Having almost reached the School of Mensis, Alex, Alucard, and Maria approached a large archway beyond which stretched a vast square. The ominous ringing of bells that they had heard throughout their entire journey through Yahar'gul was coming precisely from this square in front of them. The sinister ringing sounded as if this noise served as a summons for something truly dark and terrible.
Passing through the arch, Alex, Maria, and Alucard found themselves in the square known as Advent Plaza — the place where a horrific ritual of mass sacrifice had been performed. Once there, they saw strange women in red robes, resembling living corpses. These women held bells in their hands, emitting an eerie, ceaseless ringing.
Through this ringing, the voices of the women bell-ringers could be heard whispering incoherent words as they continued the ritual. Seeing those responsible for the dreadful ringing, Alucard drew her Evelyn musket and was about to fire. Noticing her action, Alex raised his hand, indicating that there was no need to shoot yet. Maria, who also wanted to fire her musket, lowered her weapon and looked at Alex.
Alex continued to watch the women bell-ringers, not wanting to interrupt the ritual. He knew that the creature these women were trying to summon was meant to become a vessel for a Great One. However, the number of sacrifices was insufficient to create a suitable body, and the ritual had failed. In the end, only a monster was born.
"What kind of ritual are they performing?" Maria asked, staring intently at the women bell-ringers.
"You'll see it with your own eyes soon…" Alex replied, raising his gaze to the Red Moon.
"And how long do we have to wait for them to finish?" Alucard asked, turning her head toward Alex and feeling irritation at having to wait again.
"They've already finished," Alex said, smiling widely and raising his hand to point at the Red Moon.
Maria and Alucard lifted their gazes to the Red Moon and saw black mist beginning to appear in front of it. The black mist thickened very quickly, taking the shape of something resembling a portal. Incoherent voices of hundreds of people could be heard coming through the opened portal, sounding as if they were trapped in an eternal cycle of fear, horror, grief, madness, deep longing, and hopelessness.
Following the voices, a strange viscous liquid began to pour out of the portal, resembling a mixture of slime and ichor. And after this liquid, the body of a human emerged from the portal, looking as if it had been inside the stomach of a huge creature that failed to fully digest it and spat it back out.
With the appearance of this human body, the voices coming from the portal only grew louder. A moment later, a huge and hideous creature emerged from the portal, composed of whole dead bodies and mutilated remains fused into a single organism.
The enormous body of the terrible monster fell out of the portal and crashed into the center of the square with a disgusting sound of flesh hitting stone. The voices of the people from whom this creature was made continued to scream silently, suffering in agony as part of such a monster.
Alucard looked at the monster that had appeared as a result of the ritual, and all she felt was boredom. She had expected something more from a being whose summoning required an entire ritual.
But all she saw was nothing more than a lump of flesh made up of the bodies of hundreds of people. Such a creature didn't even arouse in her the desire to fight. With a look of disgust on her face, Alucard shifted her gaze to the women bell-ringers and instantly disappeared from her spot.
Looking at this huge monster made of flesh and bones from hundreds of people, Alex thought it was best to end everything quickly. Maria, looking at what had appeared after the ritual, felt only disgust toward those responsible for creating such a creature and pity for the people who had been used as material.
Gripping Rakuyo tighter, she thought only of freeing these people from their suffering by killing the creature. But before Maria could take a step, she heard Alex's voice. Turning her head, she saw him forming strange hand signs and reciting words that sounded like a spell.
"Light. O light, cleanse everything. Eradicate sins, guilt, and sorrows…" Alex chanted as he formed hand seals and gazed at the enormous monster.
Maria didn't understand what was happening, but at that very moment, a bright light began to shine in the sky. She squinted from the brightness and, shielding her eyes with her palm, looked up. There, above the square, something resembling a bright sun had appeared, illuminating everything around it. Looking at this sun, Maria felt a sense of calm and warmth that reminded her of the peaceful days she had long forgotten.
Gazing at this bright light, Maria didn't even notice the tears beginning to flow down her cheeks. The One Reborn also raised its gaze to the sun, but unlike Maria, it let out a scream of pain, as if its skin was burning from contact with these bright rays. The One Reborn tried to move to escape the source of light, but the bodies of the people that made up its form began to stretch out their mutilated limbs and pain-filled eyes toward the sun.
