Deep within the Astral Realm, on the edge of the Fantasy Dimension, lies a void that has never been recorded.
There is no light, no darkness, no time, no space—even the concept of "non-existence" itself seems superfluous. This is an absolute vacuum untouched by the laws of the Astral Realm, a forgotten corner in the dimensional rift, a desolate place that even the perception of the Lord of No Void cannot penetrate.
Yet at this moment, this void was trembling.
The tremor did not come from an external force, but from within—from breathing.
A colossal creature dwells in this void. Its body stretches Endless, its nine heads, some drooping, some raised, some with eyes closed, some gazing intently, entwined with towering mountains that seem to fill the heavens. Each head represents an ultimate desecration of the essence of dreams. Its scales do not reflect light, but devour it, dragging all visual information around it into Endless Abyss. With each breath, it causes invisible ripples to spread across the sea of nothingness. These ripples spread outward, piercing dimensional barriers and quietly seeping into the outermost planes of the Fantasy Dimension.
The Nightmare Hydra.
He fell into a deep slumber on Primogenitor Mountain, a slumber within a dreamscape, which lies in the absolute gap between the Astral Realm and the Void, escaping the prying eyes of all supreme beings. His slumber was not a sign of weakness, but rather a buildup—a buildup of an Eternity hunger powerful enough to devour the entire Fantasy Dimension.
At this moment, in response to the call of the Lord of Time, He opened His eyes.
Nine heads, eighteen eyes, all opened at the same time.
Each eye reflects a different world: some are desperate dreams of cities engulfed in flames, some are apocalyptic illusions of raging floods, and some are nightmare planes where all beings are reduced to puppets. These reflections are not illusions, but rather the remnants of countless worlds that He has devoured in countless past eras, a display of the spoils of His Eternal Life.
"Time, have you finally left the Eternally Sealed Dragon Realm?" The central head of the Nightmare Hydra emerged.
He flicked his tongue, his enormous pupils scanning the Lord of Time before his gaze sharpened.
"I didn't sense the aura of the Second-Step Eternity from you. Did you fail to break through?"
"I suppose so." The Lord of Time's tone was deep and genuine, not feigned.
"What's going on? The power of an entire Dragon Clan's bloodline can't even get you to the second step, Eternity? Is it that difficult?! That shouldn't be the case. Even the Lord of Hell can reach the Second-Step Eternity. With the power of an entire True Dragon Clan's bloodline, you should be able to reach the Second-Step Eternity without any problem." Nightmare Hydra seemed very puzzled.
The Lord of Time's expression grew even more somber.
Under normal circumstances, the bloodline power of the True Dragon Clan would certainly allow Him to advance to the Second-Step Eternity.
Unfortunately, that old witch's schemes were far too deep.
Who could have imagined that the Mother of the Stars had been plotting against the True Dragon Clan since the very beginning of time?
In the end, I paid the price.
Of course, these things cannot be said to the Lord of Nightmares.
The Lord of Time had no choice but to change the subject.
"The time has come," the Lord of Time said, looking at the Nightmare Hydra.
"You still haven't told me why you failed to break through." However, Nightmare Hydra didn't want to change the subject so quickly. He also needed to launch an attack on the Second-Step Eternity Realm immediately, so he was eager to know the secrets hidden within this realm.
Faced with an incredibly difficult situation that even the Lord of Time, who had painstakingly devoured his entire race, had failed to overcome, Nightmare Hydra suddenly hesitated. It was unsure if its plan could be completed, and if so, would it truly be able to successfully advance to the Second-Step Eternity? Or were there some hidden conditions it was unaware of?
The Nightmare Hydra was filled with doubts.
Seeing that he couldn't possibly get away with it.
The Lord of Time had a sudden thought and had no choice but to fabricate an excuse.
To be precise, it wasn't all an excuse; there was some real substance to it.
"In short, the leap from First-Step Eternity to Second-Step Eternity requires far more profound foundations than the leap from the Peak Supreme God to the realm of Eternity. Moreover, I suffered a backlash from the Nine-Faced Dragon God. The Law of Dragons, engraved in the origin of the Astral Realm, reflected on me through cause and effect and Fate, causing me to fail at the last moment."
The Nine-Faced Dragon God mentioned by the Lord of Time is the true ancestor of the Dragon Clan, the Primordial Dragon God, a great being known as the Dragon Emperor.
