This was a massive rift situated between the two-dimensional plane and the realm of reality.
Countless dreams, brimming with hallucinatory power, converged to form a fantastical world of impossible scale whose borders continued to expand.
A figure in black robes—a
The entire world rejoiced, throwing open its gates to welcome the Wizard as though greeting a wanderer returning home at last.
"The Dream World... still as desolate as ever..."
Leilin's figure hovered high above, transcending the rules of this realm. The Primordial Sin Incarnation he had formed swept its awareness across nearly half the world in an instant.
The Dream World remained just as barren as before. With Dream Power in decline, even the Calamity Lords had been forced to seal themselves away.
His main body had already departed the World of the
For Leilin, who possessed the Manderkra Disc and whose Chip clone had ascended to the peak of demigod power, the World of the Gods was little more than his own backyard now—he could come and go as he pleased.
As for the safety of that front, the Chip clone held the fort. More importantly, the entirety of the Bathory Inferno had been transformed into a Divine Kingdom whose defenses rivaled those of a Greater God.
Unless the gods found another Nethersoul City to detonate, there was no threat to his foundation.
That was precisely why Leilin could venture into the Dream World without worry.
"This decline will take at least another thousand years... and that's only because I already sacrificed one Calamity Lord..."
In a single instant, Leilin had discerned the fluctuation patterns of Dream Power.
Of course, whether Dream Power declined or not made no difference to him—he had long since mastered its rules and could summon peak Dream Power at will.
"And... the Calamity Lords have gotten smarter, I see..."
A faint smile played across Leilin's lips. A brief probe revealed the sealed locations of several Calamity Lords, though they had clearly clustered together, startled by his last visit.
"In that case, let me say hello first!"
Dark crimson dream-patterns surfaced across Leilin's body, and a vertical eye opened on his forehead.
In an instant, Leilin had transformed into his peak Nightmare Siphon form.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The entire Dream World trembled with exultation as immense Annihilation Lightning gathered in the sky.
Unlike last time, when he had to operate in secrecy, Leilin now released his aura across the world without the slightest restraint—radiating the presence of an overlord.
"A Nightmare Siphon!"
"The Nightmare King—the eternal enemy of the Calamity Lords!"
"Curse it... ever since the Wizard World opened the Planar Barrier, I knew the Nightmare King would return..."
In an instant, the slumbering Calamity Lords were jolted awake like cats whose tails had been trodden on, each erupting with terrifying auras.
Whoosh...
Destructive snow laced with annihilation force fell ceaselessly, but was repelled by massive crystalline seals on the ground—each as large as a mountain.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The enormous seal-crystals shattered, and from within stepped a Calamity Lord radiating terrifying power.
Its form resembled a colossal wheel studded with countless eyes.
This was the Emissary of Eyes, Guardian of Light and Shadow, master of the formidable laws of radiance and darkness—one of the most troublesome Calamity Lords.
"Menglianna..."
At the Emissary of Eyes' call, another sealed crystal exploded open, and from it emerged a giantess wreathed in lightning.
"The Nightmare King! No... an even more evil and unfathomable aura... the Nightmare Siphon has truly returned..."
The lightning giantess roared, her entire body transforming into a bolt of lightning that hurtled toward Leilin.
"Oh! Menglianna... you are mine..."
The pitch-black earth split open, and a three-headed Calamity Lord—bearing the heads of a black goat, a green serpent, and a ghastly human face—muttered in a trance. Its form dissolved into black smoke and surged after the giantess.
In a single moment, every Calamity Lord in the Dream World had awakened, roaring and howling.
The evil, terrifying force of catastrophe set the entire Dream World trembling.
The surviving ordinary dream-creatures cowered on the ground, crushed flat by the pressure, praying that these exalted beings would calm their fury.
"Hmm! I didn't expect the Dream World to harbor this many hidden powerhouses. Eighteen... no, nineteen Calamity Lords—that's enough to crush both Purgatory and the Shadow World..."
A flicker of surprise crossed Leilin's face.
Moreover, because Dream Power had been declining, these Calamity Lords had all chosen to seal themselves away, and none had participated in the Wizard World's final battle plan. That made them the strongest force currently in the Astral Plane.
If Dream Power were to suddenly recover, they might even be capable of conquering the Wizard World!
"But... they're all around the Eighth Level, with none at the absolute peak of Eighth Level. Is it the Dream World's
Light flashed in Leilin's eyes, and his confidence in this endeavor grew a little stronger.
