Dominating The Exile-Chapter 36: Nightmare Genesis

In the center: a dark altar. Black stone. A single pool of silver liquid rested atop it, still and perfect.

Another message blinked into his mind:

[ Trial of Echoes : Initiate Memory Resonance ]

Face that which binds you.

Renji hesitated. Then he reached out—and dipped his finger into the silver.

The world vanished.

Suddenly, he stood on a rain-drenched battlefield. His hands were covered in blood. He was screaming... but no sound came. Around him, hundreds lay dead—some with Renji's face. Some with Seraphina's. One of them was Mira, her golden eyes wide with betrayal.

Lightning flashed.

He saw himself. A future him, monstrous and cloaked in black flame, tearing through enemies with a twisted, nightmare-forged blade.

A voice boomed:

"Do you see now what you are capable of?"

"The question is no longer if you will fall... but when."

Then—silence.

Renji gasped, yanked back into the cave. The silver pool boiled and vanished.

He stumbled back, sweat dripping down his face.

Behind him, the cocoon cracked. A single chain snapped with a thunderous clang, its sound echoing like a funeral bell.

Renji looked up.

Something inside had stirred.

And it knew his name.

The air inside the glowing cavern changed—no longer just heavy, but charged. Like the atmosphere before a lightning strike, it pressed down on Renji's chest with an invisible weight.

He stood before the cocoon, still pulsing softly... but now aware. A low hum rattled in his ears—not from outside, but from within his bones.

[ Exile System Notice ]

( Nightmare Mode Detected )

<< [ WARNING : This Mode Exists Independently of Core System Architecture ] >>

[ Access Protocol : Unclaimed ]

[ Alignment Required ]

Renji narrowed his eyes.

"Unclaimed?"

He clenched his fists, the system interface flickering erratically. Something in this place was resisting—no, rejecting—the authority of the Exile Core. Like a rogue king who still sat on a throne long abandoned.

That's when he heard it.

A laugh—low, malevolent, and ancient.

Then, a whisper layered over his thoughts, not from the system:

"The System was built to chain gods... But I was born of what it could never chain."

A form flickered before him, emerging from the cocoon's cracks. It wasn't a demon or a beast—it was Renji. Or rather, a twisted version. Pale skin, bleeding eyes, wrapped in blackened chains that slithered like snakes.

This thing spoke, its voice lined with every scream Renji had ever heard, ever caused, ever buried.

"I am the echo of your hatred, the memory of every time you wished the world burned for what it took from you."

[ Nightmare Mode - Proto Entity Recognized ]( "Would you like to negotiate with the Shadow Core?" )

Renji took a step forward.

"Negotiate? With myself?"

The being chuckled. "Not with you... with what you could be."

Renji was shown visions—moments he hadn't lived yet, but might:

Standing atop the Exile ruins, wearing a king's black crown.

Wielding the Nightmare Blade, one strike splitting mountains.

Seraphina, weeping, trying to stop him as he turned on the world.

Mira, dying in his arms, whispering, "You weren't supposed to become this."

The cocoon pulsed again. One more chain snapped.

[ Nightmare Mode : Alignment Pending ]

[ Challenge Required to Proceed ]

Renji steadied himself.

"Then bring it on," he growled, aura flaring.

And the cocoon... burst.

From within stepped The First Nightmare Warden—a dark-cloaked executioner with runes etched into its skin and blades forged from forgotten sins.

The cavern began to collapse into shadow around them, twisting into an arena of screams.

And Renji... just smiled.

Just when he blinked his eyes—the cavern was gone.

Now, he stood in a battlefield sculpted from nightmares: floating ruins, shattered mirrors reflecting his darkest memories, and skies painted with red lightning. Time didn't flow here. It shivered.

Across him stood the First Nightmare Warden—faceless, hooded in smoke, with two impossibly long obsidian blades. The air rippled around its presence.

[ Exile Alert ]

[ You have entered Nightmare Trial 1 ]

( Death in this space results in real soul fracture) ( Proceed with will)

Renji's eyes narrowed, "Cute. Let's dance."

The warden moved first—no step, no warning. Just gone, and then—slash!—a black blade screamed toward Renji's throat.

Renji ducked, twisted, and countered with a palm strike laced in raw divine justice. The impact exploded the ground beneath them.

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He summoned his dual shadow sabers—Nox and Lux, forged from stolen system energy—and met the Warden head-on.

Blades clashed.

Lightning cracked.

Each strike from the Warden stole Renji's breath, draining emotion and memory—trying to erase him. But Renji adapted, evolving mid-battle, his aura now layered with Seraphina's sigil and Zach's chaos runes.

"You're not taking me," he growled. "You're teaching me."

Renji's foot slid back, channeling Nightmare Energy for the first time.

[ Nightmare Infusion Level 1: Activated ]

[ Skill Unlocked: Void Splitter ]

He vanished.

BOOM!

His blade split the Warden's shoulder. For a moment, Renji stood tall—dominant, divine, victorious.

But the Warden grinned.

With its remaining arm, it grabbed Renji's face—and slammed him into a pillar of screaming souls. Pain exploded in his chest.

The Warden whispered, "You've opened the door, heir. Now survive what you've invited in."

Suddenly, behind the Warden, a third presence emerged.

Taller.

Cloaked in flowing black flames.

Eyes like galaxies collapsing.

The true Nightmare Sovereign, still bound in shackles... but now watching Renji with interest.

"Interesting..." it muttered. "You bear her mark."

And with that, the Warden stepped back, bowing before the Sovereign.

Renji, battered and bleeding, staggered to his feet, "Who... are you?"

The Sovereign didn't answer.

Instead—he smiled.

And the ground cracked open beneath Renji's feet.

He plummeted into a chasm of bloodlight and whispers.

[ Exile System Notice ]

[ Warning : Soul Displacement Detected ]

[ Nightmare Layer 2 Engaged ]