The entire Astral Realm felt the moment the Nightmare Hydra finished its devouring.
It wasn't sound, it wasn't vibration, it wasn't anything that could be captured by the conventional senses. It was a deeper, more essential feeling, directly imprinted on the very essence of every being.
The Astral Realm Will is wailing.
This supreme being, known for its compassion and tolerance, revealed its other side for the first time before all beings—suffering. Not feigned suffering, not suffering used to gain sympathy, but real, heart-wrenching suffering.
Because one of its most important digestive organs was swallowed whole by the Nightmare Hydra.
The Astral Realm is able to expand because of the digestive capacity of the Fantasy Dimension. Every plane dragged into the Astral Realm's gravitational pull needs to be broken down, digested, and absorbed by the Fantasy Dimension before it can be transformed into nourishment for the Astral Realm's expansion. Now that the Fantasy Dimension has been devoured, the Astral Realm's digestive system has been paralyzed.
Those planes that had been dragged in but not yet digested began to spiral out of control. Some broke free from the gravitational pull of the Astral Realm and escaped back into the Void; others disintegrated in the process of losing control, turning into countless fragments that drifted throughout the Astral Realm.
Worse still, the Elemental Dimension had already been compromised before.
The Fantasy Dimension and the Elemental Dimension are the two most important digestive organs of the Astral Realm. One is responsible for digesting dreams and fantasies, and the other is responsible for digesting matter and energy. The simultaneous collapse of both means that the Astral Realm's digestive system is completely paralyzed.
The wailing of the Astral Realm Will turned into screams of agony.
His expansion ceased.
It wasn't a slowdown, nor a deceleration, but a complete halt. The planes being dragged into the Astral Realm plane sensed the disappearance of gravity and stopped in their tracks, hovering in the Void in confusion, unsure of where to go.
The weakening of the Astral Realm Will will triggered a chain reaction.
Countless smaller dimensions attached to the Astral Realm began to falter, some even collapsing. The beings in those dimensions Escape in panic, only to find that the boundaries of the Astral Realm had been closed, leaving them nowhere to escape.
Nightmare Hydra sensed the rejection of the Astral Realm Will.
It wasn't just a slight rejection; it was hostility from the entire Astral Realm.
Dark purple lightning bolts struck down from the Void, each one imbued with the wrath of the Astral Realm Will. These were no ordinary lightning bolts, but rather "law lightning" formed from the power of the Astral Realm laws, specifically designed to target beings who violated the Astral Realm rules.
But Nightmare Hydra doesn't care.
His body remained motionless amidst the lightning of the laws, his dark purple scales absorbing all the lightning and converting it into his own power. He even opened his enormous maw and actively devoured several bolts of lightning, letting out a satisfied growl.
"It tastes good."
He scoffed.
The Astral Realm Will grew even angrier.
A massive storm formed around the Nightmare Hydra, containing all the negative emotions of the Astral Realm —anger, fear, despair, and sorrow. These emotions coalesced into countless gigantic hands, attempting to drag the Nightmare Hydra from its Land of the Heart.
But the Nightmare Hydra's body remained firmly rooted to the heart, unmoving.
He has become one with the origin of the Fantasy Dimension. To expel Him is to expel the Fantasy Dimension itself—and the Fantasy Dimension is part of the Astral Realm, Astral Realm cannot expel itself.
This is His ultimate insurance.
The Astral Realm Will can be angry, attack, and curse, but it cannot expel the Nightmare Hydra from itself, because the Nightmare Hydra has become a part of it.
Just like a person cannot remove their own stomach from their body.
"Accept your fate."
The Nightmare Hydra spoke to the Void, its voice filled with the arrogance of a victor.
"From this day forward, the Fantasy Dimension belongs to me. And your expansion ends here."
The Astral Realm Will fell silent.
It wasn't surrender, but rather—powerlessness.
He had exhausted all means at his disposal, yet he was powerless against the Nightmare Hydra. He could only watch helplessly as this thief coiled around his heart, sucking his blood and devouring his power.
This is the darkest day since the birth of the Astral Realm.
Nightmare Hydra is enjoying the fruits of its victory.
He sat enthroned in the center of the Land of the Heart, his nine heads held high, his eighteen eyes reflecting the entire Fantasy Dimension dimension. Those planes that once shone with seven-colored light were now shrouded in dark purple mist, like plucked fruits waiting to be tasted by Him one by one.
His power is surging.
