Kneeling, frozen, I stared at Aurelia, my mind a blank slate. Dream and Nightmare, my two guiding selves, were equally caught in a haze of disbelief. How could this be? Aurelia, a titan among us, her power seemingly boundless—even amidst the chaotic mana storm, she had shone brighter, stronger than any, myself included. Yet here she lay, still and lifeless, an injustice that defied reason. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair!

She lay there, serene as though merely sleeping, her skin flawless and radiant, even in death. Her clothes were torn to shreds, yet she maintained an air of undisturbed perfection. It appeared her vampiric essence still battled onward, her regeneration silently whispering promises of vitality far surpassing even Sophia’s fledgling powers. My hands trembled as I clasped hers, a silent plea for her return. Yet, as I held her, I couldn’t feel her soul within that still shell.

Anger coiled tightly within me, fueled by my twin souls—Dream and Nightmare—united in purpose and meaning, their thirst for unholy vengeance simmering darkly. He, that pretender to divinity, had extinguished her life with a dismissive flick, reducing us to mere nuisances in his path. Not even Death had been able to oppose him. My thoughts spiraled back to that pivotal moment, to that fateful conversation...

~

Death stood before Demoros, the head Ascended God of the Imperial Council of the Empire. However, she blinked several times as she took in the sight of the man clad in otherworldly robes, his gold crown shimmering with a disquieting luster. He had just reduced Blake to speckles—tiny pudding droplets scattered across the moon. This wasn’t a problem; Blake’s twin souls were still linked to her skill, Phantasia, ensuring her survival as long as even one little pudding remained. The real issue was that her annoying granddaughter’s soulmate had been slain with disheartening ease—a summoned soul of a titan within a vampire’s body, dismissed as if she were nothing.

Death hadn’t encountered power like this in eons, not since the last Eldritch War, and certainly not from an Ascended. To her, they were merely children claiming godhood because they had maxed out their levels within the system and ascended to the next stage, becoming levelless entities. In the times of Life’s first child, the Titans, such an ascension was more of a graduation formality back when the Eldritch were rampant—yet these beings thought it made them gods. Death scoffed at the notion, yet this Ascended had demonstrated power on par with real gods, those born of both her and Life’s lineage.

“You’re not truly an Ascended, are you?” Death glared at the entity she was about to erase from existence.

“It’s been a long time, Auntie,” Demoros smiled, his voice cool and unwavering.

Death’s eyes widened in recognition, but before she could act, a gruesome spectacle diverted their attention. From the now groaning dragon, a swarm of tiny, oozing black puddings erupted, each adorned with writhing tentacles and tendrils. They fluttered through the air like a dark cloud of malice, descending toward Death. As they converged, the pulsating, gelatinous forms merged into a singular, ghastly female figure. Thin weaves of silk sprouted from her teeth, forming the appearance of a black skull with glistening white teeth framed by glowing, radiant orange eyes that shone from those terrifying sockets. More silk wrapped around her face, sculpting a gorgeously cruel visage. Black pudding oozed from her mouth, darkening her lips and casting shadows around her horrifying, illuminated eyes.

Blake radiated utter hatred as she glared at Demoros, but he merely smirked, producing a grapefruit-sized crystal from seemingly nowhere.

“That’s—,” Death began, but the man cut her off.

“The very same we used to banish Life,” he laughed heartily.

Death lunged to erase the abomination before her, but Demoros stood unmoved, his smirk unwavering. The last thing Blake saw of the two figures was him still smiling as everything dissolved into a blinding white light. When the light finally faded, Blake found herself alone, her mind reeling. Slowly, her thoughts coalesced around the one thing that mattered now—Aurelia.

~

That was all I could recall of what had happened. I’m sure there was more, something I was missing, but my mind couldn’t focus, not with my love gone. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to kill. I don’t know how long I stayed there on my knees before my love’s lifeless body, but figures slowly approached, albeit hesitantly. Surprisingly, I noticed them despite the howling winds of the ongoing mana storm, which mingled with my mental turmoil and sorrow.

