As the group approached the city, Avir shared what he had seen in the village. Confirming the situation was only possible because he had risked far more than he should have by straying from the team. Even in his haste, he found signs of the Shavar Harwar only because he had genuinely been looking for them.

  Eyharnis, as the person with the greatest strength stat, took care of carrying the unconscious man. After hearing the news, she was in no mood to talk, so she walked in silence, staring blankly at the unchanging sky.

  “What’s the matter, lass? It’s not like this is the first time.”

  “And?”

  “And it won’t be the last.” he growled. “We knew what we were getting into, so get your shit together.”

  “Avir, leave her alone.” Olympia interjected. “We all know how you’re gonna unwind.”

  “Hey, what’s wrong with drinking?”

  Since it was only now that they could stop acting, they allowed their thoughts to turn to the possessed village. They were only there a dozen cycles ago, and they didn’t notice any signs of demon activity. Now, however, it turned out that all the people there were victims.

  Usually, on inspection missions were sent tight-knit groups of adventurers, with at least one person with hiding skills and support for that person in case they were discovered.

  The fact that the demons were versed in plotting was well known, but with enough frequent, covert visits, there was a real chance of detecting changes. Seeds of discord were sown in peaceful villages, resulting in quarrels and slander that eventually escalated into fights and even murders.

  At least that’s what the demons did when only a few of them entered the village. If it was a larger group, they sometimes approached more boldly, immediately attacking the population. But typically they preferred a cautious approach. There was a theory that they were simply just having fun, slowly leading to misery.

  Over the years, people became so sensitive that any suspicious symptoms were reported to the authorities. This often proved to be lifesaving for the local population. Unfortunately, not all the reports could be adequately dealt with, especially as many were false.

  The demons themselves manipulated people into reporting specific locations. In this way, attention was diverted, and resources were limited. Hence, the idea for irregular, hidden inspections.

  Only after it was confirmed that something was wrong in the village could one think about bringing in a cleric. Unfortunately, it was a massive undertaking. The clergy were few and their scarcity was all the more evident, as most were stationed in the larger cities or took part in the war. If it was decided to bring such a person into the village, a strict guard was required. It was only when this was assured that they could afford to come in and indicate who was really possessed.

  Of course, there were exceptions. The few clerics who reached the Advanced rank were powers in their own right, and bodyguards of the Awakened rank, let alone the Normal rank, would only be a burden.

  “Before you get drunk, we need to take care of this.” Olympia said, pointing her head at the unconscious Orion. “Who did you call?”

  “I asked the Grand Inquisitor to intervene. Turns out he was nearby, and with an entire possessed village, one can never be too careful.” Avir said, describing what he was really doing after his last disappearance.

  “That’s good. I have a feeling we’re dealing with some of a higher rank. Zai, did you sense anything?”

  The crystal flashed several times.

  “Nope. It disguises itself perfectly, perhaps even overdoes it a bit. It’s almost like a black hole in the background of neutral mana. Even now. I don’t feel any aura, either.”

  “I see that you have already conducted an expert assessment without the participation of a clergy.” Egill said irritably. “And what if he’s clean and what he said was true?”

  “Your good heart will lead you to the grave.” Avir said.

  “Please, just take this into consideration. Why would he tell us about the village? What do you think, Olympia?”

  The owlish woman stared at him for a moment, then sighed.

  “I don’t like him. I felt like everything he did; everything he told; was somehow calculated. I also saw all those glances. He knew exactly what situation he was in. My… incident, instead of helping, convinced him even more, even despite Avir’s attempts.”

  “These fits of laughter didn’t seem ‘calculated’.” replied Egill, frowning.

  “Still, I’m talking only about behavior. You’ve all seen the most obvious evidence.”

  “So why did he walk into a trap? A higher rank should’ve sensed it. And why hide his mana or aura instead of showing us fake ones? It makes no sense.”

