The four reincarnators had basically reached an agreement, and even Matt was persuaded.
With her current energy, Maria intended to leave immediately, but the old priest stopped her just as they took a step.
The old man looked at them with a slightly complicated expression.
"Children, I don't know why you care about me so much, or why you have to leave so soon, but you are too tired. Whatever you have to do, get some sleep first. It won't take too long."
This statement had a great effect, and Maria seemed somewhat hesitant.
The veteran with the severed hand turned to Maria and spoke.
“The old priest is right, Maria. Although the Supreme God will not allow us to keep running away, He will give the reincarnators some breathing room. We need to rest and be in good condition to face Freddy.”
In the end, Maria was persuaded.
"All right!"
She faced the old priest.
"Thank you, Father. May we rest in the general store for a while? We'll have a few blankets."
“Of course, Mach, take them to my lounge.”
The grocery store and the residence are connected; the front half is the shop, and the back half has living facilities.
The old priest's lounge was actually his study, with a comfortable recliner, but it was certainly not enough for four people to sleep in.
However, the general store does not lack items such as bedding.
Mach laid two blankets on the floor as sheets, then brought out four thin blankets and pillows.
The four of them didn't even have time to complain, and practically fell asleep the moment their heads hit the pillow.
Mach was about to ask them if they wanted to eat something first, but he immediately heard thunderous snoring, so fast it was almost like a Baku's hypnotic snoring.
They slept soundly, the most restful sleep they had had since arriving in this story world.
I slept without dreams, from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m.
The air conditioner in the study was kept at a constant temperature, making the four of them sleep very comfortably.
At 10 p.m. sharp, Maria was the first to wake up.
"Phew~~"
She stretched, stood up from her futon, and felt clear-headed and full of energy.
Hearing her commotion, the two veterans also woke up and started moving their arms and legs. Seeing that Matt was still asleep, one of them gave him a couple of light kicks to the buttocks.
"Knock knock knock~"
There was a knock on the study door, and Mach's pleasant voice came from outside.
"Are you awake? I've prepared dinner for you, it'll be heated up soon, come and eat!"
The four of them took turns going to the toilet to wash up quickly. When they came out, the aroma of steak and toast filled the air, and the drinks were the grocery store's signature coffee.
The old priest sat in an empty chair at the dining table, giving the impression of a parent watching over a child.
"Don't be shy. This steak is Mach's specialty. No one else but me has ever had the chance to taste it. If others knew, they would be insanely jealous."
Having come this far, Maria and the other three naturally stopped being polite and began to feast on the appetizing dinner.
No one asked why the priests weren't eating, since it was already past ten o'clock and they had already eaten dinner or a late-night snack.
“Children, I heard from the hotel owner that you seem to have been very anxious and haven’t been resting much. Of course, I didn’t investigate you on purpose; it was the hotel staff who told me.”
"Why don't you rest here for a few more days? Your condition can't be recovered just by sleeping."
The old priest's words became even more convincing at this moment; that nap had been so comfortable.
Matt looked at his three teammates with a pleading expression, and even Maria hesitated.
'We're not trying to run away. Just one more night of rest, it should be fine!'
Just when all four of them were finding it hard to let go and were beginning to waver.
"Knock knock knock~"
There was a knock on the side door of the grocery store in front.
Mach shouted at the top of his lungs.
Who is it?
"It's me, Kerry from the inn. I bought the wrong weight of coffee beans this morning, and now the owner doesn't have enough and is insisting I come back to buy more. Um, Mr. Berg, I know you're still awake, but please help me so I can buy some coffee beans!"
The young waiter at the inn kept talking.
Matt, hands on his hips, shouted irritably towards the outside.
"We've been closed for ages!"
The old priest smiled at the people at the table, then said to Mach.
"Alright, Mach, Clay will get his salary docked if he goes back empty-handed. Let's help him out, it's not a big deal."
As he spoke, the old priest stood up from his seat and stopped Maher, who was about to open the door, pointing to the empty plate.
"Mach, could you serve our guests some more steak? One piece doesn't seem enough. Luckily, you cooked enough."
Maria stuck out her tongue. As a girl, she usually only ate steak, but today she ate a big piece and still felt it wasn't enough. The grocery store gave the four reincarnators a warm and safe feeling, which made her appetite so good that she made up for what she had eaten in the past few days.
Watching the old priest leave, the lights in the front half of the general store were off. The old priest walked to the switch and pressed it, but the lights in front did not turn on.
