The world was water.

Endless, crushing, black water.

The Nightmare Creature drifted through the abyss, its malformed body cutting through the freezing depths with frantic motions. Jagged fins protruded from swollen flesh. Pale eyes blinked independently across its body, staring into the darkness with mounting panic.

It did not know its name.

It did not know where it had come from.

It only knew one thing.

Something was hunting it.

The ocean stretched endlessly in every direction. No seabed. No surface. No horizon. Only darkness and the distant glow of drifting lights that vanished whenever it tried to approach them.

The abomination fled anyway.

Its distorted limbs churned through the water. Fear gnawed at its mind like a living parasite.

Then it heard singing.

The creature froze.

A soft voice echoed through the abyss.

Gentle. Beautiful. Terrifying.

The melody drifted through the water like silver threads, wrapping around its thoughts. Every instinct screamed the same command:

Run.

The abomination twisted around and launched itself deeper into the darkness.

The singing grew louder, closer...

The water itself seemed to tremble with anticipation.

Then she appeared.

A woman emerged from the black depths as though she had always been there.

Long dark hair drifted around her like flowing shadows. Her pale skin seemed to glow beneath the water. Light blue eyes shone with an unnatural brilliance that illuminated the abyss around her. Her humanoid upper body shifted at the hips, turning scaly as they curved into a tail.

She was beautiful.

Perfect.

And utterly horrifying.

A shard of coral was grasped in her bleeding hand, forming an elegant blade that gleamed beneath the faint blue light.

The Nightmare Creature fled.

The sea siren followed.

She did not hurry.

She did not need to.

No matter how desperately the abomination swam, the distance between them continued shrinking.

The song never stopped.

A terrible realization slowly settled into the creature’s mind.

It had never been escaping.

She had simply been allowing it to run.

The siren tilted her head.

Her expression remained calm.

Then, she moved.

The ocean exploded around her.

One moment she was distant. The next she was directly beside the fleeing creature.

The coral blade flashed.

Agony erupted through the abomination’s body.

It screamed.

The sound vanished beneath the water.

Again.

The blade descended once more.

Again.

And again.

The creature’s desperate resistance meant nothing.

The siren dismantled it with patient precision, reducing every attempt at escape to failure.

Eventually, the Nightmare Creature could no longer move.

The ocean became still.

The siren gazed down at the broken abomination.

Her beautiful face remained devoid of pity.

To her, this was simply what predators did.

The song softened.

The darkness closed in.

The creature felt itself fading.

Its fear remained.

Growing.

Expanding.

Becoming something greater than itself.

Then a distant sound echoed through the abyss.

A neigh.

The sound shook the entire ocean.

The siren vanished.

The darkness vanished.

The world itself shattered.

For a single moment, the Nightmare Creature glimpsed a pair of burning crimson eyes watching from beyond the dream.

It finally understood.

The siren had never been the true monster.

Something else had been watching from the beginning.

Something that collected fear.

Something that fed upon nightmares.

The fearsome neigh echoed once more.

And the creature surrendered.

Its nightmare was claimed.

Its terror was remembered.

Its existence dissolved into darkness.

Far beyond the collapsing dream, a black horse opened its glowing red eyes.

Another nightmare had been added to the collection.

***

"You wouldn’t even believe the size off my snake. Especially when it’s solid!"

[You have slain an Ascended Tyrant, Zade the Painseeker.]

[Your shadow grows stronger.]

...Sunny had been having a very good time. Spouting out as much truthful bullshit as he can was one of his favorite pastimes, after all. He loved the expressions of distrust and disbelief, knowing that on the inside, everything he said was the truth and nothing but the truth.

Sure, maybe he worded things a little strangely, but he definitely was not a liar!

And with an audience as large as this, he felt like a God of mischief.

But of course, all good things must come to an end.

Feeling a measly five Shadow Fragments expanding his Shadow Cores, Sunny sent a look past the camera and towards Huohuo, who was clearly tuning him out with an uninterested look on her face.

"Oh, the Heliobus is dead, by the way. I thought we were supposed to seal it?"

The Foxian girl suddenly jolted, blinking a few times before turning towards Sunny.

"W—What? What did you say?"

Sunny shrugged.

"My horse killed it."

Huohuo paused for a few moments, then gaped.

"How am I supposed to seal it if it’s already dead?!"

"Dunno. Maybe come back to life, or something. How are you supposed to seal it if you’re digested by a house?"

Sushang stirred awake, having fell asleep out of boredom at some point.

"...Wuzzat?"

Huohuo paid her no attention, a distressed expression on her face as she stuttered at Sunny.

"Y—You... you can’t just do that! Heliobus have lives, too! Right, Mister Tail?"

Tail raised a brow — or something like a brow.

"We do?"

Huohuo blankly stared at the Heliobus for a moment, before turning back towards Sunny.

"More importantly, Madam Hanya’s going to kill me..."

Sunny deadpanned.

"So that’s what this is all about, eh?"

He turned to Guinaifen, who had a derpy grin on her face as she sat across from him, looking at the screen of her phone which had been recording him, though it seemed she ended the stream.

...When did she end it? Sunny shook his head.

’One Heliobus scum down, an indefinite amount to go!’