Stepping out of the elevator with the others, Cain studied his surroundings.
The group spread out into a loose formation, with him at the back, allowing him time to acclimate to the environment.
"Remember, the lower levels are strange. Places can change and turn into different buildings or landscapes,"
Evette laughed, reminiscing. "Yeah, I remember we tried to head back once and ended up in an industrial complex filled with Shades. It was not a fun time; we almost got nicked."
'So this place changes?'
Focusing on the ground, Cain watched the black roots pulse as tiny spores were released into the air. Around them were tiny rocks that seemed to move as if alive.
'Ugh... so weird.'
Stepping over the roots, Cain followed the group as they headed deeper inside.
Initially, they traversed a deep cave, and then it turned into an office building. Outside the empty windows was deep blackness with only hints of something on the other side, made from the silhouettes of the city.
Dalax was holding a strange device made of multiple circles, and as they neared the end of the office floor, it began to go off.
"Captain, 3 Shades in the next room."
"Good, we'll dispatch them and continue."
Rex manifested a strange arm; it was thinner than a twig, and its hand looked like dried jerky. The hand grabbed the door handle and turned it. A rusty click echoed, and he pushed the door open.
There was nothing, or at least it seemed that way.
"It's fine; doors like this are normal. But now we don't know if there really are 3 Shades on the other side."
Doors like this, where only an abyss was on the other side, were common. But they were like anglerfish, a trap. However, being so high up in the abyss, there would be no more than Shades on the other side. The number of them could be a problem though.
"Prepare for battle; this could get messy."
At the Captain's words, the group manifested their armor.
Evette covered herself in strange interlinked chainmail. It sprang from her hair, turning metallic and covering her entire body. She then manifested a large axe that was comically oversized for her.
Dalax kept some of his equipment and manifested a few strange weapons called pistols, made from silvery metal and glowing green, radiating heat.
Futuristic weapons, one might say, but anything above a bow and arrow was futuristic in a land filled with primitive lands for the most part. Or was it? The Landfill was infinite, or that's what scholars say.
Dalax's body was actually one of the races that lived in the same territory as his pistols. He found such flesh better than the human body, so he took the time to change it when he got the chance.
Vera was relatively the same; her body could change instantaneously into anything as the situation demanded, so she didn't need to take any precautions on that front. Instead, she summoned a strange bow that looked like a honeycomb, black with hints of pink and red.
Arlen didn't need much; it only seemed to grow sharper and serrated, its edges turning orange and becoming hot to the touch.
Cessair already had his armor on, like Cain; the two were part of the vanguard. His armor was in the form of a layer of reptilian skin that was resistant to most things, even Nightmare corruption. As for his weapons, he had a large shield that was as light as a feather and sturdier than a house. It could also change as he willed it to act as a weapon if needed.
Seeing his squad ready, Rex asked one last time, "Ready?"
With affirmative nods all around, he walked into the darkness behind the door and disappeared. After him, the rest of the hunting squad followed.
...
Finding himself in a strange open field, Cain's vision lingered, and he saw his hunting squad scattered throughout the periphery. They were not close but not too far, and reaching them would only take a quick dash. But Cain didn't do that, for his Captain had his own words of wisdom.
"Stay away; this is a Nightmare pocket! A smaller space made from a Nightmare. The only way to escape is by finding the principle of the Nightmare and breaking it."
'So we have to find some sort of symbolic core and break it?'
Everyone called out, "Got it!"
The field was indeed strange. It was not like the lower levels at all. Green grass sprawled as far as the eyes could see, and trees were dotted here and there.
Looking behind him, Cain saw a small gofer staring at him.
"Well, hello. Do you know where I could find the cause of this Nightmare, little fellow?"
The creature tilted its head and then ran off. Cain decided to follow it because he didn't have anything better to do.
He had to look somewhere.
Chasing after the small beast, Cain soon saw structures in the distance. It was a village.
'Lucky me.'
When he entered the village, the gofer dove into a hole underneath a house, but Cain already got what he wanted.
'I wonder if that gofer was a manifestation of mine or someone else's...'
