Chapter 1452
Just as Leon was trying to get his bearings, a deadly sense of danger descended from above. The thick cloud cover seemed to explode apart as a massive, seven or eight hundred meter long, furry tail whipped down from the sky.
The force that tore through the clouds was so swift that the clouds didn't even have time to react. It wasn't until the tail was almost on top of Leon that a gaping hole, thousands of meters wide, appeared in the sky.
Leon vanished in an instant, and the giant tail lashed through the spot where he'd just been. The space shimmered with faint ripples, and the force of the tail's impact blasted the ground below, erupting with a series of deafening explosions.
It was as if countless magical bombs had been planted beneath the earth. Massive boulders were hurled above the treetops, ancient trees shredded to splinters by the shockwave. The explosions carved a straight line thousands of meters long, and when the dust finally settled, a blank swath—seven or eight kilometers long and hundreds of meters wide—had appeared in the forest.
After the attack, the thing that had ambushed from the sky finally revealed itself. Leon drew his Doombringer Staff, holding the Death Tome in his left hand. Chains on the tome's surface snapped one after another as a terrifying power seeped out. The Crystal Phoenix lazily poked its head out from between the pages, glanced at the monster overhead, and promptly retreated back inside without another reaction.
Leon had no time to worry about the Crystal Phoenix's lack of cooperation. His gaze remained fixed on the monster above, and by now, he had a pretty good idea of what it was.
Its body looked like a green caterpillar, over ten meters long, but atop its head was a single, twisted horn radiating a sinister aura. Three webbed bird claws sprouted from beneath it, and a massive leopard tail, hundreds of meters long, stretched out behind.
A body more than ten meters long, yet a tail stretching hundreds of meters. Its head sported only a mouth—no nose, no ears—making it look utterly bizarre.
Earlier, Leon had been puzzled. His concealment was nearly flawless. He'd flown for so long without being detected by any creature—so why the sudden ambush? Now, it all made sense.
The Nightmare Leotail is the only thing in the Realm of Nightmares whose existence can be confirmed as real.
It's not that everything in the Realm of Nightmares is fake; for instance, this forest beneath our feet might be real, and those giant beasts from the Age of Gods and Demons might be real too.
But no one can be certain. Even after gathering materials from those giant beasts, Leon couldn't say for sure that they were real.
The only thing you can be certain is real just by seeing it—not a creation of the Realm of Nightmares' power—is the Nightmare Leotail.
Legend has it, this creature is a parasite in the Lord of Nightmares' realm, or even on the Lord of Nightmares himself. Its existence is to devour everything that shouldn't exist—or shouldn't exist in the Realm of Nightmares.
Any soul that enters the Realm of Nightmares will inevitably be affected in some way—effects that can't be controlled, unless one's power surpasses the Lord of Nightmares. Otherwise, there's no way to hide these influences.
Sensing these influences, the Nightmare Leotail appears to devour the souls that disrupt dreams. The Vampire Progenitors can freely come and go without being destroyed because they have no souls.
No matter how much chaos they cause, the Nightmare Leotail ignores them—it's only after souls. No soul, no devouring.
Leon’s expression turned grim. After recognizing the Nightmare Leotail, he immediately activated the Chapter of the Fallen and transformed into the Skeleton King. The Nightmare Leotail itself has no rank, but once it appears, it matches its opponent’s rank. A stronger Nightmare Leotail might even be a rank higher, and the legendary Leotail Overlord could be two ranks higher—an overwhelming force.
If a Leotail Overlord appears, even Agalon would run. Two ranks higher means it surpasses the Sky Rank. If Leon encountered such a being, he’d have to flee as well. Two ranks above him would be level forty-nine…
It's not the same as when he was a Magus. Back then, even facing opponents four or five ranks higher wasn't frightening. But the gap between Sky Mage, Seventh Rank and Sky Mage, Ninth Rank is insurmountable—far greater than the difference between Sky Mage, Seventh Rank and Grand Magus.
