「 Isolation has activated Inescapable Recall. 」
「 ■■■■■ conceals the scene. 」
As if they were a print on film, my memories rewound in my head. I watched the scenes zoom past and the people around me turn youthful. The further back it went, the blurrier the image and the sounds became muffled. Once the rewind stopped, inaudible noises echoed through the realm I was in until a gunshot pierced through and scared the other noises away.
Screams burrowed in my consciousness and my fight or flight instinct activated - but my movement felt impossible. A slight finger twitch took enough energy to push a mountain. Glass breaking, wood snapping, metal bending and clanking, plastic scrunching; all the noises that essentially nobody enjoyed.
"Wyatt!"
An unknown voice shouted my name, and even though I wanted to respond, my vocal cords refused to produce a sound. I tried to force them but my will over my body wasn't mine anymore. Panic and fear started to thrive in my body. I felt helpless.
BANG
Another gunshot, but this one I felt. It shot past my ear, leaving behind an annoying ring and pushing some loose hair strands back.
「 The defense of ■■■■■ has been fully restored. 」
「 ■■■■■ has suppressed Inescapable Recall. 」
「 ■■■■■ has nullified the effects of Melancholy Lvl. 36 」
「 ■■■■■ is ripping through Manor of Endless Isolation. 」
My mind's position on the wheel of time came back to the present and the negative emotions instilled by Melancholy ceased their presence in my consciousness. I owe the mysterious force, even if it failing was the reason I was suffering in the first place. One question entered my mind as a substitute for the negativity: is this my physical body? If it wasn't then I was probably still on Tower Bridge, helpless at that.
I also thought about Khai and Ava. Khai took the hit with me, probably, and Ava was left behind. Hopefully she managed to use her aspect to get to safety but who knows. On the other hand, Khai was either here with me, just in his own sort of thing, or he was still conscious in the real world hunting the principle. Either way, I needed to get out quick.
「 The Lone Captain of a Crowded Ship gifts you a token of support: Emotional Crusade Lvl. 1 」
"What's that?"
Although I couldn't see the notifications, their speech in my consciousness was perfectly audible and understandable.
「 Stellar Ability, Emotional Crusade Lvl. 1, information is currently unavailable. 」
Most likely because I was stuck in this place, which brings up the question of how to get out. It's not like there was a door, or a path, or even a ferryman to take me across this weird river that flowed throughout the entire domain. I felt the effects of Melancholy slowly set back into the area and my mind, negative emotions filling my mind like boiling water.
「 A mysterious force has had enough of the principle's meddling. 」
「 A mysterious force has temporarily incarnated into a Stellar Aspect! 」
「 The equilibrium tilts at the action. 」
What? How? Huh?
「 Stellar Form, ■■■■■, has activated. 」
「 The equilibrium tilts at the action. 」
The tilt of the equilibrium could be heard throughout the entire manor, it sounded like chains shifting and moving. Some descending and some ascending.
Shackles came from all directions and tightly wrapped around my body, pulling and pushing every limb that was attached to me. They glowed bright and flakes of aether broke away from them. I screamed and grunted in pain. My life force was being siphoned and my consciousness chained down into the Stellar Games. Ripping due to the immense force of the entire cosmos, the bond between my consciousness and my physical body would soon be severed forever.
「 ■■■■■ has ripped through Manor of Endless Isolation. 」
「 ■■■■■ has ■■■■■. 」
「 A mysterious force no longer holds the form of a Stellar Aspect. 」
「 A mysterious force fades away. 」
「 Stellar Forms provided have been confiscated. 」
I quickly awoke, back in the normal world. I could feel something weighing down my consciousness; a burden of a thousand universes was the best way to describe it. Cosmic Slicer remained in my hand and Advanced Swordsmanship Technique was still on, but Cosmic Sight had deactivated. Looking around, everyone was gone apart from Khai who was still nowhere near awake and on the ground.
"Not this again..."
Surrendering to being stuck here, I sat on the ground. Without Khai I would surely lose again, with him, a victory was more likely. Even if our last attempt was... something... we were just caught by surprise. In our next attempt, we'd be able to predict that.
Surprisingly, my information menu opened up without me triggering it.