"Looks like this light bulb is broken again. I guess there's a problem with the voltage. I'll have someone fix it tomorrow," the old man muttered to himself.
Maria was still happily waiting for her second steak.
However, watching the old priest's figure disappear into the darkness, I felt a slight unease.
The Baku that swallowed Freddy's dream seemed to sense something special, perhaps from that mysterious "god".
In short, the main god may be somewhat dissatisfied with the reincarnators' behavior of relying on the old priest's protection, and may have a slight desire to influence Freddy's actions. Originally, Freddy could not sense the main god behind the scenes, and would only suddenly have a whim to do something, but the dream eater was different.
Since that's the case, let's grant its wish.
The old priest walked to the side door of the general store in the front hall, unlocked the door, and opened it. Outside stood Kerry, whose face was not clearly visible due to the darkness.
"Thank God, Mr. Berg, you finally opened the door, otherwise I would have been scolded to death by the boss."
"Alright, Clay, how much do you want to buy? The foyer light is broken, wait a moment while I light a candle."
"Okay, give me another 5 pounds!"
Through the passageway, Maria and the others could also see what was happening at the general store.
The old priest found a candle, lit it, and the foyer was instantly illuminated.
But apart from Matt, who was engrossed in eating his steak, Maria and the two veterans suddenly changed their expressions.
That Clay was actually standing with his eyes closed!
"Sleepwalking!?"
"Oh no! It's Freddy!"
Clay, who had his eyes closed, suddenly turned ferocious and pulled out a sharp knife from behind, stabbing it into the back of the old priest who was facing the candle.
"Clang!"
The plate in Mach's hand fell to the ground.
"Grandpa!" "Father!" "No~".
The people at the table spoke almost simultaneously, and they rushed into the grocery store in the front hall as fast as they could.
But all that could be seen were two figures collapsing to the ground.
One was an elderly priest who had been stabbed, and the other was Kerry, who had transitioned from a sleepwalking state to normal sleep.
The two veterans, with their superior physical abilities, arrived at the front hall almost a second after the old priest was stabbed. One assisted the old priest, while the other captured Kerry. Maher, Maria, and Matt arrived late.
Veins bulged on one of the veterans' faces as he glared hatefully at Clay, sparks flying from his clenched fist.
"Stop...stop...cough..."
The old priest stopped him.
"Grandpa! Don't say anything, I'll call an ambulance right now!"
As Mach spoke, he tried to leave to get the phone, but the old priest grabbed his hand.
"No, don't go away, Mach... It's no use, my heart... it's been pierced! Don't leave!"
Mach's tears flowed like a showerhead, and he choked up, unable to utter a complete sentence.
The old priest turned to look at the veteran reincarnator whose fist was wreathed in flames, which made the room temperature rise slightly.
"You guys really aren't ordinary people... You were right... Freddy... He's back from hell!"
The old priest stopped anyone who wanted to speak with his bloodied hands.
"Listen to me! While I still have the strength!"
"Just now... in the instant I was stabbed... I, I thought I saw him... Don't blame Kerry, he's innocent... Freddy, he, cough cough..."
As the priest coughed, a large amount of blood gushed from the wound on his chest where a sharp knife had pierced through.
Everyone knew that, given the priest's advanced age of over eighty, such injuries would almost certainly be fatal.
An experienced person sprayed hemostatic spray on the wound without regard for the cost, but even the products made by the Supreme God have their limits. The cheap hemostatic spray covered the wound but could not reconnect blood vessels and the heart.
"Freddy... he was in so much pain! In that instant... I, I saw him through Kerry... he... cough cough... huff huff huff~"
At this point, the old man's breathing became rapid, and all the color drained from his face.
He struggled to lift his head, his body began to tremble, and he gripped Mach's hand tightly, his eyes revealing endless care, reluctance, and worry.
Maher held the old man, saying nothing, shouting, just weeping incessantly.
Finally, the old priest stopped trembling and became lifeless.
"Crunch, crunch~~~"
The veteran's knuckles cracked wildly, his right hand trembled violently, and he barely suppressed the urge to punch Kerry.
He knew the old priest didn't want to do this, and he knew that one punch would smash Kerry's head to pieces.
Maria clutched her hair, sobbing and taking deep breaths. Matt stood there, stunned, his lip bleeding from being bitten. The two veterans had bloodshot eyes, their breaths coming in like those of mad bulls.
This venerable elder has passed away.
Even after experiencing the hardships of reality and the cruel fears of the cycle of reincarnation, this old man remains the kindest person they have ever met.
