Simo

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Discord

With the disappearance of the ancient door, silence once again reigned in the large cave corridor. The air turned stale as I glanced about for any hidden threats, seeing none I shot Sidus a glimpse and nodded after which we cautiously continued forward.

The silence was almost deafening with the only sound being that of our footsteps. This created an eerie atmosphere keeping both of us on guard as we constantly scanned our surroundings for any hint of danger, yet surprisingly there was none.

The cave seemed to extend deep into the abyss with no end in sight. Sidus appeared a bit unnerved as he whispered, “This is different from my last time here brother, It’s almost as if we have teleported to an entirely different area,”

Hearing that, I solemnly nodded to indicate my understanding, although we didn't encounter any monsters, an invisible heavy force seemed to be pressing on our chests at all times making It impossible for us to relax.

Just as I was about to speak, a feeling akin to that of passing through water washed over me making me feel as If I was truly transported into another ‘plane’. I hastily turned to look at Sidus, a sigh of relief escaped my mouth as I saw that we were not separated.

“Be careful, we seem to have passed through another place just now,” I said, my eyes squinting as I looked left and right.

Sidus appeared to be a little bit confused, dazed almost as he nodded subconsciously. Seeing that, a frown made its way to my face as I hesitantly called out, “Sidus?”

His head turned to face me in an almost mechanical way, his eyes were confused with a dazed expression. He looked like someone who had just woken up and was not yet completely conscious. “What the-?” An extreme feeling of danger brushed over me as I felt my scales rise unconsciously.

Just then, a deep ancient voice reverberated in the dark cave from all sides, It sounded tired, yet also curious as It spoke. “Your little friend isn’t able to maintain his consciousness in here, I’m more interested in how you can do so,”

“Who?” I subconsciously yelled out as I moved closer to protect Sidus in case of a sudden attack.

The voice that seemed to come from everywhere all at once chuckled and replied, “Who? Haha, such an interesting youngling,” It said, just as I was about to reach out for the mana in our surroundings, my eyes widened in shock as the cave suddenly disappeared as If It had never existed in the first place.

We were now standing in an incredibly large dark space with countless small white dots littered across the ground and sky, It was almost as It I was standing in space staring at the faraway stars. For a moment I was stunned and unable to speak as my eyes darted left and right.

Sidus was still by my side, yet his dazed look remained the same. “A soul space?” I subconsciously muttered. That was the only explanation I could come up with, ‘Did we enter when we passed through that place?’ I inwardly noted as I recalled the feeling of walking through water.

“Impressive,” The voice replied with a hint of surprise. This confirmed my guess as my heart calmed down by a bit. Although I wasn’t sure of the intentions of the dragon who owned this soul space, I still felt more comfortable facing him than one of the shades.

Just as I was thinking about that, a figure suddenly morphed into being a few meters ahead of me. It was a black dragon with a few strips of silver on his head. The dragon had one broken horn, while his other one held complicated ruins. His large wings were folded as he stared at me with a curious glint.

His eyes were of a similar color to his scales, obsidian. The longer I stared at them, the more I felt like I was staring at a bottomless abyss. For a brief second, I was able to sense the emotions hidden behind that gaze. ‘Tiredness, loneliness, anger, madness?’ It was very brief, yet for that second I felt connected to the ancient dragon.

A hint of surprise flashed by his eyes as he studied me with a newfound interest. “A young cosmic dragon, that’s rare,” He said before turning his gaze towards Sidus, “And another pillar of creation,” He then turned his attention to me and asked, “Your brother?”

I slowly nodded and subconsciously stepped back to cover Sidus. The dragon seemed to have anticipated my answer as he nodded. “So what are you doing here young one?”

Hearing his question, I hesitated for a second before ultimately deciding to be honest. “Something here was calling out to my little brother, we came to find out what It was,”

The ancient dragon nodded once more, his body turned blurry for a second before It recovered. “That would probably be my core that attracted him here since we are both keepers of the dark pillar,” He explained.

Hearing the word core, my mind instantly went back to Amanita’s crystal back in the ancient battlefield. ‘I still have to go back there,’ I inwardly noted before nodding at the ancient dragon. I had an inkling and now my suspicions were confirmed.

The dragon before me was dead, his predicament was probably the same as Amanita. “Does this mean you can help my little brother?” I shamelessly asked. The old dragon seemed surprised at my request before he burst out into laughter causing the entire dark place to shake as If It was about the collapse.

“Hahaha! Interesting, sure I can help your little brother, but as he is right now, he is still unable to take on my inheritance, it’s best to wait until he is stronger before he comes back. Whether he finds me or not will depend solely on his luck,” Grinned the dragon.

“Depends on his luck? He can’t come back to this place?” I asked.

“I’m never in one place young one, it’s your fortune that you stumbled across me, and misfortune that stumbled across that ‘thing’” He said, to which I frowned, my mind going back to the scene of the ancient door and oppressive feeling that came with it, alongside the ancient aura that seemed to hold whatever monster back.

Countless thoughts and speculations flashed across my mind, ‘Does that mean the old dragon is holding back whatever monster is behind that door?’

Before I could ask, the dark space suddenly began to crack, the ancient dragon had a serious expression on his face before a tired sigh escaped his mouth, “It’s time for you to go young one,”

“Wait! What’s your name?” Seeing that the space was about to collapse I hurriedly asked the first thing that came to mind.

The black dragon chuckled at that and replied, “Nilath,” Saying that the soul space shattered before we once again found ourselves back in the dimly lit cave.