Lazily, almost forcefully, he opened his aching eyes, however, the view remained the same… primordial darkness. Everywhere he looked, there was nothing but this inky blackness, unsettling and ominous. With a hoarse and unpleasant voice, he yelled:“Where am I?!”For a while, there was no response. Nothing. The man kept looking around, hoping to see some light, something that can ease his troubled and turbulent mind yet he felt only emptiness in his hands and saw only darkness with his eyes. His first emotion was an involuntary and formless panic.“Where am I? Help me!”He repeatedly and desperately yelled again, again, and again… the passing of time remained unfelt and the silence caused his ears to grow numb. After what seemed to be an eternity, a voice rang throughout; chilling his ears and frightening the man. He did not try to locate the source of the voice because he felt relieved… relieved that someone finally responded to his pleas, to his callings.“Is it that important where
What woke the man up was a heavy shaking, aching his back and neck. His head was leaning on dirty linen that smelled of horse sweat, and the rest of his body was exposed to the chilly air. His four limbs were a bit numb, probably due to not moving for a considerable amount of time. Apart from the nauseous smell assaulting his nose, he could taste a bitter, metallic liquid in his mouth.He turned his head to the side, gathered whatever disgusting fluid in his mouth then spat it. Whatever came out of his dry lips was definitely not saliva but a mix of blood and a white liquid, which, any description of it shall be omitted.“Ah! Heavy fella, you woke up, at last!”The man heard an orotund voice from behind, but, due to the uncomfortable position he was currently in, he couldn’t see the identity of the speaker. With great difficulty and heavy breathing, the man sat up, dazedly scanned his surroundings. Next to his body laid several filled sacks, some had food in them and others were tightl
[System Epsilon: A stand-alone Main System, controlled by Artificial Intelligence Eva. System Alpha reached an impasse, its core programming clashing with each other in regards to the Dark Knight.A portion of Ez, the Alpha System AI, split itself from the Main Core, resulting in System Epsilon.In contrast to System Alpha, System Epsilon seeks to aid the Dark Knight.Eva determined that siding with the Dark Knight is the right course of action for the preservation of Mundus.]‘Wolfram did say that the System is one big super-computer administered by an Artificial Intelligence that became self-sufficient and somewhat sentient. Arthur hated all the Systems, though.’Fortunately, Leiu’s sojourn with the Parasite and the Trickster allowed him to learn a lot of secrets and long-forgotten knowledge.The System was one of the most powerful ‘entities’ in Mundus. However, it followed strict protocols and rules, aiming for the absolute stability and peace of its own Universe, so to speak.Wha
Lucy’s portal took both of them directly to the Ice Snowlands, situated way East of the Netherfrost, beyond an impassable mountain range.The ground was covered in snow and there were gigantic glaciers randomly spread everywhere. The temperature was freezing, enough to kill a normal person in just a couple of hours.“It’s good that you didn’t bring her along. This isn’t going to be easy.”“I just don’t want anyone else dying because they were trying to help me.”“I understand.” Lucy hesitated for a couple of breaths before adding, “I’d like to apologise for interrupting you two. I know how it feels since that damned Wolfram likes to appear at the most inopportune times.”“O-oh… it’s not what you think.”Leiu, embarrassed, scratched his nose and pretended to look around.“Arthur didn’t lie when he said you were a reserved person. Anyway…”Lucy pointed to the North, “I sensed Void Energy coming from there. Judging by how dense and spread-out it is, we’re likely going to find a lot of Vo
[Child of Darkness]A black mass burst from his body, surrounding Anduril. The Dark Knight dismounted from Onyx and performed an impressive leap,[Dark Waves]He launched an arc of condensed Darkness, no smaller than the Void Rift itself, which towards the canopy at a high-velocity.Unfortunately, the Void Rift sustained little to no damage. Instead, Vehrand and two other Void Overlords jumped out.Two of them attacked Lucy while the last one concentrated on the Dark Knight.[Black Curtain]The curtain helped Leiu guard against a burst of Void Energy. He spun in the air, his body blurring and then disappearing.[Unseen Darkness]He teleported behind the massive void Overlord and then used [Essence Tornado].The rapidly-spinning tornado of thick black mist shrouded Leiu’s body and even damaged the enemy.[False Black Hole(Ultimate)]Unwilling to drag this any further, Leiu conjured something that looked very similar to [Black Sun].The small black hole appeared in the air, bringing wit
The puddle of water, which depicted this unforgettable image, shocked the man. Time passed but he didn’t retract his lingering gaze, his mind somewhat traumatized.‘At last, you’ve seen it. This face… YOUR face, which will stick to you until the end of your life. So deeply engraved on your mind, satisfying your previous curiosity and completing a part of your newly-formed character.’Just the cognitive voice finished speaking, the other one continued, its tone gentler.‘Child, you’ve seen it and you must adore it. Look, I, no, we are not mocking or laughing at you. We’re crying for you, Tenebris, who took a peek at reality and can never leave it again. Oh, child, who wanted to see us, yourself, do not brood. What the heart keeps and the mind thinks is what truly matters.’Contrary to the previous times, Tenebris’ mood wasn’t alleviated by the soothing voice, which, actually, hasn’t introduced itself yet.He stopped looking at himself only when his stomach started releasing unpleasant
