Chapter 1455
Leon was a bit puzzled. He had just said something offhand, but the Nightmare Leotail—who everyone called 'the little fatty'—reacted as if he were about to be killed, trembling uncontrollably.
"Hey, little fatty, I'm asking you a question. What are you so afraid of?"
The little fatty was so scared he could barely speak, stammering over every word.
"Let me think, I know I can remember it. The chief used to talk about it, I remember he said something about a creature that once entered the Deep World and managed to escape... I just can't recall exactly..."
Leon rubbed his forehead. If this little fatty wasn't too dumb to even lie convincingly, he would have just finished him off already.
But right now, if Leon wanted information, the Nightmare Leotail was the perfect candidate. No one was more suitable than this simple-minded little fatty—if he tried asking another Leotail, he'd never get such a straightforward answer.
"Take your time. If someone managed to escape from the Deep World before, then it should be possible now too. The power here must've been stronger in the past..."
He tried sensing the Natural Semi-Plane, but it was already sealed off. He could feel the connection was intact, completely unaffected, yet he still couldn't open it—not even to retrieve a single thing from inside.
It was as if he really was trapped in a dream. Opening the Natural Semi-Plane here? Utterly impossible.
He wanted to ask Marianna, maybe she knew something, or even Andefa might have answers. That mysterious guy—Leon still had no idea what Andefa actually was, but after all this time, he was sure Andefa meant no harm and was on his side. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have become the magical incarnation of the Wheel of All Laws, and now there’s no way to change back.
Andefa’s knowledge of previous eras far surpassed Leon’s, almost as if he’d lived through them himself.
But now, even after summoning the Wheel of All Laws, Andefa didn’t show up—almost as if he’d never been the magical incarnation inside it at all.
The little fatty’s round face scrunched up in agony, like he was constipated trying to remember. Leon shook his head and pulled out some crude alchemy tools, starting to experiment with the materials he’d collected earlier.
He tested each material one by one, confirming that every single piece was real—not an illusion. Even the fragments crushed by those hooves were genuine. Leon was starting to get a headache.
Trees, magical beasts, plants, ores—everything was real. Which made Leon wonder: was that giant bovine leg real too?
The Lord of Blood Battle’s massive leg was sealed inside the Nightmare Realm. Just thinking about it made Leon’s face darken. The Lord of Blood Battle was a terrifying god-demon who could keep fighting even after being dismembered. His soul was fused entirely with his body—cut off a finger, and it would keep fighting.
Best not to get that bovine leg’s attention—messing with it could mean a gruesome death. Even if it was fake, the destruction it could cause was all too real...
Leon watched the little fatty struggle for an hour, looking more constipated by the minute. Finally, Leon pulled out some noble pastries he’d stashed in his spatial ring—leftovers from when he’d prepared them for Hughes and Marianna. Hughes had switched to meat, and Marianna didn’t like sweets, so they’d been forgotten.
He handed a pastry to the little fatty. The sweet, floral aroma stunned him mid-constipation.
He didn’t even stop to wonder if it was poisoned or anything—just stretched out his webbed paw, grabbed the pastry, and started munching.
After devouring the pastry, the little fatty’s constipated face finally relaxed. He burst out laughing, mouth wide.
“I remember now! I remember! The chief said that once, someone entered the Deep World and managed to escape. But after escaping, they vanished. The chief said that person was undead, and when he got out, only half his body remained.
The chief chased after him but couldn’t catch up. He said the guy just disappeared, and then the Lord of Blood Battle’s leg fell from the sky. After that, the undead with half a body vanished—the chief said he got stomped to death by the hooves..."
Hearing this, Leon’s heart skipped a beat. Undead?
An undead who could escape the Deep World? Since when did the undead get so clever?
Only half a body left isn’t a big deal for the undead. As long as their soul fire is intact, they won’t die even if there’s just a head left. Swap out for a new body and they’re good to go—at worst, their power drops for a while.
Still, knowing someone once escaped the Deep World put Leon a little at ease. But the word ‘undead’ kept nagging at him, like he was on the verge of remembering something important.
Undead... could it be the Undead King? Maybe only that legendary Undead King could pull off something like this.
