Chapter 813

Who dares say no one can dream? What does that mean?

Watching his own hollow body, forged from hundreds of nightmares, vanish before his eyes along with a swarm of beetles, the Gray Mist Giant trembled violently, eyes wide with terror as he roared:

"What did you do?! Where did you send those damned beetles?!"

"I told you—it's a gift for you!"

Recalling the version of himself who, since Anna, lost every family member, sat hollow-eyed on his bed like a walking corpse, too afraid even to open a photo album, Leon, eyes bloodshot, gazed up at the Gray Mist Giant and spoke slowly, each word carved like stone:

"If I'm giving you a gift, I have to deliver it to your home—where else would I send it?"

"…"

My home… the River of Nightmares? You sent those beetles—capable of devouring dreams and splitting infinitely—into my River of Nightmares?!

"Are you insane?!!"

Upon hearing Leon's confession, the King of Nightmares screamed with eyes bulging from their sockets:

"You madman! Do you even know what you've done?!"

"Reverse it! Reverse it right now!!"

"The River of Nightmares holds countless nightmares! Do you realize? If those beetles enter it, they'll multiply into hundreds of millions within half a day! Half the Dream Realm will be devoured!"

"They'll keep eating their way from the Dream Realm into the real world! So many beetles—even your Cleanup Bureau can't stop them! If you don't stop, humans will never dream again!"

"Heh… who cares?"

Having endured unimaginable trauma at the hands of the King of Nightmares, and with the effects of "Drunken Life, Dreaming Death" still lingering, Leon had lost all reason—and barely any self-control left.

Facing the King's frenzied roars, he merely sneered, then shot back without the slightest hesitation:

"No dreams? Fine! Just don't dream at night—it won't kill anyone!"

"No! No! No!"

"Madman! You damned madman!"

Seeing the iron resolve in Leon's gaze, the Gray Mist Giant realized he wouldn't back down. Fuming, he cursed twice and turned to flee from the Sixth Nightmare, hoping to destroy as many beetles as possible before the 【Devouring Dream Armor】 spread further—yet…

"Don't bother."

Holding up his right palm to show the King of Nightmares the vanished Scorpio Mark, Leon, eyes gleaming with satisfaction, asked:

"Care to guess where I used my final Scorpio Technique?"

"?!"

【Devouring Dream Armor】?!

Realizing the undeniable truth from Leon's eyes, the Gray Mist Giant felt his mind explode—like his skull had been ripped open and hammered with a ten-thousand-ton mallet. The world spun violently before him.

You didn't just send 【Devouring Dream Armor】 into the River of Nightmares—you used the Scorpio Technique to strengthen them?! You… you… I…

"I'll kill you!!"

Knowing all was lost, the King of Nightmares whirled back, roaring as he lunged to crush Leon into pulp—but the 【Drunken Immortal】's time hadn't expired. No matter how he attacked, the result remained unchanged.

After pounding wildly in rage, feeling the River of Nightmares vanish at a terrifying rate, the Gray Mist Giant collapsed to his knees, screaming in utter despair:

"It's over… everything's over!"

"The River of Nightmares… the Abyss of Fallen Souls… the Dream Realm… all finished!!!"

"You madman! You're a complete, utter madman! Why… why did I ever provoke you?!"

"Aaaahhh!!!!!!"

Amid the Gray Mist Giant's wailing, pounding his chest in agonized regret, the familiar hum sounded again in Leon's ears.

"Zzz…"

【Your utterly insane act inflicted profound psychological trauma upon the Lord of Nightmares, successfully activating the hidden Golden Badge: "Nightmare of Nightmares"】

【Nightmare of Nightmares: You, who acted with extreme madness and zero regard for consequences, willing to destroy an entire world for fleeting satisfaction, have become the Lord of Nightmares' most terrifying nightmare】

【Effect: As one deeply feared by the Lord of Nightmares, you now stand above all nightmares—no nightmare may ever affect you again】

【Upgrade Path: None】

【Hidden Trait (No Equipment Required): As the ultimate villain intent on annihilating the entire Dream Realm, your infamy will reverberate throughout the Dream Realm. All beings below the True God tier, merely by sensing your aura, will be overcome with paralyzing terror】

…

Is this… the Scorpio Division's 【Devouring Dream Armor】?

Watching countless black-gold beetles, wings flapping, feasting voraciously within the River of Nightmares, the Red-Haired Director blinked in surprise, a flicker of irritation crossing her eyes.

These things split infinitely after devouring dreams! Spreading them in the Capital was bad enough—but dumping them straight into the River of Nightmares? They'll never be recovered! What the hell is Edward doing?!

She had no idea these 【Devouring Dream Armor】 were the result of Leon's explosive retaliation after the King of Nightmares broke his last restraint.

Watching the beetle horde multiply into tens of thousands in seconds, devouring everything along the River of Nightmares into the Dream Realm, leaving not a single dream behind, the Red-Haired Director muttered curses under her breath about the Scorpio Chief's recklessness, then retracted her spread 【Blood-Hair of Slaughter】.

When the 【Devouring Dream Armor】 entered the River of Nightmares, the nightmares assigned by the King of Nightmares to invade the real world could no longer do so.

These troublesome beetles wouldn't devour dream beings or directly kill the nightmares attempting to invade—but they devoured the dreams bound to those nightmares.

Without their bound dreams, nightmares were like tigers with claws and fangs ripped out—incapable of anything. Except for the naturally massive ones, even robust ordinary humans could overpower them.

If they couldn't return to the Dream Realm in time, when dawn came and the sun rose, they'd vanish completely in the sunlight. Right now, they'd be scrambling to flee—not dreaming of invading the real world.

Though this solved the problem of large-scale nightmare invasions, the Dream Realm would suffer catastrophic damage—and the real world would be dragged down with it.

The Dream Realm, composed of memory and fantasy, was also one of the sources of art and inspiration. After this deadly "beetle plague," besides the massive loss of dreams, the entire world's artistic creation would likely enter a prolonged slump…

Thinking of the potential consequences of those beetles, the Red-Haired Director rubbed her forehead.

Headache… It's barely the start of the year, and already another disaster? This year's ranking will be at the bottom again.

The only silver lining: Leon seems unharmed—no death aura surrounded the hairs she gave him, proving he's still safe… Huh? Why is there one extra hair beside the ones she gave him?