Chapter 104 Nightmare

Chapter 104 Nightmare

In the depths of his mind, Alex found himself ensnared in a nightmarish realm of twisted shadows and writhing tendrils. The disgusting looking tentacle creature had wrapped its tentacles around his spirit — his very soul. Its grotesque form pulsated with dark energy as it launched a relentless assault on his soul.

The creature's psychic attacks were relentless, tearing at Alex's mind and feeding him his worst fears and doubts at once. His soul itself was taking damage, delivering unimaginable pain to him second by second. With each passing moment, he felt his soul shatter and be reborn, only for the process to repeat again in another moment.

'Is this it? Is this where I die?'

The pain was so unbearable that Alex's willpower started to wane, and he became convinced that he was going to die the more he experienced the terrors the nightmarish creature had pulled him into.

***

Six year old Alex ran through the dusty streets of the mining colony, his laughter echoing off the metal walls as he chased after his mother. She was a blur of motion ahead of him, her laughter mingling with his own as they played together in the fading light of dusk.

Memories flashed before Alex's eyes — the warmth of his mother's embrace, the sound of her voice reading him bedtime stories, the smell of freshly baked bread wafting from the kitchen. It was a time of innocence and joy, a time where Alex was happiest in life.

But amidst the laughter and love, there was pain and loneliness — the faint memory of his mother's disappearance, the aching loneliness that gnawed at Alex's heart from that point onwards. The pain had been so unbearable for little Alex that he completely shut the memories of his mother out of his life. And then, in the blink of an eye, it was all gone — his mother's face, her name, her touch. All lost to time like they never existed. The only thing that remained was her soft voice reading him bedtime stories and consoling him when he had nightmares at night.

But now, as Alex stood in his mind' overcome with pain and on the verge of death, memories flooded his mind as the vague figure of his mother flashed past. He remembered his goal to reach the peak in the universe, to become the greatest awakened that will ever live.

With fierce determination burning in his heart, Alex thought of his only friend, Mira, who he had only known for less than half a year, but they had been through so much together it seemed like a lifetime. He thought of the times they shared together, times filled with fun as well as despair, and came to a conclusion.

He didn't want to be alone at the peak. He wanted Mira right there with him too.

Marc shifted his back to face Alex, gazing off into the forest to make sure that no unsuspecting beasts or humans stumbled across him.

However, the moment he turned his back, he felt a chill run down his spine.

There was minimal wind at this time, only a gentle breeze rustling the trees above creating a calm atmosphere, but Marc was anything but calm.

At his level, he had developed a sort of sixth sense himself, but it was more of a 'danger sensing' sense rather than an actual sense like Alex's spatial perception.

And right now this sense was sending off alarms across his entire mind and body, practically screaming that he was about to face more danger than he had ever faced before.

'What-'

But before he could turn around to nervously check for any source of danger in his surroundings, he found he couldn't turn his head anymore.

His sight shifted, turning upside down as it quickly fell to the floor. His head rolled for a few seconds, before it stopped.

From the position his head fell when it was severed from his neck, he could see the boots of the person who had just decapitated him.

'How?'

In his last few seconds, he could only question reality, as he recognised those boots all too well.

They were Alex's.