Abyssal Awakening-Chapter 985: Invisible Domino Effect

"What if you could see him again? Alive. Reborn through this Nightmare."

It was only after hearing this did Miki’s spear hesitate and Erwen moved towards her for a strike.

His hand shot forward, striking the shaft of her spear and knocking it violently downward. Before she could recover, he stepped in close and drove his fist straight into her stomach.

*BANG!!!

The impact forced the air from her lungs.

Miki slid backwards across the stone floor, boots scraping as she struggled to regain her footing.

"Don’t listen to him. Focus, he’s trying to ruin your mental." Alice frowned.

They haven’t figured out how to let Miki focus properly when facing Erwen yet.

As it currently stands, this fight was not one that’ll end well!

"Ruin her mental?" Erwen blinked in mock confusion before pointing to himself.

"Who? Me?"

Then he laughed.

"I have no need for such crude strategies."

His gaze returned to Miki.

"No... what I’m saying is simply the truth."

His smile sharpened slightly.

"If Nyer intends to revive a goddess," he continued calmly, "don’t you think bringing back an ordinary mortal would be trivial in comparison?"

His voice carried absolute certainty.

Not a hint of hesitation.

Not a trace of deception.

Only unwavering confidence.

Miki’s pupils trembled.

Her grip weakened slightly around the spear.

She could feel her resolve faltering.

If her father can be brough back...

Erwen watched the change in her expression and smiled faintly.

"Allow me to put things into perspective," he said, brushing his hair back before clapping his hands together.

In an instant, the scenery around them shifted.

They now stood at the edge of a massive pit.

Below them, dozens of humans wandered aimlessly across the dirt floor. Their clothes were ragged, their faces hollow with exhaustion.

"This," Erwen said, gesturing downward, "is a rather unfortunate situation.

"These poor people have been trapped here.

"No food.

"No resources.

"No escape."

His voice remained calm while the group frowned.

"Now," Erwen continued, clasping his hands behind his back, "let us imagine a solution."

He pointed toward the people below.

"If you were to kill a number of them...

"The remaining survivors could stack their corpses.

"Use the bodies as a ladder.

"And climb out."

His gaze shifted toward them.

"In doing so, they overturn their fate.

"They escape."

He tilted his head slightly as a grin appeared on his face.

"So tell me... Would you accept this solution?

"Sacrifice a portion of them so the rest may live?"

He asked before his grin disappeared.

"Or... would you refuse to kill anyone...

"And allowed them all to slowly starve to death?"

Miki clenched her fist.

"Because unless someone from above descends to save them, the outcome remains the same." Erwen raised his hand, snapping his fingers.

In the next moment, the pit was now filled with corpses.

"They all die."

"Well?" He asked, seeing as how no one was answering. "What would you choose?"

"Sacrifice a few so the rest may live. Or will you cling on your morality, arguing that killing a few for the benefit of others is wrong and watch them all die together?"

Miki bit her lip.

"How is that any different from what the nobles are doing?" she forced out.

Even as the words left her mouth, she knew they rang hollow.

She didn’t truly believe it.

Erwen burst into laughter.

"Hah!"

He wiped the corner of his eye as though the question genuinely amused him.

"The difference?" he repeated.

His gaze sharpened as he looked down at her.

"The difference is that the ones I’m sacrificing are pigs who don’t deserve to enter paradise."

"The nobles of Grand Cathia sacrifice the innocent so they can grow richer." He gestured vaguely toward the city beyond the walls. "They drain the lifeblood of the people day after day, all so their banquets grow larger and their mansions taller."

His smile faded slightly.

"But what we’re doing..."

He tapped his chest.

"...is very different."

"We’re not sacrificing the weak. We’re sacrificing the tyrants.

"What Nyer wishes to accomplish is simple. To drag those sitting on the divine thrones down into the dirt. To become the fertilizer for the new age, the new Goddess."

His gaze then lowered to the city.

"And for Grand Cathia..." His smile returned.

"It will be the nobles who have been feeding on it like parasites. Every drop of suffering they’ve forced upon the people, every act of greed and selfishness, it will all become the very thing that buries them."

Erwen’s gaze settled on Miki.

"So tell me again," he said quietly, "how exactly is that the same?"

Silence hung between them.

After a moment, Erwen let out a soft breath and lifted his shoulders in a casual shrug.