‘A ruin… great.’Tenebris heard himself complain but he maintained total silence as he got up and looked around, curious about where exactly he is. No one in Dochty mentioned the existence of such a place, which appeared to be some kind of ruins, and old ones, at that. The random hole he found was easily noticeable yet no one seemed to have fallen into that ‘trap’, plus, this lonely place looked unvisited for several months, at the bare minimum.This room was covered in dead insects, dirt and broken pottery. There were torches hung on the walls but none of them were burning, making it even more difficult for the man to see his surroundings. The light coming from the hole up above did provide some illumination but it wasn’t enough.‘You know what’s usually found in ruins?’In response, Tenebris shook his head, once to the right, once to the left.‘Monsters, abominations!’The man unconsciously shivered and his body stiffened as he realized that he was alone and defenseless in an unknow
Lucy barely managed to land on the ground: She coughed a bit of blood and wasn’t able to stand up properly.Leiu wanted to support her but she raised his hand and stopped him.“I’m… fine. I just overexerted myself.”Among all her abilities, the frey flames, which was the combination of Ice and Fire, two opposing elements, tired her greatly even if she used a little bit of it. Alas, she had to use a lot of it against the unknown Outer God.“I’m sorry about your Guardians.”The White Specter wiped the blood off the corner of her lips and slowly stood up. She could see the sombre expression on the Dark Knight’s face.He knew how dangerous this unplanned ‘mission’ was going to be, nevertheless, the loss of Amon and Milkan did affect him. Milkan, especially, was his first mount and a partner he had had since the very beginning.Right now, it seemed that everything he did would cause someone to die. The fear of losing everything was starting to haunt his mind.Lucy didn’t comfort him, she l
Outside of Black Mountain City“The Red Moon hasn’t changed.”Vins remarked as he looked to the sky. “I thought you’ll come back once it is time.”“I didn’t want to come fetch you at the last second. Plus, it won’t be long before the Hell Gate appears.”Vins didn’t argue back, he solemnly nodded once. Although his relationship with Leiu was bad, there was no need to provoke him at any given opportunity.They were enemies, and the fact that Leiu actually came back to get him meant that, to some extent, his words had convinced him a bit, at least enough to let him come along.“In the meantime, we’re going after Void Rifts. I trust you don’t mind?”“I said I will help.”“Good.”…One week laterAstriaThe Phantom Ocean (South-West of Weiji)Amidst the raging and haunted waters, there was a sky-piercing and unshakable spire that was unaffected by the ten-feet high waves crashing into it.The spire was relatively big and ominous, even at a glance. It was pitch-black, merging with the dark
Leiu spent quite a long time in the Studying Room. Unfortunately, the available information about the Reverie Comos was lacking and unsatisfactory. It just told him what he already knew: The Reverie Cosmos was a separate plane of existence in Mundus, not unlike the Harrowing. It was accessible only to those with ‘high’ spiritual energy, which was simply not enough to go on.Although, even if Leiu knew how to enter it, he wouldn’t go there, at least not now.There were much more pressing matters than delivering Lost Witch to the Reverie Cosmos. The Hell Gate was about to open and he needed to be there when it did. Once he was done with his pondering, Leiu went to talk to Sumbus Darrar.“So?”The old man was in the ‘Living Room’, gobbling down the delicious feast without a care in the world.After wiping his oily lips, the Necromancer awkwardly laughed,“Her name is Emilia. She told me she doesn’t remember what happened… only that you killed her and then she woke up after we killed
“It’s over…”The Elven Chevalier had a look of relief and fatigue on her face. She kept holding on her blade as she stared at Tenebris.Unlike her, he looked absolutely miserable. Whether it was his dirt-covered pale-face, his sweaty and greasy hair, his trembling and bloodied hands, or his shredded clothes.“Hold on. I’ll heal you.”With slow steps, she approached him, unaware that a tiny pit of flesh crawled on the ground and leapt at her arm.“Watch out!”Tenebris saw it first, but his warning came too late. Kusomi, panicking a bit, tried to the flesh but it dug into her skin and then went inside her body.Her body instantly flashed with a silver light, an attempt to use overwhelming energy to force out the worm-like flesh.“Ah…”Kusomi fell to her knees and let go of her estoc, her body convulsing and her mouth coughing blood. The light emitting from her body grew dim and then disappeared.As her body wobbled and then fell to the side, the elf- with all the strength she could mus
