Leon watched as a group of "Nightmares" appeared out of nowhere, surrounding him in perfect unison, his eyebrows slightly raised in surprise, and he exclaimed in astonishment:
Without any intention of engaging in idle talk with Nightmare Leon, adhering to the Clean-up Bureau’s excellent tradition of acting first and explaining later, the Cleaners picked up their gear without a word and charged... and began releasing abnormal objects.
Once a desk mate with Leon, the bull-horned man let out a wild roar, his body suddenly swelling more than tenfold, charging directly at Nightmare Leon under a chaotic display of effects.
Nightmare Leon’s legs, at an unknown point, had turned to stone. Countless white feathers floated down from above, preemptively locking all possible paths of movement, and a scythe full of rust marks gently yet bloodily sliced open his throat.
Clean-up Bureau Cleaners? Why would there be Cleaners in the Demonic Soul Abyss?
After having half his neck sliced open by the scythe, Nightmare Leon slightly raised his head, furrowed his brow, and the mirror crown atop his head flashed briefly.
Immediately after, the charging bull-horned man paused mid-charge, and with a look of terror, fell headfirst into the pitch-black river, thrashing desperately.
"No! No! You can’t eat me!"
Meanwhile, other attacking Cleaners were also instantly pulled into their own nightmares amid the flash of the mirror crown, collapsing to the ground and flailing and wailing.
"Run! Leon’s gone mad again!"
"Director, I was wrong! I shouldn’t have come!"
"Help! Leon’s eating people!!!"
With a casual counterattack from Nightmare Leon, the assault of over four hundred Cleaners collapsed in a flash, with the exception of two Level 1 Cleaners, they were utterly defeated.
Having blocked the nightmare forcibly imposed by the mirror crown, Abigail and her companion’s assault became even fiercer. Ubiquitous rusted scythes emerged and dove back under Nightmare Leon’s skin like fish swimming freely in his flesh, cutting his body with countless wounds.
Meanwhile, not a single drop of blood flowed from Nightmare Leon’s deeply cut body. Instead, it was as if a torn feather pillow burst, releasing a large amount of tiny white fluff that tangled with the gray mist around him, emitting a sizzling sound like hot oil hitting water...
Glancing at the strange changes occurring on his body, Nightmare Leon didn’t even bother to show any expression as he grasped the gray mist covering himself and brushed it off lightly as if dusting off powder.
The gray mist that had been loosely surrounding him suddenly solidified, transforming into a gray robe, while the hideous wounds, as if dust on clothing, were swept away by Nightmare Leon, turning into broken little nightmares that fell into the Nightmare River below.
After giving the full-blown attack of the two Level 1 Cleaners a dismissive evaluation, Nightmare Leon squinted his eyes slightly and warned:
"Listen up, although I haven’t fully obtained all the [Nightmare] Authority, I’ve already traversed the difference between man and god, beyond what you can afford to provoke. Likewise, I have no intention of bothering the Clean-up Bureau, and creating trouble for myself.
So I’m willing to give you a chance, regardless of how you came to be here, as long as you immediately get out of my territory, I can spare you... Bastards!"
With an angry roar, seemingly realizing something was wrong, Nightmare Leon quickly withdrew.
However, a silver arm holding a small knife suddenly emerged from the blade of the scythe, slicing through the crown atop his head. Before he could react, it grabbed the fallen half of the crown and disappeared into the mirror-like blade.
It’s better to ambush after all!
Taking advantage of the [Minosil Cursed Mercury]’s rapid effect, after destroying the crown on Nightmare Leon’s head in a single blow, Leon, half-coated with [Cursed Mercury], couldn’t help but relax slightly in expression.
While Nightmare Leon was wasting time talking nonsense with the Scarecrow Nightmare, the Cleaners wouldn’t just stand idly by but instead immediately seized the opportunity to hold a quick pre-battle meeting to figure out how to kill this Nightmare on its way to godhood, with the strike that just severed the mirror crown being the biggest success of that brief meeting.
Leon had vivid memories of the mirror crown on Nightmare Leon’s head, as it was that same crown that induced the nightmare, driving him to a fit of rage that led to the destruction of half the Dream Realm. Even knowing later that the nightmare wasn’t real, it still left his mood downcast for quite a while.
Since there was now a chance to destroy one of Nightmare Leon’s "special weapons" through an ambush, Leon naturally chose the crown he had a grudge against. After taking down the crown that could "forcibly induce dreams over an area," the Cleaners, who would have been wiped out instantly, now had a chance to utilize their abilities...
Seeing the success of the "crown-slaying" plan, Mason, who used the scythe to create an opportunity for Leon, was overjoyed. Before he could even voice his urging, a clear, castrato-like singing voice came from Abigail’s hiding spot.
"Don’t eat me! I... eh?"
"The Director will avenge me! You... huh?"
"I’ve already peed my pants and you’re still going to eat me? You really aren’t picky... ah!!"
With the mirror crown shattered, the peaceful singing voice spread, and the Cleaners who had been dragged into nightmares quickly broke free from the nightmares where they were chased madly by Leon, waking up one after another.
As for Nightmare Leon, who had witnessed all this, his expression instantly turned indescribable; anger, resentment, surprise, shock... all sorts of complex emotions flashed across his face.
Just as his expression was about to morph into unfathomable fury, preparing to risk provoking a vendetta from the Clean-up Bureau just to teach these damn humans a lesson, a highly familiar figure suddenly unveiled a non-existent strange curtain, appearing before Nightmare Leon’s eyes.
"You’ve already lost!"
Just as Leon was secretly signaling to other Cleaners, preparing to take advantage of the situation with a few parting remarks and release more curses, Nightmare Leon caught sight of him and suddenly shuddered before turning and fleeing without hesitation!
Can’t fight! I’m leaving!
Watching as his mirror image, who had been so arrogant just moments ago, fled without even leaving a harsh word, Leon couldn’t help but feel a twinge of embarrassment.
This... just has to be me, no doubt about it, and not to mention, I’ve truly mastered this tactical style where realizing things have gone wrong means a strategic retreat. Content originally comes from novęlfire.net