Nightmare (Black Steed)

For similar terms, see Nightmare (Disambiguation).

Illustration

* Names
* Status

* Debut
* Current

**Nightmare**, the Black Stallion, is the Awakened Terror that had once been Shadow Lord's steed and companion. Sunny received this Shadow after killing it.

## Appearance

A beautiful black steed, tall and graceful, with a lustrous jet-black coat and lean muscles rolling under the skin. Its mane was long and luscious, and its tenebrous eyes glowed with fearsome crimson flames. The courser had two long horns and a mouth full of sharp fangs that resembled that of a wolf. The horns, the fangs, and the hooves were all forged out of a strange black metal that seemed to be able to compete with the impenetrable onyx of the Mantle of the Underworld.

In his true shapeless form, he was a vast shadow.

After Ascension, Nightmare's outward appearance did not change much, only the red glow of his ferocious eyes seemed brighter.

## Personality

The black steed was as resilient, stubborn, willful, and ruthless as Sunny was. It endured the endless stream of wounds and deaths that was delivered upon him with unbreakable determination, his hatred and murderous fury only growing stronger. The courser possessed an evil will and a devious mind of his own. He was ready to suffer terrible torment for eternity, as long as it meant destroying his enemy over and over again.

After the black steed was reborn, it was still the same being, but also renewed by the purifying darkness of death. The madness was gone from the stallion's crimson eyes, and so was the burden of hundreds of years of sorrow and loneliness.

It seemed that Nightmare did not like the Imp as it snorted in calm agreement when Sunny told him he had permission to eat the Imp if it did something stupid.

## Runes & Progress

**View Runes**

*Click here to view the Shadow Runes & Progress*

### Ability

Nightmare's ability as a terror was similar to that of a tyrant. In his case, instead of corporeal minions, the stallion accumulated literal nightmares, and the more of them he ruled, the more powerful he became. The dark destrier was supposed to eventually unlock his final ability, [Dream Curse], by assembling an army of a thousand nightmares.

There were two ways for Nightmare to accumulate nightmares: either create his dream minions, or subjugate them.

* To create his minion, the black steed had to sow a seed of terror into an enemy's soul. If the enemy escaped and the seed took root, they would be haunted by the memories of the dreadful destrier and see him in their dreams.

The weaker the victim's will, the more opportunities for the nightmare to grow and become more powerful. A brave person, on the other hand, would cause the seed to wither and die. Eventually, if the nightmare fully formed, the stallion would be able to use his [Dreamwalker] Attribute to harvest it.

* To subjugate a nightmare, the Shadow had to defeat it in battle inside the dream, which meant at least an Ascended in waking world.

The black steed could travel into the dreams of powerful beings and subjugate their own nightmares. However, the more powerful the dreamer, the more powerful the nightmares haunting them were.
The **Dream Curse** was referred to by the Spell as a lesser dream domain. The souls destroyed within the Shadow's dream maze were consumed, making the shadow stronger.

## Nightmares

### Debut

Show/Hide Nightmares

 635-636
* Tied to a stake and burned alive while being watched by his friends and neighbors with demented glee.
* Being eaten alive by a monster.
* Bled to death on a battlefield and crows tearing at his face with their sharp beaks.
* Watched his entire family be executed and hanged from the walls of a somber fortress.
* Thrown into the boundless darkness of the Sky Below by his heartless mother.
* Killed and turned into a wooden doll by a vengeful sorcerer.
* Heart pierced by an obsidian knife.
* Cleaved apart by the blade of a giant warrior in a red tattered robe in an ancient theater.
 639-640

### Current

Dormant nightmares: 287

Awakened nightmares: 252

Ascended nightmares: 455

Transcendent nightmares: 6

## Background

Centuries ago, on a deserted island, where the Shadow Lord said his last goodbye to this faithful steed and rode across the night skies. After his lord took his own life, the black steed wandered across the ruins of the Kingdom of Hope, mournful and lost, and then returned to the now-empty fortress that had once been his home, his master's home, only to see it be overtaken and desecrated by marauding strangers. He felt a deep, maddening rage, and gave in to the madness, letting it consume him.

The black steed was an ancient and powerful Shadow and had experienced centuries of bloody battles.

The black steed had been a Shadow created by one of the Chain Lords.

## Trivia

* The black steed was killed by Sunny due to a shattered spine and was awarded to Sunny as a Shadow. The Spell called it an Awakened Shadow, Nightmare.
* Sunny ordered a custom-made saddle from an exclusive leather work boutique and turn it into a memory to be used on Nightmare.
* Sunny has grown accustomed to sleeping peacefully ever since he got Nightmare. The black steed usually guards his dreams.
* After Ascension, Nightmare's aura of fear became stronger that even Sunny with his high level of resistance to mental attack felt a hint of dread.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chapter 642 Rude Awakening
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Chapter 644 My Enemy
3. ↑ Chapter 652 Plentiful Gains
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chapter 655 Nightmare
5. ↑ Chapter 768 Dark Shore
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chapter 1366 Terror of the Earth
7. ↑ Chapter 641 Dream Battle
8. ↑ Chapter 1090 Tyrant
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Chapter 759 New Developments
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Chapter 1367 Dream Curse
11. ↑ Chapter 652 Plentiful Gains
12. ↑ Chapter 935 Unmoored