I won.

Gazing at the vast Heart Lake, now stirring with tumultuous waves, a slight, confident smile emerged from beneath the mask, revealing a sense of victory.

Although I hold no respect for those True Gods who only rely on brute force, I must admit there's truth in the notion that in the face of absolute power, no matter how brilliant the strategy and calculation, they all become utterly meaningless!

Once the waves above the Heart Lake disperse, with the Authority returned from the Heart Lakes of nearly a billion living beings, I will possess power on par with, or even surpass, the Aquarius Chief!

Even if it comes to a head-on battle, with my superior strength, it's uncertain if I could defeat the Aquarius Chief. However, having already exploited his Heart Lake, there are flaws all over him. If I manipulate them well, I could even turn him into a puppet in my hands!

And when that time comes, two powerful figures nearly reaching the level of Pillar Gods, attacking an ordinary human yet to transcend the gap between man and god, the result is obvious!

"You're finished!"

Just as the Heart Lake God was about to turn back and stealthily attack the Aquarius Chief once more, the middle-aged man, blindfolded and unable to hear, laughed loudly from a dog's mouth by the riverbank:

"My Heart Lake has completed! You will soon... glug glug..."

After using the black dog to drag the middle-aged man into the river to calm him down, Leon looked at the panel where "Nightmare is the deepest fear in the night" was lighting up, and let out a long breath of relief.

Though the Taurus Director was offline, that damned sun had finally set!

"Pull your brother up now, no need to keep him soaking!"

After reminding the female Cleaner, feeling his body becoming exceptionally active under the night sky, Leon closed his eyes with a sense of unusual delight, raising his head towards the gloomy night sky through the thick earth above.

The effect of the badge "Night, Terror" essentially is the three Authorities the King of Nightmares wields: Nightmare, Night, and Fear.

During the night, my stamina and energy become inexhaustible; the more people fear me, the stronger I become; and when I actively return to the deepest part of the Dream Realm, I will immediately become the new Lord of Nightmares.

And this is just while in the "normal" state.

Having consumed all the Cleaners from the Aquarius Branch, I have now surpassed the threshold of 60 Contamination Value points, temporarily becoming a True God, fully acquiring the Authority and rank of a True God.

With this 60-point Contamination Value "True God" mode, as long as I fully activate these three Authorities, it equates to the living King of Nightmares bypassing the blockade and suppression of the Watcher's Palace, descending upon the world in near-perfect form, so then...

What the Heart Lake God can do, why can't I, the King of Nightmares, do the same?

...

What's happening?!

Just as Leon opened his arms above the underground river, adopting a stance as if to embrace something from the night sky, a deep sense of unease hit Shaobai, prompting him to hurriedly look up.

Through the eyes of the countless living beings that I control, the illusions and the Heart Lake God shockingly discovered that the sky, after the sun disappeared, exploded with a darkness deeper than the night itself, as if a bucket of black paint had been kicked over.

And the once-bright Galaxy above, under the unreasonable contamination of the darkness, rapidly transformed from a dazzling silver into an ominous black-red. An overwhelming black river composed of countless nightmares, mingled with countless dream fragments, crashed down upon the newly formed vast Heart Lake!

This is... the Demonic Soul Abyss? The Demonic Soul Abyss of the King of Nightmares?!!!

Recognizing the source of the change in the night sky, deep within the heart's molten channel, Shaobai's eyes bulged wide, momentarily unable to believe what he was seeing.

According to the intelligence provided by Dongya, not only was the previous King of Nightmares killed by the joint forces of the Scarlet Hair Lady from the Virgin Branch and the Puppeteer from the Scorpio Branch, but the new King of Nightmares was also completely "used up" by the Aquarius Director, leaving no remains.

After losing two consecutive Lords of Nightmares, the Demonic Soul Abyss was supposed to be severely weakened. By logical estimation, it would take at least a hundred to two hundred years before a new King of Nightmares could appear, but now...

It feels even stronger than before?!!!

Watching the domineering black river that crashed down from the night sky and invaded the Heart Lake, Shaobai, stunned, felt his power, previously rising continuously, suddenly plummet violently!

In Shaobai's powerless gaze, sneering ghosts draped in gray mist, headless knights wielding spine whips, skeletal colossi made of thin bones, and gaunt women walking with snow and wind—figures from stories and nightmares—charged into the Heart Lake atop the rolling black river.

If it was just a clash between the Heart Lake and the Nightmare, the Heart Lake God, who had gained momentum first, might not have lost. But with the nightmare hordes descending with the Demonic Soul Abyss, they rampaged wildly in the enormous unprotected Heart Lake.

These terrifying and powerful nightmares savagely plundered the souls of all living beings, while casting their wills into the Demonic Soul Abyss and fervently chanting the true name of the great Lord of Nightmares...

Leon? Leon Laine? You're the new King of Nightmares?

...

Now I understand why those True Gods are so eager to plunge into the present world.

Feeling the massive power inflating like a balloon, causing a dull ache in my soul, Leon, both exasperated and in pain, frowned and had to command the nightmares to slow down their plundering of wills.

While the power of the King of Nightmares isn't the strongest among the True Gods, the Demonic Soul Abyss he controls, along with the nearly endless nightmares within, are exceptionally difficult to deal with.

Last time the Demonic Soul Abyss descended upon the capital, the Clean-up Bureau called in a solar beam from a distance, preventing the complete overlap of the Demonic Soul Abyss and the capital. Additionally, the Director held open a scarlet domain of Slaughter Blood Hair, single-handedly holding back a million nightmares, just barely staving off the invasion of the King of Nightmares.

This time, even though the Demonic Soul Abyss I summoned is much smaller in scale, without the obstruction of the Sun Dial and Slaughter Blood Hair, the momentum surpassed the previous incident...

Ugh... enough! Stop dragging Mixue Ice City my way. With all of them, I can't handle it.

After glancing at the austere and white icy fortress deep within the Demonic Soul Abyss, Leon hastily gestured to the heralds of nightmares on the abyss, indicating for them to quickly send Mixue Ice City back.

If this item representing the Authority of the Lord of Nightmares also came over, it would mean a full-blown invasion of reality by nightmares, resulting in worse consequences than just plundering billions of nightmares. If that were to happen, I might be overwhelmed by the rapidly increasing power before even defeating the Heart Lake God!

Sigh... it seems being a True God isn't so easy after all.

Expressing an envious sentiment that could make the Slaughter King Association's eyes bleed with jealousy, Leon glanced at the Heart Lake, being relentlessly battered by the Demonic Soul Abyss and likely to be completely annihilated soon, then beckoned to the black dog soaking in the underground hot river.

"Pff... cough cough..."

Spitting out the copious river water that had poured into his mouth, the middle-aged man, eyes blank, glared at Leon, voicing Snow Bai's terrified inquiry.

"What have you done? What are you up to!!!"

"You."

Pointing at the middle-aged man, Leon looked through his violently agitated Heart Lake towards Shaobai's true form in the heart's molten channel, smiling with the confidence of someone with a Contamination Value of 69 points.

Wait for me, I'm coming right over!