Scarlet was running endlessly. In front of her stretched a long, narrow hallway, like the second floor of a hotel with countless turns and doors. No matter which way she went—left, right, or straight—there was no end. Every path looked the same. Every corner led her back to where she started.
The walls around her began to change. Sometimes they were bright red, pulsing like veins filled with blood. Sometimes they turned into sticky, slimy flesh with a horrible smell that made her stomach twist. From the walls, long tentacles burst out, whipping toward her and trying to grab her.
Other times, faces she recognized appeared on the ground—faces of people she knew. They glared at her with strange, twisted expressions.
Then, one face appeared. Her father's.
His bald head, sharp moustache, and stern eyes stared at her just like they used to when he trained her as a knight. But now, his voice was hollow and cold, echoing through the endless hallway like a chant.
"A knight shall not fall in love…"
"A knight shall not betray…"
"A knight shall obey…"
"A knight shall protect…"
Each word came louder, like a song of judgment. His expression never changed—serious, cold, commanding.
"Urgh! How do I get out of here? Where's Horax?" Scarlet shouted in frustration, her patience snapping.
She had been running for what felt like forever, her mind spinning. Every step made her feel more trapped, more desperate.
"Enough!" she yelled, her fists clenching tightly. "If there's no exit, then I'll make one!"
With all her strength, she charged toward the nearest wall, which was made of moving, squirming flesh. The ground beneath her feet shook as she jumped and struck the wall with her full force.
Blub!
Instead of breaking through, her body bounced off the wall like she had hit thick jelly. The impact made her fall backward, landing hard on the ground.
"This will not do," she muttered through clenched teeth, pushing herself back up.
Determined not to give up, Scarlet walked toward the wall again. This time, she pressed her hand against it and began to dig. The moment her fingers pierced through, a disgusting green liquid oozed out, sticky and hot against her skin. The smell was so awful it made her gag, but she forced herself to keep going.
She tore the fleshy wall apart piece by piece, her arms trembling from the resistance. Smoke and thick mist poured out from the holes she made, and soon her entire arm was coated in that sick, slimy fluid. .
Finally, after tearing deeper, a bright white light began to shine from inside the wall. It was blinding, pure, and so out of place in this horrible place that it gave her hope.
"It seems… this is the exit!" Scarlet whispered. She smiled faintly and pushed her body forward, forcing herself through the hole.
Then—Dum!
She fell suddenly, as if the ground had vanished beneath her. Her stomach lurched, and then her eyes opened wide as the blinding light faded away.
When her vision cleared, she found herself standing in what looked like someone's bedroom. The air was still, silent, and strangely normal compared to where she had just been.
She was covered from head to toe in green liquid, her armor gone, her hair sticking to her neck. The sticky fluid dripped onto the floor with faint splashes.
"What… is this place?" she whispered.
Her eyes moved slowly around the room—then stopped.
On the floor, right in front of her, lay a body.
Scarlet's breath caught in her throat. Her whole body froze.
"M-My lady?" she gasped, her voice breaking. It was Maddie—lying lifeless on the floor.
But the sight was even worse than death. Maddie's mouth was open far wider than any human's should be, stretched unnaturally, her jaw torn apart like a snake trying to swallow something enormous.
Scarlet's eye slightly widened as the realization hit her. The green liquid on her body… the feeling of falling…
She had just crawled out of Maddie's mouth.
The room felt real. The blood, the smell, the cold floor beneath her feet—it all felt too real. Yet deep down, she knew this wasn't the real world, it was an nightmare.
She gritted her teeth, forcing her panicked mind to focus. "It must be Horax He must have borrowed some of nightmare powers from Morpheus beforehand. Since Morpheus is fighting somewhere else, I wouldn't expect this… and I walked right into it."
"But that still leaves one problem…" she muttered, she looked down at Maddie's distorted body.
"How do I get out of this anomaly dream?"
***
Woshh... Woshh... Woshhh...
Tentacle after tentacle shot toward Maruti, but somehow, she dodged each one, closing the distance between them with every move. Horax wasn't taking her seriously, focusing instead on keeping Scarlet trapped within his writhing limbs.
