Volume 1: Stranger in a Strange Land Chapter 54: Nezemar

Although it is called a "swamp", when William actually entered the Moon Realm of Juamala, he felt that it was more like an island made up of countless strange images.

At least in his eyes it looked more like an island.

Talking and screaming were heard in the fog, countless terrified and distorted faces appeared and disappeared, and countless illusory hands were waving and struggling in it.

William adjusted his landing point while falling, and quickly passed through the nightmare fog that was enough to drive a mortal crazy, and finally landed steadily on an open space in the forest.

This is a forest made up of countless dead trees of strange shapes. The land is muddy and sticky, and a light mist is rolling around.

Lightning flashes across the dark sky from time to time, and every time it flashes, it illuminates the forest in a different light.

The strangely shaped dead tree will turn into a skinny human figure with tangled and twisted limbs, the muddy and sticky land will become a blurry flesh and blood covering the entire earth, and the mist will turn into a hideous vengeful spirit.

A fat, sickly crow flapped its wings and came to the dead branch next to William. It leaned back, spread its wings, opened and closed its beak, and spoke in a voice like a baby screaming:

"Ah~ A traveler from the real world who accidentally strayed into the Moon Realm, welcome to the nightmare... Gah!"

Because they just needed a guide, William simply made an empty hand shake towards the other party, and an invisible hand grasped it.

"you……"

"Stop talking nonsense and lead the way!"

As he spoke, a soul flame began to burn directly on the fat crow, and the pain that acted on the depths of its soul tortured it so much that it let out a wail.

It burned for about ten seconds, and William stopped only after he felt the other party's struggle began to weaken.

"Take... take the lead where to go?"

The crow, who had recovered from his shock, said tremblingly.

William untangled a strand of Liliana's hair from around his finger, summoning a breeze to carry it to the crow.

"The owner of this hair."

The crow raised its wings and touched its hair, then its cloudy eyes rolled.

"Ah... She's in that tree..."

Crow spoke up.

But before it could finish, another burst of soul flame ignited in its body.

"Just lead the way, don't talk nonsense."

The crow wailed and nodded violently, and William finally put out the fire.

"Also, don't try to play tricks. This is the Moon Realm, not the real world. I don't even need to use a sword to make your existence completely disappear."

William reminded.

Seeing that the other party continued to nod desperately to indicate that he understood, William let go of his hand.

The crow flapped its wings and flew forward crookedly, with William following closely behind it.

"You can fly as fast as you can, and I can keep up."

Before it flew far, William said behind it.

The crow nodded immediately after hearing that, and then turned into a whirlwind of black feathers and rushed towards a certain direction of the forest.

A whirlwind also rolled up around William and flew behind him.

By the way, does the Nightmare Lord now have a clan with crow imagery under his command?

William muttered to himself as he walked along the road.

Although there are countless types of Moon Realm monsters, the types that can possess wisdom are very limited. And in the Moon Realm of each Void King, basically only the different clans of that King can reach that level.

Each Void King has a set of aesthetic standards for their own followers, or their followers will have some of their own characteristics. For example, the Whispering Queen always has trouble with spiders, and the followers of the Hungry Lady always have some rot and fungus.

In William's memory, the Nightmare Lord Clawmara was a morbid particle special effects enthusiast. No matter how strong or weak his followers were, or what they looked like, they had to be shrouded in an ever-changing layer of fog to increase their sense of mystery and fantasy.

It is also for this reason that the Nightmare Swamp is also called the Frame Drop Swamp, and the Lord of Nightmare is also called the Lord of Lag.

But why is he now starting to create followers in the image of crows?

"arrive."

The sound of the crow interrupted William's thoughts. The whirlwind of crow feathers reorganized into the shape of the crow. It raised its wings and pointed to the only flourishing tree in a forest of dead trees not far away.

William also hovered in the air and looked at the lush tree. There were about seven or eight fog nightmares floating there, picking fruits from the tree.

The low-hanging fruits on the tree all had terrified human faces on them, and when they were picked by the Fog Nightmare, they would make a shrill scream.

This tree is a node that the Nightmare Swamp uses to connect to the real world. It is called the Night Sophora japonica. Its roots penetrate the territory of the Nightmare Swamp and extend into the real world and into the nightmares of mortals in the real world. It uses the fear of mortals as nutrition and produces fruits that can nourish and strengthen the power of the Nightmare Swamp.

William saw Liliana tied to the tree trunk by vines. At this moment, she was in a translucent soul state, struggling to break free from the restraints.

Seeing this, William was about to go over directly, but the crow next to him suddenly flew next to him and asked:

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, didn't you see the fog nightmares over there on the other side of the tree? There are seven or eight of them? And this place is very close to Zhuamala's bedroom. If you make any noise and get discovered, you won't be able to escape."

William paused at the crow's words. He looked at it curiously and asked:

"From the tone of your voice, aren't you a member of the Nightmare Lord's clan?"

The fat crow flapped its wings and replied:

"I serve a Moon Realm Lord as my master. I just came to the Nightmare Swamp as a messenger."

I see. No wonder it doesn't have any particle effects...

William suddenly realized.

