In the previous chapter…
The ‘Prison of Illusion’ skill sent Slade into a picture of Griscent’s subconscious. There, he regained his composure and accustod himself to the chanism of the skill.
When Griscent arrived to pursue him, she was put face to face to her deepest fears and insecurities. Unable to act freely, she sent young Slade to fight against the real Slade.
Indeed, she took back control of the fake Slade, turning him into a convenient puppet. Her aim was to overwrite the real Slade with her imitation. If the puppet devoured the real Slade, it could take control of his real body after waking up.
As a result, Slade was losing badly after plunging into the red sea.
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Slade sank into darkness, losing too much blood.
It doesn’t hurt anymore…
Sinking in sea
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I’m done for.
The zombie boy feasted on the man who stopped struggling.
The pain of having his flesh eaten faded alongside his consciousness. It was a silver lining amid despair.
He was left with the sadness of losing pieces of himself, mories that were forever gone.
His shaful defeat also dood Violet, Lorely, Shaki, Milia and tiva.
He closed his eyes for his final slumber, then a childish voice giggled.
Slade pried his eyes open. He was no longer underwater.
Ugh… Another dream? What is it? Inception?
Instead, he was inside another hazy vision.
His younger self carried him under a dusk sky. The boy walked on a path through a flower field which led towards a cliff.
Young ?
“Yes, I guess we’re rging as I’m eating you. That woman did quite the number on us.”
Sorry… Our precious mories are going down the drain.
“Hmm… Don’t fret too much about that.”
Why? Are you happy to take over?
“Of course not.”
Then what?
The boy silently walked forward.
I want my na and my face back.
“You already have a na, Slade.”
Hearing the boy utter the na felt strange.
That is not my true na.
Light appeared beyond the cliff as they walked closer. The setting sun dragged down the yellow sky to the sea. The boy smiled as he stared at the horizon, blown by a gentle breeze.
He pointed forward. “That is where your old na belongs, Slade.”
Sunset
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The setting sun?
The boy nodded. “‘Those who cannot rember the past are condemned to repeat it’, right?”
Yeah…
“Yet, what does it an to change?”
To chase after new possibilities?
“And as you walk forward, you leave the past behind.”
But, why should I change?
“The past is not a fail-proof compass. If you focus too much on what worked, you’ll eventually run into a cliff by stubbornly sticking to your old thinking. Likewise, if you commit to the wrong path, it becos harder to take new perspectives. Change is opening new possibilities.”
You an that I can’t win against Griscent unless I change?
“That’s right.”
Well, shit.
“Changing is not easy, but you can entrust with your face, your na, and your regrets. Then when you’re finally ready, find .”
The faceless boy stopped at the edge of the cliff.
“That is as far as I go. But I want to see you make it to the finish line. Just like that piano song1Reference to chapter 34 when Slade taught his younger self so stuff., only you should decide its ending.”
“Okay…” Slade said.
Young Slade chuckled. “Don’t let your preconceptions hold you back, because you’re Slade the toilet sli.”
Before he realized it, Slade had turned into a pink sli, a formless ball of infinite possibilities.
sli
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He let the sli hop down onto the ground.
“Heh, I never needed opposable thumbs anyway,” Slade said.
“We might have lost the first round, but your fight has only started.”
Slade nodded, admiring the setting sun. “By the way, are you really m-!?”
“TIGEEER SHOT!” The faceless boy kicked the sli with all his strength into the horizon.
Slade flew towards the sun for what seed a few episodes’ worth of football ani.
When he splashed into the ocean, his consciousness was thrown back into Griscent’s red sea. Unbearable physical pain assaulted his mind.
back to the fight
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The zombie boy was removing big chunks of his arm from each bite.
Ha! Eating is a sli’s specialty!
Slade’s body bursted in a white fla, collapsing into a round sli. He wrapped around the zombie’s head.
It dawned on him that the ability to shape illusions was more about conviction than knowledge.
Losing hope ant defeat, but this husk of his younger self miraculously brought a second chance.
Thank you buddy, but I’m going to drag you into this fight one more ti.
Blinding light engulfed the sli and the zombie.
…
Griscent waited on the chanical island while her minion fought Slade. In the anti, she cald herself by staring at the ceiling. But light erupted in the sea, cutting her reverie short.
A sli surfaced, grinning. “It is my turn, Griscent. You will submit to .”
“Ha, what a joke. You are too scared to confront others. Even now, you’re searching for a way to escape- what?!”
A figure erged underneath the sli.
A new challenger appeared!
[collapse]
After the red water poured out, it revealed a knight.
“Yes, I’m so scared so I called my homie,” Slade said.
The knight walked up towards Griscent, carrying the sli on his head.
“Who are you?!” she asked.
The knight struck a pose. “Stand na: Tannhauser! Stand master: Slade!”
He wore a bizarre mismatch of equipnt, much like a ga protagonist who looted stuff randomly. His ragged cape and the fur gave him a rough look, but he wore an incomplete set of plate armor. Even stranger, an Adidas knock-off tracksuit stuck out from the gaps of the plates, and he wore sneakers.
Tannhauser
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Ignoring their nonsense, Griscent guessed that Slade understood how the prison of illusion worked and turned the zombie Slade to his side.
Indeed, he kept his other self functional, so that it held his lingering past, like shoving a photo album in a cupboard. After cleansing his alter ego from her influence, it turned into a weird knight with a weird na.
Griscent snorted as they taunted her with ridiculous poses.
Eyes at the tip of her tentacles lit up. “I’ll wipe off your grin!”
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