Chương 50: 50: I'll destroy the nightmare
Note: Wow, it's been a while since I left a note here, huh?
Anyway, I'm just putting this here to warn that I'm not entirely sure about how to write this chapter, so if the scenes seem a bit heavy or abrupt, I apologize.
I'm not completely satisfied with this outcome, but it's better than not posting anything, right?
Well, I'll leave it at that. See you next Monday 😁
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[The duality within you expands]
There was no room for wonder or time to process what the spell had said; suddenly, Grey felt his soul being torn, split into two halves.
'No!' he thought, as memories struck him like the sting of a deep wound. He was back in that moment when he lost her. He remembered the absurd mistake and recklessness that had led him to fail Sara, the one person who truly mattered to him. And now, as if no time had passed, that pain ensnared him once again.
His trembling hand rose to his chest and touched his own scaled armor, cold, as if a bucket of icy water had splashed his face. That same chill he'd felt remembering everything he'd avoided for days or maybe months in the underground shadows.
'SARA!!'
The mental pain that now consumed him rivaled even the torment of his torn soul. It was as if Sara, who had only been in his life for a few short months, had filled every corner of his existence, becoming such an irreplaceable part of him that no physical wound could compare to that loss.
And there he was, collapsed on the stone floor beside the freshly decapitated head of a sacred titan, with the shattered gaze of someone who had survived his trial but not his memories. Confronted by the echoes of that memory, he was nothing more than an abandoned child, a child who had just lost his only and best friend.
The figures of those he'd shared meals and time with at the academy paled in comparison to the intensity of what he'd experienced with Sara. Even from a distance, someone like that silver-haired girl with gray eyes—so similar to his—might have begun to reach his heart, but there was no image that could erase Sara from his mind, no shadow that could dim the mark she had left on him.
That torment of emotions and suffering lasted barely five minutes, but to Grey, those five minutes stretched on like endless hours. The same image, the wrenching vision of his last shared glance with Sara, replayed in his mind over and over—a wound that refused to close.
His hand clenched into a fist, and with a movement filled with rage, he slammed it against the stone floor. The impact echoed like thunder, shattering the rock into a web of cracks that formed a small crater around him.
With his face contorted by frustration, anger, and resentment, his muscles tightened as both fists struck the floor again, releasing a scream of fury.
"AAAHHH, DAMN IT!"
His voice reverberated through the dark tunnel, bouncing between the walls like twisted whispers mocking him. Those echoes reminded him of how fragile he was, how weak he had been, and how that weakness had robbed him of the person he cared about most.
He struck the floor with all his strength, and this time his hands transformed: his fingers elongated into sharp claws, his skin turned a dull gray, and his eyes sank into an impenetrable darkness.
The final blow ended in even more chaos, collapsing the room that had once housed a Nephilim—a being of his own kind, an equal that reflected what he might become, the shadowy legacy awaiting him.
A faint whisper escaped his lips, so soft it barely brushed the air, inaudible to any ear but his own.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, Sara."
His voice was fragile, broken with regret, resonating with emotions that had emerged from the depths of his soul. The very emotions he'd buried in darkness to protect himself from the pain, to avoid feeling the loss that tormented him so deeply.
Kneeling, with his hands clutching the ground, his heart pounded as sweat ran down his brow, and his dilated eyes seemed to consume the surrounding darkness.
Suddenly, in the emptiness of his mind, Sara's image appeared, lighting his inner world like a star in the densest night. Her smile, soft and warm, had the power to erase any shadow.
The rhythm of his heart began to calm. His hands, once tense and rigid, relaxed slowly, and his fingers loosened their grip. His face, once hardened by pain, softened, and deep within his silver eyes, a faint spark emerged—a glimmer, slight but unwavering.
Without a word, Grey rose from the ground and turned to retrace his steps, leaving behind the shriveled and dusty corpse of the fallen Nephilim. He didn't need to look at it again; his purpose had already changed.
In his mind, only one thought prevailed, as firm as a promise.
'I must get out of here and return to the real world.'
As he moved down the hall, filled with ancient murals, a new thought emerged—darker, latent deep within him.
'And then… I will destroy the nightmare realm.'
A short while later, his shadow crossed in front of a mural depicting a Nephilim, consumed by darkness, chained and trapped in an endless prison.
...
With empty hands, Grey moved through the darkness, his gaze lost in the void. Before him, his runes unfurled silently, visible only to his eyes.
Name: Grey
True name: Legacy of Ruin
Rank: Dreamer
Class: Demon
Soul Fragments: [2092/3000]
Memories: [Odyssey] [Tear] [Kalictis Armor] [Fresh Summer]
Echoes: -
Attributes: [Destined] [Genius] [Divine Glow] [Sacred Blessing]
Aspect: Nephilim
Aspect Rank: Divine
Innate Skill: [Adaptive Body]
Aspect Skill: [Opposing Energies]
Grey examined the two new attributes coldly. One had recently evolved after leaving the containment chamber, and the other was the reward from his victory over the Nephilim Light of Ruin.
Closing his eyes, he focused on them, and the runes of their descriptions materialized in his mind.
Divine Glow: [Your soul was enveloped and modified by divine fire that blossomed from an incandescent flame]
Sacred Blessing: [You received the blessing of a sacred being, granting you unique abilities and protections]
'Special abilities, huh?' he mused as he turned his gaze toward the surrounding darkness, observing it as if it were completely transparent.
'So that's why. What else will I be able to do, aside from seeing in the dark?'
His attribute "Divine Flame" had evolved into "Divine Glow," and a subtle unease crept over him.
'Does this mean my soul is now stronger? It says it was modified, but I don't feel anything out of the ordinary…'
With a slight suspicion, Grey paused and closed his eyes. In an instant, he found himself once again in his soul sea.
He silently observed the landscape: the clouds floated serenely, the sea remained still, and the sky was clear. A gentle relief filled his chest before his eyes settled on his three soul cores, his brow furrowing as he noticed something unusual.
'Is it just me, or... are my cores wrapped in some kind of transparent fire?'
He looked closer, and his suspicions were confirmed. Each of his cores was covered by a semi-transparent flame that enveloped them like an ethereal layer.
Gazing at this new transformation, he thought with a touch of frustration:
'I still don't know what they do…'
Without answers in his soul sea, he left it and returned to reality, finding himself only a few steps from the door of that shadow prison.
'I need to get out of here.'
With steady steps, he began to move, keeping his gaze alert to his surroundings, every corner visible thanks to his new night vision.
The vast passageway, with walls so high they seemed to devour the void, revealed countless carved tunnels, like scars in a massive subterranean organism. For a moment, that labyrinth of galleries left him bewildered, but he quickly understood.
Naturally, the worms had carved their way through the mud, hollowing out tunnels they used as shelters in this endless corridor.
'Should I go into one?' The idea tempted him, but he dismissed it quickly. He had already explored the main tunnel, and at some point, he would search the branches. 'But no, it would be too reckless to venture in now.'
He knew well that the worms weren't the only creatures in this place. Who knew what horrors awaited in the depths of those tunnels.
On the other hand, an idea crossed his mind.
'My new attribute should offer me protection against various threats, right? Perhaps that's why I no longer feel the presence watching me.'
'Who could have been keeping an eye on me all this time? That sensation had become constant since I woke up, though I only noticed it when it was interrupted by the Nephilim's authority.'
Since he had acquired this power, it seemed that no one could track him anymore. That was, without a doubt, a good sign.
With that thought, Grey planned to return to the place where everything had started and explore whether he could still climb through the hole he had entered, right into the depths of the fallen worm's entrails.
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