Chương 234: Great Torment

"I know this smell~""Mmh… What smell, Xlown?" Without warning, while Mari was taking a break after wrestling with machinery that had a tendency to blast smoke all over her, Xlown just… Melted through the gap at the bottom of a door and announced something without elaboration.

The clown girl had a tendency to just say things, and then silently walked away, or occasionally hummed while moving like she was skipping through a meadow–She certainly was an odd character, but Mari had spent enough time around her to no longer be surprised, most of the time, at least. Xlown reshaped herself into her usual form, spun around and sat down next to Mari with a smug expression.

"The smell of bad people, Mari! They are still far, but I'll never forget their scent… The halfling and her assistant are heading this way. I must have done an oopsies at some point for them to know where to go""Hold on, that's very bad! Isn't it?!"

"Naaaah… Do you think the guards will let anyone in while Miss Leou is absent? Or that Miss Leou would allow them to actually look around inside the tower?"

"I mean, didn't you say that the halfling was the famous mage investigator? That woman has credentials and a great reputation. Wouldn't Miss Leou feel that turning her away would be a suspicious action?" Xlown tilted her head, her neck just bending until the back of her head could give a kiss to the front of her torso.

"Heh. You worry too much, Mari! We are safe here, especially since Miss Leou likes my mother" Mari choked on her own breath.

"W-What? Does Miss Leou really…? Like… Like as in… Like?" Xlown slowly blinked one eye at a time, a small smile plastered on her face.

"It's pretty obvious, you know? Didn't you notice how her tail has been getting more and more agitated when my mother touches her fluff? She was just a bit embarrassed at first, but it's way more than this now. Heheheh… I've even been doing my best spying on her after the petting sessions, and she always has to do some breathing exercises to calm herself down afterwards! Miss Leou is in loooove~""Ahahah, I might just have a new mommy soon!"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Oh shit… I wasn't paying attention to this, I was too focused on mechanistry! Oh fuck… Xlown, you've got to help me!"

"Help you with what? Hihihi""To be your new mommy instead of Miss Leou, you like me, right? We get along, don't we? You know how much I love your mother–What can I do to get a spot in her heart?"

"You shouldn't worry about this. My mother will be very happy if you can help with her upgrade stuff""But I am being left in the dust, Xlown! The two of them are getting close and already doing cute couple-like stuff while I work with machines all day and don't even get a pat on the head! Is my hair not soft-looking? I can make cute noises, too!" The clown girl shrugged.

"I don't really mind all that stuff, I know my mommy will pick a great other mommy regardless of who she chooses. Also, maybe I could have… Three mommies? Mmh? Did you think about that? My mother is great. She deserves to have multiple girlfriends""Multiple?" Mari almost went cross-eyed for a moment with how hard she thought.

"... I really am a lost cause""Why do you say that, Mari?"

"Because I just thought about how I would feel if I were just one girlfriend of several, and the first thing that came to mind was: 'As long as I'm one of them'. This is terrible! My standards are buried in the ground. They are dead! Deader than dead! What would my parents think if they knew that my biggest goal in life was to at least make it into the good graces of another woman, who would have others in her good graces?!"

"Don't worry, it isn't that deep""I think it is pretty deep, Xlown. I am settling to be part of the B-team, and the worst part is that I think that I would be over the moon even if I were her freaking tenth pick! Oh, gods…"

"Hey, don't worry so much. I'll try to get in a few good words about you to my mother! She's keeping you around, so you have a chance""Do you really believe that, or are you just being nice?"

"Listen, I think you are great, and I would love to be able to call you Mamari one day""... How… How long have you been waiting to make this joke, Xlown…?"

"Since I've learned what your name was–I am not joking, though, I really think you can become my second–Or third–Mama. Have you perhaps considered growing fluff to appeal to my mother more?"

"This is very realistic, Xlown…" Mari sighed. She wondered just how much her relationship with Mara–Whom she only knew as Maya right now–Would progress if she were to become able to help her gain more upgrades… It was hard to tell, as much as Mari loved and admired Mara, she couldn't quite get a good idea of how the monstrous being who had tried to murder her and had instead stolen her heart, truly thought. Stolen story; please report.

Maybe there were already feelings floating in the air, or perhaps there were none.

"One good step would be to familiarise yourself with my aunties. If they like you, it will drastically increase your chances. That's an advantage you have over Miss Leou, our fluffy friend doesn't know about them, but you do""Right, that makes sense. I used to be a caretaker, I can make friends with young girls… Mmh, are they more young girls, or young women, actually? It's hard to tell since they are ghosts" Xlown opened her mouth to respond, but she suddenly twisted her neck right around.

"They are at the city gates""I thought you said that they were still far?"

"I meant far in relation to how far I can smell things""So… It wasn't actually that far?"

