Then he stabbed me in the chest. My heartbeat faltered, then stopped. For a split second I felt the sting of death, the sharpness of cold steel and the emptiness that followed. Yet when I opened my eyes, I wasn't in the battlefield anymore.
I was back in that strange, endless place where I had first met the ghost the realm of my subconscious mind.
They say that after death, the subconscious gets alive for seven minutes, and in those fleeting moments the story of our entire life flashes before us. True enough, fragments of my memories childhood laughter, bitter betrayals, battles fought, promises broken shimmered like moving pictures across the walls of my mind.
And there he was the ghost. Standing still, lost in pensiveness, as though he had been waiting for me all this time. His pale figure drifted closer, shadows stretching behind him, and then he chuckled.
"Child… had fun dying?"
The words cut sharper than the blade that pierced my chest.
The memories kept flashing, spilling across the void, and yet I forced my voice steady. "This isn't the time for your jokes, Ghost. I've heard stories stories of people who came back to life even after their hearts had stopped. They say within seven minutes of death, there's still a chance. And I… I still have mine."
He tilted his head, faint amusement dancing in his eyes. "Very well. Then tell me why did you die?"
"I lost to Nermis," I admitted bitterly.
"No," the ghost replied, his voice low, unwavering. "You lost to his identity."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
"My son," he said, "you lost because you believed his claim of being a Shadow Soldier. The moment he spoke it, you accepted it like Yudhishthir, the man of eternal truth. But he was no such man. He was only a Shadow Soldier in training. You were stronger than him far stronger. Yet you surrendered to his words, his manipulation. That is why you fell."
The weight of his truth sank into me like lead. I wanted to protest, but deep inside I knew he was right.
The ghost continued, "Now… you have seven days."
"Seven days?" I snapped. "Are you mad? Don't you mean seven minutes?"
He smiled, a cold, knowing smile. "Foolish lad. In this realm, time bends differently. One day here equals one minute in your overworld. Seven days here… seven minutes there."
And suddenly, everything clicked. I remembered the first time I had stumbled into this realm, in the middle of the clash between Ashok and Nermis. I had stayed here for what felt like half a day, yet only half a minute had passed outside.
I let out a short laugh, not of joy, but of realization. "So that's it. Seven days in here to fight for seven minutes out there."
I met his eyes, my spirit hardening. "So… what do I have to do, Ghost?"