Nightmare System

"Ah!" Hell covered his face. "I can't believe I really said that! So not cool!"

Hell sat on the chair in a relaxed position and took his time. He almost felt like taking a nap. Even though so much had changed, it still felt nice to be back in his world. Even the air felt more familiar here. He closed his eyes and slowly enjoyed the silence in the room.

Hell then checked his stats once more, it had been a while, slightly more than five years now.

Helleborus Reeveman

Player: Man of Cursed Spirit

Age: 21

Occupation: Cursed Enchanter

Level: 57

HP : 350/350

Mana : 6405/6405

Stats

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Strength : 71 (76)

Defence : 40

Dexterity : 300

Mana :6405

Vitality : 20 (35)

Stamina : 10

Unused Stat Points: 10

Hell could also see the stats with and without the boost he got from his items.

"I gained two more levels, it seems."

Hell continued investing his points into strength when his eye caught another tab in the system. He had almost forgotten. He also had control of Vaun's character page.

Vaun Powell

Player: Minion of the Cursed Enchanter

Age: 30

Occupation: Minion

Level: 60

HP : 750/750

Mana : 0

Stats

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Strength : 15 (25)

Defence : 125 (155)

Dexterity : 7

Mana : 0

Vitality : 75

Stamina : 15

Unused Stat Points: 120

"What the f.u.c.k happened over there?"

Hell was shocked to see that not only had Vaun levelled up, but his level even exceeded his. He almost wanted to let his unused points stay unused, but he must have been protecting what he left behind, after all. He must have fought a great deal to level up so much.

"Fine," he said. "Let's get your Defence to 200, I'll have you become a proper shield."

He then used 75 of Vaun's points on Defence, raising the overall total to 230. And the remaining 45 points were used on Strength to raise the overall total to 70.

*As the minion's Defence stat exceeded 165, the minion gained the passive ability: "Shield of the Wicked"*

*Shield of the Wicked: Passive skill, requires no mana. The minion's Defence is increased by 100*

"Bloody hell!" he exclaimed, ironically enough.

Along with the Skin Hardening skill he gave Vaun which doubled his defence, his base defence could now reach 600 and to 630 with his shield and sword set which both slightly boosted the stat. He would probably be as sturdy as a mountain now.

Hell then started reading through his skills. He had so many, now.

"I should really start using more of my skills while fighting."

As Hell was engrossed in his thoughts, he heard a voice from the other side of the door.

"She sure is a beauty, isn't she."

"Indeed!" Hell quickly replied. "It is enough to wage wars over, huh?"

The hoarse voice on the other side of the door undoubtedly belonged to the man with a large frame who

Hell had fought with, in a brief encounter, Magnus Reid. He opened the door with a sly look on his face.

"I didn't count on you having the meeting without me."

Hell clicked his tongue and looked at the man annoyed.

"Just the guy to ruin my mood."

Magnus wouldn't take it to the heart, and even though this was a dangerous man in front of him, he was more intrigued than anything else.

"Did the negotiations go bad?" he guffawed. "She left with a sour face. You know, there are a million admirers out there that would hunt you down for causing her smile to fade even for a moment."

Hell didn't know what this guy was thinking. He may act like a brute, but he could tell this guy was more calculative than he looked.

"Cut to the chase, what do you want?"

"Friendly relations. What else?"

What hid behind a simple smile could be conspiracies that would shake the foundations of the world. Although it may not be obvious with a simple look, craftiness was what rose humans above all other animals.

"Do you want me to take you to your headquarters? I'll give you a ride." Magnus offered.

Hell accepted the offer. He would rather survey the area before his brother went back, once he thought about it. After all, the fact that there were so many casualties on both sides would have created animosity between the factions.

As soon as the two left the building, tens of journalists rushed at the gates, dying to speak with Magnus Reid. Apparently, he was also very popular.

"Magnus, Magnus, here!" one of the journalists said. "Is it a new recruit you have with you?"

"Magnus Reid! Here, News of Ages Newspaper," another journalist spoke up. "How do you respond to the rumours a demon slaughtered the forces of The Blessed and Knightdom both?"

"Is that true?" yet another journalist asked.

"Don't you think the Anti-Monster Department should have officialised more competent factions?"

Some other questions were directed to Hell, one questioning his position.

"What is your relation to the Anti-Monster Department?"