﹁
Name || Wyatt Sightseer
Level || 10 [775/5000]
Stats || [OPEN]
Stellar Patron || The Lone Captain of a Crowded Ship
Stellar Aspect || Astral Wanderer Lvl. 2
Stellar Abilities || Advanced Swordsmanship Technique Lvl. 3, Cosmic Comprehension Lvl. 1, Emotional Crusade Lvl. 1
Equipment || Rejuvenation Medallion Lvl. 1, Thousand Dreams Lvl. 2, Cosmic Slicer Lvl. 6, Equipment Repair Kit Lvl. 1, EXP-Boost Package Lvl. 1
﹂
An anomaly in my Stellar Abilities revealed itself: Emotional Crusade. The what? I tried to remember getting that ability, but with each attempt, my head started to hurt. Any scenario I could mix up in my head regarding it became blurry and hazy. What was that ability and why couldn't I remember getting it?
﹁
Emotional Crusade
Grade || A+
Description || An ability that takes your consciousness when it is unstable onto a boat which sails across the ocean of emotion. The ocean can be disturbed by external forces, resulting in an inadequate journey that can harm your consciousness instead of healing it. The journey, without disturbance, soothes your consciousness and offers it comfort until it is ready to return to your body. Gifted by The Lone Captain of a Crowded Ship.
﹂
My patron gave it to me, good to know. Though, was this safe to use? It surely didn't sound safe... I mean, what if someone just attacked me while I was using it? Wouldn't I just be harmed both inside and out?
「 The Lone Captain of a Crowded Ship assures you of the Stellar Ability's safety. 」
Cool, alright. These notifications made up most of what I heard today, a bit annoying. Cosmic Slicer retracted back into its small star form and I slid it into my pocket. Khai was still on the ground so I sat next to him; nothing else I can do. Wait. Where's Ava? Looking around, I could not see her anywhere. If I went to sleep now to use Sky's View, I would be waking up by the time I could realise I was asleep. My mental state felt not only heavy but weak.
"There's nobody around, so let's hope this works."
I set up Armillary Sphere and laid down on the dusty bridge. A bit weird to do this during such a time but when else will I use this?
「 Stellar Ability, Emotional Crusade Lvl. 1, has activated. 」
A sound of calm water poured into my ears and my consciousness weakly abandoned my body. At this point, I was nothing but a small glimmer of light moving around in a body of nothing. The light expanded and formed a translucent body resembling my own which stood upon a wooden faering. Open and endless, an ocean spread out in all directions and guided my boat. Its reflection of the stars above hid away its endless depths.
When I looked up to watch the starry sky, large chains wrapped around it. They were emitting as much light as the moon, illuminating the ocean, and comets of, what I presumed was, aether broke away and shot through the sky.
"Woah."
Watching the astral rain brought me peace until a glitched notification buzzed through my ears and disturbed my calmness. There was no physical copy of it, only the sound, so I didn't know what it tried to tell me.
The magnificent chains slowly started to crack and another hurl of broken screeches pierced my ear drums.
"Damn, what the hell."
I hit the side of my head with my palm as if it'd do anything.
Cracking fully, the chains fell from the sky and decayed quickly. My consciousness felt lighter and the ocean around me felt calmer than before. The only ripples on its surface were made by the boat I was on and nothing else. I sat down on one of the wooden slabs that was screwed to opposite sides of the boat in order to make an uncomfortable seat.
「 The Emotional Crusade is reaching its end. 」
"Oh, great. Back to the real world..."
「 The Emotional Crusade has finished. 」
The form that resembled my consciousness flew through up into the stars at a high speed. I watched the magnificent nebulas, grand constellations, mesmerising supernovas, and incomprehensible galaxies zoom past me. What I could see would be best described as hyperspace, until it all went dark. My eyelids opened to reveal the real world, and not the beautiful cosmos.
「 The Emotional Crusade has healed your consciousness and took: 11 hours and 29 minutes. 」
「 The equilibrium has been stabilised. 」
"HOW LONG?!"
I looked around, Armillary Sphere was still up which was a good sign but what wasn't a good sign was that the sun had set... and Khai was still unconscious... and Ava was nowhere to be seen. At this point, it was guaranteed that using Sky's View was surely too late and I'd just end up sleeping an awful amount of time. Then there was another person I needed to know the location of: the principle. Wherever it went, someone had to stop it.
Hopefully, that someone wouldn't be me.
Wait... the vampire! He could surely achieve something alone. But, if we couldn't beat it together then how could he beat it alone? This is just too much power in one enemy, and it's only the first in the group of four. The terror in me tripled at the thought of the Principle of Angels and the Principle of Humanity.