"Or what?" The Nightmare Hydra's nine heads rose simultaneously, nine eerie purple lights converging before it, forming a gigantic shield of nightmare power. "You want to wage war against me? You know, Lord of No Void. War in the Land of the Heart will affect the entire Fantasy Dimension. Countless planes will Destruction in our battle, countless lives will perish in the aftershocks of our power. Are you willing to do that?"
The Lord of No Void fell silent.
Of course He knows.
Fighting in the Land of the Heart is like battling in the hearts of two giants. Every collision will travel through the heart's veins to the entire dimension, triggering a chain reaction. Dimensions already corrupted by the Nightmares Mist will collapse completely, while those not yet corrupted will be violently impacted.
This is precisely why the Nightmare Hydra chose the Land of the Heart as its lair—it has turned the entire Fantasy Dimension into its hostages.
"You can't bear to," the Nightmare Hydra answered for Him. "That's the difference between you and me, Lord of No Void. You care about the beings of this dimension; you treat them like children who need protection. But I—I only care about the taste."
The Nightmare Hydra slowly unfurled its body, its nine heads simultaneously pointing at the Lord of No Void from nine directions. Dark purple Nightmares mist surged from the gaps in its scales, spreading silently toward the Lord of No Void like a thousand venomous snakes.
"Therefore, the outcome of this war was predetermined from the very beginning." Nightmare Hydra's voice carried a cold certainty. "You will hesitate, you will waver, you will hesitate to go all out to protect those planes. But I will not. I will use every means, at any cost, to devour everything you are protecting."
You're wrong.
The Lord of No Void gripped the Spear of Illusion tightly, its body ablaze with seven-colored light, repelling the spreading Nightmares mist. Its eyes—those two deep Starry Sky —burned with intense light, like two supernovae about to explode.
"I can't bear to see this plane Destruction, but that doesn't mean I can't fight. I will find another way, a way that can both protect them and defeat you."
"Oh?" Nightmare Hydra tilted its middle head with interest. "How?"
The Lord of No Void did not answer.
His gaze passed over the body of the Nightmare Hydra, looking into the depths of the Land of the Heart. There, the origin of the Fantasy Dimension was slowly pulsating, each pulsation sending new dreams and fantasies to countless planes. It was something He had protected for countless years, the meaning of His existence, something He was willing to give everything for.
"Fantasy Travelers," the Lord of No Void uttered softly.
The Nightmare Hydra's pupils contracted slightly.
"Those... digestive enzymes?"
"They are my swords," said the Lord of No Void. "They are now clearing away your Nightmares Mist across countless planes, rescuing your prey. With each plane you save, your power diminishes. With each Nightmares Beast you slay, your reach shortens. When your power is weakened to the point where you can no longer sustain your true form—"
"I can defeat you," Nightmare Hydra said for Him.
Both heads simultaneously let out a cold laugh.
"A good plan, Lord of No Void. But you've overlooked one problem."
What's the problem?
The Nightmare Hydra did not answer with words.
He merely tilted the leftmost head slightly, casting his gaze in a direction Land of the Heart. In that direction, the texture of Space-Time showed an extremely subtle anomaly—an almost imperceptible golden ripple was silently spreading towards the Fantasy Hall.
The Lord of No Void's expression changed.
"The power of time..."
"Did you think I wouldn't have made preparations after planning for so long?" The Nightmare Hydra's voice was full of sarcasm. "Lord of No Void, you don't understand the Eternity Realm. After you've lived through Infinity time, experienced countless events, and devoured countless worlds, you'll understand one thing—never think you've seen everything."
The nine heads of the Nightmare Hydra simultaneously opened their massive maws, unleashing nine eerie purple beams of light that intertwined into a colossal net above the Land of the Heart, enveloping the Lord of No Void.
"Now, let's see—whether your digestive enzymes will exhaust my strength first, or my ally will destroy your Fantasy Hall first."
The image of the Lord of No Void was simultaneously reflected in the eighteen eyes of the Nightmare Hydra.
And for the first time, that figure showed a hint—even just a hint—of hesitation.
At the same moment, countless battles are taking place simultaneously.
