Chapter 30: Depths of Nightmare
Dark Moon Nightmare, Old Royal City. Main Street.
The sudden appearance of the slacker girl Delona from a side street caused Bubu Wang to instinctively lower his posture. This wasn't to fight, but to prepare to turn and run. Bubu Wang knew his role well; during combat, he was responsible for providing buff auras and not holding the team back.
Regarding not holding the team back, Bubu Wang did an excellent job. Not only that, sometimes during a life-or-death struggle against a powerful enemy at the most critical moment, he would charge forward. Although he was always easily sent flying by the strong enemy, it served as a distraction. In those crucial moments, buying an instant's opportunity could decide victory or defeat.
Su Xiao placed a hand on Bubu Wang's dog head, which made Bubu Wang abandon any thoughts of slipping away. He switched to a relaxed state, already prepared to put on an act.
This slacker girl Delona who suddenly appeared from the side street—even Bubu Wang could tell something was wrong. Su Xiao naturally noticed this as well. If his guess was correct, this might be that unknown existence from the Abyss.
The black-dressed Delona looked left and right at the end of the side street. After confirming that there were no nightmare creatures on the main street besides Su Xiao and Bubu Wang, she trotted over to Su Xiao's side. She hesitated for a moment, then stood between Su Xiao and Bubu Wang, as if she felt safer there. Not only that, she tightly gripped Su Xiao's sleeve with her left hand.
"We got separated earlier, huh. Finally found you."
Black-dressed Delona stumbled through this sentence. This disguise... no, could this even be called a disguise? This was practically an obvious act.
Moreover, the dark aura of black-dressed Delona was far too easy to sense. Even though she tried her best to disguise it, it was clear that her strengths didn't lie in this area.
"Where is my brother?"
"Got separated."
"Is that so? What a pity."
Although black-dressed Delona said this, she clearly seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Big dog Bubu, let's chat."
Black-dressed Delona said another sentence that immediately raised alarm bells. However, what was puzzling was—how did she know Bubu Wang's name?
"Woof."
Bubu Wang barked, meaning: As long as you don't suddenly attack me, I don't mind chatting with you.
Although that was the meaning he intended to convey, Bubu Wang didn't think black-dressed Delona could understand what he was saying.
"Don't worry, big dog, I won't hurt you."
Black-dressed Delona gave Bubu Wang a sly smile, which made Bubu Wang both surprised and wary. She could actually understand what he meant.
Why did black-dressed Delona want to chat with Bubu Wang? Partly because she wanted to, and partly to practice her language skills, trying to stop stumbling over her words. It was clear she was trying very hard to act, but unfortunately, her acting was simply clumsy.
Under Bubu Wang's guidance, Su Xiao arrived before a manor in the Old Royal City. In front of the manor stood guards in dark red armor, all of whom had turned into statues. The feeling was clearly: Don't make a sound, just pretend to be a statue. Don't let this terrifying monster discover us.
Logically, this Dark Moon Nightmare should have a dark, eerie, and terrifying atmosphere, and the environment here was indeed like that. But after encountering Su Xiao, the monsters here all underwent a sudden change in style.
It seemed his previous understanding of nightmare regions was still insufficient.
Most nightmare creatures within nightmare regions possessed considerable intelligence, which also made them fear death enough.
Because they feared death enough, upon seeing Su Xiao, they felt instinctive fear. Not to mention that the Nightmare Overlord ability [Nightmare Lord] came with five negative statuses: [Despair], [Confusion], [Madness], [Pain], and [Absolute Fear].
Su Xiao walked into the manor. Half a minute after he left, among the dozen or so guard statues on either side of the main gate, one nightmare guard opened his left eye to confirm that the terrifying existence had gone far away, then let out a long sigh of relief.
"That monster is far away now."
"Help me up, my legs are shaking a bit."
"Do you think this humanoid monster will settle down in the Old Royal City?"
"Don't scare me. I think he'll definitely leave."
"The problem now is that this humanoid monster has entered the Fungus Manor. Should we inform the manor lord?"
A few nightmare guards discussed it and decided to run away. They extended insect legs from under their armor, transforming into spider-like forms, and quickly scurried toward the main street.
Inside the manor, Su Xiao looked at the ancient castle ahead. He could sense that within this castle lurked a nightmare mini-boss composed of numerous pale tentacles. However, he didn't intend to fight it, because killing enemies in this nightmare region wouldn't yield any rewards.
In fact, there were two types of nightmare regions. The first type was similar to dungeons—limited in scope, usually a small town, a city, an underground palace, etc. These nightmare regions had been fully certified, and some would even reshape themselves. Contractors called these [Nightmare Dungeons].
