[Nightmare]

Atlas' eyes narrowed, and they glided to each of their faces.

"I know it's hard to believe. So perhaps it's best for Helix to just show you later." Riley suggested.

The young man gave them a nonplussed expression.

"Show me? How do you show someone a [titan]?" Atlas asked.

"Don't be an idiot. Hellie will show you that things' finger." Charlotte scoffed.

"He stole the thing's finger!?" Atlas asked with a gawking expression.

"Why would he—"

"It was its middle finger." Charlotte answered with an evil grin.

"Ahhhhh…. My man. That's a big [fuck you]." Atlas chuckled.

"Colossal [fuck you]." Charlotte corrected with a finger pointed to the sky.

"Fourteen feet and seven inches worth of fuck you, to be exact."

The corner of Atlas' mouth started twitching.

"The monster was fifteen feet? That's pretty—"

"Its finger, Atlas. Its finger is 15 feet tall and weighs half a ton." Riley clarified.

Atlas became dizzy and felt like he had just entered into an alternate dimension.

"Its official name is Colossus. A fifth evolution beast. That's the type of monster that can kill a legendary grandmaster general." Marie whispered.

Atlas gave the women a grim expression.

"But… Helix and Master Tyrene ensured our victory." She continued.

"They created a strategy, trapped the Colossus, and broke it down until victory was assured.

But… because of [my] mistake, everyone almost died."

The atmosphere in the room multiplied, and the room became quiet.

Marie recounted the situation. She explained how she weakened herself, chose to stay on the battlefield, and how the Stalkwalker attacked her because of it.

Her tears rained down and tugged on the heartstrings of everyone present.

Atlas turned to Riley for confirmation. She was the person that never shared unless prompted but held fair and honest insights.

"Marie isn't lying. She was the center of the trap, and it was her decision that led her there." Riley confirmed.

Marie looked up at Riley with pleading eyes.

"But she isn't pointing out that we were in an impossible situation.

They'd likely be dead if she stayed with Helix on the top of the hill."

Helix's eye's started trembling in shock and confusion.

Marie, Charlotte, and Atlas were feeling the same way.

"Wait… what?" Charlotte asked in confusion.

Riley turned to her.

"You remember what Master Tyrene told us?" She asked.

"That it was too dangerous to grab Marie. But… I don't understand."

Charlotte trailed off in thought.

"It wasn't dangerous for us to get her and avoid an attack.

Master Tyrene told us that it was dangerous for Marie." Riley reiterated.

"Wait… I'm confused." Atlas said with a bewildered expression.

"Our enemy targeted us by smell, and we were masking them with anti-scent circles."

—

"The battle has been going on for a half-hour… can't we get her, Master?" Charlotte asked in frustration.

"Haven't you listened to me, child?" Tyrene chided.

"We're its most dangerous enemies and exposed our scent when we took cover from the shockwave.

If the Stalkwalker smells multiple of us in the same location, it will prioritize attacking us.

Marie is well guarded. It's safer for us to stay on the north side high ground where we can identify threats to Marie and Helix and act accordingly."

—

"Tyrene, Marie, Charlotte, Helix, and I were only outside the scent masking circle for fifteen seconds to dodge a shockwave attack." Riley explained.

"However, that was enough for the beast to remember Marie and accurately attack her from across the battlefield.

If multiple of us showed up at once, our enemy would have probably taken drastic action sooner to wipe us out."

Atlas' eyes widened in shock, and Charlotte's lit up with understanding.

Helix listened from outside of the wagon with an expression filled with disbelief. He didn't consider rushing to save Marie could have led to her death.

"Drastic action sooner?" Atlas asked nervously.

"Yes…." Charlotte replied hesitantly.

Charlotte explained how the Stalkwalker fell on its burnt and shrapnel-riddled back to ensure a final suicide attack against Marie.

She detailed how the dust and sound pollution hid its movements, forked Marie and Helix, and used a double attack to ensure one person would die.

Lastly, she connected the attack to Tyrene sacrificing her life.

