Night fell like ink, pressing heavily down, as if the entire Phantom Dream Town were gripped by an invisible hand. The town seemed superficially calm after the battle; rescue teams had taken away the uncontrolled sleepwalking residents. The streets were littered only with scattered footprints and wind-blown papers. Yet deep within the rift, the dark currents had not dissipated—they churned silently, a black tide ready to swallow everything at any moment.
In the temporary resting room at headquarters, Ethan leaned against the cold stone wall, feeling utterly drained. The ache in his shoulders, the numbness in his arms, the burning in his chest—all surged together, making each breath a struggle.
"Haah… first mission, almost died at the hands of that monster… if only my aim hadn't been… good…"
His voice trailed off. His eyelids felt as if weighed down with lead, and soon darkness claimed him entirely.
But when he opened his eyes again, the world had completely changed. He was no longer in the familiar resting room, but in a blood-red void. The floor was cracked stone slabs, faintly glowing with streaks of crimson light. The air reeked of icy, metallic rust, each breath slicing into his lungs like a blade.
A low "tick… tick…" echoed from beneath his feet, like a counting clock—or like blood dripping on iron, chilling to the bone. Ethan looked down and saw fresh blood seeping from the wound on his chest—the familiar pain striking every nerve like burning fire, piercing and despairing.
He shot his head up and saw a figure—
A shadow in the night, familiar in outline but impossibly distant. Its steps were slow and deliberate, breathing calm and indifferent. The figure turned, eyes void of warmth, only the chill of an icy abyss. The blade in its hand gleamed with a cold light, an extension of darkness itself, aimed straight at Ethan's heart.
Pain surged like a tidal wave. He instinctively yelled, "Why—!"
But the figure offered no answer. Only that momentary gaze, an abyss siphoning his very soul. Blood sprayed in the void, freezing instantly into a black flower, its petals glinting with a strange, star-like luminescence. The surrounding space twisted abruptly, illusions shattering like shards of glass across his spirit.
Falling through the darkness, Ethan heard whispers echoing around him, carrying a biting, frozen weight:
"Betrayal… is only the beginning…"
"The truth… lies deeper in the nightmare…"
He jolted awake, sweat pouring down his face, clothes soaked. The mark on his chest still burned, as if that blade had never left, his soul once again nailed into the endless abyss. The resting room was empty; only his rapid breathing and pounding heart echoed, like Death whispering in his ear.
Ethan shivered, wiping the sweat, letting out a self-deprecating laugh. "So… you can die twice… huh, that's just… freaky."
But the smile could not dispel the shadows. He knew clearly this was no ordinary dream—the nightmare had ripped open his wound, exposing his deepest fears nakedly.
That figure… always watching from the darkness, never leaving.
Ethan slowly sat up, fingers touching the mark on his chest as if it were a piece of searing iron. His gaze stretched past the void, toward the depths of the rift, as though he could see the endless black vortex writhing within. A cold, resolute thought surfaced in his heart:
"No… this time, I will not run."
He clenched his fists tightly. Every whisper in the blood-red void, every drop of blood, seemed to sound the clarion call to face the truth.
Ethan's eyes cleared. The shadow in the darkness flickered in his vision. He knew the real nightmare was only beginning, and he must step into that abyss, to confront the intertwined trials of betrayal and truth.
The air trembled faintly in the void. Crimson light flickered, as if signaling: the path ahead would be lined with blades and blood.
Ethan drew a deep breath and slowly stood, stepping into the darkness. The mark on his chest pulsed slightly, responding to his will.
"Let's go… even if each step treads on blood and pain, I will see the truth."
The whispers of the abyss rose again, but this time, he did not flinch.