Finding myself confined within the barrier, devoid of any activities, gave me plenty of time to think. One thing to note was that my connection with the wind spirits had been severed, likely due to the barrier's influence. Neither I nor anyone else trapped within these barriers can escape without the consent of the one who created it.
While frustrating, this barrier ultimately serves our interests by preventing us from inadvertently stepping into a perilous warzone where death could come instantly. Moreover, a new contender has emerged in this chaotic scenario: The Queen.
"I wonder if I can-" I tried to see if I could absorb the mana coming from the barrier, but just as fast as I could pull mana and drain the barrier, the ambient mana in the environment filled it even quicker. "I figured this to be the case."
"You missed! Do better 'cause I got money on you, lady!" Mason shouted into the air, swinging his arms around like a child.
"Want her to send another comet-sized fireball at us, Mason?" Leon questioned as he leaned on his rock.
"No, but it's not like she can attack us right now when she is in a dog fight."
"No, not necessarily; she can easily and instantly take down the barrier and kill us all if one of their attacks misses its target."
"OK, fine! I won't bad-mouth the colorful dragon. But what will we do as they fight it out?"
"Watch."
Two mighty dragons circled one another, unleashing their vibrant mana blasts, clawing, gnashing, and crashing into each other. It was a savage clash, akin to a horde of wolves battling for a feast. Deep gashes, open wounds, blood, scales, and torn flesh scattered in the air as the ground became a canvas of golden blood.
The thunderous roars, wild screeches, and earth-shaking rumbles echoed through the land. A fierce clash for dominance raged on, a fight to the bitter end. "They're like savage lions defending their territory. Any intruder that dares to step foot here," Mason declared, unleashing a flurry of punches and kicks into the air.
A weight settled in the air, thick and oppressive. Murmurs swirled around me like distant chattering in the shadows. "What is this noise?" I growled, scanning the surroundings for the source.
"Be quiet!" Leon crouched on his stone, hands pressed tight against his ears, battling the chaos.
"Leon?" I touched and tapped his shoulder, but he remained lost, trapped in his thoughts.
"What are you... all?"
"Hey! Snap out of it!"
At this point, Mason took a glance at me, taking his short attention span away from the fight.
"What's wrong with him?"
"I'm not sure, but help me get him out of it." I shook him to no avail.
Mason snapped his fingers and pointed at Leon. "Orochi, smack him in the face until he wakes up."
The snake's tail extended from the ground and smacked Leon's face back and forth, while a second tail emerged from the shadows to fan his master. Despite being hit initially, Leon Ignored our actions as if we had done nothing. I looked at Mason, giving him the hint to knock it off.
"I wonder if I can..."A voice cut through my thoughts, familiar as my breath.
"You can, Arnold. Dive deep into his mind to see what he is experiencing." My summon echoed in my head, a whisper that felt both far and near.
I gently placed my hands on either side of Leon's head, guiding it upward so that his vibrant brown eyes could meet my gaze. Typically brimming with vitality, those eyes now reflected a tumult of disturbance, despair, and fear.
What could he possibly be going through?
I channeled mana into my palms, directing it to surge like a stream into the depths of Leon's mind. Initially, I found myself enveloped in a dark, monochromatic void reminiscent of a black hole, but gradually, the darkness began to lift, revealing a hint of light.
When I opened my eyes, I was greeted by an expanse of darkened sky, thick clouds obscuring my view, and an unsettling sensation akin to countless ants crawling across my skin.
It felt like an infinite multitude of eyes scrutinized my every move, penetrating deep into my essence, seeking to uncover the very core of my being. My sense of privacy evaporated as these unseen watchers delved into my thoughts, rummaging through the recesses of my mind to extract my most profound and hidden secrets.
"Push forward, Arnold; I am here to help."
Utilizing the power of my summon, I surged through the thick veil of clouds, determined to uncover the origin of Leon's unrest. Below me, an immense and boundless ocean unfolded, its depths shimmering with mana that could rival the divine. The unsettling gaze I had sensed earlier emanated from this abyss, a dark and turbulent sea littered with remnants of the past.
As I plunged into the pitch-black water, I secured a wind helmet around my head. Harnessing the limitless reserves of mana, I transformed it into breathable oxygen, allowing me to embark on my journey into the profound abyss of the ocean.
I scanned the water, searching for a sign of anything, yet saw nothing but debris. A piece of something floated from the bottom of the water source, catching my attention. I grabbed it and immediately dropped it, feeling my heart skip a beat, almost throwing up in my helmet.
The debris consisted of varied flesh and body parts of something not human: bones too big for the human body, scales that violently shined in the water, and talons longer than my legs combined. I found so many body parts that the numbers reached the thousands, and much more was to be discovered.