"So become a guiding star for all whose souls are mired in darkness… Descend upon this sinful world, Jacob's Ladder," Alex finished reciting the spell, pointing two fingers at The One Reborn.
When the final words were spoken, a large pillar of bright light struck down from the sky, instantly engulfing The One Reborn. But instead of screams of pain, voices of relief began to come from the pillar of light. Alex didn't want to simply destroy The One Reborn — he wanted to purify this creature so that the people who had become material for its creation could find peace.
The body of The One Reborn began to rapidly disintegrate inside the pillar of light, gradually disappearing piece by piece. Alucard, standing on the balcony where the women bell-ringers had been earlier, watched what was happening. A single red tear rolled down her cheek, which she immediately wiped away. She hadn't thought that this gentle light would evoke such feelings in her. Previously, she would have considered these feelings weakness, but now she simply accepted them.
"You'll have to pay for making me feel this way, my love." Alucard said with a smile on her face, turning her head toward Alex.
Maria, standing next to Alex, quickly wiped her tears with the back of her hand. Hearing the voices of relief coming from the pillar of light, she understood what Alex had been aiming for. Shaking her head to dispel various thoughts, Maria turned her head toward Alex.
When the bright pillar of light stopped shining from the sky, The One Reborn finally disappeared. All that remained after the creature made from the bodies of hundreds of people was ground scorched black. The creature itself had vanished as if it had never existed.
"How I hate creatures like this. It's always the same," Alex said, shoving his hand into the pocket of his coat.
Having purified The One Reborn, Alex took out a cigarette and lit it. Exhaling the cigarette smoke, he once again realized that he didn't like dealing with such creatures. Every time he had to listen to the lamentations of people trapped in eternal agony, it only brought him sadness for their fate. But it also served as a reminder that he had not yet become a monster, since he still wished to help such people find release.
Bringing the cigarette to his lips, Alex turned his head toward Maria and saw her reddened eyes and traces of tears on her cheeks. Seeing the tears, Alex thought something had happened to Maria and that it was his fault.
"Did something happen? Are you in pain somewhere? Maybe your eyes are stinging? I didn't think the light would be that bright," Alex began speaking quickly, examining Maria.
Maria looked at Alex's panicked face as he worried that she might have been harmed by the bright light. Seeing the amount of care in his eyes, Maria couldn't help but feel warmth in her chest. A smile appeared on her face as she watched Alex examine her body as if she had actually been injured.
And every time she opened her mouth to say that she was fine, Alex kept muttering that he might have used the spell incorrectly. After several attempts to tell him she was okay, Maria simply gave up, letting Alex finish checking her body.
"Looks like everything's normal… But I don't understand why you had tears," Alex said after fully examining Maria — not just her body, but her soul as well.
"Because you're an idiot, my love," came Alucard's mocking voice from behind Alex.
Hearing his wife's voice, Alex turned his head back. Turning around, he met Alucard's mocking gaze, which once again confirmed with a look that he was an idiot. Tilting his head to the side, Alex tried to understand what he had missed. A moment later, it began to dawn on him why tears had flowed from Maria's eyes. Realizing that he really was an idiot, Alex slapped himself on the forehead.
He had forgotten how such light affected people with many emotional wounds. And Maria, who had faced so many things that left numerous wounds on her soul that couldn't be healed in a short time… Sighing, Alex rubbed his face and shifted his gaze to Maria.
"I wanted to say that I was fine. But you wouldn't let me get a word in, my Hunter," Maria said with a kind smile on her face, placing her hand on Alex's shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah, I wasn't listening to anyone again… Ah, whatever. Let's go. Next target — Micolash and Mensis," Alex said, lazily waving his hand and starting to walk ahead.
Throwing the extinguished cigarette aside, Alex walked across the square to reach the School of Mensis. After crossing the square, he reached a wide staircase. As he began to climb, Alex looked around with the desire to raze this part of the city to the ground. At the very top was the entrance leading into the School of Mensis, where the main ritual had been conducted, in which all members of the school, including Micolash himself, had participated.
