Hate Me, Miss Witch!

The searing shockwave made purely of light and heat surged upwards, sweeping everything in the Lingering Dream illusion. Even the illusion itself began to crumble, causing Anlina's delicate face to turn ashen, with no color left as she concentrated all her mental energy to suppress the crumbling of the dreamscape.

Although she, as the owner of the Nightmare Butterfly, theoretically had god-like control within the illusion, this skill was far from perfect. A theoretical master once proposed the idea: "There are no useless beasts, only useless Beastmasters." Though this theorist lived a life of mediocrity, his theory still held a kernel of truth—every beast, no matter how powerful, has its weaknesses.

As a mid-level Beastmaster, Anlina's Nightmare Butterfly was not invincible. While the Lingering Dream illusion was incredibly sinister, the nightmares conjured within it consumed Anlina's mental energy, especially when the illusion was composed of unfamiliar constructs beyond her comprehension, accelerating the consumption of her power. The recent events had already drained her considerably, and now she could sense the early signs of exhaustion.

"This must be your final struggle," Anlina muttered, her face still pale, gazing at Xaya, who stood with his hands in his pockets. Despite his calm demeanor, Anlina surmised that conjuring such a complex and incomprehensible illusion must have drained a significant portion of his mental power, though he was clearly holding on.

For a Beastmaster whose abilities were rooted in the soul, when their mental energy ran out, they were little more than helpless lambs to the slaughter. Just a little more time, and she would deplete the last of his strength, leaving him vulnerable for her to consume his soul.

As she thought of this, a slight flush appeared on her face. In the dreamscape, she could faintly sense Xaya's soul energy—so pure, so deep, so mysteriously rich. It felt like a rare delicacy at a royal feast, emitting an irresistible fragrance.

A Beastmaster genius from Saint Roland Academy surely had a soul far superior to the typical rural Beastmasters. Once she consumed him, perhaps her Nightmare Butterfly could evolve.

Just as that thought passed through her mind, the blurry, flickering illusions suddenly began to sharpen. What she saw was a grand city of buildings, though she couldn't immediately place it. It looked almost familiar, like the capital city she had visited in her childhood. But why was this appearing in her Lingering Dream?

Her expression shifted, puzzled. Normally, the nightmares conjured were based on what the target feared the most—famous dragons, vicious beasts, or mythical horrors. But a city? Who would fear a city? Perhaps it was a manifestation of Xaya's fear of urban life?

Before she could fully consider this, the cityscape shifted. The vast city that had once filled the entire dreamscape suddenly shrank, becoming a tiny dot. The surrounding land transformed into a map-like tan-colored plain, with scattered cities and small kingdoms—like miniature models.

Is this the map of a continent?

Anlina's pupils shrank. The illusion continued to expand, pulling back further. Soon, a blue planet appeared before her eyes, most of it covered in ocean. The former tan-colored plains now merely dotted the surface of this vast sphere.

And then, off in the distance, a much larger, fiery sphere burned in the void of space.

Anlina's pupils contracted again. As a low-ranking noble, she had access to information that most people could only dream of. This scene reminded her of a rumor that had been circulating a few months ago within the aristocracy—whispers about the possibility that the world they lived in was not flat, but a massive sphere, and that the sun, not the world, was at the center of the universe.

A vague rumor, yet it was depicted so clearly here. Did this have something to do with the Knowledge City and the Steam Academy?

Before she could ponder this any further, she saw the sun shrinking once again. In the blink of an eye, the mighty sun had become a faint speck of light, surrounded by countless similar points, floating through a dark, cosmic backdrop.

Suddenly, a massive hand appeared from the void, grasping the star-filled universe, and placed it gently on a chessboard. Around it, countless other chess pieces formed, made of entire star systems.

Boom—

Anlina's face paled in horror as blood spurted from her mouth. The entire illusion collapsed immediately, shattering into countless sparkling fragments.

"That's it? You couldn't hold on? I still had a whole stack of boxes to go."

Looking at the shattered remnants of the illusion, Xaya sighed with mild regret. If she had lasted a bit longer, he had plans for what would come next—an entire world system, a universe of stars laid out like a chessboard.

But for someone from a border town, a noble like Anlina could only imagine so much—controlling a continent, maybe a planet. Beyond that, her imagination had its limits, and so she crumbled quickly.

The illusion vanished, revealing the mansion's ceiling and the dark sky outside.

Nearby, Anlina collapsed to the ground, her mental energy drained, her face slack and lifeless, like a fallen butterfly beside her own.