"Pretty much" Mari and Xlown stopped talking and began creeping through windows, and with the clown girl's guidance, they soon spotted a group of six people approaching the tower.

"Oh boy… Binibelle, the famed detective-mage, and Slayer Blade's adventurer party! I am not putting a single toe outside of this tower, and you should do the same. This is a dangerous line-up""You know these folks?"

"Yes, they are quite famous, especially their leader–That woman at the front is a devil with a sword""Mmh…" The two of them observed the situation, but as expected, the group wasn't allowed in. No one could get in Miss Leou's absence unless she had said something in advance, and since these were uninvited, they were stopped at the entrance by the guards. The group didn't make a fuss and turned back without arguing, probably saying that they would wait for Leou to come back before coming again.

"You'll need to tell Miss Leou about this when she comes back. It would be best if they were allowed in, but you hid away whilst they are present… Do you know how to mask your energy signature and such?"

"Huh… Not really, no""We'll need to work on that…"

"Damn it…" Gilepre cursed under his breath after he came crashing to the ground. Ever since that malevolent curse had been placed upon him, he had been introduced to an entire new realm of torment… Endless nightmares. Endless trials…

"Did I really manage to pick a fight with the foul creature responsible for the Nightmare Plague…? My Lord… Forgive my insolence, but I fear that you've bitten more than you could chew this time" He pushed himself up, looking around, only to see never-ending darkness in all directions.

"What kind of nightmare is this? It better not be another one of those where I need to find my way in the dark" He had faced one of those previously, and while there had been no danger, he had been stuck trying to find his way for hours. The trial had prohibited all usage of light, so magic had been a no-go. Something appeared in front of his eyes–He had never seen one in his entire life, but he knew that this was a system panel, or at least something incredibly similar to one.

"Are these nightmares linked to the System?" Greetings, Gilepre. You are the first to reach so far–Welcome to the pre-final trial Gilepre blinked. He remembered hearing that the Nightmare Plague had a final trial, but no pre-final trial. Do note that failure to survive this trial will result in your demise Success in surviving this trial will grant you a reward for being the first"A reward? Could I… Free myself?"

If his wildest expectation was correct, then winning this trial would allow him to escape, and if he was able to stay awake, he might just make it back to his lord and get assistance to remove or restrain the curse, preventing the final trial from beginning, which he had heard was incredibly deadly. He cracked his neck, focused at its peak. Taking into account your personal strength, achievements in life, and overall success rates throughout all of the previous trials…

The system panel went from the blueish colour he had always heard it was supposed to have, to a dark, deep shade of purple–He didn't like it one bit. In consideration of your excellent performances, the following pre-final trial was selected: Glown's Wonderland - A. S U. T"What the hell does this stand for?" Instead of an answer, Gilepre was brutally thrown to the ground again, but this time, he was lying inside an illuminated room.

"What the hell is the need to fling me around about?!" He rose to his feet, taking in his surroundings. He was in a clean room. The ground was shiny and reflective. Behind him, there was a large set of steel lockers, a mop in a corner, large overhead lights casting lightning-powered illumination, a door on his right, and a door on his left. In front of him was a desk and a chair. He sat down, inspecting the monitor before him.

Gilepre knew about mechanistry, but he had never personally interacted with anything like that. Additionally, there was a small device showing the precise hour, even including the seconds–But it was frozen at the moment. He opened the drawers of the desk, finding a few tools and, most of all, a blank book. It seemed useless, but it was accompanied by a pencil. He felt that this would come in handy. There was also something else on the desk, but he didn't have a clue what it was.

There were a bunch of buttons with numbers on them, and some sound would play when they were pressed, but that was it. Lastly, behind the monitor, stretching across the wall was a wide window currently covered by blinds. Looking through them, he only saw darkness. Just as he was wondering what the point of this nightmare was, the system panel returned. Previously, the goal of nightmares had simply appeared inside his mind, but he guessed that the pre-final trials worked differently.

Welcome to Glown's Wonderland - A. S U. T! Also known as: Glown's Wonderland - All Shifts, Ultimate Terror! This particular pre-final trial is one of the more difficult currently available, testing reaction speed, stamina, focus over long periods, intelligence, wisdom, and strategic thinking all at once!

In this variant of Glown's Wonderland, you will have to complete all shifts with all difficulty parameters activated Fortunately for you, the creator of this nightmare is magnanimous and granted you a peaceful shift during which you will be able to experiment and familiarise yourself with your surroundings–You can even leave the office to look around, and perhaps even find some useful things… Who knows?

For your convenience, time will flow more slowly than on other nights, so you will have more than the usual eleven hours, how kind!

"Eleven hours?!" All Terror is active. Therefore, both 'Longer Shifts' and 'Overtime' are active as well Good luck, Gilepre