Chapter 208


    "Damien."


    The voice echoed.


    "Damien, wake up!"


    That familiar voice resounded.


    Damien slowly opened his eyes. As his blurry vision cleared, he saw an old, dusty ceiling dimly lit by sunlight.


    The worn-out nket, the smell of boiling milk, the creaky bed, and the cold winding through the slightly ajar window.


    Huh?


    This was the orphanage where he had spent his childhood.


    As Damien slowly sat up, a girl sitting on his bed put her finger to her lips and hushed him softly.


    "We promised to hike to the hilltop today, remember? You didnt forget, did you?"


    She was a tomboyish girl with cropped hair.


    Her skin was a rich tan, and both cheeks sported a faint blush. She had long, slender limbs and a mischievous smile.


    Rubbing his sleepy eyes, Damien smiled back at her.


    "Sorry, Van. I overslept."


    "Heh, its alright. I knew youd oversleep, thats why I came to wake you up."


    She jumped off the bed, butt-first, with an enthusiastic "Whoop!" and extended her hand toward Damien.


    "Come on, lets sneak out before the director catches us."


    Van grinned widely.


    "This time, well definitely reach the summit!"


    "...Alright!"


    Blushing, Damien extended his hand to hold Vans.


    But the moment Damien touched Vans hand...


    Boom! Rumble...!


    The scenery around him changed instantly.


    He was now in a copsing forward base. It was the battlefield he was immediately deployed to upon his arrival at the Crossroad.


    All around, soldiers screamed as they fell. The cacophony of cannons and the monstrous roars filled the air.


    Dazed, Damien looked around.


    Suddenly, he was dressed in blood-soaked priestly robes. Crimson-eyed ck spiders swarmed around him.


    One of the spiders swung its w viciously. But Damien was too exhausted to move.


    "Damien, move!"


    Someone rushed in and pushed Damien out of the way.


    Dazed, Damien saw Vans face smiling back at him as she pushed him aside.


    "See, I told you, you always need me to look out for you..."


    Thump! Thud! St-!


    A horrifying sound apanied the mangling of Vans body. Damien screamed.


    "Van! Nooo!"


    Damien kneeled next to Van, who was lodged in a pool of blood. Despite coughing up blood, Van managed a weak smile.


    "Heh, its fine. You know me, right? Invincible Van... This isnt painful at all..."


    The spiders ws mercilessly shredded Vans body.


    Her leather breastte and chainmail shattered to pieces, serving no purpose.


    "No, no, no..."


    Bones were visible, and her insides spilled out. Holding back tears, Damien tried to cast a healing spell next to her.


    "Ill fix you, Van. I can do it, just hold on."


    But his magic power wouldnt gather.


    He had already exhausted his magic power from healing others.


    In trying to save others, he had nothing left to heal the most important person to him.


    "Please, Van. Let me heal you. Please...!"


    Sobbing, Damiens hand was gently grabbed by Vans blood-soaked hand.


    "Damien."


    With a face scratched up by the monsters ws, Van managed to give a half-smile.


    "Do you remember the day we climbed to the peak behind the orphanage?"


    "...Yeah, I remember. How could I forget?"


    "Dont forget the promise we made then."


    "But Ban, without you, I..."


    Damien tried to say something, but Van was already gone, no longer breathing.


    His eyes closed peacefully, and his head drooped down with a smile.


    "...Ban?"


    Warmth quickly dissipated from Bans hand. Damien nkly stared down at the face of his lifeless friend.


    And theneverything froze.


    The spider monsters rushing in with cries, the mes from the erupting gunpowder, the blood oozing from Bans wounds, and the tears streaming down Damiens faceall of it stopped.


    Only then did Damien realize.


    This is a nightmare.


    Its a memory from the past, one thats gone, unchangeable, untouchable.


    "Orlop!"


    A furious cry erupted from Damiens mouth.


    "Is this your doing again...!"


