《Destinatus》 [V1] Chapter 1: Light from Darkness Chapter 1: Light from Darkness It was night, and I could hear the leaves rustling against the ground outside as the wind swept the leaves away. Unimpeded, the icy breeze gushed through my open window and blasted me in the face. I could have closed it, but I didn¡¯t care. It didn¡¯t matter. In fact, nothing mattered. Neither the rock-solid bed nor my ragged-excuse of a blanket that didn¡¯t even shield me from the winter¡¯s breeze. My body had grown numb long ago. Tick tock¡­ Tick tock¡­ Only that was a concern. Glancing at the swaying clock above me, I could see it was twelve o¡¯clock. ¡®I need to sleep, but I can¡¯t. Why do I keep thinking about what went wrong? It¡¯s past now. I shouldn¡¯t regret it¡­ But if only¡­¡¯ *Sigh* I glanced once again at the clock and saw it was already three o¡¯clock. ¡®What the! When and how did time sneak by me? Did I fall asleep? No¡­ What was I thinking about before I noticed the time? Ugh¡­ Why can¡¯t I stop myself from thinking?¡¯ I struggled to keep my mind at peace, but my thoughts kept raging. My mind was like a battlefield. Even my body was restless from its constant twisting and turning. ¡®Why do I have to worry about this? I could just resolve it tomorrow¡­ Tomorrow will be another busy day. I need to re-energize myself so I won¡¯t get stressed out when people come to bother me. Every single day, they come with their baggage and think that it¡¯s okay to dump it on me. When did I ever¡­ Ah! Just forget it and sleep!¡¯ I tried to sleep, shutting my eyes¡­ But I couldn¡¯t sleep. ¡®Maybe I should just get of bed. Walking around might help me relax, but then again, I don¡¯t want to be up thinking about¡­ her any more. How could I have¡ª Forget it!¡¯ Frustrated, I cast my sorry excuse of a blanket aside and got up while sighing. ¡®Yeah, I need to cool myself¡­¡¯ As if I were in a daze, my vision blurred and my mind swirled into an endless abyss of mesh as my head pounded in confusion. My mind could not resolve its dilemma, and my concerns oppressed my heart. The worst part about it was that I had no answers. The pounding in my head only grew stronger. I was having a massive headache. It was then I noticed that I was standing in front of my house. ¡®How did I get out here? I must have walked out of my house¡­¡¯ I wanted to sleep, so I turned to head back, but before I could turn around, a sudden flash of light caught my eye. ¡®What was that?¡¯ The light had blinded me, and for a while I saw nothing but darkness. Even the sound of the blowing wind disappeared. ¡­ Silence¡­ ¡­ An eerie feeling was creeping up behind me as the hairs on the back of my neck rose. My whole body shuddered but I could not move. I was afraid¡­ My consciousness was fading away into the dark abyss of nothingness¡­ ¡®Maybe this is fine¡­¡¯ ¡­ *Flash* A light exploded off in the distance like a firecracker in the night sky, and just as quickly as it came, it disappeared. Straining my eyes, I could still see the light, although faint. It gave me a warm sensation that surged throughout my body, but something was wrong. The light flickered left and right and swayed from side-to-side in a chaotic manner as if it were trying to escape something. ¡®Move! Why won¡¯t my body move?¡¯ My body felt heavy. I stumbled forwards before regaining my balancing. It was hard to control my body. Darkness was encroaching, threatening to envelop me. I had to get to the light. Step-by-step, I moved forward building momentum, but the simple process of moving my legs was sending my brain into overload. I could not stop. The light was getting bigger and bigger as I drew closer and closer. I noticed that my vision was coming back with each step I took. I could even feel the wind darting around me as my feet stomped on the hard ground. Ahead, I saw a grassy hill, but no light. The light had vanished, but I could sense it was there, somewhere. When I reached the top of the hill, gasping for breath, an ominous feeling struck me. My heart ached. A tremendous forest stood before me. ¡®What is this feeling?¡¯ My mind was yelling at me to escape. Run. Run! But my body did not move. I was petrified. This feeling¡­ A familiar feeling¡­ But before I could recall, the light that had vanished burst out of the shadows of the forest. As the light darted towards me, my surroundings changed. The grass rotted as weeds sprouted and replace the surrounding grass. Muddy water seeped through the hard ground that turned into mush. Before I could escape, my feet sank into the muddy water. I didn¡¯t move. ¡®The light!¡¯ The light was fading away as it charged towards my body. I could do nothing. I knew that if I tried to move, it would only make me sink faster. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Wide-eyed in desperation, I searched¡­ ¡®There!¡¯ Long roots were growing out of a decayed tree as if it were trying to reach out to me. Trying to move towards the roots, I sank faster into the swamp as I struggled to reach out for my only hope. Deeper I went as I continued on fighting for my life. ¡®Yes!¡¯ I grasped the tips of the roots before my head submerged into the water. I pulled and yanked at the roots, trying to pull myself out of the swamp. First, my upper body, and then my legs. I had escaped the swamp and was leaning against the decayed tree that was now crumbling into pieces. No time to rest, I turned my head to look at my surroundings. ¡®Where¡¯s the light?¡¯ Not too far away from me, I spotted a faint glimmer entangled in many weeds. Dragging myself out of the swamp had exhausted me, but I didn¡¯t care and dragged my body towards the faint glimmer that was getting dimmer by the second. ¡®Hold on! I¡¯m right here. I¡¯ll get you out!¡¯ As I reached the many weeds that pinned it down, I ripped them apart with my hands. I was not thinking, just ripping, but it was to no avail. I was powerless, and now, trapped. My hands were bleeding. The weeds had overwhelmed me as they tied my body to the ground bit-by-bit. I struggled in a crazed frenzy trying to escape, but there was nothing I could do. I looked at the light, and it vanished. ¡®Why?! Is this the end? Don¡¯t leave me in the darkness!¡¯ There, in the dark, I noticed the remnants of the light: A man holding a book. Although the light had vanished, the man was not willing to die without a fight. Opening his book, he chanted something unintelligible to my ears. A prayer? It was all a mumble. The only word I managed to make out was his last: ¡°Sacrificum.¡± In an instant, a surge of light brighter than the sun surrounded the man and grew stronger and stronger until it enveloped the surrounding weeds, incinerating them. Ash layered the ground, and green grass peaked their heads above the ash. The land surrounding us was recovering its earlier lushness. ¡®What just happened?¡¯ I could see the weeds crumbling away as green once again dominated the hard ground. Everything was reversing, but looking at the man, I could see he was only getting worse. His eyes dropped and his skin shriveled. His muscles were thinning, and his legs had given out under him. He kneeled on the floor supporting himself with the book he had in his hands and looked up at me. The man¡¯s eyes widened and tears rolled down his face as he stammered in disbelief, ¡°G-Gratus! Could-could it be? I can¡¯t believe it!¡± Dumbfounded, confused, I tried to recall his face, ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡­ The man looked at me in concern, ¡°Could you have forgotten again? I am--,¡± but before he could finish, he screamed aloud in agony. An invisible pressure was contorting his body left and right. ¡°Wha-What is happening to you?¡± Ignoring my question, he continued, ¡°I didn¡¯t think... it would get to this, but this is an emergency¡­ I am glad you¡¯ve come, Gratus, but a shame we couldn¡¯t have met under better terms¡­¡± ¡°Emergency?¡± Those were the only words I could get out of my mouth. My mouth was dry, and the man¡¯s earlier shrill had frightened me. *Crackle* The man groaned. His bones were cracking. I could hear it. He took as many breaths as he could to compose himself before continuing, ¡°Ky-Kyrie is waging an all-out war against Clautz. That must be why you are here¡­ once again¡­ but in your current state, you won¡¯t be able to do anything¡­ Seek Clautz¡­¡± Reaching towards me, he muttered, ¡°Here¡­ A little gift¡­¡± ¡°W-W-Wait! What are you doing?¡± I tried to draw away, but he used the last ounce of life to clutch onto my hands and said, ¡°Conspicio.¡± The old man smiled at me as he collapsed onto the floor, bones shattered. ¡°What the¡ªDon¡¯t die on me! H-How do I meet Clautz? Who or what is Clautz?¡± But it was too late, he had cast his spell, and a mysterious energy entered my hands as his body dispersed into the air. I could see his power swelling in the palm of my hands. As if to have a mind of its own, the energy crawled up my arms. It was already at my neck, and at last, it rested in my eyes. Shining with great power, my eyes emitted a fierce golden light that blinded me. I could see nothing, but the energy was changing my eyes. My body reacted, transferring all of its energy from every part of my body to my eyes. My legs quivered as I tried to stand up, but I had nothing in me anymore. I collapsed onto the grass trying to rise. My vision was returning, but what I saw as I lifted me head towards the forest was a sight my brain dare not forget. Behind the shadows of the many trees were eyes¡­ those devilish eyes that preyed upon my fallen body, wanting to engulf my very essence as I fainted into oblivion¡­ [V1] Chapter 2: Dominion of Darkness Chapter 2: Dominion of Darkness It was bright. There was nothing to be seen around me except for a pure whiteness that seemed to expand without end towards every direction around me. I wasn¡¯t even sure if there was a ground. ¡®Am I even standing? I could be upside down¡­ I feel like I¡¯m floating in space.¡¯ The moment I thought this, I plunged into darkness. ¡®Wha¡ª¡¯ White turned into gradients of gray, and then black. Nothing was left except for me and the darkness. I could not tell where I was, only that nothingness had enveloped my entire space. ¡®Take me back!¡¯ I tried to reach back up, but there was nothing to grab. ¡®Are you serious? I hate the dark¡­¡¯ *Sigh* I was alone again, but I felt relieved. Those demonic eyes weren¡¯t here, and my eyes seemed to have returned to normal. ¡®Well, it¡¯s not like I can see anything anyways. My hands seem to fine though, and my legs too. What did that guy do? That strange energy¡­¡¯ Before I could ponder any more, a faint glow of light peeped through a tiny hole in the shadows. It was faint but obvious in contrast to the surrounding darkness. The light was drawing my attention. On the blank canvass of my field of vision, there was nothing else for me to look at, so I focused on the light in front of me. ¡®Huh? Is it my imagination or is the light growing bigger?¡¯ ¡­ ¡®No, the light isn¡¯t getting bigger. The hole is!¡¯ Cracks formed in the shadows around the hole which grew longer and more erratic as the light forced its way into the darkness. The darkness was splitting, and more light was invading the darkness, but the darkness was strong, pushing back the light through the open hole. I tried to run towards the light, but the light only got further. The darkness was expanding faster than I could run. In a last attempt towards the light, I sprinted as fast as I could, but it was too late. The darkness had overshadowed the light. Once again, nothingness enveloped me. ¡®Alone again¡­¡¯ ¡­ ¡°You¡¯re not alone.¡± Startled, I turned towards the voice, and asked, ¡°Who are you?¡± I could not see in the dark, but I knew someone else besides me was present. From the sound of its voice, it was a girl. ¡®Where did she come from? Did it have something to do with that strange light from before?¡¯ ¡°I was able to sneak into this domain through the hole I formed when I broke in with my light.¡± Although darkness hid her body, her voice alerted me of her presence. I could not see her, but my mind drew the silhouette of a girl in front of me. A strange feeling, somehow, I knew her. I approached her, but she stepped back and said, ¡°We meet again, but it¡¯s a shame you cannot see me.¡± Wanting to see her face, I tried to approach her again, but she moved away in unison. ¡°Why won¡¯t you let me see you?¡± ¡°It is not I that hides from you, but you who cannot see.¡± Confused, I asked, ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You have forgotten, but I do not blame you. You have always forgotten, but this time, you cannot forget. This war between Clautz and Kyrie will change you forever.¡± This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°How do I remember?¡± ¡°I will be your guide, your guide out of the darkness and into the light.¡± ¡°But why you? Who are you?¡± ¡°I am your guardian. Never forget again!¡± As she said this, her body dispersed into the darkness, and I was left alone again. ¡®My guardian? That doesn¡¯t explain anything!¡¯ I tried to remember more. My head was spinning. Everything was twisting and swirling around me. The darkness was fluctuating into light and back as I focused on remembering who she was. ¡­ ¡®Ah! That¡¯s right!¡¯ I yelled out in joy, ¡°I remember! Your name is Cura!¡± Celebrating in joy, the darkness broke, and light prevailed. The whiteness returned, and Cura descended. Covered in a magnificent array of light, she floated towards me with her dazzling white wings fluttering in the air. It was hard to see her face because a hairpin restraining her wavy golden hair was beaming a bright white light. It looked as if she were wearing a small sun on her hair. I could only respond with one word: ¡°Beautiful.¡± When she landed in front of me, she looked and said, ¡°Gratus, I am glad you remember me, but you must never forget again, for I am your light, your only guide through the shadows of darkness.¡± ¡®How did I ever forget such a beauty?¡¯ ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I don¡¯t think I willforget, but I must ask, why have you come to me now?¡± ¡°Guardians are intangible beings that cannot be sensed unless they merge with a host. The man you met before was my vessel. In order for me merge with you, I needed him to cast a spell on you.¡± ¡®So that¡¯s what that spell was¡­¡¯ ¡°But now that you have met me and I remember you, what are you going to do?¡± ¡°The reason I needed to contact you was to help you regain your powers.¡± ¡°My powers?¡± ¡°Yes. Although you don¡¯t remember, you used to be one of the greatest Caelestis alive.¡± ¡°Caelestis?¡± ¡°There are many different forms that a human can take, but it depends on which path they choose. A human who wants to become a Caelestis must first become a Caste by undergoing a ritual called Sanctimonia. A Caste can wield the basic powers of light which allows them to heal or protect another person. After a Caste masters the basic powers of light, they can choose how they want to use their powers. If a Caste uses their powers to support people, they can become a Caelestis, which wield more advance types of supporting spells. If a Caste wants to purify the world of evil, they can become an Imperiosus, which hold the most destructive types of holy spells.¡± Excited, I exclaimed, ¡°Wow! So I used to be a great Caelestis?¡± ¡°Yes, but now you are lower than a novice Caste.¡± ¡­ ¡®So blunt¡­ I guess I shouldn¡¯t get ahead of myself.¡¯ ¡°How can I get back my powers?¡± ¡°You must first find the Recorodor.¡± ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°The Recorodor is a massive library that records and holds everything you have done in your life.¡± ¡°Wait a minute, a massive library? I¡¯ve never seen such a thing in my life, and even if I do find it, how will it help me?¡± ¡°It will help you regain your memories.¡± Trying to comprehend everything, my mind spun in circles. I wanted to question her more, but my mind felt light. I was dizzy. My body staggered and my vision blurred. I stared at Cura¡¯s silhouette until she disappeared. All that was left was light. [V1] Chapter 3: Cog Chapter 3: Cog Regaining my consciousness, I shifted my body around and could feel I was on a soft bed, my head on a pillow filled with feathers. ¡®Wow, this bed is ten times better than my own! Wait, was I dreaming? More like a nightmare, sheesh!¡¯ Eyes still closed, I stretched the full length of my body and rolled around on the bed. ¡®Man, this is real, right? I think I saw an angel when I was sleeping. Yeah, that was just a dream.¡¯ My fatigue had left my body, but I wanted to continue to lie down. The fluffiness of the bed tempted me to sleep longer. ¡®Hm¡­ I don¡¯t remember my bed being this big. Where am I? I wasn¡¯t taken advantage of, was I?¡¯ Before I could open my eyes to check my surroundings, I heard someone turn the handle of the doorknob outside and come into the room. ¡®Awww, come on! Okay¡­ Let¡¯s just pretend that I¡¯m still sleeping¡­¡¯ ¡­ *Cough* ¡°Hey, it looks like you¡¯re finally awake.¡± ¡®I¡¯m not awake.¡¯ ¡­ ¡°I know you¡¯re awake.¡± ¡®Serious? Just let me sleep!¡¯ I could only hear his voice, but his voice carried a hint of amusement. After a few more seconds of silence, I heard his footsteps draw closer to the bed. ¡°Gratus¡­¡± ¡®All right, geez¡­¡¯ I got up and opened my eyes to look at the man who was approaching me. My vision had not adjusted to the bright light, but I could discern where the man was. ¡°Where am I?¡± The man was now standing beside the bed. I could make out his outer appearance as I sat upright. Somehow, he looked familiar. He wore a set of leather clothes: a plaid blue and forest green cowl that went down to his thighs, black leather pants that continued from under, and a red leather belt that tied his cowl around his waist. On the belt was a small sheath that held a silver dagger. When I tried to get a better look at his face, he spoke. ¡°You¡¯ve been out for quite a while. It¡¯s been about three days since I found you in Attero. If I never saw you floating in that swamp, you would have drowned to death! What in the world happened to you?¡± As he spoke, my vision became clearer, and I recognized who he was. ¡°Cog?!¡± He frowned a little, but then shrugged it off with a smirk, ¡°Why does it always have to be Cog? It¡¯s Co-gi-to! The last time I met you, you made the same expression!¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, don¡¯t sweat the small details. Cog is easier to remember. What kind of name is Co-gi-to, anyway?¡± Letting his mouth gape open, he pretended to be shocked, ¡°How can you be so carefree? Is it a familial thing?¡± I shrugged, and we both laughed. After a moment of silence, he grew serious, ¡°I was afraid that you had amnesia like before. How are you feeling? Are you all right?¡± ¡°Of course, I feel as jolly as ever.¡± Looking at me with his eyebrows knitted, he continued, ¡°But I did find you half dead in a swamp, and on top of that, you were in a swamp in Attero.