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nChapter 77: Devil's Smile

nMeanwhile, Charles landed two meters away from where he stood before and turned around.

nHis gaze was cold as ice!

nHe then recalled his previous battle in the Dreamworld as he zeroed his gaze on a lone-robed skeleton and finished his chanting.

nA second later, a thin black needle-like structure came out from the Starfall Codex book and then flew towards it with a whooshing sound.

nA moment later, it directly appeared in front of the grey-robed skeleton's forehead and collided against it!

nBANG!

nThe skeleton's skull tilted upward due to the collision, and soon the skeleton stumbled backward.

nAt that moment, the Holem's Crown watched the other fight and suddenly spoke in his mind.

n'This Eddie looks totally different, lad. He doesn't have a physical body nor has a soul. No, he does have something that resembles like a soul, but it's not.'

n'Fake soul? Yeah, he did mention that he created a fake soul and is planning to turn it into a true one after capturing you by creating an ultimate miracle.' Charles swiftly evaded the upcoming bone spear and responded.

nOh? That's why he is borrowing power from the Dreamworld through this skeleton and the 'Mark of Imagination' to fight against those two, huh. Lad, kill this skeleton and find a way to remove the 'Mark of Imagination.' Once we did that, we might completely restrict him from borrowing energy from the Dream-world and kill him here.'

nCharles instantly raised his hand as he heard those words, pointed his finger at the grey-robed skeleton, and cast Incinerate spell on it.

nIn a blink, a crimson ray appeared from his forefinger and soon reached its skull!

nBut as it was about to land on its skull, the grey-robed skeleton moved its wooden staff and tried to block it like the last time.

nBut unlike the last time, this Incinerate spell was an upgraded version. As it made contact with the skeleton's wooden staff, the ray instantly disintegrated it and then landed on the area where the sternum bone was located!

nCharles placed the Starfall Codex in the space ring and started walking towards the skeleton.

nIn less than three seconds, Charles arrived in front of the skeleton, curled his lips upward, and gripped the skull-less bony skeleton with both hands. After that, he twisted it with full force and ripped it from the skeleton along with spinal bones!

nHe then threw the skull on the ground and smashed it with his right leg!

nIn a second, the whole skull turned into a blackish viscous thing and then vaporized.

n'Next is this mark.' He nodded thoughtfully and soon turned his gaze towards Eddie, who was still moving sluggishly due to the strange gravity force.

nAt this moment, Eddie also noticed the sudden weakening of his connection with the Dreamworld and stopped playing around.

nHe first took a deep breath and broke the gravitation effect by clapping his hands and sharpening his gaze towards Abel.

nAbel also sensed the meaning behind his gaze, so he turned his face serious and waved his hand. One, two, three… No, tens of humans made of pure white light appeared from his body one by one and dashed towards Eddie at an incredible speed while gripping different kinds of weapons in their hands!

nBut whenever an attack landed on Eddie, his figure would distort, disappears for an instant like an illusion, and then reappears in another area.

nWatching this scene, Max shook his head.

n'We are no match for his illusion abilities. Although he doesn't seem to have other class abilities, he is still way above us in terms of comprehending the power of Dream.'

nHe rubbed his chin, took out an old blue-colored scroll from his space ring, and tore it into two.

nAn instant later, the space around the surroundings suddenly began to twist and soon locked into a large cube-like structure!

nIt was a Rank-4 space spell, Spatial Folding!

nUpon seeing the strange scene, Eddie finally turned his attention towards Max.

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"You are the irregular?

" His tone went cold. If Max didn't appear in Riverdale City, he knew that things would have gone much smoother.

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"It seems I need to take things seriously.

" He muttered as he stepped forward towards Max and snapped his fingers.

nAn instant later, the surrounding area turned dimmer, and soon Eddie's figure started to grow larger. Multiple heads with distorted figures appeared over his neck region, and he appeared more like a real nightmare Lord!

nSome heads appeared humanoid, while other heads looked like strange animals' ones.

nUpon seeing the strange humanoid figure with different distorted heads, Abel and Max felt pain in their chest. No, their heart started to beat very faster! Not only that, he even felt that something so evil was trying to invade his inner world.

