon whispered weakly.

One by one, everyone was consumed.

At the other end of the battlefield, Lilith and Sylvia continued their duel, oblivious to the world collapsing around them.

Damon placed Waton's corpse into his shadow storage, then dashed toward them, but before he could reach them, the black gate fell upon their location. When the dust settled, only two frozen nightmares remained.

All around him, familiar presences vanished. His knees gave out. The world was silent.

Everyone was gone.

The barely functioning magic orbs captured it all the last man standing in a battlefield of despair and nightmares.

"Ahhh…" He gasped for air, clutching his chest as his Seed of Depravity grew, spreading through his veins like poison.

"Ahhhh!!!" he screamed, slashing wildly at the nightmares, his voice breaking as his strikes became frantic.

But no matter how many he cut down, their numbers never lessened. The giant simply watched him, indifferent and unmoved.

"This… this can't be real…"

A nightmare struck him with a mace, another impaled him with a sword then another, and another until his body was pierced by countless blades.

Still, he raised his trembling hands, stopping Matia from emerging to save him.

His flesh peeled, his body breaking apart.

"Heh… ahahahaha…" Damon laughed weakly, hollowly.

"I lost…"

As his body crumbled to ash, the giant reached out and closed its hand over him.

The darkness swallowed him whole.

Then, a faint chime echoed.

[You are now dreaming the Nightmare of Lazarak.]

[Quest Complete.]

**********************************

[End Of Vol 5]

[Author Note]

Can't believe we actually finished another volume.

For lack of a better name, I'll call it the War Games arc.

For everyone who's been reading this far… I've got some bad news, I'm dropping this novel to focus on real life.

…Just kidding.

You guys know I'm too stubborn to quit now. I'm dedicated to seeing this story through to the very end, no matter how long it takes.

Arc Five was a wild ride for Damon. He did whatever he wanted, lived freely, and for a moment, he was happy. But happiness never lasts forever, and Damon still has his ultimate goal—to die.

Maybe the Unknown God didn't like that idea and decided to wipe out everyone instead. Who knows?

What we do know is that this story isn't over. Not even close.

The next arc is going to be one hell of a ride for Damon, and I hope to see you all there.

— Renegadex

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