Drip—
Drip—
My blood continued to fall; a small pond started to form under the chef's feet. Yet he remained unbothered; he was a puppet just like the other servants.
But why was he so unreasonably strong…?
This was not how it was supposed to happen; I had hoped for things to go differently. That even if my attacks fail, I should be able to break free from his grasp. I didn't even try to leave his grip; my wrist had been thoroughly crushed and left hanging above me.
I had lost all my strength with a simple cleave of my left arm. This was how a normal human was supposed to be, powerless and weak.
With all my newfound powers, I had forgotten how absurd the world was supposed to be. People had reminded me of my recklessness several times, yet I never listened to any of them.
How laughable and ironic it was that I had tried to save myself, only to doom myself even further.
I opened my eyes tirelessly.
This world was not a dream, it was a nightmare…
And these children had been dreaming of it for far too long now.
It has to come to an end.
'I should worry about myself first…' I found it amusing that someone like me can be this compassionate. Greth has said I was like him, a cold-hearted monster who smiles when killing others.
His words had wracked my heart into pieces that I will never be able to mend back together.
Is this what happens to a man who has experienced both pain and suffering…?
That he becomes totally numb to it…?
I looked at the chef with a tired gaze, then with a glint of defiance kicked his stomach as hard as I could.
Tak—!
My retaliation did nothing other than drain me of my leftover strength. The chef, meanwhile, didn't even flinch back. I wonder if he was just looking at a useless human still struggling like an idiot.
Will I go to the next loop if I die now, or is it only true for the white flames?
Why am I still alive? Without the help of [Kairosflow], my mind has not accelerated. Many seconds have already passed since I started to go through my thoughts. The chef should have killed me by now.
Then I saw something that previously was not present in the puppets of this dream—it was hesitation.
The chef was hesitating for the first time; his butchering blade was up in the air, not very far from my throat, yet he didn't move an inch.
Unknowingly, I found myself smiling after seeing this.
The situation was dire.
My life was at risk and hanging by a thread of strong will.
But I was happy.
What I had done was something very trivial, showing some affection for them. Yet the children—a creature from beyond—now didn't wish to kill me; they had hesitated for a moment.
'See, Greth, I am not just a madman… I am an awesome guy as well.'
Thuck—!
The chef suddenly fell back, his eyes wide open. A trail of blood left his throat as I saw something had pierced it from behind, like a slinger.
I fell to the ground as well; a chilling pain followed as I closed my eyes.
"Agh!" I let out a small, painful sound. My eyes first darted to see my left hand not far from my face and then at a grey cat who appeared from behind the chef.
"Asher, are you alive!" The cat jumped toward me, and his paws frantically started to shake my head.
"Ah, shut up!" I yelled back.
"Oh, so you are alive…" Franz sounded a bit disappointed; his eyes flickered to see Asher's dying figure. He was drenched completely in blood, his clothes shredded in several places. His left arm has also been chopped off from his shoulders.
'What did he even do to get into this state?'
Franz was left completely baffled by seeing Asher like this. If he died, there was no guarantee that he could go to the next loop or if there even was a next loop.
"Huff… Huff…" Asher took deep breaths in the puddle of his own flesh and blood; the hall fell silent as his breathing quickened even more.
Franz gulped and then cautiously asked.
"Will you be okay? Can't you heal yourself?"
I gave him a last glance before painfully saying,. "I am trying… my best."
I chuckled softly and added,.
"Don't blame me… If I die."
"Oh, don't worry, I will make sure to curse you a ton… So, don't die."
I looked at him but didn't answer back—I couldn't, my body had lost all its strength. I tried to bring my palm to my wrist, and then, with a bit of pain, it finally touched it.
Having your bones broken does make moving it easier.
Slowly my wrist shifted, and as I winced, my palm suddenly jerked back into its place.
Franz watched in silence, his tail not moving. He turned to look at the corridor, then whispered.
"Fast… They will reach us soon."
"Bring my arm to my left…" I asked.
The grey cat nodded its head, its tail wagging a little as it pushed my hand towards the bleeding.
"Can you grow it back?"
"I don't know… but no, I guess." I started to stop the bleeding; the healing powers were the most important thing to me right now.
I was feeling both grateful and hurt towards Ayla and Leo.
Stopping as my wound closed, I struggled to stand. Franz tried to support me, but his fragile and small stature didn't help.
"Haa… I don't think I will last long." I said, keeping myself steady. Standing was hard, but maintaining my balance was harder.
Without the support of my left arm, all my weight seems to have shifted away from my core to elsewhere.
"We might die soon from those white flames; too many things happened by the time you were gone. Owen met Leo soon after and slapped him as Leo confronted him about his mother. Ayla yelled back, and later the new woman took them somewhere unknown."
My eyes widened as I heard Franz report. I felt my brows furrow up as I asked. "But I was fighting Owen right after leaving… How can he meet the children in that small time?"
Franz took two steps forward and said in a hurried manner.
"I am sure he came as soon as you left. Could there have been two Owens?"
I bit my lips and nodded.
"Maybe, maybe there are two Owens; one was always in the office, and the other was playing the role assigned to him."
"How can you be so sure?" Franz asked.
"I read Ayla's diary and found something bad, very bad…. Ayla's mother is dead; her head is currently in Owen's suitcase. And I suspect Owen and the mysterious woman are involved in it."
"Fuck, for goddess sake, why did I take this mission from him?!" Franz cursed as he understood the meaning of my words.
'Calling goddess and cursing at the same time, is he retarded?'
