"Wait."
I stopped Raven quickly as he reached for his daggers.
He frowned at but obediently followed my order.
Rested at the center of the peak was a Phoenix, its size as big as a four-story house. The Phoenix's ember eyes stared at sharply. Despite that, I didn't feel heavy pressure or hostility from its stare, instead, it seed to call .
I felt weird. Every thought I had in my mind suddenly scattered away, being purified by the warmth inside my head. Comfortable.
As I stepped forward, I could hear Raven's voice calling but I kept walking toward the Phoenix. The warmth it gave was drawing in. Then, as I found myself standing before the magnificent firebird, my heart thumped uncontrollably as if I had just found my true love.
The Phoenix closing in, its great beak touching my forehead. Imdiately, I heard a lovely and smooth voice inside my head.
"You're finally here, dear."
As soon as I heard that, the world fell apart, seemingly to distort and the scenery sowhat different. The lightning had stopped its violent strike. The dark cloud disappeared, replacing it was a red sun that looked like a fireball.
Turning around, I didn't see Raven anywhere, even the floating platform also disappeared.
Then finally, when I noticed the scars painting my arms, I realized I wasn't in my world but a mory.
But, it felt too real to call this a mory. Not only because I could feel the surrounding elents around , but I could also move my body on my own, unlike the mories I had experienced in the past where I was only an observer.
"What is going on?"
Instead of seeking the answer by myself, it would be better to ask the suspect that causing this phenonon. The Phoenix.
But, as I turned around again at the Phoenix, what I found wasn't a great firebird but a woman whose features were all flas.
The woman made entirely of flas stood before , her fiery presence both srizing and intimidating.
"I am the Phoenix."
She spoke, her voice still smooth and enchanting, but now emanating from the form of the fiery woman.
"And you, my dear. I'm glad to see you again after a long ti."
"What?"
I asked in confusion, trying to make sense of the situation.
What the hell did it an by that? Glad to see again after a long ti? When it was only a monster inside the dungeon?
The woman, who claid to be the Phoenix, looked at with a mixture of warmth and sorrow in her fiery eyes.
"You don't rember, do you?"
She said softly, her voice carrying a hint of longing.
"You were once a part of , a cherished partner… But the threads of ti have woven a different path for us in this already destroyed world."
I struggled to comprehend her words. mories started to surface, like fragnts of a forgotten dream. Images of a familiar city landscape, engulfed in flas and destruction, that very image depicted the scene of the ending of the novel, 'The Hero Beyond The Light'.
But, instead of a white-haired man and golden eyes standing as the last human on Earth, it was a red-haired woman with red fire-like eyes.
I recognized her. Even though her red hair was disheveled and dirty, her eyes were not easy to forget.
Ember. That's Ember Crimson, I'm sure of it. It's not Nuria as she didn't have that unique touch on her eyes, unlike Ember.
'What is this?'
I couldn't comprehend any of this. Not until my wild imagination ran around and stumbled upon the wildest idea.
'Could this be an alternate tiline?'
"Huhu."
The woman sudden laugh interrupted . Though I couldn't see her expression because of her fla form, I could tell she was smiling based on her gesture and subtle movents of the fla that resembled an eye.
"No matter where you are. You're still as clever as you were…"
Her words trailed off for a mont before continuing.
"Looking at your face, I guess you're already rembered what happened, right? You're always making that expression every ti your Clairvoyance tells you the sight."
My frown deepened when I heard that.
"You. Are you Ember?"
She didn't say anything. The sound of fire crisp built tension, her still eyes stared at for a long before it was closed. Looking at the gesture, I assud she was having a happy response to my question.
"Hehe. You're such a dork."
Her laughter echoed in the air, filled with a sense of affection.
If I tried to guess what was happening right now…
I was inside a mory? No, perhaps a subconscious boundary, considering how strong she was. How did I know she was strong? Well, the information my Clairvoyance gave was proof of it.
The information I got was filled with question marks on all of the profiles. This was the first ti I'd got an error from my Clairvoyance appraisal. Even I could appraise Neychta, Nuria, and Owen Lawrence, the heroes whose power was considered to fit in the top 50 heroes— no, Enhanced.
Because of that, I assud this fla woman, or the Phoenix, was above the Earth's boundary. Probably a multiverse level, because she talked to as if I was a person she once knew in 'this world', which was the dungeon.
"I'll leave that for you to guess but, I just want to say this line, 'Death is too light of punishnt for you!'."
At that mont, my heart skipped a beat, my mind went blank, and my muscles went numb simultaneously. I recognized that line, it was what Ember said when she ca to save the younger Zio.
The Phoenix was definitely Ember. But, what the hell is going on? How could the Phoenix be Ember? What is this dungeon?
"Okay, fine. Tell what is this place exactly, it's still the Wyvern dungeon, right? And, if you're Ember, then that ans you're Ember from an alternate tiline. The last human on Earth?"
"Wyvern dungeon? Ah, so that's what they call my world now. If so, then yes, you're still in the 'Wyvern dungeon'."
I waited silently for her upcoming answer to the other question but nothing ca. When I was about to ask her again, the world began to crack.
"Ah. Ti's up."
She examined the cracks in the sky and turned to look at with sorrow and regret.
"It's a short ti. But I'm glad to et you again before my end…"
The scars on my arms gradually disappeared and my appearance returned to the original — Ian Crow, as the world around fell apart.
Suddenly, the fla woman hugged tightly, making surprised for a mont. Surprisingly again, the fla didn't burn and there was no heat emitted.
While hugging , the woman lifted her face to see . But, her eyes imdiately had a hint of hatred when she saw my face.
"Tch. You're still doing this annoying act?"
"Annoying… what do you an?"
I wriggled as I said that, trying to get out of her embrace.
"Whatever. It's not like I can do anything about it. But, I hope she does do sothing about you if she doesn't want to repeat the tragedy."
"Huh?"
She seed not to listen to . She was trapped in her own world, everything inside her mind was telling her not to let go of , as her arms around tightened.
"Please, let's stay like this until the spell wore off…"
Eventually, I found myself complying with her request.
We stayed still like that as we watched the world's crack increase, slowly tearing the sky apart as nurous rift space was created.
Eventually, when the world began to fall apart, the woman started to sniff.
"Goodbye…"
The woman's fla danced, casting an ethereal glow for the last ti.
Crack—!
Crash—!
Finally, the crack fell apart, plunging the world into darkness.
I felt light as a feather when the world around turned into darkness. A few monts later, I could feel my senses again.
Opening my eyes, I found myself back at the mountain peak shaded by dark clouds and lightning. The great firebird, the Phoenix, or the woman fla had disappeared. In its place, I found Phoenix's Feather and the Phoenix's Core.
My heart suddenly tightened as I recalled the event earlier, but I quickly shook the thought away.
Stepping forward, I took the feather and the core.
"Wait, what happened? What did you do for the Phoenix suddenly gone?"
Storing them inside my storage cube, I turned around.
"Hey… Are you crying?"
I smiled, slowly wiping the tears that stread down from my eyes using my sleeves.
"Am I?"
Staring at with a frown, Raven finally gave up, sighing a short breath.
"Well. I don't have any idea what is going on. And you have the right to keep it secret. But, since we've got the feather, I think it's ti for us to leave?"
Smirking, I pointed in the direction behind him.
"Yeah. We will. After we get rid of that thing."
[Snxol
Race: Monster / Wyvern
Rank: A]
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