I have the new Memento… The one Benji entrusted me with! Somnu thought, continuing his climb across the Dreadbeast’s hairy chest. If its explanation did as described…

  He was still relying on Naga’s vision from afar, watching from a third person perspective to avoid his inverted vision, an effect from the first Restriction. Using [Rooted Vigil] to resist the second Restriction trying to glue him in place, he ran up the monster’s chest.

  The Dreadbeast was still on one knee from the sudden wound that had threatened its heart, but a moment later…

  ““GRAGGHH-AHHH!!””

  It finally noticed its enemy making his way to its four heads, making it jerk back up on its two feet. It immediately put all eight arms to work, reaching for him in an attempt to grab the little bug crawling on its body.

  ““AHHHH-OOO-OHH-EEE-EEE-EEE!!””

  In the short time he had been allowed, Somnu had fought against the pain of his breaking bones, not allowing them to heal properly as he strained his body to move. With every step, he got more used to controlling his movements through his current perception.

  Although it hadn’t been perfect and he was stumbling through it, he was able to barely escape being hit again as he repeatedly jumped around the Dreadbeast’s disjointed collarbones.

  ““GRAAAAAAHHHHHHH-OOOOHHHHH!!””

  “Crow….Shit!”

  Soon, even the four heads turned and began howling at him, the shockwaves pushing him away, while at the same time, the second Restriction pulled him closer once more.

  I can’t… keep this up… He realized, barely avoiding another fist again.

  Only now, that fist began to follow him rather than come directly at him. Soon, the one would become eight, and avoiding them all at once would become impossible. Especially with everything else restricting him.

  So, he took action.

  [Ceaseless Spiral Passage!]

  The scarecrow turned around and swung both his sickles again, sending an amalgamation of slashes at the coming hand.

  Every time he used it, he felt the sap of energy it took out of him. It was at least three or four times the amount his normal skills took. Even in his current rank, his Ashen Hollow Core would get exhausted if he kept spamming those.

  ““KREE-OHHH?!””

  Nevertheless, the palm was getting shredded unlike the tough skin on the chest, and was stopped just long enough for Somnu to reposition himself on the monster's back.

  Dammit… I have to do this, I can’t think of any other way… Somnu gave into the first idea that popped into his head.

  One of his infamous ideas again…

  Unable to see or find him anymore, the Dreadbeast reached behind it with its remaining intact seven hands while the eighth was still being cut apart.

  And yet, no matter how much it clawed through the different openings between its four heads, it couldn’t grab him. Its four tails reached the same outcome. Then, the crawling feeling on its back suddenly stopped.

  “!”

  And instead of on its back, he appeared where he had been at the very start. All the way next to a tree root dozens of meters away, as if he had disappeared and reappeared there again.

  The only difference this time is that the outfit on him was covering him from head to toe, with the hood closed up to cover his entire face.

  This was his [Night Terror State], something he could only use for 3 minutes at his current rank and level.

  ““GRAAAAAAHHHHHHH-OOOOHHHHH!!””

  Once again, the monster howled with all its heads, waiting on its Restriction to invite its prey back to its chest. The many fists shook with the anticipation of pummelling him flat.

  However, the straws wrapped around the outfit kept him in place, aiding him in resisting the second Restriction with all his might.

  He dug his feet into the ground and braced against the gravitational pull.

  ““GRAGGHH-AHHH!!””

  Seeing no other way, the monster ran forward at top speed. If its prey wasn’t going to come to it, it could always hunt it as its pre-evolution had done.

  The Dreadbeast so far had stood in place, inviting any and all who feared it to come to it. Now, the humid soil and withering ancient trees of the swamp around it were shaking with every step closer it took towards the annoying prey that had injured it.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  And within mere seconds, it towered over him, the pull of its forced Restriction effect getting even stronger, forcing his body to even hover upwards. The rope of straw was barely holding him back now as he kept supplying it with new material.

  ““GROOOO-AHH-EEE-EEE!!””

  “!”

  With a wide, saliva-filled grin and clicking laughter, the Dreadbeast swiped down all its claws and shredded its prey completely.

  Pieces of the outfit floated around as many body parts hit the ground.

  But just then…

  ““KREE-OHHH?!””

  There was no blood. Instead of a gruesome sight filled with spilled guts and shredded skin, what was left were limbs of straws and hay, condensed together to look like its prey, only hidden by the same outfit he had worn.

  “Surprised, idiot?!”

  ““?!””

  “You were easy to trick, everything considered. I’m glad I came here myself in the end.”

