[Vol. 7] Chapter 212: Say “Meow Meow” for Me!
Orluk looked at her thoughtfully, then, after a moment, spoke with a hint of mischief in her voice.
“Hold your head and hop like a bunny right where you are. Each time you jump, say ‘meow meow’, keep doing it until I tell you to stop.”
“Okay, meow...”
Even though the command was more complicated and sounded like a prank, Noelle—who normally hated showing her cat-like instincts in front of others—didn’t resist at all. She started doing exactly as told, one move at a time.
“Meow~ meow~ meow~...”
Orluk watched the little catgirl hopping up and down in place with her hands held up over her head, eyes closed. It looked a bit silly. Even when her loose clothes shook from the jumping and revealed part of her pale shoulder, Noelle didn’t care. She kept making those cute sounds without hesitation, acting completely foolish.
Orluk knew that Noelle would never do something like this if she were awake and in control. But now, watching her obey every order like this, Orluk could feel a strange, dark emotion growing deeper inside her heart. And with it, her control over the half-cat girl became even stronger.
This was what the Nightmare fed on.
It had been more than a week since that night, when Orluk accepted the deal and power of the [Nightmare] and took control of the [Dream Seed] inside Noelle, who had been secretly spying on their conversation.
Since that night, Orluk hadn’t had a single nightmare. The real reason she looked weak lately wasn’t because she was sick, but because using the Nightmare’s power had put a heavy burden on her body and mind.
The being called [Nightmare], which claimed to be her heart’s inner demon, had told her from the start. Though Orluk held far more darkness than most people, making her an ideal host for the [Nightmare]’s power, she still hadn’t reached the level of a mythical being.
In simple terms, Orluk’s strength had limits. Especially early on, before she fully adapted to the [Nightmare]’s power, using it too recklessly could easily hurt her instead.
During this time, she had been learning how to use that power by practicing on Noelle, her roommate, who was already under her control. Through the [Dream Seed] planted in Noelle’s mind, Orluk could pull her into a sleep-like, trance state at any time and use different “experiments” to better understand what this mysterious power could really do.
Just like [Nightmare] had explained before, controlling someone like a puppet during a dream was only the most basic ability of the nightmare. Orluk had been able to do that much ever since the first time she activated the [Dream Seed].
But if that was all there was to it, then this ability wouldn’t be much different from other mind-related magic, like the powers of vampires, succubi, or the strange spells used by evil cults. It wouldn’t be powerful enough to be called a “Divine Power.”
At first, Orluk really did think that way. But as she learned more about this power, she slowly began to realize just how strong, or rather how terrifying the [Nightmare] truly was.
A power is called a “Divine Power” because of its absolute nature. It’s not just strong, it works more like a law of reality, something that forces itself to happen no matter what.
Take the [Dream Seed] for example, once it’s been activated even just once, and as long as it hasn’t been completely removed, then the next time it’s triggered, no matter how strong the person is, or how much they try to guard against it, they’ll fall into the nightmare instantly. They’ll become a puppet, unable to resist at all.
Well… at least, that’s what [Nightmare] told her.
So far, Orluk had only tested this power on people around her level or weaker, like Noelle. She hadn’t tried it on anyone stronger.
But if there really was no upper limit to this power, then even people like Headmaster Lucine of Sainz Academy or that Honorary Professor Violet they had met before… if Orluk could manage to plant a [Dream Seed] in them, she could easily turn those powerful people into puppets in her hands. Just thinking about it made her heart race with excitement.
Of course, it was just a thought.
Orluk was very self-aware. No matter how much [Nightmare] praised the power, she wasn’t stupid enough to try it on such high-level people right now. There was no reason to take that risk, at least, not yet. Plus, getting close to those kinds of people wasn’t easy either.
The [Dream Seed] is like a ghost. It hides deep in the soul, and normal people can’t sense it at all, let alone remove it. But from the information [Nightmare] shared with her, Orluk learned that the people who were knocked unconscious during the [Morst Underground Labyrinth] tournament had also been implanted with [Dream Seeds] by [Nightmare]’s allies.
But those victims had since been healed and woke up. That meant the [Nightmare] wasn’t completely undetectable or unstoppable, which made Orluk a little more cautious.
Still, one of the [Nightmare]’s scariest traits was its ability to hide and disguise itself. After the [Dream Seed] evolves to a certain level, the controller can make it blend in even better. It becomes much harder to detect than in its basic form, so there’s no need to feel discouraged just because of that one failure.
And once it evolves far enough, Orluk could even deeply hide the [Dream Seed], making it almost invisible. She could use it to plant things like “post-hypnotic suggestions.” The target would seem completely normal most of the time, but once a certain condition is met, the [Dream Seed] inside their mind would suddenly activate, and the person would automatically follow the command Orluk had placed inside them earlier.
The [Dream Seeds] planted in those people during the [Morst Underground Labyrinth] incident had no disguise or protection at all. So if someone with very deep knowledge and strong abilities in soul-related powers checked them, they could discover the [Dream Seeds] in their most basic form.
It’s said that those seeds were just meant to draw Sainz Academy’s attention and cover up for people like Orluk, who are the real host of the [Nightmare]. From the start, they never planned to hide from those strong soul-sensing people.
It seems that [Nightmare]’s allies were very sure that someone that strong really was in Sainz. And they were right. But even so, Orluk always felt that their behavior was kind of strange. If their only goal was to bring the [Nightmare] into Sainz, there was no need to make such a big scene.
The way they acted now felt more like they were trying to get someone’s attention, but not really planning to let themselves be found. It reminded her of a game of hide and seek she used to play when she was a child.
[Nightmare] never gave her an explanation for this. But Orluk didn’t really care. She knew very clearly that she was just one part, maybe just one “chess piece”, in some huge plan.
But so what? Nothing good ever falls from the sky for free. If you want something, you have to pay for it. Thinking you can get power without any cost is just wishful thinking.
She knew from the beginning that she was gambling. This [Nightmare], and its companions, were very likely followers of the so-called “Evil Gods” the church and the temple always warned about. But that was exactly why the deal made sense, it was simple and clear, an exchange of benefits.
Orluk’s goal was very simple. If she succeeded, that would be great. But even if she failed...
Thinking this far, the girl sat up, got out of bed, and walked over to Noelle. She snapped her fingers lightly. The cat-girl, who had been jumping in place following the last order, immediately stopped. Her body stood still, face blank and fully relaxed again. Only her slightly flushed cheeks and the sweat on her forehead showed the strange thing she had just been doing.
After a short pause, Orluk leaned down and brought her lips close to Noelle’s ear. She continued speaking in that low, almost hypnotic voice.
“Listen to me carefully.”
“Yes, meow…”
“Count down three minutes. After that, you will wake up normally. You will see Orluk still lying on the bed resting. But you won’t bother her. You also won’t leave this room. If someone comes knocking, tell them the patient is resting and can’t be disturbed. Understand?”
It looked like the cat-girl had a hard time understanding long instructions in this dream-like state. She paused for a few seconds, then slowly nodded, her voice weak and empty, like she was still dreaming.
“Understood… meow…”