Nightmare Spell

“	Who said it was a coincidence? People often tend to forget that the Spell has a mind of its own. It sees all and hears all. And it really loves to play with fate. If there was someone among those hundreds of people tasked with killing me, the chances of me having a fateful encounter with them in the Dream Realm would be all but guaranteed. That is how the Spell always does things.	”
― Nephis to Sunny, Chapter 285 Kill Order

The inside of the Spell looks like the celestial equivalent of a neural network. For this reason, it is often debated that the Spell is alive. The best answer people had come up with was that there was no way to know. The Spell was neither alive nor dead; neither sentient nor mindless. It was more of a function than a creature.^[2]

In this endless space between dream and reality, there was nothing, but a boundless black void illuminated by a myriad of bright stars. Between those stars, countless strings of silver light were woven into a beautiful and inconceivably complex pattern. Glimpsing the inner workings of the Spell, the magnitude of the secret hidden in this cosmic pattern was so immense it can drive a person mad.^[3]

According to the prevailing school of current thought, the Nightmare Spell is acausal in nature, which means it does not even adhere to the notion of cause and effect. So to speak, it is magical.^[4]

Due to the nature of the Spell and the domain of its creator, Weaver was called the Demon of Fate for a reason. Their mask allowed one to steal a glance at the tapestry of fate, and see the past, the present, and the future of everything, all at the same time. The Spell, which was woven out of those very strings of fate, was able to perceive the depths of the tapestry as well.^[5][6][7]

The Spell helped Awakened learn their innate abilities by making them instinctual, such as controlling essence, using memories, and placing tethers in the waking world.^[8]

• The Spell can show and notify the Awakened's status, which they only see and hear themselves.^[9]
• When one is cut off from the Spell, they are unable to access their soul sea or even summon memories.^[10]
• The Spell has a magical ability to translate any language in the Nightmare.^[11]
  • The runes that all Awakened saw were just a handy instrument created by the Spell.^[12]
• Traveling between the two worlds is one of the functions of the Spell.^[13]
• The Spell provides training wheels for the Awakened of lower Ranks, creating a harrowing, but swift and streamlined road for them to reach greater power.^[14]
• Awakened of the waking world received the ability to sense their essence from the Spell and intuitive knowledge of controlling it.^[15]

The Nightmare Spell is alluring because it gives its carriers many abilities, such as ability to possess Memories and Echoes, ability to instantly enter your Soul Sea, and awaken your Aspect and guidance on the path of Ascension. It promised people who desperately wished for power to defend oneself.^[17]

The purpose of the Nightmare Spell is to save the future from the doom of the great war between the daemons and the gods.^[17]

Note: This section contains heavy spoilers. Please proceed with caution. Click Show/Hide Spoilers to reveal.

Main article: Nightmares

The Nightmares are trials created by the Spell. They are populated by both monsters and humans, which are considered to be illusory. Each Nightmare contains a central conflict that has to be resolved for the Nightmare to end. These conflicts are believed to be reconstructions of events from the ancient history of the Dream Realm.^[1]

Main article: Nightmare Creatures

Nightmare Creatures descend toward profanity.^[1]

Main article: Hierarchy_of_Nightmare_Creatures_and_Awakened_Humans

Main article: Nightmare Gate

Hunting down Nightmares was the main responsibility of the Awakened. However, from the Second Nightmare, should the challengers all die or fail to find the Seed of Nightmare before it matures, a Gate will open in the real world, letting through countless monsters. Other Awakened will be forced to withstand the onslaught in the real world, but there will be massive destruction or losses among the civilian population.^[19]

Opening Gates was something that every person on the planet feared. It was also the second disaster brought upon by the Spell after the initial appearance of the Nightmare Creatures. The main difference was that, in that initial wave, there were only dormant beasts. However, Gates had ranks of their own, and any type of Creature could potentially step through.^[19]

Main article: Runic Language

The Spell communicated with humans in one of the dead languages called Runic language. By understanding the grammatical structure of the language, it was easy to extend the meaning of the runes into a more correct translation. For example, there were different runes for the word "change", each with its own connotation. Depending on what exact rune was used to relay the meaning of the word, a small change in wording and connotation could mean a world of difference in real life.^[20][21]

Runes are used by the Spell to display the status or information of the Awakened.^[9] Even without sight, Awakened can still perceive their own runes and communicate with the Spell. It was both strange and logical.^[22]

There are two types of forbidden runes and two things that the Spell did not know how or did not want to mention.^[23]

See also: List of Translated Runes

There was already a formed theory that fate was like a current. It always pulls things toward an inescapable conclusion. The details could be changed, but the result seemed to be always the same.^[24]

