The Nightmare Lord now owned the world; the global population plummeted by more than 50%, launching Clay into the world-changing era of âDivine Retributionâ.
The blossoming age of religious debate ended abruptly, a darker time creeping inâthe unwritten eon of nightmares.
Morris, Clayâs only Nightmare Lord, had revived and weaved a never-ending nightmare for the entire world.
Since then, the unstoppable Nightmare Sect became the sole religion of humanity.
In formerly bustling cities, tall and gorgeous temples were built to worship the ancient deity.
Caught in fervent belief, every individual considered themselves the Lordâs person, honored to be able to enter the Dreams created by Morris.
However, nobody realized that they were already bogged in a perpetual nightmare.
In just ten years, the sea had turned into mulberry fields, and yellow sand buried cities. This planet, which looked like a verdant green ball in the universe, was slowly being swallowed up by endless, barren yellow.
Wearing a black cloak, a man with blond hair as bright as gold appeared, floating above the surface.
He gazed down at the planet that was losing its vitality, his blue eyes dull.
The man was no longer hideously ugly as he was in the past, but a handsome beauty indescribable by human beings, with the arrogant beauty unique to the gods.
He slowly stretched out a hand and scrubbed away a little town on that small planet, one that contained all memories of his life. A smile curled up his face.
âI wish you good dreams.â]
ââFromăNightmare 3ă
Morrisâs blue eyes were full of bloodthirsty killing intent, his voice full of unprecedented brutality: âGo to hell!â
Al stared fiercely at the BOSS with clammy palms.
Having been protecting his reason with sheer willpower, he was attacked by spiritual power that had been previously diffused through the dream, bearing pressure far beyond what his soul could safely bear.
âAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!â
All the captain could do was wail in the face of a full on attack.
The eyes he had glared at Morris with burst like fleshy tomatoes and even his soul was experiencing torturous slicing and tearing.
This person who had fought over a hundred battles, could barely hold on against the unbearable pain.
âCaptain!!â Milo supported the shuddering leader, but the manâs body had begun to blur, his arms starting to disappear.
âNo, the repulsion suddenly increased, the Captainâs soul⌠No, Captain, hold on!â Tears streamed down Miloâs face as she cried like a child.
Behind him, several other members of the reincarnation team were also attacked by the BOSSâs power to varying degrees, in different stages of collapse.
âThis, how is this possible? How could it suddenly increase! We didnât do anything special!â
In the team, a veteran looked at his gradually disintegrating arm, his face incredulous.
âNo! Ahhh!!!!â
The slender rookie reincarnator, who had called out earlier and astonishingly survived to this point, finally ran out of luck.
Unlike other reincarnators, he had not undergone any strength enhancements, not even for his soul.
His spirit was as fragile as a main-world commonerâs. He instantly fell into the waves of mental erosion, facial offices leaking blood, muscles dissolving into doughy liquid, the entire body toppling like melted ice cream. Purple-black stains splattered over the floor.
âOhhh⌠Captain! Iâll help you!â
Having great vitality due to her specialization in magic, Milo was affected significantly less by the onslaught of pressure.
Her arm strength wasnât up to par, her internal organs got injured, and she spit out a large mouthful of blood, but she still fortunately showed no indication of crumbling.
The redhead was also the teamâs healer. She endured the agony of her split organs, quickly made a gesture, and cast the spell âSoul Solidificationâ.
As the light given off by the invocation flashed, Alâs shattering soul and body finally stabilized, eyes and other wounds starting the process of recovery.
Al looked up and yelled towards Morris, âCome! Worldâs Guardian!â
âWorldâs Guardianâ, a protective prop from an S-ranked world. It had powerful shielding capabilities. Even rarer was that it was soul-bound, so it could even enter different subspaces and play a role.
A shroud of turquoise and holy light shrouded the five remaining reincarnators, temporarily blocking the oppression of Morrisâs dreamscape.
While all that was happening, Zhou Yu had heard the screams coming from behind and was just about to turn around, Morris cradled the back of his head.
âDonât look. Will you please go back first? Iâll take care of the rest.â
Whether it was due to his inferiority complex or just plain possessiveness, he didnât want to expose Zhou Yu to these gruesome scenes.
âDonât worry, they wonât die. You can call the police for me first. Theyâre receiving the punishment they deserve.â
The scum who died in this dreamscape werenât actually dead. Theyâd just gone insane in the real world. But them losing their marbles wasnât enough to assuage Morrisâ fury. The law would do worse than he ever could.
Speaking, this BOSS accustomed to showing fierce expressions tried to pull out a gentle smile in front of the friend he cared about most.
Zhou Yu looked at Morrisâs smile and laughed. âOkay, Morris. And I wonât break my promise this time.â
He would bring all the guys who hurt Morris to justice.
As soon as the words fell, Zhou Yu got a little dizzy.
He understood that this was a precursor to âwaking upâ, and embraced Morris again, not only to ease his discomfort, but also to cool his unspeakable feelings: âIâll wait for you, donât be gone for too long.â
âOk.â
Morris was somewhat dazed after being hugged twice in a row.
He looked at Zhou Yu disappearing in his arms, and his gaze held a trace of loss and nostalgia.
It would be great if they could hug together forever. Then he wouldnât miss his warmth leaving him.
The scarred teen stowed away the remaining tenderness in his heart and turned to observe the huge green shield that had sprung up from nowhere.
So, those a$$holes that made me separate from my friend, are they ready to die yet?
A savagely sly grin appeared on Morrisâs face. âJiejiejieâarenât you a little bored, hiding under there? Let me find some friends for you!â
Within the shield, the reincarnators who thought they had gained a moment of breath were attacked by another nightmare.
âDie!!! Dirty thing! Go to hell!â An old reincarnator shaved head swung up a huge machete and frantically slashed everywhere.
The black monster that had infiltrated the shield whirled in circles and bit out at the group in every which way.
Unlike the previous assault, the damage caused by these monsters directly hit towards their souls and carved out large chunks of vitality.
âThis BOSS is too strong! Why can these things still appear inside the âWorldâs Guardianâ! This is a treasure that once protected an entire world!â
Al was tired of dealing with these emerging black monsters, and his just-consolidated soul began to show signs of collapse again.
As the world âs repulsion against him strengthened, his intellect and abilities began to plummet. All he could do was wallow in a state of despair, lacking enough brainpower to create a solid plan of retribution.
âAugghh!!â There were two reincarnators who didnât notice some black monsters and were hit in a vulnerable place.
âDammit! If we werenât in a dream, we could have used so many good items!â
In this BOSSâs nightmares, the number of items they could utilize was pitifully small. Except for the props that they carried on their bodies or bound to the soul, other, more powerful firearms couldnât be retrieved from the system space.
They had a whole treasure trove of weapons hidden in thin air, but they could only sigh in regret.
Boomâ
There was a huge impact sound from the protective cover. After a moment, a crack appeared on the prop that was lauded as indestructible.
âHow is this possible? This is a world-class item!â, a team member yelled, and the next moment, he realized that a crevice had appeared under his feet.