¡± ¡°Swamp? The one from my dreams?¡± Narrowing his eyes, Cog gazed at me with concern, ¡°Are you serious?¡± I didn¡¯t know how to respond. ¡®Wait, so that means I wasn¡¯t dreaming? Are you serious? That¡¯s what I want to say!¡¯ I could see a hint of bitterness in his eyes. *Sigh* ¡°Attero is the land of despair. Nothing living or in the right mind would ever venture into Attero. It is a complete wasteland of death! Some say that the land is alive, and if you ever go inside, you¡¯ll never come back to tell about it.¡± ¡®Hm? But isn¡¯t something strange?¡¯ ¡°If Attero is such a bad place, why were you there?¡± ¡­ Cog¡¯s eyebrows furrowed. ¡°Gratus¡­ Ever since you left, the world has become a corrupt place.¡± He paused to think, and then paced back and forth, not sure where to begin. After gathering his thoughts, he turned to me and asked, ¡°When you hear the word Dominia, what is the first thing that comes to mind?¡± ¡®Dominia? Another familiar term. If I had to say the first word that comes to mind, it would be¡­¡¯ ¡°Stable.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Dominia was stable. I wouldn¡¯t call it the best land, but there were no rifts.¡± ¡®Land?¡¯ ¡°So are we in Dominia, right now?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I looked at Cog, trying to understand the intention of his question. Cog stared back at me and nodded his head before pulling out a chair to sit. ¡°It all started with Anna.¡± My heart pounded. ¡®Anna?¡¯ ¡°At first, Dominia was as you described, stable. Clautz was a reasonable king that brought order to the world. Whenever conflicts arose, he would make sure that rifts never formed. People were happy to have him as a ruler, regardless of how bland he could be. When he met Anna, he gained an aura of liveliness and developed Dominia in a new direction. He put more effort into developing people¡¯s daily lives and even introduced art. People exuded a sense of pride and excitement. It was all because of Anna. She proved to be Clautz¡¯s ideal partner. She was beautiful, outgoing, and innovative. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. In return, Clautz welcomed her to Dominia and offered his hand to her. One could say it was a natural course of events, but that¡¯s when it happened¡­¡± ¡­ ¡®It?¡¯ Confused, I wanted more information, but Cog had stopped speaking. He was tense, clenching his hands and pursing his lips. ¡­ Wanting to break the heavy silence, I asked, ¡°Did a rift form between Clautz and Anna?¡± At my question, Cog let out a long breath¡­ It seemed to help him gather his bearings. He was no longer clenching his hands, but I could still see his hands shaking. ¡°Not quite. Rifts are not what you think them to be. Although you are right in the sense that people can be divided by rifts, a rift in Dominia suggests something much worse.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Instability.¡± ¡­ ¡®Instability? What have I gotten myself into? Wait, what does this have to do with me?¡¯ Cog paused and looked at me with concern. He seemed to have caught onto my confusion and waited for me to speak. ¡°Okay, I have a general idea of who Clautz is, but what does his relationship with Anna have to do with me?¡± Bewildered, Cog stared at me trying to understand my words, ¡°Uh, what? Aren¡¯t you- Wait, okay¡­ Hold on. What do you know about Anna?¡± My heart pounded once again. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Only what you told me I gu¡ª¡± ¡°Who are you?!¡± Cog rose from his chair, pulling out his dagger while cringing his face, ¡°There¡¯s no way that Gratus could have forgotten!¡± ¡°W-wait! Cog!¡± I wanted to calm him down, but he didn¡¯t give me any time to speak anymore and rushed at me. He was too close. I was going to be stabbed and killed. ¡°Salvus!¡± *Clang!* Cog had risen his dagger above his head to stab down on me, but the moment his dagger was about to stab into my head, it hit an invisible barrier and a loud clanging noise resounded. He stumbled backwards from the counterforce and almost dropped his dagger because of the vibrations that traveled up his dagger and into his hand. ¡°W-What?!¡± Startled at my sudden barrier, Cog glanced at me jittering, ¡°N-no way¡­¡± Perplexed, I thought, ¡®What just happened?¡¯ Feeling energy collecting in my chest, I looked down to see what was happening and saw a ball of light, the size of my fist, come out from my body. It was hard to see what was inside the light, but it was¡­ familiar. Cog narrowed his eyes and stared at the light. ¡°Cogito, why did you attack my master?¡± *Sigh* Cog glanced at me and then plopped back onto his chair before letting a mutter of disbelief escape his lips, ¡°Cura Rexi¡­¡± Bowing his head, he apologized, ¡°So you are Gratus. I am sorry. I apologize for my sudden attack. There have been many spies, and since you didn¡¯t know about Anna, my suspicions were aroused.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not my master¡¯s fault. Kyrie destroyed a sizable chunk of his memories.¡± ¡°Kyrie? Wait, what do you mean by his memories were destroyed?¡± Cog looked at me, but I shrugged. ¡®I want to know, too. Things are getting out of hand. I¡¯m at a severe disadvantage without my memories¡­ It looks like Cog didn¡¯t attack me without reason, but still, I can¡¯t think he¡¯s the same person I once knew.¡¯ Cura continued, ¡°At the moment, I cannot explain anymore. My memories were damaged as well. If you meet Clautz, then he will be able to explain more.¡± ¡°Cura, you told me before that I should meet him, but how do I meet him? Is he in Dominia somewhere?¡± ¡°Huh? Shouldn¡¯t you know, Gratus? You used to sneak out to meet him from time to time.¡± I tried to remember, but nothing came to me. After an awkward silence, Cog sighed, ¡°You have forgotten too much¡­¡± ¡°Wait! Cura told me I can get my memories back if I go to the Recorodor. Do you know where it is?¡± For a moment, I could see some hesitation in his face, but he replied, ¡°The Recorodor¡­ Well, that¡¯s going to be a problem.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s¡­¡± This time, I saw his hesitation as broad as daylight, but he shook it off and continued, ¡°In Procella.¡± ¡°Procella?¡± ¡°Do you remember a forest near Attero?¡± I recalled the forest and shuddered as I remembered those demonic eyes. ¡°Yes¡­ I remember.¡± ¡°Somewhere inside Procella lies the Recorodor, but there aren¡¯t many people left who know the whereabouts of the Recorodor. Even if they did know, I don¡¯t know if they would want to leave a place such as this.¡± ¡°Now that you mention it, where exactly are we?¡± Laughing, he replied, ¡°We are in your brother¡¯s utopia, Otium.¡± ¡°My brother? No way! What has he been doing all this time?¡± ¡°After you left, your brother wandered the land in search for the perfect place to build his utopia. Although he wasn¡¯t determined to build it, he still searched for a suitable place to build his utopia every once in a while, but that changed when chaos rained down after the Clautz and Anna incident. Your brother realized that he needed to create his utopia as soon as possible if he wanted to preserve the peace and beauty of the old world.¡± ¡°Wow, a utopia, but what is my brother up to nowadays?¡± Laughing again, he replied, ¡°Well, I¡¯m tired from explaining all of this. Shall I let your brother replace me?¡± Bewildered, I tried to understand what he meant, but soon, I realized when I saw a familiar shadow enter the room. [V1] Chapter 4: Cedric Bonas Chapter 4: Cedric Bonas A man the splitting image of me walked into the room. He was 5¡¯ 8¡± and had short-medium wavy brown hair. His face was well-groomed and contained a steady grin. I was perplexed because his lean muscles seemed to suggest that he had some weight behind his body, but his strides were light, almost making no sound whenever he took a step. Compared to my plain beige cotton shirt and pants, he wore an ivory silk coat adorned with gold patterns of flowers over an ivory long-sleeved silk shirt that ended at his fingertips. The coat extended to the middle of his calves and had slits in the bottom front and back. From under his coat, I could see his ivory silk pants. For his shoes, he wore brown leather combat boots that stretched up to his calves. When he noticed me sitting on the bed, I quivered with joy and shouted, ¡°Cedric!¡± Looking at Cog and then me, he replied, ¡°Gratus! It¡¯s been a while. I was surprised to hear that you have returned.¡± ¡®Hm? How long have I been away?¡¯ I looked at Cog, then back at Cedric before inquiring, ¡°What do you mean? Cog did mention that I had left before, but I don¡¯t remember such a thing, and to return?¡± Cedric¡¯s eyes drooped, but I knew that meant he was thinking. ¡­ ¡°At any rate, I hear that you are in search of the Recorodor. Maybe after you get your memories back, you will remember?¡± Cog and I both glanced at each other before Cog interjected, ¡°Wait a minute, how do you know about this?¡± Cedric laughed and pulled out an empty chair across from Cog and sat between us before replying, ¡°Cogito, this is my domain. Everything that happens in my utopia is reported back to me. In a way, I can sense it all. It¡¯s a part of me, so¡­ Cogito.¡± Cedric frowned a bit and stared at Cog, ¡°I know you tried to kill Gratus.¡± Cog looked away ashamed, ¡°I know¡­ I offer no excuses¡­¡± ¡°The world has changed. You¡¯ve changed Cogito, but it¡¯s not a bad thing to change. You¡¯re no longer na?ve, just a little too skeptical and uptight, for me at least. For Gratus¡¯s sake, you should trust us a bit more.¡± Cog showed his discomfort but kept silent and replied with a nod. ¡°But no matter, our business now is the Recorodor.¡± Turning to me, Cedric continued, ¡°I can help you, Gratus.¡± ¡®Hm¡­ There¡¯s something different about Cedric, too, and the way he talked about Otium¡­ Well, I guess I¡¯ll just take things one step at a time. If he is willing to help me, then so be it.¡¯ ¡°How can you help me?¡± ¡°Well, Cogito can come along too, but he may¡­ become a burden to us.¡± Offended, Cog stood up and blared, ¡°And what do you mean by that?!¡± ¡­ Cedric lifted his right eyebrow and crossed his hands over his chest, ¡°See? That¡¯s why you¡¯re gonna be a burden. You¡¯re too emotional, too easy to tempt.¡± Cog grimaced and retorted, ¡°You¡¯re just too carefree.¡± Not wanting the tension to escalate any more, I interjected, ¡°Cedric, you were saying? How can you help me get to the Recorodor?¡± Cedric nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. Well, as you may or may not remember, we have already ventured through Procella. In fact, we built the Recorodor, so it¡¯s only natural that it would be easier to survive the dangers of Procella. This will be our second run through, or so to speak.¡± Grinning once again, he turned to Cog and said, ¡°As for you, you may fall into a pit of darkness.¡± Cog, agitated, reached for his dagger, but Cedric raised both of his hands in front of him and added, ¡°But don¡¯t worry. As long as you are with me, it should be fine.¡± In response, Cog whipped out his dagger and threw it at Cedric. ¡®What the heck!¡¯ I was shocked, but Cedric emitted some sort of light from his hands that slowed the dagger down before catching the dagger in mid-air. *Sigh* ¡°Cogito. Such a precious heirloom. Are you sure you want to be throwing it around like this? What if you lose it? Or worse, what if it melts?¡± Cedric¡¯s words were calm and light, but they carried a hint of contempt. A thin layer of light surrounded the dagger in his hand and the dagger grew bright red. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. When steam rose from the dagger, Cedric exclaimed in surprise, ¡°Oh, it¡¯s melting! Ahhh!¡± Cog crossed his hands over his chest and waited unamused, staring down at Cedric. ¡°Nah, just kidding. I can¡¯t melt this piece of junk.¡± Cedric shrugged and tossed the dagger back at Cog. Cog caught it and sheathed it before plopping back onto his chair and sighing, ¡°Disagreeable, I can¡¯t get along with you Cedric. I can trust Gratus but not you.¡± Drooping his eyes, Cedric stared at Cog before bowing his head in apology, ¡°Sorry Cogito. I had to let off some steam. Gratus may overlook your shortcomings, but I won¡¯t.¡± After pausing for a moment and looking to the side, he muttered, ¡°You have to grow well.¡± ¡®Uh, am I missing something here? What kind of relationship do these two have? From what I can recall, they both worked in the royal palace. As a Militis, Cog was one of Clautz¡¯s personal knights, and Cedric was a Caelestis like me, but I don¡¯t remember them talking to each other much¡­ Ah, forget it! I want to know more about the Recorodor.¡¯ *Cough* ¡°Cog, I hope you can be patient with my brother. He seems like the happy-go-lucky type, but he considers a lot before he acts. He was upset because you tried to attack me, but even if so, Cedric, you shouldn¡¯t go too far. I can understand Cog¡¯s worries. The situation is dire. I don¡¯t know the details, but we should learn to support each other if we¡¯re going to the Recorodor together.¡± Cog and Cedric both looked at me and then glanced at each other before sighing and nodding. ¡°Great, now that we¡¯re on the same page, I have a question, Cedric. You mentioned that we created the Recorodor?¡± ¡°Ah, yes, we did. It was for situations such as these. You had been forgetting your memories so as an emergency measure, we created the Recorodor.¡± Voicing my thoughts, I questioned, ¡°I had been forgetting?¡± ¡°Yes, but this time, it seems like your memories were erased.¡± Cog glanced at me and said, ¡°Kyrie.¡± Cedric looked at Cog, then glanced at the ball of light hovering around me, ¡°Yes, it seems like this Kyrie did something to you, but I¡¯ve never heard of a person named Kyrie before either.¡± Taking some time to think, I asked, ¡°Hm¡­ If I had forgotten stuff in the past, have I used the Recorodor before? ¡°Well, err¡­ No¡­ but that¡¯s because it¡¯ll blow up after it is used.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Cog and I blurted out flabbergasted. Cedric chuckled and replied, ¡°Well, you see¡­ that¡¯s why we created it in Procella. If anyone found it and used it, we agreed that it would become a huge threat to you, so it¡¯s a one-time use thing.¡± ¡­ Cog and I stared at Cedric dumbfounded. ¡°What? Why are you guys so surprised? I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be okay.¡± Still shocked, Cogito asked, ¡°But how can you be so sure?¡± Now smiling, Cedric replied, ¡°I¡¯m not, but don¡¯t fret. We¡¯ll see after we get Gratus to the Recorodor.¡± Before we could object, he cast a spell, ¡°Eo ire itum,¡± and in an instant we were warped into a dimension of nothingness and then back, but now we were in a different place, a place of remoteness and death. Looking around in amazement, Cog tried to comprehend what just happened to him, ¡°Wha-What d-did you do? Where are we?!¡± Looking at Cog, Cedric smiled and laughed, ¡°Look around closely, we are in Attero. As for how, well, let¡¯s just call it teleportation.¡± Objecting, I asked, ¡°But what about Otium? Something could happen if you just leave it unattended.¡± ¡°Ah, it should be fine. As long as they don¡¯t know I¡¯ve gone, they won¡¯t panic,¡± but seeing Cog¡¯s unconvinced look, he changed the subject, ¡°At any rate, our first goal is to reach Procella, but before we move on, a word of advice: Don¡¯t get caught.¡± Confused, I asked, ¡°What does that mean?¡± This time, Cog replied, ¡°I believe you have experienced it before. Attero is alive, and if you get caught in its grasp, you will fall into despair so be careful.¡± Looking at us both, Cedric braced himself and energetically said, ¡°All right gentlemen, I¡¯m ready when you are!¡± Cog stared at Cedric in disbelief, ¡°W-wait a minute, you don¡¯t plan to travel through Attero without a plan do you?¡± ¡°Huh? I thought the plan was simple. Get to Procella. And as you can see from here, Procella is that gigantic forest way over yonder.¡± ¡°You¡¯re crazy! Th¡ª¡° But before he could finish, I interrupted him, ¡°Let¡¯s just forget about it and go.¡± Cedric smiled and then pointed to the gigantic forest, ¡°Well then, if all complaints are settled, let¡¯s head out!¡± Cog looked at Cedric once again and shook his head before sighing and mumbling behind. [V1] Chapter 5: Attero Chapter 5: Attero ¡®So this is Attero? It looks and feels much different from before¡­ Maybe because the suns up and it¡¯s not dark?¡¯ At first glance, Attero was a wasteland of dirt that stretched as far as my eyes could see. I would have considered it normal, but there was an eeriness in the air I could not describe. There were no animals, not even bugs. If I had to point out a living thing in Attero, it would be the trees that were growing here and there around the landscape. ¡®But even then, these trees are so corpse-like. I¡¯m not even sure if they¡¯re alive. Huh? Wait a minute. Did that tree just move against the wind?¡¯ As if reading my mind, Cedric replied, ¡°It¡¯s not your imagination. The trees here will attack you if you enter their domain. Be careful.¡± Cog sighed at Cedric¡¯s comment, ¡°It wasn¡¯t always like this¡­¡± I had to agree, ¡°Yeah, the trees didn¡¯t always move like this, did they?¡± Cog looked at me and sighed again, ¡°No, the trees always moved, but they didn¡¯t used to be so aggressive. Everything is so tense now. If there were children playing in the fields, now they¡¯re all gone.¡± ¡°All gone?¡± At my question, Cog looked away into the distance and muttered, ¡°I want the old world back¡­¡± Cedric smirked, ¡°If you want the old world, you can visit Otium anytime.¡± Looking at Cedric, Cog clicked his teeth, ¡°Otium? No way! Even if Otium is like how Dominia was before, it¡¯s not Dominia. I mean, look around!¡± Cog let out his frustration as he gestured to our surroundings, but Cedric kept smirking and replied, ¡°That¡¯s right. Dominia has changed.¡± I looked at the two bickering and shrugged, ¡°If it¡¯s changed, it¡¯s changed. Why change things back or try to keep them the same? Let¡¯s just get to the Recorodor and meet up with Clautz. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll have a better idea of what to do from there.¡± Cog muttered something I could not hear. He looked frustrated, but he nodded his head and clenched his fist in front of his chest as if he were determining himself to do something. Cedric continued to smirk, but his eyes drooped so I knew he was thinking about something. I didn¡¯t know what else to say, so I left it at that. ---- ¡®How far is this forest? I can see it right there, but it doesn¡¯t feel like we¡¯re getting any closer¡­¡¯ As I was thinking about the forest, I felt my balance shift to the left and then the right. I felt dizzy and started to wobble. ¡®Huh?¡¯ Without another thought, I felt my body falling towards the ground. ¡°Stop walking.