After the Lord of Time finished speaking, He Himself was somewhat dazed, as if the excuse He had fabricated was actually quite plausible.
Was his defeat truly due to the machinations of the Mother of the Stars? Or was there some logical inevitability at play? Was there truly a curse from the Nine-Faced Dragon God?
They cursed Him for sacrificing His entire race for His own advancement.
For a moment Lord of Time felt extremely conflicted.
The Lord of Nightmares knows the Dragon Emperor.
After hearing the explanation from the Lord of Time, he largely agreed with it.
In fact, it's impossible for someone to completely devour one of the most powerful races in the Astral Realm just for their own advancement without any backlash.
However, before this, Nightmare Hydra thought that the Lord of Time could withstand this backlash.
However, it now seems that the backlash was a bit too strong, resulting in the failure of the Time Pillar breakthrough.
So what do you plan to do?
"Keep accumulating experience. I feel like I'm just one step away from breaking through. Perhaps a battle or some other insight will lead to my breakthrough," the Lord of Time said helplessly.
"I see..." Nightmare Hydra smirked, remaining noncommittal.
"Let's get down to business. We should get moving." Nightmare Hydra abruptly changed the subject.
He did not mention the White Feather of Time or the Bloodline Atlas; at this crucial moment, He did not want to cause any conflict with the Lord of Time.
"I've come to you precisely for this matter. After helping you conquer the Fantasy Dimension, I want you to help me delve into the Chaos Hunt, slay a Chaos Behemoth, and see if we can completely perfect my Eternity Dragon Body," said the Lord of Time.
This was to further gain the trust of Nightmare Hydra.
Of course, there might be genuine feelings involved.
If I can devour another Chaos Behemoth before obtaining the bloodline of the Thirty-Eight Paradise Pterosaur, I believe I can advance even further.
Nightmare Hydra, without hesitation, agreed to such a reasonable request.
Just kidding, His most important task now is to devour the entire Fantasy Dimension, make Himself a pillar of the dimension, and thus step into the Second-Step Eternity.
So at this stage, as long as the demands aren't too outrageous, Nightmare Hydra will agree.
"Let's begin then."
Nightmare Hydra had been preparing for this for a long time, so after waiting for the Lord of Time, they did not hesitate much and quickly began their operation.
The head in the center slowly opened its mouth, its voice not traveling through the air, but vibrating directly on the structure of reality, like striking a giant bell made of cosmic strings. The other eight heads simultaneously raised their heads, emitting a deep and long resonance. The entire sea of nothingness surged violently in this resonance, and countless cracks began to spread across the boundaries of dimensions.
The Nightmare Hydra opened all its massive jaws, and nine eerie purple beams of light erupted from its mouths, intertwining and converging into an ever-expanding dark purple nebula. This nebula was not composed of gas and dust, but rather was formed from pure Mental Pollution, dream toxins, and the corrosive power of rules— the Nightmares Mist.
The Mist spread outward at an incredible speed, instantly piercing through the dimensional barrier, like a flood bursting its banks and surging into the outermost plane of the Fantasy Dimension.
The spread has begun.
Fantasy Dimension, Seventh Ring Region, Emerald Dream Plane
The setting sun, like blood, dyed the sky of the Emerald Dream Plane a deep, dark red.
This plane is renowned for producing the purest dream crystals, attracting countless bards and dream travelers who come to witness the Legend "Emerald Falls"—a dreamlike spring cascading down from the clouds, where each drop of water tells an unfinished, beautiful story, bursting forth with seven colors as it falls.
At this moment, the Emerald Falls is still flowing, but the color of the water has changed.
It was no longer a clear rainbow, but a murky dark purple.
"Warning! Warning! The very origin of this plane has been contaminated by an unknown source!"
An elven warrior clad in emerald green armor stood atop a tower atop the waterfall, shouting hoarsely into the communication crystal. His Aierwen Morningsong, the guardian commander of the Emerald Dream Plane, leading three thousand Emerald Guard responsible for maintaining the dream balance of this plane.
Only a piercing static could be heard from the communication crystal.
Aierwen raised his head and looked towards the horizon.