"But this is a discussion we could drag on forever," he said. "You have your beliefs, and I have mine. I’m not here to force you to accept them."

His tone shifted slightly.

"What I came here to tell you is something much simpler."

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"The Grand Cathia Nightmare has already served the purpose I needed it to."

Miki frowned.

Then Erwen spoke the next words as though they were the most ordinary thing in the world.

"There will be no more sieges."

Miki blinked.

"...What?"

Her mind struggled to process what she had just heard.

No more sieges?

The entire reason the Nightmare had spread across Grand Cathia was because of those attacks. The constant threat had driven people into desperation, forcing many to enter the Nightmare in search of strength.

If the sieges stopped...

Then what was the point?

Erwen chuckled softly at their reactions.

"The stage has already been set." He glanced back at the city.

"What happens next no longer requires force."

He turned back to them.

"From this point forward, everyone will be given a choice.

"If they wish to enter the Nightmare and obtain power, they may do so."

His smile widened slightly.

"Because now that the door has been opened... People will walk through it on their own."

Taking a deep breath in, Erwen exhaled in satisfaction. As though he’s watching the machine he worked so desperately on finally working on its own.

No more mistakes, no more malfunctions.

Everything going as planned.

"When given such an opportunity, how many people do you think will reject that chance?"

No one answered.

Miki stared at him, her grip tightening around her spear again, though the doubt in her eyes had yet to fully disappear.

People had once been forced into the Nightmare.

Forced to fight for survival.

Forced to struggle against a grim fate they had no control over.

But now that the immediate danger had been removed...

Would they still avoid it?

This was no longer a matter of survival.

It was a matter of power.

When you knew the people above you were stronger, when you knew your life could be crushed beneath their whims at any moment...

That was the kind of pressure that drove people to change their fate.

That was the kind of desperation that pushed people to challenge the Nightmare.

And at that moment, Miki came to a chilling realization.

If Erwen was truly allowing people to enter the Nightmare by choice...

Then the restrictions were gone.

No more waiting two days between entries.

No more looming siege forcing them to prepare.

The door had simply been thrown open.

Even if she ordered the guards not to enter...

How could they possibly remain calm when civilians were willingly stepping inside?

What if one of those civilians returned stronger than them?

What if someone they had once protected suddenly possessed power that could threaten their lives?

What if...

Someone died because they underestimated that difference?

The moment that happened...

Everything would change.

It would begin slowly at first.

Suspicion.

Unease.

Fear.

But soon that fear would spread.

A guard entering the Nightmare just to keep up with the civilians.

A civilian entering because their neighbour had grown stronger.

A noble sending people inside to maintain their authority.

One person after another.

A chain reaction.

A domino effect that could no longer be stopped.

The floodgates had already been opened.

People would enter the Nightmare out of fear.

Fear of their neighbours.

Fear of the nobles.

Fear of falling behind in a world where strength decided everything.

And when tensions rose between people who now possessed power...

Lives would inevitably be lost.

Erwen’s grin widened as he watched the horror unfold in Miki’s expression.

"If the pigs who waited at the top were no longer there, would this kind of domino effect occur?

"If the people knew that the guards could properly protect them, would they take matters into their own hands?

"This is a demonstration Miki." Erwen walked up to her.

"To kill the few so that the majority can survive and enter paradise. But this is not a senseless killing. This is a carefully prepared culling of the underserving. How people act, how they operate. Everything will be remembered by the Nightmare.

"And when time comes to enter paradise, everything will come back as karmic debt. Whether that is good karma or bad, only time will tell."

His gaze lingered on Miki for a moment.

"See you around. I do hope you can survive the chaos that is about to unfold."

Erwen clapped his hand and an ocean of fog rolled over them.

All of them were ejected out of the Nightmare ahead of schedule.

It was not yet dawn but the Nightmare ended.

No, that was incorrect. Rather than ended, a door was now present in their mind. If they wished for it, they can simply choose to renter the Nightmare.

Miki paled.

She sat up and was about to leave the room when she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in." She frowned as her assistant entered the room.

There was a panicked look on her expression.

"There’s been an announcement. Everyone in the Grand Cathia Nightmare received it."

Miki held her breath.

"The sieges are over."

Invisible dominos were now toppling within Grand Cathia.