A few minutes earlier, in the garden.
"I'm afraid this power outage isn't normal. I must go check, please excuse me," Emily worried.
"Don't worry about it. We'll meet up later, and thanks for the story," Levi replied.
Emily excused herself a second time and left hastily, but stopped abruptly after only a few steps.
"What's wrong?" Levi wondered. The situation seemed to be taking a strange turn with Emily's silence, and Levi continued, "Emily?"
"Don't make any sudden movements. Tell me if you see anything on the manor's roof."
"On the roof?" Levi followed her instructions and slowly raised his gaze in the given direction.
He then spotted a humanoid silhouette and piercing red eyes gleaming in the darkness.
The figure, sitting on its haunches with knees spread and both hands braced forward, appeared to be covered in fur and possessed sharp canines and claws that reflected the light.
"A werewolf?!" Levi confirmed gravely, understanding Emily's reaction.
Emily gently extended her arm toward the pond beside the garden, and blue energy began slowly enveloping her body.
The lycanthrope sensed the danger and positioned itself like an athlete at the starting line before a sprint.
"Here it comes," Emily announced.
Crack
The werewolf leaped from the roof directly toward Emily.
[Water Lances]
Fwooosh
The pond water began floating and spinning rapidly in the air, instantly transforming into lances.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh
With an arm movement, Emily sent the three water lances toward the werewolf, which was in the air at mid-distance from its target.
Tchak slash
One lance missed, another sliced its shoulder, and the third pierced its thigh.
"Watch out!!!"
Levi grabbed Emily and dove with her to the side.
Baaammm vlaan
The werewolf crashed to the ground where Emily had been standing and rolled to the back of the garden, destroying the flower beds in its path.
Grrrr
It growled as black smoke emanated from its wounds, then leaped over the low wall to flee.
"It escaped! What do we do?" Lévi panicked.
"If it decided to attack once, it'll surely come back on its own. For now, our priority is informing the others," Emily reasoned with enormous worry in her voice. "Find your friends, I must go see my father!"
"Right! Let's go!"
They then ran in opposite directions. Emily ran toward the interior of the manor, and Levi, not knowing exactly where to go, circled the exterior. He ran to the north side of the residence without encountering anyone on his route, then—
Braaaaaooouuumm Kaassssss
The second-floor windows exploded, and Levi spotted fire bursting from inside.
The two masses of smoke floating before Samantha had taken no form.
"Sorry, but that ability is useless against me."
She made a large horizontal movement with her shield, and the resulting gust of wind dispersed the smoke as if it were nothing.
The karmic energy covering her concentrated again at her visor. This was karmic vision—a technique that gave her the ability to see karma's flow, its source, direction, concentration, and nature.
The dispersed smoke was supposedly the result of a karmic spell, and once destroyed, the resulting karma returned to the caster. And Samantha fully intended to follow this thread of bad karma to its source.
(No matter how strong the disruption field the caster put up, if I lock my karmic vision onto this karma thread, they can't escape me.)
Samantha followed the karma thread through the forest to the territory's outskirts. Her pursuit led her to a small, dilapidated, uninhabited cabin and to a secret entrance leading to a hidden basement under the floorboards.
She infiltrated the basement and descended a long stone staircase lit throughout by torches. All her actions were immediate and unhesitating while emanating the calm of a professional. A single door awaited her at the bottom of the stairs, and when she entered, someone was already there waiting for her.
"Greetings, I never would have thought that a distinguished Mandala executive would one day take the trouble to visit me in my humble laboratory." The man speaking resembled a shadow but cast no shadow himself, even though the room was sufficiently lit. Under his tuxedo, darkness covered his body and face except for his white glowing eyes. His only distinguishing feature was enormous glittering horns.
"Pleased to meet you. My name is Pitch Black."
Samantha raised her shield and directed the point toward her interlocutor.
"Pitch Black, the Nightmare incarnate—a dangerous 4th-stage criminal with no affiliation. Wanted for kidnapping and serial murder, responsible for dozens of demonic rituals. To be eliminated on sight." Even denser karmic energy covered Samantha as she recited her target's crimes. An extremely cold and severe aura began emanating from her.
