I held the book horizontally across my chest, hoping to block the incoming black shadow. I watched in disbelief as the shadow passed directly through the book and struck my body. “H-how is this possible!”
The force of the impact sent me flying back over ten meters, leaving me sprawled helplessly on the ground. A searing pain erupted from where I had been struck in the chest.
“A futile struggle!” the Heavenly Capital Empress roared, and countless rings of order shimmered into existence, layering themselves around me.
Sizzle—
“Ah—!” The searing sensation in my chest intensified, slowly beginning to spread. Soon, a horrifying burning sensation spread to my arms, legs, and even my neck.
Gradually, my control over my body weakened, and my consciousness began to fade.
Beyond my control, ‘I’ raised my hands.
[Forbidden Art: God-Shattering Spear]
A long spear materialized in ‘my’ hand. Thunk—! It plunged fiercely into the countless rings of light.
They shattered, then dissipated. Gradually, the imposing array of light rings that had once pressed down upon me dissolved into mere specks of divine light.
The Heavenly Capital Empress stopped her movements, gazing at ‘me’ with a complex expression. “Why go to such lengths for a mere one in ten chance?”
“What if the odds are low?” ‘I’ retorted with a sneer. “It’s still better than staying here, watching an old geezer like you. Better to go out and see the world than wait for death here!”
Slowly, the Heavenly Capital Empress’s form began to fade. “Farewell, then. You cannot change fate.”
‘I’ offered a faint smile. I have always believed, ‘Man can conquer destiny.’
Once the Heavenly Capital Empress’s form had completely vanished, I collapsed directly to the ground.
****
Outside, Ryan and the others, after waiting for several hours, had begun to grow anxious.
“Do you think something’s happened?” Lavishly Karafar asked, her gaze fixed anxiously on the massive door.
“I doubt it,” Yin replied, leaning against the door in an attempt to reassure her. “She asked me about it earlier; she probably already knew how to get in.”
Lavishly Karafar felt a slight easing of her worry, but the troubled frown between her brows remained.
A hum resonated through the air. Ripples spread across the surface of the colossal door, and slowly, I stepped out from within.
“What did you encounter in there?” Lavishly Karafar rushed forward the moment she saw me emerge, asking with palpable urgency.
“Uh, no, nothing at all. It was completely empty inside.” I lied. After all, what had transpired in there was hardly something I could openly discuss. As the thought crossed my mind, I subtly brought a hand to my chest, covering the spot where a black thorn tattoo now lay.
It was already evening when I emerged. I found a hotel.
“I’m not really hungry,” I told them. Without waiting for their reply, I hurried to my reserved room and slammed the door shut with a resounding ‘Click!’
Almost immediately, I collapsed helplessly to the floor. My lips were blue, my face ashen, and my entire body trembled uncontrollably.
Pain. Just pain. An overwhelming agony that consumed my entire being.
The thorn tattoo on my chest slowly began to spread. Wherever the thorns extended, it felt as though real thorns were crawling, twisting, and tightening beneath my skin.
“Ugh—” I felt beads of sweat, large as beans, stream down my face and splatter onto the floor. “Is, is it that black shadow?”
Enduring the agony, as if thorns were slowly tearing my entire body apart, I thought, ‘This feeling, like being slowly dismembered, perhaps it would be better to just pass out. Fainting might even be a form of salvation.’
Yet, each time I teetered on the brink of unconsciousness, a cold sensation would jolt me back to awareness. It felt as if something terrible would happen if I didn’t stay awake. All I could do was clench my teeth and grit through it.
Time ticked by, second after agonizing second. The pain in my chest, far from diminishing, only intensified.
Just as I was on the verge of losing consciousness, I violently pinched myself. My teeth grated together, the words forced out through the narrow gap. “Hey, tell me, what’s the meaning of etching such a ‘beautiful’ tattoo onto my body?”
“No particular meaning. I simply found it rather beautiful.” To my surprise, a response came almost instantly. A voice echoed in my mind. “Don’t you like it?”
Sweat dripped, and I fought against the encroaching dizziness. “Yes, I truly don’t like these dark, gloomy things…” ‘Who would like something like this? It’s utterly agonizing.’
Tightening. Twisting. Only one sensation remained: pain.
“Well… it’s not impossible to make it disappear. The price, though… let me play with your body for a bit…” The feminine voice resonated in my mind once more.
‘Play around? If I lent it to you, I’d probably never get it back.’ Hiss— I gasped, drawing in another sharp breath. It felt as if my entire chest was about to explode.
“Uh, I don’t think this is getting us anywhere,” I managed to say, gritting through the excruciating pain.
“Why not?” the languid voice asked, tinged with a hint of amusement.
I could certainly detect the amusement in her tone. Nevertheless, I had to continue. “This way, you won’t get my body, and I—I’m suffering immensely. Think about it: we’re both going to die anyway. I might as well just kill myself, and then neither of us benefits.”
As I fought to suppress the intense pain, my body’s trembling grew more violent. By now, I no longer even had the strength to lean against the door, collapsing limply to the floor.
“Oh?” The feminine voice echoed in my mind, laced with curiosity. “Is that so…”
The floor beneath me was utterly drenched in my sweat. I felt as if I had been submerged in water, not a single part of my body remaining dry.
“Very well then…” the feminine voice spoke again. “Let’s exchange a small condition.”
“Ugh…” The excruciating pain had pushed me to the brink of unconsciousness. Yet, I forced myself to remain coherent. “W-what condition…”
“I will gradually assimilate with you; that is an inevitable outcome,” the feminine voice stated. “Therefore, if you ever face a situation that would be truly fatal, and I save you, this body will become mine. How about it? Quite a bargain, wouldn’t you say?”
I considered it carefully before adding, “But it must be a situation where I would be *completely* dead.”
“No problem.”
“Alright then,” I conceded. At that moment, the thorns on my chest ceased their twisting. The pain gradually receded. I was now utterly drained of all strength.
The thorn tattoo on my chest was a shocking sight. Blushing, I pulled my clothes back up, which had torn open from my earlier desperate scratching due to the pain.
Dragging my exhausted body upright, I stumbled to the bed and promptly collapsed onto it, falling instantly asleep.