The Champion sat on his throne.
He had been reading through the old database for a long time in search of answers.
And in the end, he got them.
A random Protector stationed in the Desolate Continent.
Yet, he had made several trips to Crimson City because of Envy.
Simon just gave normal mission reports, but they said a lot.
'Envy wants something in Crimson City at all cost.'
'The unexplained destruction of Anatomy's headquarters.'
'Mere moments after Anatomy was destroyed, Simon Francium went back to his post before leaving for Aegis' headquarters.'
'The Liaison Program was established almost immediately after.'
'Nick Dusk became the Liaison, and the program launched in Crimson City.'
'Based on the reports, the Liaison Program was a tremendous success.'
'Zephyx output increased. Happiness increased.'
'But then, it was suddenly halted.'
'The program should have continued, but it didn't.'
The Champion looked at the list of Expert trainees.
'Nick Dusk can't be found in these lists, but there are several records that have been broken shortly after the Liaison Program ended.'
The Champion also looked at the entry about the Consumption in general.
It stated that experiments on consuming a Peak Elder had been inconclusive.
'It should be physically impossible. Yet, they say that it's inconclusive.'
'Edited by the Technician.'
This time, the Champion could restore the unedited files.
'It says that absorbing a Peak Elder has not been tried since it was judged to be impossible.'
'But in the newer version, it says inconclusive.'
After that, the Champion looked at the Technician's research notes from that time.
'Shortly after the edit, he added a lot of entries about Specter abilities and how Specters worked in general.'
'Then, some years later, he stopped adding anything about Specters.'
'That's also where Nick Dusk's traces end.'
The Champion narrowed his eyes.
'And Julian Winter's traces begin.'
'Julian…' the Champion thought as he looked at Simon Francium's mission reports.
'There was a Specter called Julian that Simon killed. Julian acted as the CEO of Dark Dream.'
'Conveniently, there's no mention of the CZE.'
'But Julian didn't make Dark Dream. It took over.'
Since this entry was solely about the Specter named Julian, Dark Dream was only a footnote.
However, the Champion had found something in a peculiar place.
When he had looked through Crimson City, he had found the Melfion family's own history texts.
That was when the Champion stumbled upon mentions of Wyntor Melfion, the one who had actually created Dark Dream.
'A boy from the Dregs. He has amnesia. He was sixteen when Wyntor made him a CZE.'
'Amnesia. Uneducated. Successfully passed Ghosty's Lab's exam but didn't get hired.'
'Someone named Albert helped them, an old researcher.'
'Nick Nick was still the CZE under Julian's leadership.'
'Wyntor Melfion must have been his friend or benefactor. Nick Nick must have felt very grateful towards Wyntor.'
'But something happened.'
'Wyntor Melfion died mysteriously, and Nick Nick gave Dark Dream to Julian.'
'It sounds like Julian had Nick Nick under control, but what if he didn't?'
'Julian Winter. Julian. Wyntor Melfion.'
'Nick Nick, Nick Dusk, Julian Winter.'
'This is too specific to be a coincidence.'
'Nick Nick became a CZE, and he allowed Dark Dream to become powerful. Then, Crimson Fungus City turned into Crimson City after the Crimson Sea incident.'
'Wyntor died shortly after.'
'Nick Nick worked under Julian, and Dark Dream became even more powerful.'
'When the Anatomy incident happened, Simon Francium found out that Julian was a Specter.'
'He should have killed Nick Nick as well since Nick Nick must have known that Julian was a Specter.'
'Vernon Melfion, the progenitor of the Melfion family, also died mysteriously during the incident.'
'Aria Light became the Governor when Nick Dusk became the Liaison.'
'Aria Light was Kugelblitz's CZE, and Kugelblitz owned the Fiend of Darkness.'
'Anatomy's building had to be completely dark since everyone had been turned into minions, making them immune to the Nightmare.'
'How could anyone sneak in there and plant all of these bombs?'
'For that matter, how could anyone sneak into Aegis' headquarters several times?'
'Nick Nick, or Nick Dusk, excels at staying hidden.'
'Envy was very interested in Nick Nick.'
'Nick Nick had an ability that Envy desperately wanted.'
'Nick Nick's primary ability had to be related to an Adversary or an Eternal.'
'I know all of the Adversaries, and none of them fit the description.'
'Yet, there is an Eternal that fits the description.'
'Amnesia. The Null is not intelligent. There have been cases in which someone managed to synchronize with the Null.'
'And every single one of them had amnesia.'
'But that's not enough to warrant waking the old Champion.'
'Nick Nick must have found something earth-shattering. Something that could allow Aegis to win against the Specters.'
'The Fiend of Darkness.'
The Champion narrowed his eyes.
'The Sun sees everything.'
'But does it actually?'
The Champion remembered one of the questions the two Shields had thrown at him.
'Why does the Nightmare exist?'
'The most logical explanation would be to force people into the light.'
'Is it because the Sun can't see anything that its light doesn't touch?'
'A hidden city or base.'
'Humans can't live there because of the Nightmare.'
'Unless they are unaffected by the Nightmare.'
'Can the Fiend of Darkness give people access to the Nightmare?'
'Is everyone in the hidden base attuned to the Nightmare?'
'Julian Winter's knowledge of technology is far beyond our level.He couldn't have achieved that on his own.'
'But if he had a dedicated team of researchers behind his back…'
That was when the Champion remembered the time they had exchanged 1,000 Demons.
'He said he would destroy all of them, but can we be sure that he did?'
'What if he only destroyed half of them?'
'In that case, he would have 500 Demons for his hidden base.'
'Humans who are immune to the Nightmare.'
'And there are a lot of them.'
'If he needs that many Demons, there must be thousands of Heroes.'
The Champion leaned back on his throne.
The picture became clear.
Nick Dusk was Julian Winter.
He could access the Nightmare.
And he had an entire city of powerful and highly advanced humans under him.
'Why? It's not for food. There are easier ways to gain food.'
The answer was clear.
'A secret resistance.'
'They want to kill the Sun.'
tg://resolv?domain=Kill_the_Sun_fastes
The author's . If he gets more than 1000€ per month, he will increase the number of words in the chapter.