The three most famous [Nightmare Dungeons] were: [Sea Underground Palace] on Wind Sea Continent, [Old Fishing Village Ruins] in Witch Realm, and [Bloodstained Town] in the Void Heavenly Wasteland Star Sea.
Su Xiao had been to Wind Sea Continent and Witch Realm. Why hadn't he gone to these nightmare dungeons back then? Not because he didn't want to, but because he simply didn't have the time. On Wind Sea Continent, he was busy developing his territory and beating down the Sea Tribe.
Now, Twilight City on Wind Sea Continent had become a safe zone certified by Reincarnation Paradise. This meant that their workers could go to this Transcendent Primordial World, which had extraordinary significance.
As a result, in Reincarnation Paradise's Trade Market, Trade Street, and the Great Gathering Place certified by Void Tree, all tickets and World Keys to Wind Sea Continent had skyrocketed in price by dozens of times.
Apart from nightmare dungeons, the other type of nightmare region—the Dark Moon Nightmare where Su Xiao currently was—could also be called a nightmare world. At the edge of the Dark Moon Nightmare, with the right method, one could enter other large nightmare regions. The entire nightmare world was composed of such large regions like the Dark Moon Nightmare.
Within the nightmare world, there were no kill rewards, and killing enemies yielded no various source bloods. Therefore, Su Xiao decided that this time in the nightmare world, he must reduce killing. Counting from when he killed that Dream-Devouring Evil Beast earlier, he hadn't destroyed anything for over half an hour. He would try to maintain that.
Ignoring the nightmare mini-boss in the ancient castle ahead, Su Xiao arrived at the backyard. A giant flower resembling a Rafflesia occupied this spot. This was a Giant Devourer Flower in the nightmare. Currently, this Giant Devourer Flower was writhing in agony, with black spikes piercing out from within, bringing it to the brink of death. Baha had injured it to this extent using [Night Howl Famine Wolf].
Su Xiao took out a bag of salt, mixed a bottle of concentrated saltwater according to a specific ratio, added a small amount of dark matter, then poured it into a nebulizer device before tossing it into the Giant Devourer Flower's dying, wide-open mouth.
The Giant Devourer Flower received a massive shock. It struggled violently in a final burst of energy for a moment, then "plop" fell over. A purple-black liquid flowed from its mouth, spreading a bitter smell. To living beings, this was a relatively acceptable bitterness, but to nightmare creatures' sense of smell and perception, it was a stench so foul it was unbearable.
If someone in the normal world was parasitized or invaded by a nightmare existence, this substance could immediately remove it. Therefore, this defensive liquid of the Giant Devourer Flower was priced comparable to top-tier rare metals of the same volume. Su Xiao collected two large bottles of this defensive liquid; it might come in handy someday.
Baha teleported through space, escaping the Giant Devourer Flower's stomach sac. It took out clean water to wash off the mucus on its body. Midway through washing, it suddenly noticed that black-dressed Delona was off, but it only glanced without any extra reaction, as if it hadn't noticed anything.
Su Xiao had four goals for this trip to the Dark Moon Nightmare:
1. Kill the Nightmare King to obtain the [Sun Source Stone] he possessed.
2. Help the great noble Luciwa resolve his sister's issue, which would yield 1 [Primordial Core] and 20 [Primordial Fragments], and he had already received 5 [Primordial Fragments] as a deposit.
3. Complete [Hunt List: Blood Pact] Bounty 2, Nightmare Depths—i.e., rescuing the noble lady within the nightmare.
4. Find the [Moon Altar] hidden deep within the Dark Moon Nightmare and meet the Sun Great Scholar Rimans there. He had met the other party once before in the large stone house on Black Mist Island. Su Xiao had a feeling that this Sun Great Scholar might know all the secrets and was the most important figure related to the main quest.
There was quite a bit to do, but it wasn't scattered. The enemy to deal with, the Nightmare King, wouldn't leave this place. So helping the great noble Luciwa resolve his sister's issue was the current priority. The black-dressed Delona beside him was clearly the answer to this matter.
"It's very dangerous here. Why don't we leave this nightmare first?"
Black-dressed Delona spoke with a smile in her eyes. As she spoke, her hand gripping Su Xiao's sleeve tightened involuntarily, and the anticipation in her emotions seemed ready to overflow.
"Oh? Wouldn't it be bad to give up halfway?"
Baha, perched on Su Xiao's left shoulder, spoke. It knew Su Xiao's habits well—he always drew his sword with his right hand and held it with one hand, so landing on the left shoulder wouldn't affect Su Xiao's draw speed in case of an emergency.
"Oh."
