n

n

n

n

n‘No!’

n‘I was so close!’

nNick’s ability no longer worked, which meant he was only a bit stronger than an average human right now.

nAt this moment, Nick was falling from about eight meters of height into a pool of toxic waste with several sharp pieces of metal.

nWhile Nick’s ability was working, this wasn’t an issue.

nBut now…

nNick’s thoughts stopped.

nTime seemed to freeze.

nAnd then, time resumed as the Dreamer got further and further away from Nick. 𝑙𝘳𝒶𝒹.𝑐𝘰𝓂

nSPLASH!

nNick hit the liquid shoulder first.

nCRKSH! CRKSH!

nSeveral pieces of metal created cuts in Nick’s skin, and he started to bleed.

nOn top of that, Nick’s destroyed fingers also came into contact with the toxic liquid.

nIn an instant, Nick felt like his body was being drowned in acid.

nThe force of the fall also made it difficult for Nick to move, but his adrenaline pushed him to immediately go to the surface.

nAs soon as Nick broke the surface again, he took a deep breath.

nBut then, Nick saw the owl just a meter in front of him, its claws stretched towards Nick.

nThe Dreamer was attacking, and without his ability, Nick was helpless!

nBANG!

nNick immediately pulled his head down into the water, and the next moment, two long claws tore through the water above him.

nThe Dreamer was not going to flee.

nNo, it was going to kill Nick!

nNick immediately dove further and further down, several pieces of metal scraping his skin.

nBut then, Nick suddenly accelerated, and he stopped getting injured.

nNick had reached a depth where the light couldn’t reach him, which meant that the Dreamer couldn’t see him anymore.

nNick’s ability activated again.

n‘I have to flee!’ Nick thought. ‘As long as it pays attention to me, I can’t fight it!’

nAfter coming to a decision, he immediately shot towards the direction of the sewer’s exit.

nBut then, a huge black eye opened in front of Nick, and he became paralyzed.

nNick’s thoughts stopped as he looked at the terrifying black eye.

nThe next moment, a maw filled with teeth opened in front of him and swallowed him.

nNick felt his body getting torn apart, but then he realized that this wasn’t real.

nSince he was now in a place with no light, the Nightmare’s influence had returned.

n‘The Dreamer above.’

n‘The Nightmare below.’

n‘I can’t move like this! The Nightmare could lead me in any random direction!’

n‘I have to surface to assess the direction I’m facing!’

nNick gnashed his teeth and shot upward.

nThe eyes and maws around him slowly vanished.

nThe Arclight was still active, and it illuminated the surroundings.

nShortly before Nick broke the surface, he suddenly felt the acid of the liquid become stronger.

nThis meant the Dreamer was seeing him.

nNick broke past the surface and took a breath as he quickly looked around.

n‘There!’

nNick found the way he had to go towards and immediately dove into the water again.

nCRRRSH!

nNick clenched his teeth even more as he felt a big gash opening up on his back.

nJust now, the Dreamer had created three huge gashes as it tore Nick’s skin and a bit of muscle apart.

nThis was a Specter, not a random bird!

nIf it got hold of Nick, it could probably stab one of its claws through his entire torso!

nA normal human couldn’t possibly fight something like this.

nAs Nick descended, the intensity of the acid subsided.

nHe closed his eyes and immediately started to swim forward.

nA moment later, the heat of the water rose sharply, and it felt like Nick was swimming through a boiling pot of oil!

nNick’s entire body turned red, and he wanted to do nothing but scream in pain.

nHe was burning!

nHe was dying!

n‘It’s not real!’

n‘It’s not real!’

n‘It’s not real!’

nBANG!

nSuddenly, Nick’s right hand hit something solid, and Nick’s head quickly followed.

n‘A house?! Now?!’

nNick had hit one of the ruins.

nHe had to quickly make a decision.

nImmediately, he shot up.

nThe house wasn’t that tall, and there was still about a meter between its ceiling and the surface.

nAt this moment, Nick felt a bit of light, but his ability hadn’t deactivated yet.

nThis meant that the Dreamer hadn’t seen him.

nNick swam forward in silence, his chest almost sliding against the house’s roof.

nSuddenly, the water started to severely burn him again, and Nick’s body shook.

nHis ability had deactivated!

nAt that moment, a plan formed in Nick’s mind, and he slowly spun onto his back.

nNick was betting on the fact that the Dreamer could see him but not perfectly see him.

nRight now, since Nick was still about a meter below the surface, the Dreamer could probably only see a vague silhouette or shadow.

nMeanwhile, the Dreamer was illuminated by the light behind it, allowing Nick to perfectly see it.

nAt this moment, the Dreamer was diving towards him with its outstretched claws.

nNick’s anxiety reached new heights.

nThe Dreamer reached him.

nBANG!

nNick shoved himself to the side as the Dreamer’s claws reached into the water.

nDue to Nick’s depth, the Dreamer also had to fully enter the liquid, slowing it down significantly.

nThe Dreamer’s claws barely passed by Nick, and Nick immediately grabbed them with his two hands.

nThe Dreamer’s wings flapped to get out of the liquid again, and Nick felt himself getting pulled up.

nSplash!

nThe two of them left the liquid behind, the Dreamer pulling Nick into the sky.

nRight now, the Dreamer didn’t have the luxury to look at Nick, but Nick’s ability still didn’t reactivate.

nHearing and feeling someone also counted as perceiving someone.

nAfter gaining a couple of meters, the Dreamer looked at Nick, and its beak opened.

nBut by now, Nick had repositioned himself.

nHe had pulled himself upward and had angled his body.

nAnd then…

nBANG!

nNick kicked the Dreamer’s head!

nWhile the Dreamer was much more powerful than Nick without his ability, a kick to the head still hurt quite a lot.

nAt the same time, Nick let go of the Dreamer’s claws and threw himself towards the exit of the sewers.

nHis kick and the force of the jump completely disoriented the Dreamer, and it fell into the water a couple of meters away.

nHowever, it wasn’t significantly injured, and Nick was sure that it would return to flying above him in a matter of seconds.

n‘Only about 200 meters or so left to the exit! I refuse to believe that it will follow me to the surface!’

nNick immediately swam forward, and since the Dreamer was still in the water, his ability had reactivated, and he swam with all of his power.

nSplash!

nSome seconds later, Nick heard the loud sound of something leaving the water about 30 meters behind him.

nFive seconds after the sound, Nick’s ability deactivated again.

nNick gritted his teeth and dove into the water.

nMore scratches appeared across his body.

nBANG!

nBut the Dreamer’s attack missed, and Nick’s ability reactivated.

nSadly, just moments later, an army of maws tore at Nick’s body again, and Nick felt like he was swimming downward instead of forward.

nYet, Nick just kept swimming.

nHe ignored the pain.

nHe ignored the horrors.

nBANG!

nThen, Nick hit something solid again.

n‘This is that one house I investigated!’

n‘I’m just about 50 meters away from the exit!’

nBy now, Nick’s lungs were screaming at him to surface.

n‘I have to run across it!’

nNick surfaced again.

nHowever, his ability deactivated before he even breached the surface!

nThe Dreamer wasn’t stupid.

nIt had seen where Nick had swam towards, and it was constantly looking in that direction.

nNevertheless, Nick rapidly moved forward as he did his best to run in waist-high water.

nHe turned back to look at where the Dreamer was.

nThe next moment, he saw the Dreamer dive towards him.

nNick couldn’t evade!

nThere were still several meters left!

nThe Dreamer would get him!

nRead latest chapters at 𝙡𝙞𝒓𝙚𝓪𝙙.𝒄𝓸𝓶 Only

n