What would all of these parts be from? What creature would have such distinct biology? What am I dealing with? Questions floated in and out of my head as I spiraled out and drifted aimlessly in the water like a leaf in the summer breeze.
As I delved further into the depths, skillfully navigating the water, I became acutely aware of the increasing number of gazes fixated upon me. With each passing moment, I sensed the emergence of a new entity that radiated an intensity I had never encountered before. This formidable presence was so overwhelming that it demanded every ounce of my mental strength to resist the instinctual urge to escape in terror.
I willed the current to work with me, urging it to carry me further down, plunging deeper and deeper into the water. My vision wavered, and my fingers felt icy and devoid of sensation while beads of sweat poured down my face and soaked my back. Everything felt utterly nonsensical. My body was in disarray, as if my five senses had been violently yanked away and tossed off a twenty-story building.
At long last, after what seemed like an eternity, I saw a creature so immense it consumed the entire ocean floor, stretching into the abyss with no discernible end. Monstrous, titanic, gargantuan—words faltered in the face of its sheer magnitude. No human could grasp the enormity of this leviathan. Yet, deep within my soul, I recognized its true nature—a dragon, a creature so unfathomable that my feeble mind could scarcely begin to articulate its existence.
It was trapped in a chilling stillness, devoid of movement or breathing. The monstrosity was restless, showing that its final moments were anything but peaceful. Its tail spiraled tightly around its body like a shroud, guarding some unfathomable secret. I dared to count the monstrous wings, towering like skyscrapers, but my sanity faltered at twelve, each wrapped around its body like its tail.
As I drew closer, the water became alive with sinister murmurs, swirling around me like a crowd of unseen specters, their voices echoing from every direction. The whispers intensified, morphing into a cacophony of shouts, shrieks, and howls—an overwhelming tide of fury, sorrow, and dread. Each cry bore the weight of despair, pressing down on me like a malevolent force, pinning me mercilessly to the cold, unyielding seabed.
The dragon, frozen in time, slowly opened its deep orange eyes, casting an eerie glow upon the water, revealing the nightmarish tableau surrounding me.
A wave of nausea surged through me, and I retched violently at the ghastly sight that would haunt the bravest of souls: countless dragons suspended in the murky depths, their eyes flickering like dying embers. Their emaciated forms told tales of starvation and despair.
It was no surprise why the mana here was boundless; these legendary creatures, capable of waging war on the Gods themselves, were ensnared in a frozen hell, imprisoned in their own power.
Suddenly, their heads jerked in unison towards me, and the haunting whispers ceased. My heart raced, threatening to leap out of my throat as the dragons surged forward, their anguished cries echoing in a desperate plea for freedom.
As swiftly as they moved towards me, my summon, Zephyr, yanked me away, sparing me from a fate worse than death.
The immense dragon's mana surged like a tempest, clawing towards me. The water solidified, attempting to stop me from escaping. Breaking past the water barrier, my body began to ascend rapidly, hoping to escape with my sanity.
The wind howled behind me, whiplashing my body and slowing my ascent. Just as I breached the clouds, a massive black maw loomed before me, gaping wide, ready to snap shut with a ferocity that defied reason. The thunderous clap of its jaws sent me spiraling upward at an immeasurable speed.
My body was catapulted into the air with a ferocity that defied all reason. I was powerless to halt my limbs' chaotic spin and flail, like a wretched fish gasping for breath on dry land.
The last thing I saw before I exited Leon's mindscape was the dragon's large, dark orange eyes, watching me as it slowly descended into the water. My eyesight turned into one similar to entering a pitch-black tunnel, all the light quickly circularly leaving my sight before doing the reverse, showing me the real world. I staggered back as I came back from that horrific scenery, with sweating oozing out of my pores and covering me like a blanket.
An arm hooked into mine as Mason helped me down.
"Take it easy, will you? One minute, you were fine, and the next, you were screaming bloody murder," Mason lightly commented before looking me directly into my eyes.
"What did you see?"
I looked at him as one of my wind spirits cooled me off. "Not now. Just thinking about it is mentally draining."
Mason constructed a chair out of light particles and gently placed me in it. As I gasped for air, I focused on regulating my breath, striving to find a sense of tranquility. My limbs quivered unnaturally, showing no indication that they would settle anytime soon.
Looking over to my right, I saw Leon trapped in his vision with no hope of escaping. Witnessing my friend, my brother, in a state of utter helplessness against the overwhelming supernatural forces was a pain that pierced my heart deeply. I was left powerless, merely an observer, as his mental and physical condition deteriorated before my very eyes.
"For now, all I can do is soothe his agony. Any more attempts to enter his mindscape could trap me. Seeing how fragile he is concerns me, but we need to wait. Speaking of waiting, how is the fight going?" I stopped myself as I turned to the scenery around me.
