Chapter 57: A Nightmare

"Hmmm, things seem to be going pretty well for me!! So far everything is on track! My servants are more competent than I expected, so my palace is secure — if it all keeps going like this, it’ll be perfect." Nio murmurs as she lies down on her bed in her palace.

"I can hardly believe it’s been almost three months since I arrived in this world. No matter how chaotic everything is, it all still takes a lot of time. The adventurers seem to be reorganizing themselves more properly now."

"My palace is clearly considered a danger zone now, so very soon powerful people will start heading toward it, while the war between the Empire and the Kingdom of Ortyr continues as always..." Nio finds it amusing how she’s changed so many things in this world, yet at the same time barely affected what already existed.

The war between the two didn’t stop just because she arrived. Her existence didn’t cause despair or absolute chaos in the world — in fact, the world continues almost the same in many respects.

Showing an impressive stability, it makes Nio realize just how vast the world is. When people talk about conquering the world or destroying the world, no one truly measures how enormous the world really is.

"With my current power, along with my servants and with Typhon, wiping out every living being in this world might be possible, but even that couldn’t really be called destroying the world. The world would still be here..." She grows drowsy as she rambles.

"It’s so... strange... I feel small... as small as I never felt when I was human..." When she was human, how vast the world was seemed irrelevant, but now that she can easily destroy countries, she understands just how immense the world is in power, because the world is something she cannot destroy.

"I wonder... if I can become... stronger." She begins to fall asleep, an extremely deep sleep, but unlike most times she simply finds herself somewhere else, as if she had been pulled.

"H-Huh?! Wh-Where..." She looks around, seeing the cosmos, as if she were adrift in space. Looking down, she sees that the floor seems to be made of liquid, but she doesn’t sink, and the "liquid" behaves like a solid that reflects the stars and celestial bodies in the sky.

"Oh! You showed up — finally, Nio. It took many days to get a success." Nio quickly looks toward the voice and sees Typhon sitting in a chair, drinking from a cup of something.

"You—" Her entire body bristles, readying for a fight, as her wings spread open aggressively in warning.

"Before you get angry, know that this is a dream — or rather, a nightmare. There’s no point in fighting here; nothing will change since it doesn’t affect us physically or spiritually. So calm down. I know you’re upset about your favorite toy that I broke, but let’s set those disagreements aside."

"Hatred won’t bring that weapon back, and it won’t resolve anything between us, right? A proper dialogue is best."

"Aside from being ’enemies,’ we’re wives. How about a chat?" Nio looks around. She’s not sure about any of this.

"H-How did you call me here?"

"You’re a Nightmare Dragon — it’s part of your biology to be able to do this. I just gave you the path to come." Typhon says it as if it were nothing. Nio looks at the chair in front of her.

’I shouldn’t trust her! This is exactly the kind of being she is. I shouldn’t lower my guard. Typhon is the worst possible kind of enemy for me — someone who acts like a reliable ally. Her calm and rational demeanor is what makes this dangerous.’ Nio steps back.

"I want to leave."

"You can leave if you want, but do you know how? The other Nio knows perfectly well how to enter nightmares, how to control what’s inside them, and how to leave — but you, without experience, can you do that without practice?" Hearing this, Nio bites her lips. She barely knows what her race can truly do in this new world now that she’s no longer limited by the game.

"What do you want from me? You’re my enemy. You shouldn’t force me into this stupid little chat." Nio says to her, and Typhon doesn’t show much of a reaction.

"Wouldn’t you like to know more about me? Since you’re the second wife, I imagine you know little compared to the other Nio, so I thought you might enjoy it? I collect information about you, and you collect information about me. Treat it like chess — we’re both kings on our sides of the board. We can observe the entire panorama with the same advantages and disadvantages." She says something that truly makes Nio thoughtful.

’She really can collect information about me, but I can also collect information about her...’ Nio wants very much to refuse, but there are things she wants to know, and she doesn’t know how to leave. So instead of throwing a tantrum, she approaches and sits down in the empty chair that had been waiting for her.

"Good girl." When Typhon gives this praise, Nio’s body flinches as a reflex, as if she had some trauma with it.

"I-If you really want to talk, how about telling me how you plan... to recover your true power..." Nio sees the perfect opportunity. To Nio, she already has all the power she should, but if her theory is correct, both she and Typhon might be able to have far more power.

"Oh, you poor little thing. Has being so weak bothered you? It’s obvious we just need to restore our previous state. It should be easily possible if we accumulate enough energy to break through the barriers holding back our power."

"!!!" Nio is shocked — not just because Typhon speaks of a real way to gain more power, but because there really is a way to gain more power and Typhon already knows how.

’So we really can have the power to destroy universes!? That’s absurd...’ Nio doesn’t like this discovery, because if she can have that power, Typhon can have it too, which is terrible for all of existence.

And unlike Typhon, who mentally has experience with this level of power, Nio only has experience with the power level of the game, so she doesn’t even know how she should strategize against a being that strong.

"And how will you do it?" Nio asks Typhon, who just gives a smile.

"It’s my turn to ask, don’t you think? Nio, how have you been?" Typhon’s question is very different from Nio’s. While Nio asks questions concerned with the future, Typhon asks questions concerned with Nio.

"...I’m fine..." Nio looks at Typhon’s satisfied smile and feels strange and uncomfortable. How can her greatest enemy be happy that she’s doing well? It’s incomprehensible and unsettling.