Nightmare Mythos

Chapter 86: Bottomless Cone

"Ugh…"

So far, as if the marathon he did from the table had increased his stamina exponentially, Cesar felt he could run for a mile or two on his own. However, his expression turned sour as they continued running without even taking a second break.

Behind him stood three corrupted humans, along with the same Nightmare from before.

However, behind each and everyone that was towering over them were three massive Guardian Shelves that seemed to be just focusing on them.

Cesar didn't know why there were another two corrupted humans right behind his back or why the goddamn Nightmare continued to be a spiteful creature as it seemed to be strong-willed to putting pressure on Cesar, hoping for him to get killed by the Gurdian Shelves, who somehow got another one beside them to chase them around.

"Oh, you're almost there…"

Suddenly growing anxious at Cedeit's unexpected words that came out of nowhere, Cesar's eyes widened in shock as he spotted a massive, enlarging dark hole in front of him, gradually expanding in his view as he continued to run directly at it.

This chasm continued to grow before his eyes, and a wave of nervousness washed over him as he found himself standing at the very edge, just one step away from plunging into the abyss.

He reached the destination very fast but because of the enormous size of the hole itself and the threatening aura it gives off to someone else, Cesar became hesitant.

There's no way he'll jump on it now... at least, not yet.

But he managed to force himself to look for more things about this dreadful hole.

Cesar spotted that this enormous hole seemed to be slanting downwards, forming a bottomless cone-shaped pit. He was able to conclude that it was an inverse cone where its tip, not that he could see it, was at the very bottom of this pit.

There are no shelves to block him if he wanted to slide at it but instead, the shelves and the paper floor are in one place but put in a very disorganized way.

It was so big that he was able to see the other side of this cone from the other side of his position.

However, he knew he wasn't wrong when the hole was shaped like a cone. After all, the paper floor with mixed wooden shelves is slanted towards the middle where the supposed tip should be resting.

Unfortunately for him, the enemies are already right behind his tails while there's no intersection path for him to use to escape his current predicament.

"What the hell is this place!?"

"Just jump and slide through the paper floor,"

Slightly hesitant at this idea while unable to hide his nervousness due to how fast the situation was happening, Cesar clenched his fist and slid through the edge of the bottomless cone.

He clearly had no choice aside from the choice he hadn't considered earlier; to slide this enormous abyss.

'Oh god…'

As if the goddess of luck was asking for her return of power, Cesar was the one who would pay for it by going through countless challenges himself.

"Listen here, Cesar. I'm going to guide you through various places in the library. This Bottomless Cone is one of them," Cedeit paused, "This is one of the solutions to getting out of here, you hear me?"

Cesar gritted his teeth before glancing backward only to see the three confused corrupted humans jump as well, afraid that the Nightmare and Guardian Shelves were following them turning their bodies into mushed ponds of blood.

Soon, the Nightmare followed suit with the three shelves mainly, Frowning Shelf, Angry Shelf, and the Droopy Shelf as their new addition.

"Okay! Just get on with it! I don't have any choice anyway!"

Cedeit took a moment of pause as he started to explain, "All you have to do is reach the bottom of this cone,"

Cesar paused, his heart aching and in disbelief at how easy that sounded but after knowing that false belief of safety endangered their group one time when they were trying to exit at the table, he knew there was something more about his words.

"Enemies?"

"You're quick to catch up,"

"Just fucking tell me!"

Realizing that Cesar was slightly impatient by his tone alone, Cedeit finally explained, "On the first stage of the cone, you'll meet the Paper Mannequins. They came from the papers like the one you are sliding to or stepping on earlier. Halfway through the bottom and pretty much until you reach it… Dwellers of the Dark are waiting for you,"

'Dwellers… of the Dark,'

Remembering Erin, the person who suffered the curse of the dwellers in the dark, a person Cesar thought was a strong person, has been suffering from its attack ever since he was corrupted by it.

Wouldn't that mean it would happen the same way as him?

"Fret not, these Dwellers in the Dark aren't as strong as the one your companions seen, felt, or met under the table. Yes, that thing, is a Higher Nightmare Creature, a caliber that can even threaten my existence, must've survived even with the Void destroying the table. It somehow resembles a power of… anyways, we're darting away from the main topic,"

Cesar became interested in the one that killed Erin but couldn't help but be slightly angry at Cedeit for abruptly stopping it.

Cedeit, unbothered or just didn't know what Cesar was thinking, paused and came back to matters at hand, "But don't worry, the one you'll sense in this cone is much on the lower level. Most of them are Lesser Nightmares while a bit of them are Intermediate Creatures," Enjoy more content from m-v l'-NovelBin.net

Cesar couldn't help but be confused, "How do I fight them? Since they are Dwellers in the Dark, do I just put some light? I have one artifact that can do so,"

"What do you mean going to fight Dwellers in the Dark?"

Cesar frowned upon hearing that before his attention got distracted as at the far front, countless mannequins made out of paper started emerging from the floor and waited for Cesar and the rest to come on their way.

Cedeit then continued after a long pause, "Unlike the mannequins you are currently seeing, you'll have to avoid the Dwellers and run past them. Yes, anything related to light might be a weakness but that's just it. They will overpower you with their sheer numbers alone,"

Cesar let Cedeit speak to him in his mind as he watched the mannequins emerging out from the papers nonstop. His face turned into surprise before into dismay until it became an expression of disbelief.

"Shit…"

Countless paper mannequins have already spawned and Cesar seemed to be the first one making contact with them.

"Right, I guess my warnings in the Dwellers will not matter if you don't pass these mannequins that can also overpower you with their numbers," Cedeit paused, "Best of luck,"

Clicking his tongue as he readies his one chipped dagger and an elastic blade, an artifact that he grabbed from his treasures of artifacts, Cesar prepared to meet the mannequins.

Each of these paper figures stood in their place, merely watching Cesar and the rest fall into the cone until they seemed to get bored of waiting as they started running upward which surprised Cesar.

"Oh, for fuck's sake,"

With only a meter away from the mannequins, Cesar made first contact with these figures.