The Extra of The Lunerra-Chapter 491 - 26: Endless Darkness

I focused on the purple, liquid-like aura I held in my hand.

I had used caora many times before. Especially after the Holar War, when I was crippled, I had no other choice. Even though each use brought me closer to death, it was my only option to be able to fight.

But I had never fully used it. The sole purpose of caora existing for me, of using it, was to make my crippled body fit for battle and strengthen it a little.

Now, however... it was different.

I could feel it directly.

Controlling it, using it... or rather, communicating with it was much easier.

Even though I couldn't control it completely, it was like a limb that carried out every command I manually gave it.

I narrowed my eyes.

I didn't feel much.

I was calm.

My mind was clear.

It was a detail I hadn't noticed before.

When I was first a wiera, the Absolute Mind would deactivate every time I used caora. Now, it only happened when Alaric appeared before me.

When had this change occurred? I guess it had been like this since I woke up from the coma.

I sighed softly, dispersed the aura I had created using caora, and leaned back comfortably.

Absolute Mind aside, I had grown stronger.

It happened with something as simple and instantaneous as accepting communication with caora. And I had only just begun my caora training, meaning I still had room to grow, but even this was a tremendous progress.

When I thought about what I planned to do in the not-too-distant future... it was quite a good step.

I leaned slowly toward my desk, placed my arms on top of each other, and rested my head on them.

I hadn't been sleeping much lately. Thanks to the effects of the Absolute Mind and the medicines of this magical world, my sleep time had been greatly reduced without affecting my daily life much.

Still, the comfort and sense of renewal that sleeping brought were indispensable.

Getting some sleep really wasn't a bad idea, even if there wasn't a soft bed beneath me.

I might not get another chance like this.

*******

…

Darkness.

A darkness I was familiar with.

I slowly raised my hands and looked at my palms.

But there was nothing there.

I had raised my hands, I felt I was looking at them...

But they weren't there.

I was in a dream.

This time, I looked around.

In this darkness that seemed endless, I searched for something other than my own existence.

But... there was nothing.

I was alone.

The only thing I could see was the infinite blackness of the darkness.

I was getting used to it now, though. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

It didn't happen every time, only occasionally... rarely. Only when I fainted, when I experienced any loss of consciousness, would I sometimes find myself here. That's why I was confused whenever I found myself in this endless darkness.

But later I learned what this place was.

"You are here to survive."

That's what the pure white figure Aiden encountered in his memories had said.

"Every night, every second you sleep, you have to do this."

This was the price of the power Aiden had gained.

As a stranger in his body, I was probably experiencing a side effect of it too.

That's why, sometimes, I found myself here.

Sometimes...

For a moment, all my thoughts slowed down.

A single word echoed in my mind, gradually fading but never completely disappearing.

Sometimes.

...

Is that really true?

Am I really here by chance?

...

No.

I'm not.

I strained my memory. I searched my mind, my memories, to their deepest depths. I examined even what I could remember as if it were yesterday, searching for the things hidden as if they had never existed.

But it was dark.

Just like now, most of my memories... were dark.

…

Ah.

Just like now...

Dark...

It's not normal for non-existent memories to be dark. They simply shouldn't be there.

As if a closed door in my mind had opened, I suddenly felt a headache, as if all those thoughts hidden behind it until now were coming out one after another.

But I didn't stop, I kept digging.

I was sure.

I... didn't come here so often, so rarely.

I just forgot.

That's why I felt like I rarely came.

That must be it.

My memories were dark rather than simply not existing, because during those memories I was in this endless darkness.

Every time I slept, every time I lost consciousness without knowing how, I was here. I just... couldn't remember, just like dreams.

I looked around again, feeling like I had solved a mystery I hadn't even been aware of until now.

Now, though, a question was forming in my mind.

In Aiden's memories, he didn't look into such endless darkness when he came here.

He saw different colors surrounding him when he was here.

Every time he looked at them, his head ached as if he were seeing things he should never have seen.

He was in unbearable pain.

It was such intense pain that it made him wish for death.

But for me, it was different.

I... was simply here.

I was here, floating in this endless darkness, and... that was all.

Why?

It must be because I wasn't the Bearer of Knowledge like Aiden, but I still shared his body.

That's why I didn't experience the pain he experienced; I didn't see those different colors he saw, but I was still here.

And yet... was that really all there was to it?

I turned my eyes back to the darkness.

This time, I wasn't looking at anything other than myself aimlessly.

I had a purpose.

Therefore, my entire focus was on a single, specific point. Without even blinking my eyes, without moving the point I was looking at even a millimeter, I passed the seconds.

