The Encroaching Nightmare

The Encroaching Nightmare (悪蝕のナイトメア) was a mini story event in Assault Lily: Last Bullet, starring Serizawa Chikaru, with Aizawa Kazuha in a supporting role. It ran from May 19, 2022 to May 31, 2022.

Plot

I'm beyond repair. It's not just my senses, but my soul... it's all of me.
We can't go back to what we were like before. I can't ever be part of them anymore... part of Hervör.
...
Wait just a little longer, Makoto. I'll be joining you soon.

—Serizawa Chikaru, The Encroaching Nightmare, scene 3-1

This plot summary was not originally written for this wiki, and may have errors or be missing important details.

Serizawa Chikaru goes to the infirmary and gets a new supply of the stabilizer pills that she needs to take in order to fight. She then goes on a mission with Legion Hervör. They run into a special-type Huge, which disorients them with some kind of mental attack that warps everyone's senses in different ways, but manage to force the special-type to flee even in that state. After that, they return to Herensuge.

The other members of Hervör recovered as soon as the fight ended, but Chikaru still feels wrong; specifically, her right eye hurts. She takes a stabilizer to see if it helps and then lies down to rest.

Hervör meets up in the cafeteria, where everyone's excited because they just got some new outfits made for them with the cooperation of Sielulintu (but Renka and Yo's didn't fit well and need to be adjusted.) Chikaru's eye is still bothering her and so she made an addition, an eyepatch of sorts. The others react by sneering at her and saying things like "that's so dumb!" and "what gave you the idea to do that?"... except when she blinks, they're smiling at her and saying "It really suits you, Chikaru!"

After that, Hervör goes out to relax and have fun in town, with Chikaru trying to act like nothing is wrong, but getting steadily more worried and confused... until suddenly, she sees the special-type Huge! She attacks it with her CHARM, and when it's too late to stop, she realizes she's attacked Kazuha. Kazuha isn't seriously injured, but the other members of Hervör are appalled what she did. Horrified, Chikaru runs away.

Now by herself, Chikaru sinks into a deep depression, believing she can never go back to Hervör or Herensuge. She decides that the only thing she can do now is die. She remembers her dear friend who died in Koshu, Makoto, and says "Wait just a little longer, Makoto... I'll be joining you soon..."

But then, Chikaru senses a Huge nearby, the special-type that started all this. She lifts herself out of her depression and, furiously angry, starts trying to kill it. There seem to be many of the same Huge in her sights though, and none of her shots hit; she's completely hallucinating by this point.

Hervör finally finds Chikaru and joins the fight with her. Kazuha shouts "It's right above you, Chikaru!" and, utterly trusting Kazuha, Chikaru blind-fires at the Huge and kills it. Once it's dead, Chikaru's senses return to normal. She then discovers that she didn't injure Kazuha at all earlier; that too was a hallucination. And everyone is happy again.

After this, there's a final scene with the doctor that gave Chikaru her stabilizers at the start of the event, where they reveal that they switched it out for a hallucinogenic drug. They also discuss the special-type Huge for a bit (mentioning that in addition to Hervör another Lily in Legion Cuélebre, Makino Mitake, was 'affected by its sensory attack'), talk about 'the dream she showed us this time' (she probably being Chikaru) and then make a bizarre comment about how 'all those girls are still sleeping'. So we're left with a bunch more unanswered questions like usual.