Chapter 8: Into the Void
As Noah drifted deeper into unconsciousness, his mind plunged into a void—an endless, suffocating expanse of black. There was no sky, no ground, no sense of direction. It wasn't just empty—it was absolute nothingness. His feet had nothing to stand on, yet he wasn't falling. He tried to breathe, but there was no air, no sensation of inhaling or exhaling.
His own body was the only thing he could see. His arms, his hands—they were there, but they felt weightless, disconnected from reality. Panic began to rise in his chest. Where am I? The question echoed in his mind, but the void swallowed it whole.
Then, a shift.
A deep, gut-wrenching heat crawled up his spine. The temperature soared as if the air itself was catching fire—except there was no air. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, but before they could drip, they evaporated into the nothingness.
Slowly, he turned around.
And there it stood.
A humanoid figure, its body made entirely of molten lava, cracks of glowing orange light pulsating like the heartbeat of an ancient force. Its surface was constantly shifting, flickering between liquid fire and hardened magma. Every movement it made released embers that drifted into the void, vanishing as quickly as they appeared.
Noah's breath hitched. His instincts screamed at him to run, but there was nowhere to go. His feet refused to move, his body frozen—not by fear alone, but by something deeper. Something primal.
The figure didn't move at first. It simply existed, radiating an overwhelming pressure that crushed the space around it.
Then, in a voice that sounded like a thousand crackling flames speaking as one, it finally broke the silence.
"You are not supposed to be here."
The weight of those words struck Noah's very core. His mind raced, his throat dry. His voice, if he could even find it, felt small—insignificant in front of whatever this being was.
Yet, he knew.
This thing wasn't just something he encountered. It wasn't someone he had met.
It was looking through him.
And it knew him.
And then—
The void cracked.
A blinding golden light tore through the endless darkness, splitting it apart like fragile glass. The nothingness shuddered, rippling outward as if reality itself was breaking apart.
The molten figure recoiled.
It let out a guttural, earth-shaking growl—not of rage, but of something else. Irritation. Recognition.
The heat around Noah surged, threatening to consume him, but before it could—
Something pulled him back.
A force—no, a presence—latched onto him, yanking him away with an overwhelming pull. His entire body lurched as if falling in reverse, dragged through the collapsing abyss at a speed that made his mind spin.
The entity didn't chase him. It simply watched.
And then—
The void shattered.
A deafening crash, like the sound of a thousand mirrors breaking at once.
Light flooded his vision.
And just like that—
Noah woke up.
Noah's eyes shot open.
A sharp, unbearable pain split through his skull, as if his mind had been torn apart and hastily stitched back together. His breathing was ragged, and his body felt sluggish, unresponsive. He barely registered the cold stone beneath him before a familiar voice called out.
"Noah!"
Silviana's voice carried a rare urgency. As his vision steadied, he saw her kneeling beside him, golden eyes filled with concern. Behind her, Vaeloran was watching intently, his claw still hovering slightly above Noah's forehead. A faint golden glow flickered between them before fading away.
"You're awake," Vaeloran muttered, relief barely noticeable in his tone.
Noah tried to speak, but his throat felt raw, as if he had screamed for hours. Silviana noticed his struggle and placed a claw on his shoulder.
"Don't force yourself," she advised.
Noah closed his eyes briefly. The burning figure—what was that? The moment it appeared, the void itself shattered, and then... the golden light. It felt familiar, yet completely foreign. Was that the same force that had been interfering with him all this time?
Before he could process further, a rough voice cut through his thoughts.
"Tch. He better have a damn good explanation for this," the Red Dragon scoffed, crossing his arms.
The Blue Dragon, ever amused, smirked. "If he dies right after forming two contracts, wouldn't that make him the worst contractor in history?"
Noah forced himself to sit up, groaning as his body resisted.
"I'm... not dead yet," he croaked out, his voice hoarse but steady.
That got their attention. Even the Black Dragon, usually silent, shifted slightly, his piercing gaze analyzing Noah.
Silviana exhaled, something between relief and frustration crossing her face. "You collapsed suddenly. You were bleeding from your ears and nose. Whatever stopped me from explaining your knowledge… it hit you harder than it did me."
Vaeloran folded his wings, deep in thought. "The contract should have stabilized him… yet it barely helped. What exactly did you see before you lost consciousness?"
Noah hesitated. Should he tell them? The molten figure, the golden light—what if speaking about it made things worse? But withholding information might be just as dangerous.
"...Something was there," he admitted, choosing his words carefully. "A figure. It was made of fire, molten lava… and when I looked at it, the world around me cracked apart."
Silence.
Then, for the first time, the Black Dragon spoke.
"What color were its eyes?"
Noah blinked. The question caught him off guard. He searched his memory, but—
He couldn't remember.
He remembered its burning body, the heat, the overwhelming pressure it exuded. But its eyes? The details slipped through his mind like sand through his fingers.
"I... don't know," Noah admitted, frustrated at himself.
The Black Dragon didn't react much, but something in his posture grew more rigid.
Silviana frowned. "Then whatever it was, it isn't normal. That thing wasn't part of the game, was it?"
Noah clenched his fists. "No. I've never seen anything like it before."
That was the truth. Even in Fate of the Radiant Maiden, no boss, no hidden enemy, no storyline event mentioned a being like that. So what was it?
The Red Dragon exhaled sharply, irritated. "Great. Another mystery. As if this situation wasn't already a mess."
Vaeloran narrowed his eyes at Noah. "This thing—it only appeared after you formed the contract with me."
Noah's stomach sank.
Was that a coincidence? Or had the second contract triggered something?
Silviana's expression darkened as she wiped away the last traces of blood from her nose. "Then we may have just set something into motion that we don't understand."
She sighed.
The Black Dragon spoke again, his voice low and thoughtful. "Did it even have eyes?"
His expression remained unreadable, but there was a weight to his words—an intensity that made the question feel far more important than it seemed. His golden gaze locked onto Noah, as if searching for something in his reaction, something hidden even from Noah himself.
For a moment, the flickering glow of the cave seemed dimmer, the air heavier. He wasn't just asking out of curiosity. No, this was something more.
Something deeper.
Noah's brows furrowed as he tried to recall. The figure's presence had been overwhelming—suffocating. But its face?
He couldn't remember.
Only the heat. The sheer, crushing supremacy that had pressed down on him like an unstoppable force. A primal, undeniable threat.
He swallowed, his voice quieter than he intended. "No…",he muttered as he stood up.
The word lingered in the air, met with silence.
To be continued -