Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Entering The Nightmare Nest
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It didn’t take long. After half an hour of flight, I reached my destination: a vast pine forest nestled among towering mountains.
The forest was no longer covered in pristine snow. Instead, it had become something twisted and alien. Purple crystals, black miasma, and an unnatural darkness radiated from within, warping the very space around them.
"Ah, the infestation is worse than I imagined..." Mongrel muttered. "What could have triggered such rapid growth in this Nightmare Nest?! If we don’t stop it, it might spawn an actual Nightmare Gate! Could this be a planned invasion?!"
His words sent a cold shiver down my spine. I gasped, staring down in disbelief. This forest had once been peaceful; a place I had visited many times with Auntie to gather herbs and supplies. Now it lay shrouded in darkness, corrupted by crystals and leaking miasma that poured endlessly from its core.
"Stop scaring me! What do you mean by a Nightmare Gate?" I demanded. "Like the one that accidentally opened when you tried to hijack our Summoning Spell?"
"Precisely," Mongrel replied, crossing his small tentacles. "We Nightmare beings can infiltrate other worlds through this method. Nightmare Energy is like a living curse—it devours space, time, and reality itself. By controlling it remotely, one can slowly erode a world’s dimensional membranes until a Nightmare Gate can be formed. Once that happens, a Nightmare King can invade freely and spread his realm, twisting everything in his path."
"What? That sounds terrible..." I muttered. "Do you think there’s actually a King behind this?"
"...We’ll need to inspect the interior first," he said. "Well, if you’re so confident about winning, then you surely aren’t afraid, right?"
"Ah! O-Of course not..." I nodded quickly. "Let’s go! Paragon, please protect my back."
The Incarnation of my Spiral of Eternity nodded silently and floated beside me.
The moment I descended, the suffocating darkness pressed against me. It was incredibly potent. I immediately cast Harmony across the forest, burning away the Nightmare Erosion, but the corruption surged back almost instantly.
"You’re wasting your time," Mongrel explained. "There must already be a Nightmare Erosion Core inside this territory. Unless you destroy it completely, the erosion will keep spreading."
"That sucks..." I sighed. "Then I guess I’ll have to destroy it."
"...Or let me eat it," he added.
"What?"
"N-Nothing!"
"Hm."
I nodded and scanned the area for wild monsters, but none appeared. Everything had already been drawn into the Nest. The black trees had merged into a dark, twisting labyrinth. Using my breath here would be pointless—the corruption would simply regenerate.
"Let’s go."
Nervously, I stepped forward with Paragon in front of me and Mongrel behind. Ariel and Asmodeus floated at my left and right sides. The two of them hadn’t leveled up at all; they needed compatible materials to grow, and I had found very few so far.
The interior of the Nightmare Nest was even darker than I had imagined. Thick black fog blanketed the area, and strange corrupted crystals grew everywhere. When I used Harmony on them, the crystals exploded into millions of glittering shards and did not regrow.
"These don’t seem to regenerate like the corruption," I noted.
"Hm. They’re Nightmare Crystals—excellent sources of Nightmare Energy," Mongrel explained. "They form over time through the accumulation and crystallization of that energy. The corruption you’re cleansing plays no part in their creation."
"I see..." I nodded and began storing every crystal in my Inventory. After spending another 500,000 System Points, I had expanded it to 20 slots. Since every crystal counted as the same item, they stacked neatly in a single slot.
[Master, are you not negatively affected by the Nightmare Essence in any way?]
Astrea sounded genuinely worried.
"No, I’m fine," I reassured her. "I was trapped inside a Nightmare Domain before and nothing happened to me. I believe I’m completely immune to it."
I walked into an area thick with corruption and touched the miasma. The black energy could not even penetrate my skin. When I channeled a bit of my own power into it, the miasma simply burned away into smoke.
"I think I can absorb this energy too... Chaos."
I focused and drew upon my power as a Chaos Demon, pulling in the surrounding Nightmare Essence. Just as I suspected, my stats began to rise temporarily and my mana regeneration surged. The very energy that could mutate living beings was nothing more than a delicious snack to me.
"As you can see, I’m immune to it—and I can absorb it," I explained. "I think it has to do with my Chaos Element. I’m like my mom, a Chaos Spirit. Nightmare Essence must originate from Chaos as well."
"I never thought about that, but you’re not wrong..." Mongrel said.
[Incredible! I told Hrymdra and she seemed just as shocked as I am! She said you should still be careful though. Do not lower your guard.]
"Got it."
I pressed forward, surrounded by the oppressive darkness. I constantly cast Harmony, twisting the Nightmares around me into Bright Dreams—only for them to rapidly twist back into Nightmares once more.
These floating fragments were not true living beings. They were shards of images, memories, and souls that had been absorbed into this phenomenon, perhaps even into the entire dimension of nightmares.
"GRYARR!"
A Nightmare emerged before me. It was beast-like, similar to the wolves I had fought before, but covered in black and purple fur with sharp purple crystals jutting from its body.
This was likely one of the Nightmare Beasts I had been expecting. Unlike pure Nightmares such as Mongrel, these were once-living creatures corrupted by the energy.
