[Nightmare]

"Do you even understand what classification of shit-storm you unleashed on Myriad?"

"I… take it I ended up using my Nightmare then?" Helix asked with a wry chuckle.

Macron gave him a puzzled expression.

"Wait… you don't know if you used your Nightmare?

You best not mess with me, boy.

If you do, I'll rip out a healthy rib and stab it through your lungs on purpose."

"Woah… there's no reason to make hasty decisions!" Helix replied while raising his hands in surrender.

"Then explain. Start from the last thing you remember." Macron gruffed.

Helix explained how Lucas and Ethan confronted him and tried to use their Nightmares near the Royal Library.

Then he explained how he used his Nightmare while attempting to block an attack.

"I see… so that's why you don't know if you used your Nightmare." Macron chuckled with madness in his eyes.

He placed his palms on his eyes and massaged his temples with his thumbs.

"Boy... I'm unsure whether to be impressed, thankful, or apologetic." Macron mused with a self-deprecating tone.

"If they lit the Royal Library on fire, the Kingdom would have seen them hang.

I apologize for not taking your warnings about these [videogame] and cultivator mindsets seriously."

Helix had a serious conversation with Macron after confirming that the Kingdom purposely summoned light novel-loving otakus and weebs.

He warned him about people treating Myriad like a videogame and, more importantly—as a cultivator world.

"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault there's a wild pack of power-thirsty, disillusioned, super-otaku ex-virgins roaming these halls." Helix claimed while shaking his head.

"I have so many questions about what you just said…." Macron replied with a pensive gaze.

Helix braved a chuckle before remembering something important.

"Can you please thank the women that helped me?" Helix asked.

Macron's face paled when he heard Helix's question.

"Is there something wrong?" Helix asked with a puzzled expression.

"Did you say that girls helped you?" Macron asked.

"Was that a dream?" Helix asked with a confused expression.

Macron's mouth opened and closed multiple times.

"That's a hard question to answer... according to the testimony from Lucas and Ethan, girls from the hero recruits came to save your life."

Helix's eyes widened in shock, and an icy chill ran down his spine.

"However, the women in question had alibies and weren't there, and the guards didn't see or hear them before they arrived." Macron continued.

"The only theory that isn't batshit crazy is that your Nightmare created those girls because they were your attackers' greatest fear.

But the two seemed obsessed with the women, not afraid of them.

Whenever I think about it, it feels like my brain is going through a meat grinder."

Helix blinked twice in confusion before sighing.

"I think the two were extremely worried about the females' perceptions about them.

So their greatest fear was being caught by the females after their crime. That's a theory."

Macron's eyes widened in surprise.

"If that's true, it would explain a lot."

After a moment of silence, Macron rubbed his temples again.

"However, it won't quell the raging shit-storm that erupted after the incident."

Helix grimaced.

If his [illusion] involved real people, he could only imagine the chaos it caused.

He opened and closed his mouth multiple times, trying the words to say.

However, Macron raised his hand to stop him.

"There's no need to say anything." The man chuckled bitterly.

"You warned me this would happen, and I didn't take it seriously.

Now you're injured, two people are detained under 24-hour supervision pending judgment, and many of the female Knights are shaken."

—

"Here's a [long] list of reasons I'll be killed right after using this skill for the first time." Helix said with a bitter smile.

"It'd be one thing if I could summon illusions, but making people confront their greatest fear can be traumatizing."

"That sounds a bit dramatic, don't you think?" Macron asked incredulously.

Helix laughed with bitterness in his eyes.

"Say a person has an irrational fear of spiders, which is common on earth." He prefaced.

"The person is afraid of [one] spider of any size.

Now imagine a thousand spiders crawled over that person in the middle of a battlefield."

Macron's eyes widened with realization.

"Worse, when the spiders start crawling on that person, they'll panic, and their actions will be erratic.

So they'll start swinging their sword or releasing their Nightmare at the spiders.

If someone's in the forest and shoots out a powerful fire blast to kill the spiders, it'll set the whole area on fire." Helix chuckled bitterly.

