"All this darkness around me… Where am I?"
I struggled to move, but no matter how much I tried, I couldn't. My limbs felt absent, as though I was nothing but a floating consciousness. I couldn't see. I couldn't smell. I couldn't even hear. There was no sound—just a crushing silence that seemed to suffocate me.
"How did I get here?"
Fragments of memory pierced through my mind—the statues, Celeste's lifeless body, Selina pummeled into a bloody heap, Cedric's wide, horrified eyes as he fell. A knot of helplessness formed deep in my chest. I could see Celeste's limp form—her—the only person I had felt a connection with here. I had failed her. I had failed everyone.
"Maybe… if I died here… it wouldn't be so bad." I whispered to myself. Maybe this was where I belonged—a dark nothingness, where failure no longer mattered.
And then, a voice shattered the void.
"Interesting. So even you know how pathetic you are."
The voice was deep, mocking, and impossible to trace. It echoed everywhere and nowhere at once, like a cruel god sneering from the darkness.
Who is this? I thought, panic creeping into me. I tried to speak, to demand answers, but no sound escaped.
"Don't strain yourself. I can hear your thoughts just fine," the voice drawled lazily.
Then tell me where I am! I screamed in my mind, desperate for clarity.
"Before that, let me tell you something. Time is short, and you… you're the most pitiful excuse for a person I've seen. Trapped in a simple hallucination spell and ready to die in it? You are useless."
The words stung—more because I couldn't refute them. If this was a hallucination trap, if everything I had witnessed was nothing but a lie, then I truly was pathetic. A weak pawn, stumbling helplessly in a game I didn't understand.
The voice snapped again, sharp and angry. "Do you even grasp the urgency here? I pulled you out before you died in there. But your precious 'friend'—she's still stuck. Convulsing. Gasping. Slowly dying."
Celeste is still alive? My mind latched onto those words like a lifeline. Then, as if to taunt me further, the voice snickered. "Or should I say your girlfriend? Funny, really. I didn't think you were capable of bonds."
She's not—! I tried to retort, but it didn't matter. Celeste was alive, and that was all I needed to know. Please, send me back out there!
"Send you back? Why would I? I couldn't care less if she dies. In fact, I hope she does. You aren't meant for happiness or bonds. You're meant to suffer."
The voice's words sank deep into me like needles, but I pushed past the despair. Anger flared in my chest, searing through the helplessness. "Then why pull me out at all, you monster?! If you're just going to watch her die, what do you even want from me?"
The voice fell silent, leaving me to drown in my panic. No… please. Let me save her.
I forced myself to think. He said he'd send me back once she dies. That was a clue. I clenched onto it. If this voice needed me alive, then maybe—just maybe—I had some leverage.
Taking a gamble, I whispered into the void, "If you don't send me back, I won't fight. The moment I'm out there and see her dead, I'll let myself die too. Isn't that what you don't want? Me dead?"
A tense silence followed. My surroundings trembled, as though the void itself was weighing my words. Then, all at once, I felt a shift. My body started to take form again—my senses returning, bit by bit. The stillness broke, replaced with a feeling of weight, cold air grazing my skin.
But something was wrong. My eyes—I couldn't see.
I raised my trembling hands to my face, only to find my eyelids sewn shut. What?!
The voice laughed, this time echoing close to me. "You really think you can outsmart me? Blackmail, was it? Foolish, but amusing."
Suddenly, a sharp impact hit my face. I staggered, feeling pain radiate through me. Another hit followed. Then another. Each blow was brutal and unrelenting, sending shockwaves of agony through my body. I tasted blood.
I tried to speak, but nothing came out. I could only endure.
"There's no point disciplining trash like you," the voice said finally, almost bored. "But I'll give you what you want. The girl's alive… for now. Time flows differently here, so you've got one chance. I'll send you back out there. Don't waste it."
The voice grew distant, footsteps echoing as it faded away. My body felt heavy, like it was sinking. Then, in an instant, the world twisted around me.
I jolted awake, gasping for air, my eyes wide open. I can see. My vision adjusted to the dim light, and I quickly summoned a small light orb. Its soft glow illuminated the clearing, revealing the twisted forms of the statues—and the three bodies lying on the ground.
Celeste. Selina. Cedric.
They were convulsing violently, their limbs jerking in unnatural ways as if fighting against invisible chains. I could see the same torment I had felt moments ago reflected on their faces.
"The hallucination trap…" I whispered, realization hitting me. They were still stuck.
I glanced around, heart pounding. The statues were still here—standing like sentinels, their eerie eyes fixated on me. The moment I moved, their heads turned in unison, locking onto me with haunting precision.
But something was different. I'm not trapped anymore.
If the statues couldn't trap me again, that meant I had a chance. I had to wake the others up.
I dropped to my knees beside Celeste first, pressing my hand over her convulsing body. Foreign mana—my mana—pulsed outward, flowing into her. I gritted my teeth, praying this would work. Foreign mana was usually rejected unless consciously accepted, and this was my best shot at breaking the trap.
Nothing. Her body jolted, but she didn't wake.
"Damn it!" I hissed, sweat trickling down my face.
I tried the same for Selina and Cedric. Their bodies resisted just as fiercely, the mana repelled like water off stone. I glanced nervously at the statues—still staring, still watching—but unmoving for now.
What do I do?
I couldn't let this happen again. I couldn't watch them die, not like this.
Pushing myself to my feet, I drew my sword from its sheath. If the hallucinations triggered from those cursed eyes, then I needed to destroy them. I summoned my mana, wind swirling violently around me, the familiar hum of power reassuring me.
"Whispering gale," I muttered, channeling everything I had. Fifty sharp blades of wind formed, glowing faintly in the dark.
I locked onto the statues—onto their grotesque eyes—and let the blades fly.
The clearing erupted in chaos. Blades cut through the air, hitting their marks. One by one, the statues' eyes burst in sprays of blackened liquid, their organic glow snuffed out. The rest of their stone bodies remained intact, impervious to damage, but their power seemed to wane.
I dropped to my knees, breathing heavily. The convulsing had stopped.
Celeste, Selina, and Cedric lay still—no longer thrashing, no longer fighting invisible torment. I crawled to Celeste's side first, pressing two fingers to her neck. A faint pulse. She's alive.
Relief washed over me, but it was short-lived. The statues hadn't moved, but I knew we couldn't stay here. I couldn't risk them coming back to life.
"Why is it always me?" I muttered bitterly to myself, glancing at the three unconscious bodies.
But even as the exhaustion weighed on me, I couldn't help but smile faintly. I had saved them.
I stood up, one hand clutching Celeste's limp body as I prepared to carry her. "Let's get out of here," I whispered to no one, already resigning myself to the effort of dragging the others to safety.
This wasn't over—but for now, I'd won.