Lord of Prayer

However, he wouldn’t use this power lightly for fear of exposure—not unless it was a matter of life and death.

Besides, he had other ways to deal with the source of the Nightmare.

“The simplest method is to use a Nightmare to defeat a Nightmare.”

“Huh?” Li Xiye said, stunned.

“As the saying goes, you use Magic to defeat Magic. And you use a Nightmare to defeat a Nightmare.” Zhou Chen’s lips curved into a smirk as he pulled the Emotional Outburst Gloves from his pocket and put them on.

“The Illusion Dream Flower is a part of this Nightmare itself. To kill it, we just need to create a Nightmare even more terrifying, even more horrifying than it is.”

What did Zhou Chen fear most?

Without a doubt.

—The Abyssal King, the King of Chaos!

Just a single, infinitely weakened special recording of it had nearly driven him to a mental breakdown, forever corrupting his sanity and turning him into a fanatical Abyssal Cultist. Even now, the memory of that chaotic Darkness, a void that seemed capable of destroying all of creation, sent a shiver down Zhou Chen’s spine.

Of course, he wasn’t suicidal enough to manifest the King of Chaos as the Nightmare. That would be a death sentence.

For a god-like existence, manifesting even a projection of it could, with bad luck, genuinely draw the attention of the real King of Chaos.

What Zhou Chen had to do was change the vessel for his Fear, creating an entirely new Nightmare.

He almost instantly thought of a fitting mythological creature.

—The World-Ending Black Dragon, Nidhogg!

‘Now, it’s imagination time!’

Zhou Chen wished with all his might to summon his Fear Clone, simultaneously activating the Forbidden Object, Emotional Outburst.

As soon as the Fear Clone appeared, it clutched its head in terror and squatted down, shivering behind Zhou Chen’s legs as if it were about to face a horrifying Nightmare.

Under the laws of the Dream World, extreme Fear was causing a new Nightmare to manifest.

Suddenly, thunder rumbled across the gloomy, gray sky. One boom followed another as a dense lightning storm spread from the horizon.

Flashes of lightning illuminated the black clouds, revealing the majestic, ferocious silhouette of a shocking, terrifying behemoth.

Sky-blotting Wings stirred, churning the endless dark clouds and kicking up a violent hurricane. An immense, pitch-black body, as if forged from steel, emerged from the storm.

Its majestic body writhed within the black clouds, lightning striking its glistening Dragon Scales to no effect. It was like a black mountain floating in the sky, exuding a suffocating pressure that struck a primal Fear into the depths of everyone’s Soul.

Indifferent draconic eyes gazed down, fixing their stare on the Illusion Dream Flower atop the skyscraper.

—The World-Ending Black Dragon Nidhogg. It possessed claws as large as mountains, Tusks that could gnaw through the roots of the World Tree, impenetrable scales, and the Chaos Dragon Flame that could destroy all of creation… Most importantly, it hated, hated, *hated* the Illusion Dream Flower.

This was a Nightmare creature born from Zhou Chen’s imagination; casually altering a few of its settings wasn’t difficult.

ROAR!

Nidhogg bellowed, its roar shaking the very heavens and rocking the entire Nightmare. It spread its Wings and dove, its speed impossibly fast. A mountain-sized claw shot out, filled with an ultimate hatred, sworn to destroy the Illusion Dream Flower.

BANG!

A thick, pitch-black vine lashed out, batting the dragon’s claw away. Immediately after, more black vines sprang to life, coiling around Nidhogg’s talons like giant pythons. Nidhogg beat its wings, unleashing a powerful gust of air as it wrestled against them, pulling the vines taut.

Since the Power of the Nightmare was limited, the Nidhogg from Zhou Chen’s imagination couldn’t possibly be as strong as the real mythological creature. Otherwise, it would have torn the Illusion Dream Flower to shreds in a single clash. But he had complete confidence in Nidhogg. After all, its strength was born from a Fear of the King of Chaos.

As Nidhogg roared, tyrannical Chaos Dragon Flame spewed from its maw. The fiery breath landed on the vines wrapped around its claws and, in an instant, the thick, resilient tendrils were burned away by the scorching heat.

