Chapter 810: 407 Forced… Into…

「Ah!!!

Unaware that someone was watching his live broadcast, Leon collapsed with a thud, his forehead veins bulging, sweat oozing from every inch of his body.

It hurts so damn much!!!

Watching the Gray Mist Giant wince in agony after his own fist struck his toes, Leon—who normally loved to press his advantage—did not strike again. Instead, he staggered to his feet, grabbed the stunned Snow Woman, and turned to flee.

「You… you…」

After stumbling two steps, the Snow Woman, who had expected Leon to be obliterated in an instant, turned back in confusion, glancing at the Nightmare King's contorted face, then turned again, stammering:

「It… you… just one punch? It just…?

What do you mean "just" one punch? That punch nearly killed me! And it only held it for less than two seconds!

Looking at the 【Crying Hand】, its surface bristling with hair-thin backward barbs that gleamed under sunlight, Leon's cheek twitched violently.

This anomaly, crafted by the Water Bearer Director using the souls of his own two hands, besides suppressing the divinity of a true god's flesh and inflicting damage upon it,

also injected soul toxin into both attacker and target the instant the strike landed, keeping both souls and wills Qingxing and generating unimaginable agony—so much so it was said to briefly revive the dead whose souls had not yet dispersed.

I assumed that with the invincibility granted by the 【Immortal in Wine】, I could ignore this terrible pain, so I just put on the gloves and swung once, intending to give the Nightmare King a taste of his own medicine.

But apparently, since the soul toxin caused no actual physical harm and instead helped me stay Qingxing, it was classified as a "self-buff," and thus was not negated by the 【Immortal in Wine】's invincibility.

As a result, that poisoned punch nearly took half my life—had the soul toxin not kept me Qingxing, I would have fainted from the pain on the spot!

…

Damn it… what the hell was that punch?

Even Leon, who had prepared himself mentally, felt his scalp go numb from the 【Crying Hand】's toxin. The Nightmare King, however, had zero preparation—and had only just acquired his flesh. This sudden, soul-shaking blow made his very soul tremble.

Had his true-god soul not been sufficiently "heavy," and had the soul toxin not kept him Qingxing, he would have immediately suffered soul-flesh separation, screaming his soul out of his body.

Actually… having both flesh and soul doesn't necessarily mean it's a good thing…

Having just obtained the long-coveted flesh and soul, the Nightmare King suddenly found himself enduring such torment. A strange thought surfaced in his mind—and immediately, his newly acquired body grew even more insubstantial.

No! No! Don't think like that! Don't even think it!

Realizing his thoughts were slipping and his flesh growing unstable, the Nightmare King steadied his mind, his eyes narrowing slightly behind the gray mist.

Don't trust everything the Water Bearer Director says!

Following his advice, I didn't use any flashy methods—appeared directly and attacked, hoping to crush this dangerous cleaner with pure physical strength.

But after slapping him several times, he remained lively and even put on a pair of strange gloves reeking of the Water Bearer Director's aura, delivering a solid blow that suppressed my divinity for an instant.

Conspiracy! There's definitely a conspiracy here!

The Water Bearer Director wants this cleaner dead—but he also doesn't want me alive. For him, my death alongside this cleaner is the perfect outcome. In fact, eliminating me might even take priority over eliminating the cleaner!

Need to play it safe…

Recalling the excruciating pain from just now, the Gray Mist Giant, unwilling to endure it again, immediately ruled out physical pursuit. He stood still, extending his palm toward the fleeing figure in the distance.

The next moment, blood floated logs, spears and halberds stood like forests.

As a small patch of skin peeled from the Nightmare King's arm, Leon's cold-weather suit twisted and transformed into an ancient, bizarre suit of armor. The scorching yellow sand beneath his feet vanished, replaced by a blood-soaked battlefield littered with corpses and echoing with battle cries.

Dozens of heavily armored soldiers lined up before Leon. At the commander's hoarse shout, they raised their spear-like weapons and thrust them toward Leon's head, chest, and abdomen.

「Puh! Puh! Puh! Puh!

