Ch.5858. Nightmare

[You killed me.]

Rex rose up, gasping roughly for breath. Like someone who had been submerged in deep water for a long time and barely escaped, he clutched his chest and choked. After expelling silent screams for a while, he finally had the composure to look around.

Rex lowered his head with a blank expression. The blanket he had covered himself with while sleeping was sprawled carelessly on the floor, and the sheets were damp with cold sweat. A candle placed on a table softly illuminated the room.

It was night. Dawn had not yet broken. White moonlight seeped in through the window.

A quiet, peaceful scene.

Rex felt a sense of dissonance in this sight.

[Because of your weakness, I died. The villagers too—you killed them all.]

The horrific memory that had just been playing in his mind suddenly resurfaced. With a jolt! Rex clutched his throbbing head and gritted his teeth.

“…Shut up.”

That wasn’t reality. It was a nightmare. His father hadn’t spoken like that in his final moments. Rex bit his lip. His father’s face, glaring at him with hateful eyes, was still vivid.

He knew it was an illusion created by the nightmare. The acrid smell of smoke stinging his nostrils, the nauseating stench of burning corpses—all of it was fake.

He knew that.

Rex was about to lie back down on the bed but sighed and got up instead. Though he had awakened from the dream, traces of the nightmare remained.

Six times. That was how many times Rex had woken up screaming today. His muddled mind couldn’t even gauge how much time had passed. Had he slept properly for even ten minutes? With trembling hands, Rex picked up the kettle and poured water into a wooden cup. As the cold water went down his throat, his head cleared a little.

Now he had to admit it.

This was a damned curse.

The Geas that took away “dreams” was truly a painful restriction. He even thought it might be better to have a limb cut off instead.

Since it was a restriction related to dreams, he had somewhat expected nightmares might come.

Nightmares were something he had experienced daily until he left his hometown. After meeting Elin, arriving in Lindvale, and meeting various people, they had stopped, but he was familiar with nightmares.

He thought it would be much easier to endure compared to physical restrictions.

He was mistaken.

The Geas maliciously dug into human psychology, randomly tearing apart weak points that even Rex himself hadn’t recognized.

It forced him to see what he didn’t want to see. It showed him his father’s death scene over and over from various angles. The screams of people attacked by mercenaries, the families he couldn’t protect, friends—everything was as vivid as reality.

“It’s okay.”

He wouldn’t give up.

Rex staggered to his feet. Forcing himself to sleep would only bring more pain. He needed something to help him forget the nightmares. Rex grabbed the Zweihander leaning against the wall and slowly made his way downstairs to the first floor. He opened the door leading to the yard, stepped outside, and drew his sword.

The sword he swung with his half-asleep mind was terrible.

“It’s okay.”

He would not give up.

The Geas showed him nightmares to push Rex to his limits. But—staring into empty space with blurry eyes, Rex twisted his lips into a savage grimace. Rather than weakening his resolve, it had strengthened his determination.

The reason he accepted Berger’s training method was because he wanted to become stronger.

Then why did he want to become stronger? To protect those dear to him. Why did he harbor such a desire to protect precious people?

Because he had already failed to protect and lost them once.

Although the scenes shown in the nightmare were maliciously distorted, thanks to them, Rex could remind himself of his original purpose.

Protect those dear to him.

Kill with his own hands the garbage worse than beasts who threaten innocent lives.

How?

‘I.’

Want to become stronger.

Separate from his foggy mind, his senses became more acute the more he swung his sword.

—Day broke. Rex raised his head and silently looked up at the blue sky. Thud. Footsteps sounded from behind him. Even before hearing the sound, he had noticed someone approaching.

Rex turned around.

“…Rex?”

Chloe hesitantly called out to him. Eyes full of puzzlement scanned Rex up and down.

On the surface, there was nothing particularly strange. Yesterday too, Rex had been training alone in the yard before Chloe arrived.

However, instinctively, Chloe realized something was wrong with Rex’s condition.

The atmosphere was different.

The corners of his mouth, seemingly smiling calmly, were stiff. His eyes looked haggard. The arm gripping the sword was trembling.

These changes were subtle enough that even someone with good observation skills might not notice, but Chloe could tell. She had been watching him since the day they first met.

Rex was exhausted. He was pretending to be at ease.

‘Why?’

She swallowed the question that momentarily arose. That wasn’t what mattered now.

“Are you okay?”

Chloe added awkwardly.

“You look a bit, struggling.”

