Alex stood in silence, his eyes focused ahead as the last remnants of the shadow version of Daniel disappeared into nothingness.
The so-called “Nightmare” had left no corpse, no blood, no loot, and worst of all, no experience.
Not that he had expected anything different, but part of him had still hoped for a clue, a fragment, something that could explain this strange twisted domain.
He’d won the fight, but the trial felt far from over.
The oppressive atmosphere of the [Depths] still lingered, heavier than before, as if the nightmare he had just defeated was only the beginning.
He turned, about to continue his way forward, when a small mechanical chime rang in the air.
Ding!
A system panel appeared before him.
[You have received a “Nightmare Echo: Daniel Thunder”]
Alex blinked, his expression shifting slightly.
It wasn’t an extraction prompt like the ones he was used to, and it didn’t offer any power-ups or rewards.
Still, it was something.
A second message followed.
[Collect all the “Nightmare Echoes” to leave.
That is your goal.
Once you collect them all, head to the “Nightmare Temple” and place them there to ascend.]
Alex let out a long, slow breath.
“Oh, thank god,” he muttered, half-laughing under his breath.
So there were rules to this place after all.
For a while, he had been worried there was no path forward, no guideline, just endless horror and death until his Destiny Points ran dry.
But even if this place was sadistic in nature, it apparently still wanted its victims to understand the game, just enough to hope before getting crushed.
Still, this didn’t make things that much easier.
He now had one of these “Nightmare Echoes,” but how many were left?
What did the [Nightmare Temple] even look like?
And more importantly, how powerful were the remaining nightmares?
If they were all boosted like Daniel had been, then even he was going to be pushed to his limit.
He sighed again and began to walk, eyes scanning the unnatural horizon.
He had no idea when the next nightmare would appear, so his best move was to locate the Nightmare Temple and mentally mark its position for when he gathered all the echoes.
As he wandered deeper into the [Depths], the eerie landscape seemed to stretch forever.
The twisted stone walls, the blue-green haze, the decaying structures, none of it changed.
But the bodies… the bodies were everywhere.
He had noticed them before, but now he studied them with new insight.
Some were burned, others pierced by large objects.
Some were half-decayed, while others looked like they had been torn apart by beasts.
And then there were those that had no visible wounds at all, just empty, lifeless expressions frozen in eternal horror.
It all made sense now.
Everyone who entered had a different nightmare, a personal one.
And if each of those nightmares was enhanced like Daniel had been, then most of them never stood a chance.
Even Alex himself had died during that battle, surviving only because of his [Destiny Shift].
He didn’t understand why that ability hadn’t been restricted like his other support skills, but he wasn’t going to complain.
It was the one thing keeping him alive in this cursed place.
Time passed slowly in the Depths.
Hours melted into one another without any sense of day or night.
There was no hunger, no thirst, no need to sleep.
It wasn’t just because Alex was a Chosen One, this place literally didn’t allow it.
Twelve hours slipped by in silence, broken only by his footsteps and the occasional hum of magic in the air.
He saw no one.
Just more corpses and the faint breeze that carried the scent of ash and rot.
Eventually, he came across another one of those crumbled stone statues, the same type he’d touched just before Daniel’s nightmare appeared.
He narrowed his eyes, stepping forward cautiously.
The last time he interacted with one of these, a nightmare had spawned.
Extending his arm, he placed his palm against the broken surface and waited.
One second. Ten seconds. A full minute.
Nothing. He frowned.
“Must’ve been something else, I guess…”
Yet just as he turned around to leave—
FWISH! FWISH! BOOM!
His instincts exploded with warning.
Multiple alerts flashed in his mind.
[Attacks incoming from all directions.]
Alex didn’t hesitate.
He leapt straight upward, claws already forming, eyes searching.
Three streaks of darkness shot through the spot where he’d just been.
And as he looked down— His breath caught.
“…No way.”
He recognized them immediately.
[Dawn – Nightmare]
[Lucas – Nightmare]
[Sato – Nightmare]
He didn’t even need to read the panels.
He’d recognize those three anywhere.
The same trio who had tried to have Alice killed in his previous life.
The same ones he had executed personally during the [Monster Tide Trial] not long ago.
And now here they were again, twisted shadows of their former selves, summoned by the Depths to haunt him.
Dawn floated, his form surrounded by shifting orbs of darkness.
Lucas grinned and raised a pistol that glowed with corrupted magic.
Sato stood calmly, holding a blade that was far too long to be practical, yet radiated immense danger.
“Ah, shit,” Alex muttered, taking his stance.
This was going to get messy.
FWISH! FWISH! FWISH!
Lucas opened fire.
The bullets weren’t made of metal, they were balls of compressed shadow energy, tearing through the air.
Alex dodged easily at first, but the moment he thought he was safe—
The bullets curved behind him.
CRACK!
One struck him cleanly in the back of the head.
The world went black.
[You have died.]
Destiny Shift!
[Undoing Alex’s death…]
His eyes snapped open as time rewound, letting him adjust.
This time, he leapt higher, evading the next volley.
But there was no time to rest.
Sato raised his massive sword and swung, and the blade stretched, extending several meters across the battlefield despite Sato remaining still.
“A sword that can extend…” Alex ducked low, rolling beneath the strike, but his instincts screamed again.
Without looking, he swung his claws in the opposite direction, managing to block another surprise attack from the side.
The blade had rebounded, attacking again from a blind spot.
Meanwhile, the two orbs floating around Dawn glowed ominously and launched forward like missiles.
Alex tried to dodge, but they exploded just as they reached him.
[You have died.]
Destiny Shift!
[Undoing death…]
Back again.
He was getting used to this, but that didn’t mean he enjoyed it.
‘Alright. Claws alone won’t cut it.’
Without hesitation, Alex raised his hand.
“Flames of Oblivion.”
His body surged with energy as flames burst into existence, expanding outward in a massive wave of annihilation.
The burning storm scorched everything in its path, vaporizing the ground, cracking stone, and swallowing the three nightmare enemies in fire.
When the flames cleared, nothing remained.
[You have received a “Nightmare Echo: Dawn”]
[You have received a “Nightmare Echo: Lucas”]
[You have received a “Nightmare Echo: Sato”]
Alex exhaled slowly, claws dissolving back into his skin.
“That’s four now…”
The fact that they hadn’t resisted the flames as much as Daniel had meant something.
Either they were weaker overall, or maybe some nightmares just weren’t designed to last.
Either way, they were dead, and he was still standing.
More importantly, he was starting to see the pattern.
Only those with revival abilities could make it this far.
Without [Destiny Shift], he would’ve been long gone.
It was no wonder no one had ever cleared this tower, most wouldn’t even survive the first fight.
And yet, despite the difficulty, he smiled faintly.
He was surviving. Winning, even.
It meant there was a chance.
[You are close.]
His instincts whispered again.
He moved without hesitation, walking through the ruins and corpses, his pace steady and calm.
He didn’t know how many more nightmares were left, but he was certain now that they wouldn’t end until he collected every single echo.
An hour passed.
The silence returned, stretching around him like a blanket.
And then, finally— He saw it.
A massive open-air monument, unlike anything else he’d seen in the [Depths].
It stood tall, unbroken, untouched by time or rot.
And more than that, it felt different. There was no mistaking it.
“The Nightmare Temple,” Alex murmured, stepping toward it, “So that’s where it ends…”