The essence of the Fantasy Dimension is being transformed within Him, from the seven-colored power of dreams into the dark purple power of Nightmares. This transformation takes time, but with each passing second, His power grows stronger. When the transformation is complete, He will become one of the most powerful Eternity beings in the Astral Realm.
"After countless epochs of waiting, this day has finally arrived."
The Nightmare Hydra muttered to itself, its nine heads simultaneously displaying satisfied smiles.
"Lord of No Void, you think you're protecting this dimension? No, you're merely holding it for me. And now, I've come to take what's rightfully mine."
He was so engrossed in the joy of victory that he was completely unaware that a golden crack was quietly opening behind him, exactly the same as the one that had appeared three years ago.
The Lord of Time has reappeared.
This time, however, Nightmare Hydra was not surprised. It assumed that the Lord of Time had merely come to "visit" its achievements or to collect some pre-arranged reward. After all, they shared Chaos Contract, a supreme rule that even beings of the Eternity Realm could not violate.
"Lord of Time," the Nightmare Hydra said without turning its head, its tone tinged with smugness, "You're too late. I've already completed the absorption; the Fantasy Dimension is now—no, it used to be— the Fantasy Dimension. Now it's my Nightmares Ranch."
"I know."
The voice of the Lord of Time emanated from the crack, eerily calm.
"I've been waiting for this moment."
"Wait for what?"
"Wait until you finish devouring."
Nightmare Hydra frowned. It finally sensed something was wrong, and slowly turned its head to look at the Lord of Time.
The enormous golden dragon's body had fully emerged from the crack, its wings spread wide, blotting out the sky. Clock-like eyes were fixed on it, devoid of the friendliness of a collaborator, the trust of an ally, only the coldness of a hunter eyeing its prey.
"What do you mean?" Nightmare Hydra's voice carried a hint of wariness.
Isn't my meaning clear enough?
The Lord of Time slowly raised his dragon claw, golden temporal power condensing at its tip, transforming into a spear sharper than the Sword of Despair. The tip of that spear pointed at the heart of the Nightmare Hydra —not the heart of the Fantasy Dimension, but the heart of the Nightmare Hydra itself.
"You're going to betray me?!"
The Nightmare Hydra's voice was filled with disbelief.
"Betrayal?" The Lord of Time gently shook his head. "That word is inaccurate. There has never been a true Alliance between you and me, only mutual exploitation. You used me to help you eliminate the Lord of No Void, and I used you to help me—"
The Lord of Time paused, a cold smile appearing on his lips.
"--Sacrifice complete."
"Sacrifice? What sacrifice?!"
"Of course, it's a sacrifice, offering you as a sacrifice."
The nine heads of the Nightmare Hydra roared simultaneously, and dark purple Nightmares mist surged wildly from its body, forming a thick defensive barrier around it. Flames of rage burned in its eighteen eyes, and nine Sword of Despair condensed above its head, pointing at the Lord of Time.
"You're courting death! Lord of Time! Even if you ambush me, even if you strike when I'm weakened, you're no match for me! I'm now empowered by the essence of the Fantasy Dimension; my power surpasses yours!"
"Yeah?"
The Lord of Time remained unmoved, his golden spear firmly pointed at the Nightmare Hydra.
Have you ever thought about this question?
What's the problem?
"Why didn't I attack you before you devoured the Fantasy Dimension? Why did I wait until you finished devouring it and your power surged before appearing?"
The Nightmare Hydra was stunned.
He hadn't really thought about that question.
"Because I need you to finish devouring me."
The Lord of Time's voice carried a hint of excitement—an emotion the Nightmare Hydra had never heard before.
"The essence of the Fantasy Dimension is indeed delicious. But for me, its value lies not in itself, but in the kind of people it can attract to savor it. You, Nightmare Hydra, are the prey it has attracted. And I have been waiting for you to take the bait."
"You—you've been using me from the very beginning?!"
"It has been from the very beginning."
The Lord of Time clenched his dragon claws, and the golden spear burst forth with dazzling light. That light pierced through the Nightmare Hydra's defensive barrier, through its scales, through its muscles and bones, and directly struck its very essence.
The Nightmare Hydra felt an unprecedented fear.
It wasn't because of the power of the Lord of Time —although His power was indeed very strong, Nightmare Hydra was confident that it could handle it.
Rather, it was because He found Himself fearing that He knew nothing.
What is the Lord of Time's trump card?
"You think I'm just an ordinary being at the Eternity Realm?" the Lord of Time said slowly. "You think my power is limited to manipulating time? You think my approaching the threshold of the Second-Step Eternity is my limit?"
"No, Nightmare Hydra. My true strength has never come from my own power."
