Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 800 - 741 World BOSS, Spawned

"Lyle? You found him?" Briefly startled, Susanna didn’t even notice her lips curving up into a smile.

"No, if I had found him, believe me, I would be itching to nail him to a cross right now." The gatekeeper twirled the sword hilt, his playful jest offering her some comfort in her disappointment. "But he’ll be alright, he is a Purifier. For now, we can focus on dealing with that invader, using the methods Lyle left behind, his arrangements in this Dreamland."

Susanna found it laughable, feeling the formidable power that these dream replicas possessed, yet in a moment of crisis, they relied not on their own strength, but on... a juvenile Evil God, an immature little brother. Susanna believed she saw more than they did. The immature being possessed Senior Divinity, which to a mature nightmare entity like herself, seemed more like a hearty meal that strengthened and invigorated. That was Susanna’s initial thought, but her complicated relationship with Irason convinced her to abandon that idea. In hindsight, she was foolish to have agreed to develop the dream game with him, thus numbing herself with this pleasant reality, step by step falling into an abyss. With the entire region fallen, Lyle had likely become part of the nightmare, his divinity aiding our enemies to grow stronger.

Susanna’s mentality started to crumble, not hesitating to inform these NPCs of Lyle’s value, but dousing them with cold water did not discourage them; they didn’t even frown. The trust they placed in Lyle surprised her.

"Why do you have such confidence in him? He isn’t that powerful, and even his work on maintaining the dream game is just hindering." Unconsciously, Susanna found herself affected; her tension eased.

"Because he is the Star of Darkness of Andrey, the exalted Purifier, the youngest member of the Salvation Association, the miracle of the Liches." The gatekeeper spread his wings, divine radiance forming a pillar of light reaching the sky, Holy Light cleansing the last city into a Sanctuary.

"He has protected our nation, I trust the reserve prince of my country unconditionally, even if it is one-sided," said the Defender Knight, pounding his chest plate, the weapons guarding the wall now coated with hard crystal.

The King of Berserkers emerged from his tent, his body gradually freeing its battle intent, the heavy war cry filled with rage and a trace of awkward resentment. "He looks ordinary, not tall, but one day he introduced a person to my tribe. As for modern ancient humans, even if they forget the mountains of corpses and seas of blood in Purgatory, they would not forget his face."

The old mage smiled warmly, the bursting magical power weaving giant runes in the air. The Crystal Wings emerged from the runes, dragons spreading their wings, crystal breath accompanying their roars; the magic dragons turned the oncoming horde of monsters into beautiful crystals. "He is my prideful apprentice."

In the form of a dragon, Christo gripped the city walls, the runaway magic power from the magical nodes engulfing the entire city within his body, "I’ve located the intruder who desecrated my masterpiece! Now, eradicate this BUG." The blue dragon supported everyone, following the magic web deep into the dream, plummeting an entire city onto the towering ramparts.

Under the blessings of powerful enchantments, the players raised their heads, looking towards the massive ramparts ahead. The ochre stone mountains were submerged by flowing blood-red, dark purple flesh lichens bearing many pores on their surface decorated the terrain, emitting miasma that formed dark clouds in the sky. From the pools of blood at the base of the mountain, writhing monsters continuously climbed out, and many tentacle-like vines sketched patterns on the mountain walls. Anything swept by those vines would turn into a nausea-inducing multicolored hue. If one’s eyes linger on those colors for too long, not only would they feel dizzy, but also a hair-raising sensation of being watched – as if you weren’t looking at the mountain, but the mountain was looking at you.

Taking the lead, the gatekeeper stood atop the city walls, the burning giant sword held aloft, its flames flaring into blinding brightness in an instant. The Concept of Justice enveloped it, a Conceptual Level slash cleaving down onto the flesh mountain, the colossal blade of light bifurcating the mountain, revealing a chasm like a heavenly rift. Before the crowd could cheer, a terrifying pressure descended like an avalanche from the peak; the dreadful flesh mountain, halved, not only maintained its momentum but became even more formidable, as if the gatekeeper’s Power of Holy Light had given it an enhancement BUFF. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Is this your plan?!" Susanna seethed, clutching the gatekeeper’s cloak; if it wasn’t for the replica shining bright like a beacon, she would have believed he’d been corrupted by the Evil God.

"Patience." The gatekeeper was confident, indeed having injected the nightmare with a powerful buff. The Concept of Justice was a set rule, twisted by Lyle’s academic consortium with modifications, allowing members of the literary society to become Warriors of Light, and Dream Elves into professional players. This was empowerment, Justice suited them to the rules, unlocking their inner potential. Regarding the Concept of Justice’s effect on the Evil God, Lyle had conducted numerous experiments – he had an entire legion of Unseen to be influenced. After prolonged collaborative research with the angelic gatekeeper, Lyle devised the most effective tactic against nightmare entities like those devoted to the Evil God.

Concept of Justice, Gamified.

The power of Justice granted more privileges to the nightmare, allowing it to express more deeply and concretely in the Dreamland. The nightmare would become mightier, provided that it abides by the game’s rules.

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[Server-wide Announcement: The World Boss has appeared. All players are urged to head to battle immediately, for the sake of Dreamland.]

As if in response to the announcement, the mountain of flesh let out a roar. Its body began to contract along the fissure, becoming even taller and more robust. At the very top appeared a chilling million-digit health bar, along with its blood-red name.

[Nightmare Vanguard & Devastator, Armstrong]

The offspring of Evil God are not intelligent; they are driven by instinct, a higher level of attraction, the instinct of evolution. For Nightmares, even concepts are a rare delicacy. According to the interpretation of the Son of the Formless, they call concepts ’divine power.’ Thus, Nightmares relish abnormal forces like justice, even if it comes with certain restrictions.

Woosh~ Clatter~

The Dream Elves’ brains were still crashing. The moment they saw the health bar, their bodies instinctively drew their weapons. As they returned to their senses, their expressions twisted into a sickly, tangled, ecstatic frenzy.

Angels soared into the skies, their blazing blades pointing forward. A divine declaration fell at this moment, bathing all players in light.

"Before you stands the Mother of All Spirits, the Enemy of Life. To brandish your swords at it is to walk with death. Many of you will die in this battle, but fear not! For we will win! Justice is with us!"

"Warriors! For the sake of Dreamland! For the unyielding self!"

"Fight! Conquer the World Boss!"

The frenzied players charged like a tide sweeping backwards.

"It has a health bar! We can kill it!"

"Vengeance! For those who have fallen!"

"For the queen!"

"For the First Kill achievement!"

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