Now that the [Nightmare Undead Lord] had been destroyed and both [Nightmare Alex] and the [Guardian of Nightmares] were trapped inside his [Blood Domain], Alex finally felt something he hadn’t in a long time during this endless trial: a deep, unshakable sense of invincibility.
He remembered it clearly, even the [Hatred Demon], with all its overwhelming power, had struggled heavily inside this domain.
The simple fact that Alex could use his [Blood Arts] perks freely, without cooldowns or delays while inside it, made him nearly unstoppable in this crimson world.
If even the Hatred Demon had been crushed here, then so too would this twisted reflection of himself.
Without wasting another second, Alex pushed the advantage.
Fwish! Fwish!
Again and again, giant crimson blades materialized around him, shooting forward with merciless precision.
[Giant Blood Blades] rained down on [Nightmare Alex] while thick, writhing [Blood Chains] lunged to bind him.
Every second forced the fake to move, dodge, and react, steadily keeping it on the defensive.
Alex smirked to himself, he had no intention of giving it even a moment to breathe.
However, after a while, he noticed something odd.
Despite his relentless bombardment, the nightmare version of himself wasn’t faltering.
It moved with unnatural precision, avoiding everything just enough, no panic, no hesitation.
It was working, but it wasn’t enough.
‘Tch.’
Realizing brute force alone wouldn’t be enough to end this, Alex shifted his approach.
In a swift motion, he activated another ability, [Blood Clones].
Just like he had once done against the Hatred Demon, he flooded the battlefield with numerous clones of himself, all made of blood, sprinting and weaving through the crimson mist toward the nightmare.
The clones themselves couldn’t cause real damage, but that wasn’t their purpose.
They were meant to overwhelm the enemy’s senses, to create openings where none should exist.
Yet something was wrong.
Even as the first blood clone hurled itself at the nightmare, the fake didn’t even flinch.
It stood calmly as the clone passed by, uninterested.
No reaction at all.
The others followed, yet not once did the nightmare mistake them for the real Alex.
“…It knows,” Alex muttered under his breath.
Somehow, the nightmare could instantly tell who the real one was among the clones.
Confusion wouldn’t work here.
Not letting that faze him, Alex exploded into motion, closing the distance between them in a flash.
Blood blades sliced through the mist as he launched himself forward, his [Bleeding Dragon Claws] and [Wings of Hatred] already poised for the kill.
Fwish! Slash!
Claws clashed against claws, wings battered wings.
What followed was a violent, chaotic flurry of strikes, blood, and roars echoing inside the endless mist.
Both versions of Alex fought like monsters, every collision shaking the domain itself.
Then, right as Alex hurled a [Giant Blood Blade] directly at the nightmare’s chest, it reacted differently.
Orb of the Unbreakable!
The [Nightmare Alex] activated its last trump card, the [Orb of the Unbreakable].
A shimmering, absolute barrier formed in front of it.
The blood blade slammed into it, and instantly rebounded, flying straight back toward Alex.
Alex immediately responded by activating his own [Orb of the Unbreakable], creating his own impenetrable shield just in time.
The [Giant Blood Blade] hit his barrier, bounced back toward the nightmare, and then hit its barrier again, repeating the cycle.
With each bounce, the speed increased, the blade becoming little more than a flicker of movement, almost impossible to track.
Seconds passed, but in the kind of battle they were in, seconds felt like eternities.
And then…
Bam!
The [Giant Blood Blade] struck [Nightmare Alex]’s barrier just as the orb’s time limit reached its end.
The barrier disappeared, a single fraction of a second before Alex’s barrier faded.
Because he had activated his orb a hair later than his nightmare counterpart, the timing worked out perfectly.
The blood blade, now moving so fast that it cut through even space itself, slammed straight into [Nightmare Alex]’s body, piercing it through.
Boom!
The nightmare’s form exploded into a rain of black mist and blood.
Seeing the fake Alex’s body vanish, Alex didn’t allow himself to relax.
He knew better, that thing definitely had a full pool of [Destiny Points] just like he had before.
