"Nightmare Parasite?!"
In Madam Lenna's bedroom, everyone stared at the worm in Luca's hand with horrified expressions.
A Nightmare Parasite was a companion creature to a Nightmare!
Its presence meant that within a hundred-mile radius, there was likely a Nightmare lurking!
This revelation confirmed that Luca's earlier statement was true – a Nightmare was indeed nearby!
Realizing this, Matthew began to tremble, Freeman's scalp tingled with fear, and even Sophia's face turned pale.
They all knew the implications of a high-level Nightmare appearing near Riverfall City.
Nightmares were terrifying monsters capable of killing people in their dreams and were notoriously difficult to locate. If a Nightmare was truly near Riverfall City, it spelled doom for everyone within a hundred miles!
Worse still, anyone cursed with a Nightmare's dream curse was almost certainly doomed to die painfully within their nightmares.
This meant that Madam Lenna...
Sophia's face grew even paler at the thought.
The old butler, Charles, was visibly terrified, his voice trembling as he spoke, "With the defensive barrier in place, this thing shouldn't have been able to get in!"
Matthew glared at Luca, accusingly, "Boy, is this Nightmare Parasite your doing? With Riverfall City's high-level defense barrier and the high-level professionals living here, a Nightmare shouldn't have been able to enter without being noticed!"
Luca calmly replied, "If the Nightmare's bloodline level is high enough, say a Leader-level, it wouldn't be difficult for it to bypass Riverfall City's defenses and evade detection."
The higher the bloodline level of a monster, the stronger it was. Nightmares were adept at hiding, and a high-bloodline Nightmare could easily infiltrate Riverfall City without raising alarms.
Freeman gritted his teeth, "But such a high-level monster appearing in a small place like Riverfall City? How is that possible?"
He wasn't being self-deprecating, but high-bloodline monsters were extremely rare. Even in Beast Forest and Wind Plain, there were only a few.
And it is a fully grown high-level Nightmare
It would have been dealt with by Southern Territory's elite long ago, not allowed to survive and infiltrate Riverfall City.
Luca calmly stated, "A Spatial Node has appeared in Beast Forest, allowing many monsters to crawl out from the Abyssal Demon Realm. This Nightmare might have come from there."
Hearing this, Matthew asked in confusion, "Spatial Node? What's that?"
The others also looked at Luca, not understanding what he was talking about.
Only Sophia's expression changed as she asked, "Do you mean an Abyssal Node?"
"Pretty much," Luca nodded.
An Abyssal Node was a passage through which monsters from the Abyssal Demon Realm entered the Eternal Continent. It was similar to a Spatial Node, but the difference was that one led to the Eternal Continent while the other connected to the real world.
Hearing Luca's words, Sophia's face turned even paler.
Abyssal Nodes had existed in the Eternal Continent for an indeterminate amount of time, but many families with long-standing traditions knew of their terrifying nature.
Monsters had entered the Eternal Continent from the Abyssal Demon Realm through these nodes. Every time an Abyssal Node appeared, it heralded great disaster or upheaval in the Eternal World, without exception.
Over the past few centuries, Abyssal Nodes had rarely appeared, so people had gradually forgotten about them. Sophia had only learned about them from her father's stories and never expected one to appear near Riverfall City.
Sophia's face was filled with worry.
Her father, Count Ryan, was not in the Emerald State to maintain order, and now an Abyssal Node had appeared near Riverfall City. Moreover, her mother was cursed by a Nightmare!
All these troubles arriving at once!
Seeing her distress, Luca spoke up, "I can't do anything about the situation in Beast Forest, but I can lift Madam Lenna's Nightmare curse."
Since Sophia understood the horror of the Spatial Node, Luca had achieved his goal.
Now, all he needed to do was cure Madam Lenna and then focus on leveling up.
"You have a way to lift the Nightmare curse?!" Sophia was astonished by Luca's words, and Matthew, along with the others, thought they must have misheard.
Did this kid know what he was talking about?
"I can indeed cure the Nightmare's curse," Luca confirmed with a nod, unfazed by their stares.
Though Nightmare was a high-level monster, Madam Lenna was merely infested with a Nightmare Worm, making the treatment relatively simple.
Freeman sneered, "Kid, do you even know what the Nightmare curse is? Forget you being a low-level Witch Doctor, even Franklin might not be able to handle it!"
Matthew also mocked, "This is not the time to play hero, kid! If you provoke the Nightmare, can you handle the consequences?"
Luca, fiddling with the Nightmare Worm, replied calmly, "Don't worry about that. The Nightmare Worm has a unique connection with the Nightmare. Right now, the high-level Nightmare probably senses something is wrong and might be on its way here."
"What?!"
Everyone's faces turned pale.
This was a high-level Nightmare!
If it indeed came here, hardly anyone in Howard Manor would survive.
Matthew, furious, shouted, "If you knew it would alert the Nightmare, why did you remove the worm? Do you want us all to die here?!"
Luca looked at him in surprise and said, "Weren't you the ones who asked me to prove it? Now you're blaming me?"
"Who the hell told you to prove it like that? Couldn't you have done it another way?" Freeman was practically fuming.
Just to prove himself, he disturbed a high-level Nightmare. Did this kid have an eagle mouse in his head instead of a brain?!
Matthew and Freeman, now terrified, couldn't bear to stay in the dangerous area any longer.
"If anyone dies, it'll be because of you!" they shouted, casting venomous glares at Luca before apologizing to Sophia and rushing out of Howard Manor in a panic.
Watching Matthew and Freeman flee, the old butler Charles trembled with rage, his white beard quivering.
"That bastard Matthew! The count and his wife have always treated him well, and now in danger, he leaves the young lady behind! The ungrateful dog! If the count returns, I will definitely report him!"
Compared to the enraged Charles, Sophia was much calmer.
Blood ties between nobles are often as thin as water; she had long since witnessed countless examples of this.
Shaking her head slightly, Sophia turned to Luca and said, "Junior, tell me what materials you need to treat my mother. I will have them prepared immediately."
Nightmare and the Beast Forest could wait, the most pressing issue now was to rescue her mother, Lenna, from her slumber.
If they waited for the Nightmare to arrive, it would truly be too late.
Understanding Sophia's urgency, Luca wasted no time and listed the ingredients, "One Soul Protection Gem, one Dream Blossom, two Awakening Herbs..."
Charles was momentarily taken aback but quickly recovered. He took a notebook and a quill pen from his pocket and meticulously noted down all the herbs and materials Luca mentioned.
He doubted that such a young man could cure Madam Lenna.
But Freeman had already left. Even the slightest hope was worth pursuing.
They couldn't just watch Madam Lenna waste away.
When Luca finished, Charles didn't wait for Sophia's orders; he immediately headed to the pharmacy to fetch the items.
Sophia looked at Luca, ready to discuss how they might deal with the high-level Nightmare.
But she was surprised to see how relaxed Luca appeared, showing no signs of facing a life-or-death situation.
Hesitating for a moment, Sophia asked, "Junior, do you... have a way to deal with that Nightmare?"
She couldn't help but feel that Luca had never been overly concerned about the Nightmare or the curse on Madam Lenna.
Except for the moment when he mentioned the node, which made him look slightly more serious.
Luca looked at Sophia in slight surprise, not expecting her to hold him in such high regard.
He immediately shook his head and said, "You overestimate me, senior. I don't have the means to handle a high-level monster."
Upon hearing this, a hint of disappointment flashed across Sophia's face.
It seemed she had been too optimistic.
After all, dealing with a high-level Nightmare was no simple feat.