  “That’s why it’s still alive.” Olympia said, and after a moment’s thought, added, “Maybe it felt confident enough? We’ll find out soon enough.”

  ***

  “They’re gone. Hurry up.”

  Three people quietly exited the empty apartment and hurried toward the stairs. The elevators weren’t working, nor was the remaining electricity. From the apartment above came the sound of a broken door and screams. Hearing this, the man stopped.

  “What are you doing?” the woman whispered. “We have to go.”

  “I can’t, Mom. I thought… Just… I can’t let that happen.”

  “What the hell can you do alone? There are at least five people there.”

  “Emma, take Mom and hide. I’ll be right back.” Robert said, grimacing. Then, despite his mother’s protests, he began to sneak upwards, simultaneously drawing a katana from his inventory.

  Since families were supposed to be moved close together, their home was the best place to stay. He managed to reunite with his sister and mother, but he still hadn’t heard anything from his father or brother. The hours dragged on as he waited, and the view outside the windows sent shivers down the spine.

  People went mad.

  ***

  “Ori. Ooorii. Get up, sleepyhead. Are you going to sleep all day?”

  Orion, hearing a warm voice and feeling a tickle on his forehead, slowly opened his eyes. Martha was leaning over him, strands of her black hair falling across his face. The morning sun illuminated her figure, making him pause for a moment, a warm feeling in his heart. Although her expression suggested he’d done something wrong, he couldn’t miss the smile hidden behind her eyes. She was still wearing her pajamas, so he couldn’t have slept that long.

  Sensing a sudden movement, he glanced down. He saw his covered body and movement at the foot end of the bed. The blanket near his feet had a suspicious bulge that was quickly approaching his head. The fur touching his skin caused a tingling sensation, so he pulled back the blanket, only to see a white dog that immediately attacked his face.

  “Pfleh, Byton, get out.” he said, squinting against his wet tongue. Hearing a giggle, he looked up and saw her face, which was getting drier by the second. Her eyes pushed back, creating two black holes, and her skin turned an unhealthy gray color. Feeling something wet on his chest, he instinctively looked down again, where he saw a mess of blood, bones, and flesh, with white fur sticking out here and there.

  Screaming, Orion jumped out of bed.

  The scene he witnessed immediately disappeared, leaving him surrounded by a new sight.

  But he didn’t pay attention now, as the awareness of everything that had happened reached him. He curled up in an embryonic position and grabbed his head. Thousands of thoughts floated through his mind. All the ‘what if he’d done differently’ thoughts came flooding back, and the regret of having survived for so long slowly crept into his mind.

  He should have been at peace a long time ago.

  Why this unnecessary pain?

  What’s the point of all this?

  He’d like to go to sleep forever and never wake up.

  After an unidentified amount of time, his thoughts calmed down, and he sighed. Pulling himself together, Orion stood up to assess his surroundings. He was in a strange, unknown place where, apart from the faint specks of light visible in the distance, blackness predominated.

  Standing on a perfectly smooth surface resembling an infinitely vast pond, he saw a shimmering silver mist slowly drifting above it, growing more visible the closer it came to him. The horizon was marked by a boring and dull gray line, almost repulsing his gaze.

  Looking up, he saw the night sky, which was empty. Not a single star. Not a single moon. Not a single cloud. Nothing but darkness. And yet, when he looked beneath his feet, in the reflection of that sky, he saw billions of stars. They were clustered in large or small groups and glittered in various colors. Some were fading, others were just beginning to glow. The surface he initially assumed to be a sheet of water didn’t include his body in that reflection, either.

  Straining his eyes, he saw another shape far below his feet. He didn’t see it directly because it was completely black. Yet something spherical, floating like the core of a planet, was definitely obscuring some stars.

