Kurai dreamt of a castle.
It stood tall and silent beneath a sky choked with darkness, its towering walls lined with armored knights. Torches flickered along the battlements, their flames trembling as if in fear of something unseen. The air itself felt heavy—tense, expectant.
The knights were preparing for battle.
Then it came.
A roar—deep, monstrous, and inhuman—tore through the silence.
Every knight froze for a heartbeat before rushing toward the walls. Kurai watched as they took their positions, weapons drawn, eyes fixed on the abyss beyond.
The castle was surrounded.
Darkness coiled around it like a living thing. Within that suffocating blackness, countless red eyes flickered to life—hundreds… thousands. Low growls and piercing shrieks echoed from all directions, merging into a symphony of terror.
Then the horrors attacked.
What followed was not a battle—it was slaughter.
Knights fell like autumn leaves, their bodies torn apart in a storm of claws and shadows. Blood painted the stone walls, pooling beneath broken armor. The creatures moved like ghosts, drifting through the air, their forms barely solid.
Swords passed through them.
Steel met nothing.
No matter how desperately the knights fought, their attacks slipped through the monsters as though they were striking smoke. The horrors, however, needed no such effort. They cut through flesh and bone with ease.
The screams didn't last long.
And then—
It appeared.
A colossal shape emerged from the depths of darkness. Vast. Indescribable. A presence so overwhelming it crushed the very air.
For a moment, everything stilled.
Then the creature moved.
The castle—its walls, its towers, its defenders—was erased in an instant.
Then the world running reverse.
---
Kurai awoke with a violent gasp.
His body trembled, his skin pale, his clothes drenched in cold sweat. His heart pounded as though trying to escape his chest, and the echo of that roar still lingered in his ears.
"What… was that?" he whispered. "Was it just a dream?"
Then he hear a whispering
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial…]
Kurai's breath caught.
Before he could react, another voice broke through—
"Vice-captain, it's lunchtime!"
He blinked, disoriented.
"Vice-captain…?"
The world around him came into focus.
He was in a spacious, well-furnished room. A large bed stood behind him, neatly arranged. Sunlight filtered through two tall windows, illuminating a wooden table and a clothing stand nearby.
Slowly, Kurai approached the window.
Snow was falling outside.
Beyond the glass, he saw the castle walls—and on them, soldiers clashed with monstrous creatures. Steel flashed. Flames roared. The battlefield stretched endlessly beneath the pale sky.
A chill ran down his spine.
This place… it was the same as in his dream.
---
Kurai followed the knight who had called him and soon confirmed his growing suspicion—the castle, the soldiers, the war… all of it was real.
After lunch, he went straight to the library.
If this was a nightmare, then knowledge was his only weapon.
For two days, he read without rest.
And what he learned changed everything.
He was a **vice-captain**, sent as reinforcement five days ago. His group had consisted of two captains, six vice-captains—including himself—and two hundred knights.
The castle's total strength was formidable: two generals, four vice-generals, eight captains, twenty vice-captains, five hundred knights, and two thousand soldiers.
Yet even that force was barely holding the line.
The castle existed for a single purpose—
To guard something.
No one seemed to know exactly what it was. But one thing was certain:
It attracted the horrors.
And then there was himself.
Kurai was an **Aspirant**, one who had yet to Awaken, yet he wielded power—fire.
When he first saw the glowing runes that defined his existence in this world, he had been left speechless.
---
**Three Months Later**
Name: Kurayami
True Name: —
Rank: Aspirant
Soul Core: Dormant
Memories: [Moon Blade] [Nightfall]
Echoes: —
Attributes: [Brave] [Sword Master] [Bloody]
Aspect: Fire Knight
Aspect Rank: Ascendent
Aspect Ability: —
Aspect Description: [A brave knight who fights with fire.]
---
At first, Kurai couldn't understand why he had been given the rank of vice-captain.
To become a captain, one had to be Awakened.
To become a knight, one had to slay a Dormant devil.
By all logic, he didn't belong here.
But reality did not care for logic.
Over time, he proved himself.
His days became routine—battle, training, survival.
He hunted horrors relentlessly, honed the skills of lesser knights, and sparred with captains. Occasionally, he allowed himself brief moments of normalcy—conversations, fleeting laughter, fragments of humanity in a dying world.
The horrors they faced were creatures of ice.
And Kurai wielded fire.
That alone made him invaluable.
At full strength, he could even defeat an Awakened monster.
That was why he stood where he did.
---
But peace—if it could even be called that—never lasted.
The dream had been a warning.
And now, it was becoming reality.
The endless tide of horrors beneath the walls had vanished.
Not weakened.
Not retreating.
Gone.
In their place, a thin veil of black mist surrounded the castle.
Silent.
Watching.
Waiting.
---
Kurai was summoned to a meeting.
Inside a circular chamber, the castle's strongest figures sat around a round table. No one spoke lightly. Tension weighed heavily in the air.
Kurai took his seat, observing their grim expressions.
They all felt it.
Something was coming.
Then—
A roar echoed from beyond the walls.
The First General rose.
"We will fight to the end," he said, his voice steady but cold. "If the situation collapses, a captain will take the object and flee."
Silence followed.
Then someone asked, "Who will carry it?"
The General's gaze hardened.
"Whoever is in the best condition."
---
Moments later, Kurai stood atop the wall.
The black mist churned in the distance.
The battlefield was too quiet.
"What do I have to do… to complete this nightmare?"
"If I die here… will I truly die?"
"Or will it finally end?"
His grip tightened on his weapon.
"I just want to live."
Then the mist moved.
Shapes emerged—dark, shifting, unnatural.
A group of ghost-like Awakened monsters drifted toward the wall.
Kurai stepped forward, flames beginning to rise around him.
He was about to strike—
When suddenly—