★179
It wasn't heat. It wasn't pressure in the physical sense. It was awareness, vast and absolute, crashing down on my existence. My legs nearly buckled under it. For a split second, my body forgot how to stand.
Etherium flared instinctively, sharpening my perception as I tried to trace them, to find the source. But I couldn't. The level of Umbryss was too much for Clarivide to reveal them.
It felt like being a figure trapped inside a screen, straining to see the one watching from beyond the glass. I could feel them observing, but no matter how far I extended my senses, there was nothing to grasp.
'Paragon of Transcendence.'
The voice didn't echo, it manifested directly in my Mind, bypassing thought and restrain.
'Paragon of Paradox.'
Another followed, different in tone, colder than the last, yet just as terrifying.
'Ah… the Last King.'
The third voice carried faint amusement, as if this meeting had been anticipated long before I stepped into this Realm.
Just as I've learned their title, Abyssal Calamities, the founders and embodiment of the Void Dragon Hierarchy, the title surfaced in my mind the instant they spoke, as though the knowledge had always been there, waiting to be unlocked.
They called me by mine just as easily.
My Paragon titles were known in certain regions of the Pond, that wasn't surprising. But the last one...
'How? How did they know? Only an handful knows my Constellation, picturing me as the Last King. Yet...they knew.'
My body locked in place, every muscle rigid. The weight of being seen by something that should not be able to see you.
'How cute.'
Enta's voice slid in with a low chuckle, and for the briefest moment I felt something else push outward from me. I didn't know what it was but something happened at the moment.
The oppressive gaze lingered, then slowly receded, like tides withdrawing after testing the shore. Silence returned to my Mind and the cave.
The black flames died out, leaving scorched earth behind.
I stood there a moment longer, breath shallow, confusion and surprise flickering across my face before I forced it still. Then I turned to Vera, expression flattening into something neutral, checking if she was unharmed without saying a word.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah."
She stood up, dusting her clothes.
"You shouldn't have done it."
I said.
"I saved myself the trouble of you asking me later on."
She replied casually, ignorant of what just transpired.
"And what if..."
The rest of the sentence died in my throat when I caught a flicker of black hair slipping between a rock in the distance, too deliberate to be the wind.
"We're not alone."
I whispered.
"Heh?"
Vera turned sharply, and that was all it took. The figure froze for half a second, then bolted. No attempt to hide anymore.
Of course they'd run. I couldn't let that happen. They'd heard us, maybe not everything, but enough to do something. Two people camping in a cave in a World like this already invited suspicion.
'How much did he catch?'
The question along with its hesitation faded at that moment. I'm not Antares, I'm Nyxon.
'It didn't matter how much they've head. The consequence was dire enough.'
He vanished behind the rock, but his signature lingered faintly in the air like a smudged trail of ink. Thanks the Stars for Etherium. I did the wisest thing and reached for it, slipped into the structure of his energy, and stole the code to trigger a teleportation lock.
But, nothing happened. I tried again, more forcefully this time, rewriting the sequence and activating it myself. Still nothing. The Arc collapsed like it had never existed, unable to manifest.
'What the...'
There was no time and he's escaping. I took the manual route and attacked.
I drew a Mystic Sword into my hand and used Aether Move, the world accepting my presence for I was already behind him. Up close, he looked younger than I expected, barely a teenager, lean frame, movements rough but fast.
'Too bad."
He is right before me, yet it took five long seconds to move.
My blade came down. He ducked at the last instant, but I was already shifting; my heel met his jaw as he rose, snapping his head back and knocking him off balance. He staggered, boots scraping against the dark soil.
'Why did I hesitate?'
I didn't give myself space to think about it. I followed through, closing the distance before he could recover, and drove the tip of my blade toward him, aiming straight for the space beneath his collarbone.
'Is my first kill going to be like this? If yes...wait...I'm the one that killed Aya. That was my first kill. Screw that...'
Antares still clung to me in the worst moments. As Nyxon, that hesitation was a flaw I couldn't afford, yet it surfaced anyway, dulling the edge that should've already finished this.
"Please don't."
He breathed, staring up at the blade hovering inches from his face.
"Ok. Give me one reason."
I said quietly, pressing the tip closer to his forehead, "why I shouldn't slide this piece of silver into your skull."
"I'm not who you think I am."
He rushed out.
"I was hiding when the earthquake hit, so I came to check."
"Earthquake?"
"Oh no."
Vera muttered as she reached us, her voice tight in a way I hadn't heard before.
"We have to leave. Now."
"Why?"
I asked, though the air had already started to feel..
wrong.
"She's right."
The boy said quickly.
"You've drawn attention to yourselves."
Before I could demand clarification, a sharp ringing folded into my mind, not a sound but a signal, one, two, three, then several presences slicing through the perimeter of the cave like blades through cloth.
'Several Void Dragons have entered the cave. Leaving now would funnel us straight into them.'
"Watch him."
I told Vera, pulling the sword back at the last second instead of finishing what I started.
I vanished from their sight and shot back toward the cave, sealing the nearest entrance, burying our signatures beneath layers of distortion. The ringing intensified just as I flattened my aura to near nothing.
They stepped in moments later. Heavy footfalls l around us. The air thickened with that familiar, oppressive void.
