Daniel glanced around the cave. A cold light flickered in his eyes. He was a bit curious about the monster that had managed to drag his consciousness into a dream.
It wasnât like heâd never heard of such creatures before, on the contrary, he knew about beings that fed on dreams.
But for a monster to pull someoneâs consciousness into a dream without them realizing it... that was a masterpiece on its own.
If it werenât for his strong spiritual and mental power, he wouldâve been completely trapped inside that illusion.
And from what heâd seen, the dream seemed to target oneâs deepest desiresâor at least, what it thought their desires were.
He truly did want his family to be together again, but that kind of peace wasnât meant for him.
He was someone drawn to chaos and danger. Otherwise, why would he always be poking around in places he shouldnât?
He only avoided the kinds of trouble that could endanger his family.
As for those that only put himself in dangerâhe didnât care.
That peace and stillness were uncomfortable to him. Maybe he could live that kind of quiet life for a few days, but eventually, heâd get bored of it.
He slowly stood up.
The cave walls pulsed, as if they were breathing.
Soft murmurs echoed from deep within the earth, seeping through the walls.
Then, suddenly, dried blood began dripping from the ceilingâbut when the drops touched the ground, they sank in, as if the cave itself was devouring them.
Daniel placed his hand on the wall.
It didnât feel like stoneâit felt like skin.
Veins pulsed beneath his fingertips. A heartbeat.
And with a bit of focus, he realized the cave was alive.
He sighed. At this point, he had figured it out. The cave itself was the monsterâone that probably dragged intruders into dreams and fed on them.
He couldnât understand how he hadnât realized it earlier. Maybe it just hadnât occurred to him to inspect the cave itself.
The Heavens Honor gleamed in his hand, casting a pale light around him.
The bladeâs glow trembled in the darkness, and for a brief moment, the cave was illuminatedârevealing hundreds of eyes opening within the walls.
"I didnât expect you to wake up," said a voice from everywhere and nowhere, as if the ground itself was speaking. It sounded angry.
"Hmph! But it doesnât matter now. Since youâre awake, Iâll just devour you directly."
The ground quaked. Stones split open, and from within burst masses of flesh and boneâtwisted faces, jagged stone teeth, long slithering arms.
Daniel smiled, completely unfazed. He raised his sword.
"If someoneâs going to become someone elseâs meal here, itâll be you... actually, noâturning you into a Fallen sounds better."
The cave screamed. The walls split open, and bone pillars surged upward from the groundâ[Bone Spears]!
Daniel leaped back, spun his blade, and with one sweeping strike, shattered five pillars at once.
From the cracks, dark blood sprayed and filled the air.
The mist thickened, and a thousand overlapping screams echoed from the depthsâ[Echo Devour]!
Voices tore through his mindâthe screams of his father, mother, even Elise and Tiana.
All the people he cared about.
"What makes you think thatâll work on me?" Daniel said lazily, though he was curious how this creature even knew his family.
Had it read his mind?
Noâthat was unlikely.
He activated the swordâs aura. The air twisted around him as a wave of gray energy burst outwardâthe Aura of Death.
The walls withered, chunks of flesh burned away, but the ground split open again.
The cave was alive, and within every wall, hundreds of faces quivered in agony.
The ground throbbed once moreâ[Ground Pulse]!
A massive wave of flesh and stone surged toward him, like a giantâs heartbeat.
Daniel gripped the sword with both hands and invoked the Law of Death.
The blade struck the ground, releasing a black wave of energy. The monsterâs heartbeat stopped instantly. The earth trembled.
A scream tore through the depthsâlong, distorted, unbearable.
It was so hideous that Daniel felt pain in his ears.
But the creature still wasnât dead.
From the ceiling, a massive lump of flesh fell, forming a huge head with glowing eyes.
"You donât understand... this earth is my body!"
The rocks around Daniel twisted, and [Flesh Assimilation] activatedâtrying to pull him into the wall.
Daniel was being swallowed alive, but he calmly closed his eyes and whispered,
"Law of the Moon."
A silver aura radiated from his sword.
The blade sank into the ground, and the power of death flowed through the flesh like a reflective wave.
The cave convulsed. Screams and choking noises erupted from every direction.
And thenâeverything stopped.
Silence.
Moonlight shimmered on his sword as Daniel stood, unmoving, while the monstrous mass before him collapsed.
The monster howled in fear.
"Impossible... this placeâ!" It couldnât comprehend what had happened.
Regret and terror filled its voice.
If it had known what kind of monster this human was, it wouldâve never picked a fight with him.
Why would a monster like that, disguised as a human, even be in a place like this? Why would a monster like that need to rest? Couldnât it just cross the mountains easily?
That bastard was playing the role of a pig when he is a tiger.
He wanted, in that moment, to curse that man with everything he had, but he knew it would do no good. His fate was already decided.
In front of that man he was no different than an insect.
"Whatâs wrong? Scared?" Daniel mocked coldly. He had simply reversed the caveâs authority using the Law of the Moon.
With one final strike, he slammed the sword into the ground.
A wave of death erupted beneath his feet, swallowing every inch of the cave.
The earth quaked, the walls crumbled, and the monsterâs final scream was smothered within the collapsing stone.
"Donât worry," Daniel said calmly,
"Youâre not going to die. After all, from now on... youâll be serving me for eternity."