Nightmare Mythos

"Argh!"

Frustration? Agony? Resentment?

All these negative emotions filled Cesar's head while facing a creature that managed to hurt him.

Right now, his opposite eye was the only thing working that made him see how dreaded the situation was and he wouldn't even allow it to be removed now, knowing going blindly at the vast hallways spells death no matter what.

If he goes blind now, he might as well die from the monster's clutches which he wasn't willing to give up yet.

'This shit will do it again if I don't move now!'

Cesar didn't want the same thing to happen hence before the corrupted human even made a slight action, he was much faster this time.

Rustle—!

His right dagger which was the only thing that managed to pierce the corrupted's palm, even went further to the point of impact and goes to cut the other arm that poked his eye.

Slash—!

Managing to cut the palm even inside, Cesar immediately took a move to cut the arm of the monster with the creature also returning the favor by pulling his knee, this time, by dragging him and completely making him lose his balance.

Crack—!

But with one arm down, Cesar felt more at ease as he didn't appear as defenseless as before and went beyond to counterattack in the awkward position he found himself in.

Being raised by the same creature in the air with his feet being dragged upwards, Cesar appeared all bloody that came from the monster's sliced chest.

He was ready for the incoming attack the corrupted human was about to pull off since he had a plan in his mind but it never came.

Weirdly enough, the creature remained standing on its own, completely unmoving at his place which brought a moment of confusion on Cesar's face.

'Chance!'

But he immediately used it as an opportunity to execute his plan.

With the blood dripping down his face, Cesar clicked his tongue before pulling his body upwards to cut the hand that was grasping his knee.

Slash—!

Spinning mid-air to land on the floor safely, Cesar pivoted the way he held his dagger and dashed forward and immediately cut the head of the creature in one clean swoop.

Thud—!

Gripping his daggers tightly, Cesar couldn't help but laugh in disbelief as he stated solemnly, "Right, I guess a monster isn't able to sleep right away just because you shoot a fucking bullet into its knee. Hah… Hahaha…"

With a finger dangling from his left eye, Cesar placed his hand on his face, near the wound, gripping the corrupted finger between his own, his expression twisted with madness.

"A Level Zero Corrupted making this costly at my first hour in this cursed place. Man, I'm lucky to even survive that I'm about to go crazy…"

Cesar's hand slowly made its way toward his left eye where a dangling finger was motionlessly staying before grasping it tightly with his hand.

"Man, if Level Zero Corrupted is already this problematic, how about Level One or Two? Or the assumed Level Three Corrupted that came from Harden City? Man, Oh, man…"

In the next instance, Cesar pulled the finger out from his eye which made him hissed violently but didn't scream the pain he felt.

It was more like a reaction when someone received a sting from an injury.

It hurt but it wasn't very painful which was supposed to.

"Ahh…"

Holding the finger that made his one eye unusable any longer, Cesar couldn't help but let out a deranged chuckle before turning solemn.

He let out an unhinged snicker once more but finally couldn't stop laughing at his own, feeling almost pathetic and vulnerable.

"I'm being too emotional…"

Cesar slightly gazed upward, feeling completely nothing as his emotions were all over the place. He didn't even know if his mind was becoming tainted and corrupted which might happen if he wasn't able to adjust soon.

But at this point, his actions otherwise suggest adjustment any time soon.

"I've lost an eye~ What does that matter~ For I am Captain Gin~ Born in the litter~" Cesar turned around as he couldn't but twaddle in the most ridiculous way, "Wow, I started singing that song all of a sudden. I must've missed my childhood days which is full of death and disaster,"

He continued to sing while bending down to the corrupted human's corpse.

"Roaming the seas, Captain Gin it is~ Please, I'm friendly, albeit, not really~ For what you have shall I steal, for what you have shall I kill~ Give up and I might consider to set you free~ Only for that matter, I might be lyinggg~"

Cesar checked the corpse of the corrupted to see if he could use something or grab a thing or two just by merely searching when he spotted a glowing object in the middle of its chest, which made him completely stop singing the nursery song that suddenly came right on his head.

"Oh? What's this?"

Cesar's curiosity got the best of him and he moved closer to a glowing object… and could only stare blankly when the shining object was no other than a blackish-grey tooth.

It was oozing out a faint disgusting black aura that a single touch might endanger its user but Cesar bravely grasped it with his hand and looked at it with interest.

But his interest turned serious once he realized that the blackish-grey tooth had a similar aura to the so-called Artifacts, an item made by the Artificers that everyone thought made them.

'How interesting…'

The reason this notion came to his mind was because there are no records of drop artifacts from a Nightmare, much less on a corrupted human. In another sense, artifacts are a rarity on its own.

They were seldom seen on the outside and if they were, either they were used on something special or important.

Now, all this thinking was destroyed once more when he just got a random tooth after killing a corrupted human that almost killed him. It's not a special moment or important situation at all.

He just lost an eye, and now he was partially blind.

"I look like a dumb person who thought I knew everything that is needed to know when I'm just a clueless brat like anyone else. God, what is going on in this world? Wouldn't it be good if dropped artifacts were announced publicly instead of hiding it if there's any reason for hiding it in the first place?"

Cesar put the blackish-grey tooth in his pocket before shrugging his shoulder with a chuckle, "Or maybe I'm just a delusional person thinking this is a tooth and nothing more?"

Aware that some of his wordings didn't make any sense, Cesar kept some of his thoughts to himself and made his way forward to see if any kind of help was coming his way. This time, he wasn't going to wait.

He will be starting to chase it.

He didn't want the same thing to happen when he went to wait and let the dangers come towards him if he were to face them eventually,

Walking into the vast endless hallway, Cesar studied the greyish white tooth on his head.

Its size was normal and nothing noteworthy could be seen to it. Aside from the black disgusting aura it was emanating which seemed to be the reason why it was faintly glowing, one wouldn't even notice it in the first place.

"What does this thing even do…"

While he was muttering it under his breath, an idea popped into his head that made him question it over again, this time, outwardly.

"Do I just have to transfer some of my essence to it?"

Looking at the tooth in the palm of his hand with discomfort and uncertainty, Cesar was ready to test it out since by the looks of it, he'll have nothing to do aside from talk to himself and tread to the hallway that had no end to it.