"In short, there was no way we could have prepared for it," Charlotte concluded, "and attempting to would have resulted in a worse outcome."

Marie started sobbing, and Helix had tears streaming down his eyes. Hearing Charlotte and Riley's perspectives were insightful and healing.

Atlas' mouth opened and closed multiple times.

He was speechless.

"Marie, the problem didn't have to lay with the specifics of the battle," Riley said in a calm voice, "the problem was—"

"Three grandmasters, two generals, a Chief of Medicine, three experts, and 1200 troops and masters grossly underestimated our enemy alongside us." Helix completed from the outside of the wagon.

Helix hopped into the wagon and reached his hand out to Marie.

Her eyes shook when she saw the hand, but she quickly recovered, stood up, and hugged him passionately with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Atlas, I know you're confused. So I'll show you what we were up against in a moment." Helix announced in a quiet tone.

Atlas nodded in understanding.

"Charlotte, Riley…." Helix called out.

The two looked up at him with complex emotional expressions.

"Thank you. Thank you for listening and being so considerate of our pain even though you were struggling." He said with a thankful expression.

Charlotte and Riley nodded, and Helix squeezed Marie tighter.

"Thank you for your perspective as well.

I didn't want to interject mid-conversation, so I listened outside.

Your insight that moving Marie was dangerous was very… healing."

Their eyes widened with confusion.

"This whole time, I kept asking myself—why didn't I just take a few minutes to pick her up? We were fighting for two hours…." Helix confessed.

"But… hearing that I could have killed Marie helped set my mind at peace.

It helped me realize something important. We underestimated our enemy and were left in an impossible situation."

Helix chuckled bitterly before releasing Marie. Then he motioned for Charlotte.

The young woman grabbed Helix's hand with deep emotions.

She also wanted to be held and comforted for the last three weeks. However, she put herself aside because Helix and Marie had it worse.

Helix wrapped his arms around her body, and she immediately started crying.

Atlas watched the scene with a trembling expression.

"I've spent a lot of time asking myself the same questions.

Were we arrogant and naive of our strength?

Did we feel like it was a video game?

Was it wrong to be confident in our victory?

But after speaking with the troops, General Lackbolt, and hearing everyone's perspective, I can confidently say no." He chuckled bitterly.

Helix ran his fingers through Charlotte's hair. The scene moved everyone present, as they had never seen the young woman cry.

"I'd be kicking myself for being arrogant if we were the only people who grossly underestimated the Stalkwalker.

However, Master Tyrene believed we could beat it on our own.

Tilo felt the same way. Everyone did.

Nevertheless, we were armed to the teeth with preparations, traps, and precautions.

Everyone, including Tyrene, would have died otherwise."

Charlotte calmed down, and Helix embraced her face with his hand and wiped away her tears with his thumb.

She pulled away after that and stood against the wall.

Helix motioned to Riley for a hug, who gratefully complied.

"We did everything right with what we had." He whispered while rubbing the back of Riley's hair.

She didn't bawl, but her face was streaming with tears. It was equally powerful because Riley's selflessness was the backbone of their relationship.

After a minute of healing silence, Helix turned to Atlas.

"Atlas… Thank you for speaking about this with them.

You're probably confused, but you did something important that we could not." Helix said with a grateful expression.

"You got Charlotte and Riley to open up, and I think it was what we needed to heal."

Atlas nodded in abstract understanding.

"I didn't do anything intentionally, but I'm happy I helped somehow."

Helix nodded in thanks.

After a short quiet period, Helix shattered the silence with a chuckle.

"Hey, Atlas. Do you want to flip off the Mad Queen with me?" Helix asked with a devious smile.

"Hey, Helix. Do you want to stop wasting my time with rhetorical questions?" Atlas sassed while standing up.

Helix led everyone outside and opened his item storage. When he did, Atlas' eyes relaxed in amusement.

"Hey, Helix. Did that wound you get turn you into an idiot or something?" He asked.

"Something like that." Helix shrugged.