Entering the building, Alex, Alucard, and Maria saw hundreds of mummified human bodies with strange cages on their heads. Some of the bodies were chained to each other and to the ground so that none of them could escape. And in the center of this hall filled with dried corpses was the body that belonged to Micolash himself.
"How I adore insane bastards who, regardless of the consequences, only make everything worse," Alex said, looking at Micolash's dried corpse.
"You say that only because you have to deal with such people, my love," Alucard said in a cheerful tone.
"In a way, you're right, Carmilla… But I admit, breaking people like this is very entertaining," Alex replied, chuckling slightly as he looked at Micolash's corpse.
"I agree with how you deal with people like this, my Hunter. But how do we get into the Nightmare? You said there's a passage in this place. Where is it?" Maria asked, looking around and seeing only dried corpses.
"Micolash's corpse is the passage. Their ritual succeeded. Partially," Alex replied, pointing his finger at Micolash's corpse.
Receiving the answer, Maria nodded and stood next to Alex. Alex reached out and touched Micolash's corpse to open the passage. As soon as his hand touched the corpse, a vortex appeared behind them that instantly began sucking everything in like a whirlpool. Micolash's corpse along with the chair was pulled into the formed portal.
Taking Maria's hand so that nothing unexpected would happen, Alex stepped into the portal along with Alucard and Maria. Stepping through the portal, Maria experienced a completely different sensation compared to traveling through the Messengers' lamp. Emerging on the other side of the portal, Alex, Alucard, and Maria found themselves in a room resembling a storage area where unused materials were kept.
Shaking her head to get rid of the slight dizziness, Maria looked around, trying to understand where they were. Alucard, however, raised an eyebrow upon seeing the familiar walls and cabinets.
"Don't tell me the passage to another Nightmare is in this place," Alucard said, turning her head toward Alex.
"Yup. Cool, right?" Alex replied, giving a thumbs up with amusement in his eyes as he looked at his wife.
Hearing Alex's confirmation, Alucard wasn't even going to comment on it. She simply hadn't expected that the passage to the Nightmare Alex had mentioned would be in the same place they had passed through to reach the Nightmare Frontier. Only Maria continued trying to figure out where they were.
Everything around her seemed familiar, even though they were in a storage room lit only by the light of a Messenger lamp. Noticing that Maria still didn't understand where they were, Alex decided to explain everything. Upon hearing that they were in the Lecture Building of Byrgenwerth, Maria couldn't help but ask why this particular place.
Leaving the storage room, Alex explained the two possible reasons why the Lecture Building served as an intermediate zone between the Nightmare and reality. One of the reasons was that this place represented the memories of people who had once studied at Byrgenwerth.
"So this place was created from the memories of people who followed Micolash?" Maria asked for clarification after hearing Alex's explanation.
"Something like that. Such places have different names. If we use a more modern term, it can be called a buffer zone. Like a transition between two dimensions," Alex replied as he walked along the railing on the second floor.
Hearing Alex's answer, Maria nodded. The explanation was enough for her to understand how this place worked and what it represented. But she was also curious if there was anyone else in this place besides them. Hearing Maria's question, Alex simply shook his head, showing that there was no one else here.
Alex and Alucard had completely forgotten about Patches the Spider, who had been an inhabitant of this place and whom Alucard had killed. After walking along the entire second floor of the Lecture Building, Alex, Maria, and Alucard reached closed doors.
Approaching the closed doors, from whose cracks gray mist was seeping, Alex grabbed them and pulled them open. As soon as the doors opened, a portal appeared on the other side leading into the Nightmare.
"Before we leave, we need to take care of this place," Alex said, taking a black cube out of his coat pocket.
"Are you going to destroy this place?" Alucard asked, noticing Alex's actions.
"Yes. I don't like leaving even minor traces. I can't go against my own nature," Alex replied in a cheerful tone, tossing the black cube into the center of the Lecture Building.
"I may not be that knowledgeable about the existence of such places. But if this place connects different dimensions… and if it's destroyed, wouldn't that lead to some consequences?" Maria asked, trying to express her thoughts correctly.
"Hmm… Think of it as if I simply broke a bridge between two shores," Alex said, raising his hands and creating a bridge of mana between them.
