The air vibrated intensely, making every particle around tremble like leaves in a storm.
Blue rays intertwined with black enveloped Nemor's body and the entire room in a whirlwind of crackling energy. The pressure was physical, pushing against the walls, making objects rattle. When everything ceased abruptly, only the room remained—empty walls, rumpled bed still warm, open window letting the wind in as a silent witness.
But the occupant had disappeared, ripped away to another place.
---
The sky was completely gray, oppressive as always. Inside the nightmare, dense clouds moved like living shadows, undulating in patterns that defied logic.
Blue and black rays exploded at a specific point in that desolate place. When they ceased, Hansel was there, materialized from nothing. His suit swayed with the residual pressure of the wind, perfectly combed hair now slightly disheveled—a detail that irritated him deeply.
It didn't take long.
In two different nearby places, the same rays appeared, vibrating intensely before dissipating like sucked smoke.
From the first, Nemor's foot landed firmly on the irregular ground. His eyes immediately swept the environment, carefully assessing every detail—debris, dancing mists, possible escape routes, potential threats.
From the second ray emerged another figure. Karu. A man without a single hair, completely bald head reflecting the gray and dead light of the sky. Simple but practical black clothes, worn by constant use. On his forehead, clearly visible even from a distance: a red cross and three horizontal bars glowing faintly.
He carried a sword tall enough that it almost touched the ground when held casually, blade gleaming with supernatural shine.
His feet touched the earth with a muffled sound. He observed the sky for a moment before saying calmly, voice loaded with genuine tiredness:
"I'm already tired of this shitty nightmare."
Hansel remained where he had appeared, body tense as a bowstring. When he saw Nemor, something inside him broke violently. His eyes widened intensely, pupils contracting until they became tiny dots.
Without hesitating even a second, he placed both hands on his waist, tilting his suit jacket to reveal what he was hiding. He pulled out two daggers with black handles and bright blue blades that vibrated with contained energy.
His eyes began to glow—electric blue mixed with deep purple, colors spinning in his irises like collapsing galaxies. When his fingers touched the daggers, they also emitted the same supernatural glow, pulsing in perfect sync with his power.
Without warning, he shot forward at superhuman speed.
Nemor tried to follow with his eyes but it was useless. Hansel was already close. Very close. The dagger cut through the air toward his neck, certain and lethal trajectory, shining like an assassin's comet.
He managed to dodge by millimeters—felt the cutting wind of the blade grazing his skin. But the other arm was already coming, fluid movement like a deadly dance. It hit his abdomen hard with brutal concentrated force.
The impact tore all the air from his lungs. Nemor was thrown violently backward, body flying through the air like an uncontrolled projectile before colliding against already fallen concrete rubble. The sound of the impact echoed through the dead environment. Dust rose intensely, swallowing the area in a dense cloud.
Even through that thick mist, the dust cloud still stood out, lighter and more distinct against the oppressive darkness.
Hansel advanced slowly, measured and deliberate steps. He clenched his teeth hard enough to hurt, jaw tight until muscles bulged.
"Looks like the Into who was protecting you fell somewhere else in the nightmare, right?" He shouted, rage overflowing in every word like poison. He remembered that humiliation—that single finger pressing his chest, the explosive pain piercing every nerve, the absolute helplessness that had forced him to retreat like a coward.
"I'm going to take your head with me! And when I kill you, when I deliver your head to him..." His voice rose even more, echoing through the debris. "I'm going to find that woman and kill her too!"
When mentioning Sasha, his eyebrows contracted involuntarily. Memories of that encounter burned like red-hot iron.
Nemor stood up from the rubble, shaking dust off his shoulders. Surprisingly, there was no visible sign of injuries. His skin was completely smooth, as if the brutal impact had never happened.
But Hansel was already too close, preparing the next deadly attack.
Before the blade could connect...
VROOMM.
The sound tore through the air like fabric being ripped. Something blocked the blow, metal against metal creating sparks, an immense tremor that made the ground crack in spider webs.