Black-dressed Delona was a bit disappointed, but she quickly ignored it. Her eyes darted around lively, as if she had another mischievous idea. She said, "Our main goal in coming to the nightmare this time is to deal with the Nightmare King, right?"
"Of course. Did you forget the plan we agreed on before setting out?"
Baha looked at black-dressed Delona suspiciously, which made her immediately say, "Of... of course not. Let me tell you, the Nightmare King is the worst. The White Wolf and the Great Prince are also scary, but they're not annoying. I hate the Nightmare King."
The more black-dressed Delona spoke, the more indignant she became.
"Oh?" Baha looked at black-dressed Delona in surprise, then asked, "From what you're saying, you're quite familiar with this Dark Moon Nightmare?"
"Of course! We traveled all this way from Twilight City to this Dark Moon Nightmare, so I naturally had to investigate everything here thoroughly. For everyone's safety, hahahaha."
Black-dressed Delona ended with a slightly awkward but polite laugh.
"We actually didn't travel much. We've been riding your brother's Lord's Train the whole time."
Baha began filling in details for black-dressed Delona. Black-dressed Delona felt that the more this topic went on, the harder it was to cover up, so she quickly changed the subject and said:
"Let's go deal with the Nightmare King. I actually have a particularly strong perception ability. I can accurately sense which direction the Nightmare King is in. He's over there!!!"
Black-dressed Delona pointed to the north side of the Old Royal City, which was the direction deeper into the city. Due to the thin mist in the environment, one could vaguely see a towering royal hall in the distance, but they would have to cross the entire Old Royal City to reach it.
Just then, a loud bang rang out. A dark purple radiance erupted from the east side, forming a large sword with the Dark Moon faction's emblem on it. As this sword fell, Su Xiao noticed that in the world communication channel, Shenfu's name immediately turned gray, indicating that Shenfu was dead.
Shenfu died again. Over there, Shenfu, Platinum Apostle, and Archbishop of the Abyss should be dealing with the Dark Moon Great Prince. Shenfu's sudden death could well imagine the speechless expressions of the other two.
Thinking of Shenfu's previous cooperation intentions, and that half of the total 12 strong enemies the three teams were to deal with had already been dealt with, Shenfu was starting to stir up trouble.
Thinking of this, Su Xiao glanced at the black-dressed Delona beside him. This Dark Moon Nightmare was getting more and more lively. He would first resolve the trouble right in front of him before playing games with Shenfu and the others.
Su Xiao looked toward a dark alley nearby. He was certain that a nightmare creature had been following them from a distance since earlier. Su Xiao deliberately acted as if he hadn't noticed it, and sure enough, the nightmare creature grew bolder and came closer.
Based on the perception traps left by Bubu Wang, Su Xiao learned that this was a Shadow Anomaly. Among the many nightmare creatures, the Shadow type was the most unpredictable and the one that formed the most contracts with beings outside the nightmare.
"Boss, shouldn't we first kill the one following us?"
As Baha spoke, Famine Wolf attached itself to its entire body, making its feathers look like black metal feathers, exuding a fierce killing intent.
"Zzzt!"
A Spirit Shadow Thread extending from Su Xiao's sleeve materialized and tightened. It wasn't that Su Xiao had pulled the thread; the follower had stepped into a trap. After eavesdropping on Baha's words, the Shadow Anomaly prepared to escape immediately. As it turned to flee, it triggered the trap.
Beside him, Bubu Wang's figure flickered like signal interference, then disappeared. In fact, Bubu Wang had long since blended into the environment. What had been following Su Xiao was a mimic projection set by Bubu Wang—a projection that could even mimic biological fluctuations and aura. This was the convenience that came from having a high skill tree in the technology side.
Baha swooped into the darkness. When it flashed out, it tossed out a mass of black substance. This was a clump of black mist contracted into a defensive state, about the size of a millstone. Shadow Anomalies were typically 2.5 to 2.8 meters tall, with a form resembling a human wearing a large robe. There was a saying that Shadow Anomalies were transformed from powerful human souls that strayed into the nightmare, which was why they had the richest and most vivid emotions among nightmare creatures.
Su Xiao raised his hand, pointing his index finger at the defensive Shadow Anomaly. Blood energy gathered at his fingertip. For some reason, the charging time for this Blood Smoke Cannon was unusually long. If his former enemies saw this charging speed, they would glare and angrily say: "When you blasted me back then, you just raised your hand and fired a Blood Smoke Cannon!"
"Bai Ye, aren't we going to deal with the Nightmare King? We can't just casually expose our abilities."
As black-dressed Delona spoke, she moved to block Su Xiao's front. If this Blood Smoke Cannon were fired, given black-dressed Delona's physical strength, she would be blasted into a blood mist.
