From the far distance, under the blanket of the crimson moon, emerged the scarecrow’s awaited enemy.

  A Dreadbeast possessed by an even more vile creature, the murderous Blood Fiend.

  As it got closer, its form became bigger, clearer, further cementing it as the most dreadful and deadly being on the First Layer of the Nightmare Realm.

  An abomination that defied any expectations Somnu had prior to seeing it, its mere presence tearing at his sanity instantly. His active fears that had already been enhanced by the blood moon, suddenly made him shudder and jolt in place, a cold chill running down his spine.

  The massive form loomed like a walking calamity, massive in height to the point it even rivaled the giant Swiping Ape, and grotesquely wide like the Thieving Slime. Its hulking bear-like shape moved with both predatory gaze and unnatural fluidity. It dripped and rippled, its flesh composed of black viscous goo, as though a living oil slick had coalesced into something sentient and malevolent.

  Crimson eyes littered its body, hundreds of them, shifting, blinking and gnashing with impossible teeth embedded in each ocular surface. They served as both sight and maw, snapping open and grinned with cruel mockery, waiting to consume anything they witnessed. Every eye, whether glaring or chomping, burned with an unnatural blood-red glow, not unlike deep coals pulled from a hellish forge. As the goo shifted, the eyes crawled across its surface, stretching and reforming, always watching from every angle all at once.

  Its malformed owl-like head tilted in quick unsettling jerks, while the black wings on its back, tattered and corrupted, stirred the air like harbingers of terror, fluttering just enough to keep the beast perpetually in motion, never still, never tired.

  But worse still was the blood aura that cloaked it, writhing in concert with the creature’s movements. It seeped from within, a haze of scarlet mist that pulsed like a beating heart, likely the courtesy of the Sleeper taking control of it. After all, the mist was condensed into jagged spears like spider legs and fluid tendrils of liquid crimson, lashing outward to eviscerate anything in the Dreadbeast’s path before retracting into its foul form again.

  Every step it took, the ground recoiled, as if the First Layer itself was rejecting its very existence. A sound like a wet churning and bone-deep growling echoed in its wake.

  The sight reminded Somnu of just how terrifying Dreadbeasts were supposed to be, and why every other Sleeper had truly been running away in tears at the mere possibility of one appearing in the fort.

  And now, worst of all, he wasn’t simply up against one of those harrowing Nightmare Creatures, but a combination of it and a Sleeper that likely was of a higher level than himself, perhaps even a higher rank entirely.

  … Does it really need all those eyes? Is this not just overkill?!

  The scarecrow asked himself, sighing slightly. The borrowed sight of his crow companion allowed him to see further, to glance at the world around him.

  Watching the beast make it to around a few hundred meters away from him, Somnu crushed the little piece of candy in his mouth, releasing the trapped bitter liquid inside to run across his tongue. This had been one of the two things he had received from his visitor, a parting gift from Arman before they could meet again in the waking world.

  Tightening the grip on his sickles, Somnu stretched his neck left and right. The familiars on his shoulders didn’t flinch, keeping their focused gazes on the enemy. Then the scarecrow took a step forward, signaling the black army of full-sized, smoke-covered clones around him to follow suit, their violet runes shimmering in opposition to the blood moon above. Accompanying them were tendrils of straws that came to life around the summoner.

  He had a plan, and that’s all he wanted to focus on now.

  Don’t let him get in your head, no distractions, make it quick… He reminded himself as Grudgekeeper’s hood closed on his head, activating the [Night Terror State].

  The translucent crown was still floating above his head as always, as were the hidden discs flying around him.

  With [Hollow Gaze] and [Feral instincts] active, he was at full power.

  Then, in an instant, he was gone. Just a black flash was left behind, closing the distance within seconds.

  “Finally! Our awaited one-on-one!” The malformed owlbear opened its beak, but the deep, hoarse voice that rang out was none-other than the one that belonged to the Blood Fiend himself. “Come! Let’s-!”

  SWIISHHH!

  Before he could finish the sentence, the Unseen Dreadbeast of Lethe had descended upon him, clad in all his power, driven by the fear and terror trying to hold him back.

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  “Hahaha! If that’s how you want to do it, fine!”

  Immediately, noticing the many impacts around the beast’s malformed body, John Doe launched all the blood tendrils and spears to skewer the small rampaging Sleeper.

  At the same time, the scarecrow cut through the owlbear’s entire squirming form, blocking all the blood tendrils he could with straw whips of his own. Whenever the hardened blood got the upper hand, the slicing discs flew in and maimed them.

  The broken, yet live wings were quickly swarmed by the ravenous crows, picking out the eyeballs and devouring the teeth. While, at the same time, the feet were charged by the voracious serpents, biting and swallowing entire chunks of black gooey flesh.