"Then why wouldn't you stop it?" Macron asked with a thoughtful gaze.

"I can't." Helix said with a slight smile.

If I could create a thousand spiders, the person in training would yield, and I'd shut it down.

It could even be a powerful tool for resistance training and helping people overcome their fears.

However, I can't shut it down or control what happens to the person currently."

Macron chuckled in pained astonishment.

"It's brutal. I feel like it's a trial to find those worthy of wielding the skill."

Helix sighed after he finished and took a deep breath.

"That's not the worst of it, either. The real problem—"

—

"Is the kingdom investigating me, or are my attackers seeking revenge?" Helix asked with a bitter smile.

Macron shook his head.

"No. Fortunately, no one's gunning for you or knows about your Nightmare.

I've been hiding our blood pact for the higher-ups by demonstrating that your Nightmare lights paper on fire when you write about it.

Then, after warning them about the curse, they shut down."

"Thank you." Helix replied with a wry smile.

"Hah. No need to thank me. I'll die if I don't protect it." Macron laughed.

"Besides, I have bigger problems to worry about.

Your attackers' behavior adversely affected a group of girls, and the anxiety spread to all recruits afterward.

It wasn't a devastating blow, but you're smart enough to know that this is the most crucial time to keep morale high."

Helix nodded with a serious expression.

"If there's anything I can do, please let me know." Helix offered.

"Since I have the Myriad Library, I'll research a reasonable explanation to provide comfort without triggering problems.

Also, I think one of the girls involved wants to speak with me. She left me this note."

—

"Hello, Mistress. Are you a friend of Sir Helix?"

"Hello. My name is Marie and this is Riley. We're not Helix's friends, but he's expecting us." A nervous female voice responded from the hallway.

"Emelia, please let them in." A warm voice requested.

"Sir Helix! You shouldn't be walking right now!" Emelia cried.

"Ah, come now, Emelia. You make it sound like I'm at risk of dying." Helix said with a slight smile.

"I was out cold for three days because of spirit particle deprivation, not because I was in the jaws of death."

Helix wasn't lying. Mostly.

He was hibernating because using [Nightmare] drained more than 100% of his spirit particles, but he could have died if his ribs punctured his lungs.

"That's true. My apologies for leaving a false perception, Sir Helix." Emelia said with a bow.

Helix gave Emelia a slight smile before turning to Marie and Riley, who gave him skeptical expressions.

"Please you two, come in and shut the door."

When Marie shut the door, her eyes widened in astonishment.

"I-Is this a—"

"Magic circle? Yes. It's called the [Anti-Diffraction Circle].

It absorbs sound waves to lower the noise coming out of the room.

The circle doesn't block sound waves completely, but it's the best I can create."

"Wait, what!? How did you learn how to create magic circles in two days!?" Marie cried in bewilderment.

"Hah. I wish I could do that.

I traced the magic circle from a textbook, read the chant aloud, and prayed it worked.

Luckily it was a beginner's circle." Helix said with a warm smile.

Both looked at the circles with wonder; they hadn't thought about the combat and magic capabilities they could have learned if they had it.

"Please come sit, you two." He requested while motioning to one of the leather chairs.

After sitting down, he looked over at Emelia.

"Emelia, could you please make us some tea before joining us?" Helix requested.

"J-Joining you? I couldn't possibly do that…." She replied with strained confusion.

"You're my aid, Emelia. Therefore, I need you to be present to better understand how you can help me." Helix responded with a warm smile.

"I-I see… I'll make the tea and join you after." She said while moving quickly from the area.

Marie watched Emelia until she left and then turned to Helix.

She was a beautiful redhead with vibrant green eyes, one of the few who hadn't changed her appearance.

The same was true of Riley, whose natural appearance was cute but ordinary-looking.

She had straight brown hair with tan eyes. However, she had gentle expressions that made her seem approachable.

"What the did you do to pull it off?" Marie asked with a serious expression.

—

[A/N: I updated this chapter, so I'm sorry if your comments were deleted.]

Power stones = more readers = more content. :)