Faced with the sudden shift in scenery, Leon instinctively tried to dodge—but too late. As bloodied spear tips pierced his body, the sound of blades tearing flesh echoed from his chest and abdomen, causing him to freeze momentarily…

And then… nothing happened.

The instant the spears pierced his armor and touched Leon's skin, the spear-wielding soldiers dissolved into bubbles under the 【Immortal in Wine】's drunken illusion. Even the surrounding battlefield, filled with battle cries, vanished entirely, reverting to rolling yellow sand.

Even if I forgot I possessed an anomaly, this strange invincibility still can't be broken?

Watching Leon in his new armor, seeing he remained unharmed, the Gray Mist Giant pondered briefly, then raised his right hand and gripped his own left arm, which extended beyond the mist.

「Crack!

As his hooked, razor-sharp nails scraped across his arm, the withered flesh of the Nightmare King's left limb emitted a sound like shattering glass. Vast quantities of dark, insane nightmares peeled off like flesh, slithering like fish into the yellow sand beneath his feet, wriggling toward Leon.

The best way to deal with a cleaner with such resilient flesh is to swallow him whole, letting my countless nightmares wear down his spirit until his will collapses and his soul scatters, turning him into a mindless husk.

But considering his memories are heavily contaminated, swallowing him directly risks contaminating me. So I must perform this erosion process "outside"—then, if I get contaminated, I can simply discard it!

…

Nightmares return.

Leon's armor twisted again, transforming into a light hunter's outfit. The desert before him became a dark, dense forest. A massive bear, its chest marked with a pale crescent moon, rose on its hind legs and slashed downward with claws seven or eight inches long.

Just now it was the warrior's nightmare—now it's the hunter's?

Hearing the bear's furious roar, smelling the beast's stench carried by the night wind, Leon—who already knew this couldn't pierce the 【Immortal in Wine】—simply took the claw to the face, ramming his head straight into the bear and shattering it into countless bubbles. He then turned and shouted to the Snow Woman behind him:

「Can you still use your ability? If you can, keep going!

「Huh? I still can…」

The Snow Woman, now dressed in hunter's gear, blinked in confusion.

「But my ability was given to me by him—using it in front of him will definitely be interrupted. And you just arrived in this layer—haven't you looked for the Scorpio Director yet?

「No need!

After changing into miner's clothes and smashing through a collapsed mine tunnel, Leon dragged the Snow Woman, her face covered in coal dust, forward while urging:

「This desert is too big! Even if he's here, we can't find him! Get me up to the next layer!

「…」

Hmph… looks like he can keep dancing a while longer.

As they changed into sailor's attire and passed through the sinking-ship nightmare's bubbles, the Snow Woman, powerless against the Snake-Skin Scroll, sighed weakly, drew in a shallow breath, and exhaled a faint icy mist laced with ice crystals, quietly enveloping the two of them.

「Snow Woman?

Noticing this, the Nightmare King, watching the two nearly escape the endless desert, frowned slightly. A low, hoarse voice echoed:

「Are you betraying me? ?!!!

Wait… haven't I been slacking off blatantly enough? Why are you getting so worked up?

At his former boss's sharp accusation, the Snow Woman froze. Panic flickered in her ice-blue eyes.

「I…」

「I shattered your nightmare core, yet I let you go through dozens of nightmares unharmed—I've been more than generous.

The world of swirling sand "folded" slightly, transporting the Gray Mist Giant before them. The Nightmare King looked down coldly at Leon and the Snow Woman, eyes narrowed:

「You've survived thanks to my mercy—and now you plan to let my target escape right before my eyes? Is this how you repay my kindness?

「…」

Is there any chance… I didn't choose this?

Seeing his former boss slowly raise his finger, realizing he truly meant to kill her, the Snow Woman, overwhelmed with grievance, opened her mouth in panic:

「What the hell are you pretending?

「?

「?!!

No! That's not what I meant to say!

Realizing her spoken words were the exact opposite of her thoughts, the Snow Woman's mind went blank. She frantically explained:

「I've hated you for ages!

