Chapter 113 Mental Game [ 2]

-Encrid Frostblade's point of view.

Encrid felt it.

Ever since Asher finished his fight with that woman named Oriana and passed out from too much mana in his muscles, Encrid felt like his connection with Asher was suddenly severed.

He wandered as he floated in a dark void, the same was true for Isabella. After all, they were both connected to Asher, and only he could bring them out of this place inside his mind.

Yet there they were.

Floating while they waited for some reconnection with Asher, but it never came.

Time in this place was strange, and besides, it was a very difficult space to explain.

When Encrid first entered Asher's mind, he did not come to this place, but to a part of Asher's consciousness, where he could see and hear Asher's thoughts. However, this void was strange.

Certainly, people's minds are a mysterious place for those who enter them, and this Encrid understood the moment he appeared in this empty space together with Isabella.

Although he had no explanation nor did he know how to get out of this empty space, his only source of conversation was Isabella. But she did not speak to him.

It was really strange.

Asher and Isabella were talking to each other.

Despite everything, Isabella, since they arrived in the fairy world, had not had a single conversation with Encrid. He, who of course was closest to Isabella, found it odd.

Encrid, being Isabella's friend since they practically grew up together, could be considered her brother from birth, even if they weren't really.

And although the two had been friends since they were very young, it was the first time Isabella hadn't spoken a word to him.

Even the day Isabella died, Encrid was always by his side. No matter what situation they went through, the two of them were always together, but now... now it was different.

Encrid sighed heavily.

Recently, he had learned about the new dimensional rift. He was stressed, all his accomplishments slowly seemed to crumble.

He survived the invasion of the seven gods and even killed two of them, but the deaths of the other gods also took a toll on his friends. Isabella was one of those who died at the same time as one of the gods, the same happened to the others.

Each and every one of them died on the battlefield as he watched their deaths. He was the last survivor after all that.

It was then that he decided to reset the world, removing all evidence of the seven gods and the power of the tenth circle. He erased all the records he could about the dark ages and finally rebooted the whole world. He destroyed every life form that had information about that era, and the reboot was a success.

Finally, he decided to seal himself in a sword, hoping that at some point, thousands of years later, his successor would come along and take back his power.

All those achievements and the peace of the world were about to be destroyed again by the new dimensional rift.

"Haa... Shit," he muttered.

He was feeling quite frustrated.

All he wanted was a world free of danger, and that was why he became the most powerful wizard in the world. However, he never thought that, in time, everything would ever be the same again.

Now, with the connection severed with Asher and he and Isabella wandering in a dark void with nothing but nothingness itself, Encrid simply waited patiently.

He looked around him and then at Isabella, who had her back to him, unwilling to look at him.

Encrid tried to approach, but could not.

The place was strange and did not allow him to move freely. He could only look around or turn his body to get into a better position.

It was like a penalty: he could not move in that void, and although he tried several times, he did not succeed.

But, it was true. Isabella could turn her body, and then they could both see each other facing each other, but she still had her back turned. Although this bothered Encrid, he knew Isabella had some problem.

But the current situation was not the most suitable, the connection with Asher had been broken and, although she didn't show it at all, Encrid could tell that Isabella was very worried.

Something had happened to Asher.

But he was at the academy, where there were wizards decent enough to avoid conflict.

It was then that Encrid remembered.

"His mental exhaustion."

Exactly, that had to be it. This was all simply about Asher's mental exhaustion.

At first, Encrid found this strange: someone with no emotions and no fear of anything had an incredibly low mentality, even lower than those who considered themselves weak minds.

He was incredibly weak in that respect.

He didn't blame him, but it was hard to understand why he was so mentally weak.

Not even Encrid, when he still had strong emotions, had such a low mentality. In fact, no one in the world had such a low mentality as Asher.

But, as always, Encrid didn't blame him. Everyone has some weak aspect of themselves.

It was then that he decided to try to talk to Isabella.

Even though she probably wouldn't answer him, it didn't matter. He simply wanted to at least be with her. That was more than enough.

"Isabella."

He spoke her name first, then continued.

Though she remained silent, Encrid decided to keep talking.

"I really don't know what to tell you...".

"You're even more worried than usual. You seem to like that brat more than you thought you would."

"...".

Despite the silence, Encrid continued. No matter what she thought, he kept talking.

"Do you remember when we were alive? You liked that little girl."

She was a charming child, capable of enchanting anyone with her tenderness and great kindness.

