Chapter 621: Let's Eat!
Chapter 621: Let's Eat!
There was no way he could fight, not in this lifetime. If he stayed to fight, this lifetime would likely be his last.
In that brief moment of eye contact with the true Leon, Nightmare Leon, who was only 1/8 away from ascending to the realm of true gods, instantly realized his only option was to run!
Nightmare Leon's origin lay in the fear of the Dream Realm towards the 'Destroyer Leon'. It was a collective creation of all the dream creatures, a manifestation of their perception and imagination of the 'Destroyer Leon'.
In other words, Nightmare Leon did not possess the memories and abilities of the real Leon; he was merely a fictitious image conjured by the dream creatures' imagination.
This was not an issue in itself, as most nightmares were born from imagination. Snow Maiden, for instance, was born from the legends among the people of the Northern Kingdom. As long as enough people 'knew' of her existence and continued to have nightmares about her, her birth from imagination did not hinder her from becoming a Nightmare Messenger.
However, the biggest problem was that unlike Snow Maiden, who was purely a product of imagination, the 'Destroyer Leon' nightmare had an original source. When the real Destroyer Leon appeared, the imagined 'fake' would inevitably gravitate towards the 'real'.
In that instant of eye contact with the original, Nightmare Leon immediately noticed the changes in himself, understanding that the more 'intersections' he had with the genuine article, the more 'errors' in himself would be 'corrected'.
The worst part was that it didn't even require direct physical contact. As an existence created as a reflection of the real Leon, just 'knowing' what the real Leon should be like would cause his own existence and thoughts to uncontrollably gravitate towards that reality, or in other words...
In another sense, he would be 'eaten' by the real Leon!
"Stop!"
Only a fool would stop!
Hearing the shout from behind, Nightmare Leon, determined not to lose his sense of self, increased his speed instead of halting. He wished he could take a single step out of the Soul-sink Abyss and escape the Dream Realm, never to return.
But at that very moment, an indescribable sense of immense fear, accompanied by the shout from behind, seized his heart, instantly disrupting his control over his body, causing him to tumble and roll out.
...
Phew... Thankfully, the fear effect of [Nightmare of Nightmares] still worked on him.
Leon let out a sigh of relief as he watched Nightmare Leon, who had been startled by his shout and was now lying on the ground in the distance, while his pursuers continued their relentless chase.
The fear effect of [Nightmare of Nightmares] was only effective against dream creatures below the True God level, and although this fake had crossed the boundary between humans and gods, even acquiring the 'exclusive weapon' of the Nightmare Lord, it still fell short by the final 1/8.
It had not obtained the complete [Nightmare] power, crossing the boundary but not fully transcending it. One foot still remained on the 'human' side, placing it within the realm of True Gods. That's why it could still be... Damn it!
To Leon's dismay, the distant Nightmare Leon spread out his Cloak of Shadows and, to his surprise, 'ejected' a figure of Leon filled with fear. Then, he quickly scrambled to his feet and continued his frantic escape into the distance.
"This must be the power of the Nightmare King's Cloak of Shadows, which can turn any unfavorable situation into a nightmare and eject it..." Amien Senior explained softly, having somehow appeared behind Leon, holding Sir Twin Fish's hand.
"Senior Amien..." Leon furrowed his brows upon hearing this and asked as he continued the pursuit, "Then what should we do?"
"We just need to keep up with him and make sure he doesn't escape completely."
Poop Mom replied calmly, "The Cleaner from the Fish Division mentioned earlier that they have an Anomaly called the Soul Compass, which can roughly monitor several immaterial situations."
"This time, nine Cleaners from the Fish Division are participating in the examination. When the Director of the Fish Division has some free time, he will definitely sneakily cheat and spy on his subordinates' examination progress."
"If we can keep up and prevent this new Nightmare Lord from escaping, she will definitely discover the Anomaly. Once she reports it to the headquarters and support arrives, this Nightmare will have nowhere to run."
Is this really possible? After glancing at Senior Amien, Leon silently nodded, agreeing with her suggestion. He quickly informed all the Cleaners to abandon the ineffective offensive Anomalies and instead focus on entanglement and attrition, forcing Nightmare Leon to constantly use the Cloak of Shadows to remove the Anomalies on his body.
After several attempts, the fleeing Nightmare Leon at the front noticed the change in the Cleaners' tactics. From their actions to conserve energy as much as possible, he vaguely guessed that Leon and the others might be waiting for "reinforcements," and his expression became agitated.
"Stop chasing!"
"..."
"You'd better not push me!"
"..."
"If you keep chasing, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
"..."
Ignoring Nightmare Leon's repeated warnings, Leon, who had memorized Emma's Remains word for word, naturally wouldn't pay attention to such meaningless communication. With no response from him, none of the hundreds of Cleaners spoke, all of them following Leon's lead by closing their mouths and silently chasing.
Under this oppressive silence, Nightmare Leon, who had been unable to get a response to his "call request," clenched his teeth and decisively abandoned his last glimmer of hope. Surprisingly, he turned around and charged back.
"Spread out!"
Seeing that Nightmare Leon seemed to be desperate, Abigail quickly warned and prepared to purify the Nightmare.
However, a shocking situation occurred. Nightmare Leon, who had charged back, did not attack the Cleaners. Instead, his body suddenly swelled dozens of times, and he grabbed the trembling Nightmare nearby and started shoving it into his mouth.
???
Oh, this... It seems that Leon's counterfeit even retains the habit of eating his allies. "Not good! Stop him quickly!"
Without time to care about the strange gazes from the Cleaners, Leon immediately realized what was happening after seeing Nightmare Leon's actions. This was probably a unique ability of Nightmare Leon, similar to the Snow Maiden summoning the snowstorm.
Although he didn't know what changes would occur after consuming a large number of Nightmares, even a fool would know that the enemy's most desired action must be immediately stopped.
Now you want to stop me? Too late! Noticing Leon and the others' actions, Nightmare Leon, who was feasting, let out a cold laugh and slightly lifted the hem of his Cloak of Shadows.
Countless black gold beetles emerged from beneath his cloak, forming a dense, living two-colored bug carpet that instantly spread out on the surface of the River of Nightmares!
(End of Chapter)
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