"No, seriously. The Helix I knew would have raised hell to prevent fighting this thing." Atlas chuckled in bewilderment.

"He'd say something like…. What? Did you just say, [titan]?

Let me ask you something. Are you stupid?" He re-enacted.

The women started giggling after they heard the dramatic rendition.

It was true.

"Then he'd sigh and say, [let's set aside the obvious, and consider this fantasy world opportunity]." Atlas continued in a lecturer's voice.

"Every anime, light , and manga involving titans is bleak and full of death.

The main characters are depressed, angry, and traumatized.

Do you want that?

If you want to travel, can't we search for elves or something?"

Marie, Charlotte, and Riley had already broken the tear floodgates.

As a result, tears of laughter were streaming down their streaks.

Helix was staring at Atlas with a wry smile on his face.

"The pack of immature weebs would start fussing and calling for his assassination for ruining their romanticism." Atlas continued with a cheeky smile.

"Then he'd say, [on second thought, I think it's an excellent idea.

Have fun, everyone. I'm feeling sick today, but I hope to see you again]."

Helix burst into laughter alongside them.

"That is… something I'd say." He chuckled.

"So what the hell happened?" Atlas asked with a serious voice.

"You left rational and composed. Now you're holding a 15-foot finger of a Colossus, lifting it in the air, and taunting the evil god of Myriad."

The festive atmosphere died down, and everyone waited for Helix to speak.

"It is rational, Atlas." Helix sighed.

Atlas gave his friend a mocking smile.

"The Mad Queen isn't going to leave me alone.

So I need to get strong enough to protect myself and those beautiful ladies."

"Hellie, you can't fool us and pretend like that's all of it." Charlotte chuckled.

Atlas turned to Charlotte in amusement after seeing Helix's face cramp up.

"Due to the circumstances, accepting my fate requires more than becoming stronger than a bunch of cultivator wannabes." Helix reasoned.

"Hoh? Does it require lee~ding 1200 soldiers into battle against a titan?" Charlotte sassed with a wicked grin.

Helix grimaced and awaited judgment from Atlas.

"Led? As in…. You were their leader?" Atlas asked with a merciless grin.

"Yes. Part of the training was to be the leader so I could show my ability to exercise strategy and decision-making." Helix sighed.

"Did it also involve leading Kozen's army?" Charlotte mused with a finger on her lips.

Helix gave Charlotte a pleading expression before turning to Atlas sheepishly.

"No. However, with calamity spells, we could have hurt the soldiers.

So the main goal was to overcome that obstacle safely." Helix explained in a defeated tone.

"It was safer and easier to usurp the full control of the army than it was to try—"

"Did you just say you took control of the army because it was [easier]?" Marie asked with wide eyes.

Atlas, Charlotte, and Riley stared at him in disbelief.

"No. It wasn't necessarily easier. It was just faster and more efficient than—"

"Are you saying that you did it out of convenience?" Charlotte asked with an excited expression.

"What a boss move!"

She pumped her arms with excitement.

"Woah. I knew you were talented, but I didn't think you had enough skill to do something like that." Atlas commented with an amused expression.

"No. I just had considerable resources and power behind me.

It was an opportunity, and I was merely seizing—"

"Full power and authority of a country's military?" Atlas asked with a mocking grin.

"Using your power to seize things out of convenience.

You've become quite the little cultivator, I see?"

Helix shot Atlas a murderous expression.

"Woah, man. I was just commenting on your strength." Atlas said with his hands in the air.

He was faking his worry and was eating up the situation.

"Nah! Hellie is a war hero protagonist." Charlotte asserted.

"I don't want to be compared to that either…." Helix sighed in lament.

"Why not? Atlas, you should've seen him up there!" Charlotte commented with an excited tone.

"Before Hellie led his soldiers into battle, he gave them incredible war harangues."

Atlas grinned and looked at Marie and Riley.

"They were fantastic." Riley nodded sweetly.

"My heart was beating with excitement every time." Marie affirmed with a pride-filled expression.

"Hoh?" Atlas commented while turning to Helix.

