I! Cleaner!
Chapter 472 - 408: Leon’s Fear (Part 2)

Chapter 472: Chapter 408: Leon’s Fear (Part 2)

Kill him! Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!!!

As the blood color gradually spread throughout his body, dyeing all the mist red, the King of Nightmares, whose mind was filled only with this one thought, strangely regained some calmness.

During the brief respite between two waves of intense pain, he turned his head and glanced in a certain direction, and a fierce glint suddenly flashed in the King of Nightmares’ eyes.

Absolutely cannot let him leave!

This damned Cleaner may not know, but I am very aware that the Scorpio Director of the Clean-up Bureau is now in this layer of the nightmare.

To avoid being tracked by the aura, I refrained from moving the scales of the dune worm, causing the Scorpio Director to see the situation here. Now he is forcing his way back, trying desperately to return to the City of Plagues.

As long as I let him escape the Boundless Desert and reach the upper layer, the City of Plagues, he can immediately join up with the Scorpio Director and burst out from the six layers of nightmares together. If I get held back by the Scorpio Director, then everything will be too late!

I must keep him here!

Understanding what he needed to do, the King of Nightmares took a deep, shaky breath, then slowly closed his eyes.

If the human body can be hurt, if the human soul can be shaken... then I will no longer be human!!!

"Leave it to me!!!"

Accompanied by an almost hysterical roar, the gigantic body of the King of Nightmares fell down with a thud, crushing a big part of the line where Leon was fighting.

Immediately after, in the shocked gaze of Leon and the Snow Maiden, the gray mist surrounding the King of Nightmares suddenly began to "flow" and condensed above its fallen body into a new King of Nightmares, two sizes smaller!

No... what the hell is this? A two-stage boss fight?

"You... are you crazy?!"

Before Leon could voice his sarcasm, the frightened Snow Maiden widened her eyes, her face turning pale, and screamed:

"How dare you? In this world, the first rule is that both soul and body must be whole! Doing this is directly opposing the world! You’re simply mad... "

"I’m quite awake!"

Shedding the flesh and soul that had just recently condensed, reverting to the form of a Dream Realm Creature, the newly born gray mist giant said expressionlessly:

"Generally, I wouldn’t dare do this, but now the Dream Realm and reality overlap, and half of the rules are governed by the Dream Realm.

Moreover, I’m not directly appearing in reality, but in this dream created by six Nightmare Envoys together; with this extra layer, although there’s still a considerable impact, it’s enough for me to accomplish what I want to do!"

"You... you... what about the others?"

A flush of blood suddenly appeared on the pale cheeks, and the Snow Maiden gritted her teeth and said:

"The ones sustaining the dream are not you! It means they’re facing the world’s suppression for you! If this continues, the six of them..."

"The six of them will realize the value they ought to have."

Although two sizes smaller, the Nightmare King in the Dream Realm Creature form is clearly more adapted to the nightmare world before it.

Stretching out its withered arm, it gestured towards the sun hanging high above the desert, and a heat wave ten times hotter than before spread out, blowing away the cold wind around Leon and his companion, forcibly pulling them back from their escape from the Boundless Desert.

"You seem to be getting nervous."

Intercepting Leon and his companion, the gray mist giant swept the Snow Maiden aside, then raised its hand and squeezed Leon tightly. Although it failed to kill him, it inadvertently sensed a strange emotion.

Tasting the urgent feeling of anxiety emanating from Leon’s soul, the King of Nightmares finally showed a hint of a smile in its cold and sinister blurred face.

"If I’m not mistaken, this troublesome state of yours is about to expire soon, isn’t it?"

"..."

Indeed... although I’ve drunk a lot on purpose, after moving intensely for so long, most of the intoxication has evaporated with the sweat, and the vigor of the Drunken Life, Dreamy Death has almost dissipated...

Feeling the pending evaporation of the intoxication, no matter how Leon tried to suppress it, the sense of urgency in his heart kept growing.

