novelraw Chapter 278: Responsibility
Chapter 278: Responsibility
Chapter 278: Responsibility“Daughter?
“She’s your daughter?!”
Hearing the revelation made Soren’s emotions flare momentarily, only for the surrounding dark mist to consume them once again. He glanced up at the two crucifixes, his expression marked by both confusion and apathy.
[Is it that surprising?]
“Yes it is! The myths I was told spoke of King Arthur being the Holy Maiden’s father, not you. . . Your claim deviates entirely from recorded history.”
[Don’t mention that delusional bastard! He kidnapped my daughter.] There was far too much rage in His voice—far more than Soren could even comprehend. The old man continued:
[He used my daughter’s sickness for His own twisted plans. All of it was spurred on by the Sleepless Guide.]
Sickness. . . Soren thought for a moment then frowned. He knew he had to choose his next words carefully. Thankfully, the Nameless Mist was making that a bit easier due to his emotions being mostly erased.
“So then, help me understand this, Guntharion. Are you planning to sacrifice Cassia for the sake of saving your real daughter? Have you been misleading Cassia into believing you were her foster parent all along, just for her to assist you in this moment?”
There was a moment of silence, shielded by a cocoon of dark mist surrounding them on all sides.
“Answer me!” Soren stomped. “Did you truly love Cassia or not? Did you erase her memories out of guilt or something else?!”
[Yes. I had anticipated a moment like this happening some day. That is why I decided to let Sienna be her mentor instead. For her sake, I removed myself completely from her life. And when her fate steered toward a darker path, I found it even more necessary to erase my existence from her memories.]
“You’re a piece of shit.” Soren spat.
[. . . . .]
He crossed his arms and smiled. “What, did I offend you?”
Soon after, a soft chuckle drifted across the mired battlefield. [Nay. But it is indeed surprising to hear such words directed at an Empyrean such as myself. I doubt there are many who have the gall.]
“So you do realize you deserve it?”
[In a way, yes. I’ve always been a ‘piece of shit,’ as you like to put it. My motivations have led me to putting Cassia in a truly horrible predicament.
[But I do not regret any of it. I only did what I did to save my daughter. This is a choice I am forced to make.]
“That’s a lie.” Soren shook his head. “If you didn’t regret it at all, you wouldn’t have bothered erasing her memories. You wouldn’t have attempted explaining it all to someone like me. . .
“Since Merlin acquired the Second Scroll from Sienna, it's fair to assume that you gave it to her, did you not? That means you likely hoped for me to find a way to protect the Star Apostle through my connection to Tazzith. You capitalized on Sienna’s fate manipulation to bring about this result.”
Gunther stayed silent.
“Now that I have achieved it, my role in this conflict has shrunk significantly. I can’t compete against the Divine Authorities, I can’t compete against you, I can’t compete against that World Collapser that has invaded this world. . . Heck, I can’t even compete against Merlin.” He smiled to himself faintly. “I’m practically a child fighting to survive amidst a war between monsters.
“That is why I decided to focus my attention on saving Cassia. Obtaining the Hollowed Star fragments would make Tazzith’s job a lot easier. But mainly, it ties to what I said to you earlier.”
Soren glanced down at Cassia who was still unconsciously influencing the stars, his smile slowly fading. “Although you are a piece of shit, so am I as well for dragging her into this. I don’t understand what kind of forces compelled fate to go in this direction. Perhaps, I will never understand the true scale of my action’s consequences. But I do know that the mistress would still hope for me to fix what I’ve broken.
“So please. . .” He glanced up at Guntharion who was still nailed to the cross. “Please let me take responsibility for my actions. I failed. I have to acknowledge that. I have to undo the mistakes I’ve made.
“Choosing between your first daughter and your adoptive daughter must be a hard choice. So if you must, sacrifice me instead. Please let me save both Cassia and your daughter. . .” He bowed his head in the shadow crucifixes’ direction, letting the silence of the mist carry his sincerity. “My Forgotten Rune—there has to be something I could do with it—I am willing to do anything.”
For a while, the surrounding void remained utterly still.
Soren didn’t bother to stop, continuing to bow in Guntharion’s direction without any care. He was committed to doing this no matter how long it took to convince him. His sense of time was already warped significantly, anyway. Why would he ever worry about such things?
Eventually, however, Guntharion relented.
[Your original plan. We will need to modify it somewhat.]