The Lord of Time turned his gaze to a direction in the Void, to the depths of the Astral Realm, a forbidden land rarely trodden even by beings of the Eternity Realm.
"My confidence comes from Him."
The words of the Lord of Time faded away.
The Void cracked open.
It wasn't an ordinary crack, but a tearing apart at the conceptual level. It was as if the laws of the entire Astral Realm had been ripped open at this moment by some higher-level force, revealing the truth hidden behind them.
A hand emerged from the crack.
The hand wasn't large, it could even be described as tiny—compared to the Nightmare Hydra's enormous body, the hand was like an ant before an elephant. But even such a small hand caused all eighteen of the Nightmare Hydra's pupils to shrink to their maximum size simultaneously.
Because that hand does not belong to any known entity.
That hand covered skin as white as jade, with long, elegant fingers, and tiny stars inlaid on the nails. The back of the hand was decorated with patterns of mountains and rivers, each pattern a complete world, in which countless creatures thrived and multiplied.
The owner of that hand slowly emerged from the crack.
She was a female being, no different in height from an ordinary human. A long, plain white dress trailed in the Void, its hem embroidered with stars, mountains, rivers, forests, grasslands, deserts, and oceans—all the elements of the earth were perfectly presented on her dress. Her face was indescribable, for it was not a face, but a painting, a painting containing all beauty, all compassion, and all wisdom.
Mother of the Stars.
Earth Mother Goddess.
The guardian of the Material Dimension.
One of the oldest beings in the Astral Realm.
The nine heads of the Nightmare Hydra froze simultaneously, their eighteen pupils reflecting the slowly approaching white figure. The pupils no longer held anger or vigilance, but a pure, primal fear.
It wasn't fear of power—though the power of the Mother of the Stars was indeed unfathomable.
It is not a fear of existence, but a fear of being.
The moment the Mother of the Stars stepped into the Land of the Heart, the entire space trembled. Not with fear, but with submission—as if space itself were bowing to this ancient deity, as if every law was making way for her, as if every atom was paying homage to her.
Nightmare Hydra has seen many powerful beings.
He himself is an existence of the Eternity Realm. He has witnessed the full power of the Lord of No Void, the time manipulation of the Lord of Time, and countless Supreme God- level beings trembling before Him.
But He had never seen such a being before.
The Mother of the Stars stood there, doing nothing and saying nothing, simply watching the Nightmare Hydra in silence. But it was this "silent watching" that made the Nightmare Hydra feel its very essence tremble, its scales grow cold, and its eighteen eyes involuntarily want to look away.
That's the instinctive reaction of lower life forms when they encounter higher life forms.
That's the instinctive fear prey feels when facing its natural enemy.
That is--
The instinctive surrender when First-Step Eternity faces Third-Step Eternity.
"Three... Third-Step Eternity..."
The Nightmare Hydra's voice trembled so much it was almost inaudible.
"You... you've touched the threshold of the Third-Step Eternity..."
The Mother of the Stars did not answer.
He merely tilted his head slightly, looking at the Nightmare Hydra with a calm, emotionless gaze.
There was no contempt, no mockery, not even a trace of hostility in that gaze. It was like someone looking at a roadside weed, not eliciting any emotion.
"Impossible... impossible..."
The Nightmare Hydra shook its head frantically, its nine heads swaying simultaneously, looking both comical and pathetic.
"The Third-Step Eternity is just Legend realm; it doesn't exist at all! No one can touch that threshold! You must be using some kind of illusion; you're just bluffing!"
"Yeah?"
The Mother of the Stars finally spoke.
His voice was not loud, even very soft, but every word seemed to be directly imprinted on the very essence of the Nightmare Hydra, making it impossible for Him to ignore, refute, or escape.
"So what are you feeling right now?"
The Mother of the Stars raised her right hand.
The mere act of raising a hand caused a massive collapse of the spatial structure of the Land of the Heart. It wasn't because He released any power, but because His very existence exceeded the limits that space could withstand. It was like an adult standing in a paper house; without doing anything, the house would collapse on its own.
The seemingly ordinary hand was reflected in the eighteen eyes of the Nightmare Hydra.
In that hand, a world is held.
No, not just one world, but countless worlds.
In the palm of the Mother of the Stars floats a tiny sphere of light. Within this sphere are mountains and rivers, stars and seas, countless living beings, and countless civilizations. It is a complete dimension, a dimension of equal scale to the Fantasy Dimension — the Material Dimension.
It was as if He held the entire Material Dimension in His hands.