He swallowed hard. If this was one of the "Collectors," then there would be many more.
He continued toward the tower.
The light on his palm darkened.
The doll faces were now lit, their expressions twisted. The laughing ones were now crying, and the crying ones were weeping and sobbing, while some were frantically laughing.
"I am close…"
"How hard would it be to fight the boss…? Sure, he has something up his sleeves, or else he wouldn't have become a boss monster."
"I really need a weapon…"
Aaron contemplated how his approach was going to be. He needed more than what he had now to even consider fighting.
Also, the Mercy of Nightmare the witch talked about was the key thing that could help him defeat the Blemish King, Amaat.
But the problem was he didn't even know he had such a power.
He called the system:
[System: Mercy of Nightmare, blessing handed by a god to his beloved.]
[Mercy of Nightmare: The blessed can roam inside the nightmare world, and can borrow the power of nightmare creatures when they subjugate them.]
Aaron could now evidently see that for the power to take shape, he needed to first visit the nightmare realm, otherwise this blessing was useless.
Looks like he had another thing he had to do before he could complete the witch's request.
He tried to conjure the nightmare world; he thought that, similar to what the witch had done, a portal would shimmer and take him into the nightmare world.
But he was dead wrong.
Puzzled and confusion on his face, he called the system again.
It told him he needed to sleep to enter the nightmare world.
"I would be inviting the Mistress of Head to take my head then…" he waited for a while, trying to measure the risk factors.
But no matter how much he thought about it, he always ended up rejecting the idea of sleeping. The Mistress of Head was an entity termed strong by Rosacer, and he too could see that she was strong, she teleported him into the mist realm in a blink, and he wasn't even able to resist.
"And the system termed her as a 'Deity'… how much less is it to a god…"
He sighed as he made his decision. He quickly walked up to an abandoned building, surveying all around it to make sure no collectors were near him. He was also still too far from the towers.
The building was broken through the roof, but the side walls were all covered without any gaps, so if he were to rest here, the monsters wouldn't be able to see him unless they came through the roof. Luckily, the monsters were all concentrated near the tower, so the building, as far away as it was, was safer.
"I should cover the roof..."
Aaron used a tin sheet that was almost bent inward and placed it on the top, with a smaller sheet of tin over it, making it a little more stable with gravity. The air was stale, so he didn't think a strong wind would come to tear off the makeshift roof he made. For now, he was satisfied with the result.
He quickly found a spot with some soft moss and went to sleep.
His eyes opened as he saw a figure in front of him. It wasn't moving — it was still.
The figure was something very hard to grasp or understand. Aaron's mind went foggy as he tried to figure it out, but ultimately the figure in his mind turned to null.
Confusion etched on his face, Aaron stared at the figure, waiting for it to move.
A faint voice came from the unknown and inconceivable figure.
"What do you need, Aaron Smith?"
The voice spoke his full name. From the time he was transmigrated, he had never told anyone his name or anything. Hearing it made him shudder in fear.
Who is this figure?! Aaron thought rapidly, clawing his head.
"I want to enter the Nightmare world. I need power," Aaron replied, his tone cautious.
The figure seemed to notice the cautious tone, but didn't feel disrespected. It replied in a steady voice.
"You cannot slay any monster with your current power… Do you want to borrow some?"
Aaron firmly shook his head.
"All right then."
The figure ruptured the space around them. Only then did Aaron realize he had never seen his surroundings either…
Aaron's eyes opened once again, and he found himself inside the dingy dark building, lying on the patch of moss where he had been sleeping.
The system window appeared before his eyes again, this time, it was the inventory. Inside were the mask and the doll.
His gaze fell on the mask first, and the memory of the Undead Pharaoh sent a shiver down his spine. Then he shifted his eyes to the doll. It shimmered softly, its description now altered, and a faint golden glow radiated from it.
[Doll of Macabre: Creation of the unknown dollmaker. Presence of death aura.]
[Ability: Induce fear of death.]
A glowing line of text was beneath it.
[Upgraded Ability: Induce nightmare of death to the target inside the vicinity of ten meters.]
Aaron immediately grasped the meaning of the gift granted by the Nightmare God. A surge of joy rushed through him, at last, he finally had the power to stand against the Blemish King, Amaat.
He bowed down on the broken floor as he thanked the Nightmare God.
He didn't know whether the god would understand his gesture, but he needed to show his affection, so he did it.
With a weapon now, he could finally decide what to do. He could plan ahead for the attack and make sure he succeeded.
"With the ten-meter radius… I could just creep my way in and sit near him… I just don't have to fear, and he wouldn't notice my presence…"
He scratched his head. "Well, that is easier said than done."
He knew he was scared to face such a monster, and no matter what he did, the fear would always be there, and the monster would sense it, marking and becoming aware of his presence.