The night had become unnaturally quiet.
The ruined city stood beneath the smiling moon.
Roads were buried beneath rubble.
Abandoned vehicles rested in the middle of intersections.
Broken streetlights flickered weakly.
Countless crimson eyes stared toward the same place.
The hospital.
Yet none of the Nightmares moved.
Waited.
Listened.
And sang.
A hymn slowly emerged from the darkness.
Low.
Distorted.
Almost human.
"Praise the Moon and it's child."
"Praise the light that drives us wild."
The voices overlapped.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Different voices.
Different throats.
Yet somehow...
They sang the same hymn.
Then—
Ding.
A bell rang.
The entire hymn stopped.
Silence descended.
At the far end of the ruined street...
Something moved.
A massive silhouette emerged from the darkness.
A Human Carcass Variant.
Nightmare: Human Tank Carcass (C)
It stood nearly as tall as a two-story building.
Its body was enormous.
Bulky.
Heavy.
Its shoulders were wide enough to block an entire section of the street.
Its flesh had the dull color of old human skin.
Thick stitches covered its chest.
Its arms hung almost to its knees.
Its fingers dragged across the pavement.
Scrape.
Scrape.
Scrape.
Its face was the most disturbing part.
Its eyes were completely stitched shut.
A thick black thread crossed each eyelid several times.
Its mouth had been sewn into a permanent smile.
The stitches pulled both corners of its mouth upward a smile.
Standing upon its shoulders were two figures.
A twin.
Both looked around eleven years old.
Both possessed pale skin.
Both wore dark ceremonial clothing decorated with inverted silver crescent patterns.
Their appearances were almost identical.
Short silver-black hair.
Pale faces.
Crimson eyes.
Yet their personalities could not have been more different.
The boy on the left held a small bell with both hands.
Name: Nocti Ever Moon
Job: Nightmare Tamer (Legendary)
Level: 120
Race: Human (Enlightened Moon)
Affiliation: Enlightened Moon
Title: "Phase 7 - Third Quarter"
He stood quietly.
Almost nervously.
His shoulders were slightly hunched.
His eyes repeatedly wandered toward the surrounding Nightmares.
Every time one of them moved...
His fingers tightened around the bell.
He seemed afraid of the creatures surrounding him.
But he never ran.
He simply remained beside his brother.
Name: Luna Ever Moon
Job: Metamorphosis (Legendary)
Level: 120
Race: Human (Enlightened Moon)
Affiliation: Enlightened Moon
Title: "Phase 7 - Third Quarter"
Unlike Nocti...
Luna could barely remain still.
His moving one side to another.
His grin was wide.
His eyes shone with excitement.
He repeatedly looked toward the hospital.
"So this is it!"
Luna laughed.
"Finally!"
Nocti flinched.
"L-Luna..."
"What?"
"Don't shout."
Luna laughed even louder.
"Why not?"
"We're going to guide the child!"
Luna's voice echoed across the ruined street.
Nocti immediately looked around.
"Lower your voice..."
"Shsss!..."
"What if the child hears us?"
Luna blinked.
"That's the point."
Nocti stared at Luna.
"...Right."
Luna patted Nocti's head.
"Hehe."
"Nocti your just tense, don't worry your big brother here will do a great job for the both of us."
"The Saintess is going to be so happy."
Nocti happily blushed.
"The Saintess..."
He gently looked at the hospital.
"We must not disappoint her."
Luna's smile widened.
"We won't."
"We'll bring the child with us."
"Then the Saintess will praise us."
Nocti nodded.
"Yes."
Luna suddenly leaned closer.
"You're holding the bell too tightly."
Nocti looked down.
His fingers had turned pale from gripping the bell.
Nocti loosened them.
"I..."
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"I don't want to lose it."
Luna laughed.
"You won't."
"It's your bell."
Luna aggressively brushes Nocti's head.
"Stop."
Nocti stared at the small object.
A simple ceremonial bell.
Its surface was decorated with an inverted crescent moon.
"This mission will be a success."
Luna's expression became serious for the first time.
"Good."
He looked toward the hospital.
"Because once it rings..."
"The whole procession will know."
Nocti swallowed.
"Then..."
"We'll guide the child and return."
Luna grinned.
"Exactly."
"Let's make the Saintess proud."
The Human Tank Carcass beneath them suddenly raised its head.
Its stitched smile stretched unnaturally wide.
Then—
It sang.
"Moon above us."
"Child within us."
The surrounding Nightmares answered.
"Moon before us."
"Child behind us."
Nocti slowly raised his bell.
Ding.
The hymn continued.
All around the hospital...
The Nightmares began moving.
But they did not attack.
They simply gathered.
Moving slowly.
Five more noticeable figures emerged from different direction.
First - Nightmare: Human Hanging Carcass (D)
Its body was unnaturally thin.
