Chapter 166 The Unending Nightmare

As he looked forward with fear quaking in his pupils, he watched as the messy, black hair parted just enough from the nightmare to make eye contact with it; it possessed eyes unlike anything else. They were stitched open, but empty eye sockets that were filled with an abyssal ooze that slipped down its cheeks.

Still, there were ‘eyes’ it possessed; staring deep enough, long enough, there was a darkness that stared back at him before–something triggered.

A jolt went through his body as he felt the air change around him, witnessing the humanoid nightmare’s form begin to change as limbs tore through the flesh on its back, sprouting into lengthy spider legs made of intertwined, held hands.

What just happened…? It’s like it just peered into my heart, Emilio thought.

While distracted by the unequivocal sense of dread, he was taken by surprise as the silent embodiment of fear lunged towards him, attempting to stab through him with one of its newly grown, arachnid limbs.

Before he could be stabbed, he was pushed aside before the burly figure of Kintoki appeared in front of him, blocking the attack with his wide sword.

“Get your head in the game!”

It took him a moment to recover from the mind-hazing exchange with the nightmare that took place over a single second, yet left an unsettling feeling etched into his skin.

“Swift Flare!”

Sumera unleashed the invocation without any hesitation, assisting Kintoki with a quick fire-spell that exploded against the side of the Unending Nightmare into a flash of embers.

For a moment, Emilio found himself questioning the idea of ‘friendly-fire’ when seeing how close in proximity that spell was to Kintoki, but from the way the golden-eyed man still stood firm, it was clear he was simply unfamiliar with their level of coordination.

Still, through the smoke, the muscle-bound abhorrence presented no harm taken as it pushed Kintoki back by using all of its spinal blade.

“Woah–!” Kintoki let out in surprise of being overpowered.

Following up, the Avatar of Fear itself pressed forward with its hulking body, exchanging eye contact with Kintoki before more alterations came to its form.

The relatively human-like shape it possessed was lessened as it grew in size, developing hulking muscularity as its pitch-black hair grew in tandem, still veiling its face. It was now a colossus of raw power, closing in on the Braveheart.

“What the…!?” Kintoki remarked.

Finally entering himself into the battle, Emilio stepped up, holding his catalyst up as he invoked a spell inspired from one he was once on the receiving end of.

[“Fist of The Golem”]

The spell that used the sturdy nature of rock, reinforcing it and shaping it into the very first weapon utilized by mortals: their fists, was crafted from thin-air within a moment of waving his staff.

It matched the exact shape of the Unending Nightmare’s colossal fist, slamming knuckle-to-knuckle with it before it could smash Kintoki.

“…Nice!” Kintoki yelled out as his hair was tugged by the wind.

“So strong…!” Melisande remarked, holding her arms up from the residual effect of the clash.

A shock wave emitted through the dungeon that reeked of death and mold, echoing off the hollow metal as not a single sound left the lips of the nightmare.

In its other hand, the embodiment of fear wielded its spine honed from its own torn-out spine that had grown in size with it, opting to swing it towards Emilio to end the deadlock.

“Ghh–!” Emilio flinched.

To his surprise, the bone-forged weapon didn’t rip through him as he looked to the side, finding Kintoki holding it back as he placed his entire body weight behind his sword.

“I’ve got your back!” Kintoki assured him.

“…Right!” He nodded.

With a freed consciousness, he focused further, squeezing his wooden catalyst as he pushed the bulkened nightmare back, allowing the giant, stone fist to slam straight into the Unending Nightmare’s face.

I landed it! Emilio celebrated in his mind.

That brief moment of triumph was quickly overshadowed as when the Unending Nightmare’s physical form was knocked back by the blow, its flesh rippled like a gelatinous form, being knocked back against the wall before splatting into an abyssal gunk.

“Err…Damn, you hit him with everything you had, didn’t ya?” Kintoki whistled.

Though Emilio himself knew that wasn’t the truth; something wasn’t right.

That much was proven as the abyssal puddle of sentient fear reshaped itself, building into a new form quickly.

“…I should’ve known! Sun Spear!” Sumera said, taking the initiative and invoking a spear of flames to launch toward the shaping mass.

Emilio cast alongside the orange-haired mage, using amplifying air to feed into Sumera’s flames, doubling its size and potency.

