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BOOOM!

A massive explosion of darkness swallowed everything. The Nightmare Beast Lord’s aura utterly dwarfed mine in every way. The suffocating blackness consumed my body, forcing me to vomit as my entire being burned with searing agony.

Yet I channeled Harmony, reversing as much of the damage as I could. I used it to heal myself while absorbing the nightmare energy to strengthen my soul.

"Pitiful! Truly the most pathetic! Hahahaha!"

The beast laughed maniacally as he rained down fists, pummeling my body while his overwhelming power suppressed my divinities.

"PERISH THIS INSTANT, YOU INFERIOR CREATURE!"

"Nnngggh...! Aaaaggh!"

I unleashed every spell at my disposal—Frozen Garden, Icicle Formation, Origin Flames, Soul Sea, Harmony, and Chaos. Even as I bombarded him with explosive magic, he tanked every hit with his reinforced body.

This... this was the true difference in power between us.

An immense wall I could not overcome.

But if I couldn’t defeat this monster, how could I possibly hope to destroy the other two Nightmare Beast Lords and collapse this entire Nightmare Nest?

I had to think.

What did I possess that set me above him?

Harmony and Chaos.

The power to invert the effects of magic, items, skills, and abilities.

A force that was neither Skill nor Magic, born from the bizarre Spirals of Fate.

My Spiral of Eternity!

"RAAAHHHHH!"

I roared, pushing my body to its absolute limits. I reinforced every muscle while continuously healing myself as he battered me relentlessly, crushing bones with each brutal strike.

I smashed my fist into the bat’s face, knocking him back. He merely smiled through bloodied teeth and retaliated with a devastating headbutt.

"Heh...!"

I smiled back.

In that instant, his eyes widened in shock as he noticed giant jaws of darkness devouring the corpses of his fallen bats—and their juicy cores.

Power surged through my soul like a rising tide. White and black energies intertwined as my Soul ascended.

Rank 3!

RUMBLE!

"Your Soul ascended?! Hah...! HAHAHA! MY SOUL IS ALREADY AT RANK 7! WHAT CAN YOU EVEN ACCOMPLISH WITH A MERE RANK 3 SOUL?!"

He laughed wildly, slamming his foot down on my face and pressing harder, threatening to shatter my skull. Indeed, the Soul evolution had done nothing to him directly.

But that was exactly what I needed.

A perfect concentration of Chaos and Harmony within my Soul merged and crystallized into a new Soul Ability.

As my aunt had once told me: "A true Soul Cultivator only begins their journey at Rank 3, where they awaken a Soul Ability."

Soul Abilities formed the core of a Soul Cultivator’s power, and I had yet to awaken mine. Yet I had realized I could influence what emerged by infusing my will into the Soul as it ascended.

And what I chose was...

A fusion between Chaos and Harmony—an Eternal Power that would rise and resonate with my Spiral.

The power born from Harmony and Chaos reflecting each other as perfect opposites was...

A beautiful mirror.

"Harmonious Chaos Reversal – Nebula of Memories."

"Wha...?!"

FLAAASH!

A swirling nebula of images engulfed the Bat Nightmare Beast Lord. He staggered backward, groaning in agony as he clutched his head and screamed.

"Gaaaahh! W-What is this?!"

Nebula of Memories. The unique ability of my Spiral of Eternity. The weakest ability unlocked at Tier 9. A strange, supportive power that let me peer into others’ memories, heal their pain, and make them stronger—slowly forging a nebula of those memories inside my soul.

Through my Soul Ability, Harmonious Chaos Reversal, what kind of power would this supportive ability become?

"W-What is this?! A-Aahhhh!"

The Nightmare Beast Lord screamed, clutching his head as the nebula refused to release him. It bombarded him with dark, false memories that never existed. His mind drowned in grief, sorrow, and growing madness.

"T-THIS IS...!"

It didn’t stop there. As I rose to my feet, the nebula swirled and materialized into towering dragons formed from his own shattered memories. They charged at him, slashing with razor claws, snapping with powerful jaws, and unleashing deadly dragon breath.