Glancing up with tears as black as the void, I noticed a goblin, a young man, though the scent of his undeath hung heavily in the air. I slowly stood as he dropped to his knees before me, cradling a little black orb in both hands as if offering me his entire world.

“Mummy—Mother, I’ve finally found you,” he uttered. “I devote myself, my loyalty to you, my soul to you,” he proclaimed.

I did not say a word as I stared down at him, my eyes lifeless, unblinking.

“I was a pathetic goblin when you found me, but because of you, I was able to amass an army of undead. Though all have been wiped away by the mana storm and sacrificed to fuel your ability—an offering to you for which I am grateful to provide,” he quickly added. “But I, Lord War-Mist, formerly known as Wartie, am forever yours,” he finished.

With deliberate slowness, I reached up and took the orb from his outstretched hands, recognizing it immediately as the phylactery in which I had once encased his soul. There was no flicker of emotion within me; my heart was a void, untouched by any reunion. Effortlessly, I crushed the orb between my fingers, watching dispassionately as it disintegrated into dust that slipped through my fingers and was carried off by the wind. The goblin lich, stripped of his soul’s anchor, collapsed silently, his existence extinguished without a trace.

There was a gasp of surprise from behind me, and as I turned, I noticed Yua and... Rob? I could sense the soul within him, recognizing it—a skill I hadn’t known I possessed until now—yet the elvish body he now inhabited was unfamiliar. The last time I saw him, he was a half-orc. None of it mattered. Nothing mattered. I didn’t care. All I knew was that they had betrayed Aurelia when they fled to Slaethia. Such treachery would not, could not be tolerated.

In a surge, I blurred past them, and suddenly, I was standing with my back to two headless corpses that slowly crumbled to the ground. There was no talking, no banter, not even conflicting thoughts from my souls. Everything within me was quiet as black tears continued to drip down my face. Suddenly, I found myself stepping to the side as I felt a ripple in the mana, dodging a black blast of a spell that whizzed past me. I glanced dispassionately to see Jeremy screaming as he charged toward me. Behind him, Jason casually folded his arms, choosing not to get involved as he stood near Sophia’s unconscious body.

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With another Phantasmal Surge, I materialized before Jeremy, stopping him with a single hand that gripped his throat. I didn’t wait to hear him curse, question my reasoning, or plead for mercy. He had turned against me when I dealt with those who betrayed Aurelia, and such betrayal could not go unpunished. In the heartbeat that I lifted him off his feet, his body dangling from my grasp, I unleashed a Blightning with the same palm clasping his neck. Unlike its usual orange glow, this bolt was black, shimmering with an orange outline. It shot heavenward, spiderwebbing across the sky and culminating in a deafening thunderclap.

I casually tossed the headless corpse toward the other three, setting aside their remains for a later meal. Glancing over at Jason, who quickly raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, I then turned my attention to Sophia, who lay unconscious. She was my love’s creation, a vampire Aurelia had turned herself.

Despite everything, I doubted I had it in me to destroy her, even if she were to lash out at me right now. With a dismissive tsk, I turned away from the pair, ignoring the sigh of relief from the dark fae. I focused instead on my four intended meals—a high elf, a wood elf, a wolf beastkin, and a goblin lich. I didn’t bother to savor them; instead, I extended four tentacles from my dress, swiftly pulling them beneath my gooey body to dissolve away.

A slew of system notifications flickered before my eyes, but I didn’t bother to read them. Instead, I stared lifelessly up at the sky, swearing my revenge.

There was a sharp gasp, and I quickly snapped my head around, watching as Aurelia slowly pulled herself into a seated position. She stared at her hands in confusion, rolling them before her eyes as though in disbelief.

“Aurelia!” I cried out, my voice filled with happiness.

However, I staggered to a halt just a few steps away when she flinched upon noticing me.

“W-Who are you?” she asked meekly, her voice weak and uncertain. “Where am I?” Her eyes swept over the battlefield, taking in the devastation as the mana clouds swirled above like an endless hurricane.

Her posture. Her entire demeanor. They were all wrong! She stared at me with an unrecognizable gaze. My moment of joy died as my eyes caught the now glowing ring on her finger.