What the little fatty called ‘before’ was probably ages ago—maybe right after the Nightmare Lord fell into the Undead Plane and the Nightmare Realm merged with it.
His head was aching from thinking, but for now, he couldn’t come up with anything else. Even with the key to the Nightmare Realm, there was no guarantee he could escape from here.
Time was running out. If there was enough time, Agalon could definitely escape, but there wasn’t. Spending decades, maybe centuries—by then, the Leviathan Plane would have already been breached, and maybe the Northend World would be facing the Undead Apocalypse.
The little fatty always answered every question honestly, repeating exactly what he’d heard before. It had given Leon quite a bit of extra information.
He’d asked nearly everything he needed to. Now the little fatty just stared at Leon with wide, nervous eyes.
"I’ve told you everything. You’re not still going to kill me, are you? The chief said outsiders can’t be trusted..."
Halfway through, the little fatty’s face turned terrified, and he couldn’t finish his sentence.
Leon couldn’t help but chuckle. He patted the little fatty’s head, pulled out a contract, and stamped it with his own seal before handing it over.
"Relax. Once you sign this contract, no one from your tribe will hunt me while I’m in the Nightmare Realm. It’s valid until I leave. After that, you’re free."
The little fatty didn’t dare refuse. He obediently opened his mouth, stuck out three tongues, and pressed them together to make a mark on the contract.
In an instant, the contract dissolved into a ball of light. Leon felt the oppressive, hostile aura around him fade away, and the world’s rejection seemed to vanish.
It was a simple time-limited contract, but the actual terms weren’t so simple. While the contract was valid, the little fatty had to help Leon with all his strength, and Leon couldn’t harm him.
With this contract, Leon wouldn’t feel that uncomfortable rejection while in the Nightmare Realm.
Anyone who didn’t belong in the Nightmare Realm would inevitably be rejected, and their presence would disrupt the balance here. The Nightmare Leotail existed specifically to counteract that problem. Originally, the Nightmare Lord made sure they were here for that purpose, and after his fall, the Leotails continued the duty on their own.
The presence of outsiders always messed with the balance—just standing around could have negative effects.
The simplest way to eliminate that effect was to kill a Nightmare Leotail, take its horn, and forge a protective artifact. That would cancel out the rejection.
But that method wasn’t ideal. There were fewer and fewer Nightmare Leotails, and without the Nightmare Lord, they weren’t multiplying fast enough to keep up with the killings.
Besides, if you took a Nightmare Leotail’s horn and got caught, they’d hunt you relentlessly. Kill one, and the next would be even stronger. And then there’s the Nightmare Leotail King, who’s always two tiers above anyone else in the Nightmare Realm—no one stands a chance.
Signing a time-limited contract was the best solution—mutual benefit and safety. Plus, it guaranteed Leon wouldn’t be killed by the Leotails while he was here.
After signing, Leon cut off the little fatty’s now gray, lifeless tail. Without its dragging weight, he could finally move around. His body shrank until it was just palm-sized—a green, fuzzy bug with three duck-like webbed claws.
But that comically chubby face was still there—just looking a bit more pitiful.
Leon pulled out another noble pastry and stuffed it into the little fatty’s hands.
"Don’t worry. I’m just here to save someone. Once it’s done, I’ll leave. If those other people are still here, this place will be destroyed sooner or later. I’m helping you, too. Help me find them and we’ll leave for good—your home won’t be destroyed, and everyone wins."
Once I’m gone, you’re free."
The little fatty, looking pitiful, crouched on Leon’s shoulder, hugging the pastry and getting cream all over his face. After a few bites, he finally smiled, not caring about anything else for now.
With the little fatty as a guide, at least Leon had a direction now—no need to wander aimlessly. That alone saved a lot of time. He knew the general method to search, but actually finding the entrance would take ages.
The outskirts of the Nightmare Realm might not be as vast as the Northend World during the Age of Gods and Demons, but it’s still huge—far larger than any ordinary plane. Just finding an entrance here would take a ridiculous amount of time.
Hiding his presence, Leon followed the little fatty’s directions, flying for hours before finally clearing the forest. Ahead was an inland sea—really just an enormous lake, stretching for thousands of miles.