Even in his final moments, when he learned that Freddy had killed him, his concern was not revenge, but redemption.
Yes, the old priest didn't finish his last sentence, but everyone present understood what he meant.
'We killed him!'
Maria, Matt, and the two veterans all had the same thought in mind at that moment.
Some of them were even afraid to look at Mach.
"You should go...go and do what you need to do..."
Maher held the old man's body without looking up; his voice had lost its usual cheerfulness, replaced by coldness and sorrow.
Maria wanted to say something, but the veteran with the severed hand shook his head at her.
They put all the remaining cash they brought with them under the grocery store's cash register. Although it wouldn't make up for much, it would at least make Mach's life a little better in the future.
"Wait! Take this with you!"
Before leaving, Mach caught up with them and gave Maria a bloodstained cross pendant.
...
When I left the grocery store, it was drizzling.
The four men stood silently in the rain for a long time without speaking. In the surrounding darkness, Freddie's fantasies seemed to flash through his mind from time to time.
They knew it might not be an illusion, but the four of them no longer felt much fear.
"Let's go back to the hotel and get some sleep!"
The four of them have a simple thought right now.
There are only three possible outcomes for me.
Over 90% of them died in their dreams; the remaining 10% either truly redeemed Freddy or sent him to hell.
To be honest, they prefer the last one.
...
When they regained consciousness, Maria and Matt saw for the first time the enormous sphere of light in the center of the empty hall.
"God, heal everyone! Deduct the points from your own account, and if you don't have enough, deduct from me!"
A veteran's voice rang out, and four beams of white light instantly enveloped the four people.
Each person was suspended in the white light for a while before being put down, clearly indicating that the trauma they suffered was not as simple as it appeared.
Surprisingly, the severed arm of the veteran who lost his hand also grew back in the records.
After all the treatments were completed, the four of them reunited under the sphere of divine light.
"This time the losses have been truly devastating!"
Kosby sighed. He was the man with the missing hand, and the other, a veteran as strong as a bull, was named Reeves.
"yes..."
Maria murmured.
In their final, desperate battle, they fought Freddy to the death in a nightmare. Because their fear had diminished, they performed even better in the dream than ever before.
They didn't expect to defeat Freddy in the dream. If Plan One didn't work, the timed mechanism would inject adrenaline to wake one of them and prepare to implement Plan Two.
The old priest's cross played a significant role, and Freddy seemed somewhat afraid of it.
Perhaps it was the old priest's Holy Spirit's blessing, but surprisingly, this time they entered Freddie's childhood.
While evading Freddy's pursuit, she learns about the past from "Little Freddy" in her dreams.
Ultimately, when Freddy was a teenager and about to succumb to evil, the cross in Mary's hand guided them to the home of the old priest.
In the dream, the kind old priest seemed to be over eighty years old, and his pure and kind soul remained unchanged.
Freddy was redeemed, though the process was inevitably fraught with twists and turns and thrills, but he was ultimately redeemed.
Just like that evil demon who has committed many evils, there is a hidden kindness in his heart that also hopes to be redeemed. This dream may be the last struggle of good thoughts.
At the last moment, Freddy removed the knife glove from his hand, and his whole body was enveloped in light.
The main god promptly notified everyone that the mission was complete, and the reward was upgraded to two B-level side quests and 10,000 points for each person. Maria even received one A-level side quest and one B-level side quest.
After the story ended, Maria naturally unlocked one segment of her genetic lock.
The four remained silent for a while, and one of the more experienced individuals felt that they couldn't be so pessimistic; he seemed to have thought of something.
"By the way, Maria, have those two items appraised!"
Maria paused for a moment before realizing what Reeves was talking about.
She took out a pair of sharp gloves and a cross necklace from her bosom; the bloodstains on the cross on the necklace seemed impossible to wash off.
"Lord God, I need to authenticate these two items."
Two beams of white light shone on it, and only then did the item's information emerge.
"Freddy's Dream Gloves: When worn, it grants the ability to enter the dreams of others and harm them within those dreams. External injuries are treated the same as those in the dream. The strength of the ability depends on the user's mental strength."
"The Cross of the Saints: Legend has it that the cross stained with the blood of Jesus possesses magical power, and this cross is no exception. It is a cross stained with the holy blood of a Catholic saint before his death, and it possesses magical power. It may have a unique effect on certain evil deities, but the specific effects are unknown."
...
Inside the shrine of Morian in the underworld, Wu You yawned, his arm around Ma He's slender waist, but his face was full of smiles.
"Well done, Little Mary!"
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