Karu held Hansel's arms tightly, forearm muscles tense like steel cables. But even so, he felt the overwhelming force coursing through those limbs, fed by hatred so great it was almost tangible, palpable like heat.
"You guys are so stupid," he said with clear disdain in his voice. "Wasting strength before the real danger even appears."
Hansel growled like a cornered animal:
"Get out of the way!"
Nemor calmly cleaned his clothes, methodical movements, as if nothing had happened.
"Don't you think you should listen to him?"
Hansel broke free from Karu with a brusque and violent movement, planting his feet on the earth with force that made the ground yield slightly. He prepared to launch himself at Nemor again, muscles already contracting for the impulse, when it happened.
The air vibrated once more.
Blue and black rays appeared right in front of them, between the three men, cutting the tension like a blade. When they disappeared, they revealed who they had brought.
Alya was there.
Dressed in vibrant pink clothes completely inappropriate for that desolate place—as if she had just left a fashion photo shoot. She held her phone in one hand and a small mirror in the other. She stared fixedly at the bright screen, fingers sliding with practiced movements, completely oblivious to everything around her.
She read her new comments on the photo she had just posted before being forcefully pulled. A satisfied smile appeared on her perfectly painted lips as she read:
"Girl, Alya really is a beauty goddess. Her skin is so soft."
She slid to the next comment with a smooth movement. It was from a girl:
"I wish I had one like that."
She smiled even more, satisfaction warming her chest.
The attention of the three men was completely fixed on her, absolutely incredulous. But she didn't even notice, continuing what she was doing as if she were at home.
Then a message appeared on the bright screen:
NO SIGNAL
"What?! What do you mean no signal?!" She looked around for the first time, confusion crossing her perfect features. That's when she realized. She was in the nightmare.
She screamed with genuine indignation that made her voice rise several octaves:
"I NEED TO GO BACK, YOU IDIOTS! I HAVEN'T EVEN FINISHED READING THE THIRD COMMENT!"
She seemed truly nervous, as if that were the greatest tragedy that could possibly happen.
Karu thought to himself, internal voice loaded with disbelief: What a defective girl.
Alya saw Nemor and delicately wrinkled her nose.
"You again, weakling?" Then she stared at Karu, approaching him without any shame or hesitation. "This time you're going to protect me! I want you not to let anyone touch me. I have a photo shoot later!"
Hansel didn't care about that complete bizarreness. He went after Nemor once more, daggers shining with murderous intent.
But something interrupted them.
A small ball, similar to a black pearl vibrating with crackling dark rays, fell from the grayish sky like a silent meteor. It impacted right in the center of that location with a dry and definitive sound.
BOOM.
The explosion threw all of them backward more than two meters, bodies flying uncontrollably. Dust rose intensely, swallowing everything in a suffocating cloud.
But Nemor didn't retreat completely. He remained relatively firm, feet planted, sliding but not falling.
When the dust gradually settled, Alya spun from side to side frantically, searching with growing desperation.
"I FOUND IT!" She shouted in relief upon finding the phone on the dusty ground, running to grab it as if it were precious treasure.
Karu approached the small pearl that now lay on the cracked ground, still radiating black rays that danced like electric serpents. He murmured cautiously:
"What is this thing?"
Hansel and Nemor also approached slowly, curiosity momentarily overcoming hostility. They formed a semicircle around the impossible object.
Then it happened.
BOOM.
The pearl exploded in chaotic movement. It spun on itself generating absurd pressure, emitting black rays that completely occupied that space like ink being spilled. The expulsion was so violent that everything around became dark instantly.
There was no more grayish sky. There were no more debris. Only absolute and suffocating darkness.
When their eyes opened again, blinking to recover stunned consciousness, they saw.
Hansel, who had been totally focused on Nemor, stopped. He observed that void around him with an expression that mixed genuine confusion and growing caution.