This kid isn’t bad, Sumera thought.

As the flaming spear neared the abyssal mass, a mouth opened up, consuming the blazing projectile as it exploded within the enigmatic substance with a suppressed flash.

“It…ate it?” Sumera let out in surprise.

No way, Emilio thought.

Without further interruption, the Unending Nightmare rebuilt itself into a new form as the metallic dungeon they were in crumbled apart, revealing an entirely new scenery: it was a vast room with floors and walls made out of flesh that lightly pulsated.

“Urgh! What is this?!” Kintoki looked around.

Melisande covered her mouth, “…It smells!”

The new form the Unending Nightmare took was a skinless humanoid, bearing a sculpture of living anatomy, devoid of eyes and possessing legs with reversed knees, similar to a kangaroo. It continued morphing as it approached the group of humans, lunging towards Kintoki as it shifted its right arm into the shape of a jagged blade of steel.

“Ngh!” Kintoki clashed against it.

Attempting to launch another exploding flare towards its back, Sumera’s spell was negated as the nightmare’s other arm morphed into a giant mouth, parting its salivating lips before consuming the fire once more.

“Tsk! Again?!” Sumera complained.

Emilio opted to disregard magic in order to throw off the instincts of the embodiment of nightmares, drawing Silver Wing from its sheath as he reinforced his body with mana.

As Kintoki kept it in place with their equalized clash of strength, the blonde-haired boy dashed in, thrusting the tip of his sword towards its side.

The skinless head, displaying raw flesh and bone, of the Unending Nightmare spun around unnaturally to catch his surprise attack, quickly shifting its form once more as the sound of flesh squelching echoed, completely compressing itself before morphing into a skinless hound, possessing a colossal size.

“–?!” Emilio looked on in surprise.

Due to the change in shape and size, the spot he stuck his blade through was merely the lip of the nightmarish hound, leaving him right before its jaws.

Just as those jaws parted to reveal dozens of smaller mouths on the hound’s freakish tongue, he tossed himself backward with a gust of wind, avoiding being ensnared in the entity’s maw.

Too close…He thought.

Again, the scenery shifted jarringly as the ground rumbled from beneath his feet; sprouting from the walls of flesh were saplings, growing into colorful trees before soil flooded through the pores on the ground.

Soon, a vibrant rainforest enveloped the four before the hound grew a pitch-black hide with hundreds of jotting eyeballs inhabiting its body.

While Sumera and Kintoki didn’t waste any time engaging the formless entity, clashing with might and magic, Emilio found himself hesitating to leave Melisande’s side in the chaotic nature of the realm.

…What do I do? We can’t win if I’m pausing like this, but if I leave her alone…He thought.

“Emilio,” Melisande called him by his name, “…I can tell: you’re worrying about me.”

“I…”

“I get it,” Melisande continued, “–But, still…I’m not helpless. I can protect myself! Just trust me, like I trust you.”

It took him a second to accept those words, but left with little choice, he honed in on the resolve in her emerald eyes. Looking at those shining eyes, he saw the spitting image of Joel.

“Right,” he nodded.

Just as Sumera unleashed a volley of exploding fireballs against the black-hided hound, a shock wave of heat released before the beast charged through the smoke. The scathing explosions had burnt the skin from its body, leaving it roaring out with its muscle fibers on display.

“–!” Sumera’s eyes widened.

Such wild aggression without any regard for the damage sustained led the nightmare to catch her off-guard, leaving Sumera helpless as its massive jaws spread around her.

Before those teeth snapped down on her form, Kintoki jumped in with reckless abandon, summoning all of his might as he used his sword to keep the hound’s jaws at bay.

“…I gotcha!” Kintoki yelled.

“Really?! It doesn’t seem like you jumped in with a follow-up in mind, did you?!” Sumera replied.

“Follow-ups aren’t my style!” Kintoki retorted.

“Living is my style–!”

While the two companions were stuck between the hound’s supernatural jaws, it was suddenly blasted back as a massive steam of fire crashed against its side.

I made it in time! Emilio thought.

Kintoki took a moment to process the fact he wasn’t enclosed by the hound’s salivating mouth anymore, giving the boy a quick thumbs-up, “I owe you one!”

“Save it!” Sumera and Emilio yelled in unison.