Chapter 1387: Despair... And Hope
-----
"HAHAHAHA!"
The islands engulfed by the dome turned into a giant withering landscape, something that only could be said to be the surface of a demon continent.
The land was black and dry, covered with withering, gigantic and monstrous trees made of red flesh and with eyes that shot laser beams at anybody that got closer.
"GYAHAHAHAHA!"
The sky was black, with several eye-shaped stars shining brightly and looking down at those that were trapped inside.
The sun was gone, replaced by a massive smiling, creepy face made of melting purple slime, with spinning red eyes.
"HAHAHAHA! HAHAHA!"
And the laughter of a lunatic Nightmare Demon could be heard resonating everywhere, the five groups that were trapped here were having a hard time even surviving.
Despite how the majority of these teams had Maria's party members in them, the moment the dome was set, everyone was suddenly put somewhere else.
Indeed, they were teleported away into danger!
Lucifer had to fight a horde of aberrant lizard-like monsters that emerged from a hole he was thrown into.
Partner appeared in front of a lake made of blood where giant man-eating fishes started chasing her everywhere.
Emeraldine was surprised to find herself near a huge graveyard, where black and red skeletons of over ten meters emerged and started attacking her from every angle.
Celes appeared in front of a volcanic land where giants made of lava chased him everywhere! The poor boy appeared in the worst possible scenario for his magic, as it was greatly weakened.
His mother, Nia, appeared in the middle of an area full of mountains with sharp spikes everywhere, surrounded by monstrous, giant birds with several heads that released lightning and ice from their beaks.
Arachne was thrown in the depths of the ocean, where she was chased by giant carnivorous fishes, sharks, monstrous whales, and giant lobsters and crabs.
Arthur suddenly appeared inside old, underground catacombs full of mummies, specters, zombies, and aberrant lab experiments.
And Jonathan found himself above the skies, lost over a huge island made of red clouds where monsters made of blood with countless black eyes constantly emerged from it, trying to drain his blood.
Meanwhile, whatever happened to the other participants was a mystery.
However, that didn't last long, Lucifer, Arachne, and Partner were the first to quickly free themselves from their predicament, rushing to quickly find one another and form a team.
Then, they picked up the rest of the students as they moved, several of them were lethally wounded, and had to be healed asap.
Emeraldine was found luckily, and she started treating every student they found… Time seemed to pass in very quickly here, their entire adventure full of despair lasted for days.
Students that had died couldn't be healed back to life, and the laughter of the demon echoing everywhere was making everyone go insane.
One of the things about this terrible place was that everyone felt weakened. Their powers became weaker the more damage they received from monsters.
And right now, after all the survivors gathered together against the King of this Nightmare Realm…
"D-Damn bastard…!"
Lucifer roared furiously, gritting his teeth as he saw his friends on the floor, most of them greatly wounded.
The divine power they had, their skills, their stats…
Everything was useless!
"HEHEHE… HAHAHAHA!"
A Nightmare Demon laughed above them, mocking their wounded bodies and their pathetic efforts at trying to stop him.
"You're all so pathetic! Do you truly believe you could defeat me?! I created this entire Nightmare World just for you all! Just like your friends that are now inside my belly, you're all next!"
The Nightmare Demon, resembling a tall, incredibly lanky and slender man with pale white skin, short red hair, a shit-eating grin from ear to ear, black and red eyes, and black horns spiraling weirdly into the sky, laughed.
He had a pair of huge, scaled wings, and was wearing a red shirt, a purple jacket, black pants, and yellow boots, with a long hat on top of his head.
This pathetic-looking bastard that was around two meters tall had pushed everyone to their limits…
His power was something incomprehensible, Lucifer and everyone else who believed themselves to be so strong were now being overwhelmed.
Although they battled so much, and Arthur was beginning to figure out how this power worked, it was already too late.
It was simply too unfair!
"YOU DAMN FUCKING CHEATER…!" Lucifer roared, still fighting even now. "I'LL TEAR YOU TO SHREDS!"
He flew into the skies with everything he had, and yet the Nightmare Demon, never stopping to smile, kicked his face down, breaking his nose.
BAAAAM!
His humanoid body fell into the ground again, as he vomited blood, his entire body was in tatters, covered by bruises…
"Did you bastards really believe you can go against a Nightmare Demon inside their Nightmare Realm?! We are like almighty gods here!" The Nightmare Demon laughed. "And I, the Nightmare Demon of Self-Hatred, shall see your ends today!"
"Self-Hatred…" Arthur muttered, healing Lucifer with what he barely had of energy. "I knew it…! His power consist of damaging ourselves. The more we fought those monsters, the more we both lost our strength, and we damaged ourselves… What a tricky power! This just defies all logic!"
"Heheh! That you figured it out doesn't matter now though~!"
"Ugh?!"
Arthur panicked, the Nightmare Demon appeared behind him, his claws rushing towards his chest.
"I'LL EAT YOUR DREAM HEART NEXT! YUMMYYYYYY!"
"Aaaagh! Sister!"
Arthur cried, calling for his sister in the moment he belied would be his second, and last death.
CRAAASH!
Arthur closed his eyes, believing this was his end.
And yet…
"Huh?"
"AAAAGH! WAIT, WAIT A DAMN SECOND!"
The Nightmare Demon screamed in horror, as he saw his entire dome beginning to shatter into pieces.
Crack, crack…!
Until it all exploded.
BOOOMMM!!!
And the massive, gigantic Nightmare Realm came undone.
Space and time were twisted as the entire Nightmare Realm was destroyed, and everyone reappeared over the surface of the island in the middle of all, with the demon above them.
And… someone else as well, the ones that did this!
"You fucking bastard! You'll pay for this!"
Maria's voice echoed through the skies.
-----