This is the main reason why powerful mages frequently come to the Realm of Nightmares after discovering it. Here, you can experiment with anything you wish—even eleventh-level spells—without restriction, because in the end, everything is just a dream.
Many dangerous experiments, at critical moments, are conducted here to reduce the loss of precious materials and gain vital experience.
Some mages even come here when they wish to recall memories from long ago—this is their best option.
The days spent reading and flipping through books slip away bit by bit. In Heather City, fewer and fewer people remain alive, and even fewer children are born. Most people drift through life in a daze, simply waiting for the final destruction to arrive.
Leon spends sleepless days and nights immersed in the desolate library, quietly flipping through the books. Even a single volume here—one that could be considered light reading—would cause a sensation in Leon's era, sparking wars between two great powers.
The books that record magical knowledge—even the most basic—could overturn a mage's understanding if brought outside. But here, these things are the least scarce...
Terrifying spells that could make beings from endless planes tremble with fear are, in this place, nothing but piles of obscure and useless junk...
Yet now, these things that were once dismissed as worthless have become the most important of all—the deepest memories, buried far within, are not so easily unearthed. If you try to force them out, you risk damaging your soul.
The stronger a mage becomes, the longer they live. At the stage approaching god-demonhood, mages are essentially immortal. With endless lifespans, it's impossible to remember every single detail—eventually, the soul gets destroyed by all the clutter.
Most memories settle deep within the mind; this is the best way. Some powerful mages even erase memories that are of no use to them.
Though rereading these books and finding the key information is not easy and takes a long time, it is not without its benefits.
Leon stays in the desolate library, going through the books one by one in order. This time, he cannot just skim; he must take the opportunity to truly absorb all the knowledge within.
What's more, some books of strange tales or secrets might contain clues about the apocalypse of the Northend World.
Time flies by as Leon reads carefully. Tubby can only sleep—each time for a year—waking to find Leon still reading, then falling asleep again, and still Leon is reading...
Tubby slept and woke ten times before he realized Leon had walked from one end of the desolate library to the other.
Seeing Leon about to finish the books, Tubby didn't dare sleep anymore, afraid that Leon would leave while he was asleep.
A dozen days later, Leon took the last dust-covered book from the shelf and quietly began to read. It was the final unread book in the desolate library.
After ten years, Leon realized that sweeping through every shelf was inefficient, and hoping to get lucky was pointless. He could only read each book one by one.
Now, holding the last book, Leon did not hesitate and slowly opened it.
In this world of the mind, no matter how long you stay, it's just like a dream. When your true self leaves, it's as if you've awakened. Ten years here might only be half a day outside.
But after ten years, with the perspective of a Sky-rank mage and a Grandmaster Alchemist, reading these books is totally different. Things once unclear now make sense, and forgotten knowledge is recalled.
For mages, knowledge is power and truth is everything. Endless knowledge pours in, making Leon's eyes as deep and unfathomable as a bottomless pool.
Even though it's the last book, Leon doesn't hesitate much. Whether there's a key point inside no longer matters as much.
Opening the book, he finds it discusses space and time—very obscure and incomplete. It's almost impossible to describe these with a complete prophecy.
This was originally a magic book, using magical power to infuse the author's insights into the text—one could even sense the power of the rules.
But now, only the words remain—the magic has completely faded, and the magic book is ruined.
Leon carefully savors the book, and when he's more than halfway through, he finds something different near the end.
Leon’s expression suddenly turns odd—on one page of the half-meter-long book, he finds content about relativity...
After reading carefully, Leon is certain—this page is about relativity, unchanged except the text is in Northend World's script.
Tubby, we're leaving this place...
Leon turned around and Tubby, who had been waiting with wide eyes, instantly jumped onto Leon’s shoulder, clutching his robe, afraid Leon would leave him behind.
Looking at the page before him, Leon shook his head. He finally understood why, after entering the Realm of Nightmares, most people can only leave the mindscape by themselves.
After ten years spent reading every book, only Leon could find the one page that didn’t belong in the library. No one else could complete this task.
That page on relativity, hidden in a book about time and space—even a top-tier mage wouldn’t notice anything strange. At Northend World’s peak, there were countless theories and schools, and every powerful mage had their own research.
Finding the key point in the last book didn’t surprise Leon. After all, this world was built from his own mindscape projection—even skimming through, he would probably only find the key point in the last book.
Next time, it might not be relativity. It could be a page of advanced mathematics hidden in an alchemy array, or a travel guide tucked away in a powerful mage’s journal...
Holding the book, Leon left the desolate library. Heather City was even more barren—half as many people as ten years before, everyone more numb. Not far from the library, a man missing a leg leaned against the wall, eyes vacant, waiting for death...
The whole of Heather City was like a city of the dead...
The light from Sanctuary Tower grew dimmer, and the sky filled with more terrifying scars. A massive spatial rift stretched across the sky, releasing visible storms of terror—the whole world was on the brink of total destruction.
Leon quietly watched the rift, knowing the end of Northend World was near. He glanced at Sanctuary Tower and slapped the page in his hand.
Suddenly, time seemed to stop. The book in Leon’s hand vanished, the ground beneath him disappeared, and the whole world became a frozen illusion.
A few seconds later, the world shattered like glass, cracks spreading everywhere. The scene looked like a broken oil painting, and as the cracks covered everything, the world silently broke into countless fragments and faded into the endless void.
Sky-rank level seven power returned to Leon’s body, but nothing seemed to change—he was surrounded by endless void, with glowing orbs floating in the darkness.
Getting closer, Leon could just make out vague scenes inside each orb—these were all mindscape worlds.
Leon floated outside the orbs, inspecting them. The ones glowing red and dark were surely the mindscapes of vampire progenitors.
These beings have no soul and can’t resist the power of this world. With the Lord of Nightmares gone, only the realm’s rules remain. They have advantages, but can’t ignore the deep world.
At the edge, these vampire progenitors can come and go freely, but inside, only the Lord of Nightmares can do so.
Leon ignored the vampires’ mindscapes and continued inspecting the others.
But for other mages, it’s much harder to tell whose mindscape it is. From the outside, only vague colors and shadows can be seen.
What surprised Leon was that, besides the vampires, there were six mindscape worlds here...
Agalon, Alonzo, and the three deans of Star Academy—only five people, but there were six mindscapes. So who was the last one?
Leon frowned, observing the six mindscapes. With only vague shadows to go by, he couldn’t be sure whose was whose—he could only guess.
Leon floated up to a green-tinted mindscape. Inside, he could see a vast forest and a starry sky—this was most likely Grand Astrologer Agalon’s mindscape.