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

"UGH?!"

His once-unbreakable body began to fail. He could barely fight back against the relentless assault.

This power was...

[You have used your Soul Ability "Harmonious Chaos Reversal" on the Spiral Ability [Nebula of Memories], creating the Inversed Ability: [Abyss of False Reflections].]

The beautiful nebula of memories did not heal. It inverted. It became an Abyss—pure darkness, the void itself.

"GAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

The Nightmare Beast Lord clutched his head with both massive clawed hands, his red-and-gold eyes bulging in pure horror as the swirling images exploded through his mind like a storm of broken glass.

The void consumed him. He swung wildly, destroying the Abyssal Spirits one after another. The ability was more incredible than I had imagined, but I knew it wouldn’t last long. I had to kill him now, while he was tormented.

For that, I needed more power.

"Mongrel! Come!"

I tried to summon Paragon, but he still could not answer. It was a shame, but I had no choice. Mongrel was my next option.

"Possess my body! Let’s combine our power!"

"What?!"

"That’s an order."

FLASH!

"Ngh?! Fine! But don’t cry if I end up killing you!"

He grinned as he fused with my body. At the same time, I flooded him with every ounce of Chaos he could handle. His power surged—and so did mine.

My body began to transform. Something deep inside me awakened... another form I had neglected in favor of becoming a Harmony Dragon.

"This is...?!"

RUMBLE!

My body doubled in size, covered entirely in black scales. A second pair of monstrous wings sprouted, lined with jaws and eyes. My face twisted, split into four parts, and revealed a giant maw filled with razor-sharp teeth.

It was grotesque. It was monstrous.

And yet... I felt immensely more powerful!

This had to be my Chaos Dragon Form.

At the same time, my mind grew clouded by raw power. I felt faster, but far less resilient. My vitality had plummeted.

If I took more than one solid hit in this form, I would die.

Then I simply had to make sure that didn’t happen.

"RAAAHHHHH!"

The Bat Nightmare Beast Lord was beginning to break free from the Abyssal Illusion. With a furious roar, he started fighting back. I charged forward immediately, recalling my Shapeshifting Weapon. Its pieces fused together as I transformed the blade into one of Harmonious Light and Origin Flames.

I knew that still wouldn’t be enough. While in this form, I activated Harmonious Chaos Reversal partially—half the sword became abyssal chaos, the other half harmonious light. Both sides merged into an eclipsing blade.

"HAAAH!"

With every ounce of my strength, I swung the sword vertically, slicing through the Nightmare Beast Lord’s body.

"Nnnggh?! Aaaarrgh! Y-Youuuu!"

He caught the blade with his hands, but I kept pushing, cleaving through his palms and driving downward toward his hips. He reinforced his muscles to their limit, roaring as he leaped at me, giant claws aimed at my face.

That wouldn’t work this time. I was different now. I was monstrous.

CRUNCH!

"Guuuaaagh?!"

My four massive jaws snapped shut around his hand, crushing and grinding his fingers and palm into pieces. I drank his blood, devoured his flesh and bone, and felt a portion of his power flow into me.

"Y-YOU DAMN—!"

He tried to punch me, but I recast my ability. Abyssal Nebulas manifested around him, blinding and repelling him. Countless chains and claws rose to bind and drag him down.

"AGAIN WITH THIS?! NNGGH!"

He had built some resistance, but it was still enough to immobilize him for a crucial moment. I swung my sword again, carving through his left shoulder and down across his chest.

"A-AAAHHH!"

He screamed in agony and lashed out. His claws pierced my shoulder as I barely avoided a fatal strike to my chest. As I vomited blood, the wound around my shoulder mutated into jaws that tore his hand apart. I devoured what remained, growing even stronger.

"Y-YOU...!"

He stared at his mangled, bleeding stumps in disbelief. Before he could recover, my sword cleaved through him, splitting his Nightmare Core in two—and the rest of his body with it.

"A-Ah... How...! No... NOOO!"

Even as his core shattered, his aura exploded outward, transforming into a swarm of bats that tore into my flesh and drank my blood.

