Stranger Danger

Chapter 656: Devour Demon

Although Dream Master could draw someone into a dream undetected, and he was over twice as strong inside a dream than he was in real life because he was the master of the dream, he still couldn’t snuff out an equal’s mind with a single thought.

Moreover, once his enemy began doubting the reality around them because they noticed something amiss inside the dream, or their real body were disturbed in the real world, the dream would shatter, and they would return to reality.

There was a caveat though. The longer they remained inside a dream, the harder it was for them to distinguish between dream and reality, real and unreal. The moment they fully believed that the dream they were trapped inside was reality was the moment they were lost in the dream forever, never to awaken again.

Was Su Xiu, Ah Su and Greenlake Bai strong?

Of course they were.

That was why Dream Master could not kill them outright despite being strong enough inside the dream to fight them all by himself.

But Dream Master didn’t necessarily have to kill them inside the dream. If someone were to kill their bodies in real life, then they would perish just the same.

This was Dancer’s moment to shine. While the enemies were still trapped inside his dream, she could kill their bodies in real life.

The feat required more skill than it seemed though. No one here was a weakling, so any disturbance from the real world such as energies or killing intent could potentially jolt them awake. What this meant was that she needed to assassinate her enemies without a hint of killing intent or energy.

This was nothing to Dancer though. She had cooperated with Dream Master many times to assassinate a target. She was practically an old hand in this regard.

The weapon in her hand was called the Soul Boring Gada. It was a Phenomenon-class Strange Artifact. All she needed to do was to strike her target’s forehead with the weapon and draw blood, and it would punch a hole through their soul and damage their Yin God. It was a deadly weapon to put it mildly.

From Dancer’s perspective, she was doing everything perfectly. She had not revealed any killing intent or energy, so why did Su Xiu awaken at the last moment and ruin everything?

Now wasn’t the time to think about these things though. After Su Xiu awakened, he let out an angry roar and a shockwave of energy that snapped Ah Su and Greenlake Bai out of their dream as well.

Right after they awakened, a colorful butterfly flew out of their head each. It crumbled into nothing just a few seconds later.

“The ‘Dream Butterfly True Scripture’?!”

All of the gentleness Su Xiu wore on his face earlier was gone. His eyes were ice cold as he stared at the crumbling butterflies for a moment. Since when had they plunged into a dream? Maybe it was when they first met. Maybe it was even earlier than that. He couldn’t tell since he never noticed anything wrong until the very end. As far as he knew, the only martial art the Eight Legions possessed that could pull off such a feat was the “Dream Butterfly True Scripture”.

Even now, Su Xiu’s heart was beating with trepidation. If it wasn’t for that killing intent that came out of nowhere, he might already be dead. Speaking of which, it probably came from Dancer.

Su Xiu subconsciously looked at Dancer and gave her a gentle smile that did not reach the eyes. As thanks, I shan’t torture you too much before I end your miserable life.

Dancer’s response to Su Xiu’s obvious hostility was a blank, confused stare.

Meanwhile, Dream Master had opened his eyes and said smilingly, “A most astute deduction, Brother Su.”

“Oh? I thought you would deny it.” Su Xiu sounded surprised.

“Why would I? It’s not like the ‘Dream Butterfly True Scripture’ is a taboo art that needs to be kept under wraps.” Dream Master’s smile did not falter in the slightest.

“Looks like you’re ready to die,” Su Xiu declared with a nod.

“What makes you say that, Brother Su?” Dream Master replied unhurriedly.

“Now that I know that your cultivation art is the ‘Dream Butterfly True Scripture’, I can no longer be influenced by it. What can a Dream Master possibly do without his dream powers?”

Su Xiu scoffed with dripping disdain. “Prepare to die.”

Although the “Dream Butterfly True Scripture” was incredibly potent, it was strongest when its victim wasn’t aware of its existence. Now that he was fully aware and on guard against the martial art, he did not believe it could exert much power. In his opinion, Dream Master was already dead. Reality just hadn’t caught up to the fact yet.

