"Ergh"ƒ𝘳𝘦e𝔀e𝚋𝘯૦𝐯el.c𝗼m
Opening my eyes, I clasped my neck with my own two hands.
"Dammit… What was that...."
The dream was the same, or rather the continuation of what I saw after my transmigration. Back then, I had simply disregarded it as nonsense.
"Who were those two figures?"
The first figure used something exceedingly similar to my art, but wasn't I the only one who was the First King's successor?
And the second figure….
Was it… Leon?
"No, a giant apparition, although scarce, isn't exactly unique."
I was trying to occupy my mind. To not think about that, however, I couldn't help but recall those corpses.
Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!
A natural question popped into my head when I recalled those innumerable corpses.
Am I a regressor?
"No, that doesn't make sense! I have no memory of any past lives other than my original."
Besides, the second figure was shocked when he saw me. From their conversation, I could tell that what the second figure had faced many times was the first figure, not me.
The second figure remained calm, even though he must have faced the first figure many times.
However, at that moment, when he saw he was shaken.
He didn't know me.
"Didn't that first figure say something about the next round being different? What did that mean?"
I felt like I was missing something.
(Nathan?)
(…Nathan?)
(Nathan!)
A sudden shock came from my left. Turning my head, I found Eth's fist connected to my shoulder.
Only now did I notice that I was inside my soul.
(What are you mumbling about?)
I opened my mouth to answer, however-
"Was it fun?"
-a loud voice boomed.
We were brought to our knees as two golden commanding eyes appeared behind the veil.
"Arghh!"
(Urgh!)
The moment I got up with a groan, the voice that had been heard from the other side of the curtain was suddenly right in front of me. However, its owner was still on the other side.
"Was it fun to waste the power I gave you?"
I could feel his overwhelming presence. It was like he was standing directly behind me and looking at me with his sharp gaze... That gaze...
It was the gaze of someone who'd seen through everything about me.
"W-who…"
The voice ignored us and stared at us with an apathetic gaze.
"You had prepared to lose, to be caught. You never intended to use the power I gave you."
My soul was shaking with each word from him. The power he was emitting with his presence alone was enough to shatter me.
"Yet that was a farce. You were looking for a chance, a safe but desperate situation, but it also needed to give you an advantage, no matter your success or failure."
"I… d-don't know… what you're… talking… about"
My mind was freezing, and my body was stiff.
It wasn't only the pain that I was feeling. No, it was something more primal.
It was fear.
"Is not that why you jumped into a mission that could have fatal backlash?"
"H-How?"
(Nathan… what does… he mean?)
I felt numb.
He knew.
"You wanted to see if the power I gave was reliable, to see if you could depend on it when it was truly needed."
I felt a chilly breeze crawl up my back.
How?
I made sure that none of my actions gave me out, even going as far as masking them with other goals. I thought it looked natural, that I was forced to use [Synchronization].
Clank- Clank-
Suddenly, I heard the rattling of chains.
"You wasted my generosity on such a menial thought?"
Shaaa-
A wave of energy pulsed from the veil.
Fissures started appearing on my soul as it began cracking.
"Rejoice. You have destroyed your only chance at survival. You have not much but 8 months to live."
Just when I thought the power pouring out from the veil would kill me, it abruptly disappeared, and so did the fissures.
"Lament, as you suffer the consequences of your choices."
With those words at the end, the golden eyes too disappeared.
Eth and I began huffing as we tried to stand.
Our bodies were finally free. However, I had no strength to stand.
'Did I make a mistake….'
(Nathan!)
Eth tried to help me stand. But after seeing that I was deliberately not standing, he stopped trying.
(Who was he? What was he talking about?)
"…I don't know who he is, though if I had to guess he is the one who brought me into this world"
I decided to talk. It wasn't like it was a secret anymore.
"He was talking about how I purposely set myself in a situation where I had to use [Synchronization]"
(…You did what?)
"…"
(Why?! You almost died back there!)
"I needed answers."
I turned on my back and floated in the void.
"The presence of Outsiders and them having an advantage over me. Our conflicting views. A book that is showing me the future. [Synchronization] that seems too good to be true."
"What is their purpose? Why do I have such a big disadvantage among all 3? Can I trust [Synchronization]?"
"There are too many questions, but no answers."
(How is it related to [Synchronization]?)
I pointed to my head.
"Reach Enma-rank in one year"
(Huh?)
"Since the day I got the diary, there had been a thought stuck in my head. Get to Enma-rank before one year."
I was looking at the giant Spear constellation inside my soul. Now, it was the only constellation present.
(But you never expressed anything related to it.)
"I was acting oblivious. To make it look like I didn't get the message."
To fool your enemies, you must fool your friends first.
If the being inside my soul wanted to harm me with [Synchronization] it could have told me to use [Synchronization] or to solve a dangerous situation, that would force me to use that skill.
However, it told me to become Enma-rank.