“Everyone fall back!”
It was an irritated voice, uncharacteristic of Julia’s usual calm and composed tone.
At the end of her sharp gaze was a black mass.
Wooooong—
It looked like drifting black smoke.
But on closer inspection, its body was not smoke at all, but countless grains of black dust.
Crackle!
Julia shot lightning at it, and the black mass shook violently when struck.
But rather than pain, it only showed slight bewilderment at the unexpected attack.
Julia frowned at the sight.
‘Of all things, it had to be the most troublesome one on the middle floor...’
That black cloud-like being was a “Nightmare Entity,” found only on the middle floor.
Normally, it lingered in that form of black smoke, but once it came into contact with a person, it turned into something far more dangerous.
Just like now.
“Uwaaaaah!”
One student who had failed to retreat in time was approached by the Nightmare Entity.
The entity stared at the student from a short distance, and then its form began to change.
The black smoke twisted and writhed, until at last it became a humanoid figure with grotesque proportions.
Kihihihihi.
Its limbs and face stretched unnaturally long.
Between the disheveled black hair, its eyes were nothing but empty holes, and its gaping mouth revealed three rows of shark-like teeth.
A monster straight out of an urban legend.
This was why Nightmare Entities were dangerous.
The moment they touched a person, they transformed into whatever that person unconsciously feared most.
Kihihihi!
The Nightmare Entity crawled on all fours toward the student whose fear had shaped it.
Its twisted laughter and cockroach-like movements truly made one feel trapped in a nightmare.
“G-get away from me!”
The terrified student screamed with tears streaming down his face.
Julia wanted to help, but she could not.
She was already restraining three Nightmare Entities herself.
If she rushed to help, the situation would spiral further out of control.
Just then, someone else stepped forward in her place.
It was Selina, who had fallen with the other students.
“Stay back!”
Selina unleashed the power of a spirit.
With a gust of wind, she struck the Nightmare Entity from the side, flinging it away.
The monster quickly regained balance and fixed its gaze on her.
The student narrowly escaped, but Selina’s face darkened.
‘Too weak!’
At her level, she should have been able to cut it apart with wind.
But here, it wasn’t working.
It felt like swimming with heavy iron weights strapped to her.
For a spirit user like Selina, Dreamland was the worst possible environment.
Kihihihi.
The grotesque woman set her sights on Selina next.
Clinging low to the ground, she rushed in, mouth opening wide to tear out Selina’s throat.
Like a jaguar stalking prey in the dark.
“Ah!”
Selina’s reaction was too slow.
Ordinarily, she could have blocked it by summoning an earth spirit.
But the special nature of the Dreamland middle floor hindered her.
The sharp fangs looming right before her eyes were reflected in her pupils.
At that instant, pure darkness swallowed the monster’s head.
Kiiiiiek!
The grotesque woman thrashed wildly.
But the darkness clinging to her face would not come off.
Her struggles weakened, and her limbs went limp.
Moments later, when the darkness receded, her head was gone.
The neck was cleanly severed, as if something had swallowed it whole.
The corpse then crumbled into black dust.
The Nightmare Entity was dead.
Selina widened her eyes, realizing who had saved her.
“Esmeralda!”
Unlike the other spirits that had remained hidden, the black orb Esmeralda had appeared the moment Selina was in danger.
“Thank you. You saved me.”
Esmeralda trembled in her palm, as if delighted by the praise.
But Selina could not relax yet.
More Nightmare Entities remained.
Julia was holding them off for now, but she wouldn’t last.
“Esmeralda, lend me your strength.”
With the same power that had just destroyed the entity, the rest could surely be subdued.
But suddenly, Esmeralda vanished.
Selina had no time to question why.
Because someone descended from the sky.
“There are quite a few people here.”
With a familiar voice came a surge of powerful mana from above.
Then spears of ice rained down, piercing the three Nightmare Entities that Julia was battling.
The ambushed monsters scattered like mirages, vanishing.
“Professor Ludger!”
The students’ faces lit up in joy as they cheered.
To appear at the most dangerous moment, like a savior—it was no wonder they reacted so.
But Ludger did not respond to their cheers.
His eyes turned to the remaining Nightmare Entities.
Whatever else, he would eliminate the most troublesome ones first.
The entities trembled as they faced him.
Those that had withstood Julia’s magic were now cowering.
Julia’s eyes widened.
‘No way... are Nightmare Entities afraid?’
Five remained.
As if on cue, they scattered in all directions.
“Trying to run?”
Ludger pointed his finger at the first one fleeing.
From his fingertip, a beam of light shot forth, piercing it.
Julia swallowed hard.
