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Upon learning that my foe wielded psychic power, I knew exactly what to do.

I sneered and quickly channeled the power of my Class, summoning dozens of Harmonious Origin Flame Knives and hurling them toward the eye. At the same time, I used Living Darkness, molding it like clay into an expanding mass of shadow. As the eye stared at it, the mass struggled and wept blood in agony.

This was a curse, after all, and Espers were especially vulnerable to the mental attacks born from this Nightmare Power. The knives struck true in that moment of vulnerability, piercing the eye and exploding before its psychic power could activate.

"...?!"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"NNNGGH!"

It thrashed, screaming in pain. Just as I thought—that combination worked. I immediately freed myself from the surrounding monsters by swinging my claws and tearing them to shreds one after another. My Divine Dragon Aura surged as I fused Harmony with Chaos once more. I reinforced my scales, summoned my shapeshifting weapon, and transformed it into the Eclipsing Blade. With a sharp, spinning horizontal slash, I mowed down dozens of Nightmare Plants at once.

SLAAASH!

As they fell apart, I kept conjuring and firing Magic Knives through Knife Throwing. I used my growing proficiency to strike their weak points with precision, triggering constant explosions of Harmonious Flames—especially lethal against these creatures.

"Paragon! You’re good to go now, right?!"

FLASH!

Paragon emerged behind me and nodded. It summoned its long blade and rapidly cut through the incoming swarm of vines, slicing them apart one by one. I channeled my new Human Path Skill and began imitating his movements with fine detail. Although these techniques had no names, I started giving them some.

"Eternal Blade Arts – First Form: Horizon Cut!"

It was Paragon’s most common attack: a sharp horizontal slash packed with white light, capable of suppressing foes swiftly and weakening them severely if they survived. By repeating the technique, I grasped it better with each use, and my understanding deepened my swordsmanship dramatically.

More humanoid Nightmare Plants emerged, raising their hands and firing psychic waves that disrupted my attacks, momentum, and magic all at once. The vibrations pierced deep into my body, forcing me to vomit blood.

"Harmonious Chaos Reversal!"

I used it on all the poison slowing me down, reversing it and transforming the Nightmare Plant Poison into a potent elixir. It flowed through my wounds, healing them instantly and flooding me with vitality.

I swiftly stabbed myself with my claws and the power of my ring, injecting the Venom Sovereign’s poison and reversing it as well. Power surged through me as I overflowed with raw vitality.

"RAAAHHHH!"

With a mighty roar, my body swelled and grew even more muscular. I charged forward in my true dragon form, using its immense strength to swing my claws downward with all my power. The slash tore through a vast area, ripping apart everything in its wake and triggering a massive explosion.

Moments later, I swung my sword both downward and horizontally, generating giant cross-shaped bursts of white light that devastated even more foes. When the next psychic waves came, I flew aside before they could hit and unleashed a black abyss from my hands, targeting the Nightmare Plants.

"Harmonious Chaos Reversal – Nebula of Memories!"

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

The Abyss of False Reflections spread everywhere, filling the entire cave with black void and fog. Dozens of giant specters born from the creatures’ implanted fears emerged. Their psychic powers faltered as a small army of Abyssal Reflection Specters answered my command, attacking and devouring the plants while spreading black fire across the battlefield.

This gave me the opening I needed to go all out. I channeled Paragon’s power even deeper into my swordsmanship, held my Eclipsing Blade, and charged it with everything I had for one decisive strike.

"Eternal Blade Arts – Second Form: Heavenly Thrust!"

A sharp thrusting motion erupted as I charged forward. White and gold flames burst from my sword while I carved through the seemingly endless sea of Nightmare Plants, destroying everything in my path.

As explosions thundered, a powerful presence dropped from the ceiling, reaching for me with a giant psychic hand. I slipped free in an instant, spun midair, and faced it.

"Sneaky little rat. I don’t know what tricks you’re using, but for a dragon, you’re certainly not as weak as the last one we faced. Fine... I’ll play along. Don’t make this boring!"

I finally saw the Nightmare Beast Lord of this domain. She resembled a tall woman formed of purple vines, with long hair of red leaves and glowing eyes made of roses. Sharp black-wood claws extended from her fingers, and her entire body radiated a poisonous, potent psychic aura.

"Insect."

The ground trembled as she charged at me in a fury. Her claws slashed down while I defended, conjuring Protective Shield through Ariel and reinforcing the barrier to its limits.

CRASH!

A single strike shattered each barrier I created, yet the effort slowed her down and absorbed most of the damage she would have dealt.

I kept Ariel focused on constantly conjuring barriers around me, while Asmodeus summoned black abyss everywhere. Demon Bite, Shadow Hand, and Minor Curse merged with my Living Darkness, forming a living black abyss that assaulted her and sapped her strength.

Shadow hands seized her limbs to slow her movements. Giant jaws bit into her body, and the Chaos-empowered curse rapidly weakened her, causing her form to wither.

Seeing she was a plant, I immediately turned to Ice Magic, hoping it would prove effective.

"Sorrowful Ice Garden!"

"?!"

Her teeth clenched as the ice spread like a domain, freezing the Nightmare Plants aiding her and then shattering them into countless tiny pieces.

At the same moment, I kicked her head downward, infused energy into my Celestial Dragon Spirit Claws, and unleashed their ability.

Celestial Dragon Rampage!

The reversed form of Nightmare Beast Rampage erupted. Countless cutting attacks slashed across her entire body, slicing through her hardened bark and severing countless vines. Black blood-like sap splattered everywhere.

"Enough with your games!"

She hissed and unleashed a shockwave of psychic energy, slamming me into the ground with crushing force. My entire body began to flatten. Bones, muscles, and internal organs were all being pulverized.

"Aaaaarrgghh!"

I clenched my teeth and kept piercing my heart with my claws, injecting venom at full power. The ring’s effects turned the poison into healing elixir, rapidly regenerating my body.

"RAAAHHH!"

With burning fury, I roared and unleashed a dragon breath with everything I had. She easily blocked it with her Psychic Barrier and began pushing the flames back toward my jaws.

"Pitifully weak! I heard some commotion, but don’t tell me you actually defeated the Venomous Sovereign? Hahaha! Well, it won’t be the same for me! I will eliminate you before you can do anything else!"

Giant hands of psychic energy closed in from all directions, threatening to crush me into a sphere.

"Harmonious Chaos Reversal – Sorrowful Ice Garden...!"

In that desperate moment, I reversed the Sorrowful Ice Garden I had unleashed, transforming it into an endless infernal garden of black-red flames that consumed everything with even greater intensity.

"Cruel Flame Garden!"

"AAAAAAGGHH!"

The Nightmare Beast Lord screamed in agony as the flames engulfed her. She staggered back, falling apart piece by piece. Her eyes widened in horror as her body literally turned to cinders.

"W-Who are you?! How can this be?! Uunnggh...! NOT YET!"

Her body lunged toward me and suddenly exploded, sending me flying into the walls. I quickly rose to my feet and saw the entire room trembling. The remaining plants surged and merged into a giantess with a massive eye staring at me from her chest.

To my disbelief, all the plants here formed a single colony, and she governed them all—they were extensions of her own body, her own self. The moment she became truly enraged, she drew them together to create a gigantic vessel for herself.

"I WILL CRUSH YOU LIKE A WORM!"

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