The Nightmare Wizard
Chapter 106: Battle in the Forest

Chapter 106: Chapter 106: Battle in the Forest

As William ventured north through the dark lands of the Nightmare Realm, a strange sensation washed over him. Despite the landscape growing more ominous, an inexplicable certainty of returning home swelled within him. Angel, floating beside him with her faint, translucent glow, accompanied him in silence.

"Do you think there’s anything in the north?" William asked, his gaze fixed on the path.

"Little Star wrote about it, didn’t she? Let’s hope we find more people to ask and better understand this place," Angel replied.

After hours of walking through broken lands and dead trees, they entered a forest. It was an unsettling place; though it seemed ordinary at first glance, the trees had a sinister appearance, as if they could move at any moment. Suddenly, without warning, Angel cried out:

"Wait!" she said, her voice alarmed. "There’s something here, it’s strange. The mist interferes with my vision, but I’m sure I saw something."

William stopped abruptly, his body stiffening instinctively. He dropped his backpack, his eyes scanning the mist that blanketed the surroundings.

"What is it? I don’t see anything..."

"I don’t know..." Angel said, slowly spinning in the air, searching for any trace of what she had seen.

William frowned. He took a step forward, his eyes scanning everything around him, but he was certain there was nothing, only absolute silence.

Then, a shout snapped him out of his reverie: "Dodge right!"

William didn’t think. His muscles moved before his mind, throwing his entire body to the right, crashing directly into the ground just as a monstrous shadow passed inches from his head.

Regaining his footing, William immediately drew his sword. His eyes searched for the attacker... and then he saw it: a gigantic snake, over ten meters long, with a grotesque, triangular head the size of a watermelon, and large black eyes that bulged out, observing him menacingly.

William had narrowly escaped death; if Angel hadn’t warned him of the danger, he would now be severely injured or dead. "Angel..." William murmured, staying on guard.

"Buy me a few moments. I have an idea."

The snake attacked again, but this time William moved quickly without needing a warning. With great elegance, he leaped to the side, spinning on himself. The snake pursued him closely; each impact of the beast’s body against the ground echoed like a cannon shot.

William gasped. Despite being accustomed to battles, this creature was too fast, giving him no time even to breathe, making him feel completely overwhelmed.

The snake coiled like a spring of flesh, preparing to strike again. William tensed his muscles and braced himself, but just as the creature lunged...

A blast, a bolt of lightning appeared before him, piercing it mercilessly. The snake shrieked deafeningly. A burst of flesh, steam, and smoke filled the forest. The creature’s body convulsed with violent spasms.

William leaped back, landing on one knee on the ground.

"What the hell...?!" William said, incredulous as he caught his breath. For a moment, he had thought the spell had been cast by the snake, which had frightened him. Then Angel’s voice, excited, almost euphoric, vibrated in his mind:

"I did it! William, I did it! I used the energy of this world! I could manipulate it! I could create a real lightning bolt!"

As Angel celebrated excitedly, the creature shrieked and writhed, but it wasn’t dead. Its skin was burned, its flesh charred, but it remained standing, its gaze showing great anger; the lightning hadn’t been able to cause severe damage.

"Again, Angel! Do it again!" William shouted.

More lightning bolts appeared, striking the snake from all directions. The snake screamed in pain but began to run everywhere, trying to dodge the blows. The snake moved very fast, dodging the lightning; no matter how Angel attacked, she couldn’t land a hit.

After dodging another lightning bolt, the snake raised its head, its eyes met William’s, and this time, it didn’t hesitate. It leaped directly at him, understanding that this annoying creature had to be eliminated first. Seeing this, William prepared to launch a serious counterattack, but Angel’s voice resonated in his mind once more:

"William, don’t finish it yet, let me try something." Although he didn’t know what she wanted to do, William trusted Angel, so he continued to dodge without using any spells.

The air began to grow cold, and the entire area became an ice field without warning. The snake paused for a moment as it looked up at the sky, confused.

Disconcerted by the situation, the snake began to roar at the sky and fled. "You’re mine," Angel’s voice sounded once more before ice shackles formed around it. The shackles immobilized the snake while a thick frost of snow quickly covered it. Soon, the snake was completely immobile.

"How in hell did you do that, Angel?" William approached the snake, looking at it with curiosity, as it resembled a giant ice sculpture. Even when he got close to its mouth, he could barely see the faint breath the snake emitted.

"Quickly, finish it! I can’t hold it much longer!" With the reminder, William swung his sword at the snake’s head, but at the last moment, the snake managed to break the ice that held it captive, dodging part of William’s cut, which only managed to sever half of its neck. Large amounts of black substance oozed from the snake’s body as it tried to flee for its life.

A truly comical scene unfolded in the forest: a giant snake fleeing from a tiny human. William managed to catch up to it and finish cutting off its head with a slash of his sword, ending the battle once and for all.

"You’d better explain what the hell just happened here," William told him, looking intently at Angel.

Angel drew closer, looking nervous. She didn’t know how to explain what had happened, so she said, "Give me a moment to think about how to explain this. It’s quite strange, but I’m sure it’s something very good for us.’"