-----

When I finished off the last of the Nightmare Beasts, the Quest finally completed. I had leveled up considerably in the process.

Ding!

[You have completed the {Main Chain Quest}: Slay The Nightmare Beasts.]

[Quest Difficulty: A Rank]

[Quest Objective: You have entered the Nightmare Nest and defeated one Nightmare Beast, only to discover the entire place is infested with them. Slay fifty to ensure they never rise again. 50/50]

[You received the Quest Rewards: A Large Quantity of EXP, 250,000 System Points, [Liquid Dream (A Grade)] x3, [Nightmare Beast Claws (A Grade)] x1]

"Nightmare Beast Claws? Oh, these are gauntlets."

Ding!

[You have slain [Nightmare Crystal Wolves: Rank 6+] x50.]

[You have earned EXP.]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Your Dragon Path has Leveled Up from Level 15 to Level 22!]

[Your Chaos Demon Path has Leveled Up from Level 13 to Level 25!]

[Your Human Path has Leveled Up from Level 11 to Level 17!]

[Your Class has Leveled Up from Level 16 to Level 22!]

[All your Stats have increased.]

[You earned 25,000 Stat Points.]

[You earned 300,000 System Points.]

[Your Bonded Familiar: [Incarnation of the Spiral of Eternity: Paragon – Rank 3: Level 19/300] has Leveled Up to Level 33!]

[Your Bonded Familiar: [Nightmare Vestige Spirit: Mongrel – Rank 1: Level 15/100] has Leveled Up to Level 26!]

[Your Bonded Familiar: [System Administrator Spirit: Astraea – Rank 1: Level 15/100] has Leveled Up to Level 25!]

[Your Bonded Familiar: [System Administrator Spirit: Astraea – Rank 1: Level 25/100] has Awakened the Skill: [Extraction System]!]

[The Dragon Path Skill: [Dragon Form Manifestation – Tier 1: Level 1/10] has Leveled Up to Level 4!]

[The Dragon Path Skill: [Small Divine Presence – Tier 1: Level 0/10] has Leveled Up to Level 2!]

[The Dragon Path Skill: [Baby Dragon Breath – Tier 1: Level 1/10] has Leveled Up to Level 3!]

[The Dragon Path Skill: [Young Dragon Scales – Tier 1: Level 1/10] has Leveled Up to Level 3!]

[The Dragon Path Skill: [Newborn Draconic Vitality – Tier 1: Level 0/10] has Leveled Up to Level 2!]

[The Chaos Demon Path Skill: [Miasma Veins – Tier 1: Level 0/10] has Leveled Up to Level 2!]

[The Chaos Demon Path Skill: [Lesser Demonic Aura – Tier 1: Level 0/10] has Leveled Up to Level 2!]

[The Chaos Demon Path Skill: [Small Corruption Touch – Tier 1: Level 0/10] has Leveled Up to Level 2!]

[The Human Path Skill: [Tool Mastery – Tier 1: Level 2/10] has Leveled Up to Level 5!]

[The Class Skill: [Stealth – Tier 1: Level 1/10] has Leveled Up to Level 3!]

[The Class Skill: [Knife Throwing – Tier 1: Level 2/10] has Leveled Up to Level 5!]

[Your Fire Affinity Skill: [Origin Flames – Tier 1: Level 1/10] has Leveled Up to Level 4!]

[Your Harmony Affinity Skill: [Harmonious Restoration – Tier 1: Level 1/10] has Leveled Up to Level 3!]

[Your Harmony Affinity Skill: [Light of Harmony – Tier 1: Level 0/10] has Leveled Up to Level 2!]

"So many Skills leveled up... this is getting overwhelming," I muttered. "Some shot up out of nowhere. Why?"

[Skill EXP and Proficiency increase through usage and comprehension. The better you understand and wield your power, the faster they level.]

"Oh, that’s interesting," I said, nodding. "How are you holding up, Mongrel? Let me heal you. Chaos."

I channeled Chaos to feed Mongrel the darkest energies. He swelled with power at once, and his wounds closed instantly.

"Ooooohh! You should do this more often now that I’m risking my damn life!"

"Maybe. Paragon, you okay?"

"..."

Paragon was an Incarnation, a living manifestation of my Spiral of Eternity. Unlike the others, even if he fell, he could return after some time. Besides, he was incredibly durable. His armor showed only minor chips and scratches. He was fine.

"I guess you’re alright. Thanks for the help."

"..."

He nodded and bowed to me as if I were his queen. He carried himself like a true knight, though it was a shame he still couldn’t speak. Maybe one day he would. The only other Incarnations I had seen were the ones summoned when my father fought the Nightmare King, and they hadn’t spoken either.

"Now let’s see what I got... more Liquid Dream, and... what’s this?!" I pulled the item from my inventory. "They’re huge. Gauntlets, huh?"

The System had apparently forged them. They looked powerful. I quickly inspected their stats.

[Nightmare Beast Claws (A Grade)]

[Weapon Type]: [Claws] [Gauntlets] [Nightmare Weapons]

[Weapon Requirements]: [100,000 Strength]

[Weapon Parameters]: [Physical Attack]: [+500%] [Magic Attack]: [+300%] [Durability]: [100,000]

[Weapon Bonuses]: [+15% Spirit] [+15% Soul] [+30% Strength] [+10% Dexterity] [+10% Agility]

[Weapon Skill]: {Nightmare Beast Rampage}: Infuse Mana and Dark Energies into the Claws to unleash a rapid barrage of slashes against all nearby foes within a 30-meter radius, dealing 300% Soul-Piercing Damage and ignoring 30% of their Soul Defense. Inflicts [Nightmare] [Fear] [Soul Bleed] and decreases the foe’s Stats by 20%.

