Chapter 203: Nightmare Artifact

After the battle, Richard left the arena.

The initiation of the Mountain-breaking Fist was a significant improvement for Richard. The most powerful aspect of the Mountain-breaking Fist was the "breaking" element. This technique was designed specifically to deal with various defensive measures.

Once the resonance frequency was understood, one could break through the enemy's defense with a single punch.

Back at the Wizard Tower, Richard entered the communication room next to his laboratory as usual and used the Dreamworld communication device to contact Bones.

Over the years, Richard had significantly improved the performance of the Dreamworld communication device's cooling components. If Richard wished, he could keep the communication going indefinitely.

However, the consequence of this was a massive consumption of magic stones.

The magic stone consumption of the Dreamworld communication device was similar to that of the gravity training room. Using it for long periods was costly—one "golden-guzzler" could handle it, but Richard couldn't afford two.

Thus, Richard maintained his usual practice of limiting communication to ten minutes a day.

The mental message was transmitted through the communication device and into the soul seed, and the Nightmare body inside the coffin immediately opened its eyes.

As usual, Richard tapped the coffin, waiting for Bones to unlock the chains on the coffin.

Bones' life was quite boring. Besides practicing swordsmanship at his residence, he would take on tasks at the Tavern of the Lost. Richard's usual communication was like saying hello to an online friend—he'd end the conversation once he confirmed Bones had no pressing matters.

After all, the communication device consumed real magic stones, so the less time spent, the better.

But this time, after tapping the coffin, Richard received no response.

"Is something wrong?" Richard frowned. Usually, even if Bones were on a task, he would knock on the coffin in response.

But today, there was no movement at all.

Richard placed his hands on the coffin, and with a slight tremble of his arms, the sound of snapping chains filled the air.

After years of training at Long Mountain Temple and honing his physical strength, Richard had mastered the fine use of his body's power. Techniques like "inch force" had come to him naturally.

Opening the coffin, Richard stood up.

This was when he realized why Bones hadn't responded.

Around him stood over a dozen Nightmare-level creatures, and Bones, at that moment, was leaning on a large sword, visibly injured.

Looking at the Nightmare creatures around him, Richard said calmly, "Bones, this is quite a mess."

He knew that Bones had been on a task recently, but judging by the scene before him, the difficulty of this task was beyond what he had anticipated.

Bones weakly looked at Richard, and a faint voice came from beneath his black helmet.

"Boss, run…"

---

Twenty days ago, Bones had once again gone to the Tavern of the Lost to take on dirty work for various lords or their vassals.

The Tavern of the Lost appeared to be just another ordinary tavern... except for the sign, which was emblazoned with green fire, reading "Tavern of the Damned," and the blood-splattered skull above the door. The tavern's overall look had a post-apocalyptic aesthetic.

Upon entering, various monsters and creatures looked at the newcomer. When they saw Bones with his trademark large sword and coffin, they quickly averted their gaze.

Bones was a regular at this tavern and one of the longest-living customers.

Approaching the counter, a demon bartender with goat horns and dark red flames flickering on his body handed Bones a glass of dark red liquor.

"Your favorite, Nightmare Red."

Bones took the glass, "What's the task?"

The demon bartender, never one to offer drinks unless he had a request, gave a strange laugh, and the scent of sulfur filled the air.

"A big shot wants a few unlucky souls to venture into an abandoned Nightmare domain to scout. The unlucky ones must be Nightmare level. The reward is 500,000 Nightmare Crystals."

500,000 Nightmare Crystals—an exorbitant sum.

This amount could even hire a Nightmare Knight-level individual.

But Bones remained unfazed, his voice as calm as usual.

"How many people? Who's involved?"

"Ten people. You're the last one. Besides a few newcomers, the usuals like [Executioner], [Scarecrow], and [Mist Coachman] have joined."

The names the bartender mentioned were all familiar to Bones. They were all seasoned Nightmare creatures who had survived in the Lost Lands for a long time. Whether in strength or experience, they were top-notch among the Nightmares in the area.

Bones downed the drink in one go. "When?"

The bartender took back the glass, smiling mischievously.

"Tomorrow, at this time."

---

Looking at the Nightmare creatures around him, Richard's expression remained unchanged as he summoned his regular staff.

"Run? Where can you run? You're already in someone's mouth. You think you can run without losing your teeth?"

Richard surveyed the Nightmare creatures around him. In his eyes, the environment was full of energy pathways, interconnected like the blood vessels of a living organism. The sight gave him a chill.

The Nightmare creatures around him were connected to these energy pathways in the environment, clearly functioning like puppets or controlled entities.

The situation was no longer something simple like running away.

Bones, hearing this, could only smile bitterly. He had been completely duped.