In the Moon Realm, the Thirteen Void Kings are undoubtedly the most powerful. Their existence has been sublimated to the level of eternal immortality and can have a huge impact on the world.

But in addition to the Void King, there are some beings in the Moon Realm that are much weaker than the Void King, but still very powerful. They rule over some smaller Moon Realm areas and call themselves Moon Realm Lords.

Of course, since they basically cannot affect the real world and can only move around in the Moon Realm, their presence is much lower.

Before he was about to burn the crow to ashes, William asked casually:

"Who is your master then?"

The other party's answer saved its life at this time.

"Ally of Lady Dwarfmara, the Lord of Nightmares, caller of the storm, knower of prophecy - the father of crows."

William turned his head sharply.

Father of Crows?

The original owner of the map of the Mountains of Mourning from a thousand years ago?

A birdcage made of shadows emerged around the crow, instantly trapping it inside.

"Huh? What are you doing?"

The crow was stunned for a few seconds, then asked.

"Congratulations. You don't have to die for now. Come back to the human world with me. I have something to ask you later."

William said as he picked up the cage and flew towards Liliana's location.

When the seven or eight fog nightmares saw a mortal suddenly coming here, they couldn't help but show joy on their faces. They put down the fruit baskets in their hands and flew towards William.

"Hey, hey, hey, didn't I just say..."

The crow stopped talking halfway because it saw that the man just snapped his fingers and a space crack kept flashing between the fog nightmares. Then, the fog nightmares were instantly pulled in by something that stretched out from inside.

There was not even a chance to scream.

It was cleaned up in a few seconds.

So it shut up completely.

William landed with the birdcage in his hand and walked quickly to Liliana.

"I noticed that you seem to be either being rescued or on the way to being rescued recently."

William joked as he looked at the embarrassed looking girl in front of him.

"William Kane?"

Liliana looked at the man in front of her in disbelief, then immediately closed her eyes and shouted:

"You can't fool me, it's all illusion, it's all illusion!"

It has been some time since she was inexplicably dragged into this nightmarish place.

During this period, wandering knights or wizards would suddenly appear and help her break free from her restraints and escape, but every time those "kind-hearted people" would take off their disguises and turn into green-faced, fang-toothed monsters to devour her when she was about to escape.

Then she woke up again and found herself back here again.

It's like an endless cycle of nightmares, and I will never wake up.

"Well, his mental state seems to be good. It seems that his soul has not shown any signs of collapse yet."

William nodded slightly.

Every soul that is pulled into the Nightmare Swamp will have the Moon Realm monsters here squeeze out the emotion of "fear" to the greatest extent possible, until the victim's soul falls into numbness and gradually disintegrates.

And Liliana's current condition looks pretty good.

"Whatever you say, I won't be fooled. If you want to kill me, just kill me now. I will wake up here again anyway, right?"

Liliana said loudly with an expression that said "I've figured out your tricks."

"It was your father, Vincent, who asked me to come and pick you up."

William said as he took out the soul storage crystal.

“My father…”

Hearing this, Liliana's voice suddenly became quieter. She lowered her head and muttered to herself:

"That man is not my father. I don't have a father..."

What does it mean? The conflict between father and daughter is so intense?

William was a little confused, but he was too lazy to ask more about their family affairs. He walked over and tore off the vines that bound her, then threw the soul storage crystal to her.

"You hide inside for now, and then I'll take you out of here."

As a student at Offa University, Liliana could still recognize the Soul Storage Crystal. This was the most commonly used alchemical material by necromancers, which could directly capture the souls of non-intelligent creatures, or seal the souls of intelligent creatures if they were willing.

Of course, the so-called voluntary agreement actually only requires the other party to "agree". As for how to get the other party to agree, that is one of the important reasons why the necromancer is not welcomed everywhere on the mainland.

Liliana's soul squatted down and touched the crystal. After seeing her spirit body being slightly stretched nearby, she looked at William with surprise and said:

"Are you serious? Are you really here to save me?"

Even though all of my senses were deceived in the Nightmare Swamp, the feeling of my soul being gradually pulled into the crystal was absolutely real.

"Now that you know it, get in quickly and don't waste time. I have something important to do."

William replied helplessly.

Liliana nodded quickly, and she turned into a stream of light and entered the soul storage crystal. William picked up the crystal that was emitting a faint white light and planned to leave.

But he stopped.

It was not until this time that he noticed the outline of a woman on the trunk of the Sophora japonica tree in front of him, as if there was a woman buried beneath the bark.

In addition to being a node that draws nightmare power from the real world, the Night Sophora is also a medium that can project power into the real world.

The Moon Realm monsters that have descended into the human world can obtain support from the power of the Nightmare Swamp through the Night Sophora.

"Since Liliana was pulled here, the place corresponding to this tree must be the Thorn City."

William muttered to himself as he looked at the outline of the woman on the tree trunk. Then he waved the magic medium in his hand, and a sharp knife flashed, peeling off the entire piece of bark.

A naked woman rolled out from the tree.

She is not a soul, but a real person who entered the Moon Realm like William.

…………

"Cas...go...draw that sword!"