    Suddenly, the once peaceful and closed eyes of Vans corpse shot open. A malicious voice seeped from his blood-stained lips.


    "Youre always so slow to catch on, Damien."


    "Dont speak through Vans mouth! Get out of my head now!"


    "What an odd thing to say."


    The bloody body twisted grotesquely as Vans corpse stood up straight.


    "I am Van, Damien."


    "Dont spew nonsense! Youre not Van, you spider monster!"


    Covering his tear-streaked face with both hands, Damien wailed.


    "Leave Van alone! Let him rest in peace...!"


    "What difference does it make whether Im Orlop or Van?"


    Staggering closer, the corpse of Van whispered into Damiens ear.


    "After all, you killed us both, didnt you?"


    From behind his covered face, Damiens brown eyes glowed with a sudden sh.


    Swiftly extending his right hand, a long magic gun appearedck Queen. Damien aimed the barrel forward.


    Click!


    The gun pointed directly at the forehead of Orlop, who wore Vans form.


    "Theres only one way to end this nightmare, you know?"


    Van, or rather, the ck spider queen Orlop, continued to smile leisurely.


    "Give up the fight and escape into a peaceful dream."


    Damien was about to pull the trigger


    "...!"


    But he couldnt.


    In a blink, the surroundings shifted back to the orphanage of his youth. And the one in his guns sights was a young Van.


    "Give up the fight, Damien. Lets run away together."


    Smiling tenderly, young Van whispered.


    "We can live happily here."


    ***


    "Damien!"


    Awakened by the shout before him, Damien opened his eyes wide.


    The devastated forward base, the orphanage from his youth, the corpse of Van, the young Vans smile, Orlops voiceall vanished.


    It was a bright morning, and he stood in the temple at Crossroad.


    The white stone walls around him were in ruins, and in Damiens hand was the magic gun, ck Queen.


    Dazed, Damien looked around. He couldntprehend why he was standing there.


    "Calm down, Damien."


    The muzzle of the gun in Damiens hand was aimed squarely at the man right in front of himAsh.


    However, Ash was far from rattled; he spoke withposure.


    "Its me, Ash. Recognize me?"


    "Your Highness?"


    "Yes, its me. Calm down and lower the gun."


    Visibly shaken, Damien lowered the magic gun to his side. A collective sigh of relief filled the air around them.


    When Damien nced around, he noticed that his party members had their weapons trained on him.


    "What have I...?"


    Struggling toprehend the situation, Damien asked hesitantly.


    "What did I do?"


    Ash wore a wry smile, as if the situation was difficult to exin.


    ***


    I decided to bring Damien to my mansion for now.


    After wrapping him in a nket and handing him a warm cup of cocoa in the reception room, I exined what had happened.


    That morning, the dark aura emanating from Damiens magic gun, the ck Queen, had intensified to the point where it began to leak outside his room.


    Concerned, the priests entered Damiens room to find him, previously asleep, now enveloped in a dark aura, swinging his magic gun around like a man possessed.


    Fearing a catastrophe, my party members and I had hastily tried to restrain Damien.


    But fortunately, Damien woke up on his own, diffusing the situation.


    "..."


    "Damien."


    Damien looked down at his cup of cocoa with a troubled expression. I spoke in a gentle voice.


    "Are you okay? Youre not pushing yourself too hard or feeling drained, are you?"


    "...Your Highness."


    "Its okay to be honest with me. You know that, right?"


    Biting his lip and bowing his head, Damien hesitated before opening his mouth.


    "Recently, Ive been having nightmares every night."


    "Nightmares?"


    "I dream of the most painful moments of my life. But I cant distinguish whether its a dream or reality."


    "..."


    "I told you before that I had a friend named Van, right?"


    I nodded. Damien had told me about a friend who had died when I saved him during the tutorial stage.


    "In my dreams, I constantly see Van dying. She dies, and dies, and dies again, trying to save me, torn apart horrifically..."