One of them exhaled slowly, almost amused.
"Ah, end of the road."
The voice rumbled through the cavern. On the flip side, I was there, palms pressed against the wall.
"An earthquake, huh? I've never heard that before."
A voice came from him, and he scratched the back of his head.
Through Etherium it felt as though I were watching them through a hidden veil.
"Me neither."
Another replied, voice smooth and composed, the kind polished in courts rather than battlefields.
"I have existed here for millions of years, and not once has the earth trembled like that. Not even the volcanoes managed such theatrics."
"You're ancient, Marquis."
A lighter, almost childlike voice chimed in, teasing without quite crossing the line.
"Silence, youngling."
The first voice snapped, irritation cutting clean through the cavern air.
A third presence shifted somewhere deeper in the dark.
"Marquis, no one's here."
"Apparently."
They replied. A pause followed, heavy but controlled.
"What shall I report to the Regent Prince?"
"Nothing yet."
The Marquis answered after a beat.
"Stand down. I'll speak to the Ash Duke myself."
Boots scraped against stone, then the slow withdrawal of pressure as one by one their presences receded, leaving only the stale heat of the cave and the echo of authority lingering behind.
I exhaled quietly.
'I smell nobility. Regent Prince, Ash Duke, Marquis. So that was the level we were brushing against.'
I let the sealing dissolve once their signatures were far enough away and turned back toward Vera and the boy, who was still on the ground where I'd left him, wide-eyed, breathing too fast.
'For now, titles and politics could wait.'
I stepped toward him, the Mystic Sword reforming in my hand as silver light crawled along its edge.
He swallowed when my shadow fell over him.
I tilted my head slightly, studying him again, that same flicker of hesitation brushing the edge of my thoughts like an unwelcome ghost.
'Antares, you fool.'
I cursed, towering the blade until its tip rested just beneath his chin.
"Let's try this again."
I said evenly.
"Who are you really?"
"Wait, Nyxon. He's one of the escaped prisoners."
Vera intervened.
'Oh...'
It's a surprise, but I can't just have a loose end.
"He heard us talking."
"It wasn't anything serious."
She added, obviously defending him.
"At least not for you."
I replied, unwavering.
She spoke up.
"He's telling the truth."
I glanced at her.
"How do you know?"
"Women's intuition."
I paused, trying to process that. It wasn't an argument I could measure or test, just a feeling offered as fact.
'How Strange. She was using words like that to sway me, as if instinct carried the same weight as evidence. I didn't like relying on it, but I also couldn't prove her wrong.'
The sword in my hand faded away.
"I'll wait."
I said.
"That doesn't mean I've changed my mind."
"I know."
I looked back at the boy with a disgusting gaze, for he is trash beneat me. He was a mess, torn clothes, no shoes, hair matted and rough as if he'd been surviving for a long time. Not a threat, at least not in this state.
"Your name?"
I asked.
"Zar."
He replied with a small, almost embarrassed smile. Like he was trying to appear harmless.
'I'm not buying this.'
"He said he knows where the prisoners are. Maybe we can rescue them on our way out?"
"And take them where? This is a personal journey, I won't be babysitting anyone."
I said firmly, preventing any sorry excuses later.
"Save them if you want, but they'll be your responsibility, alright?"
"Fine."
"It's getting brighter."
Zar said.
'Another weird trait. We're in a cave, and he's able to tell what's outside.'
"You shouldn't go out like that. You'll be drawing suspicion to the group."
"Here..."
Vera summoned some manageable clothes, and he got changed into something casual.
"Is there another exit? We can not be seen exiting the cave through our entrance."
"You're right. They might be guards outside who knows."
"Of course there is. Follow me."
Zar led the way. After winding through the cave and leaping over a rivulet of molten magma, the red-orange glow of the sun spilt through the entrance.
'The light at the end of the tunnel.'
I was on alert, but there was no one around, so we stepped out.
The heat wasn't scorching. It was warm. At some point, I closed my eyes and let it wash over me.
"How's not the time to enjoy the atmosphere."
"I know."
We appeared at the edge of the forest, and below us, I got to see a new species of plants. The plants were burning within giving any by product or consuming themselves.
(Complete combustion;)
And the reason behind that was clear as day. Several chains of volcanoes speared out before us, each spitting rivers of lava. Surprisingly, there's a sea-serpent-like creature swinging in the rivers.
'Great. Just great.'
It was so weird I couldn't help but smile.
"I feel like we've just made a huge turn."
Vera complained.
"What are you talking about?"
"The city. Where the prisoners are held."
"Ignore the volcanoes. There's a pathway that leads to the city. Since they're volcanoes and Basalisks, the Void Dragons rarely scout this area."
'...'
"Just stay close and follow me."
Zar led the way, and Vera followed.
'We didn't ask for his help, but he's giving us a hand. Naturally, I'd say compensation, but I was trying to kill him, so helping us isn't... He's thinking of something, perhaps feeling something. Something is driving him to do something out of the ordinary.'
I paused, already falling into a deep calculative thought.
"Hey, are you coming?"
Vera waved, snapping me out. I took off, following the trail.
'I refrain form using Etherium from here on out. I'll rely on myself for now.'
To be continued...