Magnus Reid stood valiantly as he grabbed one of the microphones handed to him.

"This is the new leader of Knightdom! He will be a pivotal character in protecting the peace!" Magnus yelled into the cameras with a smile as his statement caused yet another uproar amongst the journalists, who then bombarded Hell with even more questions.

"Did you call them over?" Hell asked in a voice that only Magnus would hear.

Magnus didn't look puzzled nor was he bothered by the journalists. His silence about the matter only confirmed it.

"What are you planning, you bastard?" Hell muttered under his breath and added: "I'll find my own way."

Soon after he said that, he disappeared from his spot and appeared behind the journalists around 15 metres ahead.

"Wait-" Magnus could barely mutter when Hell vanished from the spot and appeared somewhere else.

Even though Magnus wanted to keep Hell here some more, it wasn't a loss at all. He also looked at him, disappearing and appearing again in the distance a few more times.

"So this is how you came so close, last time…" Magnus smiled. His only worry was that Hell could be fast enough that he wouldn't sense him, but there were ways to deal with teleporters.

…

Hell found himself at the city centre soon after, bustling with people discussing the latest events. A giant screen in the town square was talking about the breaking news. They showed the battlefield Hell left in his wake. Even though the bodies were already gone, it was obvious from the blackened grounds that much blood had spilt there.

No one mentioned his name as they blamed the demons. He wondered if this was the job of Magnus Reid, manipulating the news ever so slightly. Aside from the blooded grounds, they showed the collapsed prison of The Blessed. The news reporter quickly established that the demons were quickly exterminated by the Anti-Monster Department.

Many people watched the news, some had worry on their faces while some others didn't care at all. Hell wasn't unfamiliar with the feeling. He was never patriotic, either. As long as it didn't directly affect his family, he would be fine with it.

"Did you see the Knightdom HQ? No one is there anymore."

"Perhaps that Devlin guy is dead, too."

Some teenagers talked about the grand factions in the capital. Hell gripped the arm of the kid who said Devlin might be dead and tried his best to talk in a polite tone with a smile.

"Where is this HQ you are talking about?"

The kid was horrified to his core. Even though Hell thought he had a polite tone, his threatening undertones and terrifying smile had already caused the other kids to run away. The kid Hell was holding could neither speak nor move, he was frozen.

"Just show me the way, all right? Let's be helpful to one another."

The kid nodded and led the way. It wasn't too far from the town square anyway. As they reached a 15-story building towering amongst some stores and such, the kid took off in a rush, running for his life.

"Whatever," Hell said. "That scare is enough punishment for him anyway."

He could see the golden shining letters of "KNIGHTDOM" on the building. The odd thing was that there was no one guarding the door. Wasn't this a whole faction by itself?

Hell let himself in, but saw no one just the same.

"Hello?" Hell yelled, his voice echoing in the large hall.

He called the elevator and got in. It seemed there was power and everything looked all right. He rode to the top floor.

As soon as the doors opened, the stench of death wandered into his nose. The smell was ever so familiar to Hell already.

"Imp Needle," Hell called forth his weapon as it materialized in his hand.

He was cautious enough to summon his weapon, but wanton enough to go ahead without a second thought. He was confident as he walked through the corridor. Hell saw some bloodstains at the end of the corridor and when he turned, he saw the carnage.

"Now I am really curious," he said, looking at the throne ahead. Someone was sitting on the ornate chair stationed in the middle of the room, barely any light illuminating the room.

"Did you do this?" Hell said. "You know, these useless punks are now my men."

The man sitting on the throne slowly got up. He emitted a dangerous aura around him.

"Just the man I was waiting for," the man said and stepped into the light, making his face seen. "Hello, usurper."

"Devlin?!" Hell's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Everything aside, it hadn't been that long since he left the department, how did he come here before him and slaughtered what seems to be around twenty people?

"What the f.u.c.k?" Hell said, more confused than anything else.

"Devlin? Who is that?" the man now talked with Jack's face. "I am my own person, after all," he then said, wearing Miur's face.

"Who the f.u.c.k are you?"

"I am you," the man giggled, Hell's own face looking back at him.

"This shit isn't funny," Hell said and made a copy that promptly lunged forward with his own Imp Needle. Of course, the weapons the copies wielded were merely cheap imitations, but they were still good enough.

