9 Fighting Portrait Creature

'I'm so proud of you, my son.'

These words reached Astr's ears, causing his pupils to widen slightly.

No one has ever said to him, "You are my pride," so sincerely.

It's as if there are really people in the world who can be proud and happy for the success of others.

Astr raised his hand to fan himself. For some reason, he felt his cheeks were getting hot.

'Maybe it's because of the sun.' Astr thought to himself, but the corners of his mouth could not help but curl up, and the natural coldness in his bent eyes disappeared.

The servant quickly came up to hold an umbrella for Astr, and Noye pushed the tired Astr into the mansion quickly.

After washing himself, Astr was helped to dry his hair by the maid. Under the sun, his white hair with water droplets was as smooth and dazzling as silk.

After dinner, Astr meditated in bed for half the night to restore his health. After that, he got ready for the upcoming fight.

... In the dream. Astr opened his eyes, and there seemed to be a faint, cold fire burning in his icy-blue eyes.

He pushed himself up and looked straight ahead. Above the desk, a mottled oil painting looked down at him.

The colours blended together, making that beautiful face look dirty and exuding an evil aura.

[You are back, huh?]

As soon as the portrait opened its mouth, Astr shook his hand vigorously.

Suddenly, huge pressure pressed against the portrait from all directions, and the wooden frame creaked under the pressure and cracked several times.

The portrait screamed, its swirling eyes glaring angrily at Astr.

[You don't follow fighting ethics, you vermin.] It shouted loudly.

Immediately afterwards, it was like a steel needle piercing into Astr's brain.

Astr let out a painful "uh" sound, and the muddy colours quickly flowed out of the portrait, infecting his Nightmare space and Dream Catcher skill.

[Erosion level increased]

The nightmare erosion rate is soaring at a frightening speed.

Astr's brain throbbed with pain, and Astr stopped his hand without changing his expression. He only used the power of nightmares to fight against the painting contamination, which slowed down the increase in erosion level.

[Despicable humans!] "Anna" roared. [Not even a bit polite—you will pay for this.]

Astr said loudly "Shut up, you old hag."

[Ah, I'm going to kill you! You vermin fucking insect]

Within the two minutes of meeting, the portrait looked like she seemed to be completely pissed off. And her already creepy face became even more chaotic.

It took a few deep breaths. She had learned the lesson from last time. She stood up from the chair, fully stretching out her upper body.

"I didn't expect that you also have nightmare space. No wonder you could enter and exit my nightmare space without any fear. But in your nightmare space, it's like it smells good....."

"Anna," she said with a creepy face while mocking Astr.

'So perverted. Don't say this with my mother's face, okay?' Astr cursed inwardly and rolled his eyes slightly.

With a flick of his wrist, a shining silver sword appeared in his hand.

The sword blade was as spotless as a mirror, reflecting the pale yellow moonlight with a cold light.

[Sword? ] "Anna" was stunned for a moment and then laughed harshly and said,

[You don't want to use a sword to deal with me, do you?" Just because you can take two steps without running out of breath, don't think you can use a sword to fight me.]

[You just have to fight to the death—pathetic human beings.]

"Anna's" big scarlet mouth, painted with paint, suddenly grinned to the base of her ears.

[Tonight, I will let you know what "despair" is!]

After the words fell, "Anna" touched the ground with her thin arms.

In an instant, its entire body jumped up, carrying the heavy frame with it, and flew towards Astr!

Astr looked at "Anna" in mid-air, and his icy-blue eyes reflected the ferocious face approaching rapidly.

'Are you so scared that you can't even move? Sure enough, you are just a weakling with a poor mouth and a poor fate.'

Just before the sharp claws of the portrait grabbed Astr, the white-haired boy made a nimble step, and the sharp nails scratched his clothes. Just a little bit away from scratching him.

[What? !]

