Restrictions.
Every Nightmare Creature from the second rank and above had them.
While Lurkers only exuded the usual symptoms for active fears, Specters came with significant boost to those, all the while adding a forced Restriction effect on top of that. Those forced effects were never the same, only matching the specific fears a monster was based upon.
And when it came to Dreadbeasts, the third rank of Nightmare Creatures, their boosted active fears threatened to send a body of the Dreamer rank, the second Sleeper rank, into complete shock. Not to mention they always came with not one, but two forced Restriction effects.
That was what Somnu had been under at the moment. Naturally, he had considered the option of a different Specter Nightmare Creature showing up, hence the second forced effect, but the cold chill running through his spine, the intense shaking of his body, the shivering of his lips, the heavy breaths…
And considering the distance at which all that had activated…
It was undeniable that the one affecting him now was on a whole other level than mere Specters.
It was a Dreadbeast, despite how little sense that made.
Something is wrong… Dreadbeasts are the third rank, they shouldn’t be here in the First Layer of the Nightmare Realm… This is the second one I've met in this place now. What is Mr. Emberlyn doing?! Wasn’t he preventing higher Nightmare Creatures from entering the Abyss of Lethe?!
Somnu ran through his thoughts while fighting against the sudden change in perception. He reached out with his straws and held on to the nearest oversized tree root. The pull of the second Restriction, as well as his inverted vision from the first effect, had brought the scarecrow down from the branch and back to the ground.
The one monkey monster he had captured had long been freed from its straw prison.
At the moment, Somnu was a few dozen meters away from the massive, hole-filled tree housing countless Specters.
While his vision was completely inverted and he was barely hanging on from the unnatural gravitational pull, he began to see a figure appear from within the shaking tree trunk.
Out of the numerous wide holes within the trunk, at least eight gargantuan hands reached out from the inside, their long, black fingernails digging deeper into the wood.
Then…
““AHHHHAA-OOOOOHH-OOOOHHHH-EEE-EEE-EEE!!””
CRAAACKK! CRAAACKK!!
SNAAAAPPP!
The massive tree trunk shattered in all directions under the deafening howling. And from the inside, a figure that was much taller than the meter and half or so Specter monkeys emerged, reaching closer to ten or 12 meters in height alone.
It surely didn’t help that not one, but four heads began twisting left and right in search.
The creature towered over the swamp’s humid floor, its eight armed form shifting with unnatural fluidity. Its fur was a deep dark green, oozing with a gooey gray substance. It covered the monster from its four heads to its two legs. Just like its pre-evolutions, the jagged maws below the crimson eyes were a constant, and now those eight crimson lights spotted the intruder.
Its long four tails jotted out like tentacles with a mind of their own, grabbing onto the nearest Specter monkey and throwing it at the newest prey that had dared walk into a monster lair all on its own.
A ridiculous attempt.
Crow-Shit! Come on! My plan worked! If it only weren’t for this damn Dreadbeast appearing out of nowhere! Somnu reeled himself in and used [Rooted Vigil] to ground himself to the soil beneath his feet. “Agh! Fine! You want a fight? Bring it! I’ve ranked up too!”
Somnu was confident in his speed. However, outrunning the Specters was one matter, and by no means an option against this Dreadbeast. And even if he did run, it would only put his companions at risk if this Nightmare Creature came any closer to them.
Somnu had to fight, and oddly enough, he felt up for it. His heart was beginning to beat a tune of excitement.
Perhaps it had been his countless brushes with death, or simply the rank up and countless skills he currently possessed, but despite all the active fears and forced Restrictions effects he had currently been under…
Deep down within him, the scarecrow felt ready.
Whatever led to his current predicament, he was on the same level as a Dreadbeast now. He could fight it, outsmart it… beat it.
CRASHHH!! CRASHHH!!
““AHHHH-OOO-OHH-EEE-EEE-EEE!!””
“Let’s do this, fugly! If you want me to come to you so badly…”
Summoning his violet-glowing sickles, Somnu broke off his straw rope and deactivated [Rooted Vigil], surrendering himself to the monster’s pull.
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He passed all the flying Specters crashing all around him, his vision still showing the inverted world.
However, he had a plan for that Restriction, and he could still use it.
[Resonance!]
Synchronizing his sight with that of his crow companion, he could see himself quickly approaching the Nightmare Creature many times his size.
Almost like a third person game with weird eagle-eye camera angles. He had played those before, except now, he wasn’t on a keyboard or using a controller, he needed to move his own body and limbs if he wanted to survive.
However, Nightmare Creatures weren’t known for their patience, but their desperate tenacity. For just as he entered its range, the giant monster swiped all its eight arms forward, attempting to swat the fly heading its way.