  Looking down, he also noticed a difference in his feet, and later in his whole body. He was naked again, his skin was quite pale, and what’s more, it looked like he was a bit translucent. It’s not that he saw his muscles or veins. Covering his eyes with one hand and raising the other before his face, he could still see its shape through it; though the farther away he moved it, the blurrier it became.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  There was another difference in both his feet and hands. His nails were quite black, and their tips converged into a point, giving them a faint resemblance to claws.

  “Am I high or something?” he asked into the air. Orion remembered the drinking jam they’d given him, but the effect was too delayed. Then he remembered what happened next. They were approaching the city, and at some point he definitely felt a blow to the back of his head.

  He walked a little bit, wandering aimlessly.

  Glancing under his feet again, Orion noticed that the surface was completely still, and his movement didn’t cause a single ripple, yet he still felt as if he were walking on cool water. Looking around, he spotted a rainbow dome behind him. It seemed to have appeared the moment he stepped out of its reach. It was about three meters high, and as he inspected it, he could see a moving shape inside.

  He stared at it for a moment, and when he tried to see its interior more clearly, it became transparent, revealing a figure he knew.

  “Neru?” Orion asked, but his friend didn’t react. He drifted in the air as usual, as if he hadn’t heard his voice at all.

  Looking at him for a moment, Orion noticed some irregular movements.

  Neru was saying something… the realization struck. Only when a clear desire to hear everything formed in his mind did Neru’s figure shift position, creating the illusion of moving back in time; then, the voice reached Orion’s ears.

  “Ori! Quickly! Take three cucumbers and hit your elbow!” he said rushing, then burst into loud laughter. “Man, I wish I could see your reaction. Hey, sleepin’ princess. Missed me? Eh, why am I even askin’, though? It’s obvious that you do.”

  It had been just a day since Orion last heard Neru's voice, yet he realized how nice it was to hear it again. Apparently, it was some kind of recording, as Neru was still not looking at him but rather at the point where he should be. It dawned on him that the decomposing Martha and Byton’s corpse were his first dream without the protection of his friend. Am I still dreaming? Orion thought, frowning.

  “Well, as you’ve probably guessed, I left you an echo of a dream. It’s somethin’ like a recordin’. I have a confession to make here, and I couldn’t tell it in front of you. So just focus, ‘cause it’s very important… You stink.” Neru laughed again, but this time it was more restrained. “Alright, alright, I know. I’m still tryin’ to avoid shit with humor. Well, don’t blame me. It’s not easy to figure out how to tell a friend that the moment they hear that, I’m dead. Whoopsies. Looks like the cesspool boiled over.”

  Orion stood frozen, unable to formulate any meaningful thoughts. Until a few hours ago, he was walking around thinking of possible scenarios to get Neru out of quarantine. These were just theories, but he knew which options to test first. It didn’t make any sense. Neru reminded him how long he tried to escape. Why would he suddenly die?

  “Mate, even if this is an echo, I can imagine the gears movin’ in your head. The point is, there are a few things I haven’t told you. The whole time, I was kinda wonderin’ why you never brought it up. We never talked about nightmares, did we? Well, I’m guessin’ you assumed it would upset me somehow. In a way, you’d be right.”

  Orion tried desperately to listen to every sentence, but his focus drifted involuntarily. His earlier vision of Martha and Byton, then the fact of being in this unknown place, and now the news of his good friend’s death made him feel as if he were standing on the brink of something… irreversible.

  “Since I gained consciousness, on the one hand, it’s been great fun to see what’s outside this prison. On the other hand, I was angry that none of this was even real. These were only the dreams of other life forms, and I was condemned only to taste them. But there was also a third hand… Uhm, third side?” After a short pause, he continued. “Ah, it doesn’t matter. I mean dreams filled with fear and pain. It was a constant escape and no matter how many years passed, the feelings didn’t change. Sure, you get used to it, but… Oh well, never mind. That’s not the only thing I didn’t tell you.”

  Neru fell silent for a moment, and a certain tension could be seen in his movements.

