Nur: “*Sips on tea* It is very delicious, Miss Valens. Forgive me if I am rude, but going from a sword point to drinking tea was a little too sudden even for me”

Valence: “It is fine, Mr. Finnerman. I mistook you for an intruder or a robber, but who would have guessed you were just someone who got lost. I apologize for frightening you”

The woman Nur just met was a feline type demi-human by the name of Jude, Jude Valens.

By the way she wielded her sword; it was obvious she was a former knight or maybe even a Holy Knight.

Jude: “People usually avoid my territory since I am a demi-human. I was not expecting to have a company”

Apparently she was visiting the graves, which is why she brought cups and a tea kettle. It seems like they were used as offerings of sorts to the dead.

Nur: “But why tea? I thought people brought sake or something alcoholic?”

Jude: “That is a human custom, my family’s way is to offer a cup of tea to the place of rest. At least, it was”

She sadly looked at all the graves around her.

Nur: “So many of them”

Jude: “Yeah. Whenever a demi-human or a demon dies, the humans refuse to bury them in their cemeteries, so they end up dumping off many of their corpses in my territory. Least I could do was give them a proper burial”

With the war waging on between humans and demons, without a doubt, the casualties on both sides were sky high. But the demons usually did not get the luxury of having a proper burial. They were lucky if their corpses were set aflame, at least that way there was some dignity in it.

But more often than not, non-human and demi-human corpses were dumped off in the undesirable places. Jude’s territory just happened to be one of them.

Jude: “Most of them, as far as I could tell, were children”

Nur: “As far as you could tell?”

Jude: “Their bodies were not always…in one piece”

Nur: “All of these graves…they were all kids?”

Jude nodded.

Hearing that, Nur ended up tearing up a little.

Nur: “I am sure they are grateful for what you did”

Jude: “What does it matter? They are all gone now. What is gone can never be restored”

She laid her hand upon one of the tombstones.

As Nur focused his gaze, he could read the name etched on the stone, ‘Jun Valens’.

Nur: “Same last name as you”

Jude: “She is my daughter”

Nur: “I am so sorry”

Jude: “No need to be. It was more than five years ago…the day I lost my only child….before her, my husband…* turning away from Nur, silently sobbing*”

Jude: ‘I thought that all the scars of the past would have healed by now’

Jude: “Sorry, Mr. Finnerman, showing you such an unsightly sight…”

Nur: “Do not worry about it. Please, tell me what happened?”

Either because she was in pain or because Nur was willing to listen, Jude ended up telling him quite a tale.

It was a rather sad story.

A story of how Jude tried to live in peace with her family and her desire to be a hero in service of the human kingdom.

And how the nobles of the very kingdom she tried to protect took everything away from her.

Her former life, her husband, and even her daughter.

Jude: “I paid a heavy price for my dream of being a hero….”

In the end, she was left with nothing but an empty land that was used as a place to dump non-human corpses.

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Jude: “If only I could bring her back, I would give anything and everything. Grab hold of her and never let go….”

But nothing could be changed now.

Only thing she could do was silently weep as she prayed for her daughter’s soul every day.

Jude: “*sees Nur* You are crying?”

Nur: “Obviously! I mean, that is horrifying!”

Jude: “It is surprising; I never thought a human being would care enough to cry for a demi-human”

Nur: “I am not exactly a human. My mother was a human, apparently, but my father was a demon”

From Desolai’s archives, Nur had some idea of who he was before he ended up in Shinigami’s domain.

Nur: “*Extends horn*. See?”

Jude: “So you are a half, huh? What kind of an odd fate brought a human and a demon together?”

Nur: “I don’t know. I never had a chance to ask. Both of them were gone by the time I was a child. Apparently I was raised by my uncle, whose last name I inherited”

Jude: “Apparently?”

Nur: “It’s a long story, but something happened to me and I lost most of my memories. The only reason I know what I know is because someone else was kind enough to write them down”

Jude: “Must be a very considerate person”

Nur: “More like a klutz with a severe case of hoarding, but yeah”

There was no way for him to explain that Shinigami domain contained all the books on the living and the deceased mortals. So, rather than delve into it, he chose to leave it at that.

Jude: “You must have faced a lot of hardships, being born a demon in a world that hates them more than anything”

Nur: “I did not have it anywhere as bad as you, Miss Valens”

Jude: “Jude is fine”

Nur: “Allright, then please call me Nur”

Jude: “Nur it is then”

She proceeded to kneel down before her daughter’s grave.

Jude: “I just wish I could have prevented this. Instead, I became the cause of my daughter’s fate”

Nur: “That is not true”

Jude: “?”

