Chương 330: A Vessels Awakening

(1 day after the prison break(Vale POV)) A boy drifted unconscious through what could only be described as absolute nothingness. There was no light to guide him, no darkness to define the emptiness, no wind, no sound, not even the comforting sensation of falling. Reality itself seemed absent. He floated through an endless void that possessed neither beginning nor end, suspended within a realm where time had seemingly abandoned its own purpose.

His body remained limp, carried by forces beyond comprehension, while his sealed eyelids refused to part as though fused together by an invisible hand. Yet despite his unconscious state, despite the impossible stillness surrounding him, his mind remained painfully aware.

'Where... am I...?' The question echoed through his thoughts without receiving so much as an answer. There was no voice to respond, no presence to acknowledge him. He tried to move. He tried to open his eyes. He tried to scream. None of it worked. It was as though his body no longer belonged to him, existing only as a forgotten shell drifting through an ocean devoid of existence itself. Then something changed. Without warning, agony exploded through the back of his skull.

It was not the ordinary pain of broken bones or torn flesh. It felt older than that, deeper. As though someone had reached into his memories and begun tearing them apart with bare hands. Images he could not recognize flashed behind his sealed eyes before shattering into fragments. Voices whispered names he had never heard. Countless faces appeared only to dissolve before he could focus on them. Every fragment felt important.

Every memory seemed like something that should have belonged to him, yet they slipped away the instant he reached for them. Vale screamed. His voice vanished into the endless void, swallowed without so much as an echo. Slowly, the pain faded. But relief never came. Instead, another sensation replaced it. Someone... Something...... was watching him. The feeling crawled beneath his skin with suffocating certainty. He could not see whoever observed him, yet he knew beyond doubt that unseen eyes had settled upon him.

Then the void disappeared. His body suddenly plummeted downward. For a single heartbeat he felt weight return before he struck what felt like liquid. Crimson waves splashed around him, yet instead of sinking, his body continued downward until his feet struck something solid hidden beneath the surface. The impact forced the breath from his lungs. Vale's eyelids fluttered. His fingers twitched. Slowly, he forced himself upright, pressing a trembling hand against his aching forehead.

Every muscle screamed in protest as he rose, his breathing ragged while confusion clouded his thoughts. Then he finally looked around. His entire body froze. An endless ocean of blood stretched beyond every horizon. Not merely rivers or lakes, but an entire sea of crimson, perfectly still despite its unimaginable size. The metallic scent filled the air so heavily it coated the inside of his lungs with every breath.

Beneath his feet the blood behaved impossibly, supporting his weight like polished glass while faint ripples spread outward with every cautious step he took. Encircling that impossible sea stood mountains. Gigantic walls of black onyx reached so high they disappeared into the heavens themselves, forming an enormous ring that imprisoned the blood-red ocean at its center. Their jagged peaks resembled colossal teeth surrounding some ancient beast too terrible to escape. Vale slowly lifted his gaze higher.

Five black suns burned within the crimson sky. They did not shine. Instead they devoured light itself, suspended in a perfect circle high above the endless sea. His eyes followed that circle toward its center. Then they stopped. His breathing ceased entirely.

"W-What..." His voice barely escaped his lips. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

"... what is that...?" There, suspended between the five impossible suns, hung a man. Countless chains thicker than castle towers wrapped around his body, stretching endlessly into the heavens above while others vanished beneath the blood ocean below. Dozens of weapons pierced his flesh from every conceivable angle. Spears, swords, halberds, arrows, axes, blades whose designs defied understanding, they had all become part of him, embedded so deeply they seemed fused with his very existence.

From every wound flowed blood. The endless crimson ocean beneath him was being fed by the countless injuries decorating the prisoner's body. Vale found himself walking without realizing it. Each cautious step carried him closer. The blood beneath his feet continued to support him effortlessly as though welcoming his approach. His heartbeat echoed loudly within his ears while thoughts crashed against one another.

'Wasn't I falling...?'

'Wasn't I fighting...?'

'How did I get here?' Nothing made sense. Yet he continued forward. The closer he came, the more details revealed themselves. The man's armor had long since ceased to resemble armor at all. Broken plates of black metal had become one with flesh, fused permanently into his body as though both had forgotten where one ended and the other began. Long strands of black hair cascaded over what should have been his face. Except... There was no face.

Vale stopped several meters away, his breath catching in his throat as an inexplicable sense of familiarity washed over him.

"I... know you..." he whispered, the words barely audible.

"... don't I?" Slowly, almost fearfully, he lifted his gaze higher. His throat tightened as realization crept into his mind.

"You're... the Father of Flaws." Where the prisoner's face should have been rested a perfectly smooth mask of polished onyx. At its center shone a single radiant golden sun, impossibly bright against the darkness surrounding it. The symbol did not merely emit light, it seemed to watch him. Silence stretched between them until, with agonizing slowness, the chained man raised his head.

