The Divine Realm. A world far beyond the human imagination, where everything is possible and life and death are on a finer line than ever before. The world where nightmares and dreams collide in a chaotic dance, dragging people left and right in its endless battles. There was no true limit to the things that could happen in this place.
Yet, Arthur had been continuously blown away by the sheer ridiculousness of the stuff that he could witness. Every ti, he would think he had seen the limit of this world, he had seen the end of what the human mind could even create.
But, every single ti, that assumption would be easily crushed with sothing way worse than he could ever imagine. He always thought he had seen enough to grow numb and apathetic to the most insane things. He was wrong… very wrong.
As the entire hall was illuminated, Arthur realized that the entire floor beneath his legs was made out of clear glass. It imdiately explained to him the reason he heard so much echo. Then, the boy saw exactly what was beneath him, hiding in the glass floor.
An incomprehensibly large silhouette ford out of nowhere, its hand stretched up as if it wanted to grab him from the depths of hell and hold him. His heart almost jumped out of his chest from the sheer terror he felt.
However, he quickly realized that the humungous abomination was completely frozen… Not moving at all. It wasn't alive.
Stepping back, the boy's eyes took in all the details they could, and he quickly ca to a realization… That this was perhaps the most horrifying monster his eyes had ever witnessed.
He couldn't describe its form, just an amalgamation of things he could never understand. Arms, eyes, horns, bones, and flesh, all mixed randomly to form a monster unlike anything he had ever seen. Its size was the largest of anything he had seen. Even with a rough estimate, it was as big as a skyscraper, if not more.
"... What… What is this?" Arthur muttered, his voice wavering out of his control. He felt it again… That terror that plagued his heart when he saw that underwater giant a while ago. It ca back even stronger, more primal and incomprehensibly crushing.
"Hm? Ignore that. It is dead. It won't harm you." Noticing the look of fear on Arthur's face, the man decided to divert the boy's attention from it and back to him.
"Dead? What even is that?"
"One of my failed creations. It almost caused so trouble, so I had to kill it. But, since it was quite a beautiful work of art, I decided to freeze it in this glass for eternity and keep it as a decoration. It's nice, isn't it?"
"..."
If there was a mont where Arthur truly felt completely speechless, it was that mont. He didn't understand what he was seeing, nor what this man was even seeing. The influx of information ca from every angle and it was all like a nightmare.
"What… What is this place? Who are you? Where are my people?"
"Hey now, calm down with your questions. I can't answer all of them that quickly."
"Answer," Arthur replied coldly as he put his hand on his sword. Staring at the man, he could see many details of his appearance… Or the lack of that.
He was completely clad in a black robe from head to toe, covering every part of his body. anwhile, half his face was also wrapped in black bandages, keeping only one eye visible. The man looked quite fitting for the setting as if he was born in it.
'No… He… He created it.' Arthur mused. 'This hell is his creation.'
"Hey now, let's calm down, boy. I do not seek unnecessary confrontations. This sacred haven of mine is perfect as it is. I do not wish to destroy it."
"Then, where are my people! I know you took them!"
"Your people? Oh? Oh! So you belong to that group? Hm, I see what you an. Well, I have good and bad news for you."
"..."
"The good news is, they're still alive and relatively well. I didn't have to use much strength to bring them here. The bad news is… I don't think I can hand them back to you, kid."
"And why is that?" Arthur gripped his sword a little tighter without unsheathing it. He also didn't wish to confront this mysterious man if he didn't need to do that. If this entire problem could be solved amicably, then he would love to have exactly that.
"Well, I brought them here for my own reasons. I can't hand them back, it seems very counter-intuitive."
"I don't give a damn about any of that. Free them imdiately." Arthur's mana flared visibly, putting pressure across the entire hall.
"Oh my. I didn't realize this till now, but… You have quite the pure mana, kid. Actually, this is perhaps the purest mana I have ever seen… So clean and perfect." For a mont, the man seed quite taken aback by what he was seeing. In his eyes, the aura around Arthur was extrely pure, appearing as if it were divine.
'Where did this kid co from? This pure mana wouldn't exist in this environnt. Is he a very special talent? Perhaps even a one-of-a-kind genius.' The man asked himself.
Almost imdiately, the man found himself even more curious about Arthur. He had taken everyone and didn't realize that this boy was left until he ca knocking on his door.
"Answer . Are you going to release my people, yes or no?" Arthur shook his head, resuming their earlier conversation.
"Hm… No."
"... I see," Arthur muttered before he looked down. "Why does it always have to be the hard way? If you could just spare another fight, I would be so grateful."
At this point, the boy truly didn't want another fight to ensue. Especially when he was already exhausted and quite strained ntally from the journey. He simply wished to find the exit and leave as quickly as possible. The last thing he expected was to et another individual in this place.
"And why would you fight , boy? I am but a peaceful drear."
'Peaceful drear, huh? Reminds of a certain man.' The boy raised an eyebrow.
This wasn't the first ti soone had introduced themselves as a drear to him. During his first eting with the founder of Divinity Corp, the man had addressed himself as a drear.
'This word is starting to sound quite annoying now.'
"It depends. Are you going to try to stop from releasing my people?" The boy asked.
"Well, since it directly targets my interests, then yes, I am indeed going to stop you. That is why I don't recomnd you do what you're about to do. It is not in your best interest nor mine."
"I will do whatever I want. Your answer is good enough."
*Swish*
Imdiately, Arthur activated Exo-Burst at full throttle and disappeared like an illusion. The next mont, he appeared right behind the man with his sword about to swing at him. He had moved that distance basically instantly.
'I'm so fast!'
But…
"Oh my, Exo-Burst? At such a young age?" Yet, shockingly, the man's neck suddenly turned around, and their eyes t before Arthur's sword could hit its target. "Very impressive."
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