Chapter 208

Chapter 208

"Damien."

The voice echoed.

"Damien, wake up!"

That familiar voice resounded.

Damien slowly opened his eyes. As his blurry vision cleared, he saw an old, dusty ceiling dimly lit by sunlight.

The worn-out blanket, the smell of boiling milk, the creaky bed, and the cold wind coming through the slightly ajar window.

Huh?

This was the orphanage where he had spent his childhood.

As Damien slowly sat up, a girl sitting on his bed put her finger to her lips and hushed him softly.

"We promised to hike to the hilltop today, remember? You didnt forget, did you?"

She was a tomboyish girl with cropped hair.

Her skin was a rich tan, and both cheeks sported a faint blush. She had long, slender limbs and a mischievous smile.

Rubbing his sleepy eyes, Damien smiled back at her.

"Sorry, Van. I overslept."

"Heh, its alright. I knew youd oversleep, thats why I came to wake you up."

She jumped off the bed, butt-first, with an enthusiastic "Whoop!" and extended her hand toward Damien.

"Come on, lets sneak out before the director catches us."

Van grinned widely.

"This time, well definitely reach the summit!"

"...Alright!"

Blushing, Damien extended his hand to hold Vans.

But the moment Damien touched Vans hand...

Boom! Rumble...!

The scenery around him changed instantly.

He was now in a collapsing forward base. It was the battlefield he was immediately deployed to upon his arrival at the Crossroad.

All around, soldiers screamed as they fell. The cacophony of cannons and the monstrous roars filled the air.

Dazed, Damien looked around.

Suddenly, he was dressed in blood-soaked priestly robes. Crimson-eyed black spiders swarmed around him.

One of the spiders swung its claw viciously. But Damien was too exhausted to move.

"Damien, move!"

Someone rushed in and pushed Damien out of the way.

Dazed, Damien saw Vans face smiling back at him as she pushed him aside.

"See, I told you, you always need me to look out for you..."

Thump! Thud! Splat-!

A horrifying sound accompanied the mangling of Vans body. Damien screamed.

"Van! Nooo!"

Damien kneeled next to Van, who was lodged in a pool of blood. Despite coughing up blood, Van managed a weak smile.

"Heh, its fine. You know me, right? Invincible Van... This isnt painful at all..."

The spiders claws mercilessly shredded Vans body.

Her leather breastplate and chainmail shattered to pieces, serving no purpose.

"No, no, no..."

Bones were visible, and her insides spilled out. Holding back tears, Damien tried to cast a healing spell next to her.

"Ill fix you, Van. I can do it, just hold on."

But his magic power wouldnt gather.

He had already exhausted his magic power from healing others.

In trying to save others, he had nothing left to heal the most important person to him.

"Please, Van. Let me heal you. Please...!"

Sobbing, Damiens hand was gently grabbed by Vans blood-soaked hand.

"Damien."

With a face scratched up by the monsters claws, Van managed to give a half-smile.

"Do you remember the day we climbed to the peak behind the orphanage?"

"...Yeah, I remember. How could I forget?"

"Dont forget the promise we made then."

"But Ban, without you, I..."

Damien tried to say something, but Van was already gone, no longer breathing.

His eyes closed peacefully, and his head drooped down with a smile.

"...Ban?"

Warmth quickly dissipated from Bans hand. Damien blankly stared down at the face of his lifeless friend.

And theneverything froze.

The spider monsters rushing in with cries, the flames from the erupting gunpowder, the blood oozing from Bans wounds, and the tears streaming down Damiens faceall of it stopped.

Only then did Damien realize.

This is a nightmare.

Its a memory from the past, one thats gone, unchangeable, untouchable.

"Orlop!"

"I told you before that I had a friend named Van, right?"

I nodded. Damien had told me about a friend who had died when I saved him during the tutorial stage.

"In my dreams, I constantly see Van dying. She dies, and dies, and dies again, trying to save me, torn apart horrifically..."

"..."

"And I just stand there, helpless, watching."

Damien bowed his head even lower.

"Whenever I go through this torture all night, and my heart is tattered, Orlop appears."

"Orlop, you mean..."

"The monster queen contained in this magic gun."

The black spider queen we had killed in the tutorial stage; her name was Orlop.

"Orlop makes me an offer. She says that if I give up fighting her, shell send me to my most beautiful memories."

Damiens hands, holding the cocoa cup, trembled.

"And then she shows me my childhood, the happiest time of my life. Everything is peaceful and warm in that dream... and Van is alive. I... dont know what to do."

"..."

"But if I resist, the dream quickly breaks, and I return to that day at the forward base. And I watch as Van dies before me. Over and over..."

To think he was undergoing such mental torture.

I looked at Damien with a concerned gaze.

So, the cause is...

[Black Queen].

My eyes briefly scanned over the magic gun situated at Damiens feet.

It must be because of the newly unlocked option for this Nightmare Slayer.

- Orlops Hunger: The user becomes consumed by a nightmare, revealing their inner darkness. If the user wins the struggle for control against the nightmare, the darkness disappears. If defeated, the user is completely devoured by the darkness.

It seemed that he was caught in this struggle for control.

I thought hed just emit some dark aura and display some adolescent awkwardness before overcoming it, but it seems the issue is more complicated than that.

"Damien, how about just scrapping that magic gun?"

Even if its good equipment, Damien with [Far-Sight] is far more valuable.

When I cautiously spoke up, Damien quickly waved his hands, visibly startled.

"N-no, dont do that! I... I will! I will overcome it, Your Highness."

"But..."

"I mean it. Im not so weak as to be defeated by a nightmare like this!"

But you were weak.

Wasnt he nearly consumed by that nightmare just today? Hence, losing control of his body and causing a scene?

"Give me... another chance."

Damien pleaded earnestly.

"This is my nightmare, my darkness. Therefore... I should be the one to solve it."

"..."

"Please give me the opportunity to reconcile my memories, Your Highness."

Seeing Damien speak so desperately for the first time, I involuntarily nodded, granting him permission.

"Fine. But remember this, Damien. If something like today happens again, your gun will be confiscated immediately. Understand?"

At this, Damiens face lit up.

"Yes, Your Highness! Trust me. Heh heh..."

It seemed he regained some of his composure. I even saw the awkward adolescent smile make a return.

Damien hurriedly gulped down the remaining cocoa and swiftly picked up the [Black Queen], rising to his feet.

"Ill take my leave now! Sorry for causing you trouble today!"

And with that, he hastily exited the mansion, holding his magic gun close to his chest.

"..."

I looked at the spreading black aura behind Damien and clicked my tongue.

If Damien could overcome this darkness, it would be a chance for him to grow. But if not, the risk was too high.

From a strategic perspective, disposing of the [Black Queen] would be the right choice.

However...

- Give her back to me. Give my friend back...

I remembered what Damien had screamed at me when we first met during the tutorial stage. I also recalled the words he had muttered when he faced a cursed mental attack in the underground passage during the Path of the Overlord dungeon.

- Im sorry, Van. Im sorry for surviving. I messed up. So...

"..."

Damien was a cheat character.

He was my ultimate trump card, capable of carrying me to the end of this game.

But he was also a fragile and ordinary boy.

I wished for Damien to find happiness. To shake off the regrets and guilt of his past and to forgive himself.

And to do that, he had to learn how to confront his past.

Hang in there, Damien.

I decided to trust Damiens judgment. To believe in his confidence that he could overcome this darkness.

And I hoped this process would help him grow mentally.

...It didnt take long for me to realize that this decision was a mistake.