"Anna"'s eyes widened suddenly. Looking at the claws flying into the air that missed the white-haired boy, a strong sense of crisis suddenly arose in her heart!

But due to inertia, it cannot escape at all.

She could only watch helplessly as Astr waved the silver sword in his hand and struck it straight at it!

"Puff!" A crescent moon-like silver light flashed across.

With a thud, a head fell from mid-air to the floor and rolled twice.

Dirty paint spurted out of "Anna's" empty neck, staining the white sheets and clean floor.

Astr did not relax his vigilance and immediately jumped back.

Sure enough, the portrait's sharp claws followed closely, grabbing the spot where he had just stood, ploughing three dents into the bedside table, and only dust left with marks.

Losing the head is not a fatal injury to [Portrait].

Their blood is the paint, and their skin is the canvas. As long as they have enough nutrients, they can regenerate indefinitely.

That's the only thing he's afraid of."Pa."

Astr raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

The next second, orange flames shot up from the head on the ground.

It was the flame that was the only thing that could harm [Portrait].

[Ahhhhh——!!!! ] "Anna"'s head screamed miserably, and she couldn't help but roll on the ground.

The turbid paint flowed out, swallowing each other with the flames, and bright and dark colours intertwined with each other.

A thin stream of sweat broke out on Astr's' forehead.

"Hoo!"The canvas was finally swallowed up. The head was burned black, and its original appearance could not be seen.

A scarlet vortex twisted and opened, letting out a terrifying scream: [I'm going to kill you, kill you, kill you!]

"A new way of expressing love?" Astr chuckled. "Don't be so enthusiastic; I'll be embarrassed."

As he spoke, he waved his sword, and orange flames flew from the sword's surface.

Portrait: [...] 'No need to; I will not show any love.'

It was frightened and didn't understand how a young master who had been bedridden for many years knew its weakness.

When it looked into those icy-blue eyes, it even felt like it was being seen through, as if everything about it had nowhere to hide.

'And that sharp attack just now... No, it must be a coincidence. Otherwise, how could a sickly young master just avoid its claws?

It's not like the group of fanatical believers from the Eternal Burning Sunwho specialize in hunting nightmares!'

Thinking of this, the portrait felt a lot more at ease.

The vague feeling that the car was about to roll over was also forgotten by Canvas Creature.

[Next time, you won't be so lucky!]

Thick and turbid paint gushes out from the headless "Anna" in large streams, protecting it from the flames.

"Crack——!" Accompanied by a sharp sound breaking through the air, the sharp claws attacked Astr again.

'Too slow.' Astr thought.

Even though it's a little weirder than other portraits, she's still a little monster at heart.

Not only are the movements stiff, but even the attack methods are so simple.

Pounce from a distance, and swing your claws from a short distance.

Astr no longer knows how many [portraits] he has killed, and Astr knows how to attack the portrait as soon as it raises its hand.

'The erosion level has risen to 40%.'

Just like being divided into two people, for a clear reason, a violent emotion rises.

Astr held a sword burning with blazing flames and stepped forward directly. (Note: Astr has control over Nightmare Space; that's why he can use flames.)

As if after careful calculation, the moment "Anna" raised her hand, he directly struck the right angle and slashed upward!

"Pfft!" A severed arm flew out, spinning, and "Anna" couldn't help but twist her body in pain.

The next blow came one after another, and it had no choice but to roll sideways in embarrassment, and the orange-yellow flames burned it, leaving a black mark on the canvas.

With such force, the floor belonging to Astr's dreamland was scorched.

"Haha." Laughter sounded. "Anna" looked up and saw an excited smile on the white-haired boy's face.

'It's wrong. This young master, who has a nightmare space, is more terrifying than a fanatic believer in the Eternal Burning Sun. Who is he?'

At this moment, an emotion called "regret" emerged in the heart of the portrait.

{...}

(Note- From next Chapter Nightmare dialogue will be added in this bracket '{ }')