Soren’s eyes widened. “You mean turning her into an Anchor?”
[Correct.]
“But I thought you said you can’t stop her from being possessed by the Serpent of Untruths?”
[It all depends on the situation. Since I am mainly preoccupied with resisting the [Dream Virus] Merlin had planted in Aelyne's mind, fully stopping a Divine Authority from possessing someone’s body becomes somewhat risky. I could accidentally erase Cassia or parts of her psyche during the confrontation.]
“So then. . .”
[We will rely on an outside force’s aid,] He interrupted. [Since the Serpent of Untruths wishes to leverage my daughter’s current state for my cooperation, we must instead find someone to level the playing field.]
It took him a few moments to fully comprehend His words. Soren’s eyes widened at the realisation:
“Tazzith?!”
[Indeed. . .]
“I see. So you wish to leverage Fate Star Reallignment?”
[That magecraft incantation allows the Demon of Knowledge to alter the orbits’ paths back to what they should look like. Of course, since it carries a connection to the Orbits of Fate, the path this world will take in the future will be defined by Him. This also includes the complete restoration of the Hollowed Star fragments—they will likely be reforged back as the Star Apostle’s heart, no matter how corrupted they are.]
Hearing this, Soren glanced down at the twinkling orbs of light and smiled. “So I wasn’t even fully needed for this. . .”
Gunther didn’t say anything.
Sighing, Soren looked back up at the ancient Empyrean. “How exactly will this benefit us though?”
[The restoration of the Hollowed Star fragments will once again shift power back in the hands of the Star Apostle. That will obviously create disruptions in Cassia’s corruption of the stars.
[After all, the Serpent of Untruths wishes to exploit her manipulation of this world’s next fated Age to craft a lie strong enough to revive Himself. By disrupting that process and momentarily weakening His Divine Authority, I will obtain the opportunity to fully erase His presence from her body. It won’t be permanent unless the connection is fully severed through your powers over the Faerie Court, but it will be enough to facilitate saving her. Of course, this means her Soul Weapon will also be erased, but that should be a price she’s willing to pay.]
“I don’t care about the cost. All that matters is that she gets to live!”
Gunther remained silent for a bit, forcing Soren to move the conversation forward:
“So then, when do we start? Time isn’t on our side, you know.”
[Whenever Tazzith finishes casting that magecraft spell. It shouldn’t take lon—ah. It seems that time has arrived.]
Soren’s eyes widened. He glanced toward his Soul Weapon swiftly and shouted:
“Biblion! The contract!”
Almost instantly, the golden pages shifted on their own, materializing a golden card made from swarms of tiny butterflies.
[Cards of Insight]
This was his plan from the very start. After analyzing how the other dreamers under Merlin’s control operated, he discovered that they still possessed their consciousness, even if they were stuck in an unending dream that fulfilled their every desire. But since they were essentially stuck in that loop, communication through the five senses—the Veil of Perception—was utterly pointless.
He decided to instead use the same method he utilized when conversing with Venerable Heavenly Anchor. If communication with the outermost Layer of Self didn’t work, he would instead target their inner layers. [Cards of Insight] were perfect for this role, since they bypassed any and all mental barriers. They essentially allowed Soren to implant knowledge directly into their Echo of Mind!
With the card in hand, Soren quickly expanded his Soul Realm and casted Violet Mirage, transforming the golden plaque into another radiant orb of light. It had become no different from the other Hollowed Star fragments!
The bait was now set.
As a mere puppet, Cassia wouldn’t be able to resist trying to influence the stars. The moment she saw the ‘golden card,’ she rushed to hold it with the rest—cradling it like it was another one of her children.
Seeing this, Soren smiled. The first phase of his plan succeeded. He knew, however, that Guntharion had likely assisted him in some way using the Nameless Mist. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have fallen for it that easily, even if she was a dreamer.
Moments later, Soren watched keenly as the ‘star’ rapidly vanished beneath her skin—the Card of Insight had been activated. Although Cassia continued to work on her task like nothing had happened, Soren knew that her inner mind was likely in complete turmoil by now. He couldn’t exactly check on the situation using [Eyes of the Fairy] since the Serpent of Untruths might retaliate against him, but he was certain this was the case.
And indeed, his conclusion was confirmed only a second later. [The Serpent of Untruth’s control has weakened! The chance is finally here!]