  “Hahaha! How long can you last like this?!”

  “...”

  The question came at the same time as Somnu noticed a restriction taking effect. While he seemed immune to at least one of the restrictions the Dreadbeast had, the second one was actively stealing his energy.

  And using that, it was regenerating its missing body parts and eyeballs almost instantaneously. This was still something Somnu had anticipated, as John Doe was able to regenerate Almon’s entire body at the end. It just simply meant the scarecrow had to finish the fight as soon as possible, before he ran out of the very source he needed to use his skills.

  As for the ineffective restriction, it was an ironic twist of fate if his hypothesis ended up being correct, for it could technically only be something he had already defeated, or the fear of Sleep, Somniphobia. At the very least, he was grateful it wasn’t affecting his familiars either.

  Despite it all, Somnu continued to cut through the Dreadbeast’s figure, and then, before he ran out of any uses, he activated [Distorted Fallacy].

  “!”

  For a brief second, the grotesque Dreadbeast stood unmoving, shuddering ever so slightly and jolting its black gooey skin.

  Now!

  Somnu lunged up toward the owl’s head, ready to execute the final step of his plan and end everything before it properly began.

  “I know what you’re thinking!”

  “?!”

  “SKREEEEEE-RAAAAGH!”

  Just before the scarecrow reached his target, the owl bear recovered and howled at the crimson moon. It caused the entire surface of its body to thrash uncontrollably, forming disfigured and unnatural amalgamation of spikes to shoot out and retract back into its oily form. As if bringing them to life briefly, then snatching the essence away once more.

  Somnu tried his best to block it all with a reinforced shield of straws coming together in front of him, only to be easily pierced through. Bullet-sized holes formed across the scarecrow’s arms and legs, skewering him.

  “Hngh!!”

  Gritting his teeth as he landed back at a distance, Somnu immediately used [Stuffed Resilience], [Hay Stitching] and [Burlap bandage] to apply first aids to his wounds. On all except his left arm, where he simply regenerated the straws.

  Dammit… I feel nothing from my left arm, whereas the rest of my limbs are losing blood to the point it's affecting my nerves… Somnu deduced inwardly, then shook his head slightly at the first thought that popped into it. A horrible, pitiful thought that surprised even him. To even consider that, what am I becoming at this point…?

  “Hahaha! You thought that little trick that you used with your sister would work here?!” The Blood Fiend spoke as the Dreadbeast’s form slowly returned to its usual, yet still grotesque state.

  “...”

  Somnu would have rather continued fighting, as every second was currently too precious to waste. However, he needed to come up with a better plan to slay the Nightmare Creature first.

  After all…

  “I bet you’re wondering about this Dreadbeast! Where was it really? How could it have been hiding in plain sight all this time!” John Doe laughed, the blood tendrils above him coming together into a grinning skull symbol which outlined the crimson moon behind. “You want to give it a guess, hmm? I know you want to!”

  “...” Somnu brushed off the blood that leaked from his lips. “It was on the surface of the fort, hiding within the black walls.”

  “DIng! Ding! Ding! We’ve got a winner!” The Dreadbeast held out both arms in front, then shot globs of gooey flesh at the blind Sleeper. “Here’s your reward!”

  Straining his body to move, Somnu once again leapt with incredible speed to dodge the attacks. Switching between the scattered familiars’ eyes, he kept up his spacial awareness as best he could without getting too lightheaded.

  “The Fortmaster hadn’t lied! He really did have a Dreadbeast in his pocket! Somehow, in the past, he teamed up with Sleepers to put this creature to sleep, while using the entire fort as its comfortable bed.” John Doe explained, keeping up the launching of projectiles. However now, upon landing, the gooey substances were beginning to take smaller shapes and crawl about, before the familiars’ clones could devour them. “They wanted to make the fort as the haven for Sleepers, keeping all Nightmare Creatures away! You know how, right? Of course you do!”

  “...”

  “Fear! Terror!” The Blood Fiend bellowed, his voice echoing through the damp, empty surroundings. “Just like you and me! They used fear to keep the smaller, weaker creatures at bay! But unlike us, they did it, sacrificing the strength they could’ve gained from the remaining Nightmare Creatures on this Layer, while we, you and me! We feed on fear!”

  Somnu gritted his teeth for a moment, then, as a violet glow emanated from his body, he spoke with a cold, sharp voice. “We’re nothing alike, you murderous bastard! I use fear to get stronger, to gain the strength to protect! While you… you use it to get stronger, just for the sake of it, like the hidden parasyte you are!”

  “!”

  “That’s right. I figured out what you are too.” The scarecrow’s voice suddenly came from behind the beast, flanking it in the nude, swinging his two sickles in a circular motion. “You don’t even have a real body, do you?”