Kane fell unconscious, the pain of his broken body finally overwhelming him. But even in the encroaching darkness, a faint voice, the omnipresent echo of the Nightmare Spell, resonated in his mind.
[You have killed an Awakened Demon: Mist Assassin]
[You have received an Echo, Mist Assassin]
The words faded, and a familiar, unwelcome darkness enveloped him, a prelude to the recurring nightmare he had been having for months.
Kane jolted awake, not in the bone-filled room, but in the heart of a sun-drenched market. The vibrant scene was alive with the sound of laughter and the aroma of roasted nuts. People of all ages danced to a strange, lilting music, their faces filled with pure, unbridled joy. Kane knew this place. He had lived this dream countless times before. He knew how it would end: the market would become a bloodbath, the joy would turn to terror, and his heart would be ripped from his chest.
But this time, something was different. He was no longer a passive observer. He was present, a part of the scene, yet separate. He could feel the emotions of his dream self—a deep, crushing grief, a profound despair, a searing terror—but they weren't his. They were an echo, a memory of a pain that was not his own.
He looked around, trying to find a source for the music, for the emotion, for the strange, almost saccharine joy that permeated the air. He couldn't. It was all so seamless, so illogical. 'Why am I having these dreams?' he wondered. 'Where is the origin of this place? There's no reasonable cause or movement. In fact, I'm just… digging the music. What is there to feel this way?'
Giving in to a morbid curiosity, he let go of his resistance and immersed himself in the dream. He felt the joy, the warmth of the sun, the laughter of the dancers. And then, without warning, he saw it. A single white line, as thin and sharp as a scalpel, sliced the scene in two, dividing the market like a wall.
A new compulsion seized him. He had to go to the line. He moved toward it, and to his surprise, his body obeyed. He was in control, a master of this nightmare. His voice, however, was not his own. It was soft, sweet, and gentle, completely at odds with his usual rough tones. He cleared his throat, but the voice remained the same.
"At least I can move," he sighed, the strange voice sounding almost melodious. "Unlike last time."
He moved closer to the white line, his hand reaching out. As his fingers touched the brilliant seam, the line unraveled, the vibrant market scene tearing apart like a fragile canvas. The world twisted and shifted, and when it reformed, the market was gone. In its place was a scene of utter devastation. The ground was littered with rubble, the air thick with the smell of death. A river of blood crawled through the streets, carrying with it the mangled bodies of the people who had been dancing moments before. Some of the bodies were missing their hearts, a grotesque detail that turned Kane's stomach.
He stared at the scene, a grim conclusion forming in his mind. "There had been a war… but what happened in the market?"
Then he remembered. The prophetic message from the blind girl he had met in his previous nightmare. He walked toward the one place he knew would hold an answer: the auditorium. When he reached the place, a figure was sitting on the ground, a familiar blind girl holding one of the dead bodies in her lap. She was sobbing, a soft, heartbreaking sound in the midst of the carnage.
"Hey," Kane said, his voice still too gentle. "Sorry for your loss."
The blind girl looked up, her sightless eyes seeming to pierce his soul. Her sobs ceased, replaced by a strange, unsettling calm. "So," she said, her voice filled with a chilling emptiness. "Tell me. Why are you here? Isn't there a better work than this?"
Kane's gaze drifted to the devastation around them. He looked at her, at the grief etched on her face, and a feeling of profound sadness, not his own, washed over him. He felt the bitter irony of the situation, the terrible inevitability of a path he was being forced to walk. "I don't think so," he replied softly.
The girl's body began to twitch, her movements erratic, like a glitch in a flawed simulation. Kane thought for a moment, and deep down, he knew the words that needed to be said. They were words that weren't his, but belonged to the owner of this dream. "I am sorry. This is the only choice."
The girl's eyes snapped to his, now filled with a furious, unbridled rage. "Then do it properly!" she screamed, her body convulsing. "Because that is the only thing you have now!"
And then, she fell back, lifeless and still. The entire scene dissolved, and a thick, suffocating darkness enveloped him once more.
Kane woke up with a gasp, but not on the bone-filled ground. He was in a different area entirely. A vast, narrow hall stretched before him, its walls made of sleek, black stone. High above, a bright blue sky, the color he hadn't seen since before he came to the Forgotten Shore, shone down upon him. He was completely naked.
He wondered how he had gotten here. First, he was in a free fall, then he landed in a throne room, and now he was in a different place, a surreal landscape of impossible beauty and stark, alien design.
Suddenly, a voice, a soft, feminine one, broke the silence. "Huh. Put some clothes on, dude."