"That one must be a Nightmare Beast. Be careful...!" Mongrel warned.
"What do you mean ’be careful’? You’re fighting it with Paragon," I said. "Go!"
Paragon and Mongrel charged forward, though the latter did so reluctantly. Paragon swung his silver blade with blinding speed, severing the monster’s legs and sending it crashing to the ground. Mongrel transformed into a massive tangle of tentacles, coiling around the struggling beast as it bit into his flesh.
"Ouch! Ouch! Don’t bite me!"
Despite his complaints, Mongrel fired laser beams from his eyes, punching holes through the creature. I followed up with three Harmony Knives infused with Origin Flames.
BOOOM!
The Nightmare Beast screamed in agony as white-gold flames consumed it. Paragon ended its suffering with a swift decapitation. Unlike pure Nightmare lifeforms, Nightmare Beasts still possessed normal vital points. Removing the head was enough to kill them.
"Alright, first kill done! But this one was pretty small. I bet there are a lot more here... Oh?"
Ding!
[You have completed the {Main Quest}: Find The Nightmare Infestation of the Ice Dragon Realm]
[Quest Difficulty: B Rank]
[Quest Objective: After hearing what happened to your Aunt Hrymdra, you learned that Nightmare Creatures had created a Nest somewhere between the Ice Sea and the Winter Mausoleum. Locate them!]
[You received the Quest Rewards: Generous Amount of EXP, +50,000 System Points, Dream Liquid.]
All my Paths and my Class gained three bonus levels.
"Oh, that’s nice," I said. "But what’s Dream Liquid?"
I held up a bottle containing swirling pink energy. It had a strange, almost toxic scent.
[Dream Liquid (B Grade)]
A liquified form of Dream Essence that smells delectable to other Nightmare Creatures.
By pouring it on the floor, the smell will attract all nearby Nightmare Beasts.
"Well, that’ll make things easier," I nodded. "Why not?"
Another notification appeared immediately.
Ding!
[You have triggered the {Main Chain Quest}: Slay The Nightmare Beasts.]
[Quest Difficulty: A Rank]
[Quest Objective: You have entered the Nightmare Nest and defeated one Nightmare Beast, but this place is clearly infested. Slay fifty of them to ensure they never rise again. 0/50]
[Quest Rewards: EXP, System Points, ???]
[Accept?]
"Chain Quests?" I wondered. "So that’s how it works. Alright then, sure."
I accepted the quest.
[System Notice: You have accepted a Main Chain Quest.]
Without hesitation, I poured the Dream Liquid onto the ground. It didn’t take long for a massive swarm of Nightmare Beasts to come flooding from every direction.
"GRYAARRR!"
Most were wolf-like creatures overflowing with Nightmare Energy and bristling with sharp crystals. They roared furiously and charged, firing red beams from their eyes.
"Good! Come at me!"
Paragon and Mongrel stood ready at my sides. I compressed Origin Flames and Harmony into floating knives, then used Tool Mastery to strengthen them. Fifty projectiles hovered before me. With a thought, I stretched them into massive swords of blazing energy.
"Divine Blazing Sword Rain!"
BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!
Explosions ripped through the horde. White-gold flames consumed the beasts as they screamed in agony. Several died instantly, but others leaped over the fallen and closed in.
Four charged straight at me, three more targeted my familiars. We could handle this.
"ROOAARR!"
I dodged three snapping jaws, then kicked one on my left, crushing its skull into the ground. Two others bit into my legs, gnawing painfully at my scales. Gritting my teeth, I coated my fists in Harmony and Origin Flames and drove them through their bodies.
"Gyyaaaargh!"
They exploded into pieces. Four more replaced them immediately. Paragon and Mongrel were occupied, so I had to act fast.
"HAAAAH!"
I swept my tail across the ground, knocking them off their feet, then summoned my Shapeshifting Weapon and transformed it into a long golden-red spear. Infused with both elements, I thrust forward with all my strength, piercing through multiple beasts.
Two dropped dead. The remaining three tried to attack from behind. Sharp teeth sank into my neck, aiming for my artery. I grabbed the creature and slammed it into the floor, shattering its spine. The last two met my shield and spear—one’s skull shattered on impact, the other impaled itself trying to bite the weapon.
"Mongrel!"
I saw him struggling and rushed to help. Transforming my weapon into an axe, I cleaved one beast in two, its innards spilling across the ground. The remaining two hissed and fired beams from their jaws. I blocked with my Tiamat Scale Shield, then grew serious.
"Protective Shield!" I protected the weakened Mongrel. "Demon Bite."
"...?!"
"...!"
The nearby Nightmare Beasts froze as a demonic presence erupted from me. Shadows spread like living blood, forming giant jaws of darkness and crimson energy. They tore into the beasts, ripping flesh and scattering blood and innards across the floor. I was stunned—this was the first time I had used one of Asmodeus’s spells, and its brutality left me speechless.
The rest of the weakened monsters fell quickly after that. Yet I could still sense the presence of the one that had attacked Auntie, lurking deeper within the Nightmare Nest.
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