"I expected nothing less from Samantha Fairchild, the famous Shield of Mandala. But if I'm not mistaken, your specialty is defense, is that why you're so naively throwing yourself into the wolf's den?"
Magic circles activated on the floor and ceiling with Samantha at their center.
Fwoooooshhh
A whirlwind of black smoke then engulfed Samantha, who remained immobilized for a few seconds.
"You can cast any spell you want, it won't change anything," Samantha declared.
"I admit I'm incapable of eliminating someone of your level, but I'm at least capable of slowing you down a bit. Let's see what you'll do when faced with your greatest fears," Pitch Black continued before disappearing behind the smoke screen.
Samantha then saw familiar faces appearing around her—people she loved who made her feel melancholy, nostalgia, and above all, regret. These were all the people she couldn't protect in her life and the personification of her greatest nightmare.
[Big sister, why? Why didn't you come to my aid that day?]
[Samantha, don't leave me. I'm scared—it's cold here. Why did you abandon me?]
[We died because of you! You weren't there for us. What good are all those powers if you let everyone around you die?]
Samantha's gaze was fixed on the ground. This was a spell she was experiencing for the first time, and yet—
"I've already had this nightmare hundreds of times. I've grown tired of it."
With her karmic voice, Samantha broke the spell.
[Petty trick, what I fear the most aren't these ghosts of my past but the living I stand to lose! ]
Wiiiiiizzzzz Poooooouuuufffffff
The enormous release of karmic energy swept away the smoke like dust. Samantha was now filled with determination.
"If such a weak spell traps me here, I'd be incapable of saving anyone."
No longer seeing Pitch Black in the room, Samantha ran through it, then charged through the basement corridors. She worked quickly and methodically, checking every corner and letting no detail escape her.
(Blood, magic circles—he's clearly the author of the kidnappings and the appearance of the Nightmares I encountered in the forest.)
Samantha finally found the prison where the village's missing inhabitants were gathered. She found them tied up, frightened, and silent.
"Don't be afraid! Give me a moment, I'll get you out of there," Samantha reassured them.
Clap clap clap
Samantha froze as a man who appeared from nowhere began applauding behind her.
"I was bored to death waiting for you, Mandala," announced the man in robes wearing a rosary with a black orb pendant.
The sight of his attire made Samantha shiver on the spot.
"You?!"
"Now, let the show begin!!"
Clap
As the man clapped his hands one last time, the whole underground was instantly hit by an intense light.
Booooouuuuuuuuummmmm
The cabin went up in the air, chunks of wood and soil scattered in all directions. The basement exploded, overturning everything within a 25-meter radius.
At the explosion's center, only an enormous smoking crater remained.
Several minutes earlier, just before the power outage, Mai was lounging on her bed.
After agreeing with the boys to conduct an investigation within the manor, the first place she had decided to investigate was the bedroom. And she had stayed there until now.
Zaaap
(A power outage?)
Mai got up from the bed.
(I suppose I should go ask for candles.)
She looked for a servant but found none anywhere. Not being familiar with the manor, she wandered in circles for a while before finally hearing a voice around the corridor corner. She hurried to join the voice in question and was surprised to see Noah on the floor in the middle of the corridor. Then she froze in place when she saw that the strange shadow in front of Noah was transforming into a giant spider.
Skrrriiiiik
The spider slowly advanced toward Noah, who wasn't moving an inch. He was unable to move, breathe, or even make a sound. Spiders were his greatest phobia, and it was already admirable that he hadn't lost consciousness at this stage. As the spider's mandibles approached his face and he was about to literally wet himself—
Baaaam
Mai delivered an enormous kick to the spider's head and sent it flying backward.
"Hey, why didn't you react? You were about to get eaten!!!"
Mai looked at Noah's face. He was terrified and tears had begun flowing down his cheeks. She stepped forward and picked up the fallen dagger.
"I'll handle this," Mai reassured him.
She charged toward the spider that had climbed onto the ceiling.