“You’re not my Aurelia, are you?” I whispered, finally realizing what had happened.

The original Aurelia’s soul must have been within that ring and had awakened in her body now that my Aurelia was no longer within. I wanted to scream, to rip this impostor’s head off, but I couldn’t. She may not be my Aurelia, but I couldn’t bring myself to harm her. With slumped shoulders, I turned away and wandered aimlessly, with no destination in mind. My heart was broken, and I felt dead inside.

There was a ripple in the mana behind me as someone materialized, but I didn’t care.

“Father?” Aurelia gasped in alarm.

“Ah, the prodigal failure has returned,” was the last I heard, before I faded away into the storm.

I didn’t even bother to listen to the rest of the conversation that was now taking place. My two souls spun as I laughed and cried, oscillating between rage, insanity, and sorrow. My dream, my love, was dead; my mother didn’t know what had happened to her soul, and the one person, the one entity that could have answers, was somehow banished? Fate was too cruel.

I wanted to slay the monster who had taken everything from me, but I wasn’t powerful enough. I was only as strong as the mana around me, and even with a raging mana storm, my power was nothing.

It may have been hours or even days that I aimlessly wandered before I heard someone speak in a familiar, sinister, cunning, and deceitful tone all at once. “If you want revenge, I know how you can get it.”

Closing my eyes, I sighed, “Jörmun.”

“Aw, little niece, I give my condolences and offer you what you want most—revenge.”

“What I want is Aurelia back,” I hissed, “but I’ll take revenge until then,” I replied, turning to glare at the god. With an unblinking stare, I asked, “What must I do?”

“Destroy the useless system and sever the Ascended from their power,” he replied, his smile revealing snake-like fangs. “It should be quite easy for both of you, what do you call yourselves, Dream and Nightmare?”

I took a deep breath, finding the unneeded sensation soothing as I closed my eyes in thought. After a long pause, I opened them and spoke without emotion, “My dreams and nightmares died with my heart. We’re now Madness and Insanity. We are Blake, Demigoddess of Nightmares. And we’ll destroy the system and send all in this wretched realm down a path of endless nightmares.”

This time, I didn’t ignore the system notification as I glanced at the update to my sheet and all I had acquired from consuming three traitors and a lich. Meanwhile, I tuned out the manic laughter of the god before me.

Name: Blake

Race: Demigoddess of Nightmares

Class: Phantasm

Titles

Descendant of the End

Scion of Dreams

Racial Skills

[Devourer]

[Unholy]

Spells

[Phantasmal]

Abilities

NONE

Vulnerabilities

[Holy]

Immunities

[Acid]

[Darkness]

[Disease]

[Poison]

[Sleep]

Unique

[Birthright]

[Sovereign Heiress]

Selectable

[Death Bolt]

[Defender]

[Raise Undead]

[Silent Assassin]

Spells and Abilities, either known or hidden, waiting to be found once again deep within the recesses of Madness and Insanity’s souls:

[Absorb]

[Acid Breath]

[Astral Graviton]

[Astral Insight]

[Birthright]

[Blight]

[Blightning]

[Brittle Bones]

[Burst]

[Combat Proficiency]

[Corrosive]

[Death Bolt]

[Decay Touch]

[Defender]

[Devourer]

[Disintegration]

[Fear]

[Fortress]

[Leap]

[Life Drain]

[Mana Sight]

[Mindless] [Regeneration]

[Necrotic Flame]

[Paralysis]

[Phantasmal Dominion]

[Phantasmal Mist]

[Phantasmal Surge]

[Phantasmal]

[Poison Spit]

[Polymorph]

[Raise Undead]

[Rotten Aura]

[Shamble]

[Shield Proficiency]

[Silent Assassin]

[Silk Webbing]

[Sovereign Heiress]

[Spider Walk]

[Spirit Vessel]

[Stellar Void]

[Thermalsense]

[Unholy]

[Veil Polyglot]

[Venomous]

[Weak Fire Ward]

[Web of Whispers]