Which meant it was about to revive.
He raised his arm and pointed directly at the spot where the nightmare had disappeared.
“Astolf!” he barked, voice sharp, “Restrain it! Even if only for a microsecond!”
Responding immediately, Astolf, his trusted skeletal companion, thrust two enormous skeletal hands from the crimson-stained ground.
Just as expected…
Destiny Shift!
[Reviving…]
The nightmare’s body rapidly reformed, darkness twisting and pulling together into its humanoid shape again.
It barely had time to orient itself when—
Crash!
The skeletal hands clamped down on it, locking it in place.
“…?”
The nightmare looked around, expression neutral but wondering what was happening.
It also realized it couldn’t copy this power either.
After all, Astolf was part of Alex, but still an external entity, something the nightmare couldn’t replicate.
Alex’s crimson eyes glowed with cold determination.
Giant Blood Blades!
Dozens of massive crimson blades materialized above him, each one humming with destructive energy.
Fwish! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The nightmare’s body was torn apart again and again, each revival shorter and weaker than the last.
It desperately tried to dodge, to retaliate, but in the suffocating mist of the [Blood Domain], it was sluggish compared to Alex.
Slowly but surely, its pool of destiny points was drained.
And finally…
Fwish! Slash!
Alex’s [Wings of Hatred] cleaved through the nightmare’s body cleanly, severing it in half.
Its form wavered, then dissolved entirely into mist.
This time, it didn’t reappear.
[You have killed “Nightmare Alex.”]
The words appeared before his eyes, but Alex didn’t let himself relax, not yet.
The goal wasn’t just to kill the nightmare, it was to destroy the [Guardian of Nightmares] itself.
The moment [Nightmare Alex] was destroyed, the [Blood Domain] finally collapsed.
The crimson mist receded, and Alex found himself once again standing at the bottom of the [Depths], the black void with purple cracks returning around him.
Slowly, he raised his gaze upward.
There, in the vast darkness, floated the true enemy, a massive singular purple eye with a slitted pupil, almost reptilian, glaring down at him.
“Found you~,” Alex said with a savage grin.
The pupil of the [Guardian of Nightmares] widened in panic.
[Wait—!]
It tried to speak, to negotiate, but Alex wasn’t having it.
Fwish!
With a mighty flap of his wings, Alex rocketed upward.
In a heartbeat, he was directly in front of the enormous eye.
[We can talk—]
Slash! Fwash!
Alex tore through the guardian without hesitation, his [Bleeding Dragon Claws] piercing straight through the monstrous eye, erupting out the other side in a spray of violet blood.
[…Oh… shit…]
Those were the last words of the [Guardian of Nightmares] before it crumbled apart, its massive form collapsing into pieces as purple blood rained down into the endless void.
Alex let his momentum carry him upward for a moment before slowly descending back down to the cracked ground below, his wings carrying him gently.
Landing lightly, he let out a deep breath.
“Phew….”
It was over.
Against all odds, Alex had defeated the nightmare crafted from the darkest parts of himself.
He had slain the [Guardian of Nightmares] itself.
Even though the trial had been brutal, the final stage against the guardian had been anticlimactic, without its nightmare, the guardian had no defense, no strength left to fight back.
And so…
Ding!
[You have defeated the “Guardian of Nightmares.”]
Ding! Ding! Ding!
[Congratulations! You have (somehow) managed to be the first to conquer the “Tower of Nightmares”! It is an incredible feat worthy of praise from the gods!]
Alex scowled slightly at the words flashing in front of him.
“No thank you,” he muttered under his breath, shaking his head.
He had no interest in being praised by the so-called gods, not after everything he had seen, not after everything he had endured.
But now, now came the part he had truly been waiting for.
Rewards.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
[You can extract something from the “Guardian of Nightmares.”]
[You will receive your reward for completing this tower shortly.]
Alex cracked his knuckles, his bloodstained wings folding behind him as he stared up into the darkness.
He had survived the Tower of Nightmares, and now it was time to reap the benefits.