"No, wait, what did you say before about where that woman took Ayla and Leo?" I asked.
"Oh, yes. We should hurry! I couldn't move at that time, but we should not wait anymore."
I nodded and started to drag my body through the corridor.
Seeing Franz move ahead, I bit my lips and mumbled.
"Thanks… for saving me."
Franz froze but didn't look back; he then again started to move ahead, his tail swaying gently.
"You owe me a drink…"
I took heavy steps and nodded.
"Got it."
Our journey, by luck, was not filled with more danger; avoiding the servants, we came to the upper floors.
It was a copy of the middle part of the mansion, but with more halls rather than rooms.
"Where should we go next?" I asked.
"My gut is telling me to go this way…" The cat raised its paw to the right, while I touched my stomach upon hearing the word 'guts.'
'Damn, it still hurts just remembering that.'
Getting stabbed was not the best experience!
I nodded and started to move towards the center of the mansion. Moving through the hall, I felt my breathing get heavier. I had lost too much blood; I was getting lightheaded.
Thinking about anything was harder than ever.
"Asher, crouch. They are here." Franz whispered.
I looked at him, then at the window in front of me.
I crouched down and tried to look inside.
There, four figures stood at the center of the mysterious room; some kind of weird pattern was drawn over the floor that I couldn't decipher.
It was not clear and looked hazy, as if erased by dust and wind. But that was not possible; the room was at the center, and no wind would come here.
"Let's go inside, even if we fail… At least we will know why." I said.
Franz hesitated, his gaze shifting between me and the inside. Then with a clear sigh of frustration, he nodded. "Okay, I can't fight like this, and you are not in a condition to fight; let's just die!"
'I never said anything about dying; why blame me?'
We quickly jumped through the window as I stopped myself from falling.
Then, hiding behind the curtains, we heard Owen's voice as he said with a cold voice.
"Sit at the center; we will start the rituals soon."
Ayla frowned and looked at Owen, her hand holding Leo tightly in her grasp as he shifted uncomfortably.
"Why?" She would not be obedient anymore, not after getting hit.
"You—" As Owen raised his hand, the woman stopped him.
"Owen, just explain it to her; this will be even better for the ritual." She said sweetly, her voice sending shivers to those who heard it.
"Ritual…? What are you even talking about?" Ayla asked, her hands hugging Leo in her embrace.
"Yes, dear, a ritual to bring your grandfather back to life."
'What?' My eyes widened as I heard the woman's words.
"How is that even possible?" Franz whispered.
But it was not before someone answered it for us.
"Outside this ruined world, there exist beings far more noble than that treacherous Celestia. Unlike her, who is running away, the gods outside can do anything they wish to do. Bringing your grandfather back to life will be a piece of cake."
"H-how can that happen?" Leo, confused, asked as he felt his sister tremble.
"By performing the rituals and sacrifice, the great existence asks for sacrifice, so we will give it to him through the world of abstract. This world has too many restrictions placed on it, but we can still do it, albeit the process will be harder."
She explained that it was not for the kids but for Owen himself.
'What are they even talking about?!' Everything they said was something unheard of: outside gods, rituals, Celestia, abstract… I could not understand anything.
"Let's not waste any more time; I would like to bring my father back as soon as possible." Owen said with no hint of remorse, his hand moved towards the suitcase as he brought it closer.
"Okay," The woman clapped her hands, and then in the blink of an eye, she took out many materials that appeared to surround them. Some were bones of some monster, while others were flowers and things I couldn't understand.
She placed them in strange orders, then bound the kids at the center.
"Kyaa—" Before Ayla could shout, her voice was gone.
"The great existence feeds on despair, so we will be using it as a medium for ritualistic magic." She sighed and spoke in a crystal-clear manner.
Owen nodded and took a step back, going on both knees. "I just need to pray, right?"
"Yes, we have come this far, so take it slowly and don't rush." She told him and handed him a paper.
Owen looked at it, then started to recite it.
"Agh!" A sudden pain pierced through my chest as I was about to hear Owen.
"The purest flames of…"
"Guardian of…"
"You are… eater of despair…"
"The deepest pit…"
Every word came as broken as I heard nothing. I turned to look at Franz, who had his ears closed. Seeing this, I followed his actions and did the same.
At that moment the suitcase fell, and from there the head of Ayla's mother rolled towards the scared children.
Ayla's eyes shook, her hands tied couldn't move, she tried to look up and down, tears welling up in her eyes.
"..."
She and Leo let out a scream, but no sound came from their mouths.
"I hate loud kids, so I took their voice." The woman commented, her eyes giving Owen a side glance.
The runes drawn on the floor started to glow in flaming color, and the mother's head vanished as both children cried, their right to even scream taken from them.
The despair accumulated in the air as the flames spread even more. They soared tyrannically in the air, as both Owen and the woman looked at it.
Her lips curled up as she muttered. "It's working…"
The flames changed color; they brightened the room in an otherworldly glow as they crashed on Owen, taking everyone by surprise.
"Oh, my… Who would have expected that?" She smiled and looked at Owen with a glint of interest.
"Aaahhhhh!" Owen screamed, his body burning with an intense glow.
"You turned to have the highest despair, Owen, aren't you happy?" She said mockingly as she turned to look at the children.
"You should also join him…" Those white flames, as if agreeing, moved towards Ayla.
As I was about to move, Franz grabbed my hand with all his strength.
"LET ME GO!" I yelled, pushing him away.
But it was too late, as those flames not only reached Ayla but all of us as well.