Fortunately, this is just an ordinary Nightmare Leotail, at the same forty-seven Sky Rank as Leon. But even Leon's forty-seven is somewhat inflated.
Only the Dark Rule, empowered by the Chapter of the Fallen and the absorption of pure Soul Fire, has reached forty-seven. The other rules haven't caught up. Only as the Skeleton King wielding the Reaper's Scythe is Leon at his strongest.
Transformed into the Skeleton King and wielding the Reaper's Scythe, his aura changed instantly. The Nightmare Leotail's natural suppression in the Realm of Nightmares seemed to weaken significantly.
The massive, furry leopard tail lashed out again, and Leon swung the Reaper's Scythe to meet it.
The skull on the Reaper's Scythe opened its mouth in a strange scream, and runes of darkness and death appeared on the blade. The edge glowed blood-red, and its soul-severing power surged tenfold—the blade was newly honed.
As Leon swung, the Reaper's Scythe grew to over a hundred meters long, and a giant skeleton phantom appeared, cloaked in tattered robes and a hood, with swirling vortexes of death in its eyes—wielding the Reaper's Scythe, it struck.
The phantom's strike hit the Nightmare Leotail's tail, which showed no damage, but the creature's attack suddenly stopped. A piercing scream echoed, as if countless banshees were clutching Leon's soul and shrieking.
Everything before his eyes twisted, turning into an abstract painting.
His vision blurred, then returned to normal. He saw a hazy phantom drifting from the Nightmare Leotail’s tail—like the phantom of its severed tail.
As soon as the phantom appeared, the skull on the Reaper's Scythe opened its mouth and inhaled, devouring the phantom.
In an instant, the rear half of the Nightmare Leotail's tail turned completely gray, losing all color and vitality—like a lifeless stone.
Floating in the sky, the Nightmare Leotail screamed. When it tried to move its tail again, it found it could only control the parts that hadn't turned gray—the gray section hung heavy, like a stone.
After devouring part of the Nightmare Leotail's soul, the Reaper's Scythe seemed to grow stronger, fully attuned to the rules of this place.
Leon flew up and swung the Reaper's Scythe again. The phantom blade struck, but the Nightmare Leotail, refusing to give up, spat out a torrent of black liquid. The liquid splattered across space like stains on an oil painting, and as it dripped, the world seemed to crack and fragment.
But these attacks had no effect on the phantom of the Reaper's Scythe. Leon struck again, severing the rest of the Nightmare Leotail's tail. The skull on the scythe devoured the phantom of the other half, and the Nightmare Leotail lost all strength, plummeting from the sky.
Leon, clutching the Reaper's Scythe, descended fiercely. As he landed, the Nightmare Leotail's face morphed into a human one, staring at Leon in terror.
“Don't kill me! Don't kill me! This was my first attack—I haven't even completed a mission yet...”
The Nightmare Leotail's voice was thin and shrill, like a terrified child of seven or eight. Losing its tail, its rank dropped to the teens. Its childlike face was filled with fear, especially when it looked at the skull on the Reaper's Scythe, trembling uncontrollably.
No wonder it was terrified—the Nightmare Leotail is nearly impossible to kill, especially in the Realm of Nightmares. Here, it can use the realm’s power to match its opponent’s rank, tapping into the Lord of Nightmares’ strength.
But it probably never expected to be defeated so easily, with its soul phantom severed. If it happened again, its soul would be split in two—death would be absolute.
As long as its soul remains, even if killed, it can revive in the Realm of Nightmares. If its soul is torn, revival just takes longer. But now, with its soul devoured, there’s no coming back.
The Nightmare Leotail shrieked in terror, cowering on the ground.
Even Leon’s Soul Fire trembled at the sound.
“Shut up! Speak when I tell you to. If you scream again, I'll cut you down.”
Leon’s icy soul wave radiated outward, and the Nightmare Leotail instantly clamped its mouth shut, staring at Leon.