Chapter 12: Clash

Ybur made a run for it!

The Awake World was not the home turf for nightmare creatures; their strength would continuously drain away after arriving here, so as long as I ran! If I could outrun it, the advantage would be mine!

Its body rapidly elongated, sections of "bones" within assembling themselves in an extremely short time, its surface writhing as it slithered across the ground like a snake.

"This is a Dream Dweller demon."

Sherry still had the presence of mind to explain, "The essence of a Dream Dweller demon is a very small organism, akin to a parasite that burrows into the host's body and then grows slowly, eventually taking full control. During the parasitism and manipulation process, the host's body often undergoes terrifying distortions and transformations.

"Worth mentioning is that even nightmare creatures are categorized. Those named 'xx demon' often imply that a part of their power comes from outside the Dream Realm—from a place called 'Void Origin,' the abode of nothingness and destruction. The entire Dream Realm is like a bubble, enveloped within the boundless Void Origin, and when the energies from the Void Origin spill over and drift into the Dream Realm, they give rise to various nightmare creatures."

Ybur was shocked, "Is now really the time for a lecture?!"

"I think teaching in practice is the way to truly grasp the knowledge," she said.

"But I'm about to die here!!"

"What can I do about that?" Sherry said indifferently, "Am I supposed to jump up and fight it? You better think of something with your invincible God Secret Source."

The slender, nightmarish creature emerged unhurriedly from mid-air. It was enormous; if it stood up, it would be over three meters high, but its body seemed weightless, with an elegance to its movements.

The underground cave was narrow; unable to stand upright, it laid on the ground, its spidery legs stretching out at will, resting on the floor or clinging to the walls before surging forward—

It looked like a fish swimming through water.

With a deceptively quick lunge, the entire body of the creature was suddenly above Ybur.

The Underground World was already devoid of light, but the creature's pitch-black body seemed to absorb what little light there was, making the surroundings even darker. Ybur's Eye Point strived to see, and it suddenly witnessed a horrifying sight—not only light, but even the temperature and vibrations he could sense were gradually fading. The darkness spreading from the nightmare creature seemed to have a devouring ability, draining away all perception.

Nothing but darkness.

Only that eerie white moved and spread within the darkness, resembling a distorted smile, a terrifying aura emanating from it.

Ybur was frozen.

The power emitted by the nightmare creature swallowed everything; even his sense of touch began to vanish, unable to feel the ground or his own body, and Sherry's noise quickly receded.

Even time? In absolute emptiness, how to perceive the passage of time—was his thinking speeding up or slowing down? Perhaps the nightmare's tendrils were already striking at him, or maybe he was already affected but unaware. Amidst the darkness, the only thing visible was that distorted white smile, hanging in the heavens like a disaster star looming over the mortal world.

Ybur quickly realized that his luck might not be so great.

The strength of this nightmare creature was rather extraordinary; it might have come from a higher level of the Dream Realm. In any case, it was far beyond what a normal First Rank Vocational Practitioner should face.

But at that moment, Ybur, who should have been panicking, felt an odd sense of composure instead.

The nightmare creature was like a moth to a flame, only this moth possessed the power to devour the fire. Naturally, only the most lustrous and bright flames would attract the largest moths... To encounter such nightmare creatures clearly also signified its strength and uniqueness!

Ybur had always been somewhat confused, particularly because of Ruby—she created Ybur but didn't have the time to teach it anything. She left behind an enigmatic mission and then thrust Ybur directly into the Gold toilet... Indeed, Ybur did possess part of Ruby's memories and personality, but it felt like a child who had read volumes of basic texts and then was kicked into society before experiencing any growth.

It was bewildered, unsure how it had even pushed open the first gate to the Dream Realm, but upon reaching the Primogenital World of the Dream Sea, Ybur had to directly confront its own essence, the "Primogenital" self left after being stripped of everything. The increasing confusion tangled in its mind like a ball of wool, yet at that moment, when the fear of death came rushing in, under the immense pressure, the tangled wool seemed to unravel, releasing a profound self-confidence.

There was much Ybur still hadn't figured out.

But now.

I know how unique I really am!!

Dazzling light suddenly burst forth.

In fact, Ybur had also been pondering over the usage of the God Secret Source these past few days—this thing required a lengthy charge-up before each use, making it difficult to employ in battle. But in the last two days, Ybur came up with a trick: to always keep the God Secret Source in a "half-charged" state, just one breath away from activation. When needed, with a mere thought, the final bit of mental power could be filled in, causing it to erupt immediately!

However, this meant that Ybur had to constantly maintain a portion of its spirit injected into the Mysterious Source, multitasking and feeling as if its mind was constantly being pulled by something. It was somewhat uncomfortable, but Ybur believed this was the correct approach, so it executed the plan with resolve... And in this moment, the fruits of its daily toils finally became useful, as the God Secret Source reacted and released its power!!

Inside Ybur, a Heart Secret Source that had just recently formed ignited, feeding pure heart power into it, making the attack even more ferocious, passionate, and unstoppable!

Ybur's mental power surged out from within its body!

It collided with the nightmare creature's body.

Boom—

Though the collision was silent, the intense shock to the soul resonated thunderously within Ybur's psyche. It felt as if its spirit had crashed against some hard core, something seemed to shatter, and a multitude of memories and images flashed before its eyes. Were those the nightmare creature's memories? Before it could see those images clearly, the nightmare creature let out a piercing scream, its body violently arching back as if struck by a punch.

Ybur's spirit also broke free from the bindings, swiftly retreating back into its body.

It felt terrible...

Ybur thought in agony, feeling its body almost shrinking with discomfort, whilst its mind throbbed incessantly. Such a decisive collision was also a tremendous burden on it. However, the surrounding darkness had been dispelled, not normal darkness, but a mental interference from the nightmare creature, like an invisible aura or halo spreading outwards. The moment Ybur entered that range, it was affected.

But Ybur resolutely cleaved through it with its mental power!

An unprecedented exhilaration surged in its heart, the sensory ability of the Eye Point returned, and it saw the nightmare creature staggering backward. Whatever the monster intended to do in that split second, now its movement was completely interrupted!

I won!!

A burst of laughter erupted in Ybur's mind. Enduring the discomfort, spikes rapidly condensed with a charge-up, and then exploded!

The spikes did not explode outwards, but downwards. Thus, its body sprang up like stepping on a spring—instantly darting towards the distance, like a round bouncing ball.

...You're running away?!

The nightmare creature was enraged in an instant.

However, Ybur's mind was actually still clear, not becoming complacent due to the recent victory.

A momentary win didn't mean a reversal of strength between the two; this creature was firmly of Second Rank or even higher, merely at a temporary disadvantage. Plus, Ybur's victory was due to burning a Heart Secret Source, but it had only condensed a few, and it couldn't afford such waste.

At the same time, the inherent trait of the nightmare creature was its difficulty to kill; there were no vital points, so a one-hit kill was out of the question.

After all, in reality, this thing was only becoming weaker over time, so why fight it now?

We, the warriors of the future, must win in the future!

Ybur effortlessly made an escape.

The nightmare furiously gave chase.

It was just a moment, but Ybur had already found a fissure in the ground. It contracted and extended its body, squeezing into it...

It got stuck.

The "Survival Guide" was still inside its body. Everything else could change shape, but the book couldn't, a thick volume at that, causing it to become trapped.

A shock ran through Ybur's mind: Not good, my head has burrowed in, but my rear is still sticking out...