Nightmare Mythos

Chapter 40: Saving Grace

"You heretic bastard,"

Maine solemnly spoke in viciousness while being cloaked in her fiery attire with her eyes shining white. Within her clutches, she slowly strengthened the grip of her fiery arm that was holding the heretic, slowly crushing the mysterious figure.

"You know, I wanted to interrogate you and ask something. It's part of the protocols after all. But we're in a tight spot right now. Whoever looks like an assailant will be eliminated straight away," Maine spoke more coldly gradually squeezing the heretic within her grasp.

In that tense moment, Maine closed the palm of the huge fiery hand.

Splash!

Yet once more, instead of blood gushing out from flesh and bones, if the heretic even has one, the figure merely evaporated into thin air. Soon, he appeared in one of his mirages as he clawed his way out, heaving heavily.

"Kugh!"

The heretic began coughing out blood before wiping the tip of his lips, the only thing he revealed to the crowd.

After he does, the heretic's gaze falls on the group that surrounds him, all glimmering with different kinds of abilities to confront the heretic any second.

"Seriously?" The heretic chuckled with a light cough before adding, "Why don't you guys wait for a few seconds now? It's about time, you know?"

As if he couldn't take the toll of merely being crushed, the mirages around him disappeared and evaporated into thin air, leaving him alone with his enemies.

With nowhere to go and run, he stayed standing in his place, slowly moving backward until he was completely stopped by the invisible wall encasing the entirety of the city.

"You bastard, did you do this?" Maine threateningly asked as she moved closer to the heretic.

The fiery hands slowly reached out to him and the heretic, who was probably exhausted from all the things he did, remained unmoving and staring. However, his demeanor didn't involve nervousness but merely confidence and a bit of cheekiness.

Observing Maine head to head, the heretic smiled, "If you're talking about what happened to this city, then you're right. But I'm merely a conductor, not the maker if that's what you're looking for. This thing… is about to happen eventually,"

The fiery hand was dozens of inches away from the heretic as its clothes started to take the burnt damage. Still, he remained confident and upfront.

"A fucking heretic's words really don't make any sense," Maine viciously retorted with a slight chuckle before ending it with a more menacing tone, "You're out of tricks, heretic. There's no saving grace from you the way I see it,"

Tick—! Tock—!

"Ah…"

As if he was the only one hearing the cracking noise of a clock being moved, the heretic's dampening mood immediately shifted into an awkward one.

"Hah…"

Letting out a scoff of disbelief, he started giggling on his own until it became a maniacal laughter that surprised everyone watching.

"Hah…"

The heretic leisurely gazed up at the sky, aimlessly looking at the imaginary clouds that had also been affected by the city's curse.

"Saving grace, huh."

Turning his eyes towards Maine once more, the heretic delivered his word with reverence.

"My only saving grace is my God,"

Tick—!

Suddenly, everything came to a stop without anyone's knowledge. All of them remained motionless. The people's visions, bodies, even air itself, and anything else that involves moving completely came to a standstill.

It was what happened a second earlier.

The next thing they knew a second later, their whole worldview changed into something else.

The heretic that was standing a few seconds later disappeared. Even the people surrounding them were gone, their world view turning upside down.

Instead, they found themselves in a huge vast hallway, alone and in denial. The floor was made of wood with a reddish-black carpet atop it while the blackish curtains gently swayed from the window even if there wasn't any air to achieve such motion. Without the torches hanging at the walls, one wouldn't be able to observe the place they were in.

The ghastly sense of an unknown atmosphere enveloping the endless hallway imparted an unsettling feeling to anyone who stepped through it.

"What in the fucking shit is this?"

Cesar was feeling the exact same thing.

Observing the creepy hallway that seemed endless, whether he was looking backward or forward, it continued to stretch into the darkness. Going further and farther, Cesar was in a slump as his already deteriorated mind just heightened.

"Fuck, fuck! FUCK!"

Shouting and irritated, Cesar turned feral as he started punching the walls and thumping his feet at the solid ground made of wood.

"Why!"

No matter how much force he put into it, there wasn't a scratch instilled in these ancient walls and floors that gave him the heebie-jeebies. It remained astute and stalwart as if a mere ant like Cesar would never, not in his entire life, leave his mark inside.

"Just why doesn't everything go in my way!"

As if his irritation hadn't ended yet, Cesar started punching the air, imagining the heretic that continued playing with them until he finally achieved the desired situation that he had always envisioned.

Eventually, his breaking down which lasted for a whole minute, quickly came to a halt as he came back with his usual reserved demeanor.

"Okay…"

Letting out a crooked smile, Cesar shouted angrily, "Fuck your stupid god, heretic! It's just a damn Nightmare, psycho!"

Cesar let out another breath once more to remove any negativities that filled his mind before he took one step forward and went toward the window to see the view outside.

He wasn't expecting anything at all but merely curious if walking through the creepy hallway wasn't the only choice he had left.

Once he made his way towards the curtains and slightly flipped it, Cesar's expectations were met as he was only left with disappointment.

In the windows, there isn't any outside view but merely walls, the same type he was looking at earlier while lamenting at the fact that he was trapped inside its area, with no way to escape and its exit out of reach still.

There was a window, though. However, that's just it.

Tap—!

Cesar tested the durability of the window's glasses and was able to realize that it was much harder than hallway walls. As confusing as the situation was, Cesar had no way to explain it in logical terms.

"Saving grace from his god, he said. I couldn't deny that he was damn right,"

Cesar clicked his tongue, grumbling as he left the windows to return to the same vast hallways. Looking backward, he moved his gaze forward once again before coming to decide a decision.

"Yeah, I'll not move from this position,"

Going forward no backward isn't an option to him as merely waiting for the rescue to come is the most optimal solution he could think of currently.

He was out of ideas and tired to even think of one. Heck, he wasn't even considering trying to do the rescue mission himself.

It's full of dangers and uncertainty after all. He might end up triggering something in the hallway that might spell his death just because he wanted to be a knight and shining armor that everyone can rely upon.

"…"

Sitting on the carpet floor, Cesar continued gazing forward while remaining aware at his back. His posture, relaxing in sight, is very optimal when a decision to run will be made if things break loose.

For a while, everything was quiet.

The same gentle swaying of the curtains… the eerie atmosphere of the hallways itself… the cold walls and floor…

Cesar was able to sense it all too well that a mere touch in the back might spook him.

However, it was the same stillness that was happening… until it wasn't.

Slight away from his spot, Cesar was able to perceive incoming footsteps at his back which made him turn around.

There, a figure was heading straight at him.