‘He can use magic like this even on the middle floor? Impossible.’
She had been shocked when he cast magic on the upper floor.
But the middle floor was different. The upper floor favored the conscious mind; the middle floor was nearly half unconscious.
For someone to naturally use magic here...
It was like casting spells in your sleep, as if sleep-talking.
‘Just how much of a monster is he?’
To the other students, it was incredible enough.
But to Julia, who understood the situation better than anyone, Ludger was a monster incarnate.
Meanwhile, the fleeing entities changed tactics.
Better to fight than die fleeing from him.
The remaining four charged at the students.
Caught off guard, the students faltered, and the entities absorbed their nightmares.
Their shapes shifted in an instant.
One dove into the ground and disappeared.
Then the earth erupted, and a massive silhouette burst forth in a cloud of dust.
Roooooar!
A colossal worm-like monster lunged at Ludger, maw gaping wide.
A Sandworm, said to dwell in deserts.
It swallowed him whole.
The students screamed, despair overtaking them.
But a few did not panic.
Selina, Rine, Julia, and Erendir.
Professor Ludger Cherish, felled by something like that?
Their eyes all said the same.
And sure enough—
The Sandworm’s head exploded like a bomb.
Its scattered flesh dissolved into black smoke and vanished.
Ludger hovered in the air, his bluish eyes looking down upon all with lofty calm.
Though swallowed whole, not a single blemish marked him.
“H-he’s fine?”
“How...?”
That overwhelming sight rekindled their fading hope.
Three remained.
At his gaze, one of the nightmare-fed entities trembled.
Screeeech!
A grotesque man with springs on his feet leapt at Ludger.
“S-spring-heeled Jack!”
A male student cried out, recognizing his worst nightmare.
Ludger calmly raised his palm toward the creature charging into his face.
Mana condensed in front of his hand, erupting in flames.
The monster shot skyward, only to fall even faster, engulfed in fire.
Two remained.
One swelled monstrously, having absorbed multiple nightmares.
Not just one—three or more. Its body twisted into a fusion of horrors.
Unable to face him with one nightmare, it sought strength in numbers.
“I commend the effort of taking in several nightmares just to fight me.”
But Ludger’s eyes did not waver.
“It still won’t be enough.”
Krrrraaaaagh!
The Nightmare Entity—no, Nightmare Fusion—bared its teeth.
With bat-like wings spread wide, it took flight.
Ludger simply watched.
No matter how he examined it, there was nothing in such a thing to inspire fear.
Of course.
“Compared to the nightmare I faced in Durmang, this is nothing.”
A murmur only he could hear.
Words to reaffirm his own certainty.
Nightmare Entities took the form of others’ fears.
But to Ludger, these grotesque fusions didn’t even count as nightmares.
How could such crude things be called that?
A true nightmare...
Was the red moon looming over all, its colossal body gazing down on the world.
And Ludger...
Had once been the hunter who felled such a nightmare alone.
Purple lightning crackled around him.
The fusion monster tried to veer away, but his magic was faster.
Bolts shot forth at supersonic speed.
They pierced its body, then fried it from within with roaring current.
A brilliant flash, and the entity crumbled to ash without a scream.
Only one remained.
Still in its smoke form, it had yet to absorb a nightmare.
But it looked shaken by what had befallen its kin.
To it, Ludger’s very existence was a nightmare.
Yet instinct urged it to act.
It searched the people around for a suitable nightmare to embody.
At last, it locked onto its target and lunged.
“Gasp! Your Highness!”
“Princess, get ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) back!”
Its prey was Third Princess Erendir.
She recoiled beside Rine as the entity rushed at her.
Her eyes met its form.
Normally, it required direct contact.
But this one was different.
Just by meeting her gaze, it began to change.
“A special specimen!”
Julia was horrified.
This was the leader of the Nightmare Entities.
Even Dreamwalkers rarely encountered such a creature.
‘If it’s special, then it’ll take a far stronger form than the others...’
Julia tensed.
Whatever form it took, even Ludger might struggle against it.
That thought was shared by Ludger, the students, everyone watching.
Slowly, the special entity solidified.
Unlike the others, it shrank.
And then revealed its form:
A beautiful woman in a jet-black dress.
Erendir’s eyes widened.
Everyone else watching froze with mouths agape.
The leader stood proudly, as if to show off its new form.
The form of First Princess Aileen.
“....”
“....”
“....”
Every gaze turned incredulously to Erendir.
Cold sweat ran down her cheek as she averted her eyes.
She was as flustered and dumbfounded as the rest.
“...?”
Only the Nightmare Entity itself seemed confused, unable to understand why the sudden reaction had changed.