Nightmare Mythos

Being shrouded in the disguise of Erin's second facet [A Gum], the group continued dashing forward under the shade of the candelabra.

Mixed with the unstoppable disguise which can pass through tangible objects as long as Erin can exert an essence that has been refilled with the use of [Exchange] facet from Amar, the group showed no signs of stopping.

'Sir Amar…'

Cesar remembered the time when Amar tried to heal his eyes even though he didn't specifically request it made his opinion regarding the huge man with excellent running power great.

His healing ability [Flesh Healing] had a very grotesque name with a very outrageous description that Amar had provided for them.

For him to heal people, he had to use his blood and flesh in exchange.

Yet as if he didn't care any of it a bit, he willingly treated the injuries he was capable of healing while assisting them to the best of his ability.

Sadly, what happened to Cesar's left eye isn't treatable with his powers.

Still, the respect that Cesar formed for Amar was great. All this time they had been here, he didn't hear a single complaint from the huge guy. He willingly gave himself in if that's how the group would push themselves forward.

'Everyone in this cohort has been good…'

Cesar gritted his teeth, couldn't believe that he was thinking of sacrificing them if push came to shove and everything was not going to their position if they were this kind of people.

'I'll pay you all back.'

Whoosh—!

"Quentin?"

The disguised operation had Quentin as its center. His second facet [Navigation] is very good in this kind of situation.

Erin had a problem with his [A Gum] camouflage and that is the people from the inside we're unable to peer through the outside as well, the same as the beings who wanted to look through the inside.

This is why Quentin was a perfect candidate to direct themselves in this moment of pinch and chance to create a certain distance between the confused shadows that started to come to their senses.

After all, in his line of sight, the navigation had the ability to peer through anything as long as it wasn't thick enough and not too much of a burden on his eyes.

Him having a second facet while still being a Shaded of the First Order was being shown to the cohort right now. His rare case of being a holder of two facets is becoming handy.

"Enemies at the back have started to follow but we can continue with our usual plan."

Truth be told, this is one of the last two plans they stored they had. Whatever they did earlier, they can just repeat earlier but disguise operation was out of the option after this.

It was because no matter how Amar insisted on using his [Exchange] facet with Erin, the team had to limit his usage to it. After all, the more demanding the exchange is, the higher the consequences he'll receive.

It will all be worthless if he dies at the end of this when the rest survive.

Hence, this disguise operation will be a one-time thing.

"On the right! East-South East!"

Quentin shouted an incoming shadow puppet that went on the eastern side of their formation.

Upon hearing his shout while fully trusting the judgment of his vision that only he could see, Klaus extended his Tether in the direction while Erin slightly raised the camouflage gum to give way to his ability.

Whoosh—!

Reeling the shadow puppet towards their position inside, the surprised corrupted human was thrown towards the back of the position where Jeremiah was stationed.

Slice—!

Unable to defend itself from Jeremiah, he attacked the shadow with his prowess regarding spears and merciless actions. Running at his own pace instead of being forced to fight, he was able to fend off the immortal puppets and throw them aside.

Whoosh—!

Releasing the shadow from his Tether, Klaus went to hear another direction of shadows from Quentin and continued dragging them inside the concealed gum.

Slash—!

No matter how many times Jeremiah cut the shadows, they continuously reformed themselves and ran towards the group, only to be dragged inside one by one. Unable to use their abilities momentarily, he was having the best time on his life.

Forcing one versus one that is within his pace, Jeremiah didn't reject this relentless action of fighting and continued sprinting forward without falling behind the group.

This operation continued working as the rest of the shadows were already surrounding them. Even so, with [A Gum] ability to pass through any obstacle, equivalent to Erin's essence pool, they didn't have to worry about a problem for now.

For now…

"Hahh…"

Feeling his stamina running out while his legs started to give in to exhaustion, Cesar just had to bite his lip to put his focus back in the front.

Everyone had ways to cope with the fatigue that slowly mounted on their well-being by slapping themselves loudly, pinching their skin very hard, and flicking their foreheads. Anything was being utilized at this point.

Because of that, everything has been well for now.

For now…

However, all this delusional thinking had been put aside once Quentin had slowed his pace down which the cohort had noticed very noticeably.

"What?" Cesar asked Quentin beside him, the same person guiding them while being inside the camouflage gum.

His face was fear-stricken as his eyes started to shake horribly.

"T-the Nightmare is there!"

Unlike the grotesque image that stayed on Cesar's mind earlier after starting the marathon, the dim shadow seemed to be back to 'normal'. It appeared meters away from them, menacingly staring down.

Quentin isn't just imagining it.

As if it could see the camouflage gum, unlike the puppets who were just running blind, the Nightmare started sprinting in their direction.

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Facets Archive

Erin: A shorty but a very loud person.

-Bug Wall: A defensive mechanism where a barrier of beelice, a mixture of bee and lice creatures forms a towering wall in the front, shielding the people within for protection. It couldn't protect its rear, however.

-A Gum: Can transform into a tangible object that makes anything inside of it intangible for attacks, in exchange for Erin's essence pool. Has the ability to camouflage, which works on being intangible from outside influence. Soundproof as well.

Amar: A huge person yet his capability to run didn't hinder his huge size. The most tenacious person in the squad.

-Exchange: the ability to swap the thing he desired from his mind. As long as it is within his capability, any exchange is possible. Yet the consequences are higher, the higher the demand.

-Flesh Healing: Using his blood and flesh as an exchange, Amar is an invaluable healer that comes with a price for his overbearing power. The possibility of dying to his own ability is great.