The night felt too quiet.
I was sleeping deeply, but my mind was not resting. It was as if something was pulling me away, to a place where silence did not exist.
Suddenly, I was standing.
Not in my room.
Not in the mansion.
The ground beneath me was dark, smooth, like stone polished by darkness itself. The sky had no stars. No moon. Nothing at all.
Just a suffocating void.
I looked around and saw no one.
"Elara?"
No response.
"Vespera?"
Silence.
"Liriel? Rai'kanna? Lyannis?"
Nothing.
The air was heavy. Hard to breathe.
Then I heard footsteps.
Slow. Steady. Echoing as if that place were infinite.
A figure began to emerge in front of me. He did not walk in a hurry. He showed no fear. No emotion at all.
When he stopped a few meters away from me, I knew.
Even without ever having seen him before.
The fifth general of the demons.
He was different from the others.
He did not have a monstrous appearance. He was not oversized. He looked almost human.
And that was the most disturbing part.
His gaze was calm. Cold. Like someone who already knew the outcome of everything before it even began.
"So you are the human."
His voice was low, yet it echoed throughout the void.
I tried to draw my sword.
It wasn't with me.
My body felt heavy. Slow.
"You defeated the eighth. The sixth. The seventh."
He tilted his head slightly.
"You made too much noise."
I tried to speak, but my throat was dry.
"Where am I?"
He ignored my question.
"You think you are getting stronger."
He took a step forward.
"But you understand nothing."
The ground began to tremble.
The void around us started to distort.
And then I saw.
Images began to appear around me like reflections in shattered mirrors.
Elara lying on the ground, wounded.
Vespera struggling to pull her bowstring, bleeding.
Liriel on her knees, unable to stand.
Rai'kanna looking at me with empty eyes.
Lyannis screaming my name.
"This isn't real," I said.
He replied calmly.
"Not yet."
My heart started pounding.
"You are human."
He stared at me without blinking.
"You do not understand what you are facing."
The images changed.
The mansion in flames.
Vaillor destroyed.
Bodies scattered through the streets.
I began to lose my breath.
"Stop this."
He continued.
"You are not prepared for me."
The images came closer. Clearer.
I could see the details. The blood. The expressions. The despair.
"You think those items will save them?"
He made a slight gesture with his hand.
The sword I had received from the dwarven king appeared in the air and split in two.
My chest tightened.
"You think political alliances will protect anyone?"
The image of the dwarven kingdom appeared, being swallowed by shadows.
"You think strength is enough?"
He moved closer.
Now he was only a few steps away from me.
"You do not yet understand what fear is."
I tried to step back.
I couldn't.
My legs wouldn't obey.
"I will show you."
He raised his hand.
And everything around us went dark.
I felt a sharp pain in my chest.
As if something were crushing my heart.
I heard screams.
Familiar screams.
"Takumi!"
Elara's voice.
"Takumi, wake up!"
Vespera.
"This is magic!" Liriel.
"He's sweating too much!" Rai'kanna.
"Hold him!" Lyannis.
I suddenly opened my eyes.
I was in my room.
In bed.
They were around me.
My body was drenched in sweat.
I was breathing with difficulty.
Elara was holding my face.
"You were thrashing around."
Vespera was gripping my arm tightly.
"You started talking to yourself."
Liriel looked focused, as if she were trying to sense something in the air.
"This wasn't an ordinary dream."
Rai'kanna looked at me seriously.
"What did you see?"
Lyannis looked worried.
It took me a few seconds to speak.
"The fifth general."
The room fell silent.
"What did he do?" Elara asked.
"He… showed things."
I sat up in bed, still trying to catch my breath.
"He spoke to me."
Liriel frowned.
"That's not possible from a distance."
"I know."
I looked at my hands.
They were still trembling.
"But it felt too real."
Rai'kanna crossed her arms.
"That was a warning."
Vespera nodded.
"A warning from someone very confident."
Lyannis spoke softly.
"Or someone very dangerous."
I took a deep breath.
The feeling of the void was still with me.
The weight in my chest had not gone away.
"He said I understand nothing."
Elara squeezed my hand.
"Then we'll understand."
We remained silent for a few moments.
The night was not over yet.
But I knew.
That was not just a nightmare.
It was the beginning of something.
Something far worse than any general we have faced so far.
I lay down again, but I couldn't sleep.
I stared at the ceiling.
Feeling that, somewhere, someone was watching me.
And, for the first time since this journey began, I felt real fear.