Chapter 4: Nightmare Lord (Rare) will form a passive characteristic domain centered on you, with a diameter of 10 to 500 meters (depending on your activation status). All enemy targets entering the domain will lose 10 points of Sanity per second and randomly suffer one of the five negative states: [Despair], [Confusion], [Madness], [Pain], or [Absolute Fear] each second.
Despair: The enemy immediately loses 320 Sanity.
Confusion: The enemy loses 15 Sanity per second for 30 seconds.
Madness: The enemy becomes more susceptible to the negative states of the Nightmare characteristic, causing the negative states of the Nightmare Lord domain to trigger once every 0.5 seconds instead of once per second.
Pain: The enemy's Sanity becomes more vulnerable to damage; for one hour, any Sanity damage they suffer is increased by 35%.
Absolute Fear: The enemy immediately loses 150 Sanity and has a chance to trigger the two negative states of [Flee] and [Fearful Submission]. If the target flees, an instant death judgment is triggered. If the target [Fearfully Submits], they will temporarily become a summonable unit under your command.
No need to consider, of course choose Nightmare Lord. The power of this ability is on a completely different level from the other three. He continued forward, walking out of the dark area filled with dark purple light particles. Su Xiao took out a [Library Silver Coin] to serve as a medium for carrying the Nightmare ability. Previously, he had obtained the [Blood Moon Queen] and could only sacrifice several pieces of equipment he had used for a while to successfully activate the [Blood Moon Queen].
Given the strength of the Soul Library, the [Library Silver Coin] was naturally no ordinary item, so carrying the Nightmare ability went smoothly. This [Library Silver Coin] transformed into a [Nightmare Silver Coin]. It was like passing through a barrier; the scene ahead changed abruptly. Su Xiao found himself inside a city gate tunnel. The tall city gate behind him was tightly shut. Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha were nowhere nearby, let alone Elukulu, Luciwa, and the others.
After walking out of the city gate tunnel, a full moon hung high in the sky above, with a faint trace of blood red at its edge. There were no stars in the night sky, only thick, dark purple clouds. Under the moonlight, a magnificent royal city came into Su Xiao's view. This royal city was eighty percent similar to the central district of Twilight City, so he tentatively called it the Old Royal City.
The Old Royal City was somewhat quiet. Although steam lamps were lit in many buildings, it was best not to knock on the doors. Once a door opened, a large number of monsters from the nightmare might rush out. However, this was the rule that explorers had to follow. Su Xiao stepped forward and found a large, pointed building. Because this was the nightmare world, buildings were hard to destroy—either incredibly tough to an absurd degree or like rubber, flexible enough that they couldn't be torn or smashed.
Thump, thump, thump.
Su Xiao knocked on the door. There had been rustling sounds inside the door just moments ago, but after he knocked, it suddenly fell silent. The feeling that all the monsters inside were holding their breath was particularly obvious.
Thump, thump, thump!
Su Xiao knocked again. The hundreds of various monsters lurking inside still held their breath. One Dream-Eating Beast quietly turned off the steam lamp. As for why this steam lamp could burn for so long and what fuel it used—in a nightmare, such irrationalities were actually rational. This was part of the nightmare.
So-called nightmares are not illusions or dreams; they are a buffer zone between the material world and the spiritual world. They have characteristics of both the material world and the inexplicability of the spiritual world. Su Xiao was already at the Absolute Strength rank, so why hadn't he been to the spiritual world yet? Of course, he would go there eventually—that was where elves and elemental beings resided. If he went there, not only would there be no benefits, but there would also be considerable risks, making it not worth the effort. Moreover, the spiritual world wasn't very large and was hard to find.
The lights inside the building suddenly went out, but that didn't affect the vision of the nightmare creatures inside. They all stared intently at the Dream-Eating Beast that had turned off the lamp, wishing they could devour it alive. Their expressions conveyed: "That terrifying existence outside hasn't left yet, you idiot, why did you turn off the light?"
Thump, thump, thump.
Su Xiao knocked again. The nightmare creatures inside the building began to contort their expressions. Their gazes turned fierce as they surged forward, binding the struggling and howling Dream-Eating Beast, then opened the door slightly, shoved the Dream-Eating Beast out, and slammed the door shut with a bang, locking it. The Dream-Eating Beast weighed its options, then stood upright like a three-meter-tall humanoid monster, its body covered in sparse, fluffy fur. It ferociously lunged at Su Xiao.
The Nightmare Domain activated. In an instant, the Dream-Eating Beast changed from a pounce to a thud as it crashed to the ground. Its flesh and blood seemed to be torn by an invisible force, and dark purple blood burst from various parts of its body.
The five negative states—[Despair], [Confusion], [Madness], [Pain], and [Absolute Fear]—interacted with each other. Contrary to expectations, Su Xiao didn't need to use other means to stall the enemy to give the various negative states time to trigger. These negative states, besides their lethal effects, also had their own basic characteristics.
For example, [Despair] caused the enemy to immediately lose 320 Sanity while also making the enemy feel deeply despairing inside. An attack they were about to use would suddenly become hesitant.
It had to be said that the monsters in this high-level nightmare area were indeed tough and thick-skinned. Only after triggering several negative states did the Dream-Eating Beast die on the spot. Su Xiao noticed that among the five negative states, [Confusion] and [Pain] had the best control effects, [Despair] was the best at interrupting, and [Madness] was very suitable for stalling time. Enemies caught in this negative state would wildly attack randomly on the spot.
As for [Absolute Fear], this was a finishing move. Once the enemy triggered this negative state, they would either die or be defeated.
However, one thing to note: if Su Xiao were dealing with an enemy that was also a Nightmare Overlord-level unit, the negative states wouldn't trigger as quickly. Moreover, the domain ability [Nightmare Lord] might even cancel out with the enemy's nightmare domain energy. In that case, Su Xiao was still not afraid. His own combat power wasn't weakened in the nightmare, and the true damage of Cyan Steel Shadow Energy remained very effective in nightmare areas.
After the Dream-Eating Beast's Sanity reached zero, it died within the nightmare domain. Once Sanity hit zero, it began to be absorbed by the surrounding nightmare environment. Tentacles resembling dark purple neural systems extended from the surrounding air, attaching to and piercing various parts of the Dream-Eating Beast's corpse. In a very short time, the Dream-Eating Beast was absorbed cleanly.
Just then, Su Xiao heard a spirited wolf howl from a distance. If he wasn't mistaken, that should be the White Wolf Lord, the target of the Big Brain team. Given the White Wolf Lord's strength, the Big Brain team was in for a tough time this time. Su Xiao was about to continue forward when he suddenly felt something touch his leg, and then Bubu Wang, who had been blending into the environment, appeared.
"Woof."
"Hmm."
"Woof woof."
"Where?"
"Woof woof."
"Okay."
Su Xiao proceeded in the direction Bubu Wang led. This was to help Baha escape. Baha had been swallowed by a giant nightmare flower. With Baha's strength, he could naturally break free instantly. However, Baha, who often assisted Su Xiao in mixing potions, recognized this as a unique giant nightmare flower in the nightmare area. He was reluctant to break it violently and damage it. Given the defense of his feathers, being swallowed by this giant flower wasn't dangerous.
On the street, Su Xiao and Bubu Wang hadn't gone far when a figure that seemed lost emerged from a nearby side street. It was... the slacker girl in a black dress, Delona.