I was a little curious about what had just exploded inside Taylor's head.
Though I'd only been testing something that cost me nothing, the strange vision in my palm had revealed something that was undeniably bad.
The corridor's corruption of me went far beyond giving me a worm's arm.
Not only had my abilities been sealed; the nature of my existence now seemed much like that of some kind of spokesperson.
The difficulty of leaving a mark, which the Persuader had mentioned, was one thing. Even if I somehow managed it, the mark would most likely be that of a "worm."
That wasn't too strange. The mission summary from my first encounter with the Persuader had mentioned that nightmares were channels through which higher beings descended. The worm and the offspring had both been evidence of that.
But this only made the situation more dire.
There was not only a Persuader watching from the sidelines, someone who could never be considered innocent and was ready to snatch the fruits of victory at any moment.
The one who had always appeared in the guise of a "worm" seemed to be the true evil god of the nightmare, adding yet another link to this food chain.
Taylor was the tool I'd used to descend into reality and break through the barrier. And I, in turn, was "Its" tool.
Even in the nightmare, the extraordinary effects I'd recreated through my high degree of control had been completely imbued with the "worm's" nature.
Even if I could use that to cause corruption and leave a mark on the dreamer, it most likely wouldn't be me who successfully broke through the barrier in the end.
But beyond this unusual power, I didn't seem to have any other means of corruption.
This situation was remarkably similar