As Roley stood to observe the arrival of these two individuals, his mind was a mess. He could recognize each and every one of them as his closest friends. The people whose encounter had changed the course of his life forever. Alis, the brothers Ligart and Heimart, and finally, Daniel himself.
He had not seen these people in so long, and had missed them dearly. Yet, as he looked at their youthful and unchanged appearances, he could not help but feel enmity towards them. His hands slowly rose to his shoulders, and the entire natural power within the universe began to converge in his direction.
pan,da n<0,>v,el In the distance, planets started to fall apart as every component parted into rivers of colored elemental powers. Stars and black holes, with their infinite light and darkness turned to strands of power that merged together, and nebulas, once beautiful and immense, had flown in the little space in between his two hands.
As this happened, Roley felt extremely odd. These events were playing out as if out of his own volition, but at the same time, he could not stop them. It almost felt to him as if he was experiencing the life of another Roley.. One from a different reality. He could feel his own desire to use the full extent of the universe’s natural mana to eradicate the existence of the four young individuals, regardless of how much he himself had hated the idea.
He wanted to stop himself, say hi to his old friends and reconnect with them, but his hands, mind and spirit moved on their own.
As he started to think of why he would ever want to hurt Daniel and the others, however, Roley saw something that made his blood boil and freeze at the same time.
While he charged the attack with an infinite amount of energy, Roley noticed the four young individuals disappear from his sight, dashing like comets behind him. Then, the horrific yet familiar sounds of war began. “STOP!” He instinctively thought, yet as he tried to turn around, he found out that he couldn’t.
The sound of blades shattering rocks, flames sizzling after coming in contact with water, loud pops caused by the metal shattering and crackling of lightning.. And screams.. So many screams. Behind him, Daniel and the others had begun a slaughter.
Behind Roley, one by one, the billions of elementals that were following him had started to fall. Each with a dream, friends and family of their own, noble and pacifistic, yet cut down by the brutality of four young individuals who sought to ground them to dust without a hint of remorse. Not even the young ones, weak and unaware of their nature, were spared.
A deep sorrow took over Roley’s mind. The being that he was now, he could feel, was the creature he had hoped he could become one day. He could vaguely recall memories that depicted countless struggles and victories that had cost millions of sacrifices, and yet, in this place he had succeeded. He was the true lord of the Elementals, and with their power, he had conquered the multiverse. Not to control it, but to make it a safer place for the elementals.
That was until Daniel and the others had arrived, and had started a murderous spree flueled with Roley believed to be unjustified rage. The people who had barely felt the greatness of their liberation were dying, but he could do nothing other than holding his hands up to his chest, and channeling the mana of the entire universe.
As the gruesome spectacle took place behind him, the scenery that lay in front had begun to change as well. The lights of the stars had now died, replaced by strings of light that pierced through space in his direction. The same happened with the universe’s darkness, which flew in between Roley’s fingers similarly to how water would flow from a dam the moment a point of release was opened.
However, that was not the strangest part.
Alongside light and darkness, space and time too had started to head in his direction, distorting his surroundings into something unseen. From his point of view, the universe seemed to have shattered, yet each shard did not constantly grind and move around like glass in a bag, but stayed still instead, stuck in an absolute lack of time.
Time passed, and in between the screams of the elementals, infinite amounts of natural essence merged into an orb of multicolored light. The power this little orb emanated was that of the whole universe, which now was nothing but an limitless expanse of nothing.
As this orb took shape, the figures of Daniel and the others slowly floated past Roley, and stopped in a line just a few feet away. Their faces sported wicked smiles of contempt and disdain.
At the sight of these wicked smiles, Roley seemed to lose reason. Murderous anger took over, and he released the small bead of infinite power.
Once released, the little orb did not explode. Instead, it split into four different rays of translucent light that sought to meet with the four cultivators. Even if the four hadn’t been only a few feet away, Roley believed, the rays of light would have met their targets in the same amount of time, for in its infinite power, he could feel traces of the essences of time and space.. A combination that could not be avoided.
In the blink of an eye, the four rays clashed against the four cultivators, disintegrating them and leaving nothing behind.
At the sight of his friends’ deaths, Roley felt a mixture of satisfaction and sadness. One that made him wonder what kind of predicament he was in. Yet, as he looked around, he realized that he was left alone. What was once a lively and colorful universe of just as many lively and colorful powers, was now an expanse of nothingness.. Like the white world a character that had broken the fourth wall would fall in, but dark instead.
A feeling of loneliness overtook him, and he crawled into a ball. He could not see anything, nor hear anything. No burnt smell to make him feel alive, nor the taste of space dust.. His body was all that was left of the universe’s life, and his mind was all that was left of the universe’s sentience.