Its arms were stretched upward and stitched directly into a mass of crimson tendons.
It hanged like a pupa
Its legs barely touched the ground.
At it's side 10 Human Walking Carcass carrying the giant wooden platform.
Every movement the Hanging Human Carcass sway back and forth.
Its face had one big eye
Its mouth was sewn shut.
Its head continuously tilted toward the moon.
Second - Nightmare: Human Rooted Carcass (C)
Its lower body had completely transformed into thick human flesh limbs.
The limbs penetrated the pavement.
They spread through cracks in the street.
Its torso was bloated.
It's arm form above like branches.
Face stitched into a smile.
As it stand tall like a tree.
It cannot walk.
It simply grew.
Third - Nightmare: Human Crawling Carcass (D)
Its torso was long and twisted.
Its arms had become its primary means of movement.
Its legs were fused together like a giant eel.
It crawled slowly across the street.
Its face had no eyes.
Only a stitched smile.
Despite its blindness...
It never collided with the other Nightmares.
Fourth - Nightmare: Human Veiled Carcass (C)
Its body resembled that of a tall woman.
But its entire head was wrapped in layers of human skin.
Wearing a bridal gown made of human flesh.
A crimson thread held the veil together.
No facial features could be seen.
Only two faint crimson lights glowed beneath the covering.
Its hands hold a bouquet of human hands and intestines.
It walked slowly.
Almost reverently.
Fifth - Nightmare: Human Choir Carcass (C)
Its chest had been split open, wide.
Inside were several small mouths.
Each mouth moved independently.
Each sang a different part of the Enlightened Moon's hymn.
When the mouths sang together...
The surrounding Nightmares became silent.
The six variations slowly moved toward the hospital.
Different forms.
Different bodies.
Different mutations.
Yet all shared the same origin.
Humanity.
Twisted.
Mutilated.
Reborn beneath the Enlightened Moon's corruption.
Their voices joined.
"Praise the Moon and its Child."
"Praise the darkness reconciled."
The hymn spread throughout the ruined city.
───
Inside the hospital...
Estelle stood on the broken wall.
Her crimson eyes stared toward the ritual.
Kai remained below.
His White Flame burned around his body.
The notification inside his mind continued displaying its final message.
[Notification]
Process Complete.
Vessel confirmed.
External authority detected.
Authority: [Enlightened Moon]
Birth of reincarnation Condition fulfilled.
Estelle smiled.
"It's beginning."
Kai said nothing.
His gaze remained fixed on the Director mutilated body.
The Director's severed head rested inside the ritual.
Its flesh began twitching.
At first...
Only a finger moved.
Then another.
Blood began flowing from the surrounding rooms.
It slipped beneath broken doors.
Through cracks.
Down staircases.
Across the floor.
Every drop moved toward the ritual.
Kai's eyes narrowed.
"What!?"
The blood gathered around the Director.
Then flesh followed.
Muscles.
Organs.
Bones.
Pieces of corpses that had been scattered throughout the hospital began crawling toward the ritual.
The dead were being consumed.
Walls became stained red.
The floor trembled.
Estelle's smile widened.
"Beautiful."
Kai's White Flame intensified.
"This is bad!"
The mass of flesh continued growing.
Blood wrapped around the Director's body.
Bones twisted together.
Muscles formed.
Skin stretched across the surface.
A cocoon began forming.
At first it was the size of a human.
Then larger.
Two meters.
Three.
Five.
Ten.
The cocoon continued expanding.
Crimson veins spread across its surface.
The entire hospital seemed to pulse with it.
LAB.
DUB.
Like a gigantic heart.
Kai stepped backward.
"What the hell is that?"
Estelle laughed softly.
"Oh, Praise the moon and its child."
The cocoon grew again.
Its surface became smoother.
Beautiful.
Crimson light pulsed beneath translucent flesh.
Then—
A massive crack appeared across its surface.
Kai's expression changed.
He picked up Raya and left the room.
He jumped at 4th floor of the building and run toward the hospital field.
The cocoon suddenly contracted.
Silence.
One heartbeat.
Two.
Three.
Then—
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The cocoon exploded.
A crimson shockwave tore through the hospital.
The remaining walls destroyed.
Windows shattered outward.
The entire floor was ripped apart.
The force was so tremendous that Estelle's body was launched into the distance.
"Hahaha—!"
Estelle flew across the ruined hospital.
Her body struck the ground.
CRASH!
Her torso was torn open.
One arm was severed.
Her legs twisted unnaturally.
Yet...
She still laugh.
"Hehe..."
Crimson threads immediately erupted from her wounds.
Her body began rebuilding itself.
Across the field...
Kai stood firm.
White Flame surrounding his body.
Raya was unconscious against his shoulder.
Kai had already carried him outside the hospital.
Kai placed Raya in an open field away from the collapsing structure.