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"Something is wrong with this guy.

" Max frowned a bit as he placed his hand on his chest and then took out another spell scroll.

nHe then locked his gaze on Eddie's original head and directly tore it.

nA weird magic circle filled with multiple runal letters appeared in front of him and soon expanded to an unimaginable size.

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"Thought Curse.

" He spat a mouthful of blood as he said those words and then tapped his space ring twice.

nAnother two spell scrolls appeared in his hand as he tossed them upward and made them open on their own.

nAfter that, he directly tore those scrolls using invisible soul power and smiled.

nOne was a spell enchantment scroll, while the other was a reverse spell scroll!

nHe knew that his last scroll doesn't have much power, so he strengthened the spell effect using the enchantment spell scroll.

nAs for why he cast this 'Reverse spell' scroll, he felt that it might help them in the future.

nYes, Reverse spell was not an instant effective spell.

nLike the 'Miracle' spell, requirements were needed for this spell to activate!

nIt might take a minute or an hour or even a day. But when it happens, it would definitely catch the enemy off guard!

nAt that moment, Eddie felt that he couldn't think properly from time to time and got confused.

nHe didn't get anxious, though. Instead, he zeroed his gaze on Abel and cast his class spell Dream Invasion.

nIt was a spell to pull one's consciousness into a separate world and make them experience despair and fear!

nEddie knew that battling against two of them would only put him in a more dangerous position, so he instantly made a decision and chose to eliminate the weak-willed person.

nAn instant later, Abel's face froze, and soon he started showing confusion, anxiety, then panic and finally fear!

nIn such a short amount of time, he entered into a strange world filled with barrel land and battled against Eddie countless times. But soon, he realized the difference in strength and started to lose. He first lost to Eddie after one hour of battling. Then, he lost in 50 minutes. Days passed as he lost countless times against the white-robed old man and finally felt despair!

nAs he was about to lose his mind, he suddenly saw that the surroundings started to break like glasses and soon noticed that he returned to the earlier battlefield!

n'Is that a nightmare?' Fear gripped his heart as he cast a wary look at Eddie, who was still showing a calm expression on his face and finally sighed.

n'Fighting against him will only make things worse for me. Although I could use one of my trump cards and kill him, I think it is unnecessary in this situation.'

nThen, he didn't even think twice before he cast a teleport skill on himself and disappeared!

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"He escaped?

" Even Max became flabbergasted at the sudden turn of events and moved his lips.

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"Edth'wft,

"

nAnother strange word echoed from his mouth as he stared deep into Eddie's eyes and raised his hand.

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"This is all I can do for you, Charles.

" He said before he pointed his finger at Eddie and cast a spell.

nEddie initially showed a confused expression on his face, but soon he let out a strange cry using all those distorted faces and fell on his knees. He suddenly started to lose those memories he absorbed from other Nightmare Creatures!

nShock appeared on his face as his figure also reduced to normal size, and soon he started breathing heavily. He staggered due to the sudden, shocking blow in his mind and finally stopped in front of the statue.

nHe then recalled the moment when the real Eddie died in a strange dimension, and the current 'him' desperately tried many methods to save himself in the Dreamworld.

nHe was not the 'real' Eddie Nightwind. If he were one, he wouldn't be in such a state.

nIn the meantime, Max took a few deep breaths and felt fatigued. He knew that casting high-level spells using spell scrolls would always give a huge mental burden, but he felt this was worth it.

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"This is my limit.

" He said as he took two steps back and soon disappeared from there.

nOn the other hand, Eddie stood up while placing his hand on the Goddess Rodia's statue to support him and stared at Charles, who was standing at the center of the ritual circle with a stunned expression on his face.

n'Haha, I won.' He subconsciously smiled. Although Eddie did lose all of his previous strength, he still won against them and pushed them back in the end.

n'I need to return to the Dreamworld-' That thought instantly froze as he felt that the connection with the Dreamworld cut off all of a sudden!

nHe instantly zeroed his gaze on the red-gem embedded ring and soon realized that it must be the artifact's doing.

nBut he didn't lose his calm, though. Instead, he took a small white paper out of nowhere, placed it on his forehead, and then spoke in a cold tone.

