Valeira plunged the black longsword further into the Seraphim's chest. The black liquid spread hastily and enveloped Her body.
Then, a couple of seconds passed and the Seraphim's six eyes soon turned lifeless.
The lightless area of the ravine looked forlorn and lonely as Valeira stood in the middle of it.
She stared up, hoping to see the shining rays of the sun but being hundreds upon hundreds of metres below the surface removed any chance of light.
She sighed.
"It's.. over."
Millions died due to the Apocalypse but realistically.. there were also millions that survived.
Valeira still had a purpose to fight.
The overexaggerated feeling of every emotion slowly vanished deep within her. Without the Seraphim, it could no longer function and her state soon turned to normal.
But Valeira was exhausted, her leg was cut off, her body was fatigued, and her Soul had been depleted.
Thus, Valeira couldn't keep standing as her knee weakened with the adrenaline finally slowing down.
She fell to the ground and her back was facing it. Then, Valeira stared at the everlasting darkness above, her heart felt relieved and the long days of fighting were finally over..
"Bliss.."
The darkness made her feel complete, although she longed for the moonlight, she'd rather see nothing than bask in the warmth of the Sun.
After all, she loved the night.
It was truly over..
27 bodies were vanquished and met with True Death, they could no longer come back and this would deal a heavy blow to the Sun God's Divinity.
Sooner or later, the Sun God would notice that the Seraphim of Feelings had vanished but that would still be centuries or even millennias in the future.
When that day comes, Death would already be awoken from THEIR slumber. And the battle between two Gods would surely destroy everything.
Such a battle would have to be prevented, but to mortal beings like Valeira.. it was futile.
One could not even stare at a God, let alone witness THEM battle!
"Such an inevitable end.."
With Valeira's interference, the battle between two Gods would have to be delayed.
The Sun God would spend many years to recuperate a great damage to THEIR Soul. Not only that, but it would become a battle against time once more, similar to that of the battle between Valeira and the Seraphim of Feelings.
After all of that, Valeira felt tired of thinking.
Her eyes were heavy due to the fatigue.
"Sleep."
One word.
A word that's very foreign to her.
For the long years that she had become a Pathbearer, Valeira wasn't able to sleep.
Until now..
Her eyes slowly closed.
Then, everything around her shattered as she broke free from the Dream that she conjured.
Now back in reality, Valeira fell to the ground slowly and was cushioned by the hard stone below her. Somehow, it felt so soft and comforting. Valeira only wanted to sleep and rest her entire body..
So, her eyes closed once more and this time.. making her fall into a deep slumber.
For once in her life she had fallen asleep.
And for once in her life... She experienced a dream.
*
She woke up in a dandelion field.
It was dark and solemn, the moon shone down on the windy grass, and Valeira was wearing her usual white tunic.
However, she was younger than before!
Her wrinkles were gone, stress was no longer shown on her face, and overall.. her face was filled with an abundance of youth.
In the distance, she saw the remote town that the Seraphim was headed to.
The nightly splendor made her feel comfort and tranquil, she walked towards the remote town slowly.
A thud resounded somewhere in the distance behind her but Valeira did not care.
For now, her mind was set on reaching the remote town.
Somehow, the scenery of that very town changed in a second and shifted to that of a large building filled with academy students.
Once Valeira blinked that sight was already gone.
It was.. weird.
Another thing was the dream itself. Now that she had finally slept and fell into a dream, would she still be considered a Dreamless?
It was contradictory to her Path, but somehow.. it made sense.
A Dreamless represents a state of nothingness, emptiness or a lack of purpose. This dream of hers could be considered as mundane and empty.
It was just a mere vision of her fulfilling and resting her mind under the bright moonlight.
Therefore.. It was a normal dream that humans have had in their lives.
The true meaning of Dreamless is Nothingness, not just being in a state devoid of dreams!
All this time, Valeira could dream as long as she slept. But she never felt tired and never felt obliged to sleep.
Who would do so if they knew that they could live two times as much in a single day!
No longer sleeping means you have more time than any human in the world. And for Valeira, that meant spending her time basking in the moonlight, feeling peace and tranquility.
She was not a literal Dreamless but rather.. a philosophical one.
She still felt devoid of purpose, lacking the basic emotions, and having no will for the future.
So, Valeira walked slowly and felt the eeriness of a silent dream.
The winds swayed greatly and touched Valeira's skin.
It felt cold, but also quite rejuvenating.
Barefoot, she walked through the grass and stared up, looking to the bright moonlight above that has been blessing her with its grace.