  “The next thing I want to talk about is this stupid feelin’ of guilt. Imagine meetin’ a person you can talk to for the first time. You see his past, how he’s growin’ up and enjoyin’ life. You see his joys and worries, his successes and failures. You bond with him like a kind of spiritual parent. But one day, he gets kidnapped. And the first time you experience pain with him, you run away like the worst… coward. I’m sorry, Ori. I’m sorry that I couldn’t be with you that day. I know it was just a glimpse of the past, but… but I should’ve been with you then. And yet, I screwed up.”

  He never knew Neru was carrying such regrets. He couldn’t understand it either. Especially since he was aware that it was just looking at the past. Whether he saw it or not, it didn’t matter to Orion in any way. Actually, on second thought, it did, but in the opposite way. Why would he expect a friend to feel his pain?

  How could he live with the knowledge that Neru, out of compassion, endured a year of torture? Still, there’s the matter of the fact that it was just his memories. Why would Neru attach such importance to this?

  After a few moments, he understood.

  His friend was condemned to live forever in a kind of illusion. All he could see were other people’s feelings, and he was drifting in this colorless place. No wonder, having direct contact with him made him feel close. Neru, in his mind, has convinced himself that it makes real sense to live every moment with him.

  “And the last… No, the penultimate thing. Ah, it doesn’t matter, the last one. I’ll put it together somehow. Shut up! I didn’t fuckin’ write the script, ya know? Okay, back to the subject. I told you I was tryin’ to get out of here. It took a few million years. Then I gave up and tried to end it all. What a shock, I never made it. There was always a last-minute survival instinct. That’s why I’m goin’ to help you any way I can. I’ll pour my fuckin’ soul into the gate and get you out of here while burnin’ all my energy. You can argue and insult now, so good luck. Give this recording a hell.”

  Neru floated for a moment in the air, flipping the middle finger at the spot where he thought Orion was standing. When he was done, he continued.

  “Well, I didn’t put it together. Yeah, whatever. One last thing I didn’t tell you, and I’m sure you noticed somethin’. I could tell by the look on your face that the fan line didn’t convince you. The thing is, I noticed somethin’ started to take over this place. Most of the dreams came from the outside world, but in this dumpster of ours, there were many anomalies driftin’ in the distance. Of course, I’m talkin’ about the kind that are light-years away from our ‘domestic’ beast. Anyway, I’ve noticed that my connections to them are bein’ severed at an increasin’ rate. I have no idea what’s devourin’ this place or what effect it would have on us, but it was an impulse for me to confirm my decision.” Neru was silent for a few seconds, then sighed. “Now, as you know everythin’, I guess it’s time to say goodbye.”

  Neru's expression brightened, even the engraving of his teeth on his mask resembled a distinct smile. He flew closer to where Orion supposedly was. For a moment, Neru seemed to pose as if to hug him, but as he flew to where he probably thought his ear would be, he whispered.

  “Iiiidiot.” he said, then moved away. “Find ‘em, and tell ‘em. About the sexy Lord of Dreams that you met.”

  Then he disappeared, leaving an echo of laughter.

  Before Orion could fully digest the news, the strange world around him began to tremble. As if waiting for his friend to deliver his message, a moment later it started to fall apart. The silver mist disappeared, and the black sky faded.

  Opening his eyes, he saw the round interior of the room.

  It was quite empty, for the stone table and chair in front of him were the only furniture he saw. The walls had a raw, gray texture, giving the room a somber atmosphere. Beneath the vault of the ceiling, a white marble the size of a pea floated, emitting enough light to effectively illuminate this room. Looking at his body, he noticed the limbs chained to the chair.

  “Fuck, again?” he asked with amusement.

  Although he looked fine on the outside, on the inside, his thoughts were raging. If what he saw in his dream wasn’t enough, the sight of an all too familiar situation was the final touch.

  [Sanity: -1 (1)]