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Hikari gasped in quiet surprise as she watched the corpses turn into pure light while Elizabeth extracted their essence with practiced ease.
Ding!
[You have Extracted]:
[Soul Enhancement Elixir (C+ Grade)] x40
[Spirit Enhancement Elixir (C+ Grade)] x40
[Mana Enhancement Elixir (C+ Grade)] x40
[Agility Enhancement Elixir (C+ Grade)] x40
[Dexterity Enhancement Elixir (C+ Grade)] x40
[Bottled Nightmares (C+ Grade)] x8
[Bonus EXP Card (C+ Grade)] x4
[Bonus Skill Proficiency Card (C+ Grade)] x4
[Nightmare Skill Shard (??? Grade)] x40
[Nightmare Class Stone Shard (??? Grade)] x20
[Low-Tier Nightmare Chimera Insect Ring (C+ Grade)] x16
[Low-Tier Nightmare Chimera Insect Armor (C+ Grade)] x16
[Low-Tier Nightmare Chimera Insect Scythe (C+ Grade)] x16
[Low-Tier Nightmare Chimera Insect Shield (C+ Grade)] x16
"Lots of items this time," Elizabeth nodded with satisfaction. "Hikari, come here. You're pretty good with the Nightmare Element. Do you have some affinity with darkness as well? I believe the two overlap quite a bit."
"M-My affinities as a Blue Oni are Shadow and Thunder, primarily," explained the young oni samurai with a polite bow. "So yes, de gozaru." She sometimes let a little traditional accent slip that she could not fully contain.
"Take these," Elizabeth said as she handed over the full Chimera Insect Armor set, several rings, and a sturdy shield.
"I'm not very good with shields," Hikari sighed softly. "I appreciate the armor though… and scythes? Aren't they mainly harvesting tools?"
"Hm…" Elizabeth rubbed her chin thoughtfully, then suddenly had an idea. "Matter Restructuration! Harmonious Chaos Reversal."
She combined her Esper Ability with her Soul Ability, carefully readjusting and modifying the armor, rings, and scythes. The equipment transformed into Dream Chimera Insect Armor instead, granting greater resistance against Nightmares. At the same time she reshaped the scythes into elegant naginatas, using Hikari's own blade as the perfect mold.
"And done! What do you think, Hikari?"
"I-It's perfect!" Hikari's eyes glistened with genuine joy. "T-Thank you so much!" she vowed deeply. "I've learned the Six Sword Style from my family, though I never fully mastered it. I can still wield up to four swords at once."
"F-Four?" Elizabeth was clearly surprised as the girl simply grabbed two swords in each hand with practiced ease. "Is that even stable?"
"I believe so!" Hikari nodded confidently. "Don't worry. Just tell me, and I shall slay our foes with these holy swords."
"Hahah, at least you're reliable."
Elizabeth grew serious after that short exchange. She spread out her powerful wings after transforming into her full dragon form and set off high into the skies.
As they flew away from the island, she suddenly noticed something unusual while leaving the area.
It was the clear silhouette of a person standing near the edge of the canyon, watching her in complete silence.
"Huh? Did I miss someone?"
The figure wore dark black robes and their face was completely hidden, yet she could clearly feel their eyes fixed directly on her.
"Hello?"
She quickly turned around and descended to greet the mysterious person, but as she drew closer she heard them speak in a cold, childish voice.
"Tsk, damn lizard, why are you getting in our way…! Your accursed family will one day fall!"
"Eh?!"
Elizabeth was shocked by the sudden hostility. The figure, who had the clear voice of a child, jumped straight down the cliff without hesitation.
"WAIT!"
She flew after them as fast as she could to save the person, but by the time she reached the bottom they were already gone without a trace.
"W-What the…? Hikari, did you hear that?"
"I did… they seemed to harbor deep and personal resentment toward your family…"
"W-Why? Wait, what's going on? Who was that…? Aren't the people here only the victims trapped inside the surge of the Nightmare Realm…?"
Hikari rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Hm… perhaps things aren't as simple as they first seem."
"…"
Elizabeth did not know what to think about the strange encounter, but she really did not have any time to waste standing around. She quickly set back into the skies, flying toward the closest island where she could clearly feel the lifeforces of more trapped people.
.
.
.
Far away, a portal in the Nightmare Realm — a Nightmare Gate — had opened. A young child-like person walked calmly through the swirling darkness.
Once the figure removed their hood, their true appearance was revealed: a beautiful young girlish boy with short red hair tied into a long ponytail, and a single broken horn alongside a deep scar that crossed his left eye, leaving it permanently gray.
He looked disappointed as he revealed a pair of dark wings from his back and a long pointed tail. He was clearly a half-demon of the Incubus family, made obvious by his soft androgyny.
He knelt respectfully before a group of hooded figures that had gathered close to the pulsing Nightmare Heart, carefully feeling its growing presence and energy.
"I'm sorry, Priest… we would have almost harvested a lot of Souls but… something unexpected happened. I—"
"No, no, don't worry, my child. You did what was right. It would not have been good if you lost your life fighting against them, right? It was a wise decision to escape when you did."
A young man with pale skin, short black hair, and empty black eyes walked forward and gently patted the half-demon's head.
"Now, it is indeed quite an annoyance… that one of Them ended up sneaking inside," he sighed softly. "But the amount of souls we still require harvesting remains minimal. The Nightmare is soon about to blossom fully. One step at a time, everyone. Remember that."
"Yes!" the young half-demon nodded with renewed determination.
The other hooded figures mostly remained in complete silence, watching carefully. Their appearances varied greatly from one another, yet they were all at least either humans or half-humans.
And their auras… all of them clearly exuded thick Nightmare Essence.
"Now, let's not let that child beat us to it, shall we begin?"
With a kind smile that never faded from his face, the mysterious priest walked toward a crystal altar. Dozens of innocent adventurers who had already been slaughtered by nightmares lay there, their souls slowly flying out of their bodies and drifting toward the growing heart.
"Ah, don't worry! You are all dying for a good cause! For Our Mother's Return! And… for the sake of Humanity itself! We cannot let Them take away everything we built with our own effort, can we?"
He opened a black grimoire in his hand, revealing dozens of dark runes that flew outward and imprinted themselves upon the Nightmare Heart where it was still developing, marking it with a powerful Curse.
"And done… now, let's wait until it fully matures. According to our benefactor's instructions, it should be harvestable in… hm, less than an hour!" he said with a bright, beaming smile. "Let's practice our prayers to the Mother Goddess until then, everyone. Her Return… I can feel it deeply. She's still Alive… Somewhere… in a World forgotten even by Time. And we shall be the proud harbingers of her return."
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