Rex looked at Chloe with wide eyes. Was it… that obvious? He had only stayed up one night, so his body wasn’t actually that tired. His mind was suffering, but his body could endure. That’s what he had told himself, but apparently, he looked quite precarious to others.

“Thank you.”

Instead of saying he was fine, he expressed gratitude. This smile wasn’t forced like before.

“Let’s go.”

Rex sheathed his Zweihander and started walking. Chloe, who had been staring at his back with worried eyes, mumbled incoherently to herself before hurrying after Rex.

***

“The Geas…”

Berger, who was about to ask how it was affecting him, closed his mouth without finishing his sentence. There was no need to ask; just looking at Rex’s pale complexion was enough to guess what he had gone through during the night.

“Are you alright?”

At the bluntly thrown question, Rex gave a bitter smile. How many times had he heard this question in a day? First Chloe, and then when he met his party members at the Adventurer’s Guild.

“We decided to go to the dungeon in three days.”

Rex shrugged and changed the subject.

Harald had returned, and the party had gathered at the Adventurer’s Guild. The purpose was to discuss future plans. It had been well over a week since they last entered the dungeon, so it was time to resume their conquest.

He planned to continue wearing the training equipment. While the Celibacy Chain only tormented his mind, the Sealed Armor actually restricted his holy power. Currently, Rex’s level had dropped to mid-tier Revelation. Still, as long as it wasn’t the deep levels, he could function adequately. His companions accepted Rex’s circumstances, and they concluded to conduct this expedition only below the 7th floor.

“…I understand.”

Berger nodded with a heavy sigh. He knew that training with the Geas would be difficult. It would be ridiculous to suggest quitting after being the one who proposed it.

Now there was only one thing Berger could do.

Trust Rex and watch over him.

A week passed.

“Stop it.”

Berger spoke in a resolute voice.

“I was wrong. The Geas is not something you can handle yet. There’s no need to use such a shortcut; my greed has ruined things. I’m sorry. Take off the Celibacy Chain. Let’s find another way.”

“No.”

Rex answered immediately with an expressionless face. Berger was dumbfounded by the response and stared at Rex with an incredulous expression.

Rex’s appearance after a week was as gaunt as a corpse.

Just one week. In that short time, Rex had lost much. His golden hair, once resembling harvest barley, had lost its luster and become dry. His blue eyes, which had seemed like lakes transplanted into his face, were now cloudy. His lips bore marks from being repeatedly bitten by his front teeth.

“I can do it.”

Rex blinked his constantly drooping eyes and spoke.

The dungeon conquest had ended smoothly. No one was injured during the four days, and the profits were incomparably better than before. For the party, it was an expedition that yielded many gains in various ways, with results that could hardly be better.

And for Rex personally… it had been quite an arduous time. The nightmares continued to assault him relentlessly. Even when he managed to catch a brief moment of sleep, the Geas did not allow peaceful rest.

Humans need sleep. Without sleep, they die. As long as Rex was human, there was no way to escape this Geas. As his sleep decreased, his head became foggy. It felt like being in a mist. Nightmares were a trial to which one could never adapt.

He bit his lips until they bled to stay awake, and when his limit came, he would pass out, only to repeat the cycle.

Killing monsters, covered in filthy blood, swinging his sword, and suddenly,

Why do I have to endure this pain? Such a question confronted him. It was a problem he had already found the answer to. He needed to become stronger. He didn’t want to lose precious people.

Yes, becoming stronger is good, but is there really a need to try this hard? Couldn’t I just train normally like others and, with my talent, quickly reach the level I want? Both Berger and Brandon acknowledged my talent.

Three years. No, even seven years. Life is long. In the grand scheme, that’s a short time. Even the knights in Lindvale are all well over fifty. If I give up the Geas and train to become a Radiance, I’ll still only be in my twenties. Isn’t that satisfactory?

Why such urgency?

His inner self asked, and answered.

—Because I can do it.

It was difficult but not fatal. If so, he would do it. He wouldn’t give up.

The Geas is a contract. It returns compensation equal to what it takes away. That compensation didn’t quite resonate on the first day.

Now it was different. As a week passed, Rex felt the changes happening to him. The increase in holy power when using sacred techniques was different. The sound when swinging his sword was different. He gradually understood the imagery contained in the Kaiserion style. He felt something changing within him.

Until now, Kaordics had not said a word. That silence came across as if saying, you are doing well, the path you are walking is right.

It was difficult, but the joy was even greater.

He didn’t want to lose any of this.

The pouring sunlight is hot.

Rex shielded his forehead with his hand and said,

“I want to add another Geas.”