The Dread of Damned - Chapter 99: Energized

What happens when you survive seven hellish years on an alien planet in the ultimate battle of the strongest in the universe—as a human?What happens when you give everything you have and more to defeat the final boss in a battle to the death… only to wake up the next second, back at day one?Going through it all over again?But something is wrong.The game in his hands isn’t Nyxfall 6: Dark End, the world he spent over seven years surviving. It’s Nyxfall 7: The Veilbreakers—the next installment.He won? So now he’s been given another game to play?And he’s not alone. There are others like him in every alien civilization. This time, it’s not just survival—it’s about who can lead their people best.That is… if they even care about their people at all.Why bother leading at all? With everything they have learned, why not exploit the system, amass unimaginable wealth, and live like a king in a game that pays in real money?

Derek Carter never asked for a System, an apocalypse, or the pressure of being humanity’s so-called “last hope.”He was just trying to survive the daily struggles of being an orphan in Paleview City—dodging bullies, scraping together meals, and lying his way into school. Life was already hard enough.Then, one day, a blue screen pops into his vision:[Warning: The world is doomed. Try not to die.]Yeah, great. Just what he needed—cryptic doomsday messages and no instruction manual.Now, monsters are creeping into the city, reality is unraveling, and Damien’s “legendary” starting stats are barely above zero. The System promises him power, but there's just one tiny problem—he’s never won a fight in his life.Armed with sarcasm, questionable decision-making skills, and the sheer refusal to die, Damien is about to embark on the worst (and possibly last) adventure of his life. Because if the world really is ending… he’s at least going to make it someone else’s problem first.After all, heroes are overrated—survivors get to tell the story.

“I want to see my money's worth. You belong to me now. So, strip!” he ordered coldly, taking a sip from his cognac.I fought back my tears, my trembling hands fiddling with the zipper of my shorts. His icy green eyes were latched onto my body the whole time, surveying the littlest movements I made like a predator. I was bare in front of him in no time, almost tempted to shield my body away from him with my hands.But I couldn't. Not when he had absolute control over me now.“Get on your knees and crawl to me.”••••Nylah Frost has been stuck in the underworld as a stripper long enough to have made a name for herself, but when push came to shove and her best friend's life was on the line, she broke the rules that guarded the club she worked at, sleeping with and stealing from the devil, Alpha Xavier Wilde, the most feared and ruthless Alpha, who is renowned for crushing his enemies effortlessly.When the little stripper stole from him, Xavier Wilde was extremely intrigued by her boldness, and it triggered his dark, predatory side that sought to chase after her and possess her.A sense of ownership that was supposed to be a game of endless pleasure to him soon became his undoing. How does heartless Alpha see her more than his property and an object of pleasure?Will Nylah allow herself to see past the hatred she has for him?

In this world, some say, the truth and the legends are the same. One such legend belonged to the protagonist, Valerian.

Valerian was an orphan, a boy blessed with a beautiful face, and everyone around him, could not help but want to play with him, till one day a prophet passing through their town pronounced him to be cursed.

Since that day, the destiny of the boy seemed to have changed completely, he was shunned by everyone around him, and the gazes that were earlier filled with love and affection, now brimmed with disgust and hatred.

The constant shunning and humiliation made the cheerful child grow up to be bitter and inexpectant. On his seventh birthday, things changed once again.

This time, it was not the people around him who went through a change, but himself. As he grew up, Valerian became a legend in his own sense.

The people sang of a boy, who could not speak, they shed tears for a boy, who could not grieve. He came from nowhere yet he was known everywhere.

Would you like to know this legend? A story where a curse can become a blessing? A story of sacrifice, betrayal, determination, and secrets.