    "..."


    "And I just stand there, helpless, watching."


    Damien bowed his head even lower.


    "Whenever I go through this torture all night, and my heart is tattered, Orlop appears."


    "Orlop, you mean..."


    "The monster queen contained in this magic gun."


    The ck spider queen we had killed in the tutorial stage; her name was Orlop.


    "Orlop makes me an offer. She says that if I give up fighting her, shell send me to my most beautiful memories."


    Damiens hands, holding the cocoa cup, trembled.


    "And then she shows me my childhood, the happiest time of my life. Everything is peaceful and warm in that dream... and Van is alive. I... dont know what to do."


    "..."


    "But if I resist, the dream quickly breaks, and I return to that day at the forward base. And I watch as Van dies before me. Over and over..."


    To think he was undergoing such mental torture.


    I looked at Damien with a concerned gaze.


    So, the cause is...


    [ck Queen].


    My eyes briefly scanned over the magic gun situated at Damiens feet.


    It must be because of the newly unlocked option for this Nightmare yer.


    - Orlops Hunger: The user bes consumed by a nightmare, revealing their inner darkness. If the user wins the struggle for control against the nightmare, the darkness disappears. If defeated, the user ispletely devoured by the darkness.


    It seemed that he was caught in this struggle for control.


    I thought hed just emit some dark aura and disy some adolescent awkwardness before oveing it, but it seems the issue is moreplicated than that.


    "Damien, how about just scrapping that magic gun?"


    Even if its good equipment, Damien with [Far-Sight] is far more valuable.


    When I cautiously spoke up, Damien quickly waved his hands, visibly startled.


    "N-no, dont do that! I... I will! I will ovee it, Your Highness."


    "But..."


    "I mean it. Im not so weak as to be defeated by a nightmare like this!"


    But you were weak.


    Wasnt he nearly consumed by that nightmare just today? Hence, losing control of his body and causing a scene?


    "Give me... another chance."


    Damien pleaded earnestly.


    "This is my nightmare, my darkness. Therefore... I should be the one to solve it."


    "..."


    "Please give me the opportunity to reconcile my memories, Your Highness."


    Seeing Damien speak so desperately for the first time, I involuntarily nodded, granting him permission.


    "Fine. But remember this, Damien. If something like today happens again, your gun will be confiscated immediately. Understand?"


    At this, Damiens face lit up.


    "Yes, Your Highness! Trust me. Heh heh..."


    It seemed he regained some of hisposure. I even saw the awkward adolescent smile make a return.


    Damien hurriedly gulped down the remaining cocoa and swiftly picked up the [ck Queen], rising to his feet.


    "Ill take my leave now! Sorry for causing you trouble today!"


    And with that, he hastily exited the mansion, holding his magic gun close to his chest.


    "..."


    I looked at the spreading ck aura behind Damien and clicked my tongue.


    If Damien could ovee this darkness, it would be a chance for him to grow. But if not, the risk was too high.


    From a strategic perspective, disposing of the [ck Queen] would be the right choice.


    However...


    - Give her back to me. Give my friend back...


    I remembered what Damien had screamed at me when we first met during the tutorial stage. I also recalled the words he had muttered when he faced a cursed mental attack in the underground passage during the Path of the Overlord dungeon.


    - Im sorry, Van. Im sorry for surviving. I messed up. So...


    "..."


    Damien was a cheat character.


    He was my ultimate trump card, capable of carrying me to the end of this game.


    But he was also a fragile and ordinary boy.


    I wished for Damien to find happiness. To shake off the regrets and guilt of his past and to forgive himself.


    And to do that, he had to learn how to confront his past.


    Hang in there, Damien.


    I decided to trust Damiens judgment. To believe in his confidence that he could ovee this darkness.


    And I hoped this process would help him grow mentally.


    ...It didnt take long for me to realize that this decision was a mistake.