The scene was a complete disaster zone before I plunged into Leon's mind; now, it resembled the aftermath of a cataclysmic storm combined with a nuclear blast, leaving nothing but utter devastation. The once vibrant grass that filled my view had vanished, replaced by a choking haze of dust, smoke, dirt, and soot. Massive craters, as large as skyscrapers, pockmarked the ground in a chaotic arrangement. The volcano that used to loom behind us was violently dismantled, its remnants strewn across the landscape. Lava oozed everywhere, cascading down the path where the river used to flow. I found myself coughing uncontrollably as the acrid smoke billowed up from the ground.
'The sheer force of destruction is staggering!'
I can't believe this occurred while I was away; the area surrounding the barrier has been utterly leveled, obliterated, and reduced to nothing, making it seem as if the earth beneath us has been elevated.
Then it hit me: the deadly silence that shouldn't be there. This was a battlefield, yet no sound other than the crackling of lava could be heard. Looking around, I found our two guests. Floating above us were the two dragons staring off against each other. Listening in and focusing mana into my ears, I heard a sort of snoring, rumbling, growling, and screeching. Each sound was reverbed and sounded like a conversation between a pack of demonic wolves.
"They just started to do this when you came out of Leon's mindscape. I'm not sure if that means something-" His words were cut off by the air being agitated by something.
The obsidian dragon pulsed with a sickly purple glow, its skin crumpling inward like a grotesque mass, squished and deformed. As it shrank, a rift in reality twisted open, revealing a presence that was both there and not there. A static shroud enveloped The Figure, a swirling storm of gray and white particles obscuring its true form. I could discern the silhouette of The Figure, yet the features remained maddeningly elusive, like a nightmare just out of reach. It hovered, arms undulating with an eerie elegance, surveying the space around it with a disinterested gaze as if we were mere ants in its world, unworthy of acknowledgment.
"Ah, how exhilarating it is to be awake again! Huh? It's only been 20 years since I went into hibernation. Why so early, Mother? Is it time to gather the Apostles already?" The Figure's voice was spoken in reverse yet spoken normally simultaneously.
The very next moment, the dragon swung its massive head in our direction, unleashing a bone-chilling roar. What was its intent? Why fix its gaze upon us with such ferocity—
A shiver crawled up my spine, an unsettling sensation as if unseen eyes were boring into me from behind. I spun around, heart racing, and nearly screamed as I found myself face-to-face with the Hidden Figure, looming over me like a dark specter of authority.
"An elf who can't even meet the meager expectations laid before him? Utterly pathetic."
I found myself sprawled on the cold, unforgiving floor, my limbs refusing to move like a marionette with severed strings. Panic clawed at my throat as I attempted to rise, but my body refused, trapped in a nightmarish state similar to sleep paralysis.
My thoughts echoed like sirens, demanding action, yet I was trapped, my head the only part of me that dared to defy the paralysis. After an eternity of struggle, which was merely a heartbeat in reality, I finally caught a glimpse of the horror that had rendered me immobile, and a wave of nausea washed over me, thick and suffocating.
The remains of my body lay in a grotesque state, devoid of limbs, severed with an eerie precision. There were no gaping wounds, no blood to stain the ground, only the chilling absence of what once was. A cacophony of terror erupted from my throat, a primal scream that echoed through the void, mingling with the foulness of despair as I grappled with the suffocating dread of my own mortality.
The barrier changed its structure to split its shape to protect me and separate me from The Figure. In response, The Figure chuckled as it turned away from me and turned to Mason, who sat on the floor, arching his back away. He scampered back like a scared animal.
"Or-or-Orochi!" He screeched in a panicky tone.
From the shadows of his master, Orochi The Serpent erupted beneath Mason, a force that repelled The Hidden Figure and caused the barrier to shake.
A primal instinct surged within me, urging me to scream a warning, to tell Mason to flee. Yet, my voice betrayed me, morphing into a viscous, incoherent mass of nonsensical sounds that echoed in the suffocating air.
"Maisin, ron!"
He disregarded my warning, his body convulsing as he attempted to rise to his knees, swaying and trembling as if caught in the throes of a drunken stupor intertwined with a violent seizure. Mason summoned forth a cataclysmic torrent of mana, draining every last drop from his reserves in a desperate attempt to unleash an assault. Yet, in the fleeting moments it took Mason to gather his strength, The Figure had effortlessly halted Orochi's advance with a mere finger, lifting it with an air of casual dominance.
As that finger made contact, it cleaved Orochi in two as if he were nothing more than a fragile wisp of smoke. With a flick of its wrist, The Figure taunted Mason with a cruel smile, beckoning him to unleash his attack.
"Go on, boy."
