Chapter 1513: Chapter 1513

Mental energy, which should have been formless, had taken on a tangible quality in this complex dreamscape. Gathered by that amorphous, chaotically colored shadow, a torrent of psychic power surged toward Jenkins in mid-air.

Jenkins had no defenses at the ready; caught off guard, he could only brace for impact. But the moment the psychic energy touched his soul, a terrifying attractive force guided it deep within him. As he was blasted backward by the impact, he completely absorbed the vast, ownerless mental power.

The questioning sound seemed to drift from the edge of the world. Jenkins, still reeling from the blast, seized the opportunity as his spiritual form was flung away from the ritual site and immediately exited the dreamscape.

In the real world, his spirit shot out of the sleeping Enchanter's head like a rubber ball, passed straight through the wall, and returned to his own body, startling Chocolate, who was busy patting his nose with her paw.

"I've been discovered! We have to go, now!"

With no time to assess what effect absorbing so much psychic energy might have on him, Jenkins snatched up his cat and leaped to his feet. The piercing sound of shattering glass instantly broke the tranquility of the night. As shards rained down onto the street below, Jenkins landed safely among them and sprinted across the broken glass toward the other side.

The unusual noise drew the attention of the police, while at the same time, the few people still conscious inside the club realized the trouble such a sound could cause.

Before ducking into an alley, Jenkins glanced back at the third floor of the club. Behind the window he had just shattered, the amorphous shadow stood in silence. The room was unlit, revealing only a dim, hazy silhouette. Its chaotic colors and the terrifying sense of dread it exuded undoubtedly identified it as the thing he had seen in the dream.

Jenkins gritted his teeth, spun around, and charged back into the street. This thing was merely a minuscule fragment of a Beast of Calamity's power, and it had been weakened further by crossing into reality. But he was the one who had led the monster here. He couldn't just let it stand there and gaze out over Bel Diran.

With a sound like shattering glass, the unicorn broke through the barrier between worlds and appeared before Jenkins. He expertly leaped onto its back, and it carried him and the cat into the night sky.

The unicorn itself emitted a faint glow, and Jenkins, casting aside all attempts at stealth, drew his cane and transformed it into a scepter. The orb at its tip erupted in a brilliant light, illuminating the entire Bel Diran night sky as if it were day.

The calamity from the dream-world feared 'reality,' for it was a being of illusion. Bathed in the all-illuminating radiance, the shadow behind the third-floor window let out a wail that no ordinary person could hear.

Jenkins was the only one who heard it, and blood began to trickle from his ears. Fighting back a wave of nausea, he held the scepter high and charged into the room with his unicorn.

The moment they made contact with the shadow, the world itself seemed to warp. Horrifying fantasies hidden in the depths of his mind and memories he could never forget all surged to the surface in unison.

The essence of the Beast of Calamity came into close contact with the God of Lies—one representing the phantoms of illusory dreams, the other representing the falsehoods of reality.

Their powers were different, yet in some ways, remarkably similar. As they clashed, the two forces, both transcending mortal nature, radiated outward. The surrounding space began to twist and blur under the influence of these two 'fictions.' A variety of visible phenomena, born from the combined effect of 'nightmare' and 'lie,' began to shift from mere illusion into reality.

Ripples spread through space, and the drab colors of the night swirled into a chaotic palette. If these forces were left unchecked, the area would likely fall into the chasm between 'true' and 'false,' becoming a B-class Extraordinary region or even an A-class Cursed Item. Fortunately, the nightmare's power was a river without a source, while the god who commanded 'Lies' was right there.

The projection of the Beast of Calamity, now in the real world, was ultimately reduced to something that felt like soft rubber, which Jenkins seized with all his might. A dazzling divine light and orange-yellow flames burned away at the essence of the nightmare.

The unicorn carried him back out through the window. In the instant they cleared the room, the cat, finally finding the perfect opportunity, took a sharp inhale. The part of the nightmare's essence that represented 'Sin' became Chocolate's delectable midnight snack.

This instantly relieved much of the pressure on Jenkins. The formless power of the [Hero] ability swiftly purified the indescribable thing in his hands. At the same time, because he had been so intensely exposed to the nightmare and its power of fear, the motes of light representing his [Soul Departure from Dream] and [Fear Aura] abilities began to tremble.

The formless, intangible 'Nightmare' ultimately chose to merge with the ability more suited to its nature: [Soul Departure from Dream]. The gift he had received from Barnard finally completed its transformation:

[Soul Departure from Dream (Blue Heteromorphic)] → [Nightmare Possession (Blue Heteromorphic)]

The new ability, in addition to retaining its original function of soul departure, now enhanced his power to invade the dreams of other intelligent beings. It also allowed Jenkins to, merely by sight, make the sleepless feel drowsy, cause the dreamless to dream, and plunge those already dreaming into nightmares.

As the disgusting, chaotically colored mass in his hand vanished completely, the newly evolved ability stabilized. By now, the unicorn had carried Jenkins back down to the street. Seeing that people were about to notice the commotion, it ascended into the higher altitudes without needing a command.

The cat in his pocket let out a satisfied burp, then covered her mouth with a tiny paw, worried that Jenkins might have heard the unladylike sound. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs novel✶fire.net

(Finney is praying...)

"Briny insists she saw a unicorn flying in the sky last night. I'm sure she's been getting into those suspicious books again."

At seven o'clock the next morning, Jenkins met his beloved girls at the Rosalia Inn. He sat at a long table in the inn's ground-floor dining room with two dozen beautiful young ladies—all classmates of Hathaway and Briny from their academy. The school had organized the trip and booked the entire inn to give the noble young women a chance to relax and unwind.

They didn't seem to mind an outsider like Jenkins sitting at the table reserved for them. The girls sat close together at the long table, laughing and chatting intimately. Occasionally, a bolder one would even shoot Jenkins a flirtatious glance, much to the displeasure of both Hathaway and Briny.