Skrriiiiiiieek
Whoosh
The spider launched enormous webs from its spinnerets, and Mai stopped her momentum to avoid them. She continued running toward the spider, which kept launching webs, and quickly arrived just below it. The ceiling was far too high for her, so she threw the dagger with all her strength into the arachnid's abdomen.
Whoosh Tchak
Skrriiiiiiieek
As it was hit by the attack, the spider fell to the ground, and the dagger embedded itself even deeper upon contact with the floor. Coupled with its fall, it was now unable to get up. Mai jumped into the air and with all her weight, landed with both feet on the spider's head.
Cruunch
She had finished with the insect when suddenly its corpse began blackening. Mai backed away cautiously and observed the spider's body transform into smoke—smoke that once again gained volume, enough to reach the ceiling.
Then an ember appeared.
Brraaaaaoooouuuuummm
The smoke transformed into flames and engulfed the three meters of corridor in front of Mai.
Crassshhh kasss
The fire's heat exploded the window panes and also brought Noah back to his senses.
The fire was strong, violent, and burning, and faced with these flames... Mai fell to her knees.
In the middle of the flames, a burning body.
[M a a a i]
[M a a a a a i]
Mai closed her eyes and covered her ears with her hands. She began trembling and breathing dangerously fast.
"Hey, are you okay?! What's wrong with you??" Noah, who had gotten up, came to Mai's aid.
He turned toward the burning body calling Mai's name, then looked at her being in the same state he was in earlier.
"Is this your greatest fear now?" Noah asked Mai, who couldn't even hear him anymore.
"Given her reaction, it's probably a traumatic episode," another voice replied.
Noah turned toward her, and Emily continued. "This creature is probably a Nightmare. It takes the form of the greatest fear, phobia, or trauma of the nearest person or the last person to have defeated it. The only way to get rid of it is for the person who beats it to be the owner of the phobia in question—in other words, for them to overcome their fear."
Noah remained speechless. Was it the explanation that had this effect on him, or something else? In any case, he remained mute and continued contemplating Emily, waiting for the next words to come from her mouth.
"It might be linked to the ghost stories and the werewolf we saw earlier. Maybe they were all Nightmares born from the villagers' or servants' fears," Emily wondered.
She observed the Nightmare facing Mai, and it was as if the scene before her eyes was telling her a story.
A young girl alone, crying, surrounded by flames, and someone burning before her eyes, calling her name.
Nightmares aren't necessarily hostile, they just perfectly embody what terrifies you. Fear of clowns, for example, would make a clown appear, but it wouldn't be concretely dangerous.
Emily took a deep breath and raised her hands. Surrounded by karmic energy, she incanted:
[Levitation]
The glass debris from the exploded windows began levitating and gathering around Emily. She made an arm movement toward the burning body, and the pieces shot out like bullets.
Pew pew pew pew
They pierced the body throughout, riddling it with holes, then the flames dissipated into smoke.
The black smoke gathered and concentrated in the middle of the corridor.
Noah put his arm in front of Emily as if to bar her way before finally speaking. "I can't let such a beautiful girl do the work in my place. This time, let me handle it."
"If you attack this smoke, it will transform again into your biggest fear. Let me finish it instead," Emily interrupted.
She pushed Noah's arm aside and redirected the glass debris toward the smoke to pierce it again. As the smoke finally dissipated into the air, Noah asked, "It's strange—I had the impression the smoke couldn't transform just now."
Emily replied, "It couldn't. Nightmare abilities are limited, so there are fears they can't embody. For example, a being too powerful or an abstract concept."
"Ohh, so what's your fear?"
Emily observed Noah for a few moments before answering, "Loneliness… most likely."
"Eeeehh, you're all here!! What happened??" Levi arrived in a rush, shouting, "What was that fire?? Mai?! What happened to you?"
Mai was still trembling. She couldn't hear anything her friends were saying to her.
Her mind remained trapped in the trauma's illusion.
Her hands clenched at nothing, grasping for something already gone.
It was happening again.
Time folded in on itself, and she was no longer here.
She was back there—on that day—watching everything fall apart and burn.
End of Chapter