As soon as copy Hell lunged ahead, the man similarly made a copy which stood next to him. This made Pseudo Hell stop in his tracks and study the phenomena in front of him.

"Anyone remaining at this headquarters was bought by The Blessed and other factions. I did you a favour," the man said. "I am Lance."

"And I should believe you because you wear such a beautiful face?" Hell said. It was almost like a looking into a mirror, but much more different at the same time.

"I saw you kill Raul. I know I am no match for you."

"Then this is really stupid of you, isn't it?" Hell casually replied as Pseudo Hell, the copy, kept a distance and observed the two.

"I am here with a proposition, you have lost your army, I can get you an army."

Hell look at the corpses littering the room when the smell finally assaulted his nose. It was fine when he killed them in large fields, but it was different in a closed space. The smell was much worse, as well. Hell turned on the lights and had a better look at the culprit in front of him.

"Truly like a mirror," Hell examined his face on this man from afar.

It was true he needed an army. While it was possible himself and his knights could very well protect the city, he would be overwhelmed by the responsibility. He imagined it was more than half-an-hour of guard duty a day. He was a king, after all, he couldn't be bothered.

Lance, seeing Hell contemplating, took the initiative to speak again: "I have a faction of players under me. They'll follow you. Of course, it would be better if you joined me, but I imagine you would find that… insulting."

"What is your goal?" Hell asked. He wasn't the one to reject a free gift. Any complications it may bring, he would deal with.

"I know what kind of person you are," Lance said. "You don't actually care about the lives of other people. You are selfish in the best way possible."

"What will you get out of this partnership? You will no longer be the leader, for once."

No matter what Lance believed, Hell did ask a good question. Was there ever a commander who would resign from his position?

"I need you to kill someone for me."

Surprisingly, it seemed to be a simple mission. But it was important to know who it was.

"The name of this poor soul?"

A brief silence ensued as Lance seemed hesitant to speak. He obviously had some ability himself, if it was easy, he would have done it himself.

"After you accept," Lance said and quickly added: "But it is no one you would be missing. Not your parents, siblings or friends."

"So I kill this person, and suddenly I will have an army?"

"Basically."

Hell considered the fact that anytime he accepted one of these agreements, he was the one stung by them. But still, wouldn't it be a lot easier to simply take over the members of another faction? Since they were a faction by themselves, there was a structure in place. And their leader would be following him just the same. This truly seemed to be a good deal.

"Fine," Hell said. "You have a deal. But as much as I enjoy talking to myself, I'd rather see who I am really talking to."

Lance smiled as Hell's face almost faded away off his face and a 20-year-old man revealed himself underneath. As soon as he stopped wearing Hell's face, the copy he made also vanished, only leaving Hell's copy in the scene.

"It's the Prime Minister of this nation: Frederick Addington."

Hell scoffed and teleported right in front of Lance, looking into his eyes. He was a man of average stature but sharp features. His brown eyes shone with kindness, unlike his actions and wicked proposal. Hell had always believed the saying "the eyes are windows to the soul".

He saw not wicked intentions, but a mission in his eyes. Even though he felt he was a fool, he decided not to kill this lad in front of himself.

"You want me to take on the Anti-Monster Department?" Hell asked after taking a step back.

Lance was visibly disturbed after Hell suddenly teleported so close, but he neither averted his eyes nor did he take a step back.

"I have a plan for them, too. They won't bother you when you are assassinating the PM."

"I accept."

"Really?!" Lance suddenly jumped up. Hope had returned into his eyes with greater fervour as he suddenly asked. "I mean, good."

"I have a condition that you will accept," Hell said with a commanding tone.

"Anything."

"Devlin will be none the wiser. He will never be a part of this conspiracy. He won't know of it, nor will he be affected by it."

"Why? We also need him!" Lance said, but then composed himself. "Can I ask the reason?"

"You saw what I did to Raul when he brought harm upon my brother."

Simply talking about that event caused Hell's blood to boil and his rage to resurface as the scarlet beast which came from Hell's Bestial Aura formed again slowly and filled the room. Terror held Lance's heart with a deathly cold grip.

"I agree!" Lance quickly yelled and jumped off the window next to him. When Hell looked again, he saw that Lance was nowhere to be seen.

Oddly enough the system decided to speak at this moment.

*Side quest acquired: Kill Frederick Addington*

*Player will be rewarded one Return Stone upon completing the quest*