Chapter 71: The Nightmare [1]

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Mirai was falling.

An endless spiral composed of countless creatures—monsters, specters, ghosts, demons, and countless other aberrant things—echoed with the screams of billions.

A sea of crimson eyes stared up at her from below. The deeper she fell, the closer she drew to this terrifying abyss she feared so much.

Above, dark red clouds gathered like blood clots. Countless arms, hands, legs, heads, and twisted body parts writhed within them. The mouths of those hanging heads screamed without cease.

The hellish, infernal cacophony intensified until it became an unbearable noise that made Mirai want to end her own suffering just to silence it.

But at some point, she began to understand what the voices were saying.

“DEVOUR…”

“Shut up!”

“DEVOUR!”

“N-No…!”

“DEVOUR!!!”

They kept urging her to “devour.” Whatever it meant, Mirai refused to know. She desperately wanted to believe this was another cruel nightmare, that nothing monstrous was trying to force her into becoming something she refused to become.

She clamped her hands over her ears and screamed for the voices to stop, to shut up. But the more she cried, the louder they grew. The more monstrous and aggressive they became.

“W-What is this?! Why isn’t this nightmare ending?!”

Mirai kept screaming, unable to grasp where she truly was. The spiral of chaos, the abyssal sea below, and the dark red skies above twisted together until they merged into a single, expanding mass of pure chaotic colors and forms stretching endlessly in every direction.

“Aaahhh! Aaaahhhhh!”

Mirai screamed as she tried to flee the monstrous thing pursuing her. Then, out of nowhere, something burst from her chest—her Incarnation.

“D-Devil?!”

The Incarnation laughed, seized her, and flew away, carrying her out of reach of the gigantic mass of chaos composed of countless bodies, monsters, and demons all screaming at her.

“Y-You’re my Incarnation! What’s going on? Is this really a dream? Am I being attacked by a Grievance?!”

“Gyehehehe! Gahahaha!”

The Devil could only communicate through laughter, yet its tone felt different—as if it were trying to convey something to her.

It pointed its long, pointed tail toward the west, where a large floating platform held a crimson throne.

“W-What’s that? Where are you taking me?!”

Mirai struggled against the Incarnation’s grip, but she was powerless. It threw her onto the platform. She hit the hard floor, rolled, and slammed into the seat.

“Aahh…! Ugh…”

“—!!!”

A deafening, incomprehensible scream erupted behind her. The thing rushed forward faster than before, beginning to take the shape of countless horrors.

Mirai saw her Incarnation standing beside the throne, gesturing for her to sit.

“W-Why is there a throne in my dream? What is this place?”

Mirai suddenly realized this might not be a dream or nightmare at all, but something deeper within her—a mind realm, or perhaps…

“Wait, I know!”

It was her Fantasy Heart.

The realization struck her the moment she remembered awakening as a Spiralwalker, gaining her Fantasy Heart, her unique Spiral of Madness, and her Incarnation.

With that understanding, she knew this invading thing could not be good. She ran toward the throne.

“Aahhhh!”

She leaped just as the horrors reached her, countless monsters, demons, specters, and even twisted versions of people she knew, including Louis himself. Their arms stretched to seize her and do unspeakable things.

But she made it. She sat on the crimson throne. Instantly, the horrors froze, as if paralyzed, or as if time itself had halted.

“Eh? What… What happened? Devil?”

She looked at her Incarnation. It laughed as usual and—for some reason—patted her head gently. She had always thought it was scary, but now it seemed the Devil genuinely cared for her.

“What do I do now? What’s happening?” she asked. “Please help me…”

“Heheheee…” The Devil laughed mischievously. It walked to the paralyzed monster and tore a large torso from it—a mummified corpse with charcoal-black skin, covered in blood patterns, featuring a huge screaming mouth and empty eyes. “Eehehe…”

“…?” Mirai accepted the piece in her arms, confused about what the Incarnation intended by giving her part of the thing.

Then the Devil gestured, opening its sharp metallic jaws full of fangs, closing them, and moving its hand as if urging her to…

Eat it.

“W-What? No way, I’m not eating this disgusting thing! How do I get out of here? Wait, should I just close my eyes?”

But Mirai could not leave. She remained trapped inside her own Fantasy Heart. The corpse in her arms slowly crumbled into tiny pieces.

“…”

Her Incarnation glared at her with sharp eyes, waiting.

It seemed she had no choice. She had to eat it.

Perhaps the entire gigantic creature, if possible.

“B-But why? What is this thing?”

Her Incarnation clearly knew something, but because it could not speak, the Devil could not explain what it wanted or the purpose of all this.

With trembling hands, Mirai slowly brought the piece to her mouth. Her lips quivered as she hesitated, then—without further delay—she took a bite.

“Guugh?!”

The taste was every bit as revolting as she had imagined—dry, bitter, nauseating.