Taking advantage of black-dressed Delona blocking Su Xiao, the defensive Shadow Anomaly turned into black mist and slipped into a shop beside the main street, causing a commotion among the nightmare creatures hiding inside.
"It got away after all. But dealing with the Nightmare King is more important."
Black-dressed Delona spoke, though she looked at the direction the Shadow Anomaly had fled with lingering fear. When the Shadow Anomaly was dragged out of the darkness earlier, she was scared stiff. She really hadn't expected Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and Baha to be so professional and absurdly skilled at dealing with strange existences.
Su Xiao stared at black-dressed Delona. For the first two seconds of his gaze, black-dressed Delona still had a smile in her eyes. But as Su Xiao's gaze continued, her smile grew more strained. Unable to bear the terrifying pressure, she turned her head and looked around.
"Oh!!! Right, I almost forgot to tell you. Ever since the Dark Moon Nightmare was assimilated into the Old Royal City, the Nightmare King has gained a domination ability. He can change the spatial attributes here to a certain extent. If he targets you, he might instantly teleport you to..."
Before black-dressed Delona could finish, the space around her twisted. Her pupils rapidly contracted, and she reached out a hand toward Su Xiao, clearly in a posture of seeking help.
Black-dressed Delona's words and actions were far too strange. Based on the current information, she was an unknown existence from the Abyss coexisting with the real Delona. Meanwhile, the real slacker girl Delona was currently with her brother.
Since black-dressed Delona appeared, her acting had been terrible, even stumbling over her words. After practicing chatting with Bubu Wang for a while, her speech became smoother, but she often said things that raised alarm bells.
As an unknown existence from the Abyss, black-dressed Delona had been staying in this nightmare Old Royal City. Yet upon their first meeting, she knew Bubu Wang's name and could even call Su Xiao "Bai Ye." After Baha appeared, she learned to be smarter, but she seemed to have anticipated Baha's teasing.
This terrible acting, combined with her seemingly prescient behavior, actually made black-dressed Delona less suspicious rather than more. Because she performed so clumsily—so awkwardly clumsy that even the ever-vigilant Bubu Wang and Baha were thrown off.
Now, as black-dressed Delona was nearly half swallowed by the spatial vortex, the panic and fear she displayed were absolutely beyond what her terrible acting could convey.
Baha on Su Xiao's shoulder was about to pounce, but was immediately entangled by Spirit Shadow Threads. Baha stopped its movement. Black-dressed Delona, struggling in the spatial vortex, saw this scene, and her eyes dimmed slightly. Her lips moved silently, forming a few words. Baha, who was proficient in lip reading, focused and whispered to Su Xiao:
"Boss, I don't know who she's talking to, but she said: Don't come over."
Just as Baha finished speaking, the Shadow Anomaly that Su Xiao had earlier trapped and then allowed to escape turned into a black shadow and pounced. As a creature of the nightmare world, approaching Su Xiao instinctively made it want to turn and flee immediately. But memories of the past made it forcibly ignore these instincts and pounce toward the spatial vortex.
"ROAR!!!"
The Shadow Anomaly, resembling a human in a long black robe, let out a furious roar. Hands made of darkness grabbed at black-dressed Delona, trying to pull her out of the spatial vortex. Unfortunately, the one who created this spatial vortex was far stronger than the Shadow Anomaly, and it too was dragged into the vortex. Even as it was completely sucked in, the Shadow Anomaly didn't let go.
The spatial vortex ahead disappeared. Under the suction of this vortex, the surrounding environment fell into darkness, making the red light in Su Xiao's pupils appear even more pronounced.
"I see."
All of Su Xiao's doubts were resolved. The blood energy emanating from his body gathered behind him, forming a massive Blood Beast phantom—a Blood Beast phantom grinning with bared sharp fangs.
Inside the towering royal hall at the innermost part of the Old Royal City.
A red carpet stretched forward, climbing step by step until it reached the foot of a proud throne. Seated on this throne was a figure clad in black battle armor with a dark gold cape, wearing a War King Crown. This figure was over three meters tall, with flowing white hair and thick, graying beard. Sitting there with such majesty, one felt an urge to kneel.
This was none other than the Sun King—the strongest being in this world from the First Era to the present, honored as the Transcendent King. It was under his leadership that Blazing Sun Star became one of the three Transcendent Primordial Worlds of the First Era.
Inside the royal hall, on either side of the red carpet below the steps, stood figures in dark gold battle armor or gold-black robes. Among them were the famous Seven Knight Commanders of the First Era.
