Chaos erupted.
Lana blurred into motion, a whirlwind of steel against the shambling crystal nightmares. Her daggers, guided by Jimmy's Shared Vision highlighting critical fracture points on the statues, struck with surgical precision.
Shattered limbs and torsos littered the floor, the released dream energy creating localized psychic whirlwinds.
Jimmy faced the Custodian.
The Wraith lashed out with a wave of pure psychic force, a crushing weight meant to shatter his mind. Jimmy activated Dreamstep. He vanished in a shimmer of mist, reappearing instantly behind the Wraith, the attack passing harmlessly through where he'd been.
He retaliated with a focused Mind Wave, amplified by his Mind Dominion trait.
The Wraith shrieked, its form flickering. "You toy with forces beyond your comprehension, mortal insect!"
"Comprehension is overrated,"
Jimmy retorted, dodging spears of crystallized nightmare energy that erupted from the floor.
"Power is what matters." He activated Weakness Sight, focusing on the Wraith. The torrent of information was overwhelming – shifting vulnerabilities, ancient regrets, a core of profound loneliness bound to the Nexus.
[Custodian Weakness: Deeply bound to the Nexus Crystal. Separation causes intense pain and disorientation. Fear of dissolution.]
Jimmy grinned. Plan formed. "Lana! The Nexus! Distract it! Don't let it solidify!"
Lana, having shattered the last statue, didn't hesitate. She lunged towards the pulsing central crystal, daggers flashing. She didn't strike to shatter, but to harass, her blades clanging against the facets, sending distracting shivers through the structure.
The Custodian roared, turning its attention from Jimmy.
"NO! The Core!" It lashed out at Lana with a whip of solidified despair.
It was the opening Jimmy needed. He poured his will into Dreamweaver, not at the Wraith, but at the connection he saw – the psychic tether binding it to the Nexus. He implanted a powerful, corrosive suggestion directly into the fragile link: "The Core rejects you. It finds you flawed. Unworthy. It seeks release."
The effect was instantaneous and catastrophic. The Wraith froze, a soundless scream tearing from its non-existent throat. Its form shuddered violently, cracks appearing in its crystalline body. The tether binding it to the Nexus visibly frayed, glowing with corrosive energy.
"Now, Lana! Shatter the Nexus!" Jimmy commanded.
Lana spun, putting all her strength and momentum into a single, devastating strike aimed at the base of the massive crystal. Her enchanted daggers flared with power.
CRACK!
The sound was deafening, a physical and psychic blast wave. The Nexus crystal fractured, then exploded in a supernova of blinding light and released dream energy. The Custodian Wraith let out a final, fading shriek as its tether snapped. Its form dissolved into glittering dust, consumed by the chaotic energy storm.
Jimmy didn't flinch. He stood at the epicenter, arms outstretched.
Dream Eater activated at maximum capacity.
He didn't just absorb the energy; he devoured it. The swirling maelstrom of raw dream-stuff funneled into him, a river of power flooding his system. The tower groaned around them, the shifting walls losing cohesion, beginning to collapse.
[Alert! Massive Dream Energy Absorption Detected!]
[Level Up! Current Level: 6]
[Level Up! Current Level: 7]
[Dreamweaver: Lv. 5 - Can now weave complex, sustained illusions.]
[Dream Parasite: Upgraded - Implantation range increased. Latency period reduced.]
[New Skill Unlocked: Dream Shield (Lv. 1) - Creates a barrier of solidified dream energy for defense.]
[Dream Throne Evolution: Progress 25%]
The light faded. The tower was crumbling, dissolving back into the mist from which it came. Jimmy stood, crackling with barely contained power, his eyes blazing like captured stars. Lana knelt before him, breathless, awestruck. In his hand, he held the only physical remnant of the Nexus – a small, perfectly smooth crystal shard, pulsing with a deep, calm light. An artifact of pure, stabilized dream energy.
"We need to move, Master," Lana urged as chunks of crystal fell around them.
Jimmy looked at the shard, then at the dissolving tower, then out towards the horizon where Venon lay. A city already seeded with his influence. He pocketed the shard.
"Indeed," he said, his voice resonating with newfound power.
"Venon was a test. A practice field." He turned, his gaze fixed on the distant spires of the Mauryan capital city, barely visible above the marsh fog. "It's time to play in the big leagues. Time to make kings dream my dreams." He activated Dreamwalking, the portal swirling open. "Come, Lana. Our kingdom awaits."
They stepped through the shimmering gateway as the last vestiges of the Shifting Tower collapsed into the Whisperwood Marsh, leaving only swirling fog and silence. The game had just entered a new, far more dangerous stage.