"I... I was... supposed to become... a True Nightmare Lord... one day...! I WILL...!"

"Enough is enough!" I roared. My sword slashed through his face and core once more, dividing both into four pieces. "I won’t ever let you harm anyone again!"

With one final surge of power, I poured the full force of Harmonious Chaos Reversal directly into his core through my blade. The Abyssal Nebula condensed into a single point of blinding light and pitch-black darkness—then detonated.

BOOOOOOOOM!!!

I collapsed to the ground. Mongrel quickly detached from my body and fell beside me in his smallest form, utterly exhausted. I returned to my base form as well, sighing in deep relief.

"Eugh..."

It had been an incredibly hard battle, but...

FLASH!

A massive surge of energy and power flooded through me. I leveled up rapidly from slaying such a powerful being—and from all the nightmare bats still swarming the area.

Ding!

[You have slain the {Nightmare Beast Lord – Venom Sovereign (Rank 9)}!]

[You have slain [Venomous Nightmarish Bats (Rank 7)] x121!]

[You have earned a massive amount of EXP!]

[Level Up!] ×10

[Your Dragon Path has Leveled Up from Level 22 to Level 53!]

[Your Chaos Demon Path has Leveled Up from Level 25 to Level 40!]

[Your Human Path has Leveled Up from Level 17 to Level 36!]

[Your Class has Leveled Up from Level 22 to Level 42!]

[All your Stats have increased.]

[You earned 55,000 Stat Points.]

[You have earned 937,000 System Points.]

[Your Dragon Soul Cultivation has ascended to Rank 3: Blooming Soul Heart.]

[You Awakened the Soul Ability: [Harmonious Chaos Reversal – Rank 3]]

[Your Soul Stat has increased by 200,000.]

[Your Spirit Stat has increased by 100,000.]

[Your Bonded Familiar: [Incarnation of the Spiral of Eternity: Paragon – Rank 3: Level 33/300] has Leveled Up to Level 45!]

[Your Bonded Familiar: [Incarnation of the Spiral of Eternity: Paragon – Rank 3: Level 45/300] has Awakened the Skill: [Eternal Blade]!]

[Your Bonded Familiar: [Nightmare Vestige Spirit: Mongrel – Rank 1: Level 26/100] has Leveled Up to Level 41!]

[Your Bonded Familiar: [Nightmare Vestige Spirit: Mongrel – Rank 1: Level 41/100] has Awakened the Skill: [Nightmare Possession]!]

[Your Bonded Familiar: [System Administrator Spirit: Astraea – Rank 1: Level 25/100] has Leveled Up to Level 37!]

"Haaa... Oh wow, that’s a lot."

I sighed in relief, feeling slightly better after drinking a few potions from my inventory. Then, moving slowly and carefully, I stood up and surveyed my surroundings.

"Okay, we have to get moving. We can’t stay here..."

I gathered the bat corpses and injected myself with their venom, reversing its effects to rapidly restore my vitality and energy.

"This is addicting..."

Forcing my battered body to obey, I transformed into my dragon form and began collecting everything.

"How are you feeling, Mongrel?"

"Ugh... feed me Nightmare Cores..."

He looked terrible. Even offering him Chaos hurt him, so I knew he was beyond simple exhaustion.

I slowly fed him cores until he grew larger and stronger, finally regaining full control of his exhausted body.

"I can’t believe we won. That bastard was too strong!"

"Was he as strong as your true body?"

"He was stronger in some aspects, but he lacked my durability and regeneration! Don’t compare me to such a lowly Nightmare Beast, humph!"

"Hahaha, okay." I patted his head. "Anyway, we should get going."

[Elizabeth! I’m glad you made it... I’m worried though. Why not take a break? You don’t have to rush this!]

"I know you’re worried, Astraea, but it’s fine. If I don’t push myself this hard, can I really call myself a dragon?" I smiled. "Nonetheless... huh? Wait, what’s that?"

Where the Nightmare Beast Lord’s corpse had been, a large treasure chest now stood.

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