On the red carpet, black-dressed Delona was forced to her knees by two guards. Beside her, the Shadow Anomaly was pinned to the ground by a spear, struggling fiercely. It roared powerlessly but angrily, unable to break free.
"Delona, I have been lenient enough with you. Yet you betray me by siding with an intruder and even plot to harm me. What do you say should be done with her?"
Hearing the Sun King's words, the Seven Knight Commanders below shouted angrily:
"Execute her!"
"Throw her into the insect pit!"
Hearing the Seven Knight Commanders say this, the others chimed in agreement. Just then—
"BOOM!"
A dull roar shook the entire royal hall. A spatial rift appeared behind black-dressed Delona. From within this dozen-meter-high spatial rift, two enormous beast claws reached out, pulling the rift open wider. As the surrounding space crackled and shattered, the spatial rift grew much larger. Blood energy spread as the massive Blood Beast inside the rift came into view.
As blood energy spread, Su Xiao stepped out of the spatial rift. He placed a hand on the sword hilt at his waist. The next second, all nightmare creatures within ten meters were slashed into sugar-cube-sized pieces.
Such blood energy and pressure caused the Seven Knight Commanders and guards in the hall to let out terrified shrieks. Some simply turned and fled. One Great Knight Commander grew increasingly fat as he ran, flinging his armor pieces everywhere. These armor pieces fell to the ground and turned into purple sludge, thick like a pile of snot.
As for the Great Knight Commander himself, as he ran, he revealed his true form: a nightmare creature with black-purple skin and layers of fat.
In an instant, everyone in the hall scattered like birds and beasts, revealing their true forms. Only the Sun King remained seated on the throne above.
This was naturally the Nightmare King in disguise. Or rather, the Nightmare King was also a disguise. His true title was the False King. Being able to impersonate other kings in the nightmare world was why the third ring of the main quest was named [False Appearance].
The False King rose from his throne. His three-meter height was imposing. As he drew a greatsword from its scabbard, the temperature inside the hall skyrocketed. This was none other than the Sun King's former sword, the strongest weapon in this world—the Blazing Sun Greatsword.
As the Blazing Sun Greatsword was drawn, the blade gradually turned incandescent red, with scorching sun patterns appearing on it. The golden hilt was not dazzling but had a restrained quality born of age.
"Law Destroyer! How dare you challenge me!!!"
The False King raised the Blazing Sun Greatsword high with one hand. With a whoosh, a miniature sun formed at the tip of the sword.
"Hahaha!!! Now I am the Sun King!!!"
The False King laughed maniacally. As he urged it, the miniature sun above the sword tip suddenly expanded. Sparks appeared on the walls and ceiling of the hall. Black-dressed Delona, who had just gotten up from the red carpet, immediately collapsed.
They couldn't let black-dressed Delona die, or it would be a huge loss. Su Xiao was about to kick her out of the hall but immediately stopped himself.
It wasn't that he was being chivalrous or anything. It was that his kicking technique had just been upgraded, doubling its power. Even if he restrained his strength, because the power had just surged, he might accidentally turn black-dressed Delona into mist inside the hall with a poorly controlled kick.
Su Xiao grabbed black-dressed Delona and threw her out of the hall. Mid-flight, black-dressed Delona desperately grabbed the spear pinning the Shadow Anomaly. As the spear loosened, the Shadow Anomaly immediately broke free and swept black-dressed Delona outside the hall.
Inside the hall, the blazing sun expanded. The False King held the Blazing Sun Greatsword high, laughing maniacally. Understandably so—this was the Sun King's power. Even temporarily wielding such power was enough to make the False King laugh out loud.
"BOOM!"
The blazing sun rushed toward him. Su Xiao raised his left arm, protected by a bracer, in front of him. Embers scattered between his fingers. Just then, a sound of wind rushed past him. It was the great noble Luciwa, who had sensed the blazing sun's aura and rushed to reinforce. As expected of the Hunting Group Leader who had long explored the Unlit Zone, his reinforcement speed was absurdly fast.
Luciwa held a dark silver shield in one hand and a short spear-gun in the other, charging toward the False King against the surging blazing sun. In an instant, his dark silver shield turned incandescent red and melted into molten iron that splashed backward. But unexpectedly, Luciwa's dark silver shield suddenly shrank. The short spear-gun in his right hand transformed into a long spear in an instant, and with a boom, he thrust forward.
As a heavy warrior, Luciwa was both offensive and defensive. Facing this charging heavy warrior, the False King's expression changed slightly. He stopped raising the Blazing Sun Greatsword high, causing the miniature sun above the tip to disappear. The False King pointed the Blazing Sun Greatsword at the charging Luciwa, and the next moment, a dense golden Sun Flame surged toward Luciwa.