¡± Someone had grabbed onto my arm. I looked to my side. Cedric had called my name and was now holding my arm to support me. I looked at Cog, and he had fallen on the floor. ¡°We¡¯ve now entered the heart of Attero. Let¡¯s take a break here so you guys can adjust to the fluctuations of the ground.¡± Cog, looking a little sick, sat upright and said, ¡°Every single time¡­ I¡¯ll never get used to this place.¡± I tried to regain my footing, but I couldn¡¯t. Cedric let go of my arm and let me sit. I looked at Cedric in puzzlement, ¡°Does this not bother you?¡± Cedric smirked, ¡°No. It does. I need to rest too.¡± After taking a closer look at Cedric, I noticed that he was balancing his weight with his elbows lifted a little to his sides. It looked as if he were submerged in water trying to maintain his position. When Cedric sat down, he closed his eyes. Cog seemed to be thinking about something, so I focused my time on adjusting to the fluctuations of the ground. The landscape was tilting left and right, but my brain was making adjustments to my vision. After an hour of resting, I had gotten used to the wobbling. I noticed that the ground was not shaking like during an earthquake but that it was moving around in a wavelike manner. It felt as if I were sitting on water. ¡®Now that I think about it. Even though we haven¡¯t moved from where we have been sitting for an hour, we are definitely not in the same place we started. The ground is moving us.¡¯ Even though I thought that, I had an odd feeling that there was something more to the fluctuations of the ground. There was something suspicious that kept me on my guard. Attero was a living place, and there was something alive that I couldn¡¯t see. I tried to look for it, but it always escaped me. When I stood up, Cog looked at Cedric and said, ¡°I guess it¡¯s time to go.¡± Cedric nodded, and they both stood. ¡®I guess I was the slowest to adjust¡­¡¯ ----- As we continued to trek through Attero, I noticed that swamps appeared and that the gigantic forest that seemed so far before was drawing closer. It was weird because the closer we drew to the forest, the more I felt my mind playing tricks on me. When I looked at the swamps, they would grow and threatened to encase us, but upon taking a second look, they would return to normal. Even the trees seemed to change. Faces appeared on the trunk of the trees and they seemed to scoff at us from afar. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. I had asked Cedric about the swamps and trees, but he shrugged saying it was the effect of the forest. Since Cedric had shrugged it off, I felt like relaxing, but Cog seemed to be wary of something. He kept looking around on full alert and did not reply to Cedric even when he tried to bother him. After a couple hours had passed, Cedric sighed and shouted, ¡°Ah, this is so boring!¡± It was at that moment that I spotted something shinning on the floor ahead of us. Cedric rubbed his eyes and asked us, ¡°Well, this is new. Are you seeing what I¡¯m seeing?¡± Looking ahead, I replied, ¡°Yeah, there is something on the floor over there.¡± Cog ran ahead and cried, ¡°It can¡¯t be!¡± I looked at Cedric, but he shrugged and said, ¡°I wonder what it is¡­¡± Catching up to Cog, we saw a thin silver dagger with a fancy looking ¡°M¡± carved into it. For a moment, Cog looked confused, but then he laughed, ¡°I can¡¯t believe it! This is my dagger I had lost just a while ago.¡± Concerned, I asked Cog, ¡°What does this mean?¡± Replying, Cog said, ¡°Ah, just great! We have already fallen into a trap!¡± Alarmed, I exclaimed, ¡°What do you mean?!¡± Cedric looked at Cog and replied, ¡°He means that we have been caught by the currents of the ground. Somehow, we¡¯ve been walking around in circles, or maybe¡­ something is trying to keep us from advancing.¡± ¡°And to top it off, it¡¯s almost nightfall!¡± Looking at Cog, Cedric laughed and said, ¡°Wow, you sure do know a lot about Attero. How do you know about nightfall?¡± Cog didn¡¯t say anything. He was speechless. He looked at Cedric in shock. His eyes grew wide. ¡°You tricky beast! You knew about this, didn¡¯t you? What are you going to do now? Kill us? You¡ª¡± But before he could continue, I interrupted his accusation, ¡°Hold on! It may be true that he knew about Attero, but that doesn¡¯t mean he is against us.¡± ¡°What makes you think that?!¡± Cedric was about to say something when jolted his head around and yelled, ¡°Brace yourselves. He¡¯s coming!¡± Confused, Cog and I turned to look. A huge wave of darkness was rushing into the deserted wasteland. The sight had dumbfounded me. It was coming, but I could not react to it. I only had time to take a glance at Cog whose face had turned pale before the darkness swept us away. ¡­ ¡°Cog!¡± I tried to fight my way towards where Cog was, a few feet in front of me, but I could only watch in horror as he grew further away. His figure grew smaller and smaller until he vanished into oblivion. ¡°Cog! Where are you?¡± No answer. ¡®I can¡¯t see him anymore. I can¡¯t hear him anymore. What happened to Cedric? He¡¯s gone too. What should I do?¡¯ ¡­ ¡°¡­ Gratus¡­¡± A faint whisper in the distance floated into my ears. ¡®Huh? Isn¡¯t this¡­¡¯ It was Cura. ¡®What is she trying to say?¡¯ ¡°¡­ Gratus¡­ remember¡­¡± ¡®It¡¯s faint, but I can hear you Cura! What do I need to remember?¡¯ As I thought this, a part of my mind presented itself to me. ¡®A spell for the darkness¡­¡¯ ¡°Conspicio.¡± My eyes flashed into a radiant brilliance, and the light from my eyes expelled the darkness covering my vision. I could see once again. Looking around, I spotted Cog lying on the ground unconscious. ¡®But where¡¯s Cedric?¡¯ I searched around but could not find him. It was then that I noticed a grotesque shadow extending from me. It was not mine. I tried to move away, but it followed. The shadow was emitting a foul smell that made me nauseous. ¡®No, this isn¡¯t a shadow. It¡¯s something underneath the ground!¡¯ I couldn¡¯t see it, but I knew it was there, a tremendous evil crawling about from within the ground. The moment I had realized its true nature, weeds appeared from the ground surrounding me. ¡®These weeds are¡ª!¡¯ I tried to escape before the weeds could ensnare me, but I was not fast enough. The weeds had already wrapped around my legs and were dragging me into the dirt. With each passing moment, the weeds crawled up my body. I tried to flail my body like a rabid beast, but the more I resisted, the more the weeds strangled me like a snake. I roared in rage as I fell deeper and deeper into the mouth of despair. When my body had submerged into the ground, the weeds grew thorns that bit into my skin. It was as if the monster itself was gnawing away at my body. I screamed in agony. I couldn¡¯t resist. The more I did, the more it hurt. I felt my fighting spirit being drained out of my body. It was as if the monster was leeching away my hope. ¡®I¡¯m going to die.¡¯ [V1] Chapter 6: Battle in Darkness Chapter 6: Battle in Darkness ¡®Not looking good¡­ I have to do something quick.¡¯ I glanced at Cogito¡¯s body lying on the ground and cursed to myself. ¡®That fool. I¡¯m beating him up after this.¡¯ With a sigh, I looked back at my brother and began converting the energy in my hands into light. By now, the weeds had encased his body. I could not see him with my eyes anymore, but I knew that the weed were trying to drag him into the ground. ¡®That bastard. Is this Kyrie¡¯s doing? I didn¡¯t expect my brother to be consumed without putting up much of a fight¡­¡¯ After the weeds dragged him into the ground, his body went limp against the relentless thorn-like weeds that were now gnawing away at his body. ¡®What the heck is Cura doing?!¡¯ A cloud of darkness draped itself over his eyes. I didn¡¯t know if I would make it, so I released the light I had gathered around my fist and shot it at Gratus. ¡°Irritus!¡± When my array of light surrounded him, the darkness in his eyes unveiled. I inspected his condition while the thorns surrounding him incinerated into ashes. ¡®Good! He¡¯s not dead.¡¯ He seemed to have noticed my presence because he looked up towards where I was floating in the darkness. I smiled at him and waved, not sure whether he could see me. ¡®Now then¡­¡¯ I turned my attention to the octopus-looking monstrosity that was griping onto him. I had my suspicions, but after I had encased my brother with light and incinerated the weeds, I could see what was attacking him. ¡®Des Peravi.¡¯ He tried to attack my brother a few more times, but the light I had surrounded him with served as a barrier that warded off all of his attempts. Seeing that his attacks were doing nothing, he released his clutch on my brother and retreated further into the depths of the underworld. ¡®Already running? But Gratus¡­¡¯ His condition seemed worse than I had thought since he wasn¡¯t showing signs of moving to resurface from the ground. Wanting to confirm his condition, I flew towards him and dove into the ground. ¡®He¡¯s unconscious. My Irritus spell should have at least alleviated the pain from his body but¡ª Huh? What¡¯s this?¡¯ I wanted to drag him out of the ground, but when I grabbed onto his arm, my hand went numb. A strange force was absorbing the energy in my hands and preventing me from holding onto my brother with any strength. ¡®This is bad. What did Peravi do? There¡¯s something going on inside his body. Is this what is preoccupying Cura?¡¯ I noticed that even my Irritus spell I had cast on him was dissipating faster than usual. ¡®What should I do? Ah, forget it! I¡¯m just going to beat Peravi to the brink of death and have him tell me what he did to my brother.¡¯ ¡°Irritus!¡± Once again, I cast Irritus, but instead of converting the energy in my hands into light, I converted the energy flowing throughout my body. By doing so, a protective light formed around me and the light encasing me revealed the surrounding darkness. Without any light, I would not have been able to see even one meter in front of me underground, but after I extended the range of my light, I could see an additional ten meters. ¡®This¡¯ll cost more energy, but I don¡¯t have a guardian like my brother to help me with internal attacks, so I should be careful.¡¯ When I checked my surroundings, I noticed that Peravi had already escaped into the darkness, but his escape did not bother me. I shouted, ¡°Do you think you can escape me, Peravi?¡± My voice echoed in the darkness. ¡­ There was a moment of silence, but it was broken by an exasperated voice that echoed in reply, ¡°Why are you getting in my way Cedric?¡± I could not tell where the voice was coming from, but I knew the general direction where Peravi had escaped. After my eyes had adjusted to the darkness, I could see a trail of faint light that disappeared into the distance. ¡®A little unorthodox, but I¡¯m glad I touched Peravi with my Irritus spell. It should be easy to track him as long my light has not vanished from his body.¡¯ I flew forward following the faint traces of light until I could see Peravi once again. He wasn¡¯t trying to escape. ¡°So you betray us¡­¡± I didn¡¯t bother to reply and continued to dart towards him while expanding the light around my body. ¡°Then taste despair.¡± Before I could smash into him, Peravi squirted out a cloud of darkness at me that concealed the light surrounding my body and blinded me. ¡°Petty tricks! Do you think this will stop me?¡± ¡­ I was expecting Peravi to attack me in my blindness, but nothing happened. There was no killing intent directed at me either. ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ It was then that I heard a faint chuckle in the distance. I focused my thoughts on listening to it when I heard a voice mocking me from afar, ¡°I don¡¯t have time for you. I hope you¡¯ll taste the hopelessness of not being able to do anything as I consume your brother¡¯s unattended¡ª¡± ¡°Such wickedness!¡± I was enraged at myself for being careless. ¡®No wonder he didn¡¯t escape outside my reach! He let me follow him to draw me away from my brother!¡¯ Peravi¡¯s aura of darkness was still sticking onto my body, but I didn¡¯t care. I knew where my brother was and backtracked as fast as I could. ¡®I¡¯m faster than Peravi, but this isn¡¯t good. He¡¯s a few minutes ahead of me.¡¯ When I had caught up enough to see Peravi¡¯s silhouette, I knew that I would not make it. He was a few moments away from reaching my brother¡¯s unconscious body. I withdrew the light around my body and focused it all into the palm of my hands. ¡®If he devours my brother, then I will take my time incinerating him inside out!¡¯ Peravi let out a wicked chuckle that further fueled my rising anger. ¡°You¡¯re too late Cedric. He¡¯s mine now!¡± Peravi shot out hundreds of thistles from his body and gripped onto my brother¡¯s defenseless body, threatening to drag him into the ground. ¡®He¡¯s going to be consu¡ª¡¯ Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.¡°And you think I¡¯m useless?¡± A sudden voice cut my thoughts short. I looked at my brother and saw Cogito holding onto his body, trying to keep him from being dragged into the ground. He had tied a rope around his body and anchored himself to a nearby tree. He was proceeding to tie my brother¡¯s body, but I could tell he was struggling against Peravi¡¯s pull. ¡®Just a few more seconds!¡¯ ¡°A Militis? Pathetic! I¡¯ll just consume you both!¡± Peravi¡¯s weeds expanded and engulfed my brother and Cogito. As I drew closer, he whipped its long tentacle-like arms at me, but I dodged and smirked. All I needed was to be in contact with him. ¡°Ignite!¡± I injected all the light I had stored in my palms into him. ¡°Cedric!¡± Peravi roared in pain. He tried to flee, but the more he tried to escape, the stronger I gripped his arm while dragging him away from my brother and Cogito. ¡°Let go of me! No. No!¡± There was no visible effect at first, but after a while, Peravi¡¯s skin cracked and molten lava-like light glowed from within his body. ¡°Betrayer! I hope you relish in despair for all eternity!¡± Ignoring his shouts of pain, I watched every inch of his body incinerate into ash. The sight of him burning to ashes eased my frustrations. I held Peravi while smirking until he had disintegrated into nothingness. When there was no trace of him to be found, I resurfaced from the ground and looked at where my brother and Cogito had been. ¡®So I was too late¡­¡¯ I frowned and realized that Peravi had devoured them before I could drag him away. As I stared at the empty ground, the darkness surrounding me melted away, and Attero before it was engulfed in darkness could be seen once again. The only difference was that I was alone. ---- Covered in darkness, I tried to clear my mind, but since my head was throbbing in pain, it was difficult to focus. Looking down at my arms and legs, I could see the deep scars that were inflicted upon me during my struggle against¡­ ¡®Who? Who was I struggling against?¡¯ My head was in a daze, and the pain was growing unbearable. I could not think! ¡®Worse than death! This pain¡­!¡¯ I screamed in agony. ¡®I want to die! It would be better to die!¡¯ The moment I felt like committing suicide by biting my tongue off, I felt my pain subside. It was only by a little, but the difference was like Heaven and earth. I looked to see what had happened and spotted a thin thread of bright green light flowing down upon my body. Every time the thread of light touched my body, my pain would ease a little more. The light lifted me up from the darkness and drew me towards its source. It looked small at first, but as I approached the source where the threads of light were coming from, the light grew bigger and stronger. ¡°¡­¡± A faint whisper. I could not hear what was being whispered because it was so subtle, but as I perked my ears to listen, the whispers grew louder and louder. It was a mesmerizing sound that made me want to chant along with it. I could not resist and mumbled along with the whispers until one word appeared in my consciousness. ¡°Sano.¡± While staring at the pool of light in front of me, my body plunged into the light without warning. My body was dowsed in light, and the light moved about finding its way under my skin and into my blood. Once it was in my life stream, the light rushed along my veins, reinvigorating every part of my body. It was an amazing feeling, but it was not over yet. The light within my body glowed stronger, and my body churned as I felt a battle rage within me. A flare of red light burst out of my body holding all of my sufferings and scars. ¡°Whoa¡­¡± The sight of the red light leaving my body astonished me. I couldn¡¯t help but feel refreshed once again, but it only lasted for a moment. The pain came back within seconds as my skin ripped open unleashing the green light and revealing deeper scars that carved into the depths of my body. ¡°Wha-What is happening to me?¡± Twisting in pain and agony, I screamed out as the pain grew worse and worse, but just as I thought my mind would rip from pain, Cura descended from a sacred white light that pierced through the shadows of the darkness. ¡°Gratus! I am sorry. I thought everything would be all right, but¡­¡± ¡®Huh?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t understand. Cura was telling me something, but I couldn¡¯t focus on her words. My consciousness faded, and my mind drifted back into the deep pits of darkness. Trying to move, my body resisted. I continued to struggle as I felt the grasps of darkness holding me in place. I felt a blast of icy wind blow into my face, and my mind retreated into darkness. ---- ¡°There¡¯s no hope in a life that has given up.¡± I paused and stared at Gratus while reflecting on the words he had once told me. They were words that had once saved me from the snares of despair, but so easily was I dragged away by that very force I tried to push away. I had no means of telling what was going on, but I knew that the situation was dire. Gratus seemed to be unconscious, maybe even dead. Des Peravi had consumed us both and left us in an empty domain of nothingness. I shouted in anger, ¡°Dammit Cedric! You¡¯re so clueless! Things would have been fine if you didn¡¯t obliterate Des Peravi into nothingness, but from the looks of it, I¡¯m guessing you did.¡± I knew no one was listening, but I needed to vent. After calming down, I reconsidered my outburst. ¡®Well, I can¡¯t blame him. Des Peravi did do a number on Gratus. Even though he¡¯s usually so carefree¡ªmore like reckless and na?ve¡ªeven he can be taken advantage of when Gratus is involved.¡¯ *sigh* ¡°I was supposed to use this against Clautz, but what choice do I have in this situation?¡± I sighed while continuing to stare at Gratus. ¡°Pitiful.¡± I unsheathed my dagger with the initials of the Morionis family engraved on it. ¡°It¡¯s either me or you, Gratus. I couldn¡¯t do anything during the Rift. Even if I went back now to that time, I¡¯d be useless. I would have given up in despair if you didn¡¯t appear. I wanted Des Peravi to devour me, but after I saw you in Attero, I knew things would be different. It¡¯s ironic that we ended up like this though.