Having found the gates of the Ice Cream Castle and furiously rammed them for quite a while to no avail, the Bull-Horned Man, exhausted and frustrated, had to grudgingly step back, panting heavily:
"Even if it were a door made of pure... pure gold, I should have been able to crash through it. This door... this door won’t open at all!"
"I can’t get in either."
After the Bull-Horned Man’s attempts, a Cleaner from the Pisces Branch also shook his head and sighed:
"Though this giant city can be seen and touched, it doesn’t exist in a physical sense. It is a Dream Realm creation with no substance, so my [Pass Token] has no effect on it."
"My abnormal object is ineffective too. The outer wall of this city, one might say, is not a city wall but rather an outer barrier of a special dream. My carriage simply can’t get through."
"You love me~ I love you~ Mimi..."
"Quick! Get someone who understands souls to pull him back! He’s being corroded by this dream!"
After a chaotic scramble, the Cleaners stared at the firmly closed gates of the Ice Cream Castle, unable to find their way in. They turned their gaze to the seven-colored conch above, hoping to get advice from the "temporary invigilator" on how to enter the Ice Cream Castle.
However, the Goddess of Pleasure Dreams, who had supposedly signed a contract with the bureau, seemed to consider entering as part of the examination and ignored the plight they faced. The Cleaners had no choice but to give up external aid and began to discuss amongst themselves.
"Why don’t we try flying up to see if that works?"
A Cleaner with a bird beak suggested:
"We can’t enter from the front, but maybe we can from above. I noticed there’s nothing blocking the top of this city."
"How could that be..."
The Pisces Branch Cleaner who spoke earlier retorted:
"Didn’t I already mention? This city looks like a city, but it’s actually a special dream. Even if there’s nothing blocking the top, you still can’t get in!"
"Since changing direction doesn’t work, why not try my method?"
A Cleaner from the Lion Sub-bureau stood up with a serious expression:
"Though I got sucked in for those few seconds, I figured out the core of this dream. As long as everyone follows my way, we’ll definitely make a sweet entry... Come on! Do as I do, you love me, I love... Ah!"
After knocking out his companion who proposed singing the King of Ice Cream theme together, another Cleaner from the Lion Sub-bureau blushed and apologized:
"He just woke up; I thought he was fine. Didn’t expect..."
"Drag him away, drag him away! Don’t let him mess around!"
After dragging off the Cleaner whose mind was sweetened by Ice Cream Castle, the remaining Cleaners continued their strategy meeting, trying to find a way into the Castle.
Yet this towering Red and White Giant City was truly unusually "solid." Even though the Cleaners used all their skills, they were still blocked outside, unable to make any progress.
Several Cleaners, relying on their extraordinary abilities, tried to rush in without thinking, but were now hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, singing the King of Ice Cream melody sweetly under the Castle’s influence, impossible to pull back.
And at this helpless moment, the duel between the two colossal Leons nearby was nearing its end.
Amidst a roar from a voice extremely familiar to the Cleaners, the "Big" Leon laughed wildly, using his greater size advantage to ride on the fallen "Small" Leon and beat him severely, his two arms nearly creating afterimages.
The "Small" Leon, not willing to concede, quickly found a way to counter, delivering a powerful kick to "Big" Leon, flipping him over, crushing thousands of average nightmares in the process.
Yet, in terms of quantity and average strength, "Small" Leon was clearly inferior, even though he continued to resist valiantly. He gradually faltered, the form of Colossal Leon growing fainter, seemingly near complete vanishing.
"Hahaha! We’re the winners!"
Grasping "Small" Leon’s legs, delivering a standard death spin, smashing nearly ten thousand average nightmares, the scarecrow nightmare at "Big" Leon’s chest puffed out black smoke, weakly laughing wildly: The source of this content ɪs novel-fire.net
"You’ve lost! You traitors who betrayed the King of Nightmares have no chance anymore!"
Facing the scarecrow nightmare’s rampant malice, the faceless nightmare puffed out black smoke likewise, growling unwillingly:
"You only have a numerical advantage! If Mistress Snow Maiden or a few other envoys were here..."
"If they were here, then we’d be the ones getting crushed."
Frankly admitting the other’s hypothetical scenario, the scarecrow nightmare puffed out another cloud of black smoke, then rebutted coldly:
"So what are they doing? Why don’t you let them out to help you?"
"What’s the matter? Not speaking? Huh?"
Seeing his opponent turn silent, the scarecrow nightmare sneered coldly, then controlled "Big" Leon to leap up, delivering a crow-sitting-plane dive, completely dispersing "Small" Leon, then angrily shouted with red eyes:
"Since you don’t want to speak, let me speak for you! Those damned traitors aren’t here, even sealed the Ice Cream Castle, allowing us to attack because they have something more important to do... They are desperately suppressing the revival of the King of Nightmares!"
Hearing the scarecrow nightmare’s roar, the faceless nightmare suddenly jumped in shock, full of disbelief:
"You?! How did you..."
"How do I know? Of course, I know!"
Disbanding the "Small" Leon, controlling "Big" Leon, the scarecrow nightmare sneered:
"Because there aren’t only seven nightmare envoys; there are eight in total! I am the eighth one and also the first nightmare envoy born!"
Unexpectedly, amid the lunatic duel behind, there’s actually an additional branch in the plot. Leon and the Cleaners couldn’t help but turn their heads, surprised, toward the battlefield behind.
"As fellow nightmare envoys granted by the King of Nightmares, what those seven traitors are doing, no one knows better than me!"
Having defeated his opponent, the scarecrow nightmare, unaware that over four hundred bystanders were observing from afar, gladly gazed down at his shocked opponent, sneering viciously:
"Due to Destroyer Leon’s crazy actions, half the Dream Realm is flooded with boundless fear, and the King of Nightmares in Demonic Soul Abyss received unimaginable nutritious spoils. He should have awakened immediately.
But, once I joyfully infiltrated that Strange City, I found that the King of Nightmares not only failed to benefit but was subjected to unimaginable desecration and suppression!"
The scarecrow nightmare, growing more irate as he spoke, pointed at his silent opponent, angrily spat:
"You awful traitors, you’re gathering the Dream Realm’s creatures’ dread towards the Destroyer, trying to condense this fear into a new ’Lord of Nightmares’ to replace the still slumbering King of Nightmares!
You deserve to die!!!"