“I understand your logic,” Dream Master nodded, “but a dream can be real, just as the real can be a dream. You thought you had pierced through my dream and caught me at my weakest, but did you really? Are you sure you’ve pierced the veil of illusions? Are you sure you aren’t still dreaming?”

“You think you can trick me with that?”

Su Xiu’s face darkened as he summoned the Vigorous Bull Demon, the Skeletal Demon God, the Scorched Flame Demon God, the Black Water Demon God, and the Heart Distorting Heavenly Demon into existence once more. They then rushed toward Dream Master at the same time.

“The world is an illusion, humanity a dream…”

Dream Master remained calm even though five terrifying demon gods were charging him. As he slowly opened his palms, a flock of butterflies flew out and caused the space around him to ripple like water.

The strange barrier kept the five demon gods away from Dream Master. No matter how hard they ran, no matter what they tried, they could not get close to the man no matter what. What should’ve been an arm’s distance felt like infinity. It was as if they didn’t exist in the same space.

Su Xiu’s response to this was to summon a shadow from behind his back. It kept growing and growing until it looked like it was carrying the sky on its back.

The shadow did not have a fixed form and appeared more like a cloud or a fog. The ripples covering its whole body also prevented it from being recognizable.

The next moment, five chains burst out of the giant shadow and wrapped around the five demon gods. Before they could react, the chains pulled them all into the shadow.

Bloodcurdling screams and chewing noises came from within the shadows. When the sounds subsided, the shadow faded away to reveal a powerful demon god.

The demon god had a face that resembled Su Xiu. It had a pair of horns on its head, and it carried dragons and serpents on its shoulders. It had a skeletal body of scorched black bones, and flowing streams carrying countless rotten bodies circled around it. Eerie screams, wails, and laughter filled the air, bending the mind and warping the soul with every passing second.

The new demon god looked like a union of the five demon gods Su Xiu summoned. This was Su Xiu’s “Nethercall” and “Devour Demon”.

A Nether Caller possessed the ability to form a link between the Nether and the real world and borrow its power, and “Devour Demon” was a method to better utilize that power and the strongest Magia in the “Call of the Nether”.

“Call of the Nether” was the ultimate art of the Nethercall Abode of West Kunlun. A Grandmaster-stage martial art, it boasted five arts and eight Magias. Out of the eight Magias, “Demoncall” and “Devour Demon” were the strongest and possessed unlimited potential.

“Demoncall” summoned demon gods from the Nether and put them under the summoner’s command. The stronger the summoner, the more powerful the demon god they could summon.

Should “Demoncall” proved to be inadequate, “Devour Demon” was the next step of the equation. The summoner could have their Yin God devour all the demon gods they summoned and transform into a super demon god that possessed all the powers and abilities of the demon gods.

Naturally, the more demon gods it devoured, the stronger the yin god would become.

The five demon gods were pretty strong, and they were strong enough to handle most enemies. Unfortunately, Dream Master was clearly out of their league.

Just now, he had fought a great battle against Dream Master in his dreamscape. Although it was just a dream, the spiritual power and mental power he expended was very real. Knowing that a battle of attrition would probably put him at a severe disadvantage, he decided to end this battle as soon as possible.

That was why he used “Devour Demon” and have his Yin God devour the five demon gods. After his Yin God transformed into a super demon god, it was over five times stronger than it was before and on par with a Grandmaster.

But of course, the duration of the super demon god was proportional to the amount of strength it gained. If he tried to maintain the power for too long, his Yin God would explode, and his mind would disappear like a candle flame.

At his current strength, he could only retain the power of a Grandmaster for three breaths at most.

There was a massive power gap between a Grandmaster and a Half-Step Grandmaster though. Literally speaking, it looked like they were only separated by two words. In reality, it was the difference between heaven and earth.

Three breaths were short, but it was enough time to kill a single person.