"What the hell is this?" Said Karu, voice echoing strangely in that impossible space. He withdrew the sword from his back and held it firmly with both hands. The blade gleamed in luminous silver metal even in that unnatural darkness, as if it had its own light.
"Guys, I can't see my phone!" Complained Alya, totally worried and desperate, voice coming out almost in tears. She remembered she still hadn't read the rest of the comments. It was so frustrating. What if she could never read them again? The thought fed her growing worry to the brink of panic.
Hansel tightly gripped the daggers, fingers white from so much pressure. Nemor calmly observed the black rays pulsing inside that obscure void, mind working to understand.
The walls—well, well far from them, maybe fifty meters or more—were like black crystal barriers. They surrounded the complete space, creating a gigantic dome that extended both horizontally and vertically. It was as if they were inside an impossible bubble.
No.
They were inside the pearl.
He murmured to himself, voice low:
"What place is this?"
Sasha's voice arose in his mind, clear and informative:
"Master, this place inside the nightmare is called..." Her words echoed with weight. "The Void."
While the three stared at that space with involuntary trembling running down their spines, Nemor asked mentally:
"This darkness... does it by any chance work like that ability of yours?"
"No, master. The ability you witnessed—Eclipse—is completely different from the Void." Deliberate pause. "The Void is not an ability. It's a space that prevents beings from using their supernatural powers."
He clenched his teeth with force.
"I understand."
Hansel still stared at every corner of that impossible place, trying to process, trying to understand.
Then something moved.
On the wall similar to black crystal in front of them, approximately twenty meters away, something undulated. The surface distorted like water being disturbed, creating concentric waves. It looked like a bubble about to burst.
All eyes widened, trying to understand what was coming, muscles tensing involuntarily.
It didn't take long.
It crossed through the wall as if passing through something as simple as mist. A creature. Humanoid in basic form, but clearly not human. Grayish like ashes from a dead fire. Eyes firmly closed as if eternally sleeping. Thin body with wrinkled skin stretched over prominent bones.
And a black sword that seemed glued—or worse, fused—with its own arms, as if it had grown from its flesh.
An Unsleeping One.
Karu, who was under growing pressure, felt sudden relief upon seeing only one. Just one Unsleeping One? Why would that cause fear? He had already defeated several inside this cursed nightmare. There was nothing to fear.
A confident smile appeared on his lips.
The creature remained standing without moving, just existing there like a nightmare statue.
Nemor approached everyone and said maintaining firmness in his voice:
"Just to warn you. Powers will be useless here."
Hansel stared at him with absolute disdain.
"Are you by any chance a spectator? Stay quiet there and I'll deal with you soon too."
Alya wasn't worried about analyzing the opponent. She analyzed who seemed stronger so she could accompany him as a useful human shield.
Then the creature moved.
It ran at not very high speed, but constant. Mechanical movement, relentless. It could reach them in approximately two minutes if it maintained that pace.
Without hesitation, Karu positioned himself and shot toward the Unsleeping One—but at much superior speed, confidence radiating from each movement.
Nemor tried to shout, voice coming out desperate:
"DON'T ADVANC—"
Too late. Karu was already too close to the creature, had already crossed half the distance. Before he could reach five meters of those original twenty meters of distance...
Sasha's voice echoed urgently, tone changing drastically:
"Master, detection of Unsleeping Ones approaching."
He widened his eyes in growing horror.
"How many?!"
"The number should be approximately between five hundred or more than eight hundred."
He looked at Karu in the distance, still advancing confidently.
"What an idiot..."
But Karu was already very close to the creature. With a fluid sword movement, he tried to use one of his amplified power techniques. It didn't work—no energy, no glow, just dead metal.
But just the physical blade was enough. It connected to the Unsleeping One's neck, beheading it without hesitation. The head rolled on the ground like a macabre ball, eyes still closed. Black blood dripped, viscous and unnatural, visible even inside that obscure void.