Soren nodded as he waited patiently. Everything now rested on Cassia’s decision. If her inner mind accepted the contract’s terms, then she would officially become his third Anchor—the second one in this world.
Moment after moment passed by as his worries began to pile. The window of opportunity was slowly closing. Tazzith had successfully accomplished His task, which meant that the World Collapser will have no choice but to retreat for now. And since Noema was still here, he was certain that the old demon would likely rush back to help Guntharion against the [Dream VIrus] very soon.
Once Yarian’s orbits begin to restabilize, the influence Cassia had accumulated so far would become officially a part of the next era. The Serpent of Untruths will once again have the opportunity to resurrect using her body!
It was now or never.
They needed to untether Cassia from the Serpent of Untruth’s control completely, before it was too late. Otherwise, everything they hoped to achieve will be for naught.
Come on. . . Accept it already. . . Soren grit his teeth. I already made Guntharion change his mind! A man who had been willing to sacrifice one of his daughters to save theother was finally seeing the error of His ways. He decided to take on the risk of offending the Serpent of Untruths just so he could save both of them instead!
Please. . . He closed his eyes, unwilling to see his own failure again. Please allow this plan to work. . .
“I accept.”
The words echoed in his ears briefly, prompting him to open his eyes in confusion. It was a very familiar voice. . .
And that’s when he realized the truth.
Glancing down at his own lap, Soren noticed something strange about his Senior Apprentice. Unlike before, Cassia’s once hollow eyes were now once again full of life and vigor. The flames of pure determination shined brighter than even his own madness.
He couldn’t believe it.
“Y-you. . .”
[Stop wasting time!]
Guntharion’s shout reminded him of what he still had to do. With newfound hope, he quickly went back to issuing his Soul Weapon a new order:
“I accept Cassia of the Nagashi as my Anchor as well!” His thoughts converged toward a certain phrase:
[Fairy Ring]
In the blink of an eye, Soren noticed the radiant pages of the Records breaking apart into butterflies—all of them rushing toward Cassia’s body. They entered inside in a flash, causing her to flinch slightly.
“Biblion!”
Figment immediately understood the order. The moment Cassia successfully became his anchor, he instantly activated [The Faerie Court]. Soon, a tiny vortex of darkness and shadows appeared where the ripped pages of his Soul Weapon once were.
He watched as both his and Cassia’s body disintegrated into a swarm of countless butterflies. She continued to smile back at him softly throughout the process.
At the same time, Gunther didn’t stop preventing the now weakened Divine Authority from interfering. The darkness around them shook and quivered, as if a thousand earthquakes were happening all at once.
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But just as he was about to celebrate, his hopes were once again mercilessly shattered.
An unexpected change occurred in the now half-disintegrated Cassia. Her once warm and candid smile had transformed into something far more sinister.
“You weren’t expecting me, were you?”
“MERLIN!” Soren yelled loud enough to kill his own throat.
The man smiled and said, “Apologies Mr. Traveler, but the Serpent of Untruths is important to my future plans.”
[I’ve been waiting!]
Guntharion’s voice echoed loudly. In an instant, the once distant darkness closed in on them from all sides. [The Faerie Court]’s activation was instantly erased.
Merlin chuckled. “This fragment of myself exists separately from the rest. How will you stop me from escaping your Nullification Cauldron?”
[Who said anything about escape? I must say, you really are a fool to accept that Second Scroll.]
“Huh?” Merlin’s brow furrowed. Before he could ask any further, both the Sleepless Guide and Soren noticed something strange. The colossal stone tablet that levitated between the two crucifixes was shattering.
“What. . .” Soren didn’t know what he was seeing.
Merin grit his teeth, “You bastard! Why would you—”
[You’ve enjoyed using my daughter’s Soul Weapon for this long. Surely you’re not afraid of its effectings coming to bite you?]
“Afraid?” Merlin smiled nervously. “Who’s afraid? I already planned to escape this world anyway. I planted a [Dream Seed] inside the World Collapser—with His permission of course. I won’t have to stay here for long.”
[That doesn’t mean you won’t pay the price.]
As He said this, the massive stone tablet quickly shattered to pieces. And from within, an abyssal ocean of shadows emerged, ready to consume everything in its wake.
At that moment, Soren noticed Cassia collapsing to the floor. More than likely, Merlin had relinquished control of her in order to escape. He swiftly rushed to her side.