[Weapon Description]: A beautiful pair of black claws forged from Nightmare Steel and the Souls of Nightmare Beasts. They carry the cursed, spectral fury of their makers, capable of tearing directly into the soul with every slash.

"Not bad at all."

It was a genuine end-game item, the kind I would have placed in the deepest dungeons back in the game. Yet here the System had simply handed it over. This world clearly had a much higher ceiling than the original game, especially since I had started with max-level stats and could keep growing far beyond that.

"I guess I can equip them alongside my shapeshifting weapon."

I slipped on the gauntlets. They covered my dragon claws with dark purple and red eye-shaped jewels, extending the blades until they resembled black scythes. The look was undeniably edgy, but the power was real. Simply wearing them made me feel noticeably stronger thanks to the generous bonuses.

In the game, top-tier equipment usually focused on percentage bonuses rather than flat stats. They scaled far better once your base numbers grew high. Equipment served as multipliers, while Your Story Online emphasized genuine growth through its Path Leveling System.

"Alright, let’s take a short rest," I said. I sat on the floor and expanded an Aura of Harmony around me, bathing the area in radiant light and reversing the corruption. "Time to eat. I want to try these."

"You’re eating the Nightmare Beasts?!" Mongrel exclaimed, shocked.

[Wait, Elizabeth, what if it’s bad for you?]

"We’ll find out."

I opened my jaws and bit into the giant wolf monster. The flesh dissolved into soul essence as I swallowed, flooding me with potent yet corrupted nightmare energy.

"Hm. Delicious."

I felt my command over Chaos deepen. I devoured one full corpse, then its Nightmare Soul Core. Driven by hunger, I ate three more before sitting down to check for any ill effects.

Nothing bad happened.

If anything, my Soul grew stronger. The power of Chaos surged within me, granting even greater control over the element.

But it was becoming unbalanced.

So I corrected it.

"Harmony."

I reversed the corpse in my hands. Its black and dark-purple hues shifted, the nightmare crystals transforming as the body turned pink, white, and gold.

"W-What the...?!" Mongrel stared in disbelief. "You reversed the Chaos inside a corpse and turned it into another type of monster?!"

"Looks like it," I replied. "Infusing Harmony alone won’t create a true Harmony Beast, but if something is already corrupted like this, reversing the Chaos Element inside it becomes much easier. My power is all about reversing elemental effects... universally."

"...Incredible," Mongrel breathed. It was the first time I had seen him genuinely awed. "I never imagined... you were a Vessel of both Chaos and Harmony at such a level. I’m certain the Nightmare Kings already know this if my true body made it back safely. They will come for you because of your unique body."

"I figured as much," I shrugged. "Now let me eat in peace."

I consumed three more reversed corpses, their darkness fully converted into light. They tasted even better. Eating equal amounts of both restored perfect balance within my Soul—one half radiant white, the other deep black.

"My Soul feels stronger... and any wounds I took are gone. Oh?"

I still wasn’t there yet, but I was drawing closer to the next Rank of my Dragon Soul Cultivation. I would have eaten more if I didn’t already feel completely full. I would need to wait before devouring any more raw meat. Cooking them would extract the soul essence more efficiently, but I couldn’t risk it here.

"Alright, I think we should keep moving," I said. "Let me see..."

I closed my eyes and expanded my black-and-white Mana Aura while stretching my Divine Senses to their limit. In seconds, I mapped out the entire surrounding layout of the dungeon, which appeared clearly on the System’s mini-map.

We were still near the entrance. Three corridors stretched ahead. Two led to dead ends teeming with Nightmare Beasts. The middle path descended into a deeper underground cavern that pulsed with a powerful presence.

"That must be where the Nightmare Erosion Core is!" Mongrel said. "If we claim it, you could take over this Nightmare Nest and become its Nightmare Lord."

"I’d rather shatter it for now," I replied flatly.

"W-What?!" he gasped. "You can’t just destroy it! It’s incredibly precious... At least let me have it. I could become the Nightmare Lord and manage it for you."

"Like hell I’m letting you do that," I said. "This Nightmare Nest has to be destroyed. It cannot stay here spreading darkness and nightmares... I want it gone forever."

"Tch. You’re so boring," he sighed, crossing his tentacle arms.

"I’ll let you eat it if you want it that badly," I offered. "It might help you evolve or something, but that’s it, okay?"

"Really?! Okay! Don’t go back on your word later, you hear me?!" Mongrel sounded thrilled.

"Now... which way?" I wondered, studying the map.

Then—

Ding!

[You have triggered the {Main Chain Quest}: Slay The Nightmare Beast Lords.]

[Quest Difficulty: S Rank]

[Quest Objective: You have entered the Nightmare Nest and slain over fifty Nightmare Beasts, clearing the area of their infectious presence. However, three paths remain, each leading to dangerous lairs. Slay all three Nightmare Beast Lords. 0/3]

[Quest Rewards: EXP, System Points, ???]

[Accept?]

"So there are mini-bosses, just as I thought."

The Nightmare Dimension invasion in the game I designed hadn’t felt this intense. Nightmares had simply behaved like any other monster. But this world was different—far more dangerous. I needed to handle them quickly before the problem grew beyond control.

I accepted the quest and nodded.

[System Notice: You have accepted a Main Chain Quest.]

"Mongrel, Paragon, let’s go."

-----