Chapter 1774: Chapter 857: Dark Callers (Part 3)

Their eyes glowed white, with faces twisted and grotesque, shifting ceaselessly with the swirling mist. They seemed to be screaming, yet no sound emerged—at least, Gaven heard nothing.

Philancy, who had dragged Gaven hundreds of meters away, whispered an introduction: “These Undead Creatures are known as Dark Callers in the Half-Plane of Fear. They are conglomerations of the minds of dozens of victims who died in extreme fear. If they kill you, your soul will be devoured and forced to share in their endless fear and pain.

They are the hounds of the Half-Plane of Fear, dispatched first to relentlessly bite and chase prey, inciting infinite fear, making it easier for the fear dimension to lock onto and further hunt them. The chaos has arrived.”

The commotion mentioned by the Legendary Arcanist arose from the other side of the street. A mass of black mist surged from nowhere, and countless deformed and twisted monsters flickered in and out within it.

These were native creatures of the Nightmare Dream Realm, tasked with harvesting souls. Once they sensed the arrival of new souls, they appeared automatically to hunt them down, making them a part of the nightmare.

This was a contingency mechanism set up by the Dushan Witch for the Nightmare Dream Realm.

The nightmare monsters froze when they saw the Dark Callers, dumbfounded.

Though now twisted into nightmare creatures, most of them were transformed from the souls of ordinary Laiserman people. Facing such unknown monsters, they involuntarily felt fear, uncontrollably spreading.

The Dark Callers, however, became extraordinarily excited, countless faces twisting frantically and screaming as they lunged at the nightmare monsters. They were not picky; it didn’t matter if they hunted ordinary people or spiritual beings like themselves.

Before the nightmare creatures could decide whether to attack these entities or flee, an invisible force exploded at the center of the black mist.

It scattered the black mist surrounding the nightmare monsters, and two of the creatures at the explosion’s center were blasted into mist, disappearing instantly.

“Psychic Blast!” Gaven immediately recognized this attack form.

Because this was his primary profession’s attack method—Mind Attack.

The Dark Callers turned out to be a type of spiritual energy undead creature.

Upon reflection, it was perfectly normal for them to exist in this form—a conglomerate of tens of souls with psychic power naturally stronger than that of ordinary creatures.

Although the remaining nightmare monsters weren’t stunned or controlled by the Mind Shock, their reactions were delayed. By the time they regained their senses, the Dark Callers were already upon them, their terrifying and piercing screams resonating directly in the depths of their souls, detonating the fear accumulated within their bodies on the spot.

Even with the numerical advantage, most of the nightmare monsters chose to flee immediately, just like the Laiserman people leaving their homes previously hunted did, having no concept of a counterattack.

The Dark Callers, however, charged directly at the nearest nightmare creature, rolling mist with grotesque heads that frantically bit, tearing pieces of the black mist away.

The attacked nightmare monster involuntarily let out despairing and painful howls, for the Dark Callers were tearing apart its soul live.

The leading nightmare monster couldn’t withstand a full round of assault from the Dark Callers and was gnawed down to nothing. A new silent screaming visage appeared on the Dark Callers’ bodies, indistinguishable from the original appearance of the nightmare monsters.

The Dark Callers employed the same strategy against other nightmare monsters, quickly devouring the entire nightmare monster hunting team.

Nourished by the ample feast, the Dark Callers had grown a full circle larger since first entering the Nightmare Dream Realm.

To them, the slaughter and consumption of fearful souls were a growth process.

Given enough souls, they could grow to a terrifying extent.

Soon, an even more powerful nightmare monster hunting team emerged, and this time, they faced not only stronger Dark Callers but also a new one drawn by the Nightmare Dream Realm, which emerged willingly from the Gate of Mist.

As for the instigators, Gaven and Philancy had already fled far away.

For at this rate, the Black Mist-slaughtering Dark Callers would soon attract the attention of the Dushan Witch, who would certainly thoroughly investigate the Gate of Mist—not a situation they wanted to be caught in.

Moreover, this was just the beginning. Philancy, darting around the Nightmare Dream Realm, continued to create new Gates of Mist.

Not all the creatures emerging from the Gates of Mist were Dark Callers.

Ghost Shadows, such ordinary undead creatures, were also numerous. Unlike ordinary ghost shadows, they clearly had a trait for pursuing fear and even Special Ability in this aspect, causing even fear-immune undead creatures to tremble before them.

This was no simple magic but direct manipulation of soul consciousness, a suppressive strike in some respects.

Nevertheless, the most emblematic ones were still those Dark Callers.

Their trait of rapidly growing by devouring fearful souls was too monstrous.

Especially in the Nightmare Dream Realm, where those nightmare monsters were born from the nightmares and fears of ordinary people, they served as the most natural supplement, crunchy with a taste like chicken.