Chương 101: Impasse

June sat alone in Eren's tent after killing the lights. The trembling in his hands hadn't stopped yet. He ruffled his onyx hair with both of his hands, then slid them down his face and groaned. The groan dragged out and petered into stifled frustration. The nature of the virtual realm was both comforting and irritating. River had gone to the medical ward for a checkup. Leonard had nearly immediately died of blood loss. One unit member had died via possession.

38 people were unaccounted for, which either meant they ran away or died. No burials could be held since the bodies turned into blue mist immediately. The only evidence of death was disturbances in the area, or pieces of clothing or tools made within the virtual realm that the person kept with them. Meaning just about every unaccounted person was most likely eaten alive silently.

June didn't know whether to cry or scream at the world; he had lost another critical person and several others in a horrible fashion, and now he didn't know if the threat was still alive or dead. People kept on coming up to him and apologizing, and every time, he held himself back from slapping them.

'I don't care about what ifs, unless they're predictions. What's done is done.' He understood the guilt these people felt before even smelling it from them. He himself was the closest to Leonard's position and failed to save him. June slowly rubbed his aching brow; the IMP had taken a week to appear before being caught.

Now he understood that it was silently killing his people instead of simply being somewhere else, but the problem was beginning to compound; the doomsday event was done, its effects lingered, but that was that. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

The IMP, on the other hand, was officially confirmed dead, but June's intuition screamed at him; he wouldn't know if it was truly dead due to its possession abilities, he didn't know how to kill a spirit, and the thought of an evil spirit didn't even cross his mind until the connection with a Wendigo was made post-battle. His lip quivered.

"This was the IMP… Didn't someone say that there would be a… a stronger one… Shit!" The situation was devolving fast; the Royal Faction still had approximately 150 Dreamers from his last bit of intel from dissenters. He had a feeling that they wouldn't be too keen on working together. He had also lost his council head twice and lost two important sub-faction leaders; there was no verification on whether the IMP was truly dead or simply biding its time, and the next event was around the corner.

June slammed his palms into his face.

'Everything's going to shit.' June began wishing he were a character from a novel, better yet, he began wishing for the characters of his favorite novel to suddenly appear and bail him out of this situation. He had learned he was talented, and even considered a capable Dreamer, but mere talent wouldn't save him or his people. Brighthaven's plan to outlast the Royal Faction was slowly falling apart.

Sure, Brighthaven had more members, but they simply ended up swapping a hopeless enemy out for two infinitely more dreadful ones. June messaged his temples, feeling a migraine coming on; he had lost some of his most talented people one by one, and the impossible situation of Brighthaven slowly became worse.

'God, I wish there was some convenient power up…?'

'…' June waited for the voice to pop in with its ancient wisdom and teach him the all-kill superpower that he desperately needed, but only the silence and dreaded chatter from outside of the tipi was audible.

'Should I just run…? I-I mean, I don't really owe these people anything….. In fact, they…' He wished the voice would chime in and give him the courage to be a coward. But he felt that deep down, he was preparing himself to die like his friends for the sake of his people. June just wanted to convince himself of a selfish motive in order to guilt-trip himself into being better. After a moment of silence, he let out an icy sigh and stood up.

He walked over to a barrel of water in Eren's tent and looked at his reflection in the water. His glowing golden eyes had lost their sheen once again, and instead of looking fantasmagorical, his eyes looked like proper gold, with scratches and imperfections marring their surface in proof of authenticity. He closed his eyes, reached within the depths of his mind, and pushed past his emotions to the side.

He opened them once more, and the imperfections marring his eyes grew deeper, allowing shadows to settle within the creases. Feeling fear, dread, sadness, pain, or wrath won't help anyone in Brighthaven. So in the stead of his people, he closed off those emotions in order to pursue a fully pragmatic self. The next threat to Brighthaven will not feel his wrath, fear, or dread. But the next threat to Brighthaven will feel an unmerciful death.