Akin to that of a silent hallway, Valeira experienced the solitude of the night.
It was as if her footsteps resounded in a long hallway, tapping her flesh to the shiny floor and reverberating across it.
Suddenly, a faint echo resounded behind her.
She immediately turned back to see what it was..
"Just the wind.."
Then, she went down the grassy hills, carefully minding her steps in the process.
She looked around and exhaled, as if she felt relieved to not be caught in the middle of the night.
"No one is around anyway!"
Thus, she continued walking and felt her feet get tired so she laid down for a second.
Unlike a flower basking itself in sunlight, Valeira absorbed the radiance of the moonlight.
She felt.. tranquil.
Bliss that only she could feel as she lay down upon the stretches of the dandelion grassland.
No one and nothing could take this feeling away from her. Although it seemed exaggerated and forced, the feeling of bliss still felt amazing to her.
As if this moment was tailored for her alone..
However..
A loud thud echoed in the distance.
It was an echo of a distant footstep, almost like a foot of a beast, a large beast.
*thud*
Eventually, it made its way closer to Valeira, the grass went silent and the wind's blows stopped.
*thud*
The earth shook as the footsteps got louder, Valeira looked behind her but saw nothing but a high cliff filled with flowers and grass.
*thud*
But something felt ominous, something.. or someone seemed to creep up behind her.
*thud*
Yet it was too late, a shadow of a beast was already upon Valeira.
*thud*
It's right behind her.
She jolted straight up and turned around almost immediately.
"What.. was that?"
But there was nothing to be seen.
Just the everlasting scenery of a comforting hill of grass and dandelions.
"Phew..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Why is my heart beating so fast..?"
Was it Adrenaline? Fear? Excitement? Joy? or perhaps...
She turned around and her eyes widened at the sight of a three-headed beast with no faces. It loomed over her frail and child-like body, towering over her considerably.
Suddenly! The beast's sharp claws pierced through her chest.
Valeira's heart beat even faster.
She felt Adrenaline pumping through her veins.
She felt a great excitement.
She felt a huge amount of joy!
But most importantly... there was a feeling deeply engraved within her.
It was not Terror.
Rather it was..
"Death."
The Dream shattered like broken glass and Valeira was returned to reality. This time, she saw the bright moon stretching above as it could be seen from hundreds of meters down the ravine!
It hung in the sky straight up and stood still as if it were staring at Valeira alone.
"It's midnight.." She silently uttered.
Feeling a deep pain engraved in her heart, she looked down and saw sharp claws piercing through her chest.
Then, she vomited out blood and encased the claws with it.
She stared at the towering figure in front of her, carefully checking to see where it's face was.
Then.. she slowly whispered:
"A 28th.. body."
She recounted the 27 categories of human emotions that the Seraphim had replicated.
'Happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, disgust, trust, anticipation, love, guilt, shame, pride, envy, embarrassment, relief, contentment, awe, sympathy, boredom, confusion, hope, interest, loneliness, nostalgia, regret, resentment, and gratitude.'
She looked dejected, knowing that she had already felled every single one of them.
"What.. are you?"
Her mouth was bloodied, struggling to even speak a word!
The beast could not answer but Valeira understood its silence.
Her eyes widened in shock.
"I.. see... So, it is... my... fault."
She breathed deep and continued to talk.
"You... are... Death."
After all, Valeira was the one who made the Seraphim feel Death.
With that, another body of it formed due to the newly found emotion. Although the Seraphim had no more wings, it still looked like a beastly, three-headed abomination that was as ugly as ever.
"Truly.. a befitting- argh!" The claws dove deeper inside of her and blood spurted out of it!, "-end.. for me."
However, instead of feeling regret and sorrow, Valeira smiled even if she was devoid of emotions due to the true nature of the Dreamless.
In an instant! The world seemed to be encased in a thin fabric resembling the firmament from the Tree of Life and Death!
However this was different, it seemed like fantasy or as if like an illusion.
But a simple word could definitely describe it more completely!
This was-
This was..!
A Dream!
Valeira opened her bloodied mouth and spoke her last words.
"Trapped.. in an.. endless dream, you... and I.. are forever.. intertwined."
The surroundings became hazy and blurred.
The Vision? had finally come to an end.
-----
[You have witnessed a Truth from the past!]
[You have received an Inheritance Skill!]
[Your Soul is as calm as the tranquil wind!]
[A being born from Truth and Visions, one who could see both past and present, acting as an observer across time itself. For you to ascend, you must witness your Truth. Upon doing so, you will unlock your True Path.]
[Move forth ██████ and become the ██████!]