Chapter 258: Fallen |
"Burdened by their existence, pained by their emotions, and longing for their thoughts; Worse than the Cursed are those called Fallens."
*
Bang!
Aldrich got thrown out of the tunnel-like a shadowy portal.
As his head banged on an unknown object, a last glimpse of the creature came to him. The cat had its head peeking out of the tunnel, and it's dark shadowy eyes were staring at Aldrich.
Meowww?!
Another meow came out of the creature, and with it, the portal vanished into thin air.
Thud-Thud-Bang!!
Aldrich rolled down on the floor, and the Bo staff fell beside him, bringing down with it. Aldrich was about to lift himself from his sprawled position. But just as he tried to move his muscles, waves of excruciating pain washed over him, drowning him in the depths of a sea of pain and agony.
Aldrich couldn't help but let out a scream, rocking everything around him, shaking all fibers and dust particles. For a moment, Aldrich felt as if he had returned to Rosalia, without the covering of the fluctuations of Laws, and many thorny abominations were trying to burst out of his skin. All over his body was an itch like someone was sticking needles out of him from inside.
His hands reached to his head, but this action was like the last straw.
"Ugh!!!"
Aldrich wriggled like a headless snake, but his mind was already racing, trying to find any reason for this pain. At last, Aldrich again returned to his motionless state that he had been in the Shadow World.
Huff! Huff!!
Aldrich's breathing was rough, but his body seemed petrified. His chest didn't heave up and down, his nostrils didn't flare, and his mouth was closed. This control was unprecedented, but not to a being like Aldrich.
Slowly, but steadily, Aldrich moved his eyelids. The pain that was contained within him waited as he had waited for someone to take him out of the Shadow World. The pain waited for Aldrich to take a wrong step, and then it would again engulf him like the maw of an enormous beast. But he didn't give the pain any chance.
After a full hour, Aldrich opened his eyes. A full hour just to open his eyes?! To others, it was just a wasted time, but who in this galaxy could bear the pain which would have killed anyone ranked lower than a Count?
With his white eyes becoming red by seconds, Aldrich stared at a white ceiling. In one glance, he could tell that he was in a small room from the ceiling's dimensions. But other than that, he couldn't find anything. He dared not tilt his head, and he dared not use his Perception.
Within one hour, Aldrich had found out the possible reason for this pain. If he was right, then it wasn't some aftereffect from staying within the Shadow World for too long. It also wasn't a side-effect of getting contaminated by any mutation after fighting off the Chaotic Serpents.
It was his own Attributes that were doing this to him.
'I am fucked…'
Yes, what Aldrich thought was indeed true. If there was any truth in his calculations, then he was truly fucked. What Aldrich had come up with was simple.
According to him, every Dreamer started with basic Stats, and this was a fact. But almost none thought about why it was so. Especially if one was to consider all the Attributes. If stats were a mirrored projection of Dreamers' lives, analyzed by the RECORD in their dreams, then how to explain Perception and Correspondence?
An athlete would have higher Agility, Strength, and Defense than a person spending all-time at home, doing nothing. Then why did even their Perception and Correspondence differ? Aldrich had found many written hypotheses, telling him that Perception was based on Intelligence. But as intelligent as he was, Aldrich didn't believe it was the only factor.
The only thing he could say for sure was that those initial stats were more like a safe lock for the Dreamers rather than assisting them. Otherwise, why RECORD would have brought the Dreamers out of that "Dream" at Level 1 and not zero.
Aldrich had asked this question many times to himself. And found only one explanation. It was to let their bodies adjust to the changes these Stats would bring upon them.
Aldrich's current state was like an overdosed junkie. His own Stats were trying to rip him into pieces. His Agility was shredding his muscles, Strength was crushing his bones, and Defense was giving him phantom pains. But the worst among them was Vitality, which was like a life-saving elixir turned into a fatal venom.
Aldrich hadn't found out how his Perception and Correspondence would affect him. But he wasn't eager to find it, especially when his own Stats were trying to make his existence disappear from this world. And IF he was right, then dying won't solve it, too. He would return to the same body, having the same Stat, and having a Fallen Rank.
'Sigh! What to do…'
Aldrich asked himself, but then suddenly a voice reached him, from the distant shores, and crossing countless worlds.
...
"… Daddy…"
Thump!
Thumpp!!
Thumppp!!!
"HAHAHA…"
Crackkkk!
Aldrich let out a laugh and jumped to his feet. All bones in his body cracked, his muscles ruptured, and the pain reached a level which he hadn't experienced even in the presence of the Banished Golden Devil, a Great Old One.
But the laugh didn't go away, the same way as the damped voice of Sha, which had just echoed in his ears. Aldrich put a hand on his stomach and kept laughing like a maniac.
"… Hahahaha…"
Thoughts didn't know when to stop, wounds didn't know when to heal, and the heart didn't know when to let go. Only the laugh kept coming out of his mouth, like a never-ending waterfall.
"…Hahaha…"
Aldrich's hands fell to his sides as he straightened his back.
Cr-rr-ackkk!!!
The corner of his lips arched up, ignoring the torn muscles and peeling skin.
Broken words… NO!
Simple truth came out of his mouth as he remembered those blue eyes.
"What… to do…?! Humph! This pain… is nothing…"