The moment of realization struck me, that cold, harsh truth that made me sink deeper and deeper. Could... could it be what I'm thinking? Could this person we're fighting for... be...? The idea seemed impossible and horrifying all at once. No... it can't be! I shook my head violently, trying to banish the thought, but it clung to my mind like a sticky leech, refusing to leave, its sole purpose to poison all my thoughts with its unsettling coldness.
"Optimism!"
Patience's steady voice cut through my tangled thoughts. I turned to him and found he had regained much of his strength, his halo glowing with greater stability, though it still bore traces of exhaustion.
"We don't have time to drift. You know... the most important part of this place, especially at this very moment... is time. We have less than twenty seconds before the crucial two minutes pass since the external event began. We must curb his emotions now; complete control of this Valley is our priority, and that will be by turning its color green... Otherwise, the consequences will be dire. We don't want a repeat of the last loss."
Last loss? Two minutes? Twenty seconds? Simple words, yet I didn't fully grasp their meaning. I must still be under the shock's influence, but his urgent tone conveyed the gravity of the situation. Then, I remembered the words of the mysterious bearded old man at the beginning of my journey: "Switch to Plan Three."
"The old man... the bearded man... said something about a third plan," I mumbled, looking at Patience for confirmation.
"Did... did he contact you? Why didn't he contact you directly as he did with me?"
Patience chuckled faintly, not without a touch of bitterness.
"First, since when do you call him the old man or the bearded man? That's Wisdom, you amnesiac. Second, I... am the only one who can communicate with everyone, everyone, even the demons of negative emotions, although it's a different kind of communication."
I breathed deeply as if a mountain of worry had been lifted from my entire being. How could I not, now that I was sure what I feared couldn't possibly be true? "Yes... yes... it's impossible for it to be him! Wisdom? And him? Impossible!" I smiled a smile of gratitude and relief I had never felt before, as if a weight that had haunted me had finally vanished.
Not wanting to arouse suspicion, I frowned and said:
"But... Anger. When I first faced him, I saw him muttering, as if talking to someone."
As I finished that sentence, I immediately noticed Patience's eyes widen slightly with unsettling surprise.
"Anger? Communicating with someone other than me? That's... strange..."
He seemed momentarily confused, as if my information had shattered a fundamental rule of his understanding of this world.
But before we could delve deeper, a cold, sarcastic voice interrupted my thoughts, emanating from somewhere inside my head, a voice preceded by a faint, dry laugh like the rustling of dead autumn leaves:
"Eliminate Optimism..."
My blood ran cold. Although I heard the voice in my head, it wasn't directed at me; it was an order. An order for whom?
I didn't have to wait long for the answer. I watched Despair, who was still entangled with Anger in their strange fight, suddenly stop. He turned slowly, completely ignoring Anger, and fixed his empty eyes on me. Then he began to advance towards me with slow steps, not deliberately slow, but as if the weight of the entire world pulled him down with each step, yet he approached with terrifying steadiness.
"Patience! He's... he's coming for me!"
I screamed, the words stumbling and tumbling out of my suddenly dry mouth. "Despair... someone ordered him... to eliminate me!"
Patience didn't understand every word I uttered amidst my panic, but he grasped the essential core. Without even glancing towards Despair, and without their eyes meeting, Patience launched himself directly at Anger, engaging him in a fierce, direct fight, as if they knew exactly what needed to be done, as if each had their specific role in this deadly dance.
Only I was the lost one amidst this mystery that didn't lessen, but rather deepened and intensified as time passed.
A violent kick to my chest jolted me from my daze, throwing me backward. Its owner had reached me faster than I expected.
I barely touched the ground before he followed his kick with a powerful fist landing squarely on my face. It wasn't just a punch; dark, gloomy energy exploded from it, wrapping around my neck like a hungry serpent, slowly strangling me, draining the warmth and strength from my body.
"Damn it... damn it... damn it... I'm scared... I'm so scared!"
I muttered to myself, my breaths quickening and becoming shallow, darkness creeping at the edges of my vision.
"How can I fight this monster? I'm nothing against him!"
Time passed as that black energy squeezed my throat, crushing the nascent hope that had begun to sprout in my chest.
Death... the only thought that occurred to me then. Will I die again?
Amidst this vortex of fear, I remembered Patience's words:
"I am here to protect you... to protect you all and to protect him..."
He promised to protect me. I trusted him. If I die now... No... I won't allow it! I won't let him down! I won't let myself down again!
A mixture of anger, fear, and strength erupted from deep within me.
I screamed with all my might. It wasn't just a sound; it was a wave of pure energy, the energy of stubborn optimism refusing to surrender.
The scream echoed throughout the valley, so powerful that it momentarily halted the fight between Patience and Anger, and made Despair itself take a small step back, its face expressionless.
I caught sight of Patience looking at me over his opponent's shoulder, a faint but genuine smile on his lips, a smile carrying pride and encouragement.
"Yes... that's the strength I need. Keep smiling... I'm by your side... I'll never let you down..."
I thought, feeling a strange warmth flood me. I don't know why, but this calm entity, Patience, had in a few moments become the best person I had ever met in my entire life, whether in that hell or in this strange world. He represents something worth fighting for.
I felt the black energy choking me begin to burn, corrode, dissipate like smoke before a force emanating from Optimism now.
As if Optimism itself, which summoned me here, Despair itself...
Freed from the suffocating grip, I leaped high into the air, feeling a lightness and strength I had never known, so much so that I aimed my fist towards Despair, who was looking at me with some kind of astonishment, or so I thought.
It doesn't matter. This time, I'll do something different. I focused, closing my eyes, and became invisible.
"Yes! This is the winning weapon!"
I exclaimed in my mind, feeling the euphoria of mastering my new ability.
"I'm starting to get used to this power... And now, take this, you damned demon!"
I delivered a swift, direct, well-aimed punch while still invisible, towards Despair's chest, with lightning speed he couldn't counter.
My fist connected with its target. I felt the impact... but what happened next...
I reappeared from invisibility involuntarily after seeing that scene.
Or rather, after seeing Patience standing directly in front of me, having received the full force of my punch in his chest!
He staggered backward, clear pain etching lines onto his calm face. He looked at me with a bewildered expression that matched my own confusion.
How? Why?
I looked around... only to see Despair now standing directly in front of Anger, as if they had switched places at the last second.
Anger became even more enraged by Despair's deceitful act, but Despair didn't care. What solidified my certainty was him slowly raising his head, a terrifying, absolute smile—a smile that freezes blood and kills hope—spreading across his changing features.
Then he said in a voice as cold as polar ice, a voice that echoed in every corner of the valley like a final judgment:
"Tsk... The time for fighting is over... The time for Optimism is over... The time for Patience is over... The time for Anger is over... Despair, you wretches... Let me see your despair bloom... Let me savor it..."
I didn't understand what was happening. How? Is time up? What does he mean?
Then the answer hit me with cruel clarity. The river... the purple river flowing through the valley...
Its color began to change with astonishing speed, shifting from purple to a pitch-black, a viscous black like tar, absorbing all light around it.
The black bubbles rising from it grew larger and more numerous, and the desperate whispers they released turned into clear, painful screams of torment.
If only I hadn't been here... If Optimism himself had been here instead... things would be different. I don't deserve—
"I've never known you to be this weak!! John Abraham..."
Wh-what?
— End of Chapter —