Chapter 63: Guidance of the Unknown

What the hell was happening?! How was this possible?! The creature... had really found a way?!

Before the realization could sink in...

The energy began to collide with mine...

There was no denying it...

The creature too had the talent to gather the energy around it. It became more difficult to gather the energy as now a battle for it had commenced.

Dark energy, almost as black as the night began to spread, overwhelming the area. Recognizing the feeling, I had no choice but to fight back.

I had met this creature before... haven't I?

Confused about it all I didn't know what was happening around me anymore. The only certainty that I had was that I had to fight whichever was confronting me in this room...

With a sliver of doubt still remaining within my resolve I couldn't be completely certain...

I had a bad feeling about all of this...

I remembered the encounter with the demonic essence within me. Last time,

it overwhelmed me and took over my mind...

No more... Never let that happen again!

Steeling my resolve one last time, I didn't know what to expect... Why? Knowing what I was up against could help me within this battle of the minds...

But... I was kept in the dark... Even now...

I could only sense the sheer darkness seeping from the edge of the room...

It was evolving... but into what?

Killing intent began to seep out of the energy colliding with mine. There was no more time for an attack...

Instead, building up my defence must have been the best option.

In the moment I made the choice to switch from offence to defence, the creature launched straight at me. Barely able to block the strike my body got flung through the room, crashing against the wall with immense force.

The walls around me crumbled like they were nothing... Almost like when I lost my companions...

I was able to block the attack, just enough to slow down the impact, but was unable to prepare for what came after... As I lay there... Motionless...

I knew... That there was no way I could win...

That was when suddenly the enviroment chanced.

What once was a dark room filled with what had seemed like water, revealed itself to be something more gruesome than I had ever seen before...

Colliding with the edge of the room I realized where I was, but... was that even possible?!

The room of collision appeared to be made of organic matter. Pulsating as something horrifying tissue I slowly stood up in disbelief. What just happened? Where the hell was I? Wasn't I inside my own soulsea?!

The room began to turn as I tried to get a hold of myself. Looking down on my hands the realization that the water was actually something completely different made me lose it completely.

I remember throwing up an insane amount,

but nothing after that... The first time in years?

By the time I realized I was still in the middle of a fight I quickly turned around, so see that the organic wall had almost completely recovered.

Was this all real? No... it can't be... Right?

"It... is... more... real... than... you.... realize..."

I looked around in horror,

I wasn't alone inside here...

Losing my cool there wasn't much I could find.

But... I was definitely alone...

"Strange."

The room began to rumble and contract as if it was alive. The floor began to wobble and finally I could see the center of it all. A huge beating heart lay in the middle of the room.

"Now... before... they... are... here..."

I didn't know what or who was talking to me,

but... they certainly weren't here with me.

"Did... you... realize...?"

I looked confused.

"Realize what?!" I yelled being a bit annoyed.

"Where... you... are... or... what... happened... before...?"

"N-no... not really... everything seems so unbelievable right now."

And then... silence...

I think whatever was talking to me wanted me to strike at the center, but... If this place is what I think it is... And when that happens to be true,

Could it turn out even worse?

Not having anything to really give a decisive blow, I looked around once more. The room where I found myself in had no openings. While I kept observing for clues the room kept rumbling.

Trying to gather energy was an effort in feign.

It appeared the connection with my soul sea had been cut, what was I to do in a world unknown to me?

For all I knew, were we even in the same universe?

Unable to think or do anything remotely useful I sad there waiting... hoping for a way to get back... To return to the world I once knew...

At that moment something dark began to creep into my consciousness.

Was I able to return? How would I go about it all?

To many things were uncertain...

The rumbling suddenly stopped,

making the room intensely quiet. Shortly after...

The heart in the biddle of the room picked up its pulsation, turning and twitching... almost like somethimg had awoken inside.

A pool of white liquid formed underneath it, spawning small weird creatures. Unable to make sense of it all the walls began to contract and bleed.

Painting the walls red and forming pools of blood on the floor enough for a strem to form from around the room. I had not noticed before, but the room had a slight angle to the center which allowed the blood to flow slowly towards the center.

The blood mixed together with the white substance as it slowly got absorbed by the heart. Engery began to emit from the heart as it slowly spread throughout.

Now the creatures were fully formed and began to scout the area.

For me they were the anomalies, the only thing I could make sense of was a small portion of their shape, which was a small body with for sharp like points, which appeared to be used as legs.

At first glance they didn't really look harmful, only to instantly let me come over by the feeling of dread.

In the middle something huge and eyelike formed on their backs. Only to start glowing and release pulses after short intervals.

They didn't seem to attack each other and one by one they turned towards me. Those closest to me screeched with an unbearable high pitched frequency. It was in fact so high that I was unable perceive its sound...

What I saw next haunted me for years to come...

One of the creatures jumped towards me,

as its spiked legs aimed straight for their target.

The horror what had been resting underneath them revealed mucous dripping from underneath it.

An opening formed, slowly pulsating with what seemed like... teeth?

I don't know how, even though I was still alive the only word I could muster was...

"TEETH?!"

I had to run... find a way out; but there were none... I was stuck with at least a dozen of anomalies filled with layer upon layer what must have been...

"TEETH!"

Although small... they were many...

And I didn't really have a way to fight them off.

They had the advantage, strenght in numbers...

So what could I do?! I kept running trying to vent them off. Slamming against the walls in desperate attempt to strike at me. it didn't take them long to corner the anomaly in the room... Me...

Quickly clawing their way towards me, it felt like the end of the world. I tried to come up with whatever means to try and vent them off, but was unable to comprehend the sheer volume of danger...

One by one they crawled closer, jumping on top of each other trying to get to me first...

The floor began to thicken and pulsate,

holding me in place... This was it...

I could do nothing against them...

This was how it had to end...

Ik closed my eyes, knowing I had come to this unfortunate faith and almost came to terms with what was happening, when suddenly doubt and frustration kicked in.

This wasn't they way I wanted to go...

But what could I do? I sulked about it in desperation as I wanted to hold on to my life. Even if it was only for a little while longer.

I pleaded to the gods, begging them to spare my life...

"Please... In a world as cruel as this...

someone must be either enjoying this situation...

Observing as they relish in the thought of what could come. Please gods... Is this the way it ends?"

I yelled stating death straight in the face.

Again the anomalies jumped, bracing for impact knowing this was my end I opened my embrace...

Accepting my death, at such an early age...

I figured there were quite a few regrets I had to work on. I regretted not being able to see my friends anymore... Geo, Hikari, Amaris... not to mention, Haruka...

How could all this have happened only because I had fallen a slumber?