Invictus felt a sting on his arm. With the help of the faint light coming from the torch above him, he saw the marks of his teeth on his skin. He mistakenly took a bite of himself, thinking it was a chunk of meaty beef.
Moreover, he noticed that his hands were wet. When he took a quick look at his hands, there was dirt and it felt greasy.
"Did Iā?!"
Immediately, his stomach began aching excruciatingly. He was hallucinating and he had unconsciously drunk the liquid waste. Right now, Invictus was suffering from abdominal cramps as he was excessively gagging.
"I need to throw up!"
Grievous as it might feel, Invictus had no choice but to release everything that he had unconsciously consumed while hallucinating.
Eventually, after roughly poking his throat with his middle finger to force himself to spew all of that waste he drank, Invictus vomited not just the liquid waste but also accompanied by blood.
His body was deteriorating and his condition just got worse than it already is.
Whilst he was inordinately coughing blood and vomiting the liquid waste, his voice reached the people above him.
"I told you he's still alive."
"He sounds like he is in great pain right now."
"Are you pitying him? I doubt he'd want anyone's sympathy. That might be the last thing he wants."
"I'm still human, of course, I pity him. After all, he saved us from the demon lord's army."
The man was scorned for having sympathy toward Invictus. No one wanted to be on the bad side of the king, so even if the man wanted to help Invictus, he wouldn't. He knows the consequences of his actions.
"Being born from the most detested bloodline in Estaria... How unlucky can he be?"
Invictus did not wish to be born from his parents' bloodline. People loathed them. At a very young age, as far as Invictus could remember, he experienced the wrath of the Estarians. They have been pushed away, thrown rocks at, persecuted, and no one had ever liked them.
When adulthood came, Invictus thought that the Estarians had finally forgiven him for doing nothing but inheriting the blood of his parents. He achieved great feats despite all the abhorrence and established a decent image of himself.
It is undeniable that Invictus felt the urge to fight back in the past, to inflict the same amount of pain induced on him. However, whenever he does, the image of his mother in her sincerest words would appear in his mind and clear his head of all the evil thoughts he has.
"Son, revenge isn't the answer to our problems with the Estarians.
Fighting back and doing the same thing they always do will only make things worse. If you really need these people to stop treating you harshly, you must prove them wrong. Silence everyone with your achievements."
His mother said to him as she blankly stared outside her window on her deathbed. She was terminally ill and didn't last long.
"I did everything that you told me, mother. I ignored all the harsh words thrown at me, the bullying they did, and earned everything. However, it was not enough, mother. Instead of accepting me as a human, a part of this world, they took away the most precious things I hold dearly. I'm done doing it your way, mother. If I ever get out of this hellhole alive, I promise to whoever is listening to me right now that everyone will pay. I will do it my way! No one will be spared!"
As he had expected, no one was listening to his words. All the strength he mustered just to say all those words left his body, and he eventually succumbed to the intense sleepiness.
It was a peaceful sleep. His mind was clear and his body felt light as if he was floating. Then, he realized that he really was afloat, in the air levitating.
"My arm," he freaked out when he saw his arm and his whole body. "Is
that my blood vessels? They are veins, right?"
His vision lowered to his chest. His body had become transparent and he could see through it.
"My heart's beating. I could literally see my insides. What's going on?"
Tiny bright spots from afar piqued his interest. Different types of colors shine brighter in his eyes, and a spiral of stars and galaxies could be seen. Of course, Invictus knows none of it. Everything just looked captivating to him.
"Where might this place be? It's my first time seeing this kind of scenery."
Gleaming brighter and hotter than everything else behind him was the sun. He immediately understood what the large stat was, and fell to a conclusion.
"Is this what they call space?"
"Kekeke!"
A burst of sneering laughter suddenly echoed.
"Look at you, you poor soul."
"A woman?" He thought, visibly confused about what was happening.
"Who are you trying to find? I am right in front of you, mortal."
A woman covered in bright light appeared in front of his eyes all of a sudden. The light she was radiating was so bright for Invictus to directly look at her.
"Are you a goddess?"
"I guess I am, although you might have never heard of me. I am the goddess of space and time, and I have heard your words."
All the radiating light faded away, thus revealing the goddess in her human form.
"Her hair is the color of that spiral thing out there."
Unlike his see-through body, the goddess's features show that of a normal female human. The only unique thing about her was the color of her hair, which has the same color as the universe.
"I see that you're amazed and clearly don't have a clue as to who I am."
"I am sorry. I have seen every image of the gods and goddesses, but not you."
"It's perfectly fine. It's good that you don't know who exactly I am. I am just here to grant you your wish."
"My wish?" He uttered confusedly. "You will help me get out of The Oubliette?"
"No," she flatly declined. "I will not be getting you out. But... But I will grant you a second chance."
~