A Nightmare would still resolve itself with or without a challenger's intervention.^[24]

The Spell did not care what one did inside the Nightmare and how they went about solving the conflict. The reward was going to be the same, the challenger would ascend to a new Rank. They could receive a True Name, or in extremely rare cases, an evolution of their Aspect, but those things could be done outside a Nightmare, as well.^[24]

The only thing the Spell cared about was that the challenger survived until the end. Doing so, the Spell would neither give additional rewards nor deny the survivor their ascension.^[24]

However, it did care enough to appraise the challenger's performance. The appraisal did not really matter outside of the First Nightmare, where it was tied to the boon, but the Spell still gave them out each time. Good, Exceptional, Remarkable, Glorious, and so on.^[24]

The appraisal of the challenger's performance did not depend on the greatness of the feats they had achieved, but instead on how far they had strayed from the predestined outcome and how well they had resisted the current of fate. The Spell wanted humans to strain against the chains of fate or even break them.^[25]

It appeared in the world a few decades ago. Back then, the planet was just starting to recover from a series of devastating natural disasters and subsequent resource wars. No one knew what the Spell was, what powers it possessed, and how to fight it.^[27]

It all started with the emergence of a new disease that caused millions of people to complain about constant fatigue and sleepiness. Finally, the governments panicked when they started to fall into an unnatural slumber, with no sign of waking up even days later. When the infected died in their sleep, their dead bodies turned into monsters, no one was ready. Nightmare Creatures quickly overwhelmed national militaries, plunging the world into complete chaos.^[27]

There was a time when the Nightmare Spell was still in its infancy, it needs people like the priestess to tend, protect and help it spread, so that it could grow stronger.^[7]

The Spell did not put people through trials in the past. Nightmares only exist in modern times. It was named by the Weaver but the reason why it was named Nightmare Spell remains unknown. It has always been called "Nightmare Spell".^[28]

Note: This section contains heavy spoilers. Please proceed with caution. Click Show/Hide Spoilers to reveal.

Note: This section contains heavy spoilers. Please proceed with caution. Click Show/Hide Spoilers to reveal.

When one was banished from the Nightmare Spell. This meant they could no longer access the tools and assistance the Spell provided to the Awakened, such as Memories and Echoes from enemies, runes, and guidance for Ascension. There were no Nightmares and shortcuts to higher ranks.^[8]

When one surrenders to the Defilement, they are banished from the Nightmare Spell and therefore have no Memories whatsoever a carrier of the Spell had. The Memories were given by the Spell, and taken away by the Spell.^[30]

Carriers of Nightmare Spell had a tiny bead of hideous darkness within their soul. The Seed of Nightmare would not bloom into a Category One Nightmare Gate unless certain conditions were met. Through the final stage of Awakening, in one's soul, sparks of light fused under pressure, forming a luminous sea. The bead of darkness dissolved in the light, destroying it. It can be said that the First Nightmare was to push the infected into Awakening and destroy the Seed, preventing Corruption from blooming. Awakening was the first step toward divinity, and coming closer to divinity would render one immune to the weaker manifestation of its enemy.^[31]

Main article: Seed of the Nightmare Spell

Note: This section contains heavy spoilers. Please proceed with caution. Click Show/Hide Spoilers to reveal.

• The first registered or documented case of Nightmare Spell infection occurred in one of the moon settlements.^[33]
• According to Obel, The moon (Luna) is the Nightmare Spell origin or at least the point of contact.^[33]
• The disasters of the Spell descended on the waking world in stages.^[34]
• Spell's concept of "beneficial" often contradicts what people would consider advantageous. It believed Sunny's innate ability, Shadow Bond, to be a precious boon, even though it had become a bane of his existence.^[35]
• One of the most prevalent laws of the Nightmare Spell, states that attack trumps defense. No matter how tough an armor is, a powerful and well-placed strike from a weapon of a similar Rank would most often overcome it. But now, the [Marble Shell] attribute breaks this law.^[36]
• In Chapter 1285, it was certain that the spell was created by the Demon of Fate. Weaver was indeed the being responsible for the great calamity that had befallen Earth or its salvation.
• There is an instance where the Spell was cut off by the runes made by Hope during the Second Nightmare.^[37]
  • One's Aspect was their own, existing outside of the Spell.^[8]
• The Spell was primarily infected with young people due to their greater malleability and ability to withstand the Awakening.^[38]
• The Forgotten God, the Dream Realm, and the Nightmare Spell had an obvious connection.^[39] (Refer to Hidden Truth)

• Spell Status Page
• Hierarchy of Nightmare Creatures and Awakened Humans
• Nightmare Events
• Gate Opening Events
• Runes and Unknowns