In the Forsaken Land of the Gods, inside "Nightmare Town."
The moment Colin stepped into the town, an orange-red radiance suddenly burst forth from his body, illuminating the collapsed or decayed buildings, illuminating the streets paved with grayish-white stone slabs, illuminating the ruins that were quiet to the extreme.
On the streets, one human silhouette after another appeared in his vision. Some wore linen-like long robes, others wore animal-skin clothing, as if they were coming and going, busily occupied.
Sensing the light of dawn, they all turned their heads at the same time without making a sound, collectively staring toward "Chief" Colin.
And Colin Iliad, clad in the Sealed Artifact "1-42," followed the experience from his last exploration and ignored them, striding resolutely toward the prison at the center of the town where terrifying criminals and Beyonder items were once held.
At the same time, two dark green, complex symbols surfaced in his eyes, drawing the streets shrouded in faint mist and the figures that looked normal yet made no sound at all into his pupils.
Suddenly, he let out a muffled grunt and dropped to one knee. However, his hands tightly gripped the two straight swords, smoothly plunging them into the ground.
At the back of his neck, bluish-black skin swelled slightly, and indescribably complex and mysterious symbols bulged out, half-illusory and half-real, spreading into higher or lower layers.
In the next instant, the surface of "1-42" also changed. An indistinct silver armor eerily surfaced, protecting him.
But "Demon Hunter" Colin had to stop his steps and confront, at some distance away, a gigantic Demon Wolf composed entirely of bones, black flames blazing in its eye sockets.
"Different from when I explored this place last time, the strength of this 'Skeleton Demon Wolf' has actually increased by quite a bit. Although it hasn't reached true 'Demigod' level yet, within this 'Nightmare Town,' its combat power probably won't be weaker than mine…
"That Mr. 'Tower' must have noticed this, which is why he lent me this armor formed from the 'Silver Knight' characteristic, right?"
While thinking, Colin had already lowered his back, drawn the two straight swords coated with ointment, and charged toward the opposing "Skeleton Demon Wolf" at hurricane-like speed.
However, this "Demon Hunter" did not charge in a straight line. His footwork was strange, swaying his body left and right as he approached the enemy in a wave-like path.
Seeing this, the black flames in the "Skeleton Demon Wolf's" eyes flickered once. Immediately after, a pair of ghastly white, razor-sharp fangs extended from its mouth and touched the ground.
With a snap, countless "spirits" surged out from those fangs and, together with the eerie figures in the ruins, rushed toward Colin.
Yet "Demon Hunter" Colin leapt up a step ahead of them, soaring more than ten meters into the air. From a commanding height, he slashed downward with the twin swords in his hands.
At the same time, as the "armor" on Colin's body flickered, countless orange-red sword lights pierced straight through the spirits and figures. In an instant, most of them were annihilated. Only a single "spirit" without a fixed form remained unharmed, instead transforming into a shield that stood between the Demon Wolf and Colin.
Clang!
At this moment, Colin's two straight swords also struck the shield formed by that "spirit," sparking countless arcs of electricity.
Amid the chaotic flashes of silver-white light, cracks immediately appeared on the surface of the shield, as if it would shatter with just a bit more force.
But how could the "Skeleton Demon Wolf" watch such a thing happen? It immediately clacked its bone fangs together, producing a melody like a "lullaby," causing the "1-42" on Colin's body to instantly dim.
Having briefly lost the empowerment of the "Silver Knight," Colin knew that this attack could not break through the opponent's defense. He immediately used the rebound force to leap back, flipping in midair. Before he even landed, after sensing that "1-42" had already shaken off the influence of the "lullaby," he launched another attack.
After three consecutive rounds, the "Skeleton Demon Wolf's" reliance—that near-"Demigod"-level special spirit—finally could no longer hold on and was successfully breached by Colin.
But the "Skeleton Demon Wolf" was not panicked. It viciously glared at Colin, who had once again closed in, as if to memorize his appearance and aura. Then its figure gradually faded, preparing to flee into a deeper layer of the "dream."
The special nature of this place's environment put it in an invincible position. This was also the reason the "Skeleton Demon Wolf" did not even take a "Demon Hunter" seriously.
After all, it did not believe that the opposing "half-giant" would dare chase into the deeper nightmare, because that was the domain of their Demon Wolf race. If he truly followed it in, it had no idea how many methods it could use to completely keep him there.
"This human has already come a second time… If he comes again next time, I'll have to think of a way to lure him deep into the nightmare… His spirit is stronger than any I've sealed before!