"Yeah. You missed it. Hellie was like, [let's go skull fuck that ant, flip off the Mad Queen…], then he paused for dramatic effect and screamed, [AND MAKE HISTORY]!"

Charlotte unsheathed an invisible sword and held it high.

Marie and Riley burst into giggles, and Atlas followed.

Helix turned bright red in shame. Things had made a turn for the worse.

"You should've seen their faces every time he told them they'd go down in history as legends." Marie commented with excitement.

"They exploded in war cries that carried for miles."

"It was super exciting." Riley commented with an enthusiastic smile.

"Yeah. I felt like I was eating bloodlust soup just by breathing." Charlotte laughed.

"When the Colossus heard the war harangue, it almost shit itself."

The women burst into giggles.

Atlas listed with a bewildered grin.

"It wasn't that dramatic. I was just using buzzwords like [legendary], [history], [immortal], and other words tied to the words [glory] and [honor]." Helix sighed.

"Yup. It was genius how he used simple phrases like, [I want this thing's head] to great effect."

"Hoh? He was that selfish before asking people to fight and die?" Atlas chuckled.

Charlotte gave Atlas a wicked grin, and Helix grimaced when he saw it.

"No, no, no, Mr. A." She responded while wagging her finger, "That was [after] it was dead."

Atlas turned to Marie and Riley.

Both of them averted their gazes awkwardly.

Then he turned to Helix, who did the same thing.

"Wait. No way. You're saying that…." Atlas said with a bewildered expression.

"Right~O, Mr. A." Charlotte grinned.

"Hellie had a hundred people cast the Intent Spell and carve the thing's head off before the dissolving began."

"With something that size, I should be able to see the thing in the caravan, even if its gravity is modified." Atlas commented in a daze.

"That's because…." Marie giggled awkwardly, "He put it in his item storage."

Everyone burst into laughter when they saw Atlas' expression.

"I feel like you just put my brain through a blender and used it as an ingredient for psychological soup." Atlas remarked with shock.

"You can do that? Considering this finger bone, the skull needed to way at least a few tons…."

"It weighs eight tons." Marie clarified with a giggle.

"Helix can't show people because it takes a fifty by fifty-foot space to place it down safely."

"How the hell did you know that you could do that?" He asked Helix with wide eyes.

"He didn't. He said, and I quote, [I'm not sure if this will work. But after all the hell this thing put you through, we owe it to ourselves to try]." Charlotte reenacted with a proud voice.

Marie and Riley burst into giggles.

"I wasn't there, but it was displayed to everyone in the camp.

You should've seen the excitement on the people's faces in the medical waiting tent." Marie remarked with a bright smile.

Atlas turned back to Helix.

"Yo. What the hell happened to you?

Did you take an eight-week crash course in hell or something?" He asked.

"Something like that." Helix chuckled.

The women burst into laughter when they heard him.

"You haven't even heard of what training was like." Marie giggled.

"It was bru~tee~ul." Charlotte commented.

"Super hard." Riley added.

Atlas turned to Helix.

"They're not lying. I'm fairly certain we could winter in Alsonga for the next three months, and the super-otakus still wouldn't catch up." Helix chuckled, "Our teachers were that ruthless."

Marie, Charlotte, and Riley all nodded in complete agreement.

"Haaaaaaah. It's hard to believe all of this." Atlas chuckled in bewilderment.

"Don't worry, Atlas. There's a week to get you caught up." Charlotte said while slapping him on the back.

"It's lucky because you'll need it." Marie giggled.

—

[A/N: Long chapter to end the closing chapter of this mini-arc. Next up, the return arc!

Thank you, Zelos_draconis, for sponsoring today's three-chapter release. [Nightmare] is a special story that captures relationships, realism, and human emotion while exploring web cliches.

Hearing that someone made it this far and found that aspect special inspired me to continue writing and releasing this story's next arc.

As always, thank you to Rando_ for reminding me that someone's waiting for this story. You were 50% of this inspiration. Thank you both.]