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"Runeth, come and help your real owner.

"

nAt that moment, Charles subconsciously believed that the one who appeared in front of him was the real Eddie Nightwind and widened his eyes in shock!

nEven the Holem's Crown felt that the one who appeared was the real Eddie Nightwind and became stunned inside!

nBut that shock lasted for just a moment, though.

nCharles quickly calmed his mind and gave a new order to Runeth.

n'Go to him and wait for my further orders.'

nSaying so, he used his Magician's Hand skill, controlled the 'Ember Pistol' which was laid near the Goddess Rodia's statue, and adjusted the muzzle to 125° angle.

nMeanwhile, the red-gem embedded bracelet in his right hand moved on its own and soon came out from his hand. After that, it hovered in the air for a moment before changing itself into a reddish gem-embedded crown and then moved towards Eddie Nightwind!

nUpon seeing the Holem's Crown, Eddie heaved a heavy sigh and muttered in a depressing tone.

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"If they had done their job right, I wouldn't need to come here now.

"

nAfter that, he caught the Holem's Crown with both of his hands and placed it on his head.

nAt this time, Charles sat on the stone-like floor with cross-legged position and asked in a tired tone.

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"Why would you pull me into this mess? Why did you lead me here if you want just the crown?

"

nEddie turned his face towards Charles as he heard those words and blinked twice. He then pointed his finger at the ritual circle and spoke with a mysterious smile on his face.

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"It seems you finally figured it out. Hehe, but you are still wrong about one thing. This sacrificial ritual is not to sacrifice the Holem's Crown, Charles. It is to summon the will of 'Hell' plane and seal both you and Holem's Crown in this city ruin for a day. Although I could request the 'Hell' plane to help me form the true soul in exchange for a divinity, I don't want to be a devil.

" He purposefully paused for a second and then asked with a grin,

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"How do you want to die now?

"

nUpon hearing those words, the corners of Charles's lips suddenly started to go upward and formed into a smile.

nIt was the smile of a real Devil!

n'I got you now.' Charles muttered inwardly and squeezed the Ember Pistol's trigger using his Magician's Hand skill.

nFrom the beginning, Chares solely focused on assassinating him, so even after Eddie mentioned something about sealing them in the city, he didn't even focus his attention on his words and patiently waited for a perfect opportunity like this!

nEddie suddenly heard a bang sound from behind and got startled!

n'A sneak attack?' He coldly snorted and cast 'Double Thoughts' skill on Charles.

nAn instant later, he suddenly felt that his thoughts turned messier and couldn't be able to think properly!

nNo, he suddenly noticed that he was affected by his own spell!

nNow, the Reverse spell activated on its own and attacked Eddie.

nAt that moment, a bullet made of pure silver came out from the muzzle and soon landed on his back.

nAn instant later, Eddie's whole body turned stiff!

nHe couldn't move, nor could he able to think properly!

n'I'm feeling thirsty…A planned attack… Why would I need to drink?' Double thoughts continuously appeared in his head as he tried to move his hand, but it turned into a futile attempt!

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"Do it now.

" Suddenly, he heard a cold voice from Charles.

nThen, the Holem's Crown on his head suddenly began to vibrate, and soon he heard a familiar old man's mocking laugh in his head.

nA moment later, Eddie's mind suddenly turned foggy all of a sudden!

nHis memories then started to disappear one by one, and soon he felt that some invisible power was devouring them like a World Eater!

nIt was the Holem's Crown's Dark Star spell, Erase Existence!

nWithin a second, the white-robed old man suddenly turned into a fog and soon disappeared from Charles's sight.

nNo, he was erased from the universe itself!

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