Luciwa was a heavy warrior, but he wasn't reckless. Facing this terrifying Sun Flame that melted even the space along its path, the long spear-gun in his right hand melted, reforming into the dark silver shield in his left hand.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
The Sun Flame scorched the dark silver shield, forcing Luciwa to one knee. Even so, he was pushed backward.
A blood-red afterimage flashed, appearing beside the False King in an instant. The False King had been waiting for Su Xiao's ambush. A hint of gleeful cruelty appeared on his face. Hidden nightmare characteristic threads suddenly appeared, binding the charging Su Xiao. This was a terrifying erosion ability; once hit, one would be half dead even if not killed.
However, Su Xiao wasn't nightmare-ified. The body bound by the nightmare threads turned into black smoke. This was the Blade Demon Spirit. The demon spirit's black smoke form caused the nightmare threads to bind nothing. The next second, Su Xiao and the demon spirit swapped positions.
BOOM!
Blood energy surged, causing the False King's hair and beard to fly. This was the true pressure of facing Su Xiao head-on.
Su Xiao didn't draw his blade to slash at the False King. With Baha's cover, he had been in an alternate space, and two seconds before swapping positions with the demon spirit, he had used [Origin Stone: Slow Release] to charge his straight kick.
"[Origin Stone: Slow Release Effect: Slow Release 'Passive': Abilities require longer charging time to complete release, but will 'super massively' increase the power, maximum range, flight speed, etc., of the released ability.]"
[Origin Stone: Slow Release] had successfully helped him charge this straight kick. As a cost, fine cracks appeared on [Origin Stone: Slow Release]. This was an Origin Stone, after all—very sturdy.
Now, beside the False King, Su Xiao, who had instantly swapped positions with the demon spirit, delivered a straight kick to the False King. Sensing this, the False King first looked puzzled. Facing Su Xiao, who had closed the distance in an instant, the False King was naturally wary—this was a Blade Grandmaster. But instead of drawing his long blade to slash at him, Su Xiao used a straight kick.
The False King looked at Luciwa, who was still being pushed back by the Sun Flame, and immediately understood. This Blade Grandmaster on the side was trying to interrupt his attack with a kick, giving his ally a chance to breathe, and then the two would gang up on him.
Seeing through everything, the False King summoned layers of shields around himself. He would deal with one first to avoid being surrounded. But the next moment, he realized he was wrong, because the wind pressure from the straight kick arrived.
Whoosh!!
Fierce wind pressure followed the straight kick, causing the False King's hair and beard to fly sideways. The crown on his head was blown off. Not only that, the skin on his face was pushed, his lips uncontrollably stretched wide, wildly changing shape in the wind pressure.
"Wai—!!!"
Before the False King could shout "Wait," he had turned into a beam of light.
THUD!!
The False King shot out, plowing a trench through the ground. The side wall of the hall caved in. However, this hall was indeed sturdy; this must be the core of the nightmare Old Royal City.
The False King was embedded sideways in the wall, letting out a pained groan. From his rolled-back eyes, it was clear he wasn't in good shape.
But the False King was, after all, the owner of the [Sun Source Stone]. He forcibly rolled his eyes back. Taking advantage of the two seconds his clones bought him, he broke free from the wall. With a "wah," he spat out a mouthful of blood and raised the Blazing Sun Greatsword high:
"Let me show you my power as the Sun King!!!"
The False King roared hysterically. He raised the Blazing Sun Greatsword even higher. With a boom, golden particles appeared in the surrounding air. These were Sun Force condensed into physical form. The destructive power of energy-state Sun Force and physical Sun Force were worlds apart.
The Sun King had once used this Sun Force to nearly pierce through [Ancient Dragon Kingdom Eberus], another Transcendent Primordial World. The Ancient Dragon faction had spent many years repairing their Transcendent Primordial World.
The wind pressure from the blazing sun rushed toward him. Su Xiao immediately took out [Time Bell] from his storage space and held it in his left hand. This life-saving item, traded from Molei, was powerful enough to possibly handle the current situation. His instinct ability clearly told him that death perception was pricking at him like needles from all directions. This was the Sun King's ability, still powerful even when used clumsily.
"Hahaha! Blazing Sun!"
The False King, holding the Blazing Sun Greatsword high, laughed maniacally. But before he could finish—
BOOM!!
The Sun Force on the Blazing Sun Greatsword exploded, instantly blowing the False King into several pieces. Part of his upper body, including his head, landed on the throne. After letting out a confused "Huh?" his aura rapidly weakened until he died. He couldn't believe he had been defeated and killed in this way.
"This..."