He turned to see a tall, slender, and attractive young woman, his height with turquoise shoulder-length hair and startling yellow eyes with white pupils. She had thin eyebrows and long eyelashes. A long cloak was wrapped around her body, covering her from head to toe.
"Do you have anything to wear?" she asked, her voice tinged with amusement.
Kane's mind reeled, his instincts telling him to check his status runes. He summoned them, and they shimmered before his eyes.
Name: Kane
True Name: Deputy of Heaven
Rank: Dreamer
Rebirth Cores: [ 580/1000]
Memories: [The Ultimate Defiance]
Echo: [Mist Assassin]
Attributes: [Fated][Mark of Divinity][Adaptive]
Aspect: [Emperor of Rebirth]
Aspect Rank: Divine
Aspect Abilities: [Realmheart]
Kane scanned the runes. He was shocked to see his water breathing memory gone, a grim reminder of Nephis's betrayal. His armor was gone too, and he was completely naked in front of an unknown girl. He looked at the woman, a flush of embarrassment on his face.
"I… I don't have an armor," he stammered.
The lady chuckled and turned, walking in the opposite direction.
"What is your name?" he called after her.
"Linia," she replied, her voice echoing in the vast space. "And I'll fetch you something." She vanished from his sight as quickly as she had appeared.
'Linia…' he thought. 'Is this the Linia whose place me and Shakti used as a base of operations?'
As he stood there, his mind raced, trying to make sense of the situation. His eyes fell on the Echo entry in his status runes, the one he had just acquired. He hadn't had time to examine it before he lost consciousness. He focused on it, and its information unfolded before him.
Echo Name: [Mist Assassin]
Echo Rank: Awakened
Echo Class: Demon
Echo Attributes:
[Possession]
Attribute Description:[ Born without a body, the Mist Assassin was allowed to take a body of others]
[Assassin]
Attribute Description: [Born in wars and skilled in all sorts of assassin techniques]
[Child of Nothing]
Attribute Description: [The Mist Assassin has an innate affinity to the nothing]
[Sword Master]
Attribute Description: [The Mist Assassin is skilled in swords]
Echo Description: [When a swordswoman embraced the Nothing, she begged the unknown to save her. The unknown did, in return demanding that she guard the throne for a worthy person to come]
Kane looked at the description, a cold dread washing over him. 'Well, her Possession and Assassin attributes alone are a deal breaker,' he thought. 'This is good news.'
Just then, a new, ethereal message appeared in his mind, its voice sounding like the Nightmare Spell.
[Would you like to make it your own Follower?]
He stared at the message, a mix of confusion and wonder filling his mind. 'What the heck is this?' After a moment of deep thought, a crazy idea formed in his mind. He had to take the risk. With a firm resolution, he answered 'Yes'.
A new message, this one far more ominous, appeared.
[You have destroyed your Echo, Mist Assassin]
A wave of fury washed over him. As he was about to curse himself for his impulsiveness, a new message, this one filled with a sense of triumph, appeared.
[You have created your Follower, Mist Assassin]
He immediately checked his runes, his heart pounding in his chest.
Name: Kane
True Name: Deputy of Heaven
Rank: Dreamer
Rebirth Cores: [ 480/1000]
Memories: [The Ultimate Defiance]
Echo: -
Followers: [Mist Assassin]
He had lost a hundred Rebirth Cores, but the Echo was gone, replaced by a Follower. He immediately checked the new entry.
Follower Name: [Mist Assassin]
Follower Rank: Awakened
Follower Class: Demon
Follower Fragments: [0/1000]
Follower Attributes:
[Possession]
Attribute Description: [Born without a body, the Mist Assassin was allowed to take a body of others]
[Assassin]
Attribute Description: [Born in warfare and skilled in all sorts of assassin techniques]
[Child of Nothing]
Attribute Description: [The Mist Assassin has an innate affinity to the nothing]
[Sword Master]
Attribute Description: [The Mist Assassin is skilled in swords]
Follower Description: [The Mist Assassin was given a rebirth under the rule of Deputy of Heaven]
Kane's jaw dropped. The description of his new Follower was the same as the Echo, but with a crucial difference—it was now bound to him. He could upgrade it, make it his own,even though it caused him 100 fragments. He immediately willed the Follower to appear, and a figure materialized out of thin air.
She was still the same slim, pale woman he had fought, but her eyes, instead of being the ghostly light he remembered, were a striking, vibrant red. The woman looked at him, her face filled with confusion.
"Sir," she said, her voice muffled and weak from her stitched mouth, "Who am I?"
Kane's mouth opened wide, a single, dumbfounded expletive escaping his lips. "What the fuck?"