「Always putting on airs like you're so great, but you're just trash, do you know that?

「???

「You hide in your filthy black ditch, never daring to step out, never doing anything! I've never met anyone so cowardly—you're the disgrace of the Dream Realm!

「You dump every dirty, hard, exhausting job on us nightmare envoys, while you cower behind, making us hold off the Zodiac Directors of the Cleanup Bureau… where's your face?

「!!!

「I'm going to oppose you today! So what? If you've got guts, just hold it in!

「If you've got the nerve, drag me back and torture me for ten thousand years! If you can do it, and I so much as whimper once in that time, I'll be your great-great-great-grandma!

「…」

After delivering this outrageously defiant speech, seeing her former boss's face turn as black as soot, the Snow Woman stiffly turned her neck and stared, pale-faced, toward Leon.

As expected, that bastard was holding the deadly Snake-Skin Scroll, smiling at her with unnatural warmth. He hadn't spoken a word, hadn't even moved his lips—but the Snow Woman understood the meaning behind that smile without being told.

【Work harder, okay? You don't want to be dragged back and tortured for ten thousand years, do you?】

「…」

Good. The 【Unfair Snake Pact】 slot might open up—and now the new employee's fired up, working harder than ever.

Watching the Snow Woman, who used to drag her feet and delay every second, now puffing her cheeks desperately to exhale icy mist, Leon's lips curled slightly. He gave her an encouraging smile—only to receive a look of utter, furious despair in return.

Glare all you want. As long as you work, you can glare as much as you like! Whether we escape this desert depends on you!

Smiling indifferently, Leon hoisted the unfortunate Snow Woman over his shoulder and continued fleeing through one nightmare after another.

The 【Unfair Snake Pact】's effect is simple: it only lets me "use" the Snow Woman. It cannot make her genuinely accept me or betray the Nightmare King's secrets or weaknesses.

But the Nightmare King can.

As long as I prevent the Snow Woman from explaining, solidify the fact that she "betrayed and defected," build up the hatred, then cut off her escape route—she'll have no choice but to exert her own initiative and work twice as hard, if she doesn't want to be dragged back and tortured for ten thousand years.

…

「You really think you can escape?

He didn't know Leon had used his own authority to subtly force the Snow Woman into complete allegiance—or if he did, he didn't care.

Watching Leon, who had changed clothes over a hundred times while dashing through nightmare after nightmare, the Gray Mist Giant kept casting new nightmares to wear down Leon's spirit, and said coldly:

「Nightmares are my domain. No matter how far you run, for me it's merely a single step. You cannot escape.

I know that, obviously—you already demonstrated it once. I'm not an idiot.

Li Ang made no reply to the Nightmare King's provocation; relying on the power of 【Immortal in Wine】, he shielded the Snow Woman so she could continue "printing tickets" undisturbed, while glancing at the long trail of footprints he'd left behind in his flight.

It should be enough by now…

After counting the footprints, Li Ang raised his right hand, gripped the 【Desire Dream Invader】 at his chest, and—amid the Snow Woman's stunned expression—turned and charged toward the Gray Mist Giant.

Huh? What is he trying to do?

Though he didn't understand Li Ang's motive for charging back, the Nightmare King knew that being struck by his fist would hurt badly; he frowned and immediately prepared to retreat.

At that moment, the Archer Mark on Li Ang's right dorsal hand glowed faintly; one of the three small arrows shot violently from his palm and pierced the 【Desire Dream Invader】.

To the Nightmare King's astonishment, every one of the footprints Li Ang had left during his flight blazed with the same crimson glow as the 【Desire Dream Invader】.

Immediately, from the footprint closest to the Nightmare King, a hazy figure of Li Ang rose, raised his right hand clad in the 【Screaming Hand】, and—simultaneously with the real Li Ang far away—swung his fist, striking the Nightmare King's toe, then vanished on the spot.

Then came the second, the third, the fourth… over a hundred dream versions of Li Ang, enhanced by secret art, rose from his footprints, one after another, swinging their fists.