Utterly and completely alone Roley remained for what felt like billions of years.. But then, out of the blue, a sound reached his ears. “What the hell are you doing?” Said a voice that came from nowhere.
Roley immediately opened his eyes, and in front of him, he saw a figure. Someone he had recognized, but who also felt extremely out of place. Not only because he stood in the absence of any form of matter, but also for other reasons he could not word out, even in his own mind. “What.. “Roley muttered in extreme confusion. A simple word that seemed to come from the being he was, and the being he inhabited.
“Oh for crying out loud!” The Elementalist complained after seeing the young man’s confused state. *SLAP* Immediately he flung his arm towards Roley’s face, landing a slap squarely on his cheek with a loud clap. “Wake up!” *SLAP SLAP SLAP* “Wake up, wake up, wake up!!” He insisted.
About five slaps later, Roley seemed to have regained full control of his mind. “I was.. So many dead.. And Daniel then..” He tried to explain, still discombobulated.
“Yes yes yes, nothing is real.” The Elementalist interjected, uncaring of what the young man had to say. He then explained as succinctly as he could, “You, well we actually, are both stuck in Horror’s true domain of power. What you’ve experienced is your worst nightmare. But it’s all an illusion.”
Roley did not buy the explanation right away. After all, this was the second time he had been dragged into a foreign world in which he had met the Elementalist. For all he knew, this was all a ruse to take over his body again. “What? No I.. I could feel my friends’ powers. They were much stronger than I remember them.” He said in response. He still struggled to remember where he was before he had come to this place.
The Elementalist shook his head, and looked at the young cultivator as if he was looking at an idiot. Then explained, “No, this isn’t a nightmare created by your mind. It is a nightmare formed by using both your memories and your fears.”
“Look at what happened. You had done it, you had saved the elementals from the mistreatment.. And yet they all died. You found your friends, but at that point, they had become your enemies.. And when all that you cared about was lost, you had nothing left but your own self. Literally.”
Roley seemed to be starting to understand, and believe in the Elementalist’s words. After all, while the two knew one another for centuries, they had never been confidants. And the Elementalist had just listed his three main fears. To be alone, to see what he built crumble, and to lose the friends who, for two thousand years he had hoped to reunite with.
But then, a thought came to his mind, “If this is my nightmare, why are you here?” Roley asked with a puzzled tone.
The Elementalist shrugged. “My best guess? Horror was not aware of my presence, and dragged me into your little corner of fears. If you are asking why I am unaffected by it, however, it is either because I don’t share your fears.. Or my gift was able to protect my mind.”
“Then how do we leave? I don’t feel like I can leave on my own.” Roley said while looking down on his body. He was now weaker than the being he had been a few seconds ago, but at least, he was in full control.
The Elementalist’s brows furrowed. His arms crossed in front of his chest and he began to wonder. “Theoretically, you should be out by now.. I woke you up. The nightmare is over. There is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to just.. wake up.”
“What about you, is there anything you can do from the outside?” Roley asked.
“I am not ‘outside’, can’t you see me here as well?” Dewah responded in irritation. He had already made many attempts at leaving the nightmare as it originally played out. He had tried to take over Roley’s body once and for all, he had even tried to kill his consciousness.. But to his dismay, the power of Horror worked both as a cage and as a barrier.
Had he had a way of leaving this place, he would have tried way before Roley suggested it. He, too, was out of options. But then, a strange thought appeared in his mind.
“Hold on a second..” Immediately he looked down at his body, and hastily touched his stomach, legs and feet. He then approached Roley and did the same for several seconds, then stopped. As he confirmed what he was thinking, his expression morphed into one of sheer shock and horror.
“We are corporeal..” he muttered, dumbfounded. “I thought this was the reflection of your fears.. But we are actually trapped into a different plane of existence, bound to relive your nightmare forever. What disgusting power!”
Roley thought this conclusion made sense. After all, he did not feel part of a dream, and for the few minutes that his personal nightmare had lasted, he had truly felt the power his body wielded. It was a reality separate from the fabric of the multiverse.
Despite having figured out the reality they were living, however, Roley still could not think of a way of freeing himself.
Luckily, that was unnecessary, for the moment the Elementalist had discovered he was there in body, mind and spirit, he had immediately formulated several more plans of escape. Each reflected in his facial features as he went through them one by one.
Hope gradually crushed by disappointment and anger..
The cycle went on again and again, until hope turned into delusion, and the following disappointment became desperation. “DAMN IT!” The Elementalist yelled as nothing but one possible method was left in his mind. One he disliked with all his heart.
