***
A sense of weightlessness, an emptiness that felt briefer than a second passed.
And then, I drowned.
GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!! I cursed. Why the fuck am I underwater!?
I opened my eyes, seeing a clear view of underwater place, a crimson labyrinth constructed below.
But...
Now, I really hope I couldn't see. Because, a swarm of thousands of corrupted abominations, along with awakened and fallen abominations gazed towards me after sensing my gaze on them.
I quickly used Hope sorcery on my legs, the water twisted, working as what they call a 'boost' or 'turbo' in this time.
But we called it the Name of Aquatic Speed. A name that improves the speed of our flow within water.
I need to hide quickly, I am still just a Dreamer, I can take care of one Fallen Devil or Transcendent Beast, But I am not crazy enough to fight all of these without a weapon.
I suddenly saw a corrupted creature running from something, I also noticed a high platform, not a platform exactly, more like a statue.
Well, anything is fine as long as I can hide from these things.
Hm? What about my pride as a tyrant?
Have you ever seen a King fight an entire nations army all by himself?
No? So Shut Up!
As soon as I left the water, I suddenly saw a chaotic scene outside.
I brushed the thought to the side and quickly climbed on the top and laid flat.
By how weak I am, as long as I don't look at them directly, they won't really care.
What alarms these creatures the most are creatures that can look at them.
After all, in that dark underwater, there are very few creatures truly capable of gazing through the darkness.
Which is why, there are very few confrontations underwater and creatures hunt only above the waters.
I stayed silent and closed my eyes. I can take care of everything once it is day time.
Only when it's day time can I know if this place is the 'Sea of Darkness' from the Storm Realm or a normal sea from some other realm.
After a long time, Dawn broke.
It clearly told me that I am at leas not in the Sea of Darkness.
Because, in there, dark clouds cover the whole sky at day, and storms heavily at night.
But my face changed when the water began to receded into the unknown depth.
GODS!! THIS IS THE WORST PLACE I COULD BE!!!
Why the FUCK am I HERE?!?! In this Ominous Realm?!?!?
**
'Damnation' I couldn't help but curse as my feet touched the crimson ground below.
'why? why? why?' I can't help it.
'I tried so hard, almost at the brink of death, to leave this ominous realm back then.' I thought bitterly. Remembering all those bitter struggles just to help those kids seal the blood of that ominous being, creating the artificial sun and finally finding a crack in space to finally leave this place.
'And now, I AM FUCKING BACK?! To suffer again!!' I screamed internally.
This feels weirdly nostalgic. I fell from the sky both time, at night, into water and naked a last.
'Is there even a different?!' The more I live this boys life, the more I feel like I am repeating my own life back then. THERE'S NO FUCKING DIFFERENCE!!!
[Both of your True Names are also familiar, right?]
The voice of the spell suddenly brought me to another realization.
The boy's True Name in modern dialect is 'Lost from Light', while mine in modern dialect means 'Forsaken from Light'.
They're literally the same, just worded differently.
"Is that really why all of this is happening?" I asked.
[Indeed.]
"Doesn't that mean I would encounter everything I did before?"
[Maybe~]
My skin crawled, remembering the scene that I desperately wanted to forget.
[Just what is it that can make the ruthless Tyrant feel so much fear?]
"You Don't Need to Know!!" I shouted and walked towards the west. (sorry, I forgot the right direction, hope this is it.)
The City of Nightmare should still be there, although in rubles due to the passage of time. That place is still close to the space gate I used the previous time.
And possibly, The 'Gate' the current generation talked about is either the Spire build by that hammer boy or the Nightmare City.
I also haven't been able to unlock that door previously, which I can do this time since this is a devoured world and there isn't any trace of that ominous aura in this realm.
I definitely won't want to face that 'thing' without being a sacred at the very least.
Maybe even Sacred won't be enough, but at least I can escape at that point.
I kept walking ahead, killing the scavengers in my way, but gaining no fragments what-so-ever. Even absorbing the soul shards didn't saturate my core.
'Tch~' I knew it. My core previously was 'Shadow Core', but this time, it's completely different.
It has a very weird attribute. as if every attribute, like Life, Death, Fire, Water, Darkness, Blood, Metal, etc are present all at once.
In other words, I cannot follow the path I once took before.
The only plus point is that my authority over Shadows is still the same as in my previous life.
The downside? I need the Ascendant ability to truly materialize and the Awakened ability to traverse through them.
In other words, I am now a crippled sovereign. Why a Sovereign? Because I still have the 2 Billion shades in my soul sea, standing silently below the dark water.
But it now feels weird, as if my soul sea is 'incomplete'. Even the Dark sea holding all the shades feels incomplete.
I need to find a new way to cultivate. Even the Spell Doesn't know a way to cultivate my aspect.
ts! Fortunately, I can still take some time before I need to cultivate my Soul Essence and Core.
But I need to do it before becoming a Transcendent. So I still need to do it quickly.
While walking ahead with my skin soaked with blood, Selbador suddenly found something I didn't expect.
***
To be continued...