Mahito did it. He was able to slay the horrid abomination. And soon, his nightmare will be over.

  But he couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy about the whole sequence of events. It felt too…easy. Too perfect, to be true. While Mahito was still very much a novice to all things regarding the nightmare spell and nightmares in general. He recalled the crucial piece of information that Master Rhodes imparted unto him before he challenged his nightmare; A nightmare can have multiple different conclusions, never one set condition. The simple fact that Mahito hasn’t been sent back to the waking world proves that he hasn’t fulfilled the condition to complete his nightmare. I know such a thing was already brought well into his existence, but Mahito’s gut feeling was whistling something fierce into his very being, and that was dangerous. Before the agitated youth was able to enact any semblance of a plan, a feeling of absence engulfed his abdomen and below. A feeling…strange to him. Like something integral to him was missing, and that wouldn't be far from the truth. Soon did the youth find out that that feeling of emptiness was more than dark premonitions manifesting themselves from his subconscious will. He quite literally became half the man he used to be. Well, to be more specific, about 34% of his body was currently an unrecognizable splatter of human remains messily laid bare before him. A hole seemed to have been punched through him by the extremity of an unrecognizable terror. One that was now receding into the solemn man dressed in black situated next to the priest: both looking with a mixture of scorn, disappointment, and something else that could yet be discerned. At this point, the extent of the damage that Mahito adorned was beyond anything that could be repaired for an Awakened of his ranking. It’s quite unfortunate. It was no secret that the nightmare spell is a particularly strong force of cruelty, whether intentional or not, but Mahito couldn’t help but feel personally aggrieved. He played the motions perfectly, yet the fruits of his labor were not even ripe. It was unfair. He could only lament silently until his inevitable passing. To curse the nightmare spell., To curse all his adversaries, and to curse the world. Whether out of indiscriminate rage for his current scenario, or the desire to ravage the icon of ire that led him to this point. Mahito did the unthinkable. He consumed that of the world that looked to consume him. And ate the flesh of the great abomination: gnawing at the husk of the creature with an almost primal ferocity until he eventually succumbed to his wound, and drifted off into eternal slumber.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.