Looking down at the transparent bridge that appeared between Alex's hands and then collapsed, Maria understood what he meant. After finishing all the explanations, Alex approached the portal and stepped into it together with Alucard and Maria. Passing through another portal, they found themselves in a small cave.
Maria immediately lit a small lantern hanging on her belt to illuminate the space and understand where they were. The first thing they saw were the distorted cave walls that looked like human faces frozen in endless agony. Not wanting to linger in this place, Alex moved forward, lighting the way with Lawrence's burning monster head.
Holding the burning monster head in front of him, Alex walked along the narrow passage of the cave while Maria and Alucard followed behind him. Leaving the cave, the first thing they heard was the cry of a child coming from afar. Raising his gaze upward, Alex saw a large building resembling a chapel standing at the very top of the mountain.
"How it stinks of those bastards here. Disgusting, lowly creatures," Alex said, covering his nose with his hand and not hiding his disgust.
Alucard turned her head to Alex, looking at him in surprise. Maria was no less surprised by Alex's words. After all, she hadn't expected such a reaction from him. Continuing to cover his nose with his hand, Alex moved forward so as not to linger in this place. Everything he saw around him only irritated and disgusted him.
Climbing up the path to leave the crevice and ascend, Alex paid no attention to the monsters wandering around this place. As soon as a monster appeared, it immediately died, pierced by a black spear. After climbing the path to the top, Alex suddenly stopped and turned to Maria, touching her forehead.
Maria didn't understand why Alex had poked her forehead with his finger. Once they climbed higher, she got the answer to her question. They emerged onto a spacious clearing that offered a view of a tower standing in the center of a large structure and connected by two bridges on both sides. And right from the center of this tower, a huge yellow eye stared unblinkingly at them.
The huge yellow eye staring at them was part of an enormous creature resembling a brain covered in eyes, with a long, twisting arm ending in a beastly clawed hand. This creature was the Great One named, Mensis. Mensis's goal was quite simple — to serve as a bridge between dimensions, as well as to observe and gather information.
"Is this the Mensis you were talking about?" Maria asked, staring at Mensis, who continued to look in their direction.
"That's him. Heh, what else could you expect from the abomination born from that bastard spider," Alex said, stroking his chin and beginning to get irritated by Mensis's intense attention.
"What spider?" Alucard asked, looking away from Mensis.
"The Spider of the Abyss. It connects the dimensions of dreams and reality with its threads. Now it's clear why we first met the spider in the Lecture Building. I thought it was a coincidence," Alex replied as he began walking forward.
Stopping looking at Mensis, Alex moved ahead — he didn't care that this Great One, who looked like a brain with eyes, continued to watch them. All Mensis could do was drive insane those upon whom its gaze fell. Maria and Alucard also stopped paying attention to Mensis and followed Alex.
Throughout the entire way, Mensis continued to watch Alex, Alucard, and Maria until they disappeared from view and left its field of vision. Following the path from his memories, Alex walked forward, leading Maria and Alucard behind him. Wandering through the Nightmare world, Alex thought about taking a shortcut, but soon they reached a building with closed doors.
Seeing this building, Alex remembered that they could pass through it. Walking along the path and reaching the building, Alex raised his leg and kicked open the huge iron doors, which flew off their hinges with a crash and fell inside. Opening the way forward, Alex entered first, walking through the corridor. And as soon as Alex, Alucard, and Maria went further, they saw a spacious hall where huge spiders with human heads hung from the ceiling.
"I told you. What a bitch, so he even spawned minions. Disgusting," Alex said, pointing at the huge spiders with human faces.
"What's with all the fuss. Just kill them all and let's move on," Alucard said, drawing her Jackal pistol and Evelyn musket.
"Indeed. Just giant spiders with human faces. Nothing unusual," Maria said, unsheathing Rakuyo and drawing her musket.
Alex stared at the two women who, without further words, entered the spacious hall to kill the giant spiders. Alex raised a finger to explain his words. But all his words were drowned out by the sound of gunshots and the sound of spider flesh being cut apart. Lowering his hand and shrugging, Alex entered the hall at the moment when the largest spider was killed, torn apart by Alucard's familiars.
