Nightmare Mythos

One of Cesar's eyes glowing slowly diminished as he looked at the situation below. Those walking monsters are clenching the food that appeared eatable on the outside but was just full of bodily organs once someone managed to see the true colors of their appearances.

It wasn't different from the humans that appeared 'humanly' on the outside as every one of them was a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Watching those foods being shown to him when those human monsters insisted that he eat them, Cesar almost wanted to throw up but managed to get ahold of himself.

"Calm down…"

Cesar took a huge breath as he began to analyze the situation before him that didn't look normal at all in any sense.

'First of all, this is not just a normal mission where all I'll be doing is free fucking labor! Free labor my ass! If I were to receive that kind of mission again, I'll remember to always use my Eyes to see if they are fucking monsters or not!'

Cesar opened the key and transferred it to a nearby chandelier to use as a spot before continuing his analysis.

'Second, I'm trapped in a fucking mansion yet again. How cliché and nostalgic. It seems like I will not be escaping from any of the mansion happenings at all, huh?! Great! Looks like all I could do right now is jump into nearby chandeliers and hope that they will not fall or those human monsters attack me.'

Cesar transferred to another chandelier after one of the human monsters threw a plate upwards that tried to hit him but majorly failed.

'Third and the most crucial matter I need to consider. Am I fighting a Nightmare here? Considering that all of them are the same when I use Eyes of Deceit, it shouldn't be the cases where they are under a Heretic's power or a Corrupted Human. Shit, shit! Full of mysterious things again! I hate it!'

Suddenly, after analyzing his situation, Cesar began to think about the solution available for him to use.

"Facets are useless. I'm still Shaded of the First Order but it's not like I completely rely on facets while fighting my opponents. I used to deceive them and use the skills that I learned from people to fight. And I'm mostly an Artifact type of guy,"

Cesar clicked his tongue once he came to the thought that all of these thinking was useless once he put it into action.

The Librarian's key seems to be only isolated from inside the mansion itself as any other than that was pretty useless as Cesar continued to try for his way out.

But it seems the only way he could escape from inside the mansion is by destroying the mansion itself.

'Can I do it?

And something already came to his mind, the method that would give a ticket to way out of the mansion but he was unsure if he was capable of pulling off it.

After all, it had to require perfect control which he wasn't able to do until now.

But desperate times call for desperate measures.

Clank—!

The chandeliers from the ceiling started going down by the work of the human monsters and as they continued to do it, Cesar saw nothing but chances slipping by at his hands.

"Argh fuck it!"

The only thing he could think of, something that can surely pull straight out in reality if he managed to have complete control over it is no other than creating the superficial in the perfect state that was given to him in the form of conceptualization.

And he had to do it now and fast.

"Okay…"

Cesar placed one hand forward while the other rested underneath.

Then he began to create the superficial fire.

Something that he has been doing for some time now to train and something he once in a while thought off while he was being tortured by the Demonic Wrath at the time he was getting his soul healed.

It was something to relieve his pain after all. Something that he can use to escape from the hellish pain he was enduring while getting his Soul healed by the Nightmare.

However, the only thing he did was a lower version of what he was trying to think up in his head.

It wasn't enough to blow the mansion to get himself out.

Cesar looked below the human monsters that tried to reach him from his point and threw the superficial he created to at least disrupt their movements.

Booom—!

But even with that sloppy superficial fire that he created, Cesar was able to produce an explosion far from what he had imagined.

It wasn't just an ordinary fire after all. The power came from the Nightmare that some others Origin Nightmares when he was alive and active.

"Again…"

Clang—!

As the nearest and the farthest chandeliers keep getting destroyed by the throws of the humans faster, Cesar comes back to them by throwing his superficial fire back that made his enemies it was something he was trying to do.

A fruitless action for them as they regarded Cesar that way.

But the man himself wasn't giving up now.

He was too far from giving up everything that he achieved by refusing to die at the hands of the monster that forced him to eat human remains as if he was just going to go with it.

It was probably the method that the entity behind the human monsters to work as their powers worked that way but Cesar kept thinking it was still their own fault.

"Just one perfect fire…"

Drops of sweat started to appear on his forehead, nose bridge, and even the back of his clothes was getting drenched due to how much strain and intensity he was putting at this.

It was a hard thing to do.

And the latest challenge he could overcome yet.

But he needed an inspiration.

"How do I make the perfect superficial fire?"

Once that question resurfaced in his head, Cesar began to ponder deeply as he came to the first lesson where it was his first time creating the fire.

It was the time when it was supposed to be the fuse that was created first before the fire itself. In that way, it can explode any time the user wants it to explode.

Then he continued to strengthen, clean, and sharpen his superficial fire alongside his personal training since he also had to worry about them.

He has nothing.

'What am I lacking…'

Finally, as if Cedeit had enough of watching Cesar looking hopeless since invading Cesar's body would just go to waste if he died from the monster that was trying to entrap him, the Nightmare gave a few words as he stated.

"You idiot. The answer has been in front of you the whole time! In fact, it was the only missing piece you have left."

Cedeit paused, "If you continue sharpening the fire, it's obvious that the amount of mana inputted to it will be large as well. Imagine the largest fire you could think of right now, and imagine how much essence you have to use to do it," Experience more on My Virtual Library Empire

"Essence…"

As if he received the eureka that he badly needed from the one and only Cedeit himself, Cesar's eyes was full of enlightenment before putting those clues into work.

Throwing the latest superficial fire that he created since it was already wrong in the first place, Cesar began to concentrate as he put his mind into it.

'It was the freaking essence all along! God, I'm such an idiot!'

Cesar created his sloppy fire and worked on it very hard as he put half of his essence tank into the fire that he created and immediately, the result showed on his front.

"I'm the smartest!"

Cesar stood from the chandeliers he was in.

The delicate spot and glass that he was using that is on the verge of breaking as there are only a few ones of chandeliers left to use.

Finally, his gaze fell into the mansion walls before looking at his superficial fire and clenched it within his fist.

Then Cesar began to position as if he was throwing a pitch while his gaze were glued at the mansion walls as he couldn't help but remember the very mansion from the past itself.

Giving all strength to his arm, Cesar threw the perfect superficial fire as if his life depends on it and just watch the scene unfold it on his eyes.

"Bang—!"

Boooooooom—!

The mansion he was trapped in exploded as the light flashed through his eyes.

But the surprise doesn't end there. After all, there's no way Cesar would be also safe from his own power's explosion.

Cesar used the key to open the reality as he imaged the house he was staying at and saw the hole opening.

Then with a light glance, Cesar jumped through inside to escape the hellish fire that engulf the whole mansion, turning everything into ash.