Every chain surrounding him groaned beneath the movement, as though the simple act of looking down challenged the laws that bound him. The golden sun settled upon Vale. A voice followed. Amused.

"So..." The single word rippled across the endless sea of blood before the voice continued, "... do you finally remember your purpose... Vessel?" Vale's eyes widened. His heart seemed to stop.

"What...?" His eyes snapped open. A rough stone ceiling greeted him as he lay motionless, chest rising and falling in uneven breaths while his mind desperately struggled to separate dream from reality. Several long minutes passed before a single coherent thought surfaced from the chaos.

"... Vessel?" The word escaped almost involuntarily. Slowly he pushed himself upright, only for agony to answer. Every muscle in his body screamed in protest. It felt as though his limbs had been torn apart and hastily stitched back together while he slept. Even breathing hurt. His arms trembled beneath his own weight as he forced himself into a sitting position, only then realizing something else. His armor was gone. Instead of steel and leather, rough gray cloth hung loosely over his battered body.

Fresh bandages wrapped around his torso and arms beneath the simple garments, suggesting someone had treated his wounds while he remained unconscious. Confused, Vale studied his surroundings. The room consisted entirely of cold gray stone. Iron bars sealed the front of the chamber, while a heavy metal door stood at the far end of the corridor beyond. There were no windows, no decorations, no comforts whatsoever, only a narrow stone bed carved into the wall and a bucket carelessly placed in one corner.

"... A prison?" His voice echoed softly through the empty chamber. Determined to understand where he was, Vale forced himself onto trembling legs. His knees immediately buckled, every muscle protesting violently as he stumbled toward the bars, barely managing to catch himself before collapsing. Leaning heavily against the cold iron, he peered into the corridor beyond. Nothing. No guards. No prisoners. Only an unsettling silence that somehow felt worse than armed soldiers standing watch.

Eventually he gave up and lowered himself back onto the stone bed. Closing his eyes, he forced himself to remember.

"I was..." He frowned.

"... being chased." Fragments gradually resurfaced. The colosseum. Escaping alongside Illu. Meeting the vice commander. Their desperate flight toward the sea. The relentless pursuit. Then came the battle atop the wyvern. His breathing grew heavier as memory returned piece by piece. He had stayed behind. Thrown himself from the sky. Fought alone to buy Illu enough time to escape. He remembered the duel. The struggle. He had almost won.

He had nearly thrown the vice commander from her own wyvern before her mask shattered, revealing a face he somehow recognized. Everything after that became a blur. She had kicked him away, ordered her wyvern to fire, and death itself had rushed toward him. Then,"No..." His voice cracked.

"Illu..." The memories crashed together all at once. Illu had saved him. Again. Together they had plunged into the ocean, where a Deep Dweller had emerged from the depths intent on devouring them both. Before the creature could reach them, something even greater had appeared. The Goliath of the Reef. He remembered the colossal eye. The tentacle reaching toward him. The Deep Dweller being destroyed as though it had been a mere toy. Then... He had blacked out. Vale buried his face in his hands.

'Why am I alive?'

'Why...?' If the Goliath had truly appeared, neither of them should have survived. His breathing became increasingly frantic.

"Illu..." His foot began tapping unconsciously against the stone floor as desperate thoughts spiraled through his mind.

'He's alive.'

'He has to be.'

'If they rescued me, they rescued him too.'

'Why would they save only one of us?'

'He's probably in another cell.'

'He has to be.' The reassurance repeated over and over inside his mind until the sound of approaching footsteps shattered the cycle. Vale looked up, hope flooding across his face as a familiar armored figure entered the corridor.

"You've awakened." The calm voice belonged to Ares.

"Good. It is time we discuss what will become of you following the crimes you have committed." Vale barely heard him. His heart surged with relief as he scrambled to his feet far too quickly, pain tearing through his body while he staggered toward the bars and gripped them so tightly his knuckles turned white.

"Ares!" Hope radiated from every word he spoke.

"You saved me, didn't you? Then you saved Illu too!" A smile began forming despite everything.

"Where is he? I want to see-""I am sorry to disappoint you." Vale fell silent. The smile vanished. Ares' expression never changed as he continued in the same measured tone.

"A body was never recovered. We found no trace of your companion." Vale stared blankly through the bars.

"No..." His lips barely moved. The world suddenly felt distant, muted, as though every sound had been swallowed beneath deep water. His heartbeat thundered inside his ears while the rest of Ares' words dissolved into meaningless noise. His fingers slowly loosened from the bars as the desperate hope he had clung to crumbled away.

'Illu...' His knees trembled. His breathing became shallow. The realization settled over him. Illu...... was dead.