Manaless Mage-Chapter 268: Reaching out…

Leon felt a deep sense of despair as the reality of his situation fully sunk in.

The vivid images of the defeat and loss he had experienced kept replaying in his mind over and over again, in a loop that only fueled his growing anger.

The faces of his fallen comrades, the probable destruction of his world, and the merciless slaughter of all those innocent people—all these memories combined into an overwhelming force that threatened to consume him entirely.

But in between the sea of torment going on in his mind, a thought took root, growing stronger with each passing second.

’Am I just going to die like this... without doing anything... without fixing anything...’ Leon thought, sighing to himself in disappointment.

The silence in the white space surrounding him felt quite suffocating, as his consciousness was slowly dragged even deeper below.

He could feel his grip on reality slowly loosening, as he was being pulled away from the world he had once existed in, sinking into a strange, distant realm.

The more he tried to resist, the blurrier everything became, until he was left with nothing but his own inconceivable thoughts.

And then, out of nowhere, low whispers started drifting into his ears, faint but unmistakable.

The voices were distant at first, like a trickle of water in a vast desert, but with each passing second, they grew louder and clearer.

He didn’t know where they were coming from, or why he could hear them, but his mind subconsciously listened unto the voices, unable to hold back his curiosity.

"I get how you feel, Vordmont, but don’t worry," A familiar voice broke through the haze, snapping Leon out of his thoughts.

’Kronos.’ That name echoed in his mind, setting off a storm of emotions.

He had heard that voice so many times before, relentlessly mocking him and his loss. And now, in this moment, all it filled Leon with was a burning fire of rage and resentment.

’Kronos! I-I can still hear them!’ The realization struck him like lightning.

If he still had a body, his eyes would have popped out in shock, however, all he could do now was express his shock through his thoughts alone.

He was dead, or at least so he thought... so how come he could still hear them?

How was it possible that the voices of the celestials could reach him even though he was already dead?

His thoughts raced as he tried to make sense of it all, however, no matter how much he thought about it, he was still greatly confused.

As the conversation between Kronos and Vordmont continued, Leon listened intently, feeling worse with each word he heard.

The next words he heard sent a chill down his spine, and anger flared in his heart.

Kronos was planning to destroy his world, and not just destroy it, but to wipe it out completely, making sure that it could never bear life again

Those words struck a painful chord with his heart, driving into him the harsh reality of his death.

The pain was almost unbearable, not just because of his own death, but because of the fate that now awaited the world he had fought so hard to protect.

His thoughts drifted back to the beginning, to the days when he had first discovered the white flame.

He had trained relentlessly, overexerting his body over and over again, all so he could become powerful enough to take down any of his enemies.

But despite all his efforts, he was still rendered helpless, powerless, with his existence wiped out from the earth.

He couldn’t help but wonder why the Celestials were so determined to destroy not just him, but also his world.

What had he ever done to deserve such hatred? He had never tried to take over other worlds, neither had he ever used his power to force others to do his bidding.

And yet, they treated him like a terrorist... a danger that needed to be eliminated at all costs.

’They kept talking about how dangerous my existence is... bunch of hypocrites!’ He thought, thinking back to the words Kronos said to him.

However, despite trying to find other ’reasonable reasons’, he knew the truth deep down within his heart.

It wasn’t just him they were afraid of; they were terrified of the energy within him... the white flame burning within his chest.

From the moment he found out about his energy, a part of him always knew a day like this would come.

That was why he had trained so hard, why he had pushed himself to make sure he rose to the peak of power.

But unfortunately, his power wasn’t enough in the end.

After defeating the demon king, he grew concieted, believing there was no one else who could stand up to him.

But that had been nothing short of an ignorant though, one he felt stupid for ever having.

He wasn’t the strongest... far from it!

There were still people across the universe with strength either equal to his or even greater—The celestials were living proof to that.

’I’m dead now—wait, my energy!’ A thought suddenly lit up within his mind, instantly brightening up his mood.

For him to still be able to hear their words, it meant a bit of his energy was still present on earth... lingering in the air where he had ’died.’

It was a rather far-fetched thought, but if he managed to somehow channel that energy, he just might come back!

The mere idea seemed almost impossible, but it acted as the glimmer of hope burning brightly within his heart.

With this thought in mind, he immediately started channeling his energy, trying desperately to reconnect with the small spark still existing on earth.

But even after doing so for a long time, he didn’t make even the slightest progress in it.

’Haaa... what was I thinking?’ He thought, finally giving in to his fate.

He was already dead, how could he expect himself to come back to the living just like that?

Even if his energy was indeed powerful, it has never been capable of giving life, neither will it start now.

’I guess this is it... I really failed... in everything.’ With that, he didn’t struggle any more, simply letting

’Are you really going to give up... just like that?’ A strange feminine voice suddenly echoed within his mind, snapping him back to reality.

The voice sounded so melodious, bringing a calming sensation to his troubled heart.

’W-who... is that?’ However, that strange feeling only made Leon even more wary of whoever was speaking.

For such a strange person to be able to calm him just like that... he couldn’t help but wonder what their intentions were, and how they were able to speak to him in this white space.

’I’m not here to harm you... trust me.’ The voice spoke once more, its tone a lot warmer for some reason.

’Look around you... this isn’t just a ’white space’... you’re surrounded your energy... this is your own space.’

’Huh? My... own ’space’?’ Leon thought, finding himself confused about the strange voice’s words.

He could vividly remember back when Kronos dragged him into that strange place filled with clocks, he said something about that being his ’space’.

However, he had simply brushed off that word to the back of his mind, only focusing on returning back to Anna and the rest.

’Does this mean this... is also something similar to that... except that it belongs to me...?’ He thought in surprise.

’Surrounded by my energy...’ He wondered, trying to stretch use his energy sense to observe his surroundings.

Although he didn’t have a body, doing so was surprisingly easy... a little similar to how he was easily able to tell that a thin trace of his energy was still lingering on earth.

And to his surprise, the ’white’ he was seeing all around him was really his energy! frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

’To think I simply skipped over it before... I really am stupid.’ He thought, thinking back to how he was so focused on the thin energy outside, that he simply ignored the one floating in abundance around him.

’Are you really satisfied with ending things like this... let me help you...’ The voice spoke again, and before Leon’s eyes, the image of an ethereal hand stretched out at him materialised in front of him.

It was like the hand was really there, beckoning unto him to take it, and at the same time, it looked like it was merely a figment on his imagination.

However, Leon didn’t really care whether the sight before him was real or simply an illusion.

Even if there was only a slim chance, he wanted to get back out there... and fix everything.

The image of the hand filled him with a strange sense of relief, and he didn’t think twice before reaching out to it, in hopes of correcting all his mistakes.

Though he didn’t have a physical body, the moment he thought about grabbing unto the ethereal arm, a strange force suddenly pulled him towards it, and in the nest second, everything went dark.