Luciwa was also stunned. He had been preparing to unleash his ultimate move, hoping to survive this strike from the Blazing Sun Greatsword. Who would have thought that shortly after the battle began, the False King would be killed by the backlash of the Blazing Sun Greatsword?
Baha, hiding in the shadows and ready to deliver the fatal blow, was also stunned. It had just obtained [Night Howl Famine Wolf] not long ago and wanted to show off, but it never expected this outcome.
Su Xiao glanced at the kill notification that appeared. After confirming that the False King wasn't faking his death, he was about to examine the contents of these kill notifications when Bubu Wang ran in from the main entrance.
"Woof woof woof!!!"
Su Xiao quickly walked outside. Seeing this, Luciwa asked, "What's wrong?"
"Your sister is about to fight that unknown Abyss existence."
"What?!"
Luciwa's blood nearly ran cold. He hurriedly rushed out and arrived at a large theater near the royal hall.
When Su Xiao and the others arrived at the large theater, they saw Delona standing on the stage, and opposite her, the unknown Abyss existence with a face one hundred percent identical to hers. This was a confrontation between the Abyss unknown existence and the noble lady. The two stared at each other, then charged at each other, and finally...
Finally, one grabbed the other's hair, and the other bit the other's hand. The eerie confrontation they had imagined never materialized. This huge contrast left Luciwa standing there dumbfounded, forgetting to break it up. As for Amu, he was standing nearby, scratching his head in confusion. He could no longer tell which of the two on stage was who. Their appearances, physiques, etc., were all identical.
In the end, the two fighting were pulled apart by Su Xiao and Luciwa.
The slacker girl Delona, held by Luciwa, said, "Brother, she's impersonating me!"
Hearing this, the black-dressed Delona, held by Su Xiao, said angrily, "Pfft!!! I am the real Delona! Not only did you use my name, but you also occupied my body. You... you're shameless!"
The well-mannered black-dressed Delona uttered what she considered the harshest insult.
So, between the slacker girl Delona held by Luciwa and the black-dressed Delona held by Su Xiao, which one was the noble lady of the Twilight City Hunting Family, and which was the unknown Abyss existence?
The answer was—the black-dressed Delona, who grew up in the nightmare, was the Hunting Family's noble lady and Luciwa's biological sister.
On the other hand, the slacker girl Delona, who grew up in Twilight City and had always been considered Luciwa's true sister, was the unknown Abyss existence.
This wasn't speculation but based on actual evidence. For one thing, considering the slacker girl Delona's usual habits, she seemed to be cold and indifferent due to being neglected by her family, preferring to sit alone in the dark. The problem was that she had a brother who cared for her, and her brother was a peak Absolute Strength powerhouse. Moreover, the slacker girl Delona lived with Luciwa's wife, the social butterfly Bedia. It was because of the slacker girl Delona's indifferent personality since childhood that Luciwa arranged it this way.
Bedia's meticulous care, aside from making the slacker girl Delona no longer instinctively hostile toward others, still left her with an indifferent personality and a preference for sitting alone in dark places.
Why was this? The reason was that when Delona's mother gave birth to her, it was a struggle and confrontation between the unknown Abyss existence and the noble lady Delona. Two consciousnesses fought for one body. The loser would be banished into darkness. As for where exactly, it now appeared to be the Dark Moon Nightmare.
During this birth stage, the unknown Abyss existence—let's call her Abyss Delona—won this round. But there was an issue that couldn't be ignored: beings from the Abyss weren't necessarily evil. Whether they were good or evil mainly depended on the environment they encountered upon arriving in the material world.
The first person Abyss Delona saw upon arriving in this world was the mother who gave birth to her. Although she was the cause of her mother's death, she felt no malice or resentment from the gradually dissipating soul. This tilted Abyss Delona's (good and evil) slightly toward the good side.
The second person she saw was the old Legion Commander. Having explored the Unlit Zone all his life and dealt with Abyss existences, the old Legion Commander naturally saw through Abyss Delona's problem. He also discovered that, in a sense, she was also his daughter. He couldn't bring himself to kill her and calmly faced the end of his life.
This wasn't caused by Abyss Delona; the old Legion Commander's life force was indeed about to run out.
From the old Legion Commander, Abyss Delona felt neither good nor evil. Her moral tendency remained unchanged. It wasn't until Luciwa arrived with the family greatsword that Abyss Delona's moral value began to shift toward evil, as she sensed death quietly approaching.
However, everything that followed caused Abyss Delona's moral value to veer irreversibly toward the good side. She had a brother who cared for her, a sister-in-law who loved her, and a carefree life every day. Apart from occasional cold glances from family members, everything she faced was the beauty of this world.