The Chaos Dragon Flame rained down on the buildings below, melting them instantly. The temperature of the entire Nightmare rose by several degrees. Even from a great distance, the group could feel the blast of hot air.

Nidhogg clenched its mighty claw, crushing the black vines wrapped around it to dust. Once again, a searing breath issued from its draconic maw, incinerating the sky-full of vines.

The Illusion Dream Flower swayed. Its damaged vines regenerated rapidly, splitting and multiplying until more and more pitch-black tendrils were writhing and rising. The tips of these vines were sharp as blades, a frenzied dance of tentacles stabbing toward Nidhogg. Simultaneously, its closed, black-purple petals opened slightly and sprayed a large volume of crystalline, dream-like dust that coated Nidhogg’s chest and abdomen, making it glitter.

The dust, like a sticky cloud of mist, clung to Nidhogg’s body. It was intensely toxic, corroding its impenetrable Dragon Scales and leaving them pitted and scarred.

Nidhogg cried out in pain. With a roar, it breathed fire again. The pitch-black Chaos Dragon Flame seemed to dim the very heavens as a vast torrent instantly submerged the Illusion Dream Flower.

A tyrannical burst of light, like something out of Purgatory, shot toward the sky.

The skyscraper supporting the Illusion Dream Flower’s body melted under the breath of dragon flame, but the flower did not die. It had condensed a deep Nightmare Barrier to withstand the rushing torrent of fire. When the destructive breath ended, it was left with nothing more than a few scorched petals, its core unharmed.

Its petals opened a little wider, releasing a colorless, cloyingly sweet fragrance. A few seconds later, beautiful butterflies began to emerge from Nidhogg’s wounds. Like parasites, the butterflies swarmed over Nidhogg’s body, gnawing on its Dragon Scales and inflicting excruciating pain.

Enraged, Nidhogg beat its Wings. With a thunderous boom, its massive body dove from the sky with the Rapid Speed of a fighter jet, smashing down with brutal force.

BOOM!!!

The earth trembled as if struck by a million-ton hammer. A Level 12 hurricane swept through the entire Nightmare. When the storm subsided, Nidhogg and the Illusion Dream Flower were locked in close-quarters combat amidst the rising dust, their roars echoing continuously. It was like two giant monsters brawling in the middle of the city.

“This is way better than any monster movie,” Li Xiye said with excitement.

“Emotional Outburst only lasts for three minutes. Once the Fear Clone disappears, Nidhogg’s Power will be drastically reduced. We need to join the fight and finish off the Illusion Dream Flower as quickly as possible.”

He could extend the duration with Emotional Outburst, but Zhou Chen felt they couldn’t just stand by and watch; they had to act. “Their fighting might look apocalyptic and terrifying, but they’re actually still within a range we can handle. The Nightmare hasn’t fully developed yet.”

Just as he spoke, a thick fog began to surge at the end of the street. At some point, a hazy mist had blanketed the distant city blocks, and now, as if it had a mind and life of its own, it came churning toward them at incredible speed.

“It’s the Dissolving Mist!” Doggy exclaimed.

At the other end of the street, hordes of Skinless—grotesque, blood-red figures with no skin—and Soul Eaters—humanoid creatures with nothing but a giant mouth for a head—were charging toward them like a legion of zombies.

“The Illusion Dream Flower knows Nidhogg’s source is here, so it’s sent Nightmare Monsters to eliminate us.” Zhou Chen’s brow furrowed. He glanced at the people shivering in a nearby ruined building. “All of you, stay hidden. Don’t show yourselves.”

The people nodded frantically and shrank back into the concealment of the ruins.

With a mere thought, Zhou Chen manifested three machine guns out of thin air, mounting them in the street.

“Xiao Ye, Doggy, Angela, you three defend this side. Kill as many of the Skinless and Soul Eaters as you can to weaken the Nightmare’s Power.” He pointed to the approaching legion of Nightmare Monsters in the distance.

Li Xiye ran a hand over one of the machine guns and couldn’t help but lick her lips. “No problem. And you?”

“I’ll go take care of the Dissolving Mist.” Zhou Chen looked toward the roiling fog. His intuition told him it was nasty stuff, but it was just its bad luck to have run into him.