Walking around, the village was small and barren. No one was present, and the air seemed stale. Looking closer, he could see the wood rotting and baskets full of decaying food.
"Seems everyone just up and left..."
It was at that moment Cain got chills because he heard the sound of a crying child. It lingered and then disappeared, like a pulse being sent out throughout the entire village, a whisper unheard and heard at the same time. It was sometimes silent, other times it was loud enough to rupture ears.
But Cain knew fear well, and after the chills subsided, he instead grew angry.
'I have to search the village now?! Ugh, this crying is so annoying!'
Moping about his situation, Cain had his armor block his ears as he searched building after building. Only when he went through half the village did he find the right one. Upon opening its door, a small body was curled up in the middle of the house. Surrounding the child were broken plates and ceramics; the boy's knees were cut, and his arms were bruised.
"Sad, isn't it?"
Cain whipped around. Behind him was a man, or at least barely a man.
'What the hell is with people creeping up behind!? Wait... is he a Nightmare?'
Yes, the man was a Nightmare; his entire lower body was black, with wormlike hairs reaching out. Thankfully, they were too short to reach Cain. The only semblance of a human was the man's head; it was normal and didn't seem to be affected by the rest of the body.
The man before Cain held a somber and tired expression, showing no dangerous intent.
"Are you the creator of this Nightmare?"
Cain put two and two together; there was no other explanation. The man could be some illusion, but the energy he emitted was that of Nightmare fuel. Nightmare fuel was what Dreamers called the power of Nightmares compared to their own power of imagination.
"Hah... I didn't want to be. Even Nightmares have their own troubles, their own fears. This place is more of my own Nightmare than a Nightmare I created."
The strange man looked at the boy behind Cain, seeing past the façade of the child. Unlike the man, it was just an illusion, a hollow shell used to attract victims.
"That child is supposed to be me. From when I was just a boy. My father beat me, and my mother would throw plates and call me a monster. Apparently, I was born with a bad omen or some such, leading to my entire village hating me and eventually leaving me. They said even the earth was tainted..."
"This is your life? A memory?"
"More or less, but not of my own making. I came here a long time ago, to this Realm. But things didn't go well, and I ended up a Shade in its own Nightmare."
'Haha, the solution came right to me!'
Cain was ecstatic to end the Nightmare; it would be his first achievement!
"So do you know how to end the Nightmare? Do I just kill you?"
The man laughed, but as he did, the black skin reached further up his body, nearing the tip of his neck.
"Ahem... that is why I called you here. I can't let myself turn into a Corrupt abomination. I always tried to hide the portal leading to this place, trying to get sent back to reality. But I am more of a prisoner than the warden of this place. Creatures and people always entered. So much so that I'm close to becoming something other than myself. I would just rather die than become that...thing. That is why you and your people found my portal so easily."
'So his desire to be found made us find him?'
Hearing him, Cain couldn't help but be skeptical, "So you allowed yourself to go on for ages and only now you want to die?"
"No creature wishes its end. I hoped to escape by being expelled, but people always found a way just before I was going to be expunged. Eventually, I feared I had outlived my natural life, so I just waited for a solution... while I survived off Dreamers who came here, already on their way to becoming Shades..."
"So you only now decided to die since there's no hope left?"
Somberly, almost broken, the man let out a dry laugh. He did not care if the spread of black skin continued anymore. "There was never any hope, like I said; there was only my fear of death. Do not act like you do not have fear; every being does."
Letting out a displeased look, Cain thought it would be better to get to the point, as his mood was already turning sour.
"Look... just tell me how to kill you, how to end the nightmare."
The man finally smiled, his wish was going to be granted, but with it came a devilish smile he couldn't control. It was almost as if his personality crumbled a bit, showing the monster sprouting deep within his soul.
"Just kill the child behind you."
His words were a trigger, and the whole nightmare shook.
Cain turned again to see a hollow suit of flesh resembling a child. Its mouth and eyes only held black air, keeping its form together.
The child was nothing more than a marionette, being held together by the principle of this plane. What that principle was didn't matter, for Cain didn't need to solve it but destroy it.
The child picked up a sharp piece of ceramic and jumped at Cain with beastly terror.
"Well, shit."