Modern World Warlock-Chapter 65: Shared Nightmare (Part 2)

While Krom accompanied the three women who had become trapped in Dante’s nightmare, Zac found himself alone in a volcanic cave.

Lava cascades illuminated the obsidian space, pouring down into a pool of lava bubbling below the stone trail.

"What the hell is this!?" Zac shouted into the void, his stress levels going up by the second.

Slowly making his way along the obsidian path, Zac spotted the light of the surface at the end, increasing his walking speed to a jog.

"Where am I? What was I doing before I got here…?" The redhead pondered out loud while jogging towards the light.

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Right at that moment, he remembered the previous night, making him stop briefly.

’Is this a nightmare?’ Zac thought.

The redhead pinched his arm and realized that he could feel pain, but he wasn’t waking up.

"It’s so strange… It’s like my body is telling me this isn’t real, but my brain thinks it totally is," he muttered to himself.

When he reached the cave’s exit, Zac was perplexed to see that he was in the middle of a lava lake, where a single large platform with the cave entrance stood in the center.

He looked to the side and saw a massive serpent swimming in the magma, making him take a preemptive step back.

Noticing that there wasn’t a single path or stepping stone he could take to get out of the center of the lava lake, Zac placed his palms on his face with exasperation.

"Should I just wait?" He pondered.

"It’s hot as hell in here…" Zac continued, waving his shirt so he could get some air.

*Poof!* Krom appeared right beside the sweating redhead.

"Jeez, man. You are pretty unlucky…" The imp said, crossing his arms.

"Krom? Wait, no. This is a dream… You are not supposed to be here," Zac commented, heavily breathing as the hot air made him dizzy.

The imp quickly explained the situation and how the nightmare was being shared with everyone in the house.

"We need Dante to reach a certain point in the nightmare for the incubus to show himself…" Krom continued.

"So… I just wait here?" Zac asked with a hint of disappointment, drenched in sweat.

"It shouldn’t take him too long… Probably," the imp replied.

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Somewhere else in the hellish landscape, Dante found himself before a prominent black castle, where hordes of demons gathered in its surroundings.

The warlock’s presence alerted the monsters, but the mere pressure from his body halted the demon packs in their tracks.

As Dante walked up to the long bridge leading to the castle’s entrance, a ten-foot-tall demon stood before him with a massive sword on his shoulder.

With a cold glare, the warlock locked his crimson eyes with the demon, making the monster step aside to make way for him to safely pass—bowing his head as a sign of respect.

Keeping his hands in his pockets and his hoodie above his head, Dante walked up to the entrance of the castle and kicked it open with force, slamming the large double doors to the sides.

"Always the same nightmare…" Dante muttered to himself.

As soon as he took one step through the doors, a loud bell could be heard ringing all through hell, producing an earthquake and a gust of wind that heavily blew against Dante.

When he looked back up, he saw all of his friends had appeared right beside him.

"What the-...?" Zac pondered, feeling completely disoriented.

Krom, who had appeared inside the castle with the group, explained that they were brought to the next stage of the nightmare.

"Sorry, guys. I wasn’t sure it would use my nightmares…" Dante said to his group.

Megan noticed the warlock’s somber tone, and his expression was so severe that the brunette could barely recognize him.

She had seen Dante smiling and acting excited during life-threatening situations and couldn’t help feeling a bit surprised at his demeanor.

"Why are you so sweaty?" Sophia asked the redhead.

"Don’t ask…" Zac replied with an over-exaggerated sad expression.

Suddenly, their attention was caught as a copy of Dante entered the castle, wearing a set of robes that were stained with blood and an expression filled with anger.

"Huh…?" the redhead hummed, confused.

"It’s happening now," Krom replied.

When an incubus wanted to feed from a person’s nightmare, it would make them relieve the most painful memories they could find to bring despair to their targets.

As a result, the umbra that flowed from the nightmare would be much more appetizing for the demon.

"So, this is Dante’s memory…?" Megan asked, making the imp hesitate for a response.

Dante watched with a cold stone face as his past reflection entered the castle, keeping his arms crossed as he ran past him.

The warlock’s copy stood in the center of the room and looked down, his expression going from rage to pure despair, kneeling defeated on the ground.

"No…Please, no," Dante’s copy muttered.

The group watched attentively, not knowing why the warlock’s reflection was acting that way since there was nothing inside the room other than themselves.

It was the first time they had heard Dante’s voice breaking like that, and when Megan gazed at Krom, she noticed the imp was trying to avoid looking at the past reflection as if it made him feel pain.

When Dante’s copy let out a tear, Sophia was the first to notice the drop splashing on the floor.

"Now," Dante said simultaneously to the teardrop falling.

Waving his arm to the side, the space beside Dante shattered like a glass window, revealing a rift that seemed to lead to a dark space.

The warlock inserted his arm into the rift and pulled out a creature from the neck, shattering the space even more.

As soon as the demon’s body was revealed, the nightmare came to an abrupt end, and the warlock was inside his room, holding the incubus by the neck against the floor.

"You must be Erebos…" Dante muttered as the demon struggled to breathe from his grip.