[Distorted Fallacy!]
CLAAAAPPP!! CLAAAAPPP!! CLAAAAPPP!! CLAAAAPPP!!
““Kreeeh?!”” The four heads let out in unison, all of them getting jerked back.
Its four sets of hands had connected with each other, but not with the prey it had clearly aimed for.
It was as if the strawman had disappeared and then reappeared at a different place. Except, the fact remained that he had taken a straight line right to the monster’s chest, landing on it.
“How does it feel now, bastard? You like having your sense of perception completely toyed with?!” Somnu cried out as he used [Rooted Vigil] to stay in place.
Last time he had tried to use [Distorted Fallacy], it was against John Doe. Right as the murderer had made Somnu’s blood heavier, slowing him down and paralyzing him in place. The strawman had wanted to distort that very perception to free himself temporarily, but the System had taken away all his new skills right there and then, almost marking the end of him on the spot.
Thankfully, he could use them all now without worrying about that anymore. At least, not until his next rank up.
Switching from Fala’s vision from up high, to Naga’s more horizontal line of sight from the distance, Somnu swung Eclipsed Requiem at the Dreadbeast’s heart, hoping it would be located where he guessed.
[Ceaseless Spiral Passage!]
““KREE-OHHH?!””
The moment his sickles landed, countless slashes released forward, cutting through the dark green fur and connecting with the monster’s skin. Then, they merged into a sphere of chaotic spiral, endlessly cutting their way in.
““GRAAAAAHHH-AHHHH!!””
“?!”
Suddenly, all eight arms shifted, swiping again at Somnu. Except, this time, instead of an inevitable clap, the hands were clenched in fists.
Dammit!
Somnu jumped up, aiming for the farthest head on the left side. However, swinging his arms and moving his legs were two different things when relying on a whole new way to perceive things. Especially when he was still under the strong gravitational pull keeping him in place.
“!”
He found that out the hard way when, instead of going up, his legs went the opposite way. Right into the coming fists’ landing spots.
Crow-Shit! This is too weird to adjust to!
[Distorted Fallacy!]
THUUUDDD!! THUUUDDD!!
Distorting the perception of where he was again, Somnu managed to avoid the first two fists, but as for the remaining incoming six…
He had been too late to shift their directions.
[Stuffed Resilience!] [Straw Storm!]
Covering himself in layers of straws, while stuffing the inside with too much condensed hay, Somnu barely put his arms in front of him in time to brace for impact.
“Ungh!!”
He felt his back dig into the monster’s hardened skin, his mouth filling up with a hot metallic taste.
I need… to move… quickly! He straightened his body, wishing he could simply drop back down to the ground if it weren’t for the second Restriction. At this rate…
He knew he had only been hit by one hand, and if this monkey was anything like its gorilla cousin, then…
““GRRAAHHH-AHHH!!””
It was going to beat its chest, with all eight arms.
THUUUDDD!! THUUUDDD!! THUUUDDD!! THUUUDDD!!
THUUUDDD!! THUUUDDD!! THUUUDDD!! THUUUDDD!!
One by one, Somnu was barraged by a bombardment of fists back to back like a never-ending drum.
His connection was quickly cut from his familiars, getting jolted right back into the inverted world.
With every hit, his body relapsed after connecting with the monster’s chest, only for the second Restriction to pull him back in, just in time for another fist to get him once again.
All his attempts to use [Distorted Fallacy] quickly came to a halt as they proved meaningless in his current predicament.
If it weren’t for his stuffed straw armor prolonging the inevitable, he would have already been pummeled flat.
At this rate… My body will compress paper thin…
He tried to think of a way out, but none of his skills could help him now.
His bones began to crack, the blood pouring out of his mouth covered the straws with a layer of red paint.
“Aghhh!!”
““URGH-AHH-AHH!!””
As if in unison, just as he let out a groan, he heard the four heads a ways above him do the same. The barrage of fists had suddenly stopped.
“!”
Switching back to Naga’s vision, he noticed the shallow hole in the monster’s chest. His previous attack had finally broken through the thick layer of skin.
After all, [Ceaseless Spiral Passage] was a unique skill, staying active for a bit of time, continuously cutting until it finally faded away.
That’s what you get! Somnu immediately forced his battered body to run up once more, ignoring all the sharp, piercing signals from his nerves.
THUD!!
The Dreadbeast suddenly fell to a knee, two of its hands reflexively reaching for its bleeding chest.
The sickles are too small to make a difference… I need something else…
And yet, he had a limited set of skills and tools at his disposal, all within the average size. If only-
Wait! The scarecrow’s eyes widened in enlightenment. If size is the issue… I can just go bigger!
