Mediate

The power of dreams converged in the boundary between the real and the illusory, forming a boundless strange world. A Magus dressed in black robes stood at the corners of this world, his arrival causing the world to cheer as if a child had returned home. Dreamscape opened its doors up wide.

“It’s still this desolate here…” Leylin stood in midair, absolved from the powers of the laws. His soul of original sin allowed him to survey most of the world at once.

Dreamscape was still as desolate as before, from when dreamforce was waning and the Lords of Calamity had to seal themselves.

Leylin was here in his true body, having left the World of Gods to enter the astral plane. With the Manderhawke Plate in hand and an intermediate god as a clone, the World of Gods was like a back garden that he could enter and leave as he pleased.

With all of Baator as his divine kingdom and the A.I. Chip managing things, he had no need to worry for the safety of his assets. Unless the gods could find another flying city from somewhere and have it explode on him, his defences were airtight like those of a greater god’s divine kingdom. Leylin could leave and come to Dreamscape at ease.

‘Dreamforce has been waning for thousands of years despite me killing a Lord of Calamity…’ Leylin discovered the laws of dreamforce in an instant. The current state of dreamforce didn’t make a difference to him, though. Having already grasped its laws, he could harness the peak power of dreamforce at any time.

“Those Lords of Calamity have indeed became much smarter…” Leylin smiled. A slight scan revealed that the Lords of Calamity had sealed themselves together this time, apparently cautious of his previous actions.

“Since that’s the case, then let me greet them!” The crimson runes of dreamforce appeared on Leylin’s body, opening up his third eye. His Nightmare Absorbing Physique peaked, and the entirety of Dreamscape rejoiced as powerful destructive lightning appeared in the skies.

Unlike before, Leylin didn’t need to act stealthily. He spread his aura fearlessly to the edges of the world.

“It’s the Nightmare Absorbing Physique!”

“The eternal nemesis of the Lords of Calamity— Nightmare Absorbing Physique!”

“Damn it… Ever since the Magus World opened the crystal sphere, I knew that the Nightmare King would return…”

The slumbering Lords of Calamity were like cats whose tails had been stepped on. They woke up immediately, unleashing their auras. A blizzard of destructive snow howled, but it was repelled by a crystal mountain.

A crystal exploded as one of the Lords of Calamity walked out, possessing devastating strength. This was the Eye Emissary, the protector of light and darkness, wielding both laws to be one of the stronger Lords of Calamity.

“Molina…” Another crystal broke as well to the Eye Emissary’s voice, and a female thundergiant walked out.

“Nightmare King! No… Something more devious and inconceivable… the Nightmare Absorbing Physique has finally reappeared…” Molina roared. Her body darted like lightning towards Leylin.

The dark earth split open and a three-headed Lord of Calamity appeared. It had the head of a black goat, a green snake, and a mysterious human face. “Oh! Molina… You’re mine…” it muttered as it turned into a black mist, chasing behind the female giant.

All of the Lords of Calamity in Dreamscape were soon awake, roaring and howling as destructive powers of calamity caused Dreamscape to tremble. The surviving creatures were pressed down to the ground, praying for these superior beings to be appeased.

“I never thought there were so many hidden experts in Dreamscape. Eighteen… No, nineteen Lords of Calamity, it’s enough to crush the Purgatory World and Shadow World…” Leylin was surprised.

These Lords of Calamity had sealed themselves in due to waning dreamforce, not joining in on the attack on the World of Gods. This made them the largest force in the rest of the astral plane, strong enough to perhaps attack even the Magus World if dreamforce recovers.

“They’re all hovering around rank 8, yet there isn't a peak rank 8 existence… Is this the suppression from the World Will?” Leylin’s eyes flashed, and he was more confident in his plans than before.

“Nightmare Absorbing Physique… Die!” The Nightmare King was the eternal enemy of the Lords of Calamity, so one of them immediately attacked Leylin.

