The more I stared into those wretched creatures, the more I questioned this whole situation.
Why did this bizarre dream catastrophe even happen?
Where did these creatures come from?
Why were they watching me as if waiting for me to cross the door?
Didn't they try to prevent me from escaping? If I cross this door, I will undoubtedly awaken to the real world. Unless...
I let go of the doorknob and faced the hordes of growling Maras. Staring into their howling eyes, I challenged them in their own game.
At that moment, I realized something. Up until now, these Maras weren't trying to prevent me from escaping. In fact, they were doing the opposite; they led me here, pushing me away. They wanted to kick me out of this realm.
Looking at them waiting for me to cross the door only strengthened my suspicion—they wanted to keep me from reaching deeper.
"You ain't fooling me, fuckers."
Realizing that I saw behind their facade, the Maras became more aggressive. Slowly, they advanced, forcing me to back up and step into the door.
"Huh, do you think I'm scared of you little pieces of shit? This place is my subconscious, my mind!"
The collection of tomes and scrolls started to glow and hover in the air. Pages flipped out and scrolls rolled open. The whole library shook to its core as strong gusts of wind blew the creatures back. Countless whispers of the scriptures chanted thousands of forbidden spells.
This is my mind. Inside, I store the darkest and most dangerous knowledge ever known to living beings—thousands of spells, hexes, sigils, jinxes, and curses.
"I'm the king of my own mind. Get out of my sanctuary!"
Upon my decree, the hordes of Maras disintegrated instantly into ashes, leaving no traces of their vile existence behind.
Having resolved one issue, I took a deep breath, but I couldn't fully relax. Maras, creatures that feed on fear and induce nightmares, appearing in such numbers suggests someone or something orchestrated their presence. They clearly see me as a threat to whatever plans they have in motion.
Closing my eyes, I focused deeply on my mind. The library around me seemed to respond to my concentration. The walls and shelves began to shift and rearrange themselves, creating a larger, open space in the middle of the room.
Further conjuring more changes, the floor beneath me trembled and then split open, revealing a deep abyss beneath. The darkness of the void seemed to beckon, its depths unfathomable. As if guided by my subconscious will, a staircase materialized from the floor, its steps leading down into the pitch-black unknown.
With steady steps, I approached the void gap. Placing a foot on the staircase, I began to descend into the abyss one step at a time. Progressively, I descended deeper and deeper, the light growing dimmer until it was pitch black all around me.
Cautiously, I made sure to step carefully on the staircase. One wrong move, and I would plunge into my own demise.
As I descended cautiously, making sure each step was secure, the staircase led me deeper into the darkness. Gradually, the oppressive blackness began to lift, revealing faint, flickering light below. When I finally reached the bottom, I found myself in a dungeon-like maze with cobblestone walls and torches attached to them, casting eerie, dancing shadows on the stone surfaces.
The air was damp and musty, carrying a chill that seeped into my bones. When I looked back to where I came from, the stairs were already gone, as if they had never been there to begin with.
While deeply contemplating my next move, my hand reached out to the damp wall, brushing against the cobblestone pattern.
It seemed there was no way around; I had to make it across the maze. However, I wasn't going to wander in foolishly.
I reached into my handbag, pulling out a flask within. As I looked closely at the glowing flask, I shook it slightly before opening its lid.
From inside, a few orbs engulfed in blue fire flew out, floating around me.
"Monstra mihi viam(Show me the path)."
Upon my command, the orbs immediately scattered, flying into the maze.
The orbs were originally a species of fairies, often found in forests where they guided those who were lost to safety. When I encountered some, I decided to collect them for my personal use.
After a few minutes, the orbs returned, seems like they had found a way out of the maze.
I followed the orbs as they led me through the labyrinthine passages. Their gentle glow illuminated the path, casting soft shadows on the ancient cobblestone walls. The air remained damp and cold, occasionally droplets of water can be heard dripping from the wall gaps.
As I ventured deeper into the maze, every turn and corner seemed endless, until eventually, from a distance, I heard a faint sound—a familiar yet annoying noise.
