Something was weird about this place.
[Quest: Save Elizabeth de Beaufort]
[Time Remaining: 5 hours, 35 minutes.]
Neo’s expression wasn’t good.
He was short on time, and he still had no idea where Elizabeth was.
No matter how much he ran, he only saw barren land.
Everywhere he went, the sky above was similar, with Grand Expedition members trapped in nightmares.
The number of Expedition members caught in nightmares reached millions by now, and it was climbing.
The monotonous journey came to a stop when Neo suddenly sensed a huge amount of Void Element reaction in the distance.
The location was at the edge of the range of his senses.
He sped up, tearing apart air and space with each step.
Just then, he ‘sensed’ words.
The World
An unnatural chill ran down his spine.
The world around him underwent earth-shattering changes.
Void Elementals started to appear everywhere. The ground twisted and rotted. The air turned murky.
Neo winced.
The unnaturally high amount of Void was affecting him.
He had no choice but to pull back and go around the corrupted area.
Soon, he realized something.
Elizabeth’s location was near the center of the corrupted area.
“She must be among the people caught in the nightmares in that place.”
Neo frowned.
[The World] was a technique unique to Gods.
Only a Void God could’ve deployed a World with an affinity to the Void element.
“It might be Zera’s World. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s dangerous to me.”
Neo gritted his teeth.
Although Zera’s Void affinity was so high that it affected him, he had no choice.
He rushed into the corrupted area.
The air inside was pungent, filled with Void Elementals.
Neo felt like stones were being pushed into his veins.
He used his Blessings along with Holy and Life Elements to heal himself as he approached the center of the corrupted area.
His abilities were far from enough to counter Zera’s element, but maybe because he was a Heavenbreaker, it was not too deadly for him.
He could withstand her World with some trouble.
A powerful roar erupted far ahead of him.
Neo kept running forward and saw ‘it.’
A humongous mass of deformed flesh hovered in the air.
It roughly looked like a dragon, with two wings, a tail, and a powerful presence unique to dragons.
The monster was at least twice the size of the moon.
It flapped and roared again before flying towards the sky.
Then, Neo saw a sight that stunned him.
Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of giant vines descended from the sky.
They wrapped around each other and formed a spear larger than the corrupted dragon.
The spear pierced through the dragon’s chest and pinned it to the ground.
The impact was catastrophic.
The ground shattered, shockwaves erupted, and stones—the size of mountains—flew around.
The vines returned to their location after defeating the dragon.
Its body was torn apart from being smashed into the ground.
A giant hole was visible in its chest.
Neo could feel the Void World around him flickering.
Zera, injured, could not maintain it.
She—the dragon—stood up with a stagger and roared again.
It was as if the injury in her chest did not matter.
Just then, Zera sensed a presence near her.
She snapped her neck towards the side and noticed Neo.
She froze.
Then, instantly, she morphed into human form and flew towards Neo.
Purple veins wriggled on his skin.
Zera realized her Void World was affecting him and retracted it.
The Void Elementals disappeared from the air, and Neo could relax.
“Thanks,” he said, breathing heavily.
“How did you wake up?” Zera asked as she tried to keep her voice steady.
Her figure was riddled with injuries.
Her hair was half burnt, half covered in mud.
Her left arm was barely attached, thanks to a string of muscle. If not for it, Neo suspected her arm would’ve fallen long ago.
Small cuts were present all over her. Purple blood oozed from them.
And, just below her chest, there was a large hole, almost spilling her guts.
She held them with her hands and stared at Neo.
“I conquered my Nightmare,” he said. “You don’t look okay.”
“Are you worried about me?” she asked while trying to let out a flirtatious smile but failed miserably.
While her injuries were not fatal for someone of her rank, they were serious.
Zera struggled to stand straight.
Neo created a simple chair out of mimicked Earth and helped her sit.
“What’s this? You know quite a few tricks,” she said.
“Can you heal on your own?” he asked, instead of answering.
“I can, but it will take time. How about you help me with your essence?”
Neo’s brow twitched.
Did she have to put it like that?
“I can help you, but remember that you are far stronger than me, so healing you is almost out of my league.