The Nightmare creatures around them stopped moving momentarily because of Richard's presence. But soon, they realized that Richard was just a minor Nightmare, far too weak.

"Heh, I didn't expect the Black Coffin Sword Saint's coffin to house a little Nightmare. If this gets out, they'll think I'm crazy." One of the Nightmare creatures, resembling a ghost from a story, cackled.

Around him, blue and green ghost flames swirled incessantly.

Richard gave him a quick glance, surprised to find that these Nightmare creatures could see through his abilities.

But what did it matter?

Richard waved his staff, and several black fireballs, each the size of a human head, appeared around him.

"Bones, you handle the defense."

With that, the fireballs sped toward the surrounding Nightmare creatures.

**Boom!**

The fireballs exploded, transforming into pitch-black spheres, causing the Nightmare creatures to scatter. Some, too slow to react, were even blasted to death.

The 2,000-level Annihilation Heart damage was considered a major weapon for a second-circle wizard. Before they understood the rules of nightmares, some of these creatures were weaker than regular native lifeforms. With Bones handling the defense, Richard was like a war fortress turret.

During the chaos, Richard made a point to give extra attention to the ghostly Nightmare.

Bones stared at the scene in a daze. The Annihilation Heart blasts had sent the Nightmare creatures, who had intended to feast on him, scattering in all directions, with some even dying instantly.

"Boss... is this how strong you are?" he thought to himself.

Soon, the Nightmare creatures, who had been preparing to feast on Bones, were completely driven away. Richard gathered the bodies of a few unlucky souls with his magic and consumed them.

**Buzz!**

A powerful wave of Nightmare energy erupted from Richard's body, causing a transformation. His already mysterious black robes now appeared even more enigmatic.

After evolving into a Greater Nightmare, Richard's Nightmare abilities were further enhanced.

Ten minutes later, the evolution was complete.

Bones suddenly felt a shock in his mind. His connection with Richard had become significantly stronger.

Richard could even draw from his Nightmare power to balance their energies.

Richard stretched his body, feeling much more comfortable. After adjusting to the second-circle physical strength, he wasn't quite used to the first-circle Nightmare body.

After sensing his own powers, Richard's mind activated, and his body immediately transformed into a shadow, slipping into the surrounding ground.

Unlike the usual Shadow Stealth, this enhanced ability allowed Richard to move freely without needing shadows.

Popping back up from the ground, Richard gathered a magical pouch and stored the coffin inside.

He then turned to Bones, calmly asking, "Tell me what's going on. This place seems more complicated than it looks."

---

The day after accepting the mission, Bones, as usual, arrived at the Tavern of the Lost with his coffin.

Today, the Tavern of the Lost wasn't open, but Bones still pushed the door open.

Inside, nine powerful Nightmare creatures all turned to look at him.

Though most of these creatures were unfamiliar to Bones, three of them were people he had met before.

"The Sword Saint is still as punctual as ever," said a skeleton wearing a farmer's hat and holding a whip.

Beside him, a massive Nightmare creature, nearly three meters tall, with a sack over its head and a rusted cleaver in its hand, also stared at Bones, its cleaver glinting with blood.

This one was the Executioner, another Nightmare creature skilled with weapons.

Next to the Executioner stood a Nightmare creature resembling a scarecrow from a rice field, exuding an ominous aura. On his shoulder, a pitch-black raven croaked eerily:

"Everyone's here. Where's the bartender?"

"The Scarecrow is always in such a hurry," the Scarecrow said, just as the demon bartender crawled out from beneath the counter, holding a box containing murky liquid.

There was a cellar beneath the counter, where the bartender kept Nightmare creatures' brewed drinks.

With a wave of his hand, several small winged demons flew out and brought the bottles to the Nightmare creatures.

"Try this, it's my new brew. I've added Nightmare blood and Fire Dragon saliva—guaranteed to pack a punch."

Bones took the bottle, opened it, and tasted a drop before setting it aside. He wasn't interested in alcohol.

The others tasted the drink and immediately spit out several meters of fire breath.

"Ha, it really packs a punch," said the Mist Coachman loudly.

"It seems like this mission is going to be tough," Bones murmured.

The bartender's liquor was never given for free. If he brought out something of such quality, it meant the difficulty of the task would be exceptionally high.

The bartender shrugged and waved his hand. A series of words made of green flames appeared in the air.

"This mission is set in an abandoned Nightmare domain. The domain's lord lost in a domain war and, at the moment of death, dragged the entire domain into the Nightmare Realm. Now, the domain has reappeared, and a big shot wants you all to scout it. If possible, bring back an item."

"An item?" one of the Nightmare creatures asked.

The bartender smiled, his voice filled with malice and charm, like the devil's own voice.

"It's nothing special, just a Nightmare artifact."

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