Mason summoned forth an overwhelming torrent of mana, a spectacle of raw energy that eclipsed anything I had ever witnessed from him before. He forged it into a colossal, black shadow spike. His aim was steady, yet his trembling limbs betrayed him, quaking with a fear that gnawed at his resolve. In that moment of dread, he seemed to surrender to instinct, perhaps driven by sheer terror, as he seized the moment and unleashed the projectile. It shot forth like a vengeful spirit, a blur that vanished from my sight before colliding with an unseen target, the sound of metal meeting metal echoing ominously in the air.
Then, a grotesque gurgle shattered the silence; caught in my periphery was The Hidden Figure with its hand around Mason's throat. He writhed in desperation, suspended above me, his silhouette casting a dark shadow over me, a harbinger of doom that threatened to engulf us both.
"Boy, who uses an unknown summon, one veiled in shadow, one covered in... sorcery. Interesting, but my mother's wishes are more important than my personal enjoyment and curiosity. Begone ant."
In an instant, the Hidden Figure twisted its head with a jarring crack, releasing Mason as if he were mere trash. It raised its right hand to shield itself from an unseen threat.
Mason collapsed onto me, his unconscious body a dead weight that elicited a groan of agony from my lips. A jagged spike of energy erupted from the barrier, hurtling toward The Hidden Figure's back. Yet, The Figure merely extended its left hand, effortlessly absorbing the blow, shattering the very essence of the attack into a cascade of shimmering shards.
At that moment, a cataclysmic surge of mana collided with The Figure's right hand, unleashing a shockwave that rippled through the air like a malevolent tide. The force of it sent both Mason and me spiraling away, my body crashing onto the charred, debris-laden ground. I rolled through the acrid remnants of battle while soot and dirt smeared my face, a grotesque mask of despair.
My cries morphed into a cacophony of anguish, a symphony of suffering as phantom pains gnawed at the stumps of my severed limbs, as each throb was a reminder of the horrors that had befallen me.
"I'm sorry, Arnold, that I couldn't act to defend you. Allow me to tend to your injuries, if nothing else. It will take time as you are critically wounded, discombobulated, and extremely stressed. My connection to you is weakened now due to your current state."
A gentle, pale green glow enveloped my body after Zephyr spoke, creating a sensation that was both ticklish and soothing. This ethereal light seemed to ease the phantom pain that had been plaguing me, granting me just enough strength to turn my head slightly. In a whirlwind of activity, events unfolded around me at a pace too rapid for my senses to fully comprehend, leaving me only to witness the consequences of what had transpired. The sight before me was so astonishing that it momentarily overshadowed the discomfort and pain I had been feeling.
"You're here, thank the... gods."
"Yeah, I'm sorry I'm late. I had a detour to take before getting here, but what matters is that I'm here."
A shadow stood over me, glistening in a shiny and colorful suit of armor. Only one person has it, a person so strong that he is revered as a god among men. Someone who just by existing can make millions run in terror if he was an enemy. A man who is the strongest human in history, no scratch that, the strongest mortal being in history.
The gold helmet that matched his suit of armor had a black V on his forehead above and past his head. Where the V started, it had a red rhombus-shaped gem that violently shone when any light touched it. He had a V-shaped red visor covering his eyes, and his silver mouthguard was shaped in a wing-shaped V. Surrounding the mouthguard were black lines that outlined the guard, and once it reached up the sides of it, the outline went across and away from the guard in 3 separate sequences.
His neck was black, with several gold lines starting from the neck and connecting to various body parts. The area near his neck was also shaped in a V. The armor had a black cape that flowed in the wind, making him look majestic like a superhero. He had a golden shoulder guard that protected both shoulders, connecting from the neck in a silver line around it. The guard is divided into four parts with a spike that curved upwards. His chest was black, connecting to his shoulder guards, covered in gold shapes that overlapped each other with a black gem in the middle.
The armor's stomach, sides, and armpits were silver, with gold lines running from the sides of his black chest and running up to connect with the shoulder guard. It also had two gold lines on each side connected to the closest gold line from his chest. He had gold lines connected to each of his arms, running along his chest and stomach to run on each of his legs. The color of the flexible fabric of his arms was black, and with each movement, the golden bonds on his forearms glistened in the sun. Each wrist guard was gold, with a point at the end near the elbow that met his wrist in a gold V. His hands were black, just like his arms, and gold rhombus-shaped stones were on each of his knuckles.
The belt connected to the armor was golden, with a black V in the center. Just below that, his legs were black with a gold line running down them. He had the same golden bonds between his knees and feet, and where his legs met his feet, they faded from black to gold and silver slashes.
This suit of armor was the symbol of hope etched into my human family, one that erased all despair, hopelessness, and terror with sight alone. Samuel Rodrigues is the name of the man who changes a battlefield with his presence alone.
'I have nothing to worry about; if you are here, I can leave everything to you and take a small...'