For what felt like an eternity, Yoel had been floating and staring into black space.
There had been no stars, no light.. just pitch-black darkness.
It was almost comfortable, compared to what he was going through just a few seconds ago..
The pain he felt had become numb.
'Impressive, isn't it? I designed this especially for situations like these.'
The raspy and old voice penetrated through his mind once again.
The peaceful silence that had grown on Yoel, had been disturbed.
Whenever the voice spoke, his head ached.
He didn't want to deal with all of this– not right now.
So annoying…
'Brat.'
In an instant, the scenery changed.
Yoel's surroundings were still almost pitch-black, but now, a few stars could be seen in the distance.
It was almost as if he was floating at the edge of the universe, where almost no stars reached.
He didn't have any time to observe the scenery any longer, because it had started changing once again.
'It takes a bit for it to manifest, so please bear with me.'
The voice spoke once more.
Yoel had not been in the mood for any type of conversation, so he simply nodded off into the black space.
Aside from the small nod, he made no attempt to speak and reply to the disembodied voice.
Soon enough, black bricks began to materialize in a disturbing fashion under his feet.
Black walls surrounded him, closing off the beautiful view behind their cold and dark appearance.
Primitive poles manifested next, with black skulls decorated across many of them.
Charred wood had been pierced through each of the skulls, and rusty, dark metal had been used as a way to separate the fire from the rest of the wood.
Even the flames of this place were immensely distinct; with the color of the flame being a deep and dark purple.
Every time Yoel stared at the flames that stood on top of these weird and twisted torches, a deep pulsing sensation would envelop his heart.
It felt as if he had some kind of connection to it, but he was not quite sure on what it was, or rather.. if he could even begin to grasp what it was.
After floating around, Yoel finally landed on the cold bricks of the now dark and eerie hallway.
His clothes had been changed into mere rags, and his boots had disappeared from existence.
As his bare feet touched the ground, a painful sting made itself present due to the coldness of the bricks.
Far ahead of him, however, a red carpet had been assembled once again, out of nothingness.
This entire situation should have been extremely confusing to Yoel, but for some reason, he had been strangely calm about it.
It was as if he had found himself in a situation such as this before.
If he could describe it, he would probably call it something similar to approaching something he didn't wish to uncover, or something he had willingly tried to forget about long ago.
Whatever the feeling was, he still couldn't quite grasp it clearly yet.
He couldn't grasp any sense clearly right now, as a matter of fact.
'Getting cold feet now, little man? Your friends are about to die outside.'
At the mention of his friends, he suddenly became more alert.
Whatever was happening right now was extremely bizarre; for as long as Yoel had lived, he hadn't heard of a phenomenon such as this.
'You're thinking about it too much, brat. Just move forward.'
At the words of the mysterious voice, Yoel's feet began to move on their own.
Yoel tried to protest and grunt, but whenever he tried to open his mouth a searing hot pain would assault his senses.
'You're not.. strong enough. Just think that you're speaking to me.'
Are you some kind of sadistic deity who enjoys toying with others!? My mouth is fucking burning!
Why have you even brought me here, all you've done so far is mock me. So what if my "friends" are dying on the outside, what am I supposed to do!?
I'm powerless.
I.. I don't even remember what life I led before coming here.
So what do you want from me?
. . .
Yoel's complaints seemed to reach no one.
The only sound that came after was his own echo.
With a frustrated sigh, Yoel walked on the cold bricks made of bone until he reached the crimson carpet.
Once his feet connected with the soft carpet, the feelings of anxiety and wariness slowly faded away.
It was as if his feelings had been subtly controlled by strings naked to the human eye.
As he walked on the carpet, a strange feeling arose from deep within the confines of his heart.
Instead of anxiety clouding his mind, urgency overwhelmed him.
He began to run on the soft crimson carpet.
Not long after..
He arrived at a circular chamber decorated with the same dark bricks on the walls of the hallway.
Many more torches decorated it, and the dark purple flames stood more proud and ferocious than before, casting myriads of shadows.
It was at that moment, that Yoel felt his perception change.
At the center of the chamber, which was originally empty..
Now stood a throne made of pitch-black darkness, and an indescribable pressure came from the throne.
Almost immediately, out of pure nothingness, an entity appeared.
It wore purple robes and its face, or what Yoel thought was its face was indistinguishable.
'I know your circumstances, child. I understand what it is that you want.'
How do I know if you really can grant me what I want?
I don't even know who you are.
'You've seen all this, and you still doubt me? Use your damn head, brat.'
The figure, rather than speaking.. was transmitting its voice straight to Yoel's mind.
Whenever it raised its voice, Yoel's head spun.
'If you still don't want to accept the situation at hand, then look at this.'
The entity made a shrugging gesture and made a swiping motion with its misty-black hand.
Instantly, a screen of the situation back at the Alliance camp had appeared.
It portrayed a scenery where most of the teenagers had fallen in battle, and Yoel could also see himself there.
His body had been oozing black mist, and he noticed a few people gathered around him, with their backs to him.
All of their bodies had been bloodied and beaten.
Somewhere near them, lay the unconscious Silenus and Connor.
Silenus, who was barely breathing, had one of his arms beaten into an unrecognizable state.
While Connor seemed to have fainted from overexertion. Using his enigma ability beyond its limit.
His face had gone pale and his limbs had been unmoving. The only proof of life for those two was that their chests were still moving.
Lilith, Vasil, Cole, and Loki had been standing in front of Yoel, protecting his body.
Each of their faces had become a shade whiter than before.
Why.. why are they protecting me? These people might as well be strangers to me.
'You know, I wonder that as well. They could have used the time you bought them to just escape. Instead, they're wasting time and possibly their lives, protecting you.'
A low, deep laugh came from the entity that sat on the throne.
At that moment, Lilith unleashed her light projectile barrage once again.
Each mote of light condensed into one around Lilith's palm, shaping a sphere and accumulating enough force to unleash her attack in the form of a projectile.
This attack seemed to be different.
It seems Lilith had still been hiding a few tricks up her sleeve.
This sphere of light had not been sent out like the rest of them, instead it sat at her fingertips, slowly accumulating more and more light.
At the same time, its shape had been changing into a drill-like object.
Meanwhile, the familiar gigantic ape had been watching Lilith's display of power with wide eyes and a tilted head.
It was not sure if it could withstand this attack.
Soon enough, the drill-like projectile began spinning.
'Hooh, I haven't seen a light mage in a long time. It truly sends a chill down my spine.'
And then, Lilith shot the projectile outwards with all her power.
..Of course, she had been blown away as well. With such a powerful enigma ability, came unavoidable recoil as a consequence.
She fell somewhere close to where Yoel's body had been, and the black mist that had been circling it backed away in disgust.
Yoel however, didn't seem to realize this small interaction. He instead had been focused on the projectile.
The projectile flew and traveled at a speed the naked eye could never hope to witness.
The ape, simply raised its hand and prepared for the impact, it knew that it could not dodge this, so it decided to defend against it.
The fur all over its body rushed up its arm, covering it whole.
As the battle raged on, Yoel's cohort watched in silence as they watched the light projectile collide with the arm of the ape.