Exodia 223: Nightmares (1)

{King Solomon's POV:}

Dreams.

Things that humans have. Dreams can differ depending on the desires that the human has. To be rich, to be strong, to be a leader, to have love. There are all sorts of dreams. However, dreams are superficial.

Those who have dreams are those who cannot acquire them.

Strangely enough, I had a dream of my own. It troubled me, enraged me. I had a dream of the world. In that dream, I could not unite the world under my rule. My kingdom fell. It burned. I could not achieve what I wanted.

A nightmare. That's what they call an undesired dream. A nightmare.

"How does one get rid of a nightmare, Gremory?"

I asked the woman at my side.

Gremory is one of the 72 demonic pillars that serve me. She is the 56th pillar and is loyal to Paimon, the 9th pillar.

Currently, I cannot summon all of my 72 pillars but I can summon a few. Gremory was one of the pillars that I was able to summon.

Gremory's appearance changed after being summoned in this era. Before, she was a hybrid. Her top half was a woman and the bottom was a camel. Now, she has taken the full appearance of a woman despite being androgynous like all my other pillars.

The only thing inhumane about her current appearance was her horns and crimson eyes. Other than that, she appeared as a beautiful human woman.

"Nightmares, my liege?"

Gremory thought for a second, most likely using her ability.

"Nightmares... Well, the only solution I can see is to get rid of the root of the nightmare. Whatever you believe to be causing it."

"The root problem."

In other words, the one who stops me from uniting the world. It was difficult to find it because I had no idea. That angered me in itself. Me, King Solomon, having no idea how to deal with a problem that concerned me.

"I thought I had already erased the root problem."

Or did I?

I was thorough when I killed him. There is no possible way for him to be alive. Then again, the next likely answer is...

"Who would have believed it?"

·———·

"Huh?!"

As the group paused, staring at Albatross' face, the entire building rumbled. It vibrated almost ominously. A ferocious roar cried out, reverberating throughout the entire banquet building.

Albatross muttered to himself.

"Guess it's time. That bastard finally went crazy."

"What bastard?"

Yuuki asked him, ready to attack him the moment he moved.

Albatross was at a disadvantage. He was surrounded and they were on edge—or at least Kuroha was—due to his face. Despite this, he did not seem perturbed.

The shadow at his feet slowly crawled up his body, devouring him from bottom to top.

"Shit! Yuuki! He's trying to escape!"

"Crap!"

By the time Yuuki reacted, more than half of Albatross' body was gone. Kuroha pounced from her spot, reaching her hand out at him. The only thing she was able to grab was the shadows he left behind, but they blew upwards. He was gone.

"For fuck's sake."

Kuroha brooded.

(Let's take the fact that the man has the same face as Shoya out of the equation. That'll simply hinder my decision-making.)

She thought.

"Kuroha, that guy disappeared!"

"Hm?"

As she turned around, the man, 'Justice,' was nowhere to be found. He likely retreated, fretting that he would reveal his identity in some sort of way. Kuroha began thinking.

(That man wasn't fighting us seriously. Despite saying that he was going to kill us, he didn't seem to be going at full throttle. He was buying time. Most likely for whatever is happening.)

"Nyx."

She called out to the being dwelling within herself. There was no answer, so she called out again, this time with a temper.

"Oi, Nyx, wake up!"

[I'm awake.]

Nyx spoke in Kuroha's head.

"Let's use Hawkeye."

[You know,]

The deity yawned.

[There's a reason as to why I gave you full access to my power and that's so you don't always have to rely on me directly. You can find the source of trouble yourself with your hearing and a bit of trial and error.]

"I don't have that kind of time. There is only one banquet hall but many different VIP rooms in this building. I don't have the time to look through all of them."

[Fine.]

Hawkeye was an ability that utilised Nyx's authority, something that Kuroha cannot recreate even with access to Nyx's power.

Nyx was once a goddess that watched over the world since the beginning of creation. She could see any part of the world at any time before she was bound.

[The banquet hall. You should've simply gone to where the most people were.]

"Shut up."

She began running.

"Yuuki! Check on Farmuth in the VIP room! She's been unattended!"

"R-right!"

(If their true goal was to kill nobles like the rumours, then Albatross would have gone for Farmuth. Plus, there's also the fact that they simply didn't obliterate the room from the outside. From what I saw, Albatross could've done that if he blocked Anastasia's punch.)

Kuroha switched her form. She increased the concentration of Nyx's power so she could run faster.

"I'm already late. I'm sure some nobles are dead."

·———·

In the banquet room, as nobles retreated to the doors in a panic, a single figure stood on top of the stage, mindlessly growling while staring at its prey.

It had the lower body of a human but the upper body of a werewolf. It had soft blue eyes and human hair, styled in a mullet. It wore a muzzle like an uncontrolled, ravenous beast.

It was Lycan, a member of the Ankh and a part of the Lycanthrope Clan.

Bodies laid by his feet and his claws dripped with blood. All of the SSB officers who attacked him were mangled and murdered horrifically.

"What is this?!"

"A wall?!"

"Why can't we get out?!"

The nobles in the banquet hall were planned to be massacred by Lycan, the most gruesome member of the Ankh.

He sauntered towards them, walking down the stairs by the stage. Some nobles used their brains and fired magic at him. Lycan deflected it while choosing which person he would kill first.

"It's over. We're dead. We can't beat this monster."

"No! I still have so much to live for!"

"Is this some sort of joke?! I'll sue the SSB for this!"

They had all given up. Well, they were nobles but not all nobles were as powerful as Anastasia, for example. The title of noble was simply passed down through generations. That meant strength in society but not in battles. Some of the nobles' magic was worse than those attending Altheria.

"Ah, ah, I've had it with you selfish pussies!"

A girl walked out of the crowd, wearing a beautiful dress. She had blonde hair and emerald eyes—it was Kafka.

"If none of you will fight, then I will. I'm too cute and too young to die."

Lycan stopped walking. He was around twenty metres away from Kafka.

The girl looked back at the nobles, as she ripped the bottom of her dress for more movement.

"You guys better pay me for my hard work. I want a ¥500,000,000 deposit to my bank account when I drive this guy off."

"¥500,000,000?! Aren't you asking too much?!"

A fat noble cried out.

"Hah? That's the least you can give me for saving your life. Oh, and it'll be ¥500,000,000 from every single one of you."

The nobles shouted their rejections at her but Kafka did not listen anymore. She faced Lycan and smiled.

"After I beat you, I won't have to work anymore and I'll enjoy life with Rin."

Lycan lightly growled at her, as if he was ready to pounce.

"Come at me, puppy dog."

"Grrrr..."

"Uh..."

Kafka's provocation did not work. Lycan stayed growling at her.