After a while, minutes.

But, finally... I saw it.

It was something moving, too far away for me to perceive.

It was an 'anomaly' that I had personally experienced several times, but had never seen in any of Aiden's memories.

In this darkness that seemed to stretch into infinity... I wasn't actually alone.

Because they were one with the darkness, it was nearly impossible to notice them. But when I focused intensely, I could see their outlines, even if it was difficult.

Hands.

Dark hands.

Countless hands moving one after another, surrounding me... as if trying to approach me, yet simultaneously maintaining their distance.

If I had a body, it would have been an image that could have taken my breath away, causing me to freeze. Fortunately, I didn't have a body. Even then, I was a little too calm.

These were the same hands that had reached out to my soul before, trying to tear it apart.

Though I couldn't hear them from where I was, in my memories, each had a whispering voice that was impossible to fully understand.

They were all trying to reach me, desperately wanting to get close to me. But they couldn't. Something was stopping them.

That was one of the reasons for my calmness.

Just being in the same space as these things was enough to make me afraid.

But since they couldn't come near me, there was no need to be so afraid of them, at least for now.

More than anything, I was curious.

Why weren't they in Aiden's memories, but they were so fixated on my presence?

This question had begun to occupy my mind when a memory quickly surfaced.

It was another one from the Holar War. I vaguely remembered a silhouette blocking those hands as they were about to tear me apart.

I hadn't fully realized it at the time. But now, as the same memory replayed in my mind, I was certain.

It was Aiden who was the silhouette blocking those hands.

So he was aware of their presence. Not only was he aware, but he could control them to a certain extent.

...

Ah, wait... no.

As my memories of that moment became clearer, I quickly corrected myself.

No, he hadn't controlled them. It was different. Rather than being controlled... the dark hands were afraid of him at that moment?

I tried to dig deeper into my memory, wanting to access more memories.

But... no matter how hard I tried, I had no more memories about this subject.

Either I couldn't remember, or I simply hadn't experienced anything else.

"Haaaaah..."

I sighed deeply, with a bit of disappointment.

I thought I might find a little mo-

...

...?

Wait.

Did I... sigh?

Only then did I realize that I was no longer in that endless darkness, but instead in another place that felt quite familiar.

I was in my chair. I had fallen asleep with my head on my arms, staring at the wall. I had fallen asleep at such an angle that one of my arms had gone quite numb.

I slowly lifted my head from my desk, wiped the crust from my eyes with my hands, and looked around blankly.

Ah.

The Inferesse Family...

I'm in my office.

I grabbed my cane, walked slowly to the bathroom, and splashed cold water on my face a few times. The sound of the water running continuously from the faucet was clearing my mind more and more with every passing second.

My sleepiness had largely passed. I remembered where I was, why I was here, what I had to do.

Of course, those weren't the only things I remembered.

That darkness...

The things I noticed there...

I remembered those too.

This time, I hadn't forgotten.

This time, every second I spent in that endless darkness was in my mind.

Why, then?

I had been in that darkness many times before, but each instance had been erased from my mind.

Why was I remembering it now?

Because of Aiden and Alaric? Because they resisted the Absolute Mind to communicate with me?

No matter how much I thought about it, nothing else had happened recently that could affect my subconscious...

"..."

I felt like I had gained more questions than answers.

Just like with everything else.

"Tch."

I clicked my tongue, narrowed my eyes, turned off the faucet that was still dripping ice-cold water, and stepped away from the bathroom.

I'm curious.

I really want to know what exactly those dark hands are all about.

But... I also know that now is not the right time for that.

I have plenty of other things to deal with and can't spare my mind for that issue right now.

I'll ask Alaric what those hands are the next time I see him. Even if he doesn't know, I'll make him ask Aiden. I'll find out no matter what.

But until then... it's best for me to not think about this much.

After sitting down at my desk, I opened a holographic screen in front of me and checked the time. Then I noticed something interesting among my notifications.

It wasn't from the device connected to the Inferesse Family's data center, but from my personal mobile device.

More importantly, it was who it was from and its content.

<<------------------------------

Alex: In about twenty minutes, I will carry out the first planned assassination attempt.

------------------------------>>

This was part of the plan we had prepared to deal with Stephen.

Failed assassination attempts.

My eyes quickly scanned how long ago the message had been sent.

What I saw was... that the message had been sent exactly twenty minutes ago.

"..."

I took my eyes off the screen for just a moment and turned to my right.

The instant I did, I came face to face with the sharp tip of a knife just a few inches from my pupil.

"Oh."

Just in time... huh?