¡± I paused and lifted the dagger above my head and over Gratus. ¡°There¡¯s no hope in Dominia if you are dead.¡± I smiled and whispered, ¡°See you soon,¡± before ramming my knife into his forehead. ¡­ There was no blood. *Crack* The knife cracked, and the space beneath Gratus shattered sucking him away, leaving me behind. ¡°Alone again.¡± *Sigh* [V1] Chapter 7: Replay Chapter 7: Replay (version 2) Opening my eyes, the first sight my brain registered was a huge wave of darkness towering over me. Looking aside to find a place to avoid it, I saw Cog staring at the oncoming darkness with a pale face. ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ I wanted to think more, but I forced myself to stop because I knew that if I didn¡¯t grab onto Cog now, we would be separated by the darkness. I reached out and grabbed his arm while looking for a place for cover, but there was nowhere to hide. The darkness engulfed us like a crashing tidal wave. Cog looked like he was trying to process everything, but at least he had grasped my hands, so the stream of darkness did not separate us. We tumbled around in blindness, not being able to see anything. If only I could see! Wait, don¡¯t I have a spell for this? Taking a deep breath while holding onto Cog, I shouted, ¡°Conspicio.¡± In a flash, both of our eyes emitted a golden light that vanquished the darkness. The darkness didn¡¯t disappear per say, but everything we could have seen if the darkness were not present was visible once again. We could see. Cog looked down and shouted, ¡°Watch out!¡± while pointing at a gigantic monstrosity under us. Before we were able to move, it jumped out towards us with its mouth wide open. Looking at me, Cog pushed me aside while trying to get away himself, but just as he was about to move away, he fell onto the floor. Confused, Cog looked at his feet only to realize that his feet were being held down by weeds. He pulled out his dagger and tried to slice the weeds, but his dagger shattered. ¡°What?!¡± Cog let out a shout of disbelief. His eyes wide open. It looked like he was trying to process the reality of what seemed to be impossible. The weeds didn¡¯t share the same sentiments as him and happily took the opportunity to crawl up his legs, threatening to wrap around his stomach as well. ¡°Cog!¡± I tried to snap him out of his daze, but it didn¡¯t seem like he heard me. He kept staring at the fragments of his dagger on the ground. It was only when the all too familiar thorns grew out of the weeds did Cog¡¯s consciousness snap back to reality. He didn¡¯t scream. Instead, he ignored the thorns that were biting into his lower body and turned his attention to me while gritting his teeth. He looked angry. ¡®What the heck? I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on¡ª¡¯ ¡°Cog!¡± In the midst of the chaos, that was the only word that I could muster when I noticed the octopus-looking monstrosity threatening to devour Cog in one gulp. ¡®Focus. Focus. Focus! What can I do?¡¯ What could I do? After Cog had pushed me away from the monster, I had fallen on my butt and had been staring at Cog like a useless mannequin. I looked at the monster, and the monster looked at me, showing its teeth. Its open jaws looked like a big smile, but I knew its intentions. Cog shouted, ¡°Damn you Cedric!¡± That¡¯s right! Where is Cedric? But there¡¯s no time! But just as Cog was about to be minced to pieces, a glaring golden light hit the monster in the back. ¡°Is that how you call for help?¡± Cedric had snuck behind the monster and cast a spell that lit the back of the monster on fire. As the fire spread, it tried to dive back down into the sand, but Cedric had already prepared his next spell. ¡°Irritus!¡± The sand beneath the monster was layered with a bright white light. The monster could not stop its dive so it rammed into the layer of light, but the light repelled it from going into the sand. The monster tumbled onto the ground and tried to get up but found that it could no longer stand. The sand had burst into flames, which melted the monster¡¯s lower body. The monster lifted its head and yelled, ¡°Cedric! What are you doing? Gratus is right there! Kill him. Kill him! He will destroy Anna!¡± Looking down at the monster Cedric frowned, ¡°Look at you. You¡¯ve become a reflection of Anna¡¯s instability¡­ Dominia is better off without her.¡± ¡°Blasphemy!¡± ¡°Blasphemy? You¡¯re just as blind as the others! Anna this, Anna that! Gratus was the one who noticed her instability. She betrayed us first, and if you¡¯re going to be her pawn and rely on cheap tactics to kill Gratus, then I will be the one to strike you down. Burn in the light!¡± The fire had almost finished consuming the monster, but before the monster burned to ashes, he laughed and yelled, ¡°Clautz has already lost. I will rise once again!¡± When the monster was no more, Cedric looked at me and smirked, ¡°Are you okay?¡± I let out a sigh of relief, not sure how to respond. ¡°Yeah, I guess¡­ I¡¯m okay¡­¡± Cedric looked at Cog next and asked, ¡°Are you okay?¡± Cog did not look amused. ¡°Cedric, you fail.¡± Cedric lifted his eyebrow up and responded, ¡°Is that how you treat a person who just saved your life?¡± Cog lifted up his shattered dagger and rolled his eyes. I didn¡¯t know what was going on, but when Cedric looked at the shattered dagger, his smirk was almost wiped off of his face. ¡°Serious?¡± Cog looked at me and nodded. ¡®Okay, I can¡¯t handle this anymore.¡¯ I pointed at the shattered dagger and asked Cog, ¡°What¡¯s the big deal?¡± Cog tried to get up but suddenly cried out in pain and plopped back onto the floor. Alarmed, I ran up to him. ¡°Cog! What¡¯s wrong?¡± Inspecting his body, I saw that his whole lower body was covered in scratches and tears. The thorns that had been constricting Cog had wreaked havoc on his skin. Cog looked at Cedric and asked, ¡°Can you do anything about this, oh savior?¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Cedric smirked again and replied, ¡°I can destroy the thorns left inside your born and alleviate the pain, but I can¡¯t cure you.¡± Cog groaned, ¡°Well, what are you waiting for? That¡¯s better than nothing.¡± ¡°Hold on. Let me gather some light.¡± I looked at Cedric and could see the surrounding light bend and gather around him. The light was then focused into his left hand and was condensed into a sphere that came out of his hand. ¡°Irritus.¡± The sphere of light that was floating above his palm shot towards Cog¡¯s legs and formed a layer of light that seemed to penetrate into his skin. The thorns left in the gashes of his legs were lit on fire and his pain seemed to subside because he let out a sigh of relief. Looking at the fire in puzzlement, I questioned Cog, ¡°Doesn¡¯t the fire hurt you?¡± Cedric laughed while answering, ¡°My light only affects the darkness.¡± Then it hit me. I could heal Cog. Facing Cog, I smiled in joy. Cog looked at me questioningly. ¡°Cog, now that the thorns have been purged, I can heal you!¡± Cog exclaimed, ¡°How?¡± Cedric turned to me and simply nodded like he was satisfied about something. Kneeling down, I touched Cog¡¯s legs and said, ¡°Sano!¡± A bright green light burst from my hands and entered into his legs. Cog jerked back from the sudden light that entered his body, but then exclaimed, ¡°Whoa! This is amazing! Much better than Cedric¡¯s. I can literally feel my body closing up the wounds on my legs!¡± After the green light disappeared and the wounds were about to close, a bright red light exited his body and vanished into the air. Cedric laughed, ¡°You never cease to amaze me, Gratus.¡± I smiled and we all laughed. As our laughter echoed in the darkness, the darkness surrounding us melted away into the ground, and Attero crumbled along with it. The ground trembled and shook. It felt like a huge earthquake. The ground split in two, and the whole desert along with all the corpse-like trees fell into the darkness underneath. After Attero was sucked into the underworld, a magnificent and lush prairie grew from the ground. Shaking once again, the ground rejoined as one and sealed the Attero from our memories into the darkness. ¡°Whoa¡­¡± That seemed to be the only thing Cog could say in reaction to the dramatic change of scenery, and he wasn¡¯t alone. I was also in awe and curious as well. ¡°What happened?¡± I looked at Cedric who seemed to be the only one unfazed by the transformation that just occurred before our very eyes. ¡°Peravi has died. His realm can no longer exist anymore¡­¡± A brief silence permeated the air. I recalled the monster that had attacked us and how Cog had almost been devoured. ¡®So that was Peravi? Hm¡­ A familiar name¡­ Wait, now that I think about it¡­ Why did he want to kill me? It seemed like Cedric knew him as well.¡¯ I wanted to know, but I didn¡¯t know how to ask. It seemed to be a touchy issue, but it¡¯s not like I wasn¡¯t a part of it. ¡®But how am I supposed to ask about something I can¡¯t even remember? Are they trying to avoid the issue? Or have they also been waiting for a good opportunity?¡¯ I decided that it was now or never. ¡°Cedric.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Towards the end, when Peravi and you were talking about me and Anna. What was that all about? Why did Peravi want to kill us?¡± Cedric¡¯s eyes drooped while Cog sat in silence, looking at Cedric. A brief silence hung in the air. ¡°You know that you were once one of the greatest Caelestis in Dominia, right?¡± I pursed my lips and furrowed my eyebrows, ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe since I¡¯m clearly not, but Cura told me the same thing as well.¡± Cedric nodded his head while thinking, ¡°Regardless, you and I were one of the pillars that supported Anna, along with Peravi and¡­ the others. I don¡¯t know what made Anna unstable, but you were the first to notice and confront her with your worries. At that time, I didn¡¯t know how serious it was, so I didn¡¯t involve myself too much, but thinking back on it now, I should have been less¡­ carefree.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°You were labeled a traitor and banished before I could do anything.¡± ¡°What?!¡± I was surprised, but Cog was the one who shouted. ¡°I was told that Gratus returned to Ex Tellus to watch over the kingdom there while Anna was here in Dominia.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then how did I return?¡± ¡®Wait, where did I even come from?¡¯ Cedric smirked, ¡°I don¡¯t know, but you always do.¡± Cog stood up to say something, but Cedric clapped his hands and shouted, ¡°All right! I think that¡¯s enough for today. We also don¡¯t have much time since Anna has probably been informed already of Peravi¡¯s death and my betrayal. We have to hurry if we want to make it through Procella alive.¡± Cog complained, ¡°What? It¡¯s going to take some time to get to Procella anyway so we should take this time to rest and get on the same page.¡± Cedric stretched his arms and shook his head, ¡°Nope. Look again,¡± while pointing behind us. When we turned to see where Procella was, our mouths dropped open. ¡°It¡¯s right behind us!¡± Cog was speechless. Cedric laughed and said, ¡°Well, now that the forest is welcoming us. We shouldn¡¯t dilly dally any longer. After Gratus healed you, you should be the least fatigued out of all of us.¡± Cog looked at me and Cedric with worry after hearing his words, but since Cedric was already heading into the forest, he sighed and followed. I smiled to let Cog know that I was all right, but before I could follow after his footsteps, my body froze for a brief moment. I looked at the forest and recalled those devilish eyes that had once preyed on my fallen body. My body hesitated, but I shook my head and forced myself forward, vanishing into the depths of darkness once again. [V1] Chapter 8: The Pit Chapter 8: The Pit As we walked deeper into the forest of Procella, the light behind us faded into nothingness. Soon, I could not see anything. It was completely dark. ¡®Good thing I have a spell for these occasions.¡¯ I gathered energy in my eyes and tried to convert it into light, but the moment particles of light appeared from my eyes, Cedric covered my eyes and stopped me with a quiet but sharp whisper. ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± I almost fell backwards when I felt his hand cover my eyes, ¡°Hey! Why not?¡± ¡°If you cast Conscpicio, the light you emit will attract the darkness to us. Right now, Anna can¡¯t tell where we are, but if you have eyes flashing out from your eyes, then you¡¯ll draw her attention like a month to a flame, which is fine if we want to fight her, but now¡¯s not that time. We need to get to the Recorodor as quickly and safely as possible. So be on your guard, especially you, Cogito.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, you¡¯ve been here already, and I haven¡¯t.¡± ¡°No, there¡¯s another re¡ª¡± Before Cedric could finish his sentence, I plunged into the ground without warning. Cedric shouted, ¡°They¡¯ve found us! Quick, get away Cogito!¡± That was the last I heard from Cedric as I fell deeper and deeper into the abyss. Cedric¡¯s shout had grown faint and then no more. ¡®Oh shoot! What do I do! I¡¯m falling too quickly. If I hit the ground, I¡¯m done¡ª¡¯ I hit the ground. ¡®No, something is under me, but it¡¯s not dirt.¡¯ I thought my body was going to splatter into pieces when I smashed into the ground, but nothing happened. I simply stopped falling and had landed on some sort of platform. I looked around but couldn¡¯t see anything. I could only see darkness. Using my ears, I tried to listen for some sort of sound, but there was nothing, only silence. I felt lost in space. There wasn¡¯t even any wind blowing against my skin. That was when I heard an elderly voice creep out of the darkness, ¡°Ah, could it be? Yes. I remember you. My little play toy in the darkness.¡± I jumped at her voice. ¡®Where is she speaking from? I can¡¯t tell.¡¯ ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked. ¡°Aww, don¡¯t you remember me, Gratus? I¡¯m sure you haven¡¯t forgotten about me. No, I made sure of that.¡± Chuckling in an eerie manner, she continued, ¡°Try to remember your youth, when you were just an innocent child. I came out of the darkness and greeted you with a welcoming hand.¡± The hair on my skin crawled up my body. I had a vague idea of who she was. It had been such a long time since my days as a child, but now, it was coming back to me. The one thing that I had never forgotten: my fear. ¡°Terra!¡± ¡°Ah, you remember. I¡¯m flattered, Gratus.¡± ¡®Her voice¡­ It¡¯s coming from there!¡¯ I crept towards the location of her voice while asking, ¡°How could I ever forget? You were the one who crept in the darkness and enlightened my imagination to horror.¡± Chuckling once again, the grandmother-like voice continued, ¡°But you escaped me last time. You grew too strong for me, but this time, it looks like you¡¯ve lost a bit of your power. Now, you will di¡ª¡± From behind me, the rumbling of a huge chainsaw cut her voice off. My mind scrambled as I tried to think of the best action to take. The sound of the chainsaw grew louder as it approached me from behind, so I dove out of the way, rolling to the side. ¡°Conspicio!¡± Light flared out of my eyes revealing the surrounding darkness. I looked at where I was standing and saw the chainsaw embedded into the ground where I had been standing. ¡®Where¡¯s that old lady?¡¯ I looked around, but could not find any sign of an elderly lady. Instead, I saw a devilish looking clown grinning at me with its sharp teeth, red hair, and white skin. Its clothes were baggy, and it was flipping a dagger into the air. Before the dagger landed in its palm, the clown laughed and said, ¡°So you think you can see me, eh?¡± while throwing two small hidden daggers at me with its other hand. The two daggers headed straight for my eyes. I tried to dodge, but the clown pointed its index finger at me, and my body froze. ¡®I can¡¯t move!¡¯ I watched in horror as the daggers pierced my eyes. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡®No! Huh? Wait, it doesn¡¯t hurt?¡¯ When I pulled the daggers out of my eyes, I noticed that the light in my eyes was distorted. I could not see the clown anymore. ¡®Did he just disrupt my spell with daggers? I need to gather more energy into my eyes.¡¯ While I was gathering energy in my eyes, I felt a silk-like object constrict me. ¡°I¡¯ve got you now!¡± ¡®What the heck?!¡¯ I felt something crawl into my pants. ¡°No way!¡± I hit my leg, trying to kill whatever was crawling around in my pants, but as I did, more insects crawled up my legs. I felt them on my skin, and as I swatted my pants, I also felt them climbing up my pants. In my panic, I cast Conspicio once again. ¡­ ¡®What?¡¯ ¡°Conspicio!¡± ¡­ Nothing happened. I yelled out again and again, until the insects crawling over my body had reached my face. Some of them found their way inside my mouth. I closed my mouth shut and grinded them with my teeth. ¡®Disgusting!¡¯ I could hear and feel the crunching of the bones inside my mouth. ¡°You fool! Do you really think you can beat me with such a simple spell?¡± As Terra laughed at me, I was covered by a multitude of unidentifiable insects as I collapsed onto the floor. I could not see anything, but I heard the chainsaw again rumbling above me. I tried to escape, but the silk that I had been wrapped in did not break. It was hopeless, but despite my powerlessness, I let my mouth form a faint smirk as the chainsaw came down on me. Laughing like a crazed mad scientist, the old voice echoed through the darkness, ¡°I did it! I¡¯ve banished the great Gratus! Now there will be no hope for Clautz!¡± But I interrupted his wild-like joy with a question. ¡°Do you think you¡¯ve really got me?¡± He sounded surprised. I could not see him, but I heard his stammering, ¡°H-h-how?¡± ¡°I¡¯m no longer a child, Terra. If you think your little creeps and horrors can scare me, then think again.¡± I got up the ground and revitalized the light in my eyes, which lit up with a golden spark that dispersed the darkness. I could see Terra for who she was. She wasn¡¯t a clown, and there weren¡¯t any insects or giant chainsaws either. They were all illusions. Terra was a small pitiful child that was useless without his illusions, and there he stood, helpless against my revealing eyes. ¡°Trying to take advantage of me was a bad move, Terra. I was scared at first when I remembered all the suffering you put me through, but did you seriously expect me to not remember how I defeated you?¡± Terra looked at me in horror and tried to reason with me, ¡°Gratus! You can forgive me, right? I only did this because of Anna¡¯s orders. She ordered me to! I can¡¯t go against her orders. Please! Don¡¯t kill me.