Chương 13: Chapter 13 Humanity
Ybur's mind was a mess, and before he could make sense of it all, the nightmare's spider leg had already stabbed down.
In an instant, boundless darkness surged towards him again, an unprecedented sense of dizziness hit him, accompanied by intense pain, which took his breath away!
Squawk!
A weird cry echoed in Ybur's mind. Each tendril of the nightmare creature seemed to possess the ability to devour and infect, transmitting pain upon contact. Its leg pierced into Slime's body, and it felt as if an invisible vortex was sucking away his biomass!
No... why are you sucking up my butt?!
Chaos and panic flashed through Ybur's thoughts, and with a pop, his body severed in response.
He did what a gecko does for survival, spitting out that part of his body, temporarily abandoning the book as well—The moment it was expelled from Ybur, Sherry let out a scream, "You heartless creature!"
With a clatter, Sherry fell to the ground and shut down.
The remaining part of Ybur quickly burrowed deeper into the crevice to hide. The nightmare creature stuffed the small piece of body tissue it had grabbed towards its head, and although there was no visible mouth opening on its body, the surface rippled like water as Ybur's tissue sank into it and disappeared without a trace.
Ybur felt an immense sense of resentment.
I've always been the one eating others, but now it's come to others eating me...
The nightmare creature continued to try to pry into the crevice. But the narrow space was more suited for defense. Whenever its spider leg reached in, Ybur would retaliate with spikes, deflecting the creature's tendrils.
Back and forth several times, the creature didn't gain any advantage and wasn't in a hurry; it just waited on the side.
Ybur was in no hurry either, thinking to himself that you've already found your way to death.
Suddenly.
Ybur felt a tremor at his Eye Point, a voice drifted from afar and he caught it.
"... over there... there's a Dream Realm energy reaction..."
"... must be a treasure!"
"... such good luck..."
"... be careful..."
Is that... voices speaking? Ybur's heart stirred.
The nightmare creature also sensed the noise; its body contorted bonelessly, looking towards the direction the sound came from, with white traces undulating uncertainly across its face. After a moment, footsteps drew nearer, and light shone from around the dark corner, followed by a rotund shape peeking out.
It was a dwarf. He sported a hefty signature brown-black beard, the thick facial hair almost covering half of his face, leaving just a bulbous nose and a pair of alert eyes visible. He wore a set of thick, darkened cotton armor, donned thick gloves, and had extra layers of leather over his joints and vital areas for defense. He also sported an iron helmet on his forehead, though it looked awkward and crudely fashioned, as if just cobbled together with a few pieces of iron.
A little oil lamp dangled at his waist, along with a sheathed knife, one hand carrying a wooden shield, and the other, a one-handed hammer.
Upon seeing the nightmare creature, the dwarf's eyes bulged.
"Blimey..." the dwarf uttered involuntarily.
"What's up?"
Another figure peered out from behind the dwarf.
It was a tomboyish girl with flaxen short hair, human, appearing to be around eighteen or nineteen years old. Her face was also grubby, covered in grime, but a closer inspection would reveal a vibrant egg-shaped face beneath the layer of dirty soot. Her eyebrows were long and strong, the corners of her eyes lifted slightly, her nose bridge was prominent, and her facial features were delicate, emanating a rebellious charm.
If it weren't for the slight bulge at her chest, Ybur might have thought she was a handsome young chap.
She wasn't dressed as thickly as the dwarf, but she also wore a cotton armor riddled with scratches. Cotton could be seen protruding in many places, and she held a knife in her hand.
Then, upon seeing the nightmare creature, she too was stunned: "Fuck... what is that?!"
There seemed to be another person behind, trying to come forward, but that tomboy stopped them with a hand: "Don't come over, Cherie."
The dwarf's gaze was solemn: "It's a nightmare creature..."
Before the words ended, the nightmare creature had already lunged forward, skillfully "swimming" upwards. In an instant, it was above their heads, its body blocking the entire view. Ybur couldn't see what was happening on the other side, only hearing a muffled "thump" as if the nightmare's attack had been blocked by a shield, followed by the dwarf's excited voice: "Lucky us! This nightmare isn't that strong!"
Ybur thought subtly: Indeed it's not strong, after all, it had already been worn down by me... no, what's this? Are you trying to steal my kill?!
"What's a nightmare?!" That was the tomboy's voice. Then, there was the sound of cleaving air; the knife cut through it, severing one of the nightmare creature's spider legs cleanly. But, eerily, the severed spider limb still floated in mid-air, and almost instantly, it healed rapidly.
"Holy Water! Use the Holy Water!!" the dwarf shouted.
"Okay, okay!" a somewhat juvenile female voice answered, seeming flustered. Ybur watched intently at the scene unfolding, the white on the nightmare creature's face darting about like crazed snakes, spider limbs falling in succession, several people's footsteps shakily unstable, their voices noisy and chaotic.
Clatter—
Suddenly, there was a sharp and clear sound, like the shattering of a glass bottle. The nightmare creature's body shuddered, green smoke began to fizzle from its surface, and it let out a pained screech. "Good job! Nice hit!! Do we have more Holy Water?" the dwarf called out loudly.
"Almost out..." the juvenile female voice responded cautiously. In the midst of shifting silhouettes, Ybur caught sight of the figure shrinking backward—a girl with flaxen curly hair who looked the youngest, it seemed she had just come of age, and bore a resemblance to the tomboy, though with softer facial features, probably sisters. She had a pair of bright, bashful, spirited eyes.
The tomboy's voice came again: "Give me another bottle of Holy Water!"
Ybur cautiously observed their battle, suddenly realizing something was amiss—the Holy Water indeed inflicted certain damage on the slumbering nightmare, but this victory seemed to have lowered their guard. They were still unaware of the slumbering nightmare's most troublesome trait: that overwhelming darkness and despair.
The slumbering nightmare was gathering its strength.
Should he help?
Ybur hesitated over this question in his mind.
If he helped—it would actually cost him little, just needing to gather the God Secret Source again and then giving the slumbering nightmare a hard blow. But the problem was, it didn't seem to be to his advantage. The spoils of battle would certainly be picked up by these people; could he really jump out and fight again?
If he didn't help—the people would be killed by the slumbering nightmare. After the creature devoured their lives, it would grow stronger. Then it would either continue to drag out the battle until the slumbering nightmare weakened enough for him to take on, or more likely, its thirst for slaughter would be satisfied, and it would return to the Dream Realm.
Whichever choice he made, it seemed to be of no benefit to him... but the good thing was that it wouldn't cost him much either.
As Ybur's thoughts turned, the power of the God Secret Source had already begun to gather.
The slumbering nightmare had already been weakened, this time he shouldn't need to consume his own heart's Secret Source... right?
Ybur observed the slumbering nightmare carefully. After a moment, that familiar dark aura burst forth from within the creature as expected!
But his spirit dove into the slumbering nightmare's body, vibarating slightly.
The movements of the nightmare creature abruptly stiffened, then scattered. The darkness it released dissipated in an instant, as brief as the blink of an eye.
In the next second, a knife pierced its body. It was still the tomboy's knife, but this time, perhaps because it was coated with that Holy Water, the nightmare creature's wound did not heal, instead starting to burn.
The white patches tried to flee in every direction, but to no avail. Bereft of a body, the slumbering nightmare became very weak, even unable to survive in the Awake World.
The entirety of the nightmare creature's body quickly crumbled, along with the slumbering nightmare on it, turning into a large pile of ashes on the ground.
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