Entering the hall, Alex stepped over the remains of the torn spiders, trying not to step on the slimy spider innards. Looking around, Alex tried to remember where they needed to go. All he remembered was that they needed to get to the other side and climb up.
"I think I remember. If I'm not mistaken, we need to go that way," Alex said, pointing to the passage at the end of the hall.
"Are you sure, my Hunter?" Maria asked, shaking spider innards off her weapon.
"I think so. Without using powers, it's hard to navigate in this place. That's why I don't like places like this," Alex replied as he walked to the end of the hall.
"Then just use your abilities. Or do you simply enjoy wandering blindly through such places and complaining forever?" Alucard asked, standing next to Alex and leaning toward his face.
"I have no arguments with which I could refute the reason why I shouldn't use my powers," Alex said, shrugging carelessly in response to his wife's words.
Looking at Alex, Alucard gave her husband a look that told him he should hurry up in that case. After all, she was already starting to get tired of this world. Maria also supported Alucard's words, saying that she too wanted to finish all this as quickly as possible. Not wanting to argue with the two women, Alex crouched down and touched the stone floor with his finger.
Alex used tracking magic to locate Micolash, who was somewhere in this place. Finding Micolash's location, Alex placed his hands on the shoulders of Alucard and Maria and took a step forward. At that same moment, they appeared in a completely different place, and an iron mechanical bridge appeared before them, leading somewhere deeper. Removing his hands from the women's shoulders, Alex stepped forward onto the bridge.
And as soon as he approached the bridge, it began to rise rapidly. Before the bridge could rise, Alex stepped on it with his foot and pressed down slightly. The lifting mechanism made a creaking sound, followed by the sound of broken iron chains that failed to lift the bridge and snapped.
"I wonder how fast Micolash can run. And how far he'll be able to run from me," Alex muttered, lighting a cigarette and stepping onto the bridge.
"Can anyone really run away from you, my Hunter?" Maria asked curiously, having heard Alex's muttering.
"No one has yet… Only you'll have to close your eyes and ears, Maria," Alex said in a calm tone, without turning his head and continuing to look forward.
"Why? Doesn't your spell protect my mind?" Maria asked, not understanding the reason for Alex's words.
"He's going to break that insane bastard," Alucard said with a predatory smile on her face.
"I've seen mutilated bodies of people being devoured by monsters. Torture doesn't scare me. And Micolash deserves such a fate," Maria said in a cold tone, making it clear that nothing could surprise her.
Hearing Maria's words, Alex smirked slightly, exhaling cigarette smoke. After crossing the iron bridge, Alex, Alucard, and Maria heard a male voice coming from the corridor in front of them. Climbing the steps and entering a strange corridor covered in mist, the male voice became more distinct.
Walking in the direction from which the male voice was coming, Alex, Alucard, and Maria saw Micolash walking along the corridor, talking to himself. Micolash, like all members of the School of Mensis, wore a cage on his head that was supposed to protect their minds. But in the end, this cage hadn't helped him much.
"Oi, cunt. Greet your guests properly," Alex shouted, attracting Micolash's attention.
Hearing the voice, Micolash stopped and slowly turned his head toward Alex, Alucard, and Maria. A wide smile was on Micolash's face, and his eyes burned with madness and obsession. A moment later, Micolash burst into loud laughter, staring at his guests standing at the bottom of the stairs.
"Ah-hah, welcome to our dream. But we need no one else, no one more! The sacred rite is nearing completion," Micolash said in a deranged tone, spreading his arms wide.
"No, no, no. You're mistaken, you little stupid human. You are very, very mistaken. I would like to show you how badly you're mistaken, but you're going to die," Alex said, raising a finger and wagging it from side to side.
"Ahahaha. The dream will become reality! We shall be granted eyes! Catch us if you can, in this cherished dream!" Micolash said, bursting into insane laughter and running deeper into the corridor.
Alex stared at Micolash, who disappeared into the misty corridor with insane laughter. Only Micolash's deranged laughter echoed in the empty corridor. With a puzzled expression, Alex turned to Maria and Alucard, trying to understand what had just happened.
