Winter Snake

Gilan thrust out a palm, pressing it against the Hanged Man's forehead!

Bang!!

The terrifying force of his palm smashed the nightmare guard's head to pulp. With a tremendous blast, brain matter and blood sprayed everywhere.

Several drops of blood splattered across Gilan's cheek.

Yet he did not so much as blink.

The Hanged Man, whose head had been blown apart by that strike, swayed back and forth from the noose like a dangling lump of rotten flesh.

Gilan quickly sensed that something was wrong.

He's not dead...

The thought flashed through his mind.

Suddenly, Gilan's Gnosis issued a warning, and the Cross-Sword Bonfire in his eyes burned even brighter.

In the "Guiding Prompt," the nightmare core had not been destroyed. Instead, it was behind Gilan.

But just moments ago, Gilan had clearly crushed the man's heart...

With no time to think further, he took a step forward.

Wind whistled behind his head. Gilan's face turned cold as he bent down.

Whoosh—

Several sharp, cold glints swept past Gilan's hair.

From the corner of his eye, Gilan saw that Kouolai and the miners had somehow appeared behind him, weapons in hand and savage expressions on their faces.

The nightmare core's location had appeared in Kouolai's left chest.

Did it transfer, or was it some kind of misdirection...

Gilan's heart sank.

Or perhaps I never actually resisted the nightmare guard's influence, and everything is merely an illusion?

His gaze hardened, and he reached out directly.

In an instant.

Clang, clang.

With a single bare hand, Gilan easily deflected Kouolai's and the miners' blades.

He flicked his hand, preparing to pierce Kouolai's chest and blast apart his heart.

No...

Gilan abruptly stopped, narrowing his eyes.

The nightmare's power isn't enough to shatter my mind. So how could I be hallucinating?

*It isn't