After being struck by the lightning, Nezemal left these words to Cass before he died.

Cass didn't dare look back to see how Nezemal died.

In other words, he didn't even dare to look away.

The fat, rotten monster had already retreated to the side, and Duke Simon, who had pulled the sword out of the boy's chest, slowly turned towards him.

At this moment, Duke Simon was surrounded by thunder, his eyes were blank blue, and a crown made purely of thunder and lightning appeared on his head.

Then, he floated in the air and looked down at Cass.

Why is it like this...

Cass thought.

Before coming, Nazemar told him that Duke Simon was just an ordinary person who didn't even have any magical talent.

But why did he suddenly gain the powerful strength that only legendary mythical heroes possess?

Was it because of the previous ritual? He stabbed the boy in the chest with his sword.

"Liz, please leave here first. It's not convenient for me to fight with you around."

Seeing that the other person's attention was on him, Cas spoke softly to Liz who was lying on his shoulder.

Liz looked back at Nezemar, whose body was emitting smoke, and then gritted her teeth and said:

"If we want to go, let's go together. Don't lie to me with such words anymore."

Cass smiled bitterly and said:

"In this situation, whoever can leave should leave first. If you are accidentally injured in the battle, I will die immediately because my life is connected to yours. You will only become a big weakness for me when you are by my side. If you run first, I will have a higher chance of surviving alone."

Although they are all close to zero.

Cass added silently in his mind.

Liz was silent for a few seconds after hearing this, then bit his shoulder viciously.

"Survive, idiot!"

After leaving a tooth mark of neither deep nor shallow on Cass's shoulder, she flapped her wings and flew towards the entrance of the tomb, looking back every three steps.

Simon kept floating in the air and watching them. He did not stop them until Liz flew away. He just shook his head slightly and said:

"I thought you would leave Thorn City after being wanted, but I didn't expect you to have the guts to come here."

His voice exploded in Cass's ears like thunder.

After making sure that Lizfei had left, Cass grasped the black knight sword named "Judgment Four".

"Why? Is it just for revenge? Or is there another reason?"

Simon asked in a rhythmic tone.

Cass remained silent. He exerted force with his wrist, but seemed unable to pull the sword out at all.

"It's useless. You can't pull up this divine weapon of the Judgment Seat."

Simon slowly floated towards Cass and said:

"This sword is called Judgment IV. It was made by the Whispering Queen. She originally held the power of conspiracy and betrayal, so she specially forged a blade that symbolizes loyalty and honor to correspond to her own nature."

Thunder and lightning surrounded Simon. He landed gently not far from Cass and continued:

"Do you understand? This sword is a sword of absolute loyalty. To gain its recognition, you must have the blood of the dark swordsman and have enough courage and determination to prove that you are worthy of this sword."

Hearing this, Cass froze, his eyes dull as he murmured:

"Is it true that only the descendants of the dark swordsman can pull out this sword?"

Simon nodded, then slowly walked towards Cass, saying as he walked:

"So the question is still the same. Why? After you were lucky enough to be saved by the witch, why didn't you choose to leave Thorn City directly? You are essentially a dead person now. You can only survive by sharing the lives of others. What can you do with this broken body?"

Simon said as he walked over and stood in front of Cas.

"Tell me, why did you do this? Why did you fight against the will of the new generation of Black Water King in such a futile way?"

The majestic magic power flowed in the dragon and snake patterns on the walls of the tomb. Thunder exploded around Duke Simon. He opened his arms exaggeratedly and spoke to Cass.

And this is the opportunity Cass has been waiting for.

He pulled out the jet-black knight's sword effortlessly, and stabbed it into Duke Simon's defenseless chest with lightning speed.

In fact, from the moment Cass held the sword, he felt that he could pull it out easily.

But judging from the fact that Duke Simon killed Nezemar with a single bolt of lightning, he deeply understood that he could not defeat this opponent even if he drew out the sword.

So he could only take a gamble and pretend that he didn't know the conditions for drawing the sword, and pretend that he couldn't draw the sword. He wanted to see if the other party would relax his vigilance and come over, and then find a chance to strike him with the sword.

It turned out that Duke Simon was even more arrogant and stupid than he had imagined. He dared to walk directly into the reach of his sword without any defense.

He also opened his arms, exposing his defenseless chest.

Then he naturally would not miss this opportunity.

"I am the descendant of the Black Swordsman, and the reason why I want to kill you is very simple. It is for revenge, and also to completely bury you, the inhuman tyrant!"

After stabbing the opponent's heart with a sword, Cass almost roared.

“Die!”

Cas pushed the sword deeper once more.

…………

The star map of the Stranger constellation once again burst out with red and black light.

William walked out of the star map. Compared to when he entered, he now had a full load.

In his left hand he held a birdcage made of shadows, and in his right hand he carried a woman wrapped in a gorgeous blanket on his shoulder.

When Vincent saw William coming back, he hurried to greet him.

"how's it going?"

He asked nervously.

William nodded to indicate that it was okay. He first put down the cage, then placed the woman on his shoulders on the ground like Liliana.

Then he took out the soul storage crystal and threw it to Vincent.