He cleaned the sword casually against his own clothes. He was very close to the wall ahead, just five meters from the undulating surface.
"Huh, that wasn't what I wanted to use to kill you. I wanted a more painful death using my power." He shrugged with indifference. "Didn't work? Whatever."
He turned, preparing to return. He tried to take two steps toward the others.
"Everything's fine now! Just wait to complete the fifteen minutes and we'll leave the nightmar—"
There was no time to finish the sentence.
Nemor's scream cut through the air like desperate thunder:
"LOOK BEHIND YOU!"
When Karu turned his head, heart racing, he saw.
Millimeters from him, right behind, there were already more than forty Unsleeping Ones. All similar to the one he had just killed. Swords fused to arms. Eyes closed in eternal sleep. Motionless like statues, but present. Real.
His eyes entered absolute shock upon seeing that absurd quantity materialized from nothing.
But it wasn't just those.
From the black crystalline wall, more were still coming out. They appeared continuously, crossing the surface like ghosts, one after another after another, like an infinite anthill being disturbed.
An Unsleeping One's blade was already very close to hitting his exposed neck. In agile movement born of pure panic, he managed to dodge, pulling his body to the right side with force. When he wielded the sword in a desperate arc, he beheaded that Unsleeping One.
But another was already right in front of him. Inevitable. Impossible to dodge with such short time.
He tried to use his power again, screaming for it mentally. Nothing. It gave no sign. No glow. No energy.
Only then did he realize the terrible truth.
He was alone. Without powers. Surrounded.
SHLACK.
The sound of the blade going through flesh, little by little, was nauseating. Wet. Definitive. It penetrated between his ribs, piercing lung, cutting vital arteries.
His last word came out, almost inaudible, more air than sound:
"Fuck it..."
Death was certain. Inevitable. The body fell lifeless, hitting the ground with a muffled sound. Blood began to spread in a growing pool, too dark to be natural.
Hansel and Nemor's eyes widened in pure, primitive terror. Alya was well hidden behind Hansel, trembling so violently that her teeth chattered.
But that battalion didn't stop.
It advanced.
There were so many that space to step no longer existed. They stepped over Karu's body without even noticing, without caring, crushing it under their feet as if it were just another obstacle.
And from the black crystalline wall, more still emerged. They didn't stop appearing. Dozens. Hundreds. An impossible army.
Each survivor's heart beat accelerated, out of sync, hammering against ribs.
Hansel kept his hands firm on the daggers, fingers white from so much pressure, preparing for what was approaching relentlessly. A horde of Unsleeping Ones coming at constant, mechanical speed, like a tide. Less than a minute to reach.
"What are the levels of each one?"
"Master, the level of each Unsleeping One is exactly twenty-five."
Twenty-five. Individually weak. But there were hundreds. Maybe a thousand.
"Facing all of them..." The voice came out dry, desperate, recognizing the impossible truth. "That would basically be suicide."
The level of danger was too real. Simple and brutal mathematics.
"DAMN! This must be a fucking joke!" Hansel shouted, voice breaking slightly at the end.
Alya, trembling behind him like a leaf, asked almost crying, voice high-pitched with panic:
"How many minutes are left to complete fifteen?!" She held her own face with both hands, wanting to protect it at all costs. Her beauty. Her identity. Everything that mattered.
"Master, remaining time: eight minutes to complete fifteen minutes."
Eight minutes.
Four hundred and eighty seconds.
An eternity when you're about to die.
But the Unsleeping Ones were already close. Just meters. Their blades were already so close, shining with the promise of death, about to cross paths with each of them.
The question remained, weighing like a mountain.
How would they survive for eight minutes in the middle of that infinite horde?
Without powers. Without reinforcements. Without visible exit. Without anything but their own limited physical abilities.
The questions manifested in every mind there, screaming, yelling.
While hundreds of black blades approached like an inevitable wave of death.
The distance decreased.
Ten meters.
Five.
Three.
**END OF CHAPTER 6**