Chapter 145 : Dreams Have Everything
Chapter 145: Dreams Have Everything
When you're feeling proud of yourself in a dream, convinced that victory is in your grasp, filled with smug satisfaction, believing everything is under your control...
And then someone suddenly runs over, slaps you across the face, and tells you that you're actually nothing—
Obviously, that would be a Nightmare.
Naturally, it was no different for Creed.
“What is this!?”
Looking at the enormous terrifying beast before him, Creed felt his entire body grow cold.
Ever since that day, he had spent every night trapped in Nightmares.
Creed believed he had weathered countless battles and witnessed every kind of Nightmare imaginable.
No matter what kind of Nightmare it was, he thought nothing could defeat him.
Yet now...
A savage beast that seemed to have emerged from the primordial age burst forth from the darkness and mercilessly tore apart everything he possessed.
“Gaaaah———!”
Even the Night Fiends looked no larger than bats before this terrifying beast.
They beat their wings, emitted shrill cries, and charged toward it.
The beast answered with a soul-shaking, deep roar.
Opening its jaws, it bit apart every Night Fiend that flew toward it, tearing them to pieces one after another.
At the same time, it swung its tail, sending the other “flies” hovering nearby flying through the air.
But that was not the end.
“———————!”
Accompanied by a sharp whistle, several Velociraptors shot out like arrows released from a bow.
They swiftly darted through the chaotic swarm of Night Fiends, opened their jaws, and lunged straight toward Creed, who was hiding behind them.
“Get away from me, you monsters!”
Seeing the Velociraptors charging toward him, Creed's face was filled with absolute terror.
Which was perfectly understandable.
After all, these little darlings always made movie audiences wear the same expression.
The only difference was that Creed's reaction was even more exaggerated—
Because there wasn't a movie screen separating him from them.
He frantically staggered backward while drawing a pistol from his waist.
But in the next instant, one Velociraptor opened its jaws and bit down hard on his wrist.
“AAAAAHHHHHHH!!”
Creed screamed in agony.
He desperately tried to pull free, but the Velociraptor clamped tightly onto his arm and refused to let go.
Before he could make another move, another Velociraptor leaped into the air.
Its thick, razor-sharp hind claws landed squarely on Creed's chest, sinking deep into his flesh.
Then it opened its mouth and bit toward his neck.
One bite was all it would take to kill him.
That was how it should have ended.
“Boom!”
Yet in the next moment, the Velociraptor attacking Creed was suddenly blasted backward.
It crashed heavily into the wall and several nearby Night Fiends.
Then...
Creed stood up once more.
“You can't kill me!”
At this point, Creed's appearance had changed completely.
His body had been torn open by the Velociraptors in several places.
Yet no blood flowed from the wounds.
Instead, a substance resembling black sludge seeped out.
The sight involuntarily reminded Levi of the murky, rotten sewage flowing through the lower canals of Mist City.
The sludge coursed through Creed's body like some monstrous being hidden beneath his flesh.
“I am the messenger of God! The Great God is with me!”
“If it's really that great, then it wouldn't have ended up sealed inside a stone coffin.”
Levi casually mocked him while drawing the Persuader.
He still had no idea what exactly had been sealed inside the coffin.
But one thing was obvious.
The Old Professor had failed to destroy it completely back then.
Whatever that thing was, it had somehow survived by taking residence inside Creed's body.
Levi had no idea what it truly was.
But one fact was certain.
If they did not fight...
They would be the ones who died.
Levi fired two shots at Creed.
Both bullets struck their mark.
But neither accomplished anything.
Creed had completely abandoned any pretense.
Or rather...
The being before them no longer resembled a human at all.
It looked more like some monster possessing a human body.
As it roared wildly, its body began twisting and mutating.
At the same time, more and more Night Fiends poured into the battlefield, clashing with the prehistoric beasts until the entire area descended into utter chaos.
What a pain.
Levi frowned as he led the others into a gradual retreat.
Could this thing be one of those gimmick bosses that required defeating through some special sequence?
But then again...
Levi suddenly remembered the statue of the Goddess of Night he had seen in the temple's main hall.
This coffin had been sealed inside the Goddess of Night's temple.
Which meant...
The Goddess of Night should definitely be capable of dealing with whatever was inside.
The thought had barely crossed Levi's mind—
When something strange suddenly happened.
Everything fell into darkness.
The shouting.
The fighting.
The ruined temple.
The Night Fiends.
The prehistoric beasts.
Everything vanished without a trace.
Only endless silence and darkness remained.
Nothing else.
“???”
Levi turned around.
Annie and the others, who should have been standing beside him, had disappeared as well.
Only he remained within the darkness.
No.
Not only him.
Levi suddenly felt something and instinctively raised his head toward the sky above.
Then...
He saw her.
Everyone had looked up at the night sky before.
But...
Who had ever imagined the night sky itself as a person?
At this moment...
Levi did.
Before him, within the night sky itself, stood the figure of a woman.
The two bright, flawless moons formed her eyes.
Countless stars scattered around her, outlining the edges of her flowing hair.
Her long black hair drifted across the heavens, becoming the very curtain of night covering the earth.
The Goddess of Night.
Levi had already met her twice before.
However, during those encounters, she had appeared no different from an ordinary woman, possessing the height and proportions of a normal human.
This was the first time he had seen her true, incomparably colossal form.
Or rather...
This was what a true deity should look like.
Exactly as people imagined gods to be.
Yet Levi felt no reverence whatsoever.
Strictly speaking...
It felt more like visiting a famous scenic attraction and seeing a magnificent mountain range.
Aside from thinking,
“Holy crap... that's incredible.”
He had almost no other thoughts.
The Goddess of Night slowly shifted her gaze toward Levi.