¡± ¡°Since Anna is trying to kill me, I will make sure to banish her from Dominia and obliterate anyone who tries to stop me, including you.¡± In response, Terra burst into a laughter of rage and lunged towards me with all of his might. ¡°Regardless, you¡¯ve still lost a majority of your powers! How can you defeat me like this?¡± I shook my head and dodged Terra¡¯s charge by jumping over him using one of my arms on his shoulders as an anchor. When I was above him, I slammed let me weight drop on him and pinned him to the ground. ¡°It may be true that I¡¯ve lost a majority of my powers, but I¡¯m starting to remember a lot. Unfortunately for you, I¡¯ve remembered the perfect spell to defeat you. Remember this?¡± Pointing at Terra, I gathered the energy from within me and focused it at the tip of my finger. ¡°Adustum!¡± After hearing what I had cast, Terra screamed and tried to dodge the zooming light, but he was too slow. The light zapped him in the face, and he collapsed onto the floor dead. The moment his head hit the floor, the surrounding darkness I was trapped inside disappeared. I was surrounding by towering walls, inside some sort of pit. I tried to see where I had fallen from, but it was too dark. ¡®There¡¯s no way, I¡¯m going to be able to return from there.¡¯ I looked around to see if there were any other ways out and spotted a cave to the side of me. ¡®I guess this is the only way to go?¡¯ [V1] Chapter 9: The Maze of Lost Souls Chapter 9: The Maze of Lost Souls Cedric exclaimed, ¡°They¡¯ve found us already! Quick, get away Cogito!¡± Confused, I asked, ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°They got Gratus.¡± ¡°Wha¡ª?¡± Before I could ask what happened to Gratus, I felt someone grab onto my arm. My head was trying to process everything that was happening. I didn¡¯t have enough information. ¡°Where are we going?¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± Cedric was darting around in what seemed like random directions. ¡®Crap, are we being followed?¡¯ I tried to follow him without stumbling over, but I every other second, I would trip over a tree root or run into a branch. It was impossible to see where he was going, or for a matter of fact where I was going, because of the darkness. ¡®Wait. How is he able to see?¡¯ The only benefit of the darkness was that I could devote more attention to my audio and tactile senses. The suddenness of the situation also heightened my senses, but I was not blessed to venture into darkness. All I could do was stabilize my breathing and focus on following Cedric¡¯s movements. That is, until I ran into him. He had stopped moving. I nudged him in the back. ¡°They got us, too.¡± ¡®Really? I guess it¡¯s okay to speak now?¡¯ ¡°Explain.¡± ¡°We are trapped in one of Procella¡¯s eternal traps, Turbavi¡¯s Maze of Lost Souls.¡± ¡®Turbavi?¡¯ ¡°Well, I can¡¯t see anything. How can you see?¡± ¡°My eyes are imbued with light so I can always see into the darkness.¡± ¡®Huh? But didn¡¯t Gratus use Conscpicio on me when Des Peravi attacked us?¡¯ I don¡¯t know how he knew, maybe because he could see the confused look on my face, but he added, ¡°Unlike me, Gratus can share his light with other people. For now, you¡¯ll have to trust me.¡± I was skeptical but shrugged my thoughts aside when Cedric moved forward again, dragging me with him. ¡°So¡­ When did we enter into this maze?¡± ¡°Ever since we entered Procella.¡± ¡°What?! Then why bother running in the first place?¡± I was exasperated. Cedric didn¡¯t reply. He continued to drag me forwards. ¡®At least he¡¯s not darting around all over the place. Maybe I should trust him more. He can be a little too reckless and na?ve for my tastes, but he¡¯s sincere. He even betrayed Anna for Gratus¡¯ sake, though I can¡¯t be sure he¡¯d do that for me. But what can I say? During the Rift, at least he tried to do something, unlike me. Building a safe havens for people to go to¡­ ¡¯ I didn¡¯t feel good thinking about the past. ¡®Ugh¡­ Where are we? I¡¯ve lost sense of all direction.¡¯ All I had was Cedric¡¯s hand, guiding me through the maze. ¡®Huh? Why¡¯d we stop?¡¯ ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked. ¡°What do you mean?¡± As he questioned me, I felt his hand leave my arm as I was pushed towards the ground. ¡®Did he just push me? What¡¯s happening?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t understand. ¡°He left you.¡± A voice whispered in my ear. I turned my head, but I couldn¡¯t see anything. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you know? He left you all alone in the darkness to save himself.¡± I scrambled up to my feet while trying to use my arms to feel around. ¡®Where am I? I don¡¯t even feel any trees around me, let alone grass on the ground.¡¯ ¡°You were betrayed. Don¡¯t you get it?¡± ¡°Stop whispering to me! It¡¯s creepy!¡± I shouted while swinging my fists around at the hallow darkness surrounding me. The voice chuckled. ¡°What the heck Cedric?!¡± Then another voice chuckled along with the first, and more after, cascading into an endless wave of creepy laughter. To be honest, it was starting to get on my nerves. The whispers were coming from all directions and distances. My mind was going crazy. I stuttered, ¡°C-C-Cedric!¡± The voices continued to laugh at me. ¡°Don¡¯t you get it? You¡¯re going to die alone in this darkness!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not true. Get away from me!¡± I wanted to deny the whispers, but I couldn¡¯t deny the reality of my current situation. Cedric had left me alone in the darkness and was not replying back to me. The whispers grew louder and teased me without end, ¡°All alone. All alone. All alone.¡± ¡°No!¡± I tried shutting my ears with my hands, but the whispers didn¡¯t stop. I could still hear them somehow. The whisper grew louder. I felt like the invisible entities were drawing closer to me. ¡°It¡¯s true! In fact, he already escaped by himself. Why else would he let go of you? He knew he was your only guide through the darkness.¡± My head was spinning. I was succumbing to the whispers in the darkness. ¡°Get away from me!¡± I flailed my arms about but was forced to the ground by something that had leapt on top of me. Something was pinning me to the ground. It opened its eyes and I could see a set of red eyes glaring down at me. It seemed to be taking pleasure in my pitiful state of confusion. ¡°Stop laughing at me!¡± I pulled out my spare dagger, but it grabbed my arm and threw me against a tree. ¡°Snap out of it, Cogito, or else I will kill you!¡± It was Cedric. I was staring into his eyes which shined in the darkness. ¡®He didn¡¯t leave me.¡¯ I was relieved but was still in a state of confusion. ¡°Why¡¯d you leave me?¡± ¡°Cogito, don¡¯t let the whispers get to you. It is one of the maze¡¯s tactics to get inside your head. Don¡¯t let the maze confuse you.¡± ¡°The maze?¡± ¡°Turbavi is a living entity that controls the maze. It confuses those who enter its domain with illusions. Don¡¯t be fooled. Just follow me.¡± ¡°You should have just told me that before!¡± ¡°Sorry. I didn¡¯t know how big of a deal it was since it never affected me.¡± *Sigh* I wanted to punch Cedric in the face, but I let out a long breath and sheathed my dagger instead. Although my head was still a little restless, I calmed my mind and grabbed onto Cedric¡¯s arm. The whispers spoke to me once in a while but I ignored them. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. As we ventured deeper into the maze, I was able to make out the faint outlines of the trees and surroundings. It wasn¡¯t because my eyes had gotten used to the darkness but because there was light entering the maze from somewhere. ¡®Are we close to the exit?¡¯ I was just about to ask Cedric, but he stopped. I look in front and could see the faint outline of a person standing in front of us. The details were hard to see, but I could tell that it was a child, or at least, something that had the height of a child. We stepped closer. Cedric didn¡¯t hesitate so I assumed it wasn¡¯t a threat. When we were about five meters away, I could make out the thin strands of long hair flowing behind the child¡¯s back. ¡®A girl? Probably not.¡¯ The ¡°girl¡± was crying. I could hear her sniffing as we approached. The girl looked up at us and cried, ¡°Help me! Please help me!¡± I poked Cedric and whispered, ¡°Let¡¯s just ignore her.¡± But he ignored me and asked, ¡°What happened? Why are you in the forest all alone?¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t. My parents and I were separated from each other.¡± I tugged at Cedric¡¯s arm and whispered again, ¡°What are you doing? She¡¯s clearly not normal.¡± But Cedric didn¡¯t budge. He just stared at the girl. ¡°You¡¯re right, she¡¯s not normal.¡± I raised my eyebrow, ¡°What do you mean? Is it another illusion?¡± ¡°No, she¡¯s a lost soul.¡± ¡°A lost soul?! Don¡¯t they usually become corrupt and turn into Monstrum?¡± ¡°Yes, but this girl hasn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Still, she¡¯s wandering. She could become corrupt at any time. Lost souls eventually find their way to darkness if they don¡¯t reach paradise.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll bring her to Otium.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the paradise I¡¯m talking about!¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. We just need to destroy Turbavi.¡± ¡°What are you saying? How are we going to do that?¡± Cedric didn¡¯t respond. ¡°What? You know how to destroy this place?¡± Cedric smirked. ¡°Forget it! We have no reason to save her. It¡¯ll be too much trouble! Even if we do save her, we will need to find her parents first or else she won¡¯t leave, and even if we do find her parents, they are probably corrupted Monstrum by now.¡± When the girl heard me say that, she wailed even louder. ¡°How can you say that? Look at her. You¡¯re so cold, Cogito.¡± The girl ran up to Cedric and pleaded, ¡°Please! Help me find my parents!¡± Looking down at the child, I noticed a silver necklace hanging from her neck. Tied to the necklace was a rock that caught my attention. The stone was engraved with the letter ¡°M.¡± ¡®It can¡¯t be!¡¯ ¡°Young girl, what¡¯s your name?¡± The girl looked at me but sounded like she was going to cry, ¡°I don¡¯t remember¡­¡± ¡®No way¡­¡¯ ¡°T-then¡­ Where did you get that necklace?¡± ¡°My parents¡­ They gave it to me just before we were separated¡­¡± The girl was about to break into tears, but Cedric interrupted her, ¡°Okay, we will help you.¡± Then he looked at me and said, ¡°Right, Cogito?¡± My mind was racing, but I was still able to reply, ¡°U-uh, y-yeah.¡± Hearing Cedric¡¯s offer, she stopped crying and asked, ¡°Promise?¡± Cedric nodded his head in approval, but I added, ¡°In exchange¡­ please let me have that necklace of yours.¡± The girl nodded and said, ¡°Thank you! But I¡¯ll only give it to you after you help me find my parents!¡± Cedric looked at me a little confused but shrugged it off. ¡°Very well. Then, let¡¯s go.¡± I smiled to the girl and crouched down, ¡°Here, I¡¯ll give you a piggyback ride.¡± The girl smiled and climbed on my back. She was light, but I felt a heaviness in my heart resurface from the depths of my past. I wanted to forget what had happen during the Rift, what Clautz and Anna did¡­ Maybe it was a big misunderstanding. ¡®All I know is what I know and what I have to do.¡¯ I looked forward towards the light at the end of the path we were walking on. I walked forward towards it, but Cedric laughed behind me and asked, ¡°Where are you going? That¡¯s the exit.¡± Turning around I asked, ¡°Can¡¯t I just leave the maze and wait for you outside?¡± ¡°Unfortunately, you have the girl. She can¡¯t leave the maze until Turbavi is destroyed.¡± Sighing, I walked back towards Cedric while asking, ¡°Well, how are we going to destroy Turbavi then?¡± ¡°Believe it or not, Turbavi has a soul. In order to destroy it, we need to destroy its soul. The only problem is that I don¡¯t know where it is.¡± The girl smiled and interjected, ¡°I can take you to Turbavi¡¯s soul. I know where it is, but you have to find my parents first.¡± I looked at the girl over my shoulder and asked, ¡°Where are you parents?¡± ¡°They were attacked by a huge monster before we were separated.¡± ¡°What did the monster look like?¡± Cedric questioned. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I was too scared, and the monster kept changing its shape.¡± Cedric smirked and said, ¡°I think I know who that was.¡± I gave Cedric a puzzled look, ¡°Who?¡± But he ignored me and beckoned me with a flick of his wrist, ¡°Follow me. I have to talk to Gratus first.¡± ¡°What? And how are we going to do that?¡± ¡°Look.¡± I was confused. What was Cedric talking about? But if there is one thing I¡¯ve come to understand about Cedric, it¡¯s that he always told the truth. As I looked into the darkness to see if I could find some sort of hint or clue to understand what Cedric meant, my vision grew clearer and clearer. I muttered in surprise, ¡°What¡¯s happening to me?¡± The girl who was clinging onto my back exclaimed, ¡°Your eyes! They¡¯re glowing!¡± ¡°What?¡± I pulled out my dagger and looked at the blade, which reflected my face. My eyes truly were gleaming with a bright light. ¡°But why?¡± I looked at Cedric for understanding, but he simply kept his signature smirk. ¡°Well, it looks like we don¡¯t have to find your parents either, girl.¡± The girl looked at Cedric in confusion, ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Look at the darkness. You can see them, right?¡± As Cedric said this, my vision returned to normal. I could now see what he was talking about. I looked into the darkness and saw a group of people walking towards us with Gratus leading the way. [V1] Chapter 10: Realm of the Lost Chapter 10: Realm of the Lost ¡®What is this place? The darkness is so thick.¡¯ I tried to look into the cave, but even though my eyes beamed with light, I could not grasp the depth of the cave. ¡®I¡¯m reluctant to enter without being able to see what¡¯s inside, but I have to meet up with Cog and Cedric again. Are they all right? Cog has Cedric with him so he should be fine¡­¡¯ Hesitating no further, I took a step into the cave. ¡®It¡¯s cold!¡¯ When my body had immersed itself into the darkness of the cave, my body tensed and I could see my breath every time I exhaled. I felt like I had entered another domain. When I turned my head to look at the entrance of the cave, it had vanished. ¡®I guess this means I have to move forward.¡¯ Not sure where to go, I headed straight from where I had entered. ¡°Gratus!¡± ¡°Huh?!¡± The sudden voice startled me, and I stopped dead in my tracks. ¡°You¡¯re okay?¡± ¡®Oh, it¡¯s Cura¡­¡¯ ¡°You scared me. Could you give me a sign before you speak next time? Where have you been anyway?¡± After a brief silence, a bright ball of light the size of my fist appeared from my chest. I looked at the ball of light and could see an outline of Cura¡¯s body. It looked like she was looking around. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Checking for enemies. It¡¯s better for light not to showcase itself in the darkness.¡± I chuckled and replied, ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think we need to hide anymore. After defeating Terra, I doubt they would lose track of my progress.¡± Cura turned and looked at me, ¡°Terra? I¡¯m confused. Didn¡¯t Des Peravi devour us?¡± I raised my right eyebrow while furrowing my face, ¡°No. We are in Procella. I entered this cave right after defeating Terra. You don¡¯t remember?¡± ¡°Strange. I¡¯m sure Des Peravi devoured us.¡± ¡°Well, can you tell me where we are?¡± ¡°We are in the realm of the lost. When people are devoured, they are consumed into this realm.¡± ¡°But that makes little sense. I entered through a cave.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± ¡®Well, whatever. It doesn¡¯t change the fact I am here.¡¯ I shrugged and progressed forward again, ¡°Let¡¯s just go.¡± Cura floated next to my shoulder and resumed checking our surroundings. It was nice having her next to me because her light was warm. I felt like I was next to a small fire. It wasn¡¯t too hot or too cold. ¡°Gratus. I sense a presence heading towards us.¡± I turned my head to look around, ¡°I don¡¯t see anything. Which direction?¡± Cura pointed to my left. I strained my eyes to see where she was pointing, but the darkness did not relent to the light in my eyes. ¡°¡­ shining¡­ light...!¡± I heard a woman¡¯s voice, but it was too faint to make out. ¡°I think she¡¯s trying to say something.¡± ¡°Do you know what she is saying, Cura? She¡¯s too far away.¡± ¡°¡­ your light!¡± I still couldn¡¯t see any hint of a person coming towards me, but I could sense something off about the space in front of me. The darkness was being distorted, twisting and swirling about in various directions, and in the middle of it all was a woman covered in a black armor who was running straight towards us. ¡°Stop shining your light!¡± I looked at Cura confused, and she looked back at me and shrugged. ¡°It looks like she wants us to stop shining our light. What should we do?¡± When we looked back at the woman in front of us, we saw a group of about twenty people appear behind her. It looked like they were running with all their might trying to keep up with the woman. Cura returned into my body and said, ¡°It may be wise to follow.¡± ¡®I wouldn¡¯t be able to see though if I did.¡¯ But the moment I thought that, I saw two huge monsters at least the size of the whole group combined appear behind the woman and the group of people following her. ¡°Gratus, those are Monstrum!¡± ¡®Monstrum?¡¯ I nodded at Cura¡¯s observation even though I didn¡¯t know what she was talking about and let the light dissipate from my eyes. ¡­ ¡®Now what?¡¯ ¡°Run! Don¡¯t just stand there! Run!¡± The woman shouted at us. By now, she was a few meters away and showing no signs of stopping. I let her pass by me and weaved through the crowd of people rushing behind. The woman looked back at me and shouted, ¡°Are you an idiot?!¡± I laughed and gathered energy into the palm of my hands. ¡°Adustum!¡± The energy in my hands burst into light and the two monsters chasing halted their movements and covered their eyes with their arms. ¡°I got this.¡± ¡°Stop!¡± The woman from before grabbed onto my hands and somehow vanquished the light in my hands. ¡°Whoa. What are you doing?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I should ask you!¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be easier to get rid of all these monsters?¡± ¡°Monsters? They¡¯re not monsters!¡± ¡®Not monsters?¡¯ Her words confused me, but I couldn¡¯t deny her because I couldn¡¯t see the monsters anymore in the darkness. ¡°Well, then why are you run¡ª¡± ¡°You idiot! Now they¡¯ve caught up with us. Stay with the rest of the group, and don¡¯t do anything idiotic again.¡± ¡®What am I getting blamed?