Asher creased his eyebrows slightly. The mystical realm that he was present in right now had given him a sense of familiarity that almost stunned him. Standing still in his place, he felt a gaze on him from beneath...
'No above.' He thought before shaking his head once more. The sense of gaze was falling on him everywhere, from beneath, above, on his left and right. The gaze had an overwhelming might to it that made Asher question if it was a being akin to a god or not.
'I wonder if the meaning of god for what I take is different from what an actual 'god' is. If that's the case, then the strength of this overwhelming sense of might can be understood also the fact that I was able to fight them toe to toe. Even though the prowess I had from before was merely a borrowed foregery.' Asher tightened up slightly. The sense of gaze still lurked on him. Making his belief staunch to what he had deduced through him.
Shifting his body slightly, his heart sank as he suddenly felt the gaze of another being fall upon him. The hair on the back of his neck straightened, replying to his senses. Heaving a sigh, he stared ahead before speaking.
"I know you can see me, and so can you. Let's end this game of patience and have a chat. Shall we?" His voice echoed with no reply whatsoever for a minute. Heaving a frustrated sigh, he was about to contemplate what to do next before the entire dimension shifted in a vague sense.
The darkness that had encompassed the world suddenly started to have a tinge of crimson convulse within it. The crimson was dark, almost blending in with the surrounding darkness. Asher didn't know if he would've been able to spot it without the ribbon sharpening his gaze.
'Wait, why is the ribbon here, but my blade isn't?' Just as the thought crossed his mind, he tightened as he traced the ribbon covering his eyes. It felt odd and made him curious about the thought, but he soon decided to disregard it.
The tinge of dark crimson hue had now convulsed itself completely, almost replacing the entire darkness. The dark crimson hue was moving in an ethereal way, as if dark blood was seeping through the skies.
"Odd how you are not scared." A voice echoed through the blood-seeping dimension. Asher increased the crease on his eyebrows as he heard that. With a nonchalant expression, he answered.
"It's weird how such an unfathomable existence like you asks such a simplistic question. If you wanted to end me, then you would've done so. Considering the beings I have met before, you are much stronger, and the voice you emit already tells me how arrogant you are." Asher took a halt in his words before continuing with his expression maintained, flawlessly hiding the inexplicable myriad of emotions within him.
With a deep sigh, he added:
"So, as such, if you really wanted, you wouldn't have bothered to kill me the moment I entered this place."
What followed his words was an eerie silence. The inexplicable existence seemed to have been stunned by what Asher said, or that's what he assumed, at the least. Praying that the being wouldn't kill him for saying so much, he continued to stare ahead with his indifferent eyes.
'It seems my foolishness will be the bane to my life.' He self-deprecated himself silently. He even made sure to think in a whisper with the fear that the being might hear it.
A sigh echoed through the blood-seeped dimension before a yellow light flashed upon the dimension. Now that the world was within his view, Asher could see that the ground beneath was also drenched in blood. His feet were entirely covered by it due to its depth.
Much in contrast to the abundance of blood, the air was quite fresh and delicious to breathe. A refreshing sense circulated through him with each breath. Before he could think that the being was about to kill him, the mystical being spoke:
"Interesting. I guess this is the second time we meet then."
A frown appeared on Asher's face as he heard that.
'Second time?' dumbfounded by the being said, he tightened before deciding to speak to the being about it.
"I believe this is the first time we are meeting?"
The frown on his face tightened as the being chuckled in reply.
"For you, yes. But for the you who is everywhere, not so quite." The being exclaimed with a hint of amusement that made Asher click his molars for a second.
'What does he mean by me who is 'everywhere'?' After being left utterly confused, he took a step forward. With each step he took ahead, the pond of blood beneath him splashed.
"It would be better if you would show your self rather than talking in riddles." Asher added with visible exasperation. His left eye was starting to twitch slightly, almost exposing his emotions.
'To be honest, this sure is a strange place. There's no passage of time here. I don't know, but I can feel it. This place has no reality neither existence of any sorts.'
Just before Asher could contemplate his life away, a sharp ray of yellow light suddenly fell on his face. Before he could react, a humming echoed through the dimension.
"Oh he, the strongest."
"Oh he, the Fallen."
"Gaze upon the blemishes of mankind."
"For he, the most mysterious."
Upon hearing the words of humming, he halted in his place. Staring at the source of light, which also seemed to be the origin of the melody. He saw an eye gaze upon him.
The eye had a yellow hue; its dark pupils were shaped like a crucifix, with the shadow of a man being strapped to it with chain-like ropes that had spikes extending out of them.
"The Flawed Gods of the Primordial Realm."
"The Forgotten Beings in the Fallen Realm."
"For sure they will rise."
"For sure, they will fight."
The melody continued in contrast. Each line that entered his ears made him contemplate the meaning behind each. But just as he tried to, he would suddenly find himself staring at the yellow eye with full focus.
In a second, his mouth opened with a tremble.
"The Crucifix, the man, the chains. These... why do I know this. I never knew this!"