Ch 180 – A Magnificent Dream World

What does it mean to enter a dream? A dream not coming from your own? It would mean your very soul, this vital part of your entire being just like a brain or a heart, would be vulnerable inside another person's dream full of danger born from their own comprehension over reality.

Some might find themselves inside a dream of a burning landscape, with seas of fire consuming everything and everyone. Some might find themselves inside the endless ocean sea. Some might find themselves inside freezing worlds filled with glaciers and ice spikes protruding from the ground.

Entering dreams is as hard as entering an enemy kingdom unarmed, along with your fist and body being the only weapon you can rely on. Everything, and everything, can cause your soul to be harmed. The time spent inside the dream can dissipate the soul, any attacks and damage caught would also damage the soul, and so much more danger lies ahead in invading the dream of others.

But for most, the risk is worth the gain. 'Meaning', that is the very essence, the solidification of a being's comprehension over the law of reality that can be found inside their dreams. Entering dreams is quite literally the most efficient way one can increase their comprehension over laws without any risk.

Absorbing souls? That could potentially permanently harm your soul.

Using magic? Still not as efficient as dream exploration.

Mind fusing?

Cloning?

Nearly everything else is below the act of exploring dreams, especially when the dream might even come from a Demigod!

And yet, even with such plentiful benefits that far outweigh any virtual risk, so few people know how to explore dreams. Why? It's because dreams themselves are quite mystical for most beings in the universe, such that only an abysmally small percentage know of their true nature and how to explore a dream.

And not only that, but most methods of dream exploration is tantamount to climbing the tallest mountain one can find without any equipment. If you didn't have a reality-bending cheat like Nox Aeterna, most would find themselves unable to even take the first step of dream exploration.

"Souls…" Nox Aeterna hummed as he closed his eyes, his eyelids drooping ever so slightly until they closed shut.

The moment he opened his eyes, he found himself suddenly transported to an entirely different realm. With rainbow-colored skies, rainbow-colored clouds, and a variety of colorful stars ranging from red to blue.

Nox Aeterna's body was floating inside the colorful void, his body turning translucent yet also shining a brilliant rainbow light comparable to a dozen stars. One can sense the powerful aura of an S-Rank being emanating from his body, while the shine stemming from his colorful body constantly exuded out 'meaning' inside the weird plane he was in.

Much of the glow in his body far outshines the vast majority of the colorful stars inside the dimension. Some were akin to a speck of light, a firefly, being compared to a burning ball of fire the size of cities or kingdoms. His presence was incomparably mighty and domineering, and even his mere aura alone caused multiple stars to quake and turn unstable, some of the more pitiful ones even directly poofed out of existence, causing the dream owners to wake up out of nowhere.

His eyes shone brilliantly upon taking a single glance at the far distance, and he saw 'it'. It was a shining ball of milky white light comparable to the size of an entire world, if he were to compare his body to it, he was merely a tiny speck!

This was the difference between mortals and gods! Even as an S-Rank soul, a realm just below the peak of the mortal realm, he was akin to just a tiny speck that can't even begin to do any real damage to the ball of milky white light.

Just being near the milky white ball of light caused Nox Aeterna to feel his comprehension of the Law of Soul to rapidly increase, and it was partly due to his own original Demigod-level comprehension of the Law in his original body. Being near the source of such deep 'meaning' caused his reintegration process to rapidly increase, but for Nox Aeterna, this was simply too slow. What he wanted was something more efficient and less time-consuming.

And so, without any hesitation, a strange power enveloped his body. First, his right hand poked through the membrane of light, next were his legs, then his head, and eventually his first body.

Upon doing so, an overwhelming feeling of danger invaded his senses and his body moved instinctively to the left before his eyes even opened. After moving to the left, he felt sharp winds brushing past his head and traces of his spiritual essence flowing out from the wound that formed on his right cheek.

He opened his eyes, and he found himself in a strange world similar to the astral plane. The spiritual energy in the air was thick, with many spiritual beings residing everywhere along with the Law of Soul in the area being deep and profound.

The landscape was similar to a kingdom in Tellus, with many houses, buildings, and such. But weirdly enough, there existed no living beings except for spiritual figures left and right. From weird worms with spiky green hair floating through the air like a green hairy rod, strange yellow frogs that stood on their two feet wearing black robes and a straw hat, to even butterflies having translucent white wings and a pair of glowing blue eyes.

Behind him, he instantly noticed the being that attacked him. It was a monstrous two-headed dog, with black fur and soulfire red eyes, its hostility was immense while the feeling of hunger emanated from it. Seeing that, Nox Aeterna's eyes glowed with awe: 'Hunger, and a malnourished body, along with signs of aging and the passage of time, this dream truly is bordering the level of a world!'

To have a mere dream, the mere accumulation of one's own comprehension of the laws of reality, be close to the level of a world, is truly an absurd notion. Only gods, beings whose strength is at a level far above worlds and mortals, can have access to such absurdity.