¡¯ Before I could respond, she let go of my hand and disappeared. ¡°Cura, can you tell me what¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°It seems that woman is engaging in battle with some unknown enemies. I think she is fighting the Monstrum.¡± ¡°The Monstrum? Are you referring to the two giant monsters we saw before?¡± ¡°No. I thought they were Monstrum when I first saw them, but they have turned yet. There is a wave of Monstrum surrounding us now though.¡± ¡°Great. I think our light attracted them¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure if this situation is great, but it looks like the woman doesn¡¯t need help.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Impressive.¡± ¡®Though I can¡¯t see how impressive.¡¯ ¡°Yes. We should follow her instructions and join the rest of the group.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± I turned around to join the group but realized I couldn¡¯t see. ¡°Uh¡­ Where are they?¡± ¡°They¡¯re¡ª Salvus!¡± *SHATTER* ¡®What happened?¡¯ I was tumbling on the ground. Something had hit me out of the darkness when I had let my guard down. ¡°One of the two giants you thought were Monstrum just swatted you.¡± ¡®Have they corrupted?¡¯ I lifted my body up with my arms and sat upright. ¡°Thanks Cura for protecting me.¡± ¡°No worries. Those two are unstable. What do you suggest we do, Gratus?¡± ¡°What can I do?¡± ¡°Dodge left.¡± As if by instinct, I rolled to the left and felt a gust of wind blew me further to the side. ¡°The giant that attacked you is still rampaging. The other one is trying to hinder it though.¡± ¡®I could have gotten squashed!¡¯ I could feel the lingering vibrations from the impact of the blow under my feet. ¡°Is the group safe?¡± ¡°Yes, they are far enough.¡± ¡®Hm¡­ What should I do now? I¡¯m getting a nostalgic feeling about all of this. I feel like I¡¯ve encountered this situation before¡­¡¯ ¡°Okay! Cura, I think I have an idea.¡± ¡°Got it. How may I be of assistance?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s lighten up this place!¡± I stood up from the ground and gathered energy in my eyes. ¡°Conscpicio!¡± To my surprise, not only did my eyes light up, but a section of the darkness to my right also lit up. When I looked over to see what had happened, I saw that the eyes of the people in the group had all brightened. They looked confused. ¡°Well, that makes seeing much easier.¡± Now that it was brighter, I could see the two giant monsters without any trouble. One monster was holding onto the other in a bear hug while the other was struggling to get out. ¡®Hm¡­ I¡¯m guessing that one is the one that attacked me.¡¯ ¡°What the heck did I say?!¡± I looked beyond the two struggling monsters and saw the woman glaring at me from afar. That was when I also noticed the multitude of monsters surrounding us. ¡®I better be quick about this.¡¯ Ignoring the woman¡¯s complaints, I dashed straight towards the two monsters while gathering energy into the palm of my hands and jumped on top of them both. The one that was bear hugging the other seemed surprise at my actions and was about to let go of its grasp, but I was already upon them. ¡°Sorry, this may or may not hurt. I don¡¯t remember.¡± After each of my hands were resting on top of both monster¡¯s heads, I injected the energy from my palms into their heads. I didn¡¯t think I would need to use much energy, but the moment I felt the energy leave my hands, I felt I needed to keep a continuous stream of energy flowing or I would end up failing. It was difficult because the moment I transfered my energy to the monsters, the one that had attacked me thrashed about trying to swing me off of its head. The other one doing the bear hug seemed to realize my intentions because it strengthened its grasp over the other monsters again and limited the monster¡¯s movements. All of this happened within a few seconds, but the woman that had been yelling at me had come over in that time frame and was threatening to slash me with her sword. ¡°Wait!¡± I shouted, but she didn¡¯t stop. ¡°Salvus!¡± Cura had formed an invisible barrier to block the attack, but to my surprise, the sword went through the barrier. There was no resistance. If someone had been watching from the sidelines, they would have assumed that there was no barrier at all. ¡­ The blade was at my forehead. ¡­ I was too shocked to react. ¡®Is it over?¡¯ ¡­ The blade missed. ¡­ ¡®What happened?¡¯ As the blade slashed towards my head, I fell backwards along with the flow of the blade and found myself lying on the ground on next to two other bodies. The blade had missed me by a hair¡¯s breadth. I stared at the woman who had almost killed me. She gritted her teeth and sheathed her sword. ¡°Who are you?¡± I looked at the two bodies besides me and registered what had happened. The two monsters had regained their human form. It was a man and a woman. I turned back to the woman and replied, ¡°Gratus.¡± The woman crossed her arms across her chest and raised her eyebrow at me, ¡°Are you done with the fireworks?¡± I smiled and laughed, ¡°Yes.¡± She looked around and chuckled, ¡°It looks like the Monstrum are wary of you. They aren¡¯t trying to attack us anymore.¡± I got up from the ground and looked at the man and the woman lying on the ground. ¡°It looks like they are unconscious.¡± ¡°Yes. Whatever you did must have knocked them unconscious and back to their senses. I¡¯m grateful.¡± The woman bowed, and I waved my hands. ¡°No. Sorry for troubling you. What were you doing with all these people anyway?¡± I asked while pointing at the group of people who were now walking towards us. ¡°Helping them escape.¡± ¡°You know the way out?¡± ¡°Yes, but with your eyes, I think you can handle it.¡± The woman smirked and walked towards the approaching group before turning and saying, ¡°Let¡¯s go before the Monstrum get any other ideas,¡± and added with a shrug, ¡°Not that it would matter.¡± Four people from the group brought stretchers and helped carry the unconscious man and woman. I led the group from the front, the woman oversaw the group from the back, and the rest of the people stayed in-between us. When we approached the Monstrum, they moved out of our way and made a path for us. It was a sight to behold. Light trekking through the darkness. Overtime, the Monstrum surrounding us dissipated, and we were left alone in the darkness. This time I was not alone though. I was with others who had regained hope in their eyes. As we marched forward, I saw a light in the distance, and next to the light were two familiar figures. [V1] Chapter 11: Reunited! Chapter 11: Reunited! ¡°Gratus!¡± I looked ahead at the two familiar figures standing next to the exit of the forest. ¡°Cog!¡± I answered in a cheerful tone, ¡°It is you! And, oh? Who is that?¡± I pointed at the young girl that was clinging onto Cog¡¯s back. Cedric waved at me and replied in Cog¡¯s stead, ¡°We¡¯re not sure since she doesn¡¯t remember her name, but she is looking for her parents. They were wandering in the forest but got separated.¡± Cog scanned the group behind me and asked in a whisper, ¡°Are they all lost souls?¡± I nodded and looked back at the group of lost souls before adding, ¡°But I¡¯m not sure if her parents are among the ones here.¡± Cog looked at the girl on his back and asked, ¡°Want to see if your parents are here?¡± The girl nodded and crawled down from Cog¡¯s back and dragged him with her while holding onto his hand. I looked at Cedric and raised my eyebrow. He kept a smirk on his face and shrugged. ¡°Ah, there they are! Mother! Father! You¡¯re normal again!¡± Cedric and I turned around to look at the commotion the girl caused with her shouting. Cog and the little girl had found her parents. They were the man and the woman I had prevented from turning into Monstrum. ¡®Well, this is interesting. What are the chances?¡¯ When her parents did not respond to her, her eyes watered and she grasped onto her father¡¯s arm and shook him, ¡°Father, please!¡± That was when I saw her mother stir. When she got up and noticed the girl, she exclaimed, ¡°Peregrin!¡± Tears also formed around her eyes. The girl looked surprised and then exclaimed, ¡°Mother!¡± before running up to her mother and burying her face in her mother¡¯s side. I thought Cog would be happy, but he was not smiling. He had a serious look on his face and was thinking about something. I turned to Cedric and asked in a whisper, ¡°What¡¯s up with Cog?¡± Cedric looked at me and shrugged, ¡°Not sure. He¡¯s been kind of strange since we found that girl. He was first against me helping her, but then something changed his mind. It might have something to do with the necklace that girl is wearing.¡± ¡°Necklace?¡± ¡°Yeah. He asked for it in exchange for finding that girl¡¯s parents. I was going to do it for free though.¡± ¡®Hm¡­ I don¡¯t know what Cog is thinking, but I guess we¡¯ll find out. If not, I can ask him about it later.¡¯ ¡°Let¡¯s observe a little more.¡± I approached the group with Cedric following behind and listened in on the conversation. ¡°Mother! Is father okay? He¡¯s not waking up.¡± The mother patted the girl¡¯s head and said, ¡°He¡¯s tired. Let him sleep.¡± The girl drew closer to her mother and asked, ¡°He¡¯s not going to eat me when he wakes up is he?¡± The mother stuttered, ¡°N-no, dear. He¡¯ll be okay,¡± while glancing around at the surrounding people listening in on the conversation. She continued, ¡°I¡¯m glad you are okay, Peregrin.¡± Cog stepped in and bowed with one arm across his chest, ¡°Of course she is okay. The Morionis family would be put to shame if its most prized heirloom could not protect a lost one such as her.¡± The mother looked up at Cog in surprise, ¡°Morionis?¡± and tried to stand up but collapsed onto the floor. ¡°Mother!¡± The girl shouted and kneeled to help her mother. Cog raised his hands and waved them, ¡°Please, do not strain yourself.¡± The mother repositioned herself until she was sitting up while leaning on her daughter. ¡°Are you Amber¡¯s¡­?¡± Her words trailed. Cog nodded and replied, ¡°Yes. My name is Cogito Morionis, head and only remaining member of the Morionis family.¡± He then looked at the girl and pointed at her necklace, ¡°May I inquire how you got that necklace?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ I am sure you would like to know, but¡­¡± The mother paused and glanced around. As if on cue, Cedric walked into the crowd while laughing, ¡°Wow! It looks like you found your parents! I¡¯m glad everything worked out, though Gratus was the one who did most of the heavy lifting.¡± The girl looked down at her necklace and clasped it in her hands, but she nodded when her mother whispered something in her ears. She looked up at Cog and ran up to him, ¡°Here! This is yours! Thank you for letting me borrow it!¡± Cog looked at the girl¡¯s outstretched arm holding onto the necklace and exchanged a quick glance with the mother sitting on the floor before accepting the necklace with a smile. There was an awkward pause before the girl returned to her mother. The mother broke the silence when she spoke, ¡°Ah, so are you the ones who found my daughter?¡± Cog and Cedric both nodded. ¡°Then, I am indebted to you once again. My name is Eve, mother of this family. Please excuse my husband Pierre for not being able to introduce himself.¡± The mother looked at her husband who was lying unconscious on the make-shift stretcher and continued, ¡°We were saved by Sophie and Gratus.¡± Cedric smirked and struck a gallant pose, ¡°Yes, my brother is amazing, isn¡¯t he?¡± A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The mother did not seem to know how to respond so she defaulted to nodding. ¡°Ah, as for me, my name is Cedric Bonas. I hail from the great city of Otium, my paradise.¡± ¡°Otium?!¡± Someone from the crowd of people shouted, and everyone stopped what they were doing to listen. A man barged into the surrounding group and prostrated himself on the floor, ¡°I have heard of your kindness to protect us lost ones. Please! Would you accept me into your paradise, my lord?¡± Whispers and discussions could be heard spreading around the crowd. ¡°Otium?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the Lord?¡± ¡°Can we finally escape this wretched place?¡± Before long, everyone had crowded around asking for Cedric to consider taking them in. Cedric raised his eyebrow and clapped his hands together, ¡°No worries! That was what I planned from the beginning.¡± Everyone rejoiced, but Cedric suppressed their cheers, ¡°However! My utopia is only for those who are not bound to another domain. We must first free you from Turbavi¡¯s maze.¡± A voice cut through the crowd from behind me, ¡°And you know how to free them?¡± I turned around and saw the woman that had been leading the group before. She walked passed me towards Cedric. As she walked passed me, she looked at me with her dark silver eyes and faded out of my sight even though I was looking right at her. ¡®Whoa, what kind of material is her armor made of? Even with my light, I can¡¯t see her that well. It¡¯s like light isn¡¯t reflecting off of her armor but getting absorbed instead.¡¯ Cedric sounded amused, ¡°Oh? I didn¡¯t notice you among the crowd. Who may you be?¡± The woman appeared next to Cedric and let out a faint snicker before replying, ¡°Sophie Lattierre. Pleased to meet the Lord of Otium.¡± Cedric smirked and let a brief silence pass before replying, ¡°Right¡­ Well, I do know how to free them, but there is a slight problem.¡± Sophie stared at him and showed no signs of moving in the slightest. I think she was waiting for him to continue. ¡°We have to destroy Turbavi¡¯s soul, but I don¡¯t know how to find it.¡± Sophie sighed and shrugged, ¡°It¡¯s tedious, but I don¡¯t mind wandering in the darkness.¡± While they were speaking, I had a strange feeling overcome me. It was a sensation I had never felt before. It was hard to describe, but there was something about this woman that baffled me. ¡®Now that I think about it, where did this woman come from? Why is she helping out the lost souls? It doesn¡¯t seem like she knows how to actually get them out¡­ I don¡¯t feel like she is an enemy, but her aura¡­ It¡¯s so bizarre.¡¯ Many thoughts flowed into my head, but Cog¡¯s voice cut my thoughts short, ¡°Wait, didn¡¯t Peregrin say she knew how to get to Turbavi¡¯s soul?¡± Everyone turned to look at her, but she hid behind her mother¡¯s back. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t know¡­ If you go in the darkness, I think you¡¯ll find it. A monster was calling me towards it. It tried to get me, but it couldn¡¯t because of the necklace.¡± Cog sighed but reassured the girl, ¡°No worries. Maybe there is another way.¡± ¡°Wait. I encountered that monster. It tried to lure me as well,¡± said Sophie. ¡°Really?¡± Cog didn¡¯t seem to believe her, but Cedric nodded his head in silence. She continued, ¡°Yes. I didn¡¯t have time to investigate since I was with the others and I didn¡¯t want to put them in harm¡¯s way either, but I am sure I saw that monster.¡± This time I stepped forward and asked, ¡°Can you take us back to where you saw that monster?¡± Cedric inquired, ¡°But not all of us, right? It¡¯s better if we left the group here with someone to protect them. To tell you the truth, I want to stay behind to make sure these lost souls make it safe to Otium after Turbavi is destroyed.¡± Cog added, ¡°I¡¯ll also stay since I have some matters to discuss with Eve and her husband.¡± Sophie nodded and exclaimed, ¡°Great! It¡¯s much easier for me to travel with less people, more so alone. I think it¡¯ll be better if you stay here with the group Gratus since you¡¯d only draw the attention of the darkness and make it difficult for me.¡± I laughed and rebutted, ¡°But that¡¯s what I was thinking of doing.¡± Surprised, Cog asked, ¡°You¡¯re going to be bait?¡± Cedric smirked and chuckled a little, ¡°Not a bad idea. If it were up to me, I would have incinerated the whole forest.¡± ¡°And killed everyone here,¡± jested Cog. Sophie unsheathed her sword and glared at Cedric. She seemed to be daring him. Cedric raised both his hands over his shoulder showing he meant no harm, ¡°All right. That was a joke.¡± Sophie turned while sheathing her sword and beckoned me, ¡°Let¡¯s go. I will lead the way.¡± Parting from the group, Sophie walked away from the light coming from the exit of Procella and faded into the darkness. I didn¡¯t want to lose track of her so I followed her. ¡®No time to say bye.¡¯ I waved by hands in the air without looking back, and heard Cog and Cedric bid me farewell. ¡°See you later.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t wait for me.¡± ¡­ [V1] Chapter 12: Turbavi Chapter 12: Turbavi Now that Sophie was leading the way and I had my sights on trailing her, I had time to examine the uniqueness of her armor. On her head was an obsidian helmet that had jagged spikes protruding from the top. Even though the helmet didn¡¯t cover her entire face, I couldn¡¯t see her face no matter how hard I looked. All I could see was her dark silver eyes glaring in the darkness. Her eyes contrasted with the rest of her armor. From what I could tell, her armor was composed of a dusky type of material, which made her blend into the darkness like a shadow. However, she wasn¡¯t invisible. I wondered, ¡®Is she letting me see her on purpose? Or is the armor incomplete? Even if so, if I didn¡¯t know she was there and if I wasn¡¯t trying to follow her, it would have been hard to notice her.¡¯ Cura appeared besides me and reassured me with a whisper, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry. I can tell you where she is.¡± I whispered back, ¡°How? Her armor absorbs light.¡± ¡®How can she even see in this darkness?¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s because her armor absorbs light that I can sense her. I can¡¯t see her, but I can tell where light is disappearing.¡± ¡°Oh. That¡¯s useful.¡± ¡®Something I¡¯d like to learn.¡¯ ¡­ Cura added, ¡°But you¡¯re the one who taught me.¡± I wanted to face palm, but I didn¡¯t want to risk covering my eyes and losing sight of Sophie. It was at that time that I noticed her eyes flicker and then stop. ¡®Huh? When did she draw her sword? Is her sword composed of the same dark material as her armor?¡¯ Even though her sword wasn¡¯t that thick, it was a decent length, about two feet. When she turned towards me, her sword blurred along with her armor. When she had stopped moving after facing me, I could make out the faint edge of the sword¡¯s blade. ¡®I¡¯m surprised the lost souls didn¡¯t try to run away from her, but I guess they probably didn¡¯t even see her coming.¡¯ ¡°You¡¯re not afraid?¡± I shook my head, but then Sophie called out to me, ¡°Why¡¯d you stop?¡± I looked at her in confusion and heard another whisper, ¡°She¡¯s going to kill you. Look at her.¡± ¡°Whispers,¡± I shouted. ¡°We must be close by. Just ignore them.¡± Sophie shrugged and resumed walking. The whispers got louder. ¡°Don¡¯t trust her!¡± *Sigh* I muttered under my sigh, ¡°This is going to be annoying.