Only five minutes left at most, if the Scorpio Director can’t find me in five minutes, then he will have to find me in the Realm of the Dead.

However, I have a badge called [Survivor of Near Death], whose hidden trait ensures getting bitten by a dog when passing through the Realm of the Dead, and it bites with three heads each taking a bite... Come to think of it, isn’t a Canine Deity also a dog? Would a bite from it give me rabies? If a deceased got rabies, what would the symptoms be?

...

Is he... distracted?

Watching the seemingly absent-minded Leon in his hand, the gray mist giant, who had just shown a bit of joy, instantly turned cold again.

For this Cleaner, who dared to humiliate me with a low-grade nightmare, quick and clean death was undoubtedly a sort of mercy, according to my plan, I should drag his soul into the Dream Realm and torment it until the entire Dream Realm is utterly destroyed.

Yet facing such a foreseeable tragic future, while his heart was tense, he... wasn’t really that scared? He even had the presence of mind to think about random things?

"You’re not afraid of me?"

Seeing Leon’s face, still tipsy, his expression slightly absent-minded as if he thought of something amusing, a slight smile forming unwittingly on his lips, the gray mist giant’s withered arm tightened slightly, and its eyes turned cold as it said:

"Human, would you like to guess your future fate?"

Knowing whether I live or die depends on the Scorpio Director’s efforts, and it has almost nothing to do with my own efforts. With the alcohol still lingering in his mind, Leon raised his head and glanced at the King of Nightmares, then lazily asked in return:

"Why? Is there a prize for guessing correctly?"

"..."

Having carefully sensed several times, the gray mist giant indeed found no fear in Leon’s heart, and even a "strange laziness" in his aura, causing its brows to furrow uncomfortably.

For someone full of hatred, the most distressing thing isn’t even being unable to avenge oneself, but rather, when they’re about to succeed in their revenge, and see their hated and despised enemy facing a terribly tragic fate, yet the other side appears utterly indifferent, even having the mood to banter with you.

"Stop pretending!"

Convinced that Leon isn’t the type of person to "face death calmly," the King of Nightmares glared at him with icy eyes and questioned:

"Is it the effect of an anomaly? Do you have an item on you that can block fear?"

"..."

I do have something like that... but it’s not an anomaly, it’s a badge.

The [Immortal of Liquor] badge series, from the initial bronze to the current exotic, has always had the effect of resisting fear.

Gold used to resist fear, and although the [Immortal of Liquor] inscription no longer included resisting fear, fear induced by enemies could be considered a "form of attack," and since I haven’t yet exited the "Drunken Dreams" state, fears were directly nullified by [Immortal of Liquor], leaving me completely unafraid.

"Yeah, let’s just say I have it."

After thinking about the current situation, Leon really couldn’t come up with any other ideas, so he directly admitted that he indeed had means to resist fear.

After all, he had tried his best. Truly being unable to overcome wasn’t something he could help, and he had already arranged for his younger siblings to leave safely, entrusting them to someone he could trust, at least there’s no need to worry about their future suffering.

Besides, although it sounds a bit grim, honestly, having been in this world for over three years now, perhaps this is the most relaxed time for him, with nothing really to worry about.

In fact, if one thinks positively, what if being dragged into the Dream Realm and enslaved and tortured? As long as the Badge System remains, perhaps someday I’ll stumble upon some odd badge like "Inborn Rebellion" or "Sworn Parents."

By then, even if he couldn’t become the director of the Clean-up Bureau, being a ruler of the Dream Realm would be fine too; blending in somewhere is blending in as well, right?

"..."

Is he... truly fearless?

Misinterpreting someone’s situation of unchecked thoughts due to lingering intoxication and lack of pressing combat pressure as genuine indifference.

The King of Nightmares, horribly uncomfortable, remained silent for a moment, then, unable to suppress his unfulfilled anger, raised his hand and held the crown on his head, aiming its mirrored section at Leon’s eyes.

"Fine! Today I must see what it is that someone like you truly fears in your heart!"