Nightmare Game
Copyright© 2025 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 119
Ethan had confirmed Julian’s Blessings with Clara before entering.
He knew about the bat and the lion; the third remained a mystery.
The lion’s Blessing—he’d seen it on Bennett, no need to dwell.
The bat’s was new to him, so he’d grilled Clara on its skills.
From the current setup, it seemed Julian was using Ultrasonic Wave to scout the terrain.
Spotting him made sense.
And the skill’s real terror? It pierced through to the true layout and life forms.
Meaning it could sniff out illusions to some degree.
Ethan, having bathed in the timely rain, had no fear of The Fire of Judgment’s burn. But Julian was different. Ethan was sure a Blessing could fend it off briefly, but only delay the inevitable.
This was the perfect chance to lure him astray, let The Fire of Judgment finish the job.
Yet—
The guy’s skill would see right through the ploy. Striking now would just speed up Julian unmasking him.
There was a brute-force option: beat him down till he couldn’t move, then wait for The Fire of Judgment to reap.
But nothing was that easy. Investors outside Dreamplay wouldn’t stand for it—violence or restraining Dreamwalkers was strictly off-limits.
Ethan knew Julian finding the fountain was just a matter of time. Better to lead him there graciously, at least ease any suspicions.
Sure enough, as Ethan guided him toward the oddly shaped spot from before, Julian’s probing gaze softened.
Gazing at the inverted ocean overhead, with its gliding white fish, Julian was stunned by the sight.
But his focus soon shifted to the stone tablet. After scanning the words, he pondered briefly, then stepped under the fountain.
As the spray washed over him, he asked casually, “How’d you find this place?”
“Well...”
Ethan scratched his head, looking bewildered. “I don’t know. I was just running around aimlessly, and next thing I knew, I was here.”
“Lucky you.”
Julian filed that away. From his minimap, the layout had shifted wildly since entering the Prison.
Extra forks had sprouted everywhere, and intriguingly, they all funneled to one spot: right where they stood.
No need to probe further; he could guess the guy’s story. With the purple jumpsuits gunning for him mainly, the assault on them must’ve come from The Fire of Judgment.
After another poor sap bit it, this lucky stiff had blundered into a new fork and escaped here.
He tuned out the other guy, eyeing the minimap instead. His top concern was Mason’s group.
On the display, he and Ethan were together; to the left, a lone blue dot had entered a fork and was closing in—had to be Leo.
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