Nur: “You did nothing wrong. Those who took everything away from you, they are the ones who should be punished for what they did!”

Jude: “Funny you should say that. But it is a little too late for that”

Nur: “What do you mean?”

Jude: “Apparently someone had the same idea. All the nobles who were involved were purged, every last one. Even their families were butchered”

Now that was unexpected.

Nur couldn’t help but gulp.

Jude: “Thank you for keeping my company, young man. If you would like, would you like to come by my house, I am sure you must be hungry”

* * *

Everything in this reality was ruled by power.

Gods were worshipped, heroes respected, demons hated, and witches feared, all because of the power they held.

So where exactly a powerless mortal fit in?

Would he die aimlessly or humble himself to join one of the many factions?

Or would he do the unthinkable and create a faction of his own?

No matter how many perils he faced, Lord of Darkness had strong enough of a character to stand tall to face them all.

But Nur Finnerman was not the Lord of Darkness.

At least, not entirely….

* * *

Jude: “I do not mind letting you spend the night, but do so at your own peril”

Nur: “At my own peril?! Am I gonna get killed?”

Jude: “Possibly”

Nur: “I need to get out of here….”

Jude: “Calm down, please allow me to explain”

As soon Nur quieted down, Jude began.

Jude: “My territory happens to be the hunting grounds of monsters called Dream Eaters. They are beasts that lurk within the dreams of mortals”

Nur: “?”

Jude: “I understand your confusion, but this is no joking matter. People frequently die when they sleep near my territory for this very reason. Dream Eater invades into the mortal victim’s dreams. If it manages to kill the victim inside the dream, the mortal will die in the real world”

Nur: “*Gulps* Scary…”

Jude: “It has gotten very dark, letting you go right now by yourself would be reckless, not to mention suicidal…”

At night, various monsters would go out for a hunt, making Nur easy prey for them to feast upon.

Nur: “If Dream Eaters are so dangerous, how come you are alive?”

Jude: “If you will is strong enough, Dream Eater will not be able to defeat you. But if it is weak, you will perish”

Jude: “If you are inside my house, I can protect you against monsters that are outside, but only you can fend off a Dream Eater while you sleep. I can’t help you there”

Nur: “Should I stay awake then?”

Jude: “Wouldn’t work. If you force yourself to stay awake, your mind and spirit will steadily grow weaker, making it far easier for Dream Eater to invade and kill you on the spot.”

Nur: “I thought Dream Eaters could only invade people’s dreams!”

Jude: “Not just dreams, they will try anything to possess you with the intention of consuming your soul. Invading dreams is just one of the many things they are capable of doing. Even if you are awake, they can enter your body”

Jude: “The only thing you can do is go to sleep and keep yourself safe from the reach of Dream Eaters until morning comes. Then, it will finally be safe for you to go”

Nur: “*Gulps*”

Jude: “People avoid my territory precisely because they fear the Dream Eaters coming after them”

Nur: “I am kind of hoping you are kidding about this”

In response, Jude proceeded to unfurl her clothing, showing Nur the claw marks on her abdomen, back, and arms.

Jude: “I encountered them countless times. Whatever the Dream Eater does to you within a dream manifests into reality”

Jude: “If your will is strong, you will be fine”

Nur: “Right….”

* * *

Nur: “No, no, no, no!”

He was in dream realm, that much he was sure of. But he had no idea how to escape this place unharmed.

Since this was a dream, Nur looked completely human, all flesh and blood, wearing white clothing which contrasted his pitch black hair.

He was running for his life from the gray beasts chasing after him.

But as soon as he thought he was safe, a faceless man with tentacles coming out of his stomach rose before him.

With a painful impact, Nur was sent flying to the ground by a slash of one of the giant tentacles.

There were so many of them. Monsters of all shapes and sizes, all were grey and black in color.

As he tried to defend himself, one of the monster’s blade-like appendages pierced into Nur’s arms.

Another monster tore off a part of flesh on Nur’s right leg.

They tossed him around like a ragdoll, clawing, beating, and tearing him into pieces.

Finally, the biggest one proceeded to hold down Nur’s body with one of its hands, while trying to tear off Nur’s head with the other.

Nur: ‘Is this the end? This is how I die?’

“Still so weak, huh?”

A sarcastic voice calmly sounded out. A lone figure wearing a black suit emerged before Nur and the Dream Eaters. His face was exactly the same as Nur’s, except for one detail.

While Nur’s eyes were brown, this man’s eyes were glowing red.

Dark Lord: “You truly are pathetic, aren’t you, Nur?”