Kane POV
Kane opened his eyes.
He felt his body falling through the sky, and a beat later, he struck cold hard ground.
Standing up, he dusted his clothes, and looked around.
There was a giant tree in the distance.
Vines stretching from the tree were connected to people’s heads who were hung in the air.
“As expected, even if my abilities are sealed, I still woke up in Layer 3.
“Well, that’s better for me. I don’t need to bear with the nagging of those Dragon Clan Leaders.”
Kane decided on his plans quickly.
He would enter the giant tree, and through it step into one of the subconscious nightmare worlds in Layer 5.
There, he would meet one of Tartarus’ Clones, ask him where Ava was, then go to her location and take her back to Layer 2.
“Going by how time difference normally works between the Layers, only a few weeks or months should’ve passed in Layer 4 where the Grand Expedition is.
“I’m sure the Dragon Clan Leaders must be taking care of Ava.”
He moved towards the tree, planning to enter it, when suddenly he noticed something.
He could hear voices.
‘Someone other than me woke up on Layer 3?’
He dashed towards the voices while maintaining stealth, and he saw millions of people scampering around.
Those were Grand Expedition members.
How did so many of them wake up?
Kane swiftly raised his head and counted the people connected to the vines in the sky.
Only a few thousands at best.
Except a few, almost everyone woke up in Layer 3.
“What is happening here?” he muttered, an ominous premonition seeping into his heart.
He stretched his senses, and focused on the conversations.
Blood… Dragon… Clan… betray…
Sir Vlad… Traitor…
Weapon Dragon Clan Leader… and Hope Dragon Clan Leader… Must be fighting… Vlad…
Kane frowned.
‘It’s clear Vlad revealed himself as a Great Disaster.’
‘But why?’
‘He was instructed to hide his true identity and act as an insider.’
‘And knowing him, he would’ve killed anyone who knew his true identity. How are these people all alive?’
Kane’s mood got worse when he didn’t find Ava among those who had awakened.
Then, he searched among those who were still hung on the vines. Their numbers had reduced greatly and it allowed him to manually search for Ava.
“Where is Ava?”
Kane dashed towards the giant tree.
He had luckily woken near it, so he reached the tree quite quickly.
…
Zone 2, Layer 4
Aura surged through the Zone, making the world quake.
The disappearance of Nyxtharion #2 made everyone believe Neo had attacked him.
“The Great I told you to not trust him!” Nyxtharion #4 roared as he rushed towards Neo.
More wall guardians followed in tow.
“Beelzebub,” Thanatos called out. “Deal with them, and the two Dragon Clan Leaders who appeared in the Zone just now. Make sure no one disturbs me while I’m with Nyxtharion #1.
Kyu!
Beelzebub nodded, and jumped out of his pocket.
The caterpillar grew into a giant worm, twice as tall as a wall guardian and ten times longer.
Kyu! Kyu! Kyu!
“Yes, I will leave it to you.”
Beelzebub was especially motivated for the fight. Since he had siblings, he wanted to act like a proper elder brother.
And, Beelzebub remembered how Neo had suffered at the hands of the wall guardians.
He was going to make them pay.
A shrill cry released from Beelzebub’s mouth. It drowned out the roars of the dragons and stunned them.
Beelzebub stopped time for a few seconds.
He quickly weaved through the underground world of Zone 2, digging tunnels as if he was swimming in waters, and reached the location of the two people who had suddenly appeared in Zone 2.
Dragon Clan Leaders.
They were, like everyone else, frozen in time.
Instead of his own energy, Beelzebub called upon Neo’s World Energy.
He teleported the Dragon Clan Leaders to Neo’s Cosmos.
Finally, he stopped devouring Time elementals.
The wall guardians coughed, and glared at Beelzebub.
Some of them tried to go around Beelzebub and attack Thanatos.
But Beelzebub grabbed them with his tail and squashed them.
He made sure they were alive, but badly injured, then he threw them towards the other wall guardians.
A shrill cry echoed as Beelzebub glared at them.
His maw opened and he revealed thousands of sharp, fang-like teeth.
Kyu..
He warned them.
Even though he could erase them simply by devouring their time, he wouldn’t do that.
They would suffer, just as Neo had.
…
Thanatos stopped before the ‘small’ cave.
“This is where the Nyxtharion #1 is dwelling.”
He entered with calm steps.
At the far end of the long cave, he noticed a petite man. He looked young and in his early twenties.
He had long silver hair that glowed faintly.
His eyes were black, and his irises were shaped like crescent moons.
He seemed to be struggling to wake up.
“Arghh…. Aghh…”
The ‘young’ man, Nyxtharion #1, groaned as he clutched his head in pain.
“I see,” Thanatos said. “So this is how they were reducing my madness. They forced you to devour it.”
Thanatos crouched to the Nyxtharion #1’s eye level.
The dragon did not have any sense of self.
He had long since become an uncontrollable beast, which was why other Nyxtharions sealed it.
Nevertheless, Nyxtharion #1 had unfathomable power.
Despite losing his sense of self, the power of necromancy releasing from his body continued to raise the dead Nyxtharion.
The dragon’s nail dug into his skin, drawing blood.
His other hand moved suddenly and grabbed Thanatos’ neck.
Slowly, he started to crush his windpipe.
“Kill… Enemy…”
Despite having unimaginable power, he couldn’t kill Thanatos.
The pain and madness made his mind muddy, and he couldn’t put strength into his limbs.
Thanatos grabbed the dragon’s hand.
Darkness spilled from him and ate Nyxtharion #1.
There was no resistance, no battle.
The dragon had been completely crippled after suffering under the madness for days.
Memories appeared inside Thanatos’ head.
The Ancient Dragon Nyxtharion.
In the time where the universe and elements were still being completed, everyone wanted to be a pioneer of their own path.
The path chosen by Nyxtharion was Necromancy.
A power for the weak.
A power for the lonesome.