"Nightmare Siphon... be destroyed!"
To a Calamity Lord, the Nightmare King was the eternal enemy. One of them launched a direct attack on Leilin.
BOOM!
The moment it struck, boundless catastrophic force merged with its unique laws to form a colossal spectral face that blotted out the sky, its gaping maw lunging at Leilin.
"Hiding in the shadows? Get out here!"
Leilin's expression hardened. The sword formed by the
ZZZT! A blinding white line flashed, and the enormous face split down the middle, dissolving into a rain of corrosive droplets.
A monster whose entire body was covered in faces shrieked as Leilin forced it out of the void. His sword cut mercilessly through its form, each strike more devastating than the last.
'
Threads of black mist rose from the wreckage, only to be devoured by the Seven Deadly Sins themselves—like an insatiable glutton consuming its prey's power.
"That's the Darkface... and it was crippled in a single exchange..."
The other Calamity Lords arriving on the scene watched the face-monster dissipate, its body unable to regenerate. Fear flickered across their features, and they halted cautiously.
BOOM!
At that moment, a black Path of Primordial Sin manifested behind Leilin.
The Nightmare Hydra—bearing nine pairs of demonic wings and nine savage heads—strode forth from the path. The central Devouring Head bore a Nightmare Eye between its brows.
Powerful Primordial Sin energy wove into a net around Leilin, pushing him infinitely close to the absolute peak of the Eighth Level!
"The Nightmare Siphon form!"
"A Law Path! Peak Eighth-Level Wizard!"
"Power on par with the ancient Nightmare King!"
The other Calamity Lords stumbled back several steps, staring at Leilin in terror.
After devouring the lord of the entire Inferno, Leilin was now only a single step away from the Eighth Level's absolute peak—and his combat power had already entered that echelon.
An ancient Nightmare King could, alone, slaughter more than half of all Calamity Lords. Leilin, even more terrifying, could defeat them one by one with ease.
"Well? Are you ready to listen to what I have to say now?"
Leilin swept his gaze across the assembled Calamity Lords, his eyes lingering briefly on the Dream Demon, the Emissary of Eyes, the lightning giantess, and the three-headed monster.
Among the Calamity Lords present, these were the strongest.
"What would you say, successor of the Nightmare King?"
The Emissary of Eyes fixed Leilin with an unblinking stare from atop its wheel.
More than any other Calamity Lord, it understood Leilin's terrifying potential.
If he already wielded such power before reaching the peak of Eighth Level, then once he broke through—especially with the Dream World's assistance—would any of them have a chance of survival?
"I know... you fear me, you resent me..."
Leilin regarded the surrounding Calamity Lords with imperious confidence, as though their lives were already in his hands.
"But I didn't come here to hunt you. I came to find a true path forward—for you and for the Dream World's Will!"
CRACK!
The words struck like a thunderbolt.
Not only did the assembled Calamity Lords erupt into murmured discussion, but the Dream World's Will itself began to coalesce, roaring, and bolts of threatening lightning struck down.
"Hssss..."
The Nightmare Hydra hissed, deflecting the Annihilation Snow and the lightning.
"There. Does that show enough sincerity?"
Leilin smiled at the other Calamity Lords.
"How do you propose to resolve this?" The Calamity Lords exchanged uneasy glances, until finally the lightning giantess stepped forward.
"The Calamity Lords devour the Dream World's Primordial Force like locusts, driving the world into constant regression. It buckles under the strain, the Dream World's Will retaliates, Dream Power falls into decline, your supply of Primordial Force is cut off—and the Nightmare Siphon is born. That is how it all began..."
Leilin spoke with calm authority.
"The Dream World's Primordial Force is not inexhaustible. Your unchecked consumption will inevitably lead to the world's collapse, and none of you will survive. Therefore, I intend to bind you with a True Spirit Contract, witnessed by the entirety of the Astral Plane. The Primordial Force you extract during each period must remain within what the Dream World can bear, and you must compensate the Dream World's Will for its losses through other means..."
"In return, the Dream World's Will will guarantee a permanent supply of peak Dream Power. The world will no longer fall into decline, and you will no longer need to remain sealed..."
Leilin's voice, imbued with the force of law, carried instantly across the surroundings, plunging every Calamity Lord into deep thought.
Though being unable to drain the world's Primordial Force without limit was unpleasant, the prospect of the Dream World no longer declining seemed far more agreeable by comparison.