*Bleat*....*Bleat*....
Recognizing the annoying sound, I sprinted towards its source. The walls of the maze gradually opened up, and before I realized it, I had reached the end of the labyrinth.
Standing before me, awkwardly bleating, was a sheep—none other than Theresia's familiar. The sheep kept bleating desperately, its gaze fixed on the vast, dark hall ahead.
"What are you doing here? Where's Theresia?" I asked.
The sheep looked at me for a moment before bleating into the darkness once more. It seemed whatever lay ahead might hold clues about Theresia's whereabouts.
Without hesitation, I started walking into the hall, with only the orbs as my source of light. Eventually, the sheep followed me, shaking on its feet. Despite its trembling fear, it seemed determined to find its master.
As I ventured deeper into the hall, the initial emptiness and silence gave way to a transformation of the surroundings. The cold, stone walls gradually yielded to weathered wood paneling, each plank bearing the marks of time and neglect.
Furniture emerged along the uneven flooring—a broken chair with its legs askew, a moth-eaten rug that lay curled at the edges, and torn cloth strewn across. Dead chandeliers hung from the ceiling, Hollow cabinets stood against the walls.
Just as I felt the eerie comfort of the aged interior, its false sense of safety betrayed me as the giggles of young girls echoed through its walls. I immediately heightened my awareness, my nape standing in caution. Something was crawling between the top of the cabinets—I could hear them, the sound of their claws against the wood.
Spontaneously, millions of bugs of all kinds surged out from the gaps under the cabinets, flooding the floor with a chaotic tide of tiny legs and fluttering wings. I stumbled back, the bugs seemed to emerge endlessly, their numbers overwhelming.The bugs continued to pour out, a relentless swarm that seemed to have no end in sight.
Out of nowhere, a gigantic spider dropped from above, its landing creating a thud that vibrated the ground. With legs larger than a cow's, the arachnid stared at me with its eight glowing red eyes, hissing ferociously.
The sheep panicked, bleating loudly, and immediately took shelter behind me, trembling with fear.
Witnessing danger in front of me, I instinctively bit my own wrist, forcefully tearing the skin until blood started dripping out.
Flicking my wrist, I splattered the blood between me and the monster.
"Magick Prohibitae(Forbidden Magic): Flamma Sordidata(Tarnished Flame)!"
The trails of blood ignited, creating curtains of purple fire that halted the arachnid's advance. The monstrous spider recoiled, its eight glowing eyes narrowing on us.
As I faced the menacing giant spider, I suddenly found myself confronted from the side by a massive centipede. Swiftly sidestepping its lunging jaws, I narrowly avoided its attack as its head collided with the walls beside me.
I stepped back cautiously, only to find more creatures emerging. Bats swooping from above, serpents slithering across the floor, and a cacophony of crawling and flying beasts and ghastly entities filling the space. It was a scene straight out of nightmares, evoking cries of despair from anyone who beheld it.
Whispers of fear and horror echoed through the macabre gathering, mingling with misery.
"I despise spiders!"
"Sometimes I sense someone watching me from the shadows..."
"Eek, a snake!"
"I'm terrified...someone please help!"
"No, stay back! Aaahh!"
"There are ghosts! I swear!"
"Mr. Monster under my bed, please don't hurt me..."
These cries, I recognize them—they belong to my classmates. These are their desperate pleas, their deepest fears, their greatest nightmares.
My eyes widened, and my jaw dropped as I witnessed the ultimate terror. All these creatures, born from my classmates' deepest nightmares, began to merge into one another.
As the creatures merged, a grotesque abomination unfolded before me. The spider's legs twisted and melded with the centipede's segmented body, while the bat's wings fused with the serpent's slithering form. Each amalgamation was more horrifying than the last, creating monstrous hybrids that seemed to defy all natural laws.
Hundreds of heads emerged from its disgusting figure, faces of different creatures screeching in unison.
So this is what they call ultimate dread, born of horror, the lord of nightmares.
This is...
The Boogeyman.