The two-headed wolf growled at Nox Aeterna, its eyes glowing with glee as it sensed the S-Rank aura emanating from Nox's rainbow-colored soul. While on the other hand, it was a Demigod! Beasts, in general, whether it be spiritual or not, are far more powerful than their human counterparts in terms of raw power, so the chances of it winning would definitely be high when facing this 'weak' S-Rank human.

But in the next instant, Nox Aeterna's eyes turned cold and ruthless, and before the wolf could even process what was happening, Nox Aeterna's body appeared right in front of it with a flash. He smirked lightly, and immensely powerful spiritual energy gathered at his right fist. Though immense, the energy can't compare to the amount of energy the Demigod-level wolf can exert, but as Nox Aeterna used his innumerable law comprehension, the energy's aura boosted to another level that caused the wolf's eyes to widen in fear.

It was already near the brink of death as it lost its position as an alpha of its wolf pack, being defeated by a more powerful Demigod wolf. Now, its body was slowly dissipating indicated by its aged body and malnourished frame. So facing this sudden burst of strength without any sort of defense put up, it caused an unfortunate fate to befell the poor wolf.

A brilliant burst of rainbow light exploded, and the spiritual body of the demigod-level wolf exploded into motes of light before it could even respond to Nox Aeterna's sudden attack. It was akin to a bullet being shot at a watermelon, but change the small bullet to an entire fist moving faster than the speed of sound. A loud bang sound erupted as his fist collided with the wolf's body, alerting all the other monsters in the area.

But that was what Nox Aeterna wanted, because after he killed the demigod-level wolf, a burst of 'meaning' invaded his mind and his foundation of the Law of Soul rapidly increased to an entirely new level. If he took the normal route, then this amount of progress would have taken him years to achieve! Well, that is if he was Nox Aeterna, but if he was Isaac Deathwill, then he can replicate this amount of progress in months.

His body shook slightly to stabilize his mind, forcefully being given such a large amount of comprehension in such a short period of time would even shock many experienced monsters back in Tellus. But he didn't waste any more time as his spiritual body flew high into the sky, as hordes of spiritual monsters roared and charged toward his area.

He grinned lightly, his killing intent taking a physical form as dark red miasma behind his back. Wings sprouted from behind his back the color of a rainbow, while he wielded his large reservoir of spiritual energy to gather at the palm of his hands. He reared back both his arms, and the rainbow glow around his two palms converged and thickened, while also shining brighter like two stars.

In front of him, hordes of monsters flew towards the sky in the middle of the kingdom like a hill of ants wanting to reach a drop of sugar hanging under a leaf. Their greed and hunger for him turned higher and higher as the subtle manipulation of the dream realm indicated that he was an enemy they should kill.

Countless were F-Rank, E-Rank, D-Rank, C-Rank, and even B-Rank! They were the cannon fodders of the entire horde. Many were also A-Rank, with their presence being like captains over small groups. The S-Rank figures were the leader of large groups, commanding many spiritual beasts to follow them from behind. And finally, there were multiple Z-Rank spiritual figures charging at him at blitzing speed through the sky like a bolt of lightning.

Their aura was immensely powerful, and they each showed off ferocious might that would make any S-Rank being to quake in fear.

The stronger one gets, the higher the realm one reaches, and the bigger the gap becomes! An F-Rank can contend with an E-Rank with enough skill, while a Demigod can't even contend with the weakest of Gods!

For a normal S-Rank being at the very peak of the realm would find it impossible to contend with such an endless horde of beasts. But who was Nox Aeterna? He was the clone of the clone of Isaac Deathwill! A lich that has been alive for more than a thousand years! A being known as the Emperor of Death and was one step away from reaching the realm of Gods! He was known as the greatest mage, the greatest scholar, and the greatest researcher of Tellus!

Even as a clone, one shouldn't scoff at Nox Aeterna!

"COME! COME AND BECOME MY STRENGTH!" He laughed loudly as if he was defying the heavens, and he pressed both of his palms forward.

Instantly, countless stars shot out of his hands like colorful motes of light, leaving behind colorful trails of beauty and deadly energy. They charged forward, colliding and converging with one another to turn more powerful just like the synergistic effect between laws!

Using his immense foundation, he created an attack that perfectly replicates the power and symphony of countless laws!

Without being even able to last for even more than ten seconds, the multiple demigods found themselves dying under the endless surge of colorful stars. Next were the S-Ranks, then the A-Ranks, until more and more of them died.

But would the dream of a Demigod really be so weak?

"ROAR!"

He heard a loud roar, and he saw in the far horizon an endless horde of spiritual monsters rushing towards him! What was the dream of a god? They were comparable to a functioning world, so of course they'd be similar in size!

The kingdom he found himself in was merely one of the countless kingdoms in this vast dream world!

And Nox Aeterna knew that clearly, as his ferocious grin turned more malicious while light converged around both of his open palms once more, and he shouted: "HAHAHA! THE DREAMS OF GODS ARE TRULY MAGNIFICENT!"

AN: This chapter has 2077 words.

(October 19, 2022 – 329th day of writing)