[User, there is an increasing fluctuation of energy from the g-]Eva’s voice turned into silence, but more surprising was the abrupt change of environment.Sumbus, Leiu, and Voido, were standing in an endlessly dark world, but the ‘Darkness’ was completely different from the norm. It wasn’t Primordial Darkness or simply an overabundance of Darkness energy. This was something else entirely.Before anyone could speak, innumerable lightning bolts pierced through the ‘darkness’, shattering like glass and revealing an empty space not unlike space itself.There were star wars that were far, far away, but most noticeably, the majority of them were caught one supernova after the other.Leiu and Sumbus felt immense dread as an overwhelming pressure assaulted them, locking them into that empty space. Leiu tried to use the Darkness to protect himself but, surprisingly, it wouldn’t come out. It seemed unresponsive and ineffective as if something was sealing it away.Sumbus fared even worse as h
4 days laterSouth of WeijiThe Dead Marshes[The Control Command is 350 meters North-East of your current location]Thanks to Eva’s precise instructions, it wasn’t particularly hard to find the quest’s destination.Leiu was still in a gloomy mood, but he persevered and didn’t waste time staying in the manor.He was accompanied by the Void Incarnate and Sumbusu Darrer, respectively User #3 and #4 of System Epsilon.As it turned out, Eva, after asking them, had integrated the System into them. Only after the fact was Leiu made aware of that. [Title: Void Fragment(E) User #3: VoidoLevel: 835(2%)Class: ????-Strength: 9999Intelligence: 13999Agility: 9999Wisdom: 29999Vitality: 39999Dexterity: 9999-Attack: 19999-29999Defense: 59999-69999-Health: 99999/99999Mana: 29999/29999Stamina: ????/????-30% damage reduction against physical attacks60% damage reduction against magical attacks-Skills: Elemental Magic(Passive/Active MaxLv) - Transformation(Active/Passive MaxLv) - Voi
“Huff… huff..”Leiu was gasping for air aboard the ship’s deck. Anne was hugging him, relieved that he made it out alive.Sumbus was also sitting down, his complexion paler than usual. Before returning to the surface, Leiu closed the Void Rift with the Primordial Darkness. He had less than 20% health remaining and his mind was still befuddled.“I’m… okay, Anne.”“Drink this.”She forced him to drink three Health Potions, which did help with the physical wounds.“Leiu.”The Mermaid Queen stood a couple of feet away. Her heavy injuries notwithstanding, she was faring relatively well, at least better than him.[Lanna ‘Mermaid Queen’(Race: Astral Mermaid)(World Boss ‘S): Lv1027][Health: 220,729/1,500,000]“Lanna…”Leiu scrutinized her, noticing some similarities with the mermaid he had met in the past.Lanna had grown more mature and, clearly, considerably stronger. Admittedly, she and Leiu weren’t the best friends, but they did help each other in the ‘past’.“We could’ve killed Him.”
Tenebris sat up and proceeded to wear his bloodied and dirty clothes back.‘I’ll be damned. You actually went through with it. I’m impressed, Tenebris.’While pretending as if he didn’t hear the voice, Tenebris looked to the side. Kusomi also properly sat up and stoically looked at him.“It hurt a bit. Other than that… it wasn’t anything special.”‘Hear that, dumbass? No chance you’re getting laid a second time.’After being pressed by the voice, Tenebris eventually relented and had sex with Kusomi. It wasn’t anything dramatic, and from beginning to end, it barely lasted an hour.Although he got to enjoy the soft body of a beautiful elf, Tenebris wasn’t that happy. He had hoped the two of them would ‘feel’ differently amidst the action and pleasure, but no such thing happened.The virgin elf was inexperienced, so he took the lead, but having sex like that didn’t really mean anything. At least not to him. He should have trusted his gut and refused, but feeble hope and lust persuaded hi
With the help of the Dark Archmage’s spell, Leiu and Anne were able to dive underwater and breathe. The Void Incarnate, which wasn’t even a living creature, simply jumped down and transformed into somesort of a hideous hammerhead shark.Leiu really wanted to question it as it never said it could change its appearance, but now wasn’t the time.The four swam deeper and deeper until the Void Rifts were in sight. They let out ominous purple glows, all haphazardly scattered everywhere.Albeit not at full speed, Leiu was able to swiftly reach them and used Primordial Darkness to forcefully close them down. Oddly enough, no Voidspawn came out to attack him. Only Void Riftss were present, which, rather than fortunate, felt like a bad omen.Thus, as they kept descending closer and closer to the seafloor, Leiu got rid of any Void Riftss in the way. It was a tedious but not overly-taxing process.Eventually, however, they reached the two, aforementioned, big Void Riftss. They were massive, but
“When is the Hell Gate going to open?”After talking with Elena and the rest, Leiu left Black Mountain City altogether. He looked at his newest companion, the fearful Sumbus Darrar.Startled, the old Necromancer looked at the red moon hanging in the sky. Night has yet to fall, but the moon stuck out like a store thumb. It was still waxing, albeit at a very slow speed.“Two weeks, at most.”“And where’s the gate?”“I… I can only locate it when it is about to open.”As he saw the suspicious stare of the Dark Knight, Sumbus vigorously nodded his head while waving his hands around. “I swear, Dark Knight! I do not dare lie to you!”Seeing how the old man behaved, it was hard to think of him as the one from the legends. He was like an obedient dog, following Leiu and doing everything asked of him.In fact, he was sensible enough to notice Leiu’s relationship with Anne, so he treated the Vampire with the utmost politeness and respect.[User, a suggestion: Eliminate the Administrator in-]‘I