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To confront this unprecedented invasion, several powerful presences appeared one after another. Not only those who came to stop it, but also those who sought to benefit from the chaos.

"Looks like it’s cleaning duty time, boys and girls! We cannot let these things escape, or Japan is finished!"

A tall, muscular werewolf stepped forward. Fur bristled along his arms, sharp fangs gleamed in his jaws, and his clear wolf-like eyes shone beneath his sunglasses. His long golden hair, resembling a lion’s mane, whipped wildly in the wind. Behind him, several others began transforming fully into werewolves, their unified howls echoing across the battlefield.

"How horrible! An invasion from the Nightmare Realm? This hasn’t happened in over seven hundred years... We must do everything in our power to stop it, my family!"

A beautiful vampire queen emerged, her long red hair flowing dramatically. Her sharp crimson eyes glowed with intensity as she stood in elegant black-and-red armor-dress, crowned by a long hat adorned with feathers and flowers. She carried a black-and-red gothic parasol. Behind her, dozens of pale-skinned, red-eyed vampires stepped forward, radiating thick waves of blood energy. Thanks to the darkness cast by the Nightmare Entity, which had blocked out the sunlight, they could move freely even in the middle of the day.

"Matsuo and the other students are here. Rescuing them is our top priority! However, all magicians capable of fighting, please give everything you have to eliminate these beasts! We cannot allow them to leave this barrier, or Japan will suffer casualties we cannot afford!"

Finally, a tall, slender young woman soared through the skies. She wore a traditional white-and-red shrine maiden outfit and a crown shaped like a rising sun. Her long black hair streamed behind her, and her glowing golden eyes radiated powerful divine energy. Behind her followed nearly a hundred Onmyōji and monks from the Amaterasu Clan.

The three great families—the three guardians of Japan—had united. Werewolves, vampires, and the Amaterasu Clan: beings who would never have cooperated before, now stood together in the modern age, setting aside all differences to protect their families and territories from a common enemy.

The werewolves howled as one, forming teams and charging into the aberrant Nightmares. The monsters roared back, surging toward them. Each Nightmare was unique: some appeared as faint humanoid silhouettes made of white salt or geometric shapes, while others took the form of bizarre monstrous giants, twisted beasts, or even dragon-like abominations.

Every Nightmare had taken the shape of the person who had birthed it. The werewolves, vampires, and Amaterasu Clan all knew they were fighting against innocent citizens corrupted by the Nightmare Entity. Yet they had no choice but to put them down before the curse could spread any further.

"I DON’T WANT TO WORK ANYMOREEEEEE!"

A man tormented by his soul-crushing job screamed in rage. His Nightmare Heart had fully bloomed, birthing a monstrous entity that swallowed him whole. The creature still faintly resembled its original human form, but now it was grotesquely stretched and covered in floating letters and numbers, endlessly wailing its despair.

The Nightmare’s Realm distorted reality itself, warping space and swallowing a group of werewolves inside it. The Werewolf King immediately noticed that these creatures possessed strange, never-before-seen abilities.

"It seems each of these things has its own Domain! Be careful! We’re facing hundreds of them! I’ll have to get serious!"

He leaped toward the Nightmare of Overwork and charged straight into its Realm. The moment he entered, he found himself in an entirely different world.

"A Domain?! This is almost like a small Realm of its own! What kind of power is this?!"

He was horrified to see his werewolves bleeding heavily, pierced by dozens of giant pencils while their blood and souls were slowly drained by the Nightmare.

"Who are you?! Go away! GET HIM!"

The Nightmare hissed and roared. A swarm of Nightmare Monsters—spiders made of paperwork and giant pencils—rushed toward him, completely covering his body.

"Hahahaha... hehehehehe! Easyyyy! It’s so easyyyyy to kill!"

The Nightmare laughed maniacally, utterly corrupted from its former human self.

However—

BOOOM!

A massive explosion of blinding golden light erupted, blasting the nightmare monsters away and reducing them to ashes in an instant.

"Well, we got off on the wrong foot..." the Werewolf King said with a fierce smile. His muscles bulged as he remained in his human form, not yet needing to transform. "How about we have a little chat? Would you be happier if I increased your salary?"

"SHUT UP!!!"

The Nightmare shrieked. Reality warped around it as giant skyscrapers burst from the ground, crawling with dark gray office workers. Their limbs were unnaturally elongated like spiders’, their eyes pure white voids, and their mouths stretched open in silent screams.

It seemed the Nightmare Realms truly embodied the deepest fears of their vessels, even creating monsters born from those very fears.

The Werewolf King didn’t dwell on the thought. Facing the swarm of hundreds of cursed office workers, he simply gathered energy into his fist and charged forward with a powerful swing.

"Enough is enough."

BOOOMMM!!!

A devastating explosion of golden aura, vast as an ocean, tore through everything. Half the Nightmare Realm shattered and vanished. Caught in the center of the blast, the Nightmare screamed in agony as it rapidly disintegrated.

"No...! I don’t want to work anymoreeeeee!"

The Werewolf King retrieved his wounded pack members and stepped out of the collapsing Realm. What remained of it sank to the ground and disappeared. He briefly wondered where it went, but there was no time to ponder.

"Hmph. Looks like those who turn into these things cannot return to normal... They’re already dead," he sighed, holding the small, apple-sized black crystal that was all that remained of the office worker. "I’m sorry. At least I was able to free you from that hell. May you rest in peace, little human."

He stored the crystal and quickly called for the Amaterasu troops, who were handling healing duties. As they tended to the wounded werewolves, he charged forward once more, tearing through Nightmare Monsters and diving into several Nightmare Realms one after another, slaying the creatures within.

The vampires and their queen moved with far greater speed and cunning than the reckless werewolves. Working in perfect coordination, they took down several Nightmares on their own, showcasing superior physical prowess and devastating blood magic that surpassed even the werewolves and humans.

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