Nightmare World.
After hearing the Lord of Terror’s words, the Monarchs looked at each other in shock.
Soon after, disbelief flooded their faces.
A Long-sleep Monarch, who had slumbered for six hundred thousand years at the late stage of Level 10, asked in confusion, "Where did such a puny civilization come from, that it dares to invade our great Nightmare Land?!"
The Lord of Terror’s eyes brimmed with murderous intent.
He conjured a terrifying, blood-soaked hand of flesh, seizing the Long-sleep Monarch in an instant. Suppressing the urge to crush him on the spot, he spat out each word with wrath:
"I told you not to underestimate the enemy! You idiots! You sluggards!"
He had witnessed Nora triumph over strength with weakness, and knew she was no ordinary foe. Thus, this was the first lesson he must teach the Nightmare Monarchs: confront your enemies head-on!
The Long-sleep Monarch realized the gravity of the situation.
"My Lord, please quell your anger. We understand! We will take this threat seriously!"
Such is the inertia of these colossal giants.
Even after Nightmare had suffered defeat twice in a row,
across the vast wildernesses and the crowded palaces, a host of ancient relics still ignored Nightmare’s pressing dangers, lost in dreams of the old Heavenly Dynasty!
The Lord of Terror spoke:
"Ignorance, Death, Disaster... you three, split into three forces. One detach to stem the spread of the Black Dragon Territory and stall Nora.
The other two strike directly from Nightmare, encircle Nora, and force her people out of the Nightmare World; then, when all three forces converge, eradicate Nora."
Upon hearing this,
the Ignorant Monarch furrowed his brow ever so slightly and said:
"My Lord, I find fault with this plan."
"Oh?"
The Lord of Terror fixed his gaze on Ignorance, eager to see what this Nightmare Brain would say.
Due to defeats in previous wars, this one’s prestige in Nightmare had fallen low. Yet Nightmare lacked better candidates, so his position among the Three Emperors remained.
The Ignorant Monarch said:
"My worry is that the two forces sent out from Nightmare will fall into an ambush by the Underworld and Nora. From what I know, Nora’s forces are only descending through avatars.
Their power is drawn from the Chaos Emperor. So long as he wills it, these legions will awaken swiftly in Nora itself.
With the combined might of Nora and the Underworld, were we to be encircled, odds are high we lose. The Chaos Emperor’s normalized might equals dozens of Monarchs. Not to mention, there’s Emmon, Hera, and the mechanical creations that emerged so abruptly before."
The Lord of Terror replied coldly:
"Then what do you propose?"
The Ignorant Monarch said:
"The crux of this battle lies with the Chaos Emperor. It doesn’t matter if we fight at home or abroad—if he is not eliminated, we will always be at a disadvantage.
If we fight on our turf, their forces can resurrect at any time. Losing a duplication is nothing—a while later, they’ll recover. If we fight off-plane, we lose our territorial edge."
The Lord of Terror growled:
"How do we eliminate him?"
The Ignorant Monarch answered:
"In my view, only by awakening the Supreme Will."
...
Abyss.
On the 650th layer, the Wind Demon Lord’s eyes widened to the extreme.
"Nora actually dares to invade Nightmare proactively?"
Clearly, even the Abyss—another giant—found this unfathomable.
On the 659th layer, the Dark Spider Mother sneered.
"Does Nora think that just because the Dusk Palace Master became the Chaos Emperor, they can do as they please across the multidimensional planes? Have they learned nothing from history?"
Next door, the succubus queen felt a ripple in her heart.
"Nora’s ambition is great. I wonder what the Chaotic Servant will do?"
666th layer.
The awakened Chaotic Servant was irked with faint traces of anger.
"Why wake me yet again?"
It had only just drifted off to sleep!
"Lord, two matters. We deemed it necessary to inform you.
First, the Dusk Palace Master achieved Legendary Ascension and now bears the title [Chaos Emperor]. Second, ten years ago, forty of Nora’s strongest led armies into Nightmare and declared open war."