"This kind of 'will' radiance isn't common…"
Just as the "Skeleton Demon Wolf" was thinking with the brain it didn't actually have, it suddenly noticed something was wrong. It actually saw a human on the streets of this deep-layer dream?
But this deeper "nightmare" was different from the surface layer. It was essentially the dream of a divine child of the Demon Wolf race. Humans here could only be filthy "slaves" or "reserve food," with absolutely no qualification to walk the streets!
Before it could figure out what was going on, the figure on the street instantly arrived in front of it and said regretfully:
"'Skeleton Demon Wolf'… what a pity you don't have blood. Otherwise, capturing you wouldn't require so much trouble. You forced me to use the abilities of the 'Door' and 'Marauder' pathways to develop, on the spot, a low-end version of the 'Grafting' ability, dragging you, this 'little dog,' into my dream."
This person was naturally Ebner's "historical projection." Taking advantage of the gap while the "Skeleton Demon Wolf" and the Chief were fighting, he completed the grafting of the "dream," ultimately making it walk right into the trap.
Although the "Skeleton Demon Wolf" was not very smart, no matter how stupid it was, after hearing Ebner's completely undisguised words, it understood its situation. It immediately prepared to erupt violently and subdue the human in front of it.
"You're still not behaving after coming into my dream? Don't you know I have lots of scary things here?" Ebner shook his head with amusement. Immediately afterward, his pupils suddenly became "gloomy" as he simulated the ability of a "Horror Bishop."
In the next moment, the "fear" within the "Skeleton Demon Wolf" was manifested one by one.
Antigonus… the "Mother of Heaven"… the "God of the Undead," Salinger… the "God of Fear," Mur…
Looking at the figures that continuously appeared around the "Skeleton Demon Wolf," Ebner could not help but click his tongue. He hadn't expected this little wolf to be weak in strength yet fear only big shots… but why wasn't there a "Goddess"?
Hmm, I remember that in the original work, Antigonus mentioned that the Goddess had a gentle personality and was extremely good at soothing the soul. Although she wasn't liked by those children of Flegrea, in the eyes of this kind of mid-to-low-level little wolf, the Goddess might very well be a "white moonlight," so naturally it wouldn't fear her.
With strange thoughts spinning through his mind, Ebner glanced at the little wolf that had already collapsed onto the ground, only able to whimper. He directly manifested an operating table in his own dream, then teleported the "Skeleton Demon Wolf" onto it and bound it with a "Demoness's" spider silk.
Ebner himself held a hammer in one hand and pliers in the other, smiling at the trembling "Demon Wolf" as he said, "Come, let's pull out a tooth first… don't be afraid!"
While pulling out the tooth, most of Ebner's attention was focused on "Nightmare Town." The result, however, was that there was no movement at all. He could not help but think regretfully:
"Mur's evil spirit is really cautious… I've already tried my best to suppress my own strength, yet it still refuses to come out…
"Forget it, let's leave it at this for now… My projection entering its nightmare domain doesn't give me an advantage. One moment of carelessness and I could flip the cart…
"Next time, when my main body comes over, I'll enter its 'dream' again and take a look."
…
Within the ancient palace above the gray fog, Klein, who was preparing to head to "Calderón City" for his first exploration, was struggling over which "Blasphemy Card" to use to fuse with his spirit body when he suddenly received a "sacrifice" from "Sun."
"This is the 'Skeleton Demon Wolf's fang' that Leonard needs, and the blood of the 'Trickster Abomination' that I wanted?
"Mr. 'Tower's' efficiency really is high!
"I can't fall behind either…"
Thinking this, Klein gritted his teeth and ultimately picked up the "Demoness" card.
His spiritual intuition told him that, compared to the "Black Emperor," "Moon," and "Error," the "Demoness" was more "compatible" with the environment of "Calderón City."
…
At the same time, the "Red Glove" squad Leonard was in once again narrowly missed the fugitive they were pursuing.
"That bastard might already have boarded a passenger ship heading to Indo Port!" one "Red Glove" said with a rather grim expression.
Sost, however, merely nodded silently and instructed, "Immediately verify this information… If it's true, we also need to disguise ourselves and head to Indo at once to intercept and kill him before he returns to the Twilight Temple!
"Mm, for follow-up operations, members below Sequence 6 are not to participate. After all, within Feysac territory, our 'Red Gloves' are in a very delicate position."
Indo… Hearing the name of this city, Leonard felt somewhat dazed, because not long ago, "World" had conveyed some information to him through "Mr. Fool"… and among it was "Ince Zangwill"… that guy was very likely in Indo Port!
(This chapter ends)