CHAPTER 126: CHAPTER 126: THE NIGHTMARE TOWER

William stepped through the door with a firm stride, his figure highlighted by the battle suit and beautiful wings, making him look even more imposing beneath the white mask covering his face. Everyone in the room held their breath, looking at the one they had been waiting for.

Anubis, the lord of that realm, knelt.

"Welcome back, Supreme," he said with his head bowed.

The three rescued humans looked at each other, not understanding. How was it possible for such a monstrously strong being to prostrate himself like this? The young man who had saved them, who seemed like a mere human, was now treated with an incredible level of respect by such a being.

William barely glanced at the three humans, seeming indifferent, before saying:

"I’ll speak with them later; you can take them to their rooms."

"As you wish."

Anubis stood and walked beside him while the young jackal servants motioned for the three humans to follow them.

"I’m quite intrigued by this place. I’ve just woken up and don’t exactly know where I am. Let’s take a walk so I can get to know the place better."

"Do you wish to see the city, my lord, or would you prefer to go directly to a particular place?"

After thinking for a moment, William nodded and said: "I prefer to see the whole city, so let’s start with the exterior."

With a nod, Anubis signaled him, guiding him out of the castle. Both descended stairs carved into rock, but unlike what William expected, they didn’t stop on the desert floor; they continued descending. As they delved deeper, a hum began to fill the air: thuds, screeches, metallic creaks, and a constant sound of wailing.

At the end of the path, a hellish landscape opened up: a gigantic underground mine-city, floating platforms, bone bridges, and lava channels precisely directed towards a structure that seemed to rise towards the sky. Deformed creatures, stone golems, chimeras, giant insects, worked tirelessly, guarded by bright-eyed jackal beasts.

But the most shocking sight was in the distance.

A collapsed tower. Dark, half-destroyed, with its top split and gray energy emanating from it as if it were still breathing.

"That’s the Nightmare Tower. It was once the connection between this world and the Central Source of Nightmares. All beings from this world were brought here before the great destruction. And now only the remnants of us remain."

William observed it in silence. He felt as if something was calling him from the top of that ruin.

"Is it still functioning?"

"Unstably. But without that connection, all of us here are trapped forever. You, Supreme, are the only one who can reestablish the link with the Source. No other being has access to that kind of power."

"I want to know more about this place. You said it functions as a link to the nightmare core; tell me everything you know about this place."

"Of course, Supreme, allow me to tell you the history of this place. First, I have to explain our origin: all of us are the children of nightmares, born from the sea of torment in the main world of nightmares. All of us are born with the command to conquer everything we find, so from the moment we are born until we die, we are always ready for war."

"These worlds are known as subsidiary worlds, although they were once normal worlds. My ancestor participated in the war against this world, so he left some records about that battle.

Several million years ago, the Ancient Supreme Rhods discovered this world, so, along with his entire army, he opened a portal to this world. Our armies invaded, destroying the population of this world and using their corpses to raise the Nightmare Tower. Some of their warriors fled and managed to escape our reach, even though they were pursued, they failed to capture the leader of the Empire’s knights who governed this world. According to records, that cursed one was hidden for hundreds of thousands of years while the Nightmare Tower was being built.

The day the Nightmare Tower was finished, all living beings from the world were brought, and we had even obtained the heart of the world to sacrifice it and allow the Supreme’s entry into this world to fully absorb it. The portal appeared, but at the last moment, when it was still stabilizing, that guy appeared. His power was beyond our generals. My ancestors and their comrades fought with all their might, but they were no match for that guy.

In a single day, almost all our warriors were exterminated, but the portal had already begun to open slightly. In the skies, the unstable portal was about to disappear. The Supreme used all his power to force the door; his arrival in this world caused a strong rejection, as the heart of the world had been taken by that knight, preventing Supreme Rhods from descending with his full strength. Even so, his power was not something that knight could endure, and Supreme Rhods quickly attacked him with all his might. His armor was shattered, and Supreme Rhods tore off his arms and legs so he couldn’t flee, but no one expected that knight not only had the heart of the world but also the spirit of the world. With both in his power, he managed to launch a suicidal attack, and from his mouth came a great sword of light that pierced Rhods’ head, killing him with one blow. No one could believe that a Supreme could be killed, but it had happened. Due to the altar’s failure and the world’s restrictions, Supreme Rhods did not have access to even half of his strength, and in his overconfidence, his life was ended.

The knight who killed him didn’t fare well either; no one knows how he escaped, but he took the heart and soul of the world with him. We are currently searching for both, as without them, the portal cannot be opened for us to return home. Since that battle, we have captured all the natives, but we haven’t found the slightest trace of them. My ancestors left a few last words in one of their biographies:

’Beware of the great knight Lerion, who, after being defeated, returned and exterminated our armies, even killing Supreme Rhods.’"

.