¡± --- As we ventured deeper into the forest, the trees drew closer to us and their branches draped down like hands trying to hinder us from continuing. Sophie stopped and raised her hand, gesturing me to stop as well. ¡°That¡¯s enough now.¡± Confused, I asked, ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Your light. Stop shining it. You¡¯ve done a hell of a job attracting the darkness and annoying the heck out of me. Don¡¯t you see how much the forest has closed in on us? There¡¯s nowhere left to go.¡± ¡®So blunt! I¡¯m glad the whispers stopped awhile back or else I would have ignored her¡­¡¯ I wanted to say something about her attitude, but I decided it would be easier to follow her directions. So I dispersed the light from my eyes and let the darkness engulf me. Sophie¡¯s eyes continued to gleam in the darkness. ¡°Ah~ Much better!¡± Sophie sounded relieved, ¡°But hm¡­ What¡¯s this firefly?¡± I heard a sword swing and Cura shout, ¡°Master, help!¡± I had a guess what had happened but could not move fast enough to keep up with the situation. Cura darted behind me and a wave of energy blew me to the floor. ¡°Stop it! That¡¯s not a firefly,¡± I barked. Sophie clicked her teeth and said, ¡°Well, whatever it is, it¡¯s annoying me. It¡¯s ruining my night.¡± I was offended but decided not to aggravate the situation. I gritted my teeth and got back up, ¡°This is my guardian, Cura. She is my guide through the darkness.¡± ¡°Ahhh, no wonder!¡± Sophie chuckled, ¡°I thought you were just a demented person who likes talking to fireflies. To tell you the truth, I thought you were creepy. But you know, your guardian stands out too much. It¡¯s better if you conceal her as well.¡± ¡®This girl is too much¡­¡¯ I sighed in disbelief and concealed Cura inside of me. As Cura¡¯s light disappeared within me, Sophie whispered to me, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll still be here.¡± Her eyes melded into the darkness until the only thing that filled my vision was nothing. I was left again in the darkness, but something was different. I sensed that the darkness in front of me was changing, being saturated in a darker form of darkness. Soon, it wasn¡¯t an empty void which stood before me. Something invisible had taken its place. I could not see it, but I knew it was there. Then, the presence of everything vanished. There were no trees, no sounds, not even the ground. I was floating in a strange type of domain. ¡®Am I being transferred? Where am I? How did I get here?¡¯ My thoughts were more apparent than ever. I asked myself these questions, and a faint constant thud responded to my ruminations. *Ba-dump* *Ba-dump* *Ba-dump* It was a constant rhythm, neither fast nor slow. It sounded like a heart was beating from somewhere in the distance. I tried to move closer to the sound but stumbled as my legs connected with solid ground. After I had regained my balance, I tried to see what I was standing on by tapping the ground with my foot, but the only thing I figured out was that I was standing on some sort of platform. ¡°This is strange. I thought that monster would appear, but it hasn¡¯t even though we have ventured deep into the darkness.¡± Her voice came from above me. ¡°Where are we?¡± I asked while looking up towards the general direction her voice had come from. *Plop* Something landed behind me, probably Sophie, so I turned around. ¡°We have somehow managed to enter into Turbavi¡¯s central lair, where its soul is kept.¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡®Huh? Why¡¯s her voice coming from behind me?¡¯ ¡°How do you know that?¡± I asked while turning to face her. She chuckled and said, ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡± I wanted her to expand on the obvious, but she didn¡¯t. Instead, I felt her pull on my arm while saying, ¡°Follow me.¡± I resisted at first because I did not expect her to grab onto my arm but relented when I realized that it was her. Being led around the darkness without being able to see was frustrating, but at the same time, it felt refreshing. I felt like it was an experience I didn¡¯t get to have a lot. As we continued into the darkness, the sound of the heartbeat grew louder. It was steady but powerful. The vibrations that the heartbeats emitted reverberated in the air and rumbled against my chest. I could tell that we were close to whatever was making that sound. Although I couldn¡¯t see, I noticed that Sophie was slowing down. ¡®Are we almost there? Or is she being cautious of something?¡¯ When we stopped, she let go of me and said, ¡°There¡¯s an army of Monstrum blocking our way.¡± I was surprised, ¡°Serious?¡± but also took note of how unconcerned she sounded. ¡°Yeah. See for yourself. Don¡¯t worry about me.¡± I nodded my head and converted the energy in my eyes into light. ¡°Conspicio!¡± My eyes flashed in the darkness, and the light my eyes emitted unveiled the horde of monsters surrounding us. They were scattering in all directions, trying to run away from the light that brought them out of the comforts of the veils that protected them. ¡°Whoa!¡± I exclaimed, ¡°They¡¯re just like insects.¡± Laughing, Sophie remarked, ¡°Your light is kind of interesting. I wonder what the world looks like through your eyes¡­¡± ¡®Hm¡­ I didn¡¯t think much about it until now, but I guess our ways of seeing are different. What exactly does she see?¡¯ ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s get going while the Monstrum are out of our way. Since they seem to be afraid of your light, you should lead the way.¡± Sophie gestured for me to go in front of her, so I did. With me leading the way and her following, we advanced closer to the source of the heartbeats as the Monstrums ran from my glares of light. ¡®Something¡¯s weird.¡¯ I looked around, and my spine shivered. ¡®Something¡¯s changed from now and before¡­ There¡¯s something else besides the Monstrum¡­¡¯ I decided to stop for a moment and ask Sophie about it. When I turned, I noticed that her attention was averted to something else. She was staring at something in the distance, looking at something that I could not see. ¡®What¡¯s wrong with her?¡¯ I noticed she had her sword drawn in front of her. The air around her was tense, like she was expecting an enemy to launch a surprise attack at any moment. ¡°What are you looking at?¡± I asked. My body was getting tense as well. ¡°It has finally appeared, over there,¡± she said while pointing into the empty void, ¡°The monster that was trying to lure me and the girl before.¡± I followed her finger and peered into the darkness but couldn¡¯t see anything, at first. Then an outline of something organic appeared. It was beating. Its movements matching the sounds of the heartbeat I had been hearing. I stuttered, ¡°I-is that the monster?¡± She questioned me with a bit surprised, ¡°So you can see it?¡± I nodded while keeping my eyes on it, afraid that if I looked away it would meld back into the darkness. She asked, ¡°What do you want to do?¡± ¡°We have to destroy it, right? Or why else did we come here?¡± She laughed, ¡°I guess you¡¯re right. Usually when a monster as horrendous as that is calling out to you, you¡¯d run away, not head towards it.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s horrendous all right, but¡­ what do you mean by it calling out to you?¡± I asked confused. ¡­ I couldn¡¯t see her face, but I felt like she frowned. ¡°Since we entered into this weird space, what has the monster been saying to you?¡± I tilted my head unsure how to respond, ¡°Uh¡­ It hasn¡¯t been saying anything to me. I¡¯ve just been hearing this throbbing heartbeat.¡± I could have imagined it, but I swear that she chuckled a little before muttering under her breath, ¡°I see¡­¡± ¡°Is that Turbavi¡¯s soul?¡± ¡°No. What you are seeing is its power source.¡± ¡­ ¡®Why does it seem like we are on different pages all the time?¡¯ ¡°If you say it like that, then¡­ Are you seeing something different?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯m looking at Turbavi¡¯s soul.¡± I paused to think for a moment before asking, ¡°Wait, so what is the difference between what I am looking at and what you are looking at?¡± ¡®And why does she sound so sure that the monster she¡¯s looking at is Turbavi¡¯s soul?¡¯ ¡°The heart you are seeing is just Turbavi¡¯s outer shell. If we destroy it, the maze will disappear with it but then reappear after some time. Then we¡¯ll have to do this whole charade again, and that¡¯s not something I¡¯d like to do.¡± ¡®Makes sense¡­ But why am I getting this strange feeling again that I¡¯m not being told everything.¡¯ She sounded displeased, probably because of all the questions I was asking. It was like trying to be patient with a child, but the child never stopped. I had one last question for her though. ¡°How do you know so much about Turbavi?¡± She turned to look at me with her silver black eyes that seemed to absorb the light from my eyes, and I felt a bolt of electricity run down my spine. It was killing intent. Sophie stepped towards me with her sword drawn and vanished into the darkness. ¡°Wha¡­¡± was all I could utter before the light in my eyes were taken away. I was left baffled in the darkness. The only sense I could rely on was my hearing, which was filled with the beating of Turbavi¡¯s heart. It was no longer a steady rhythmic beat, but one that pounded along with my own heart. *Ba-dump, Ba-dump* *Ba-dump, Ba-dump* *Ba-dump, Ba-dump* ¡­ [V1] Chapter 13: Invisible Apparition Chapter 13: Invisible Apparition ¡®What¡¯s she up to?!¡¯ The moment Sophie melded into the darkness, I expanded my light to see if I could reveal her position, but it was to no avail. I couldn¡¯t see her or anything else. In my panic, I shouted, ¡°Sophie!¡± ¡­ My voice echoed in the darkness, and an eerie silence filled its place. A feeling of dread hung over me. ¡®This feeling¡­ It¡¯s like I¡¯m about to be devoured!¡¯ ¡°Cura! Can you locate Sophie?¡± ¡­ ¡°I¡¯m afraid not.¡± ¡°What do you mean?!¡± I lashed out. Sophie¡¯s sudden disappearance and the bloodlust in the air was getting to my head. ¡°Your light isn¡¯t being distorted. She¡¯s simply gone.¡± ¡°Forge¡ª¡± ¡°Jump left!¡± *Pause* My brain went into overdrive and everything around me slowed. ¡®What¡¯s happening?¡¯ I could not see it, but I felt Cura creating a barrier above my head. My mind was trying to comprehend the situation, but it was not fast enough and my body was not cooperating. Even though my brain demanded more information from Cura, my body moved with a mind of its own, tumbling to the side. As my body twisted, my arm was nicked by a falling blade. When I looked, I saw a sword was chopping down where I had been standing moments before. When I hit the ground, time resumed as it once had. My mind was racing and my breathing heavy. I lifted my head and stared at the sword that had threatened to slice me in half. ¡®Isn¡¯t that Sophie¡¯s sword?!¡¯ ¡°Gratus, please be careful! That sword cuts through light!¡± I was stunned by the aftermath of the sword drop. The light I had been emitting was cut in half, and on the other side of Sophie¡¯s sword, the light that had been severed from me was being swallowed by darkness. ¡®Where¡¯s Sophie?¡¯ My eyes darted around but I couldn¡¯t see anyone or anything. ¡°C-Cura?¡± My mouth was dry, and my voice was shaking. ¡°Nothing,¡± she replied. I scanned my surroundings once again before taking a few more breaths to calm myself down. After I had regained some of my composure, I stood up to take a closer look at Sophie¡¯s sword. ¡®What should I do with this sword? Cura responded, ¡°It¡¯s risky to leave it here.¡± I nodded and reached out to grab the sword, but before I could grab it, it melted away into nothingness. ¡®What the heck. Did something happen to Sophie? What does this mean?¡¯ ¡°Gratus, something is coming from above!¡± At Cura¡¯s warning, I lifted my head and saw something descending from the darkness. It did not look like it had any weight or substance. As it drew closer, I felt the temperature decline with its descent, and I realized that the apparition had no body, at least, not a visible one. Even though I could not see what the transparent apparition looked like, I was able to make out a thin outline that surrounded it. ¡°Sophie?¡± I called out, but there was no reply. The only feedback I got back was the same killing intent from before, but this time, it was enough to make my legs wobble. I felt my knees giving out on me. I wanted to move aside and run away, but when the apparition landed, the ground I was standing on shattered like glass and I entered into a free fall. My stomach rose as I tried to steady myself during my descent, but before I could orient my body in the proper direction, the side of my body smacked into a solid platform. ¡°Ugh!¡± ¡®My head¡­¡¯ My head was spinning. I tried to recover from the shock of smashing into the ground and keep tabs on the invisible apparition, but by the time I managed to get back on my feet, it was too late. The apparition was looming over me, surrounding me with a transparent quilt. ¡®Crap. I need to get a grip on myself. What¡¯s it trying to do?¡¯ ¡°Salvus!¡± A barrier of light surrounded me and hindered the transparent quilt from drawing closer to me. ¡®Cura? What¡¯s happening? My head¡¯s still a bit dizzy¡­¡¯ ¡°Gratus!¡± Cura shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t let this thing surround you. I think it¡¯s trying to devour you!¡± ¡®Not good!¡¯ I shook off my dizziness and noticed that Cura¡¯s barrier was already cracking. I prepared to jump in an attempt to escape before the apparition could smother me in darkness, but just as I was about to lift off, the apparition somehow grabbed onto my left ankle and yanked me to the floor. ¡°Gratus!¡± My back felt the ground once again. ¡°It¡¯s not over!¡± I roared. I gathered as much energy as I could in the palm of my hands and directed both of my hands at the apparition¡¯s body. ¡°Adustum!¡± Light zoomed out of my hands, but instead of hurting the apparition like I thought it would, my light passed through its body. Nothing happened. If anything changed, it was the fact that the apparition seemed to be more agitated than before. The transparent quilt that was surrounding my body now constricted around me. I didn¡¯t have time to think of another method, so I let my instincts take over. ¡°Gratus, what are you doing?!¡± Cura cried. To be honest, I didn¡¯t know, but the energy in my body swirled and raged like clashing ocean waves during a storm. Once the energy in my body was at its most chaotic state, thrashing about in my body, it manifested itself outside of my body as sparks of light. It was like fireworks were going off with me at its epicenter. With every flash of light, the invisible quilt revealed itself and the transparent apparition became visible. The monster seemed scared. Whether it was because of my light or because it was being revealed, I don¡¯t know, but it withdrew its cloak from me and leapt away from me. Since it had jumped outside of my reach, the darkness acted to hide the monster once again. ¡°You think I¡¯d let you?¡± I shouted in rage while dashing towards the monster. But just as I was about to reach the monster, I felt a familiar hand grab onto my arm and heard a condescending voice. ¡°What are you doing?¡± I turned to see Sophie holding onto my arm. ¡°Sophie?! What happened to you?¡± ¡°Wait. Stop! Calm down!¡± I looked at Sophie¡¯s hand and saw that the light I was emitting was heating up her armor and making it emit a glaring white light. It looked like plasma. ¡°Calm down! Listen to me!¡± I turned to look back at the monster, but it was gone. It had already melded back into the darkness. I gritted my teeth in frustration and said with bitterness in my voice, ¡°All right. But you have some explaining to do!¡± Sophie nodded, ¡°Got it. This isn¡¯t the time to go all out. Even if you kill Turbavi on your own, it¡¯ll be for naught. You are inside its soul.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked while trying to make sense of what she was saying. ¡°Excuse me for interrupting, but we are in a middle of a battle,¡± Cura¡¯s voice interjected, but just as she was about to reveal herself, Sophie pushed her back into my chest and continued to push me onto the floor. ¡°Stupid firefly!¡± As I fell on the ground, I felt the temperature around us drop and a sharp blade as thin as a cloth cut through the space we were standing in. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°Run!¡± Sophie had fallen on top of me and then rolled while holding onto me. At the end of her roll, she lifted me up with her forward momentum and continued to dash forward. Since she was holding onto me, I had no choice but to stumble after her. ¡°The monster¡¯s still attacking us!¡± ¡°Yeah, because of your stupid guardian. As long as you¡¯re not going crazy and I¡¯m holding onto you, I can use my darkness to hide us, but the moment that firefly of yours revealed herself, she revealed us, too!¡± She said this all while running. When I nodded, she continued, ¡°And that monster that¡¯s been attacking you is Turbavi¡¯s soul. Because of its transparent body, it can easily absorb anything into its body, trapping it for eternity.¡± ¡°And why did you almost let me get devoured?¡± I said in bitterness. It wasn¡¯t like me to hold a grudge, but I had almost died, and the chaos of the battle was not giving me any time to compose myself. Sophie sighed and stopped running. I followed suit, but she continued to hold onto me. ¡°We should be safe here for now,¡± Sophie said while turning to me and continued with an apology, ¡°Sorry, there wasn¡¯t much time to explain since Turbavi attacked us out of the black, and well, actually, you¡¯ve already been devoured.¡± Shocked, I exclaimed, ¡°What?! Then what will happen if I get devoured again?¡± Sophie chuckled, ¡°No worries. Everything¡¯s going according to plan.¡± ¡®Oh, holy goddess of light!¡¯ I took a few deep breaths to regain my composure and asked, ¡°What plan?¡± Sophie looked into my eyes and smiled, ¡°Do you remember the sword that I dropped? Well, that was actually me. Right now, you are talking to my sword.¡± ¡®What?!¡¯ No matter how many times I tried to process what she just said, my brain was not registering her words. It must have shown on my face, because she continued. ¡°Hold on. Let me finish. In order to destroy Turbavi for good, we need to attack it from the inside and outside at the same time. By doing so, we will be able to cut it open and reveal his true form all while releasing you out of its body.¡± ¡°But my light doesn¡¯t seem to affect Turbavi. At most, I can ward him away.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I am letting you borrow my sword. It has the power to distort domains. When you cut through Turbavi, you can escape through the rift, but make sure to hold onto my sword. If you lose it during the rift, you will be trapped in the abyss forever.