24. A: The Orb and Emptiness

Drifting toward the stream of colors, I am suddenly faced with a strong resistance blocking my advance. Still, not willing to fail, I ignore it. Instead, I...

ZzZSshZz.

Lightning sparks sound.

I force more Power, trying to get it.... that which I want. And doing so, finally...

CRACK.

My hand successfully broke through that resistance.

SHATTER.

And seeing that, I smile, as my hand finally take hol-

Fuuush.

Disintegrating sound.

“.....Ha?”

What just-

Voooom.

Just as I finally tried taking hold of the colors, my hand had suddenly.... melted into nothingness.... and not even having time to get surprised, it happened.... a sudden pulse, shaking this distorted world, and bringing an eerie silence with it...

“!!Gha...”

And feeling that, I try to resist the force pushing me back, before then opening my eyes and staring around me again, but...

“what’s going on?...”

Saying so, I look around me, at the suddenly increasing area of colors, or is it...

“the black melting?...”

I can’t tell honestly. After all, they are probably the same. The black, and the colors. And just like how the arms that were once holding me melted into colors, it’s not impossible for this whole place to do so.... but the thing is...

How can that happen? After all, only with all my skills and focus spent on looking through the black around me, did this small area change, but the whole oblivion doing so...

“that would be....”

Crazy...

Thinking about that, I suddenly feel something and doing so, I look again at my front, and what I saw was...

“an orb?”

Yes, it’s really an orb... One, looking to be made of glass, and that’s for some reason...

“absorbing all the colors around.”

Saying so, I suddenly notice. It’s not colors that are stretching toward the horizon, but it’s The White Emptiness that’s doing so...

A completely White Emptiness suddenly covers all my surroundings as all the colors are absorbed into one point, when...

As if finally reaching a limit, it suddenly started.... a weird interlude...

As if all the colors, the emotions, and thoughts were mixed.... as if all the howls, the screams, and the pleas were combined... and from them, only it was created...

An interlude... And in midst of this Emptiness, it was the only sound reverberating..... but...

“seriously? An Interlude?”

Can that be a coincidence? Or is it affected by my mental image?

Thinking so, and trying to reach an understanding......

Aaaaaahhhhh...

Eeeeeeehhhh...

Oooooooohhh...

I am suddenly interrupted by familiar howls.... and recognizing them, I glance back at it.... the black’s resistance, as it crawls attempting to restore its distorted peace...

Oooooooohhh...

Eeeeeeehhhh...

Aaaaaahhhhh...

And yes, just as I thought. It’s really...

“The Crawling Insanity....”

Moving quickly through the white emptiness, as it howls showing its pure anger.

And seeing that, I don’t waste any more time, after all, it seems that what I thought before was true, and that Hp auto-recovery is truly limited to restoring Hp, and not healing my body.

Thinking so, I look toward my right hand... or at least what remained of it...

And though all my fingers and half of my palm have melted, it seems that the wound is closing slowly... But not healing...

So probably, just like my battle with the heavy walker, it will take a while to heal, and even then it will probably be limited...

“though the question is to what degree will it be limited....”

Saying so, I don’t waste time. And ignoring my hand’s state, just like I am ignoring my other grave injuries, I push myself again toward the orb in the middle of the emptiness...

Aaaaaahhhhh...

Eeeeeeehhhh...

Oooooooohhh...

I push myself and doing so, I remember the time I lost control of my physical mastery previously, before then...

Aaaaaahhhhh...

Eeeeeeehhhh...

Oooooooohhh...

Pushing more.... toward the orb...

-conditions have been met.-

When finally...

-Skill: Aura Manipulation Lv1 has been acquired.-

I... reached it...

And doing so, I quickly take hold of it using what remained of my right hand, before then spinning in my place as I kill the momentum.

“Huff... Huff... will guess... Huff... this is the end, ha?”

Saying so, I look toward the orb suddenly melting into my right palm, before then turning my head, and staring at a mad crawling tsunami.... doing so, and feeling my doom drawing near, I relax, feeling tiredness wash over me, before then calmly opening my eyes and staring at it...

A vast and endless Tsunami... One completely different from the last I saw...

So different that even calling both of them with the same name, will be insulting to this one. And knowing that, I am suddenly...

Exhausted, Tired, and Overwhelmed. To what degree, you may ask?

Will, let just say that I am so tired, that suddenly the idea of closing my eyes once and for all, doesn’t seem that bad...

“Ha, as if I would do that...”

Saying so, I quickly throw any useless thought out of my head, and then stretching my left hand, I gaze at it...

What is it you ask?

Smile.

Well, it’s a falling star.

My Falling Star. Thinking so, I gaze at the white-glowing falling star, as it cut through the Crawling Insanity, and then with sparks of red and blue lightning surrounding it, that falling star...

Accelerate toward me.... or more precisely...

It accelerate toward my left hand. When...

ZzszSZht.

Lightning sparks sound.

Vaaaa.

Finally, I.... am holding it again.

My Halberd, that is.

Oooooooohhh...

Eeeeeeehhhh...

Aaaaaahhhhh...

Nevertheless, not having time to get sentimental about that, the howls grow stronger as the Crawling Insanity also...

Draw nearer.

Nevertheless, I am not nervous. Instead, I am a little excited. And so, now with my halberd back at my hand, I close my eyes.

Doing so, I remember...

That black mist-like Curse.... and how stones just slipped through it..... the mad puppet and how it disintegrated.... and then, I also remember it.... that crack which the heavy walker passed through and how it reflected a distorted reality...

And then, with all of that clicking together in my mind, I open my eyes while also raising my Halberd high...

ZzZzShHsZ.

Lightning sparks sound.

And then, with the glow and sparks around it intensifying, I swing it...

“art”

I swing it, with all my power, my Aura, and all my will, while trying to give it back to the oblivion.... that gift it presented me...

“Blade of Tranquility”

TEAR

When suddenly with a loud voice, my halberd cut a tear through this distorted world and seeing that I tiredly smile, before quickly spinning in place, and holding it in a defensive position, as the insanity finally reach me, when...

Splash.

Waves sound.

With a strong and loud force, I am suddenly thrown out of the Oblivion.