With this kind of upbringing, why did Abyss Delona still like to sit quietly alone in the dark? Don't forget, before she was born, she was an existence in the Abyss, drifting endlessly in infinite darkness. So even after birth, she still habitually liked the dark.
Furthermore, as an Abyss Delona with weak close-combat abilities—barely better than an ordinary person—she had an appetite comparable to one-fifth of Amu's. This was very abnormal. Moreover, no matter how much she ate, she remained slightly slender. This was because, in essence, she was still an Abyss existence with high daily consumption, naturally requiring more energy intake.
Speaking of which, when they entered the Dark Moon Nightmare earlier, a notification from Void Tree was quite interesting. The content was as follows:
[The total number of Overlord-level units in this nightmare region has increased to five, totaling:
1. White Wolf Lord
2. Law-Destroying Shadow Kukulin Bai Ye
3. Dark Moon Great Prince
4. Nightmare King
5. ??? (Unstable State)]
This last ??? (Unstable State) was clearly Abyss Delona. More interestingly, after the important ritual of birth, Abyss Delona always believed that she herself was the real Delona, while the one in the Dark Moon Nightmare was clearly a dark unknown existence, an enemy trying to seize control of her body.
So the question was: How did the real noble lady Delona, who lost in the birth and was banished into darkness, survive in the Dark Moon Nightmare until now? The answer was luck. The infant Delona happened to encounter a Shadow Anomaly.
Thus, after black-dressed Delona approached Su Xiao, the Shadow Anomaly secretly followed. When Su Xiao exposed it, black-dressed Delona didn't hesitate to block the impending Blood Smoke Cannon, giving the Shadow Anomaly a chance to escape.
It was this Shadow Anomaly that allowed the infant black-dressed Delona to survive in the Dark Moon Nightmare and grow up there, rather than being devoured by dangerous nightmare creatures.
Why did black-dressed Delona actively seek out Su Xiao? The reason was that when she grew to fourteen years old in the Dark Moon Nightmare, the Shadow Anomaly led her to a building covered in seals. After black-dressed Delona and the Shadow Anomaly painstakingly entered this building, black-dressed Delona discovered that it was the remains of a powerful witch from Witch Realm who had died there.
This witch had an enemy named Moon Witch Sesilice. In terms of strength, intelligence, and the faction she commanded, the enemy completely crushed her. The gap was so vast that there was no chance of turning things around. So this witch fled to Blazing Sun Star and hid in this Dark Moon Nightmare.
Through the inheritance left by this witch, black-dressed Delona became a Star Gazing Witch. In this sense, Abyss Delona and black-dressed Delona could be more accurately called:
Slacker Girl Delona.
Star Gazing Witch Delona.
Slacker Girl Delona possessed unknown and powerful Abyss abilities. Her personality was indifferent and cold, preferring solitude. She grew up in Twilight City.
Star Gazing Witch Delona possessed the Star Gazing Witch's signature ability to perceive past and future. Her personality was lively, curious about many things, and she liked excitement. She grew up in the Dark Moon Nightmare.
It was because of the Star Gazing Witch's ability to perceive past and future that Star Gazing Witch Delona knew Bubu Wang's name and Su Xiao's "Bai Ye" title upon their first meeting. These were all parts of the past she had perceived. Although perceiving a Law Destroyer put great pressure on her, and she could only perceive part of the past, finding it difficult to perceive the future.
Speaking of which, the decisive factor in confirming the true identities of these two was Su Xiao's [Hunt List: Blood Pact] Bounty 2: Nightmare Depths.
[Bounty 2: Nightmare Depths: Rescue the noble lady within the nightmare.]
The noble lady mentioned in this bounty was the one currently in a black dress, with a slightly bruised left eye socket, staring angrily at the Star Gazing Witch Delona across from her.
The biggest conflict between the two was that there was only one body. Currently, Star Gazing Witch Delona appeared to have a physical form, but this was only barely maintainable within the Dark Moon Nightmare. Once outside, she would manifest as a spirit.
The situation was deadlocked. Su Xiao gave Luciwa a look and released black-dressed Delona. Across from him, Luciwa hesitated for a moment before also releasing Abyss Delona. The two, who had been at each other's throats, walked toward each other. But as they approached, recalling the pain of hair-pulling and biting, both hesitated.
"Come on, you two. I'll count to three, and you start. One, two, three, go!"
Baha said mischievously. However, neither Abyss Delona nor black-dressed Delona moved. They just stared at each other.
Su Xiao glanced at the [Hunt List: Blood Pact] bounty. It hadn't been completed. It seemed letting the situation remain deadlocked wouldn't work. He had to find a way to resolve this matter.