And yet, once she started, she could not stop.

Bite after bite, she devoured the entire piece. Her hands shook as her whole body flared with heat.

“Aagh…! Uugh!”

She clenched her teeth. Something appeared in her right hand, a mark resembling a crimson eye. The eye stared at her for a moment, then quickly closed and vanished.

“W-What was that?”

An immense surge of energy flooded her body. Her stagnant physical growth suddenly accelerated.

“What did I just eat? Why… why does it feel so good? Ah.”

Then she noticed her Astral Projection beginning to scatter into particles of darkness. Her consciousness was being pulled back to her body.

“Well… whatever this entire thing was, I have to figure it out someday…”

As she looked at the paralyzed monster one last time, she noticed two figures among the amalgamation of bodies, faces, and creatures. Unlike the rest, these two were smiling harmoniously, holding hands and embracing each other.

A young-looking woman with skin as black as charcoal and long white hair.

A man with red skin, black horns, and the same white hair.

“Who… Who are they?”

Just as Mirai was about to return to her body, they opened their eyes, shocking her.

They looked directly at her and tried to speak.

But she could not hear their words.

♢♢♢♢

“Mirai! Hey! Are you okay? Mirai!”

“…Louis?”

Mirai slowly opened her eyes. She was drenched in cold sweat, her body shivering as if gripped by a terrible fever. Gradually she calmed as Handy emerged from Louis’ arm and began healing her.

“Are you alright? You were trembling and screaming in your sleep…” Louis’ eyes were filled with concern. He looked visibly relieved to see her awake.

“I-I… I’m alright,” Mirai muttered. Realizing Louis had been taking care of her, embarrassment flooded her. “Were you… taking care of me?”

“I got here about ten minutes ago…” he sighed. “But technically, yes. Were you attacked by a Grievance? I detected strange wavelengths coming from your Fantasy Heart.”

“I… don’t know…” Mirai had planned to keep it secret, but with Louis here—acting so unusually worried—she couldn’t hold back. “I… saw a monster inside my Fantasy Heart. It tried to eat me. But when I sat on the crimson throne, it stopped attacking. Then my Incarnation appeared and… took a piece of the monster and offered it to me. It was the only way I could return.”

“…!” Louis’ eyes widened. He clearly recognized what she described, even though she had expected him to dismiss it as a ridiculous dream. “That’s… are you sure that’s what you saw?”

“Yes…” Mirai nodded. “What… What’s wrong? Do you know something?”

“I…” Louis fell silent. He walked to the window and gazed at the morning sky.

He did not want to reveal the truth either, but he knew exactly what Mirai had encountered. His eyes darted restlessly as countless thoughts raced through his mind.

“So it has begun…” he sighed.

“What has begun?” Mirai asked.

“…This is just speculation, but if that wasn’t a Grievance,” Louis muttered, pausing briefly before continuing, “I believe it must have been something born from your own power. As a Sinner born between two humans, your power has to originate somewhere, right?”

“…! Ah!” Mirai’s eyes widened as she nodded. “Yes, you’re right… was that monster the origin of my power?!”

“Something like that,” Louis confirmed. “Or at least, that’s what I think. It could be anything, but… it might have been the embodiment of your powers, awakened now that you have obtained a Fantasy Heart.”

“Wow… but then why was it trying to kill me?” Mirai asked. “I just don’t get it…”

Louis rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I believe it was attempting to seize control. All of us Sinners risk becoming Grievances ourselves—did you know that? Becoming a Spiralwalker only heightens this weakness. We are wielding the very madness we should avoid, literally playing with fire.”

Mirai felt a deep wave of dread wash over her. She began shivering again as the realization hit: she had nearly been consumed. “W-What would have happened if that thing had won?”

“…You could have woken up not as Mirai, but as a Grievance,” Louis said quietly. Memories of William flashed through his mind, remembering what Mirai had become in the Bad Ending. “For now, you’re fine. But you might be called there again. You will likely face trials. You have to overcome them on your own, with the help of your Incarnation. Never lose. Never hesitate, Mirai. The only way to overcome the Curse is by devouring it.”

Mirai’s eyes widened. She understood now. That creature must have been the “Curse” that had spread at her birth, the thing that claimed most lives in that hospital and her parents. “So that creature was my curse…!”

“Maybe,” Louis said. “Here, drink this.”

He handed her Healing Tonics and a Spirit Tonic. Mirai nodded, drank them with cold water, and slowly felt her energies stabilize.

“Ah, I’m covered in sweat. I’ll go take a bath…” she sighed. “Thank you for taking care of me, Louis.”

“You did the same for me yesterday. I was merely repaying the favor,” Louis replied. “Breakfast is ready downstairs. Once you’re ready, come eat with everyone.”

Mirai smiled. “Yes, thank you.”

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