“Cassia! Wake up! We have to leave!” He was about to activate [The Faerie Court] again when the distant voice caused him to freeze.
[It's too late.] The words left him utterly stunned. With a sigh, Guntharion continued:
[The Fate Stars of this world have already realigned. A new Age is now finally upon us.
[An Age of Struggle.]
“No, no, no, no.” Soren shook his head in desperation. He refused to believe it.
“There has to be something we can do!” His eyes were full of desperation. “Anything!”
[There is nothing you can do.]
By now, the ocean of darkness had already risen high enough to reach his waist. And yet, his focus remained on Cassia, who was finally reawakening from her unconscious state.
Channeling all her strength, she looked toward him with blurry eyes. The smile on her face was brighter than any of her dragonflames.
“I’m sorry. . .
“I shouldn’t have tried to kill you.”
The lump in his throat grew heavier. “What the hell are you saying. . . It was all my fault to begin with—your choice back then was logical!”
She shook her head. “Thank you. . . for caring for me all this time, sister Elara.”
Soren’s lips twitched slightly. He couldn’t formulate any words.
Cassia’s body suddenly began to transform, leaving him no room to say anything. Scales grew on every part of her skin as her bones and muscles twisted. He watched in horror as blood leaked from her eyes, nose, and ears. Her smile remained plastered across her face, as if stuck in that moment.
Soren stood there, frozen in place. It was as if his mind had completely short-circuited. Before him, the once proud and confident Holy Shrine Maiden remained in his hands—transformed into something beyond recognition.
Her body was stretching further and further, becoming something akin to a snake.
[I truly apologize, Soren. . .]
The old man’s voice echoed loudly in his ears. He wanted to curse. He wanted to voice his disagreement. He wanted to continue trying to save Cassia. . .
And yet his mind felt completely empty. The ocean of darkness had risen faster than he could anticipate. He was drowning, leaving his consciousness behind in the process.
[I hope you could one day forgive me].
All thoughts of resistance against the stream disappeared. There was nothing to stop his sinking anymore.
[###### will. . . in the Rift.] Even the words that reached him were incomplete.
[Please. . .
[Stop ######.
[Please. . . Please save my daughter.]
In an instant, the world disappeared from view, as if everything he had lived through vanished into the void.
Beneath one of Europe’s holiest sites lies an ancient secret. A colossal network of tunnels, full of profoundly strange creatures and traps.
Memoria Regis Occulti.
Amidst the shadows, Julie huddled herself beneath her HPP mandated jacket. The cold air made every breath visible as she stared into the now illuminated, distant chamber.
A colossal gate made of stone and inscribed with countless murals stood firmly before her. Researchers, linguistic experts, and many others roamed the ancient site while jotting down their observations. Some walked alone, while others huddled together into groups—the entire underground space had been transformed into an archeological research hub.
Seeing everyone busy with work, Julie couldn’t help but sigh. Unlike the others, she was the only one Dr. Miguel left alone.
“You’re that bored already?” The sudden voice made her jolt slightly. She turned toward the source and spotted a crimson haired woman who was somewhat taller than her. She smiled brightly, distant light twinkling off her signature lip piercing.
“Lumie,” Julie rolled her eyes. “Why wouldn’t I be bored? I’m stuck here for the next few days without any games, novels, or social media access. Not to mention the food sucks. Eve promised to come back with snacks, and yet she’s still not here.” She couldn’t help but curse her own luck.
Lumie giggled, covering her lips. “She’s busy negotiating with the Custodes Sigillorum. I doubt we’ll see her for a while. . .”
She clicked her tongue. “At least Deatheye had the decency to assign me to guard duty when I told him about my boredom. But there isn’t even anything to guard, anyway!”
As strange as it may seem, Julie felt that this place was far safer than anywhere else in the dungeon. There was this strange ‘repelling’ effect that caused most IRE’s to never dare wander near that imposing gate. She wasn’t sure whether it was due to fear or if the Dungeon Shroud was causing it somehow.
“At least you’re not at risk of getting fired.” Lumie shrugged with a sigh.
“Fired?”
“I’m mainly joking,” she chuckled then crossed her arms, “but our research into those murals has come to a total halt. No matter what we try, our memories related to the information we gathered would all be erased. Not even writing things down helped—we would either forget to perform the action or the text itself would mysteriously vanish. Our research is going nowhere.”