“And since you use Void Element as your main element, your body has been fused with a large amount of Void Element over the period of time.
“Holy Element will hurt you a lot and damage you too,” Neo said.
“What about mimicked Holy Element?” she questioned. “Can you use that?”
“My Shadow Element mastery is only Expert. So, no, I can’t create a mimicked Holy Element powerful enough to heal you.”
Zera chuckled.
She could see Neo was seriously trying to think of a way to heal her.
“Forget about it if it’s hard. My natural vitality will heal me.”
“How long would that take?”
“A few weeks only.”
Neo nodded and looked above.
He could see the trail created by silvery motes of light leading to the sky. That was Elizabeth’s location.
“Is there someone you know there?” Zera asked.
“Yes,” Neo answered and lowered his head. “What is this place? And why are so many Grand Expedition members caught by the ambush?”
Zera chuckled when she heard him.
In that laugh, Neo sensed something else.
Something he was quite used to.
Despair.
“It seems you haven’t realized what is happening, dear.”
“…?”
“Those people up there are proceeding to conquer the Abyss of Nightmares. We are here because the Abyss of Nightmares couldn’t contain us, and it decided to throw us out.
“Well, in my case, that was what happened. But I suppose you managed to escape the Abyss yourself.”
Her words only confused Neo.
“It’s fine if you don’t understand it. I also found out about this only a few hours ago.”
She pointed at the sky.
“Those people are inside a collective nightmare. It’s a connected dream. That fake dream is called—”
“The Abyss of Nightmares,” Neo completed her words.
The hair on his back stood as he understood the implications of her words.
“You are correct,” Zera smiled. “From everything I can see here, it looks like every Expedition that entered this place was always caught by the Abyss of Nightmares.
“They thought they were clearing zones, fighting monsters, making progress, but that was all a hoax. A dream. It was all a Nightmare.”
Zera noticed Neo’s expression as she spoke.
“I know it’s hard to believe. But I’m sure of it.”
She looked to the side.
“I’ve traveled this place for days. There are no zones here, no floors, nothing. Only that giant tree, and the vines that grow out of the tree are connected to the heads of those who are inside the nightmare.”
She looked at the humongous tree in the distance.
It was large.
Zera suspected it was larger than a star system.
Her injuries and mental exhaustion lowered her mental defenses and allowed Neo to read her Intent.
He saw the Giant Tree from her memories.
The tree was outside his Intent Vision range, which was why he never saw it, but for anyone with normal vision, the tree was visible from all locations.
“If what you are saying is true, then… how did no one in the previous Expedition realize they were inside a nightmare?” Neo questioned.
“How are you so sure that no one realized it?” Zera questioned with a smirk.
“Because I never heard someone warning me about such a big detail. It’s quite obvious no one knew about it.”
“That’s where you are wrong, and right, dear.”
Zera continued.
“I told you, didn’t I? I was too strong, and the Abyss of Nightmares couldn’t contain me. That’s why it threw me out.
“I suspect the same happened with other leaders of previous Grand Expeditions.”
“How? If that happened, then those leaders would’ve—”
Neo stopped speaking.
He realized what Zera was implying.
“The Dragon Clan Leaders who died during the Grand Expedition. Were they killed after they left the Abyss of Nightmare and appeared in this place?”
Neo looked at the sky above again.
Everyone was caught in a Nightmare.
If Tartarus wanted to kill them all, this was the easiest opportunity it could get.
But there was no indication that Tartarus was trying to kill them.
Then, why were previous Expedition members killed?
“You are absolutely right,” Zera said as if she had read his thoughts. “Some of the Dragon Clan Leaders who participated in the previous Grand Expedition must’ve been able to escape the Abyss of Nightmares.
“They must’ve helped a few other members escape too.
“Tartarus killed only those who escaped the Abyss of Nightmares and became aware of its true identity,” Zera explained.
Neo frowned.
Her words made sense.
“If everything you said is correct, it means Tartarus never took any one of you seriously,” he said. “It killed only those who became aware of its true identity. That shows it’s quite strong.”
There was another thing Neo noticed.