Chương 55: Chapter 52: The Scheming Spider

Nightmare Dimension. Abyssal Sea of Forgotten Memories, Castle of the Devourer. Amidst the dark obsidian halls of the great castle, countless nightmarish creatures crawled across the walls, ceiling, and floor. Thick spiderwebs draped most of the area, forming a vast nest for a gigantic, slightly humanoid entity with multiple arms and legs. A deep wound ran through its body, so severe that its very nightmarish soul bled liquefied memories and concepts it had devoured from countless victims across the ages.

"This can't be…! Impossible… Ugh!" Valthorak, the Devourer of Realms and Sovereign of the Nightmare Nest that had invaded the Ice Dragon Nest, writhed in pain. Despite his usual bravado and recklessness against King Louis and Queen Mirai, the damage he had suffered far exceeded anything he could have imagined. The gigantic arachnid nightmare king possessed a metallic body of obsidian-like nightmare bio-metal interwoven with black flesh tendrils, jewel-like eyes, and long arms ending in razor-sharp claws.

He constantly vomited miasma from his massive jaws.

"Gaaack! Why does it hurt so much?! I only lost my hand, yet… when they destroyed it… that attack pierced my very soul…!" He groaned in agonizing pain, clutching his chest as his Nightmarish Soul twisted violently. Its interior—a small nightmare dimension of its own, nourished by the billions of souls this ancient nightmare king had devoured over eons—screamed in torment. Large cracks spread across his Nightmarish Soul.

Worse still, white flames raged inside it, viciously consuming everything in their path as they tried to devour him from within.

"That bastard… To think we would encounter a dimension with such powerful beings…!" His mandibles clicked as he stared at the stump of his severed arm. The wound refused to close, his regeneration crippled by the strike from the Dragon King of that realm.

"That Primordial Dragon was strong enough, but nothing my hand couldn't handle. But where did those two come from?! Their power is so vastly superior… it's almost unbelievable…!" His sharp red eyes replayed the recorded memories of the invasion. He watched the footage of his humiliating defeat on loop, desperately trying to decipher their strength and fighting style.

"It's a power they've cultivated using a unique energy within their dimension… yet it feels strangely similar to our own. They called it Fantasium? It is a deliciously potent force. Unlike souls or dreams, it carries none of those annoying complications—just pure power. As if it were made of countless fragments of 'stories' woven into their very being… A truly wonderful and fascinating energy. One I desire more than anything… one I will not let the others claim before me!"

He clenched his teeth and slashed at the empty air with his claws, forging a large black gate to one of his controlled pocket dimensions. Reaching inside, he retrieved a large blade dripping with purple miasma.

"Nnngh…!" Without hesitation, he stabbed his own chest, carving through black flesh, red tendrils, and miasmic blood. Screaming in agony, he tore out a large piece of his Nightmarish Soul and hurled it to the floor.

"Nnngaaaaahhh! Haaa…! Haaaahhh! Uuuggh…!" The white flames that had been spreading through his soul vanished with the removed fragment, leaving behind a gaping hole. Gasping for air, he opened another portal and pulled out an entire pocket dimension containing three planets. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

"Damn it. To think I would have to waste my food reserves on this!" He opened his gigantic, aberrant jaws, revealing thousands of razor-sharp fangs and an endless spiraling black hole that led to his nightmare stomach—a hellish dimension of its own. He bit into the cube-shaped dimension like a piece of glass and devoured the three planets within. Tens of millions of souls screamed in despair as the living beings watched their worlds shatter between his colossal fangs.

Crunching sounds filled the air as his jaws crushed the pocket dimension. The planets' rich cores, brimming with spiritual energy and mana, fed his heart, while the countless souls melted in agony before merging into his Nightmarish Soul. Slowly, the gaping wound began to close, repaired by the liquid-like essence. Though a large scar remained.

"Tsk." Valthorak clicked his tongue in irritation. He shattered his damaged bio-armor, revealing a thin, needle-like body beneath. He crawled into his private chambers, where a large pond of bubbling black miasma awaited. Dozens of spider-like nightmares scattered at his approach, but he snatched one and began devouring it while sinking into the pool. Over time, a new layer of abyssal nightmare metal grew across his body. It made him appear more robust and powerful, shielding his frailer interior.

"Haaah… Much better." He sighed in relief and glanced toward the far side of his vast castle. The severed piece of his soul still burned with white flames. He isolated it within a pocket dimension and summoned the sphere before him with a flick of his finger. Crossing several of his legs, he narrowed his many red eyes and studied the rotating sphere designed to contain the infected fragment.

"These White Flames can burn through concepts themselves. They are fueled by a potent, evolved form of Fantasium… Hm?! This element…! It's the same as the Nightmare Gods?! R-Reality?" Reality—an all-encompassing Element discovered eons ago by the most ancient Nightmare Gods. Those ascended beings ruled the higher planes of the Nightmare Dimension, guiding and tempting the Nightmare Kings, sometimes sponsoring them, sometimes betraying them.

This element allowed its wielder to partially manipulate fragments of Reality itself. The power held within these White Flames rivaled that of the strongest Nightmare Gods.

"This white-haired man… this white dragon wreathed in such incredible light… he possesses this kind of power? The ability to warp reality… That's why he's so strong! He shrouds himself in a Veil of Reality. Without sufficient power and a true understanding of the Dao of Reality, I can never hope to harm him… Tsk!" He clicked his mandibles, staring at the flames as they consumed the soul fragment. Then a vicious smile spread across his face.

He channeled his power into the white flames and began refining them with his own energy.

"Well, that fool wanted to kill me so badly that he left me a wonderful gift. He didn't know I could do this!" Dimensional energies pressed down on the White Void Flames, destroying the lingering will of King Louis and replacing it with Valthorak's own. The process was neither easy nor quick. It exhausted him greatly, but he refused to stop. It might take time, yet he would not rest until he gained complete control over these flames.

"What was meant to be a curse left behind to kill me may become my greatest gift… With this power, I could turn the tables and defeat the other Nightmare Kings… even devour them!" As he smiled viciously, he stepped out of the miasma pool. His new armor had fully formed—sharper, heavier, stronger, and tougher than ever before. The missing hand, however, showed no signs of regenerating. Valthorak didn't care. He forged a new long blade in its place, crafted from the agonized souls of his devoured victims.

"Hm… Now…" Just as he prepared to continue the refinement process— BOOOM! A massive explosion rocked the castle's outer barrier. His eyes widened. His senses surged outward as a gigantic nightmare avatar burst from the castle, glaring at the attackers.

"Who dares attack Valthorak, the Devourer of Realms?!" Before him stood two Nightmare Kings. One resembled a bulky titan clad in heavy armor covered in sharp spikes, its entire body made of obsidian-like metal. The other appeared as a giant skeleton with dangling black and red flesh clinging to its ancient bones and a pair of enormous, black-feathered wings. He recognized them instantly.

"Valthorak, we heard you have grown weaker."

"You foolishly fought something you couldn't handle, didn't you?" Valthorak's many red eyes gleamed with murderous amusement as the two intruders hovered before his castle's barriers.

"Tsk… I have already healed from those injuries. Did you really think I would be weak enough for you to prey upon?"