In the ruins of the Emerald Dream Plane, a team of Fantasy Travelers is collecting remaining fragments of dream crystals, attempting to reconstruct the erosion mechanism of the Nightmares Mist. They discover a still faintly flickering Emerald fragment within the ruins, sealing away the last image of Aierwen Morningsong—the Emerald Guard Commander, before detonating the Seven-Colored Sun, used his final wisp of consciousness to inscribe some crucial information about the Nightmares Mist into the fragment.
On the Sword Plains of the Thousand Swords Plane, a Fantasy Travelers was studying the stone statue of the old sword master. He discovered that the statue still contained a powerful sword intent, and if he could draw out this sword intent, it might buy more time for the Thousand Swords Plane. He drew his own sword and lightly touched the blade of the statue with the tip of the sword. A dazzling spark burst between the two swords, and the blurry face of the old sword master appeared in the spark, nodding slightly to him.
In the Glazed Sea Plane, a group of travelers is attempting to rescue the Dream Conch controlled by the Nightmare Hydra. They discover that while the Dream Conch ' consciousness is controlled, they haven't completely lost their sense of self. Severing the connection between the Dream Conch and the Dream Conch Nightmare Hydra might grant them their freedom. A traveler skilled in mental magic delves into the depths of a Dream Conch's consciousness and witnesses the Eternity nightmare—the Hydra is devouring countless worlds, and the Dream Conch are forced to experience everything. He doesn't retreat; instead, he lights a lamp within the nightmare—a faint lamp, yet enough to illuminate a small patch of darkness.
In the Eternal Night Theater Plane, a group of travelers is vying with the Nightmares Mist for the play's ending. They transform themselves into actors, stepping onto the corrupted stage to fight the Nightmares Mist with their performances. They tell not tragedies, but stories of hope, courage, and sacrifice. Each performance drains their life force, but they do not stop, for every successful performance awakens the audience of the Eternal Night Theater from despair, little by little.
In the Starry Sky Gallery Plane, a group of travelers is collecting fragments of canvases that haven't yet been completely corrupted. They piece the fragments together, attempting to reconstruct the original paintings before they were distorted by the Nightmares Mist. One traveler, a painter by trade, picks up a brush and begins to paint on a blank canvas. He doesn't paint a grand Epic, nor a magnificent landscape, but a simple scene—a child handing a flower to another child. This is the purest fantasy, the most basic hope, and also what the Nightmares Mist finds hardest to erode.
Countless battles, countless Champion, countless sacrifices.
This is the mission of the Fantasy Travelers —not to stand at the highest point and look down upon all living beings, but to delve into the darkest Abyss, where to light a lamp and illuminate a small patch of darkness. If one lamp is not enough, then two; if two are not enough, then ten thousand. When enough lamps are lit at the same time, the darkness will eventually be dispelled.
Meanwhile, in the Land of the Heart, the standoff between the Lord of No Void and the Nightmare Hydra continues.
Neither of them made a move.
Because once it makes a move, the entire Fantasy Dimension will tremble.
So they wait.
Waiting for those tiny lamps scattered across countless planes to light up one by one, converging into a light powerful enough to illuminate the entire dimension.
Or—wait for those lamps to go out one by one.
The prelude to a war centered around the Fantasy Dimension has begun.
When a balance is achieved among the Eternal, those life forms that were once regarded as ants by the Eternal become important bargaining chips on the scales. Existence itself has meaning; there are never any meaningless creatures in this world. Weakness does not mean that one can never achieve anything.
"When do you need me to make my move?" The Lord of Time, who had transformed into human form amidst the Nightmares Mist of the Primogenitor Mountain, stood with his hands behind his back, his white robes fluttering, and spoke softly as he looked at the Infinity Nightmares Serpent's body before him.
"Now is not the time for you to make your move." The Nightmare Hydra's voice, hoarse in tone, echoed in the Lord of Time's ears.
"The Lord of No Void wants to use the Fantasy Travelers to deplete the power of the Primogenitor Mountain, and so do I," Nightmare Hydra sneered.
"The Lord of No Void will never know how long I have been preparing for this day."
"Just wait, the Fantasy Dimension will fall into my hands sooner or later."
