Bloody Odyssey

Chapter 70 - 69

Floating in utter nothingness, Kakarai drifted in complete shock. The void pressed against him from every direction—no up, no down, no sound except the faint echo of his own ragged breathing. Then, from the emptiness, a single palm stretched out—long, pale fingers curling like they belonged to something not quite alive. It seized him and pulled him through an invisible portal with effortless force.

Kakarai tumbled out the other side, landing on cold, featureless ground. He raised his head slowly. Before him stood an almost plastic feminine figurine. Her aura was oppressive, heavy like wet rot in the lungs, yet her face was chillingly beautiful—perfectly symmetrical, unnaturally smooth, eyes like polished glass reflecting nothing. A faint smile lingered on her lips, too wide, too still.

"Follow me," her voice came out dual-layered and slow, as if two people spoke at once—one soft, one hollow.

Kakarai pushed himself to his feet. He followed tightly behind her, eyes darting. "Where is this place?"

She didn't answer. Instead, a wide, distorted smile stretched across her perfectly carved face. Her body was draped in a moldy gown, the color impossible to pin down—shifting between sickly green, bruised purple, and dead gray all at once, defying the naked eye.

Scary, Kakarai thought, but a shiver of excitement ran through him. He smiled too—wide, manic—as they walked through a strange suburban neighborhood. Houses stood crooked, windows dark, lawns overgrown with something that looked like hair. The air felt thick, familiar, like the smell of old memories left to rot.

"The air in this place… so familiar," he said. His unnaturally deep voice made every word sound evil, echoing off the empty streets.

Suddenly the world rippled softly around them. They were swallowed whole.

When the ripple cleared, they stood in a distorted space of pure black and white—no grays, no shades. Vile creatures worse than anything on Level 0 prowled the edges—twisted limbs, mouths full of teeth that weren't teeth, eyes that blinked sideways. Some lunged at Kakarai, but the moment they drew close, they crumbled into mold and spores, dissolving into nothing.

Kakarai took a few cautious steps away from the woman. She only glanced at him—cold, amused.

"1.5… we are all here," she announced.

Instantly a massive table spanning impossible distances manifested. One hundred chairs appeared around it, each one occupied by a figure of wildly different shapes and sizes. One hundred chairs—for the 99 floors of the Backrooms, plus one more. Their auras pressed down like gravity turned to malice, but in this space, not a single face was revealed. Shadows clung to them like loyal servants.

Kakarai stared at the lady, following her to her seat. Her face distorted again—features melting and reforming in the corner of his eye. I see, he thought.

The mold lady took her seat. "Thank you, Sister 13."

A small voice echoed from the far edge of the table—the voice of a little child.

"I don't understand, Zero. Why did you want me to save this man?"

All the levels paused their quiet interactions. Every unseen eye turned toward the man standing behind 13.

"Come, Kakarai. Let me introduce you."

But before he could move, another baleful aura erupted from one of the rooms. A visibly bulky figure with strange, jagged horns stepped forward.

"###**," it spoke in a tone only the rooms themselves understood—almost a whisper, yet it vibrated through bone.

"Silence? Do you want to go against Master's wishes?" Sister 13 said calmly. "Brothers, sisters… this is a specimen from Master's new world."

The hall fell silent once more.

"This world is very strange. Not long ago I was injured by a strange being of light. He is the first to shatter my body and break into the endless abyss of the Infinitum Stone."

"And Master… there is something very different about him. This human here is not important."

"You just need to see with your own eyes."

Outside the Backrooms, endless spells rained across the void—bolts of corrupted light, chains of shadow, waves of raw entropy—all hurtling toward Dax.

His hand vibrated violently. He raised both arms, palm outward. A black hole tore open in front of him, hungry and silent, swallowing every attack in a single gulp.

He poured World Ki into the Rage Cocoon, boosting its synthesis speed to frantic levels.

Ryker's eyes widened. "Baptism of the Heavens… How does he have this? I can never let you prevail."

What is approving this abomination? He looked up—but there was no energy, only darkness pressing down.

He faced Dax again. Impossible.

"I will wipe that smirk off your face," Ryker snarled, teeth clicking.

"Longinus Spear."

Ryker gripped his spear tighter. In that moment, all the manifested mages clung to his garment. They looked up at him with utter devotion in their hollow eyes.

Softly, they cracked into bright fragments of light and crumbled into his being. White scales appeared across his body like armor forged from starlight.

A black robe materialized in the air, hugging tightly to his form, covering his face in shadow.

"Go!"

The Longinus Spear blasted from Ryker's palm with blinding force.

Sensing imminent danger, Dax raised his hand again, trying to form another black hole.

In a blink, white chains burst from the floor—thick, unbreakable—wrapping around Dax's limbs and holding him firm. Space itself cracked with a sound like breaking bone. The spear vanished.

First came a deafening collapsing cry. The black hole Ryker's servants struggled against was pierced from the inside. It collapsed violently, devouring everything in its path before winking out into nothingness.

Dax stood astonished.

With another tearing sound, space cracked once more. The spear stabbed straight into Dax's heart.

His body fell backward—but the chains kept him from hitting the ground. He hung there, impaled.

"Master!"

White flames erupted across his being. But his heart suffered the most agonizing torment—burning from within, purifying, relentless.

Ryker appeared before him, looking down with cold pity.

"Wretched thing… I wonder how you gained such power."

"You are an anomaly. You shouldn't exist. Your heart is wretched—the same for your soul."

He landed lightly on the spear like a feather. "You can't hide the stain on your soul. The insurmountable mark of every soul you've killed."

"Your soul is like a flower drenched in blood every petal stained is a soul that cannot rest. It is the end you see—and the end of every life you destroyed. I, the purifying light, deem you unworthy to live."

"Burn in the holy flame."

"I am Ryker… the fallen joke of light."

In that moment, the newly formed mages began to sing—beautiful, harmonious voices rising together like a choir from another world.

Inerous screamed into the depths of Dax's mind but got no response.

I will take control for now.

She tried to override his brain—nothing. His flesh began to burn away, layer by layer, white fire eating deeper.