Then voices heard outside the hospital...
The hymn.
"Praise the Moon and its Child."
"Leave your human heart behind."
"When the final bell has rung."
"We shall Praise her with one tongue."
Kai slowly turned toward the hospital.
Smoke covered everything.
The ruins were hidden.
Then...
A silhouette appeared.
Kai's eyes narrowed.
The smoke slowly parted.
Something moved.
Slowly.
Quietly.
Bare feet touched the ruined ground.
Step.
Step.
Step.
A tall humanoid figure emerged from the smoke.
Long silver hair flowed behind its body.
The strands were unnaturally smooth.
Almost weightless.
Its skin was pale.
White.
Almost like porcelain.
Its body possessed the shape of a adult woman.
Naked.
Two arms.
Two legs.
A torso.
A neck.
A gorgeous face.
Yet something about its appearance felt completely wrong.
Its crimson eyes opened.
They glowed beneath the moonlight.
The creature stopped.
Its head slowly turned.
It looked toward the field.
Toward Kai.
The pressure surrounding its body intensified.
The air became heavy.
The grass bent away from it.
Dust stopped moving.
Even the surrounding Nightmares became silent.
The creature took another step.
Stepping on midair and slowly go down.
As it's feet touched the ground.
It cracked beneath its foot.
Kai's White Flame suddenly surged.
The creature looked at him.
For a moment...
Neither moved.
Then—
A familiar chime echoed inside Kai's mind.
[Notification]
Horde of Nightmare detected.
Objective:
0/1 — Eliminate Moonlight Flōres
0/3 — Eliminate Corrupt Human
0/? — Eliminate Nightmare
Reward:
• 50,000 EXP
• Bell of Misery
• Moon's Tear
• Enhancement Stone ×5
• Rune ×5
Failure: Encroachment [Enlightened Moon]
[Identification Complete]
Target Identified.
Nightmare: Ipomoea
Classification: The Child of Corruption, Moonlight Flōres
Affiliation: [Enlightened Moon]
Rank: A+
Status: Newly Born
Kai stared at the notification.
50,000 EXP.
The largest exp reward he had ever seen.
But his eyes immediately moved back to the Nightmare.
Ipomoea.
A named Nightmare like the one at the school.
The newly born child of the Enlightened Moon.
Estelle slowly rose from the field.
Her body was still rebuilding.
Crimson threads stitched her torso together.
She stared at the silver-haired Nightmare.
Her smile slowly returned.
"Beautiful..."
The creature ignored her.
Its crimson eyes remained fixed on Kai.
No expression.
No words.
No movement.
Just silence.
Then...
Its gaze shifted.
Toward the countless Nightmares surrounding the hospital.
Every Nightmare lowered itself.
Bowing to its ruler.
The different Human Carcass Variants.
All bowed.
Before its presence.
The hymn began again.
Aggressively.
"Praise her."
"Praise her."
"Praise the Child."
Nocti and Luna stood upon the giant Human Carcass in the distance.
Luna's eyes sparkled.
"There!"
"The child!"
Nocti tightened his grip around the bell.
His voice trembled.
"Ipomoea..."
Luna jumped down from the Carcass.
"Let's go!"
Nocti quickly followed.
"Wait!"
Luna laughed.
"The Saintess is waiting!"
Nocti looked back toward the hospital.
Then toward the silver-haired child.
He quietly raised the bell.
Ding.
The sound traveled through the darkness.
Every Nightmare turned toward them.
The hymn became louder.
The smiling moon became brighter.
And above the ruined hospital...
The moonlight seemed to descend directly upon Ipomoea.
The newborn Nightmare slowly lifted its head.
Its silver hair moved with the wind.
Its crimson eyes glowed brighter.
Kai tightened his fists.
The White Flame erupted around him.
Raya remained unconscious behind him.
Estelle watched with a smile.
The twins approached from the darkness.
Thousands of Nightmares surrounded the field.
And Ipomoea stood at the center of it all.
A child.
A Nightmare.
A creation of the Enlightened Moon.
Kai took one step forward.
His eyes burned with determination.
"Come."
The White Flame roared.
"I'll send you all to the moon."
Ipomoea stared at him.
For the first time...
Its lips slowly moved.
And a voice emerged.
Soft.
Beautiful.
Almost human.
"Kai."
Kai froze.
Estelle's smile disappeared.
Nocti stopped walking.
Luna's expression changed.
The entire battlefield became silent.
Ipomoea tilted its head.
Its crimson eyes remained fixed upon Kai.
Then it smiled.
A small smile.
Almost innocent.
"Found you."
The White Flame continue to burn.
The smiling moon shone brighter.
And the hymn of the Enlightened Moon began once more.
"The Moon is watching."
"The child is smiling."
"Praise the Enlightened Moon with its child."
To be continue...