Not only Alex was puzzled, but Maria and Alucard as well. Maria's gray eyes looked in the direction where Micolash had run, and she also looked at Alex, expressing her bewilderment. Alucard's gaze at that moment remained completely empty, as if Micolash had ceased to exist in her eyes the moment he ran away.
"Well, did you see that? Who does that? What the hell, he ran away. Wasn't he supposed to attack with insane laughter?" Alex said, pointing his finger in the direction Micolash had fled.
"I… I expected him to attack. This is really… very strange," Maria said, nodding mechanically.
"Aren't you going to chase him? Or would you prefer to wait until he runs around and gets tired?" Alucard asked, shifting her gaze to Alex.
"Ah, yes. I was just surprised. As Maria said, madmen usually attack. Especially ones like him," Alex said, climbing the steps to begin pursuing Micolash.
Deciding to catch Micolash, Alex used a tracking spell so as not to search for him in the labyrinth of corridors. Alex raised his finger, and a small orb of light appeared at its tip, which immediately flew forward. Running after the orb of light, Alex thought only of having a nice chat with Micolash.
Maria and Alucard ran after Alex, not falling behind him a single step. Running after the orb of light through the mist-filled corridors, Alex reached a room where the orb of light hovered at the entrance. Stopping at the entrance, Alex took off his coat and hat, handing the clothes to Maria.
Rolling up the sleeves of his shirt, Alex took out a pair of silver knuckle dusters from his trouser pocket. Cracking his neck, Alex entered the room and looked at Micolash, who was leaning his back against the balcony railing with the same insane smile on his face.
"Hahahah. You caught up with me. So let's sit down and talk passionately. Let's chat in the after-midnight hours… of my wonderful nightmare!" Micolash said, leaning forward with an insane smile on his face.
"Of course we'll talk. We'll talk a lot… I was just wanting to chat with you," Alex said, cracking his knuckles and approaching Micolash.
"Oh, you kindred spirit, look into my eyes… No, no, look more carefully," Micolash said, pointing at his cloudy, insane eyes.
Finding himself at arm's length from Micolash, Alex grabbed him by the cage on his head and pulled him toward himself. Knocking Micolash to the ground, Alex tore the cage off his head. After tearing off the cage, Alex raised his fist and delivered a blow to his face. Alex's fist smashed into Micolash's nose with a crunch, instantly breaking it.
Holding Micolash's collar with one hand, Alex continued to deliver blow after blow, controlling his strength so as not to kill Micolash with a single strike. Blood from Micolash's face flew in all directions with each of Alex's punches.
"Oh, you're horrible. We were friends! How could you?!" Micolash shouted when Alex stopped hitting him.
"Really? We're friends? How sweet of you to call me a friend… Only I'm not your friend, you bastard," Alex said, grabbing Micolash by the hair.
Lifting Micolash by the hair, Alex dragged him toward the stone balcony railing. Pulling Micolash's head back, Alex swung it forward sharply, smashing Micolash's face into the stone railing. Alex began slamming Micolash's face against the stone railing. Alex did not stop smashing Micolash's face into the stone railing. Gripping Micolash's hair tighter, Alex smashed his teeth against the stone railing.
The sound of broken teeth echoed through the room as they crunched disgustingly against the stone railing. Watching this, Maria felt a toothache and put her hand to her cheek. She had nothing against what Alex was doing. She even thought it was too gentle treatment for Micolash compared to everything he had done in pursuit of his ambitions.
To be continued...
(As I said, I'll try to finish everything as quickly as possible. There are only three creatures left to kill, and that's the end. I'll try to do it as soon as possible. I even forgot what I wanted to say, but in general, we'll soon return to the main world. As for what happens there, I think I should remind you about it. This will be a short mini-arc combining something like The Cabin in the Woods and Outlast. And then we'll move on to the end of this world. I've already shown so much in this world, and there's no need to drag it out any longer. But after writing this arc for so long, I'm no longer sure what the next world will be. Still, I wouldn't mind writing MHA and DxD. Or maybe we'll move into the world of Harry Potter. After all, many of us love the Harry Potter series. Anyway, I don't know. If any of you have interesting suggestions, I wouldn't mind hearing them. I think it would be useful to write down the names of the worlds that Alex can visit.)
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