It was nighttime. Darkness had swallowed the entire desert, and the pristine white sand seemed lifeless, as if it had lost its vitality.
The heat of the day had vanished, and the chill of the night had settled over the area. Distant ruins melted into the darkness; however, Wren could still see them as clearly as during the day.
A benefit he had gained from his third attribute.
The starless night was unknown to him, and the strange environment of this place kept him on his guard.
More than half of the army was half-asleep, and only the remaining people were awake, alert for any signs of threats.
Till now, nothing seemed to be around here, but it didn't really reassure him about safety. So, he had no option but to stay awake.
"You should take some rest." He heard a sweet voice coming from behind him. Shifting his gaze back, he saw a woman.
She was the only spear user among the awakeneds that were here with the legion. Her violet hair was tied in a neat bun. Wren could see the crimson eyes, which had a very strange allure.
"One moment of rest, and the next thing I knew, I was taken by the Shadow God," he said, which made the spearwoman chuckle.
Her soft laugh lingered in the air more than it should have. Next, he had heard a few footsteps before she was sitting beside him.
"Sleep is a luxury, so expensive that not many people can get it, especially people like us," she said, looking at the distant darkness.
Wren looked at her for a few moments before returning his gaze to the strange pyramid that remained unchanging.
"What if this place becomes safe, like free of corrupted beings?" He asked, but the response he got was another laugh.
The spearwoman was laughing at his words.
"This realm? The Hell of Ariel? Never can this realm be safe, not even after the war, if it ever stops. Do you even know why this place is called the Hell of Ariel?" She asked while looking at him.
The intensity of her crimson eyes sparkled in the night.
"I don't." He replied.
The spearwoman remained silent for a few moments. Her expression was calm until it turned serious as she looked away from him, pointing at something. Then she stood up and took her spear from her back.
Wren's gaze followed her, and there he saw it. His eyes widened in terror.
"One, two, three....no hundred, more than a hundred corrupted ones are coming towards our direction. Go... Go alert others!" He said to her before jumping down the top of the fortress.
Then, he ran towards the guards who were protecting the supplies.
"Take your weapons and get ready. Hundreds of infected ones are rushing towards us, kill whatever you see, and survive. This is an order!"
His words spread like a jolt of lightning.
Torches lit up at his words, and the troops took out their weapons. The awakeneds were ready to fight, and he took out his sword too.
And then, they appeared.
Their appearance was hidden because of the darkness, but he could see it. Grotesque beings who were beyond the capability to describe, they were all nightmare creatures.
Only a few were dormant; the rest were awakened monsters or demons, with only one of them giving a different presence, a fallen.
They could survive... probably.
But then, something huge appeared from the sky, crashing directly behind the corrupted legion. The crash resulted in a smokescreen of sand, and when it settled...
Wren took three steps back.
'We...no, I am fucked.'
In front of them stood a colossal figure, a being with wings spanning over 50 meters; its lizard-like body was covered in dark, metallic-lustre scales. The jagged spikes stretched across from its spine to the tail.
This being was a noble beast, recorded in the history of the dream realm.
It was a dragon.
And the one riding it was a bestial being. It was at least 6 metres tall, with 6 hands enarmored with sharp claws.
Its eyes resembled two liquid pools of darkness, and its face was fierce, embodying death itself. The creature had a dark grey skin tone and sported six sharp horns. It also possessed sharp fangs and a long tail that could be used as a weapon, thanks to its nimble body.
What truly defined the beast was the armour it wore. Like the dragon, this creature was also a noble beast. It was quite notorious, as even the awakened members of the cohort were hesitant at its appearance.
"The... its... THE MAD SHADOW!!" Someone shouted from behind, and just from the mere mention of the name, the spirit of the legion had fallen.
People trembled, some even dropping their weapons. A few fell to the ground, shaking more violently than before.
'Just what is this creature? I can feel the shadows writhing violently around it. The morale has dropped to such a low point that I know I have to act, but can I really do anything?' Wren's thoughts weren't wrong; he was a dormant being.
Fighting an awakened creature was already perilous, but what he faced now wasn't a mere beast—it was an intelligent monster.
'I cannot die here; escaping isn't an option. In the end, I will fight to survive. If I fall, it would mean my efforts were in vain, that this is all I could achieve.' With that thought, he pulled out his blade.
Then, with determination, he shouted:
"THIS IS THE MOMENT OF OUR WAR, OUR BODY IS OUR DECLARATION, MY SOLDIER SCREAMS, MY SOLDIER RAGES, MY SOLDIERS CHARGE!!!!!"
What followed was a swift flash of motion as something charged at the beast known as Mad Shadow.
The Ascended warrior, Orion, made the first move.
'What will happen? How will I survive? It doesn't matter anymore. Death became almost inevitable the moment I arrived in this place. I no longer fear it. If it were to claim me, then it would be my own choice. But till then, I will survive, even if it takes my own flesh, my own soul, I will clear this hellish nightmare.'
Letting out a war cry, Wren rushed at the nightmare creatures.
The first battle of this nightmare had just begun, and death was waiting.
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Uh, I think I overdid this chapter. My inner otaku and chuunibyou inserted itself at some, no, well, many parts. I was planning to write more, but then I realised that I need some more planning to keep the immersion. Also, be prepared, crazy things might come in the following chapters, at least not gore like in the previous version, where I had made Wren rip Nephis ' arm through his mouth. Yeah, that shit had made me cringe badly like this, but this does less, and I feel like I was a part of this war because of the power I felt behind the words.
Tell me your reviews...
See Ya~~~