The explanation reminded her of something. Julie’s eyes widened slightly, “Antimemetics?”
Lumie nodded. “It seems so. Information erasure is a rare phenomenon when it comes to IRE’s, but there have always been recorded cases—most of them are classified. This seems on a whole different level, however. Not even the Arcane Gnosis Interface can manage to contain the information on the murals. Dr. Miguel is considering contacting headquarters to bring in another division. There’s even been talks of assigning that strange gate its own IRE codification.
Staring into the distant gate, Julie couldn’t help but frown. They want to label that thing as an IRE, huh. . .
She remembered her conversation with Solomon just hours prior. He had confidently stated that the HPP would never be able to open the gate, no matter how hard they tried. There was even something regarding His Lord being involved.
Lets just hope I don’t get dragged into anything crazy again. . .
But judging by Solomon’s connection to this place, it was fair to say that the organization she worked for was hoping for the exact opposite. She could just imagine Dr. Miguel sitting in his office, patiently waiting to observe any miniscule change in her anima through the AGI network.
Luckily, Solomon did say that the time wasn’t yet right for the gate’s opening—whatever that meant. Besides, [Arachnid Wisdom] had yet to alert her to any approaching danger.
That was until a second later.
“W-what is this…” A sudden sensation washed over her body.
“Julie?” Lumie frowned as she leaned forward to check in on her friend. “What’s wrong? You’re making a pretty scary face right now. . .” She smiled nervously.
Julie, however, couldn’t reply. Her mind was beginning to swirl with nausea. Even her legs gave out slightly. The sensation was growing by the second.
This. . . this was primal fear unlike any other.
[Arachnid Wisdom] had never warned her of anything this strongly before!
“Run! Leave now!”
Solomon’s voice suddenly echoed in her mind. She was instantly startled.
“What do you mean?” She decided to ask, ignoring Lumie’s growing confusion.
“The gate!” His words sent a chill down her spine. “The gate is going to open!”
Impossible. . . She swiftly turned to face the colossal stone entrance. What she saw truly terrified her.
A dark, thick mist was seeping from the crack between the two dungeon doors, as if a small opening had been created. Julie then glanced down at the floor. She noticed there was a soft rumble that was slowly spreading outward, as if the echoes of a distant earthquake were finally reaching them.
She grit her teeth and turned to face Lumie who was finally noticing the oddity. “Send an emergency distress call to everyone using the AGI netw—”
Before she could finish, the ground began to shake violently. Screams of panic filled the air as everyone looked around in confusion. They hadn’t fully noticed the opening of the gate!
“Fuck it!” She grabbed Lumie’s hand and bolted for the exit.
“What the hell is going on?!”
“No time to explain! Just send the message!”
As they ran toward the distance passageway entrance, Lumie stopped hesitating and issued the emergency distress call to everyone in their assigned group. The surrounding researchers who were just now figuring out something was off began to run toward the exit as well.
Just as Julie was about to reach the grand chamber’s exit, the massive earthquake shook the room even further, causing Lumie to trip. Julie froze for a second then reached out her arm, “Hurry! We need to ge—”
Her pleas collapsed halfway out of her mouth. In the distance, Julie was shocked to see the massive gates swung open, revealing an ocean of darkness behind them. Just a single glance caused her thoughts to falter completely. In the distance, she witnessed many of the researchers being engulfed by the dark mist, as if it had erased their existences entirely. No matter how desperately they ran, the mist seemed to chase them even faster.
If not for the distance, they too might have already perished as well. Not willing to waste any more time, Lumie quickly stood up and ran alongside Julie.
Although many researchers and PTF-0 agents were able to escape into the dungeon corridor, many others were not as fortunate. And yet. . . despite all of this, they were still not far enough from the danger. The darkness was growing rapidly, as if intending to catch up to them.
Damn this job! Damn these colleagues! Damn me and my stupid decisions!
It was all truly comical. Just moments prior, she was complaining about how boring everything was. And now, here she was, once again running for her life.
Is there some God out there that finds all of this funny or something?
“Julie! What exactly is happening?! What the hell is that mist?!”
Lumie’s panicked voice reached her ears. She clicked her tongue slightly, “How the hell am I supposed to know?! It might be the IRE responsible for all the antimemetic phenomena you had experienced!
