The Dreamer's POV

[00 Months: 16 Days: 23 Hours]

In the end, I had to rejoin the group and cancel the plans I had set up earlier.

As a result, that wasted even more time than I wanted to.

'But that doesn't matter...' My thoughts flowed as I rode my horse and began my journey leading the troops.

Everything was going to play out the same way they did.

'No... not quite.'

There were a few things I didn't account for in the past, which I would now add to my plan.

This was still a gamble, but what more did I have to lose at this point? I had already lost everyone I had grown to care about in this world.

Even if I lost, I would only have to die and repeat the same day again.

'I don't care how many times I die. If it means getting more information and eventually killing those monsters... I will gladly die as many times as possible!'

What I wanted now was just to cause them the pain they caused me.

And so, as the marching hooves of the horses resounded in my ears, I maintained my gaze to the line of the horizon before me.

'No matter what...' My grip tightened on the horse reins as it galloped.

'... I'll kill them all!'

********

[00 Months: 17 Days: 09 Hours]

As estimated, we arrived and stopped at the same scene as last time, watching the plumes of smoke rise from the city.

Distraught expressions pervaded me, and I could see looks of fear emanating from the most hardened members of our troops.

My expression remained the same, however. I didn't have the strength in me to feign shock, neither did I care for it.

I could see Drius approach me with a sullen expression on his face.

I already knew what he was going to say, so I didn't bother waiting for him to make his statement.

"Listen up, everyone. It's clear the Capital has been attacked. It's not safe there, so everyone should stay here and protect Theo. I'll check out what is going on."

With that out if the way, I commanded my steed to move, carting me in the direction of the chaos.

There was no need to utilize any energy unless when absolutely necessary.

My enemies weren't going anywhere, at least for the time being.

'Slow and steady... and I'll win the race.'

*********

[00 Months: 17 Days: 10 Hours]

I arrived very close to the entrance of the devastated city, an ugly sight compared to what I remembered when I left it only a few days ago.

Right now, even watching from a considerable distance, I could tell that it was unrecognizable from the glorious state it once had.

'That's what they do, isn't it? They corrupt everything in their reach.'

Was this the same way they destroyed The Outpost? I could only guess so.

"<Fallen Foe>" I murmured.

At that instant, three entities rose from my shadow, their bodies corrupted and greyed.

After the whole encounter with the Nine Headed Dragon Alliance, my <Fallen Foe> Skill evolved, allowing me to make three people my Minions at the same time.

Currently standing before me were my two Carnage Beasts and a Shadow—gotten from one of the Essences I got when I killed the lot of them.

It was during my collection of them thY I realized the limit of collecting Essences. It was capped at 100.

Killing anyone after that would not only be pointless, since no Essence would be generated, but I wouldn't be able to store them anywhere since the storage would be full.

'In essence, while I can use only three minions, I can't have more than 100 Essences stored at once.'

That made sense.

I looked at the Shadow, observing it's dark features.

It was the first human I would ever resurrect using the <Fallen Foe> Skill, and frankly it didn't feel any different from a Demon to me.

It was also just as subservient as the two Carnage Beasts.

"You know what to do." I whispered, sending my mental commands to my three slaves.

They nodded silently, bowing to me before leaving my presence.

I didn't pay them any attention as I returned my focus to the entrance of the city.

"Now then... let us begin."

********

Thanks to the delay, I didn't meet my opponents in the same place as I did the previous time.

They were already moving towards the Lyma Estate, and they were considerably close too.

However, that didn't stop me from ending their lives.

One by one, using my Concealment Cloak to hide my presence, and using my swift movements enhanced by <Carnage> and <Turbo>, it was easy to eliminate all my prey before long, returning the situation to the same as last time.

"Who are you?"

Once again, I was faces with the same man as last time.

Hakeem.

"Are you the one who took care of my men?" He further asked.

Watching his seemingly compassionate gaze sickened me to my stomach.

His hypocritical demeanor made my insides churn with disgust, but I held all of those feelings in.

He wasn't worth losing my composure over.

Now that I knew a good number of his Skills, as well as his Exclusive Skill, he wouldn't be too difficult to deal with.

Considering what I learned the last time, it was going to take a while before he could control me with his Exclusive Skill.

It was probably due to our Level Difference, though I suspected <Visionary> could have also had something to do with it.

Either way, I had the luxury of playing with him as much as I wanted.

'And this time... I'll make sure you die!'

~WHOOOOSHH~

I swiftly pushed myself forward, closing the distance between the both of us, my enhancing Skills already activated.

"H-hold o—"

As expected, he erected his barrier around himself, but I had no plans of letting things play out the same way as they did the last time.

Coating my body with the Earth Attribute, granting me more force to my blunt attack, I threw my hands forward.

I observed he was trying to evade, so I used <Gravity Press(×3)> to keep him stationary, at least for a second, before I sent my punch rippling through his flimsy barrier and towards his face.

~BOOOOOOMMMM!!~

Watching as he spat out saliva and got pushed back a considerable amount, I also felt a recoil on my body, causing to stumble back a little.

'Heh... as expected.'

I saw Hakeem rise, his expression now a cautious glare.

'You don't understand what's going on, do you, Hakeem?' I smirked, clenching my fist as I prepared for the next round.

'Let's see how long you can hold out this time!'

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[A/N]

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thanks for reading.

Cheers!