Chapter 1173: Entering The Nightmare

Chapter 1173 – Entering The Nightmare

Lux almost laughed.

Lilith stroked one of Buni’s ears. "I know, sweetheart." She looked back toward Lux. "Kaelmor eventually realized her curse was reactive. The more frightened she became, the worse things became for whoever caused it. He couldn’t safely control her, but apparently he was equally unwilling to let her wander freely."

Lux nodded slowly.

"So he imprisoned the woman whose supernatural defense mechanism punishes anyone who traumatizes her."

"Yes."

Lux rubbed his temple. "His Majesty continues demonstrating excellent long-term planning. And Mimi?"

The serpent woman smiled.

Lilith gestured toward her. "Demoness of Venom."

Mimi gave a graceful little bow.

"Her venom is capable of mass killing almost anything."

Gula slowly moved her pastries farther away from Mimi.

Mimi noticed. "I don’t randomly poison food."

Gula relaxed. "Good."

"Usually."

Gula immediately moved the pastries farther again.

Mimi laughed.

Lux looked between them.

One walking supernatural bad-luck catastrophe.

One biological weapon wearing a beautiful dress.

Lilith suddenly placed one hand against her chest.

"They’re my servants."

Lux’s head snapped toward her. "Wait, what?"

Lilith blinked innocently. "My servants."

"You already know them?"

"Of course."

Buni nodded.

Mimi looked amused.

Lilith slipped between them and casually wrapped an arm around each woman’s shoulders. "Before I went to sleep, these two served me."

Lux stared. "I thought they’d eventually left after I disappeared." Lilith’s smile faded slightly. "Turns out Kaelmor got them."

That changed the atmosphere.

Buni’s ears lowered.

Mimi’s smile became colder.

Lux understood immediately.

Kaelmor hadn’t merely collected useful beings.

He’d systematically collected pieces of the ancient order.

Then another detail caught Lux. "Wait. The names."

"What about them?"

"Buni and Mimi? Those are their actual names?"

"Of course. I named them." Lilith looked proud.

Lux fell silent.

Why did they sound like pets?

Lux opened his mouth.

Then stopped.

His eyes slowly traveled across the room.

Toward Slimy.

The ancient supreme leader of the Forgotten Corridor was sitting elegantly in an armchair, still drinking coffee under the name Slimy.

Lux closed his mouth.

Right.

Apparently terrifying ancient demon women liked cute names.

He wasn’t touching that cultural phenomenon without protective equipment and possibly a lawyer.

His gaze moved around the living room again. "So the only one who hasn’t returned is Yue’s team." Lux frowned. "I wonder if they’re in danger."

But almost immediately, he rejected the thought.

No.

His system should have detected it.

Yue wasn’t alone either. Lullaby was with her, along with Sloth House soldiers. If anything catastrophic happened, Lux should have received an alert.

Still...

He didn’t like unfinished variables.

Lilith casually raised her hand. "Oh, I took a peek at their location before I came back."

Lux immediately turned toward her. "And?"

"They’re fine~"

His shoulders relaxed.

"But..."

They tightened again.

Lux stared.

Lilith smiled innocently. "There’s a small problem."

"Why does everyone keep putting words like small and little before problems that usually involve ancient magical catastrophes?"

Lilith considered that. "Optimism?"

"Suspicious."

She laughed. "Their battle isn’t happening physically. It’s happening in the dream world."

That explained the lack of conventional distress signals.

Lilith walked toward an empty chair and sat gracefully, crossing one leg over the other. "The prison is built around a looping dream. The prisoner isn’t simply asleep. Her consciousness has been trapped inside the same constructed reality for a very, very long time."

Lux’s expression sharpened. "A repeating memory?"

"Something like that. Except the dream adapts."

That was worse.

Much worse.

Lilith continued, "They need to get the prisoner out of the loop before they can safely remove her physical body."

Lux looked toward Sira. "Lullaby should specialize in that."

"She does," Lilith replied. "Which is why they’re still doing fine."

"Then what’s the problem?"

Lilith’s smile faded. "The prisoner. She experienced a lot of trauma before she was imprisoned. Betrayal especially." Lilith rested her cheek against one hand. "The dream uses those memories. Every time Lullaby gets close to breaking the loop, the prison reshapes itself around another fear, another betrayal, another reason for the prisoner not to trust whoever is trying to wake her."

Lux’s jaw tightened. "So they’re fighting her prison and her trauma simultaneously."

"Pretty much."

"And Yue?"

"Apparently threatening dream constructs with dragon fire."

Lux paused. "Does that work?"

"Sometimes."

Fair enough.

He stood.

His injuries immediately reminded him that standing was technically an optional activity.

Lux ignored them. "Should I back them up?"

Lilith looked him up and down.

Dusty.

Battered.

Hair ruined.

Freshly healed from being exploded through architecture.

Then she smiled sweetly. "Well... I don’t think you’ll be particularly useful there."

His eyebrow twitched. "Excuse me?"

"It’s a dream built from emotional trauma and betrayal. Lullaby understands dreams. Yue has ancient spiritual experience."

Lilith pointed at him. "You understand contracts, money, seduction, daggers and turning financial infrastructure into military positions. That is an extremely respectable skill set. But that’s not useful."

Lux stared at her. "It should be useful at some point."

Lilith blinked. "What are you going to do? Audit the dream?"

Lux paused. His red eyes slowly narrowed. "That’s actually a good idea."

Lilith stared at him. Then shook her head. "No. Absolutely not. Do not financially audit someone’s trauma."

"I wasn’t going to financially audit it."

"You were thinking about it."

"I was considering available options."

"That means yes."

Lux smiled innocently.

Lilith sighed. "I can take you in if you really want to help them."

That wiped the amusement from his face.

"You can connect me to their dream?"

"I can."

Lilith reached into the folds of her dress and produced a small black stone.

Lux immediately sensed the mana radiating from it.

Thin silver veins pulsed across its surface like sleeping nerves.

"I took this from their location before coming here," Lilith explained. "It’s part of the prison."

Lux raised an eyebrow. "You stole part of an ancient royal prison?"

"I prefer borrowed. Because this was physically connected to the dream formation, I can use its residual link as an anchor."

Lux understood immediately. "So I don’t need to travel there."

"Exactly." Lilith smiled. "I can send your consciousness directly into the same dream layer where Lullaby and Yue are operating."

Lux looked at the stone. "And my body?"

"Stays here."

Lux glanced down at his battered condition.

That was convenient.

He sat back down. "Fine." His red eyes gleamed. "Send me in."

Lilith grinned. "Go audit the nightmare, Little Greed."