"Stop ignoring me! At least use some different methods!" Maruti yelled. A golden light shone from her feet, and she started running on the air itself.
"BECAUSE I HATE TENTACLES!" she shouted, leaping high into the sky.
For some reason, the tentacles reminded her of Kailith's succubus tails, and the thought alone made her furious. Her hand burned with blazing fire as she pulled it back for a powerful punch.
But before her punch could land, "Enough!" Horax said, casually swinging his hand.
BAM!
The impact sent Maruti flying like a ragdoll. She crashed hard against the wall and then slumped to the ground.
"Is this guy a demon lord or what? Not bad!" Maruti muttered to herself, letting out a dry laugh. The pain only made her fighting spirit burn even harder.
She stood up, but this time she didn't charge recklessly. She looked over at Scarlet. Her eyes were twitching, and she was struggling instinctively against the tentacles binding her, trying to wake up, but Horax wouldn't let her. Maruti immediately understood what she had to do.
She rushed toward Horax again.
"Same tricks!" Horax snorted. But before he could attack, Maruti extended her hand.
"Divine Judgment!" she said. The next second, multiple magic circles appeared in front of her. She used her usual light-based offensive killer move, but this time, she fired it horizontally like a massive beam.
A huge golden beam shot toward Horax. Light was clearly a weakness for anomalies, and Horax immediately realized it was a light attack. He raised his hand, and a wall of sticky flesh grew to defend him.
But the beam was just too powerful. Maruti kept pouring her mana into it, and the flesh wall disintegrated. The last bit of energy burned one of Horax's fingers.
The outcome clearly surprised him. He looked at his singed finger. "Not bad for a barbarian!" he praised. But the moment he looked back at Maruti, he saw she wasn't trying to attack him or preparing another move.
She was already next to Scarlet, her legs wrapped around Scarlet's neck.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
She punched Scarlet's face again and again.
"WAKE UP! Wake up... wake up... wake up," she shouted. Although Maruti loved battles, especially fighting strong opponents, But she wasn't a complete fool. The difference in their strength was just too much.
Only an S-rank fighter could defend against him and maybe have a chance of winning, Dying in a single attack was already a huge feat.
Fighting Horax alone was the same as inviting death, So she decided to take help of scarlet instead.
It was the same thing she had done a few months ago during the academy competition when she faced Kailith—she chose to run away instead.
And compare to then, it wasn't like she was completely running away now. She would free Scarlet and then fight alongside her.
"NO!" Horax shouted, raising his hands toward them. At once, several smaller anomalies shot out from him. Each one had a creepier shape than the last, and they were all powerful and terrifying. They rushed toward Maruti, intending to kill her on the spot.
But just then, Maruti's luck shone. Scarlet's eyes finally snapped open. Looking at her own bound body, it only took her a moment to realize she had broken free from the dream.
"Hya!" With a powerful shout, Scarlet forcefully tore through the tentacles that were binding her.
Maruti immediately jumped back from her neck. Scarlet ignored her and grabbed her spear, her eyes locking onto the incoming anomalies.
Swish... swish...
She swung her spear with deadly precision, tearing the creatures apart and disfiguring them in an instant.
"Ha! I was dreaming a monkey was beating the crap out of me. To think it was you!" Scarlet chuckled, a smirk on her face.
"Monkey?" Maruti's lips twitched, but she chose not to reply.
Before they could do anything else, the corpses of the anomalies started vibrating again. Even after being torn apart, they were somehow still alive. Their disfigured bodies lunged at Scarlet again, catching her completely off guard.
"Surprise Exorcism!" Maruti shouted, dashing in between them. She used her light element to disintegrate the creatures into thin air.
"You have an affinity with the light element? No wonder your punches woke me up!" Scarlet said, her voice full of surprise. The light element was as rare as the space and dark elements.
Maruti rubbed her nose proudly. "Of course! You're talking to a saintess, so you should be a bit more respectful!" she said, puffing out her chest with pride.
Maruti then looked ahead at Horax, who looked ready to attack again at any moment.
"You take care of him. Leave the anomalies to me. Just don't get trapped in a dream again!" she said, cracking her knuckles.
Scarlet nodded, tightening her grip around her spear. "Of course. I won't make the same mistake twice!"