21. A: in midst of black

I was devoured.

By a crawling, human-distorting, world-ending Black, I was devoured. And No, I am not talking about Nyarlathotep, even if the name seemed similar.

Still, Nyarlathotep or not, I can’t deny that getting devoured by a crawling wave of twisted limbs and distorted faces Did seem pretty eldritch.

A new experience, I would say. I mean, who would have thought that after Enhanced Humans, Weaponized Androids, and even Cyborgs, I would meet an Eldritch Entity someday? It almost made me want to live a little longer, you know?

But anyway, back to the topic. So, I was devoured by the crawling insanity, and No, I didn’t meet Azathoth, or anything similar, instead...

What I met was tranquility. A beautiful, and corrupted tranquility that draws you in it, while all of what makes you is slowly disintegrating into the Oblivion. Then enjoying it for a while, I...

Opened my eyes, escaping that illusion...

Just for death to then greet me.

....

Opening my eyes, and escaping the illusion of tranquility, I am met with a silent world of black. A world, where no sound or light exists...

Crack.

Well, there IS exception though. But that’s not important.

Crack. Break.

What’s important is the fact that I am dying slowly, as not only is my body being corroded and broken by Curse, but even those twisted limbs are slowly stabbing and tearing my body from inside out, all, while also pulling me down into this oblivion...

-Conditions have been met

Skill: Defence Lv5 has become Lv6-

And faced with that, what do you think I did, hmm? Well, it’s simple actually...

I...

-Conditions have been met

Skill: Adaptation Lv3 has become Lv4-

Have chosen to give in, to drown, and to see this ‘till its end.

Because sometimes, it’s just impossible for a single person to change the flow... it’s just impossible for a single person to resist the current, and to stand against the stream..... it’s just impossible...

Smile.

“at least, from the outside that is.”

-Conditions have been met

Skill: Sp enhance Lv5 has become Lv6-

And so, I have chosen to give in and see it, the true form of Curse, that which is called Human Emotions’ true colors...

“after all, it seems Observer failed previously, and I could not sense it, sooo...”

Sooo, It’s now time...

“time to drown....”

-Conditions have been met

Skill: Magic power Lv4 has become Lv5-

Drown until I find it, the power to change the current.

Thinking so, and preparing myself, I grit my teeth, close my eyes, and relax.... as it slowly starts...

....

Releasing my focus, and giving to Curse, it started.... an invasion of thoughts and feelings.... and though I could previously resist it by depending on Observer, this time... I have chosen not to.... even if that means that both my mind and body’s corrosion would increase, even if it mean that my body and mind would break and that I would get swept by this endless world of black... even so, I have chosen to do so.... and no, it’s not by madness, nor weakness.... and no, it’s not by fear, nor suicidal tendencies... No, No, it’s by confidence.... and pride actually.... the pride that no matter how much I drown, I can always...

“break free....”

Saying so, my consciousness starts blurring, as thousand of thoughts and feelings appear...

Thousand of sounds, thousand of people.... with their voices, their screams filling this silent worl-.... No, it’s not filling... it’s the opposite actually.... because those voices are in fact nothing, but that which was already in this world...

Yes, those sounds and screams are Curse.

....

It was a peculiar experience... the feeling of drowning in black, both physically and mentally.... nevertheless, it’s not like I actually had time to think about it.... not with thousands of foreign thoughts invading my mind...

Honestly? It was madness. Having to hear their scream, having to listen to their cries, and to understand their pleas...

Tasting their pain, feeling their sadness, and living their fear.... it was as if for a moment, ‘I’ was not me, anymore...

Instead, it was as if ‘I’ was one of them instead.... they, the Remains trapped within Black.... the Vestiges lost to Oblivion.... as if ‘I’ too was nothing but a hollow and empty shadow, flowing within this endless ocean of black...

it was a peculiar experience.... having all those endless feelings and thoughts entering your mind, having to listen to hundreds, thousands, or even millions of dreams and nightmares.... of joyful moments and despairing glimpses.... it was unbelievable.... it was crazy.... and it was also overwhelming...

Black, endless and vast.... as if stretching forever, and in its midst was ‘I’ and them...

They were shadows, they were vestiges.... they were nothing but broken thoughts beyond recognition.... nothing but scrapped emotions beyond understanding... simply put, they.... were parts discarded.... fragments forgotten.... and pieces lost...

And so, in this black world, there was ‘I’ and they, the hollow vestiges, something more broken and empty than demonic beast themselves, as such, they wanted.... they needed.... more than anything else...

To devour me.

It was black, and in its midst, ‘I’ was drowning, slowly, surely, I was drowning as I listened and gazed at the hollowness of this world.... at those endless but empty emotions and thoughts.... they were endless, they were varied.... but they were nevertheless, nothing but vestiges... nothing but scraps.... nothing but remains.... as such, they were fakes.... and they were also empty.... even more than demonic beast, they were empty... with no truth to them... and desiring more.... they sought me...

It was mad, it was distorted and even... twisted... this world of black, that is.... and in its midst, there was we, the hollow shadows, empty, lost, and with no hope... there was nothing but to drown in... there was nothing, but to fade.... in a world of black, in a world of distortions, there was nothing, and there will be nothing.... for that is what black mean.... for that is what Oblivion is.