At the horizon, a dark purple wall of mist was slowly advancing. The mist wall was immeasurably high and boundless, like a giant curtain hanging from the heavens, sweeping toward the center of the plane at an unstoppable speed. Wherever the mist wall passed, mountains twisted, rivers flowed backward, and the clouds in the sky were torn into pieces, as if crushed by an invisible hand.
Even more terrifying, something was surging within the fog wall.
Those were countless ferocious forms, twisted outlines, and fangs and claws that appeared and disappeared. They were Nightmares Beasts —monsters born directly from the Nightmares Mist, without physical form or soul, only the instinct to devour and Destruction. Their forms were ever-changing; some resembled elongated wolves, some resembled wingless dragons, some resembled spheres pieced together from countless eyes, and some were simply indescribable, only barely summed up by the word "twisted."
"My lord! The northwest defense line has been breached! The Nightmares Beast has broken through three city walls!" A scout stumbled up the tower, covered in blood, one of his arms missing, the severed area not flesh and blood, but evaporating dark purple mist.
Aierwen gritted his teeth and gripped the emerald spear tightly in his hand.
He had been fighting for three days and three nights.
Three days ago, the first Nightmares Mist appeared at the edge of the plane, but no one paid attention to it at the time. The Emerald Dream Plane located in the Seventh Ring Region of the Fantasy Dimension, which is a relatively safe internal area. It is dozens of planes away from the dimensional boundary, and it is impossible for any external enemy to silently pass through layers of defenses to reach this place.
But the truth is, the Nightmares Mist didn't "break through" any defenses at all.
It appeared directly inside the plane.
Like something seeping out of thin air from the Void, like scabies growing on the skin of the plane itself, like a healthy body suddenly afflicted with an incurable disease. The Nightmares Mist does not invade from the outside, but rather breeds from within the plane itself—this is the most terrifying aspect.
This means that the power of the Nightmare Hydra has permeated the very foundation of the Fantasy Dimension, allowing it to directly sow seeds of corruption within the "concepts" of any plane, causing the Mist to spread from the very roots of that plane.
"All guards, tighten your defenses!" Aierwen's voice pierced through the battlefield's clamor. "Protect Emerald Falls! As long as the falls stand, the plane's essence can be Purification!"
More than half of the three thousand Emerald Guard have been lost, and most of the remaining ones are wounded. But they have not retreated, for they are protecting not only the Emerald Falls, but also the dream of all living beings in this plane. Once the waterfall is corrupted, all living beings in the entire plane will be plunged into an Eternity nightmare, utterly devoured by the power of the Nightmare Hydra.
The Nightmares Fog Wall is getting closer.
Aierwen could clearly see the faces of the Nightmares Beasts within the wall of mist—if those distorted outlines could be called faces. They had no eyes, yet they had a staring gaze; no mouths, yet they made chewing sounds; no limbs, yet they moved with the gait of crawling. They were extensions of the will of the Nightmare Hydra, its claws that devoured the Fantasy Dimension.
"Form ranks!"
Aierwen's spear trembled, its tip bursting forth with emerald light. The light was like the first sprout of spring, containing the primal power of life, hope, and dreams. The remaining thousand-plus Emerald Guard simultaneously raised their weapons, converging their power to form a massive emerald light curtain in front of the Emerald Falls.
This is the final barrier in the Emerald Dream Plane.
The Nightmares Beast charged forward.
There was no sound.
This is the most eerie part—the charge of the Nightmares Beast is silent. There is no hoofbeat, no roar, no whistling of wings beating the air. They are like ghosts from a silent film era, charging towards the Emerald Guard's defenses in absolute silence. Only the buzzing sound of the Emerald Light Screen being struck proves that this battle is truly taking place.
The first wave of attack was blocked.
But Aierwen's expression grew even more serious.
Because he saw that the Nightmares Fog Wall did not stop advancing. It continued forward, slowly but irresistibly devouring the sky, the earth, the mountains, and the rivers. Wherever the Fog Wall passed, everything turned into a dark purple chaos, losing its original color, shape, and meaning.
The emerald light curtain began to dim under the erosion of the fog wall.
"My lord! We can't hold on any longer!" a guard captain shouted hoarsely. His armor was riddled with holes from the Nightmares mist, and the skin on his face was losing its color at a visible rate, turning into grayish-white dead skin.
Aierwen knew this was no ordinary battle.
This is the devouring of dimensions.