--Nightmare Spawn--
When the terrifying monster that clearly could not have been born on Terra appeared, an overwhelming sense of fear instantly swept through the bodies and minds of everyone in the monitoring room's Box Garden.
Whether they were the director or the monitors, researchers or other guards, even though they themselves had released this monster from nightmares, the despair and terror erupting from the depths of their hearts—impossible to restrain with reason—still echoed within them. Yet they could not speak, could not issue commands.
It was like the suffocating feeling of being trapped in an utterly terrifying nightmare while being unable to awaken. Everyone wanted to scream in terror, but could only remain silent.
Even Ian, though his mind felt no fear whatsoever, found his body beginning to operate violently in an abnormal fashion.
The youth keenly sensed that the Ancient Dragon Core had even begun operating on its own for the first time in a long while. It pounded fiercely, expanding and contracting as though facing a great enemy, revealing for the first time fluctuations almost akin to "caution" and "seriousness."
"Interesting—so even True Dragons and Ancient Dragons have things they fear, things that make them instinctively go all out..."
Ian did not rashly step forward. Instead, he activated the drug injection system within his Sky-Binding Armor and injected every strengthening agent he had prepared into his body, enhancing his power to its utmost before battle.
Buzz, buzz... Visibly flowing Origin Matter traveled along his blood vessels, making the radiant markings on his chest flicker faintly.
In truth, he could not attack it either—the Nightmare Tumor was not an entity, but a distortion of subspace.
Only when the creature bred by the Nightmare Tumor, the "Nightmare Spawn," appeared could it be attacked.
At least, that was the case