She glanced behind her slightly and noticed Deatheye running in tandem with the rest of them. Although he was fairly difficult to speak to, she did notice him saving a few of the researchers when the dark mist outbreak occurred. Though, she wasn’t naive enough to believe he was a totally good person—Dr. Miguel had likely ordered him to protect the high profile researchers only. The rest were free to die in his eyes. . .
I wonder how much he and the organization knows. . . She decided to ask the best person she knew:
“Explain it to me—what is that dark mist? You know about it, don’t you?!”
She was met with complete silence. Julie couldn’t help but click her tongue.
Behind her, the stifled screams of researchers who couldn’t escape the encroaching darkness grew louder and louder. In a way, a part of her felt grateful to have completed that training Solomon assigned her. Otherwise, she might not have been fast enough to make it this far.
Just as she was about to Him again, she heard His voice echo loudly in her mind.
“The prophesied time had yet to arrive!” The desperation in His words left her utterly stunned.
“Why! Why my Lord?! What revelations do thou seeketh to reveal so soon?”
“It’s all my fault!”
Darkness surrounded Soren from all sides as he slammed his fist into the dirt. Above him, the watchful gazes of the night sky overlooked his torment.
“It's all my fault, It's all my fault, It's all my fault, It's all my fault, It's all my fault. . .”
Blood gathered across his fingers and nails. Soren simply wanted to crumble to the floor. He didn’t care where he was. He didn’t care who he was. He didn’t care what he did.
He didn’t care about the past, the future, or the present. He didn’t care about himself at all. . .
None of it truly mattered. After all, he couldn’t even correct a single one of his mistakes.
“What prodigy? What genius?!
“I am nothing but useless trash! I don’t deserve to exist!” He slammed his head into the ground multiple times until his vision blurred.
“Cassia. . .
“She was imagining her own sister. . . She couldn’t even see me. . .
“I failed to even reassure her in her final moments!”
He clutched the soil in his hands tightly. Blood dripped from his bottom lip as he bit into it harder than ever before.
Serpent of Untruths. . .
Merlin. . .
Vynasians. . .
The names echoed in his mind repeatedly. His rage caused even his Soul Realm to expand and quiver.
They have to die. All of them. . .
But then, he heard a mysterious jingle of a bell in the distance. His rage-filled eyes shifted toward the source, noticing a strange figure approaching in the dark. Covered in rags, it appeared to be a destitute old man. In a way, he somewhat reminded him of Guntharion.
Gunther. . . The thought made his anger surge even higher.
“The one the ashes took!
“The one holding a book!”
The old man’s voice reached him from a distance. There was a hint of madness in his tone.
Is this old man a criminal? He wondered if he should let the bastard kill him once and for all.
However, the old man seemed unbothered by Soren’s twisted expression. In fact, he was a little too excited instead. . .
“The one the ashes took!” He repeated.
“The one holding a book!”
Soren clicked his tongue. “Get the fuck away from me!” He splashed dirt in his direction, and yet the strange man ignored him and continued singing. It was only then that Soren noticed the third line in the song and was shocked greatly:
“The fairy who always looks!”
What?. . .
Observing him once again, Soren couldn’t help but notice some strange oddities. For one, the old man was extremely skinny. It was as if he hadn’t eaten a thing in years. His boney expression sent a chill down his spine.
Secondly, he was covered in chains. . .
His robes were bound by tight metal cords, his feet were shackled as he dragged them forward in the rugged dirt. And strangest of all, a colossal chain was wrapped around his waist that extended far behind him. As if he was pulling something. . .
Indeed, after observing him getting closer, Soren was finally able to see what it was he was dragging along his path. His eyes instantly widened in shock.
It was a black coffin bound in chains!
The old man got closer, forcing Soren to raise his guard slightly. But despite his expectations, the strange vagrant simply stood still, watching him for a while with his owl-like eyes—smiling ear to ear. Eventually, he dropped to his knees and prostrated before the Traveler.
“The one the ashes took!
“The one holding a book!
“The fairy who always looks!”
He then glanced up at the sea of eyes watching them from above shadowed heavens, raising his arms high:
“May Oblivion cover the skies!
“May Oblivion reap what survives!”
The old man’s laughter filled the air as Soren stood still, watching the strange performance in confusion.
But just as he was about to try and converse with him, the madman’s body swiftly began to wither away. Like sand being swept in the wind. . . His final words echoed in Soren’s mind:
“For Carcosa’s shores await our rise!”