*Boom!* A powerful force of calamity struck down, alongside the face of a ghost that was large enough to blot out the sun rearing its bloody mouth at Leylin.

“Darned thing hiding in the shadows, come out!” Leylin’s face turned violent as a longsword formed from Seven Sins slashed forward.

*Sssii!* A bright white light flashed, and the face was slashed apart before shattering, forming corrosive rain. A strange multifaced creature appeared, wailing as it was forced out of the void. Seven Sins slashed mercilessly into its body, containing even more domineering force.

Blessing of Greed! The power of original sin was unleashed, causing the figure with many faces to be destroyed immediately. A dark current appeared, and was absorbed by the Seven Sins. It seemed to be a taotie with endless power, devouring its opponents’ strength.

“Darkface was taken out in one blow…” The other Lords of Calamity looked at the ghost faced creature who couldn’t recover its body anymore. Its face filled with fear as it turned wary, stopping its attacks.

*Boom!* Leylin’s dark path of original sin appeared behind him, alongside the Nightmare Hydra with the vertical pupil at its central head. A powerful web of original sin appeared and enshrouded Leylin within, giving him strength comparable to the peak of rank 8.

“The Nightmare Absorbing Physique!”

“Path of laws! Peak rank 8 Magus!’

“The powers of the ancient Nightmare King!”

The other Lords of Calamity stepped back unconsciously, looking at Leylin in fright. After swallowing the Lords of Baator, Leylin was now only one step away from peak rank 8, yet his own battle prowess had already entered this realm!

The ancient Nightmare King had the strength to slay more than half of the Lords of Calamity present. Leylin was even stronger, so it would simply be too easy to beat them all.

“So, now can you listen to what I have to say?” Leylin looked around him, at the Nightmare Eye, Eye Emissary, Molina, and the three-headed beast. These were the strongest Lords of Calamity.

“What do you want to say, inheritor of the Nightmare Absorbing Physique?” The Eye Emissary’s eyes blinked continuously as it looked at Leylin. Unlike the others, he knew full well how powerful Leylin was. With this power before he even reached peak rank 8, when he advanced with the help of Dreamscape there would be no way for them to survive.

“I know… You all fear me, hate me…” Leylin looked arrogantly at the Lords of Calamity, as if he controlled their lives and deaths, “But my purpose for coming here this time is not to kill any of you. I want to give you and the World Will another way to go forward.”

*Crack!* Leylin’s words were earth-shattering news to the Lords of Calamity. They entered fervent discussion immediately, and even the World Will began to rage with lightning.

*Hiss!* The Nightmare Hydra roared, repelling the destructive snow.

“How is it? Do I look sincere enough?” Leylin smiled at these Lords of Calamity.

The many Lords stood staring at each other. It was the female thundergiant who spoke up eventually, “How do you want to do this?”

“The Lords of Calamity are like leeches feeding off the origin force of Dreamscape, causing the world to continuously regress. You put a heaven burden on it, so the World Will wants to reverse the tide and weaken your supply of dreamforce. That’s why it gave birth to a Nightmare Absorbing Physique. All of this was just the beginning…”

Leylin spoke frankly yet with conviction.

“The origin force of Dreamscape is not endless, yet you lot feed off it without end, causing the world to deteriorate. Even you yourselves have to suffer the consequences… I wish to make a pact of the truesoul with all of you, the entire astral plane being the witness. Each of you will be given a fixed time to absorb origin force, and it has to be within the limits set by the world. On top of that, you have to find ways to make up for the World Will’s losses.

“In return, the World Will will assure that you have an endless supply of peak dreamforce. There will be no more weakening, and you won’t have to seal yourselves in…” Leylin’s voice was extremely loud, the power of laws it carried causing the Lords of Calamity to ponder his proposal.

Although they were extremely unhappy at not being able to ceaselessly absorb the origin force, it seemed much better if dreamforce was not weakened. Moreover, they wouldn’t have the threat of the Nightmare Absorbing Physique looming over their heads anymore!