The threads of Fate were far lower than what a world with trillions of inhabitants should have.
It was as if only a few hundred thousand lived there.
“How is this possible?”
A chill ran down his spine.
“How can a world like this exist?”
Percival focused downwards.
He noticed a withering Fate thread moving around something invisible.
At first, he had not paid attention, but the more he focused, the more he realized something was wrong.
Where were the Fate threads of the trillions of Tartarus inhabitants?
Why could he not see them?
“What if… What if there are no inhabitants?”
A bold conjecture appeared in Percival’s mind.
He looked around for clues to support his theory.
To his horror, the more he saw, the more he was sure of his guess.
Tartarus had no inhabitants. They were mirages. Illusions.
Percival’s heart thumped loudly.
He started to piece together the clues he had seen.
“The world inside the Tartarus tree is a nightmare.
“No, this place isn’t a World.
“It was never a World.
“We thought of it as a World since it could give Energy connection to the inhabitants, but there were never any inhabitants. They were all part of an illusion created to trick those who are caught by Tartarus and trapped here.”
He clutched his head.
Monsters. Sentient Species. Dragon Clan Members. Dragon Clan Leaders.
How many of them were illusions created to trick those who were caught by Tartarus?
“This damned place.”
Percival could feel his mouth go dry.
Ava Williams. The daughter of Sword Saint Kane Williams. She was born on Tartarus. In other words, she was an illusion too.
Apollo had heard Kane was called the Great Disaster. Kane had attacked the Grand Expedition and stopped them from conquering Tartarus.
“He did that because if Tartarus was conquered, the people would see the truth, and they might remove the illusions, one of which happens to be his daughter.”
Percival bit his lips.
He might be going a bit too far with his theory.
But he felt his assumptions were correct.
The worst realization was the fact that the illusions didn’t know they were illusions.
They seemed to think of themselves as real people.
Percival continued to look around.
The world of Fate had distorted time. It allowed him to make observations for years when, in reality, only a few seconds had gone by.
The long time he spent there brought disturbing facts to light.
“These illusions are created with the power of Nightmare.”
Percival did not know when it happened, but a new prisoner was caught by Tartarus in the Blood Sea and brought within.
That person’s Fate of Life thread was only a bit larger than their Fate of Devouring thread.
Whenever someone’s Fate of Devouring thread became larger than their Fate of Life thread, they would become insane due to darkness.
The new prisoner was on the verge of falling into madness.
He was killed and revived, killed and revived. He killed others, devoured them, and he grew stronger. He killed others, devoured them, and grew stronger. He was killed and revived. He killed others, devoured them, and grew stronger.
The new prisoner’s life was monotonous.
Despite being bestowed Tartarus’ Immortality, he had to keep struggling for survival.
And.
It showed Percival another horror of Tartarus.
Each time the man died and revived, his Fate of Devouring thread grew slightly larger.
But this growth was not a problem.
The Fate of Devouring thread was warping around the Fate of Life thread.
When the Fate of Devouring grew large enough, it completely covered the Fate of Life thread.
It was the same for every other prisoner of Tartarus. Their Fate of Life thread was completely covered by their Fate of Devouring thread.
“This… does this mean Darkness grew so strong that it devoured their life?”
Percival had never seen anything of the sort before.
“No, if they are dead, how are they moving and behaving like living….”
Percival closed his mouth.
Were those prisoners alive?
Could he say with guarantee that they were alive?
Their Fate of Life thread was ‘eaten’ by the Fate of Devouring thread.
So, were they corpses who were moving as if they were alive?
“Are they dead and are being forcefully moved like puppets by Tartarus, or are they alive?”
Percival hoped it was not the former.
Decades passed in the world of Fate threads. Percival could have stopped his maniacal pursuit of truth. It was harming him, slowly killing him.
But he wanted to know the truth.
Why was this world created like it was? What was the purpose behind it?
No one had asked Percival to put his life on the line for the truth.
However, he couldn’t let a twisted world like this continue.
How much more time passed? Percival didn’t know. His spirit had become too weak.
Even though he had been using Infinite Mana of Goddess Artemis’ blessing to stay in the world of threads, there was a limit to how much his mind could expend itself to observe the Fate threads.
His soul fell into slumber.
He woke up with a snap after an unknown amount of time.
“Where am I?”
He looked around and noticed himself to be next to the Tartarus tree.
However, was this world real? Or was it another nightmare created by Tartarus?
Percival began to doubt everything.
For what reason was Tartarus wrapping the Fate of Devouring threads around their Fate of Life threads?
For what reason had it created a twisted hell like this?
“You are wasting your energy and time upon futile thoughts,” Sunshine’s voice echoed in his mind. “The years you spent in the world of threads were similarly futile.
“They served no purpose.”
“What do you mean they were futile-“
“Artemis’ warning was meant to divert your attention towards your allies and help them. Have you done that?”
“I-“
Percival had no words.
He did not enter the Abyss.
He was too afraid to see what he would find there.
“Percival, it is not your nature to show weakness. Cast thy doubts from thy heart and continue moving forward.”
Percival looked at his own hands.
He was shivering.
The twisted hell he had seen left him with uncontrollable dread.
People lived for years with their family. Someone proposed to their love. Someone was taking care of their child. Someone was training to join the Dragon Clan.
But they did not know everything was an illusion, a part of a nightmare.
They had no family. The life they were living was fake.
The centuries of memories they created were fabricated.
And they themselves might be dead and nothing but a fleeting mirage – a ghost – of their true selves.
Percival’s stomach churned.
He vomited.
He felt like he was inside a bad nightmare. A twisted joke that was created to drown people into despair when they saw its true nature.
“If you hate the nightmare so much, then destroy it.”
Sunshine spoke without any hesitation.
“End this twisted hell.”
“I can’t. I…”
He was afraid.
He was—
“Are you going to leave behind your allies again? Are you going to cower in fear again just because you saw a twisted horror?”