¡± I nodded in understanding, though I didn¡¯t understanding everything she said. ¡®Sounds easy enough, but I doubt it¡¯ll be as easy as slash and escape.¡¯ ¡°Just wait for my signal.¡± Sophie said, or her mirror image said, as she reverted back to her sword and fell to the ground. ¡®What signal?¡¯ ¡°I don¡¯t trust her,¡± Cura said, voicing her concern. I shrugged, ¡°But what else can we¡­¡± Mid-way through my sentence, I felt the temperature drop once again, and it dawned on me that we were no longer camouflaged in the darkness. ¡®Crap. No time for doubt.¡¯ I kneeled to pick up the sword as fast as I could and readied myself for any sudden attacks, but as soon as my hand grasped the sword¡¯s handle, a surge of dark energy invaded my body. My grip weakened and the sword threatened to slip out of my grasp. ¡°Let go of the sword!¡± cried Cura, but before I could, I felt a wave of energy slice through the air and pass by me. ¡®Holy¡­ Sophie wasn¡¯t kidding¡­¡¯ I was lucky to have the sword raised in front of me. Just before the wave of energy was about to slice me in half, the sword split the wave in two and the wave passed me like river water being split by immovable boulders in its way. ¡°Cura, I know how incompatible we are with Sophie, but I don¡¯t think she is our enemy.¡± Cura admitted with reluctance, ¡°I understand¡­¡± ¡°Good. Now, can you do anything about this sword, Cura?¡± ¡°Yes. I will prevent its darkness from entering you, but while I am doing so, I will not be able to assist you against Turbavi.¡± ¡°No worries.¡± As soon as Cura¡¯s focus was dedicated to preventing the darkness in the sword from invading my body, I felt strength return to my hands. ¡®Good. Now, what is the signal?¡¯ *Flash* A flash of darkness blinded my eyes for a moment and the sword disappeared from my sight. ¡®Is this it?¡¯ It was weird. Even though I could not see the sword, I could still feel its hilt within the grasp of my hand. *Flash* Another flash of darkness blinded me, but this time, the light surrounding me and the light in my eyes disappeared. The sword had eaten my light. ¡®This is¡­!¡¯ Without any light in my eyes, I thought that I would not be able to see anything, but for some reason, the image of a monster appeared before me. ¡®Turbavi!¡¯ But it was clearer than before. Instead of a faint outline, I saw its mutilated body. It had muscles twisted here and there like the grotesque body of an operation gone wrong and then some. The transparent quilt that I thought was a cloak were actually long bandages that dangled off of its body. When I looked it in the eye, the monster seemed to be taken aback. It turned around to run, but I chased after it while slashing at its legs. When it fell to the ground, I did not relent and continued to hack at the monster until it was a pile of minced meat. ¡®Is it over? Maybe it was as easy as slash and dash?¡¯ ¡­ ¡®Or maybe not.¡¯ The pile of flesh that I had minced rose into the air and reformed. ¡®This doesn¡¯t look good. If slicing it doesn¡¯t work, then what can I do? Wait! Didn¡¯t Sophie say that I was in Turbavi¡¯s soul? I got it!¡¯ I dashed forward, but instead of dashing at the monster, I lowered the tip of the sword so that it would drag along the platform I was running on and ran away from the monster. When it had regenerated, it started to chase after me, but just as I expected, the floor beneath him shattered upon his weight. By dragging the tip of the sword on the ground, I was able to weaken the ground. When the ground shattered, I let myself free fall while pointing the sword downwards under me. *Smash* When the sword hit the next platform below, the force of my fall along with the power of the sword shattered the platform and we continued to fall. Even though smashing against the platform took away some of my momentum, I continued to accelerate faster. *Smash* *Smash!* *Smash!!* I kept descending into the darkness while shattering all the platforms beneath me. After breaking through the seventh platform, the surrounding darkness twisted and churned. ¡®This is it! Turbavi¡¯s soul is becoming unstable!¡¯ The sword was affecting everything around me now. *SHATTER* At last, after breaking through the eight platform, I entered into an abyss. For an instant, there was nothing¡ªno light, no darkness. *BOOM* Then I smashed into a platform that did not break. The vibrations from the impact transferred into my hands and the pain made my hands jerk away from the sword while I screamed. I wanted to wallow in my pain some more, but a familiar voice brought me to my senses. ¡°Get up!¡± exclaimed Sophie, ¡°This is where the true battle begins.¡± [V1] Chapter 14: True Threat Chapter 14: True Threat ¡®Crap, this isn¡¯t good¡­¡¯ ¡®This isn¡¯t right. It¡¯s not over yet.¡¯ ¡®Hehehe¡­¡¯ ¡®Traitors should die.¡¯ ¡®No!¡¯ I shouted within my head, ¡®Are you kidding me?¡¯ ¡®Hahaha! Kill! Kill! Kill!¡¯ ¡®What a fool! Hahaha! Blind as usual.¡¯ ¡®Wait. Stop! Get out of my head!¡¯ ¡®Slice his head off!¡¯ ¡®Damn firefly!¡¯ ¡®Thank goodness!¡¯ ¡®He¡¯s doing something!¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s right, my dear. It¡¯s time to end this game of charades.¡¯ ¡®Oh, ho? My dear, did you think you were getting closer to escaping? You¡¯re like a fish trapped in a pond. You can swim all you want, but you¡¯ll never escape from me.¡¯ ¡®Foolish light can¡¯t see. Kekeke. Now¡¯s your chance to kill him, my dear.¡¯ ¡®How cute. My dear Sophie is trying to defy me. Shall I give you a hand? Or will you lend me your body?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s useless¡­ There¡¯s nothing I can do but watch now¡­ Sorry Gratus. You¡¯re on your own.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s right!¡¯ ¡®Heh heh heh, first decapitate and then cut him to pieces one by one until the fool regrets betraying us.¡¯ ¡®Betraying us?¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s right. He betrayed us. All you need to do is chop off his legs with your sword, and you¡¯ll be one step closer to keeping Amber safe from his light. Ke-ke-ke¡­¡¯ ¡®Amber?¡¯ ¡®Yes, don¡¯t you remember? Gratus is the one who trapped you both in the abyss.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s right. Gratus is the cause of the instability. He is the one who trapped us!¡¯ ¡®Ugh! I hate this light!¡¯ ¡®The joy!¡¯ ¡®Great, now the nuisance has opened her mouth.¡¯ ¡®This isn¡¯t good.¡¯ I thought to myself, ¡®Something is controlling Sophie¡¯s body and my light isn¡¯t a good match against her.¡¯ ¡®Think. What can I do? A simple Adustum would never penetrate Sophie¡¯s armor, let alone affect the monster controlling her. It¡¯s like she¡¯s¡­ corrupted?¡¯ ¡®Just like a lost soul¡¯ I thought. ¡®Gratus!¡¯ ¡®Invasus!¡¯ ¡®Huh? Shit! What?!¡¯ ¡®Hu-hu-hu¡­ Who¡¯s like a fish trapped in a pond now?¡¯ ¡®Invasus!¡¯ Hm~ So is that how you invaded my consciousness? Pretty desperate don¡¯t you think? Trying to take advantage of a girl, especially one like me.¡¯ ¡®What did you do?¡¯ ¡®My name is Sophie Lattierre, the dark knight who treads through darkness. I welcome you to my domain. Just as darkness swallows light, I swallow darkness. Escape is futile.¡¯ ¡®Hey, come on. We¡¯re on the same side, remember? Gratus is our enemy.¡¯ ¡®No, you idiot. We¡¯re not on the same side.¡¯ ¡®What are you saying?! We¡­ You¡ª!¡¯ ¡®Oops, no time to chat. Heh heh heh¡­ It¡¯s too late now¡­¡¯ ¡®Firefly.¡¯ ¡®Cura Rexi, if you would please.¡¯ ¡®What do you want? My domain does not welcome light.¡¯ ¡®And for what you did to my master, I do not welcome your kind either. I¡¯m here to rid you of your¡­ uninvited guest.¡¯ ¡®You mean my captive?¡¯ ¡®¡­¡¯ ¡®Okay, got it. Consider it repayment for almost killing Gratus.¡¯ ¡®¡­ Thank you.¡¯ ¡®What are you going to do with me?¡¯ ¡®What do you think? Damn, I think she¡¯s more annoying than you. I feel a bit sorry for you, but oh well, not all things end well, I guess. See ya!¡¯ ¡®Shit, where am I?¡¯ ¡®Hello, Kyrie.¡¯ ¡®Oh, meeting with me personally?¡¯ I smiled and bowed, ¡®And to what do I own this pleasure?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s time to say goodbye.¡¯ ¡®And how do are you going to do that? I¡¯m an eternal as well.¡¯ ¡®I remember as much¡­ But now that I¡¯ve entered into your domain, you¡¯ll do well as a sacrifice for my master.¡¯ ¡®You wouldn¡¯t!¡¯ I shouted while dashing towards her and pinning her down. ¡®You¡¯re all messed up!¡¯ ¡®What good is a sword if it fears being sacrificed?¡¯ ¡®You got it all wrong! I¡¯m not your real enemy! Kyrie is still¡ª¡¯ but that was the end. ¡®I guess darkness can be good once in a while, eh?¡¯ ¡®Cura?¡¯ ¡®Cura! Where are you?¡¯ ¡®Gratus.¡¯ ¡®Cura! Is that you?¡¯ ¡®Soon, this realm will collapse. I was wrong. Kyrie was not the one who erased your memories. It was Turbavi¡­ But I feel like Kyrie was using him somehow.¡¯ ¡®Forget them! Are you going to be all right?¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t worry about me. I used Sacrificum to heal your wounds, but since I didn¡¯t have a body to sacrifice, I sacrificed Turbavi. Now, he will wander the endless abyss forever¡­¡¯ ¡®What about you?¡¯ ¡®I¡­ am not an eternal. I will perish¡­ until the next time¡­ though I will not remember¡­¡¯ ¡®Wait! Cura! What do you mean by next time?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m glad¡­ I¡­ could talk¡­ to you¡­ again¡­¡¯ ¡®What¡¯s wrong with my eyes? This much light should be nothing¡­¡¯ [V1] Chapter 15: The Recorodor Chapter 15: The Recorodor ¡®Cog?¡¯ ¡®If he explained now, I probably would be more confused anyway. Seems like Cog was able to resolve whatever he needed to while I was gone¡­¡¯ ¡®If I remember correctly, didn¡¯t Cog say he was the sole survivor of his family?¡¯ ¡®I guess this is our exit?¡¯ ¡®I just want to get my memories back¡­¡¯ ¡®The details are fuzzy, but they¡¯re definitely there.¡¯ ¡®Good thing I¡¯m no masochist. He deserved to die, though I feel like I should have been more thorough with killing him,¡¯ but at that thought, I sighed, ¡®What am I thinking? I think everything that has happened until now has slowly driven me crazy.¡¯ ¡®Well, I didn¡¯t expect that either.¡¯ ¡®I could go for a drink. That reminds me, I haven¡¯t eaten in a while either. How long has it last been since I arrived in Dominia?¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s really strange. I haven¡¯t seen any animals since coming her.¡¯ ¡®This feeling¡­ It¡¯s so familiar. It feels like the same energy I use when I use magic.¡¯ ¡®There has to be a door here somewhere. Maybe on the other side?¡¯ ¡®What does this mean? Should I see if my hand fits?¡¯ ¡®Okay¡­¡¯ ¡®Is this dark matter? If so, what is it doing here?¡¯ ¡®Ah! If Cedric and I were the only ones meant to enter this place, then this imprint would need to have the ability to identify us just in case someone was able to sneak by or break the barrier!¡¯ ¡®I thought this was going to be easy. Come in, get my memories, and leave.¡¯ ¡®Where¡¯d she go?¡¯ ¡®Is she looking for something?¡¯ ¡®Showoff.¡¯ ¡®What¡¯s she expecting me to do?¡¯ ¡®Huh? There¡¯s no words.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s about damn time for some answers.¡¯ ¡®What the heck!¡¯ [V2] Chapter 1: Welcome to Dominia Chapter 1: Welcome to Dominia ¡®He¡¯s grown so much.¡¯ ¡®Soon, my son, you will inherit the Morionis will.¡¯ still exists. Until Clautz can stabilize Dominia, we need to keep fighting.¡± ¡®But I don¡¯t have time¡­¡¯ ¡®I can¡¯t do it. I can¡¯t do it,¡¯ I stuttered in my mind. ¡®What changed? Before, father would never be so cruel. At least, not that I knew. Maybe I was just oblivious of his true nature all this long¡­¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m a friggin¡¯ teenage still for crying out loud. Let me do what other normal kids do,¡¯ I cursed in my mind while taking note of the letter my mother had left besides the food. Cogito. I know it¡¯s been hard for you. It¡¯s been hard for me too, but please bear with your father a little more. Your father expects much from you as one who will inherit the Morrionis legacy. If your father¡¯s training every gets too difficult for you, please tell me. I¡¯ll always be here for you. Here, you must be starving. I made some food for you, so eat it before it gets too cold. Love, Mom ¡®If you tell your mother about what we¡¯ve been doing here, I¡¯ll kill her and your sister. And don¡¯t think that after she dies, I¡¯ll go any easier on you.¡¯ ¡®Fuck!¡¯
Welcome to the world of Dominia!This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
You have received: Item: Recasus
Item Check: Recasus
Durability: 100/100 Damage: 5-8
One of the Morrionis family heirlooms. It can be used once a day to create a [resurrection point]. Creating a new one will override the previous one. If wielder dies, then they will return to created resurrection point.
Requirements: Morrionis family member
Equipped: When equipped, wielder can choose to send target person to last resurrection point. Doing so will shatter the Recasus. Target person must be stabbed in the head.
Warning: If used by a person who is not of the Morrionis bloodline, the Recasus will become a regular dagger.
You have created a resurrection point. The next time you die, you will be revived here.
¡®But why is he smiling like that?¡¯
You have detected a murderous aura.
You have died. You will be revived in 3...2...1...
¡®No!¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m definitely going to kill him for this! Just wait until I resurrect again.¡¯
You have died. You will be revived in 3...2...1...
¡®He¡¯s going to take his time killing me again.¡¯
You have died. You will be revived in 3...2...1...
¡®How many times must that have taken him?¡¯ ¡®He¡¯s definitely my son.¡¯ ¡®So adorable.¡¯ ¡®I hope you don¡¯t think any worse of me Cogito. I¡¯ll let you die eventually.¡¯ ¡®Did he realize?¡¯ [V2] Chapter 2: Edge of Corruption Chapter 2: Edge of Corruption *Clang clang* ~~~~~ Skill Acquired: Resilience to Corruption (Advanced Lv: 5 | 0%) Your mind has developed a strong resilience to corruption. Whenever your mind is inflicted with an abnormal side effect, then it will be alleviated after 5 seconds. ~~~~~ ¡®Resilience? Isn¡¯t this just apathy?¡¯ ~~~~~ Class Quest: Path of an Impersiosus Your father, a once mighty Impersiosus, has become corrupt and is becoming a Monstrum. You must kill him within the time limit or else he will begin rampaging and bring instability to Dominia. Difficulty: E Reward: Can change to the Impersiosus class. Warning: If you fail to kill him within the time limit, difficult will rise to A. You cannot reject this quest. ~~~~~ ~~~~~ Quest accepted. Time remaining: 2 minutes ~~~~~ ¡®Not like this¡­ This isn¡¯t going to work¡­ If I had more time¡­¡¯ ~~~~~ Time remaining: 1 minutes ~~~~~ ¡®Then, there¡¯s only one thing I can do¡­¡¯ ~~~~~ You have died. You will be revived in 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­ ~~~~~ ¡®How many times must that have taken him? I remember the time when I had to go through the Morionis bapti¡ª¡¯ ¡®Did he realize?¡¯ ¡®Amusing. So this is what it feels like to be on the receiving end¡­Judging from the determination in his voice, I can see that he¡¯s made up his mind. But since I¡¯m still alive, that means he didn¡¯t kill me yet¡­What happened?¡¯ ¡®His resilience to corruption is already beyond mine.¡¯ ¡®Very good.¡¯ ¡®Show those monsters, the power of the Morionis family.¡¯ *Slice* ¡®Phi, it¡¯s your turn now¡­¡¯ ¡®Ah, I¡¯m glad I could die a father¡­¡¯ ~~~~~ Class Quest: Path of an Impersiosus [II] After learning that your father had become corrupt, you killed him with no regrets. Since you killed him before he became a Monstrus, a huge disaster has been avoided, but since there were no witnesses, you will not be able to become an Impersiosus until you are officially recognized and fame will not increase until your deeds are uncovered. Find a way to be recognized and accepted by the Impersiosus. Reward: Can change to the Impersiosus class. ~~~~~ ~~~~~ Level Up: Dagger Mastery (Advanced Lv: 3 | 0%) After fighting against a master of the dagger in countless life and death battles, your dagger mastery has improved by leaps and bounds. When you fight using a dagger, attack routes will be highlighted and attack speed will increase by 80% after you have determined a route of attack. If an enemy is using a dagger, then their attack patterns can be analyzed and shown as well, but enemies with a higher dagger mastery than you may deviate from the predicted attack patterns. ~~~~~ ~~~~~ You have created a resurrection point. The next time you die, you will be revived here. ~~~~~ ¡®But how am I going to explain this to Mother and Amber?¡¯ ¡®I feel like I¡¯m going to have to go through a lot of trial and error¡­¡¯ *Tick Tock¡­ Tick Tock¡­* ¡®4:13 AM¡­ I woke up in the middle of the night, was knocked out, and awoke in the basement. It¡¯s been at most¡­ three hours? Shit¡­ I¡¯m going to have to get used to the temporal adjustments.¡¯ ¡®This can¡¯t be coincidence. Father was very meticulous with the traps he placed around the house. I didn¡¯t even notice them until a week ago when he forced me to kill the intruders who were foolish enough to get caught in them¡­ Could this be another test?¡¯ ¡®Another person. Seems like I¡¯ll have to be careful, or at least, that¡¯s what I would have had to be a few hours ago. Hm¡­ And a commander? Looks like I am dealing with militia. What are they doing here?¡¯ *Thud* *Whack* *Step Step Step* ¡®I guess now¡¯s a better time than any.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll have to deal with him better next time.¡¯ ¡®Not as painful as I thought.¡¯ ¡®One¡­ Two¡­ Five people, including the commander.¡¯ ~~~~~ Your motor cortex has been weakened. Your body has lost its strength. ~~~~~ ¡®Are you serious? Isn¡¯t this a Diabolus spell?¡¯ ~~~~~ Resilience to Corruption activated. In 5 seconds, your motor cortex will be restored to normal. ~~~~~ ¡®Crap. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be alive in another three seconds.¡¯ *Whoosh* ¡®Huh? This is bad. How does he know? It sounds like he has a countermeasure. I better restart as soon as I can.¡¯ ~~~~~ You have died. You will be revived in 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­ ~~~~~ ¡®Hm¡­ that Diabolus doesn¡¯t know that I have the Recasus yet, so I should find a way to conceal them somehow.¡¯ ¡®This should do for now.¡¯ ¡®M¡¯ that was engraved on the blades, but aside from that, they looked like normal daggers. ¡®4:15 AM¡­ Looks like I spent a little too much time wrapping the daggers.¡¯ *Step step step* ¡®Here we go again!¡¯ ¡®Winning War 101: Killing the head makes the body useless.¡¯ *Thrust* ¡®Checkmate. Now to take care of the limbs.¡¯ ¡®Well, I guess there¡¯s only one left? Though I should double check after killing him. Even chickens can move for a while after their heads are severed.¡¯ ¡®Would be¡­?¡¯ *Ka-cha* *Sigh* ¡®At least, I¡¯m still human.¡¯