  Turning its heads around to look for the sound, the Dreadbeast couldn’t pinpoint it anymore, as if it had been a distant echo.

  “But it’s time to end this.”

  ““KREEEEEEE?!””

  Suddenly, the monster found a single line of rope propelling around the giant tree in front of it. Since its eyes had been focused on the decoy below, it hadn’t bothered to look up.

  Riding the rope wrapped around his naked body, Somnu weakened the pull just enough, allowing himself to get reeled in by the monster’s second Restriction.

  In a matter of a second, he was already close to the farthest head on the left.

  ““GRAAAAAAHHHHHHH-OOOOHHHHH!!””

  The giant Nightmare Creature howled again and moved its eight arms to intercept. There was no way its little prey from before could cut it even with that much force behind it. Not with that puny little weapon…

  But things had changed now.

  “!?”

  The sickles were little no more, but long and big enough to match its necks.

  And before it could let out another sound…

  SWIIISSHHHH!!

  The scarecrow had ridden his rope to the opposite end of the row of heads, cutting clean through all four necks.

  “Dreadbeast or not, I’m not letting you put them in danger.” Somnu let out before landing on the ground where his decoy had been set up. The Restrictions had finally worn off. “You only have yourself to blame for being somewhere you’re not supposed to be.”

  THUUUUUDDDDD!!

  The gargantuan corpse of the Dreadbeast hit the ground, the impact and shockwave threatening to turn the world upside down. And yet, the scarecrow stood in place, unaffected. His sickles had reverted back to normal size now, as the two disks flew out of them and hovered around him.

  Somnu had used them, attaching Benji’s Dream Catcher to the bottom of the two sickle’ handles. They seemed to compress and match that size, fitting perfectly, and allowing the sickles to become bigger.

  With the help of his familiars, he could get around his inverted sight and move more accurately, despite how difficult it had been at first.

  Having used [Decoy Doppelganger] with [Stuffed Resilience] to create a clone from where he still had straws left over earlier, the scarecrow had summoned and added Grudgekeeper on top of it to make sure the Restriction would still work, completing the illusion.

  Then, with [False Echoes] and [Distorted Fallacy], he tricked the Dreadbeast and altered its perception. To top it off, he used [Hollow Gaze] to harness the power of fear from the Specters around, giving him a boost in strength.

  And although he couldn’t use [Night Terror State] himself, he relied on his old fashioned bathing suit to deal the finished blow, carried by the force of [Straw Storm] wrapped around the ancient tree.

  The results; Somnu had beaten a Dreadbeast, completely solo.

  “I guess I’ve become a little stronger again.” He chuckled, canceling his Mementos and reflexively looking down at his bare body. “I should put some clothes on before the rewards-?!”

  Turning around, he saw Grudgekeeper in countless pieces.

  “Right… Sorry about that…” Noticing the different small pieces throbbing and crawling about to reconnect, Somnu scratched his cheek. “You’ll be fine after I level you up…”

  However, instead of coming to him, the different pieces seemed to be heading towards the Dreadbeast corpse instead.

  “Seriously? At least let me fix you up first before you start eating again…” The scarecrow looked around, noticing how much space the Nightmare Creature was taking. “I would rather get back soon too, I can’t wait for you to eat this entire corpse here.”

  “Me… eat…”

  “Huh, so you can talk after all… Just less articulate in comparison, and still imitating my voice.” Somnu snarked, moving his body to check for injuries.

  Thankfully, his bones seemed to be quickly going back in place due to his boosted General Abilities. His injuries this time around had been minimal even during the fight. Perhaps that was a cause for celebration on its own.

  ““Master!!””

  “!”

  Before he could check out the System messages, his two familiars came flying and crawling in. He had made sure to keep them at a distance, otherwise they would have been affected by the Restrictions too. The only risk he had taken was with one of Naga’s clones carrying Grudgekeeper to the straw doppelganger, but it had worked out just fine.

  “Master! I did good, right?! Where is my praise?!”

  “Enough already, skank!” Fala shut down Naga before they even reached Somnu. Then, she took her place at his shoulder as usual. “You’ve come a long way since the first Dreadbeast, Master…”

  “What is this about the first Dreadbeast? I want to know!” Naga let out as she crawled up the scarecrow’s body and took her spot on the opposite shoulder. “Tell me, Master!”

  “Heh, maybe later.” Somnu fixed his posture and covered his body in a new layer of straws. “We’ve still got company.”

  Countless figures swarmed around him now that the big one was gone.

  ““Leave it to me, Master!””

  “Keep one alive. We still need one monkey to cheer up a lady.”