However, that girl also disappeared in the war against the gods. Few survived, and those who did, Encrid completely erased their memory.

"...".

As expected, Isabella was still silent.

Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to mention the girl she loved so much right now.

"Don't worry too much, you know that brat...".

"I know."

Encrid was silent after hearing those two words from Isabella. Without a second thought, he spoke again.

"All right, then."

And so ended their brief conversation, the first they had had in days.

***

-Asher Frostblade's point of view.

What was it that was in front of his eyes?

Corpses of people and gigantic monsters, beings Asher had never seen before, of the highest grades, perhaps grade 2 or even grade 1, the most powerful.

They were mountains of corpses, and blood was everywhere. Everywhere I looked, bodies of humans and monsters were in sight.

It was a red sea of blood; death permeated everything.

Even in his past life, Asher had never witnessed anything of this magnitude. Perhaps he had seen hundreds of corpses in one place, but that did not compare to what he had around him now.

The magnitude of death in this place was incredibly vast. To the naked eye, everything was tinged with red. In fact, an intense light was coming from the horizon. As he watched, he noticed a line of light expanding across the dark sky, with reddish hues.

The whole place was covered in smoke and fire. Swords, shields, spears and all kinds of weapons, even magical artifacts, lay strewn everywhere.

Remains of monsters were scattered on the ground, and every step Asher took he stumbled over some fragment.

However, his gaze did not leave the dark sky, with its reddish hue and the streak of yellow light that stretched in a straight line across the sky.

It seemed to come from somewhere, hundreds or thousands of miles away.

Suddenly, the ground shook.

Boom!!!

An immense explosion, higher than the clouds and from a radius of thousands of miles, engulfed the sky. Purple lightning and purple fire surrounded the huge explosion.

The shockwave reached Asher, but....

"Hey, it doesn't affect me at all."

Maybe it was because this was all an illusion. Somehow, he could see what was happening, but it was as if he didn't exist in this place and nothing could touch him.

"That everything that's happening..."

"It's an illusion, but... it feels more like a memory."

In fact, it all resembled a memory of someone who had lived through all this tragedy.

Quickly, he looked at his hands. They were his own hands, which meant that he was wandering through someone's memory, but without being inside that person's body, like a spectator in a game.

Although it was all clearer now, this was nothing more than someone's memory.

Regardless of whose it was, Asher decided to walk to where the explosion had occurred. He was curious as to what being could have caused an explosion of such magnitude.

It was so large that it was difficult to estimate its exact size. However, Asher guessed that it was possibly larger than an entire country on his old world.

Of course, it was only an idea, as the explosion was too immense to measure its radius and height.

***

-Change of scene.

Asher walked and walked until he finally came to an incredibly colossal crater.

Without hesitation, he jumped into the crater, descending as fast as possible towards the center.

From there, he could see two colors of lights: one a deep, dark purple and the other a dark green.

He was too far away to identify exactly what those two lights in the center of the crater were. Asher was still descending at full speed, sliding downward. The crater was incredibly deep and much wider than any city he had ever seen before.

Finally, he reached the bottom, although he was still quite far from the two lights.

Perhaps those lights were what had caused the explosion, or maybe they were the mana of two living beings that had been fighting each other and had just finished their combat.

Either option was possible, and Asher was very curious. Either way, it didn't affect him to be there.

He kept walking as fast as he could, and slowly, two figures began to make themselves out in the distance. Although they were blurry at first, they gradually became more visible.

It was at that moment, when Asher got close enough, that he could see him....

"What the...? That's Encrid."

Encrid was holding someone by the neck, crushing their body into the ground. All that was left of the person was the torso and head.

Asher moved even closer, until he was a few steps away from Encrid.

"What a human most..."

"You should stop talking."

"Human, you are very strong, even stronger than the others."

"We humans have no limits. Although you thought yourselves to be the pinnacle of all existence, you have been defeated by me."

The words of the person Encrid held by the neck spoke to Encrid.

However...

Asher tried to see the face of the person Encrid held on the ground.

However...

"Harg...!"

He felt as if his head was going to explode. He closed his eyes as blood began to pour out of all the orifices in his head. The pain was excruciating, stronger than anything he had ever experienced.

It was extreme pain, too intense.

All this just from trying to see the face of the person Encrid was holding.

He tried to move, looking away quickly, and the pain disappeared.

Asher had never experienced anything like this. It was the first time he felt such a strong pain, even more intense than death itself...