"I hope so." The Lord of Time nodded and slowly closed his eyes.
But a wisp of His barely perceptible consciousness, carried by the waves of the River of Space-Time, drifted far away and arrived at a place where starlight flew by.
In this star-filled space, the Mother of the Stars stands silently in mid-air. Behind her, it seems as if countless lives are singing and chanting something, praising the achievements of this great being.
You've come!
The Mother of the Stars ' voice was calm.
"Yes." The Lord of Space-Time nodded slightly, then said, "You should have already sensed the Nightmare Hydra's actions, right?"
"He was better prepared than I thought," the Mother of the Stars said casually.
It's a feeling of having everything under control.
"Heh, you've fooled everyone and everything in the Astral Realm," the Lord of Time sneered.
"Even the most cunning Lord of Hell is nothing compared to you; your schemes are truly unfathomable."
"I'll take that as a compliment," the Mother of the Stars said noncommittally.
After a moment of silence, the Mother of the Stars seemed to sense something and said, "It's not that my wisdom is so superior, but rather my position and the power I possess that allow me to overlook all of this from a higher dimensional level. The view from the top of a mountain is completely different from the view from someone standing on the mountainside or even at the foot of the mountain, and the judgments they make are also completely different."
The Lord of Time wholeheartedly agreed with this statement.
"Yes, you've been leading the way for so many years. Only you have reached the realm of Second-Step Eternity. Even with slow and careful planning, you've built an advantage that no one else can surpass. I really don't know what could possibly make you fail."
"Fate is fickle; who can say for sure?" The Mother of the Stars was not as optimistic as the Lord of Time. Even now, she was not entirely certain, not even ninety percent certain, that her plans would truly and completely succeed.
Even at His level, which is Infinity close to the Third-Step Eternity, He still treads on thin ice, and can only say, "Do your best and leave the rest to fate."
at the same time.
Under the leadership of the Nightmare Hydra, the Primogenitor Mountain launched a massive invasion of the Fantasy Dimension, which was noticed by countless forces in the Astral Realm.
However, with the complete collapse of the Astral Realm Order, events that used to attract everyone's attention, even earth-shattering ones, now seem to have only caused minor ripples. Countless people simply lamented that the Astral Realm had become even more chaotic. As for supporting the Fantasy Dimension... before the Elemental Dimension fell, perhaps many forces would have taken action, but now, more and more forces are choosing to remain neutral.
Of course, there are also forces that are firmly committed to maintaining world peace and are still taking action and traveling around the world.
For example, the Astral Spirit Kingdom.
For example, the Void Whale race.
However, both major powers knew that if they got involved, they would likely be devoured by those giant beasts, so they did not act rashly. They wanted to find a powerful being who could stabilize the situation and lead them there.
The capital city of the Astral Spirit Kingdom.
The Astral Spirit Kingdom Lord met with the leader of the Void Whale race.
"The forces of chaos continue to grow, and restoring order will be a long and arduous task." The Astral Spirit Kingdom Lord looked exhausted.
"Yes, during this period, many Void celestial bodies have been innocently affected and destroyed. They should have given birth to countless lives and become a paradise full of vitality and pure life. Unfortunately..." The leader of the Void Whale Orosa, the leader of the Song of Ages, said with a worried look.
As Scavenger of the Astral Realm, and the most peace-loving race, he felt immense pain every time he saw an innocent life perish.
This feeling is a powerful form of psychological damage to the Void Whale.
Orosa vowed to stop the chaos from spreading, even if it meant her own destruction.
"The problem is that our strength is insufficient to curb the aggressive ambitions of the Primogenitor Mountain."
"Although the overall strength of the Primogenitor Mountain is much weaker than that of the Adrian Federation, it is still beyond our reach. Charging in blindly would only waste our strength and send our people to their deaths. Therefore, we must seek help from other races and forces that cherish peace and order," said the Astral Spirit Kingdom Lord.
"But who else will help us?" Orosa said sadly.
I know someone.
"Who?!"
"Lord of Endless".
As the Astral Spirit Kingdom Lord spoke, his gaze turned to a certain direction in the Void, where two true God of War- level beings were engaged in a fierce battle.