Levi looked back at her.
Although he had no idea what to say...
Isn't this your problem?
You deal with it yourself!
Perhaps the Goddess of Night somehow heard Levi's silent complaint.
She slowly lowered her eyes.
Then...
Levi saw the night sky begin to move.
More precisely...
The darkness beneath the Goddess of Night's head transformed into something resembling a flowing curtain.
It looked like the folds of a drifting robe.
Then...
A hand emerged from within.
It pointed directly at Levi.
A beam of light shot from the Goddess of Night's fingertip and struck the Persuader in Levi's hand.
A chilly sensation spread through it.
It was not the cold of ice.
Rather...
It resembled the cool night breeze.
Gentle.
Refreshing.
Levi lowered his head.
Only then did he discover that the Persuader had completely changed.
The entire firearm had become as black as the night itself.
Tiny starlike lights shimmered across its surface, forming patterns that resembled constellations.
Holding it felt incomparably comfortable.
As though the pistol itself had become a young woman's bonelessly soft hand...
Which was now holding his own in return.
Then...
Everything vanished.
The ruined temple.
The Night Fiends.
The prehistoric beasts.
Everything returned before Levi's eyes once again.
The roars of the giant beasts and the shrieks of the Night Fiends filled his ears once more.
Levi tightened his grip on the pistol.
He raised it.
Aimed once again at Creed, who remained hidden behind the Night Fiends.
At the same time, the system notification sounded beside his ear.
But...
He no longer needed to look.
Levi pulled the trigger.
“Bang———————!”
The bullet spun through the air, trailing a faint afterimage like moonlight itself.
It pierced through the swarm of Night Fiends battling the giant beasts.
Then...
Without the slightest deviation...
It struck Creed squarely in the chest.
His body suddenly trembled.
He slowly lowered his head to stare at the wound in his chest.
Then looked back up at Levi in confusion.
At that very moment—
Beams of light burst forth from within Creed's body.
“Ah... Ah... AAAAAAHHHHH!!”
They were not the dazzling brilliance of the sun.
They were soft, cool moonlight.
Yet at this moment...
Those gentle rays transformed into countless blades.
Mercilessly tearing apart...
And slicing through...
Creed's body.
Accompanied by a bloodcurdling scream, his entire body was cut into countless fragments that exploded outward in every direction.
At the same time...
The entire world collapsed completely.
“……………………”
The world once again became nothing but darkness.
“Haa...”
Levi let out a long breath.
He holstered the Persuader once more before raising his head.
Sure enough...
The Goddess of Night was there again.
She silently gazed at him.
Without saying a word.
“...Aren't you going to say something?”
Levi spoke first.
“You came looking for me because of something, didn't you?”
As far as Levi was concerned, this was already the third time the goddess had appeared before him.
Surely she wasn't just dropping by because she was bored.
Yet...
The Goddess of Night merely continued watching him.
After a while...
A whisper echoed beside Levi's ear.
“The world will change...”
“Change?”
“Humanity stands before a new choice.”
“What choice will you make, mortal?”
Faced with the Goddess of Night's question, Levi gave it some serious thought.
“Eat well, sleep well, and enjoy life?”
“…………………That's all?”
“I think there's nothing more important in life than that.”
Before transmigrating, Levi had been an ordinary person.
Someone who believed in enduring hardship first so he could enjoy happiness later.
But after suffering that severe illness...
His outlook completely changed.
After all...
No one knew whether tomorrow or disaster would arrive first.
Perhaps you'd spend your youth working desperately, planning to enjoy life after growing old.
Then one day you'd open your eyes and discover...
You had already worked your whole life.
But before you could enjoy any of it...
You were simply waiting to die.
All the money you had painstakingly saved for retirement would end up paying medical bills.
If treatment succeeded, perhaps it would be worth it.
If not...
Then everything had been for nothing.
Your first half of life would be spent suffering through work.
Your second half would be spent suffering in a hospital bed.
Forget “hardship first, happiness later.”
There would only be hardship...
Followed by even greater hardship.
Thus, after transmigrating...
Levi's philosophy became simple.
The heavens are great, the earth is great—
But I'm the greatest.
Who cared what tomorrow brought?
At the very least, he refused to wrong himself today.
Eat whenever he wanted.
Drink whenever he wanted.
Sleep whenever he wanted.
Play whenever he wanted.
That way...
Even if disaster arrived tomorrow...
He would never regret failing to enjoy life.
Nor would he grieve over opportunities he never had.
Living like a squirrel endlessly storing acorns for winter had no future.
Because there was no guarantee an eagle wouldn't snatch you away before winter ever came.
Leaving all those carefully collected acorns...
For someone else to enjoy.
“………………”
The Goddess of Night remained silent.
Perhaps Levi's answer, which ran completely contrary to conventional values, had genuinely left even her speechless.
Only after a long pause did her voice sound once more.
“But eventually... you will face a choice.”
“Then I'll think about it when that time comes.”
Levi answered without hesitation.
“Not now.”
To him, it was just like an examination.
Staying up all night cramming at the last minute was one choice.
Playing games all night and sleeping through the exam was also a choice.
In reality...
Studying desperately all night did not guarantee a high score.
Likewise...
Playing games all night did not necessarily mean failing.
But if someone asked which option felt better...
The answer was obviously the latter.
“…………………What an interesting mortal.”
Even the Goddess of Night seemed completely speechless before Levi's utterly lazy answer.
“The gods shall eventually return.”
“I'll be watching to see how long you can continue enjoying yourself.”
After saying those words...
The Goddess of Night completely disappeared.
Levi merely let out a quiet sigh.
“Doesn't that just mean I've still got plenty of good days left before you all come back?”