“Ukh—!”
Seth felt an intense throb in his head the moment he activated his first node. It was like a hammer had cracked down on his skull, splitting thought from instinct.
For a moment, everything blurred, his mind buzzing, his vision swimming…
He didn’t understand what was happening.
This had never happened to him before.
However, it was already too late for him to regret his decision. Holding onto the girl’s head, he clenched his teeth tightly as the node in his head worked overtime.
Instead of decreasing, the pain only increased.
’W-why is this happening?’
His hand started to spasm.
Looking down, he could see the little girl’s body starting to spasm.
She was resisting.
“…..!?”
The smile that pressed against her face twitched, and in that moment, the room flashed.
The people standing outside the window all turned their heads in his direction, and so did the Matriarch.
Their heads cocked, and their smiles slowly started to fade.
An invisible pressure suddenly filtered across the room as Seth’s face paled.
Keeping the Dreamwalker in check, the figures slowly inched toward the door. Each step creaked against the worn floorboards.
The Matriarch followed close behind.
Mirelle began to giggle, but she couldn’t stop. No matter how much she laughed, they kept moving.
“They are not playing! They are not playing with me!”
Seth heard all of this, but he couldn’t move at all.
He was stuck in place, the pain in his mind only growing stronger as he kept his gaze focused on the little girl.
’Why isn’t this working? What is going on? What is happening…? Was my previous guess wrong? Was I wrong all along?’
He didn’t think Mr. Jingless was much stronger than Mirelle.
He believed that he could contain Mr. Jingles so long as he activated his skill.
But—
“Kh!”
’Did I overestimate myself?’
Feeling his mind throb even further and the little girl in his grasp trying to pull away from his hand, Seth started to feel a slow sense of despair.
Creaaak—!
The steps grew nearer and nearer.
He could feel them now, just a few steps behind. Cold sweat clung to his back, soaking through his shirt as he held his breath and waited.
And just when he was about to be overcome with despair, he clenched his teeth and focused all of his attention on his node.
At this point, it was either the pain or his life.
“Hhaaa!”
A scream ripped out of his throat as he pressed his other hand onto the little girl’s head. In that moment when both hands clung to the girl’s head, he poured everything that he had.
Throb!
His already throbbing mind throbbed even further, and just faintly, he heard a faint ’cracking’ sound coming from somewhere within his mind.
Seth didn’t need to think to know what was happening.
He was overusing his node.
He already was aware of what would happen once that happened.
Fracture.
Fractures were slowly starting to form in his node.
These were consequences that came from the overuse of nodes.
It was something that Kyle had warned him about before, but…
He had no choice.
He had to do it.
And—
“…..!?”
The steps that were inching closer to him from behind suddenly stopped.
Everything stopped.
BANG!
The thunder came, and the windows shook.
Seth held onto the pain while staring at the little girl in his grasp. The smile was completely gone from her face, and Seth understood that this was his best opportunity.
He squeezed the head with as much force as he could muster.
Cra Crack—
The cracking sound grew sharper, more pronounced. Like glass under pressure, splintering slowly as invisible fingers tightened around it. Each second stretched the fractures wider, inch by inch.
Seth felt something trickle down the side of his nose.
Drip! Drip…!
He didn’t need to look to know what it was as his vision grew hazier and hazier.
At this very moment, he didn’t have many thoughts in his mind.
He was barely holding on.
But—
Ding!
Thankfully, he didn’t have to hold on for much longer.
A notification flashed across his vision shortly after, and his entire body relaxed.
: [Basic Node : Containment Vessel Activated!]
<C> Ranked Spirit: Mr. Jingles Acquired.
“….Ah.”
With the arrival of the notification, Seth’s hands finally let go of the little girl’s head as he stumbled back a couple of steps before falling onto the ground.
Thump!
His chest rose and fell repeatedly as he blankly stared at the ceiling.
Darkness took over his vision shortly after.
Thud, thud!
Moments later, the others began to collapse one by one, their bodies hitting the ground in eerie silence. The Dreamwalker faded into nothing, and with it, Mirelle vanished too.
Silence.
Save for the drizzling of the rain, the surroundings turned deafly quiet.
Not a single sound echoed across the room.
That was until—
Creak!
The single sound of a step echoed, and a figure slowly came into the room.
In the darkness, his features were obscured, but the figure eventually stopped before Seth, his gaze wandering around the room and seeing the aftermath of the situation.
“It was you, wasn’t it?”
His soft voice echoed quietly across the room as his eyes flashed with a certain glint.
“…Why did you have to come here? Why couldn’t you just focus on creating your games?”
The figure’s gaze fell on Seth’s neck.
His fingers twitched, and his body leaned forward, hands slowly rising to press against Seth’s neck.
“I don’t even know how you did it. You’re supposed to be a regular person. Was it even you who did it? No, it doesn’t matter. You can’t be kept any longer. Maybe I should—”
Thump! Thump!
Suddenly, a heavy thud echoed from behind. The figure jerked back, pulling his hands from Seth’s neck and snapping his head toward the door.
There, not long after, two figures appeared.
“Is everyone okay? What happened?!”
It was Kyle and Zoey as they looked around hastily.
Soon, their gazes fell on the floor where they spotted everyone, and Kyle’s face paled.
“Shit!”
He was so focused on the bodies sprawled across the floor that he failed to notice the figure standing just a few steps ahead.
It was only when he spoke that Kyle and Zoey finally took notice of him.
“Don’t worry, they’re all okay. None of them is dead.”
“Huh?”
“….!?”
Kyle and Zoey looked shocked at first, but upon seeing the figure, they both calmed down.
“Oh, it’s you.”
“…Are you sure they’re fine?”
“Yes.”
The figure nodded, reaching down towards Seth and pressing his hand against his neck.
“They all have a pulse.”
Thud!
It was in that moment that Kyle finally collapsed onto the floor, his chest rising and falling in uneven bursts as he struggled to catch his breath. He was still unsure of what had happened, but all he knew was that in one moment he was fighting Mr. Jingles and in the next moment, he was thrown into the orphanage.
The first thing he did was check if everyone was okay, and only after feeling the matriarch’s pulse did Kyle feel a lot better.
Taking several deep breaths to calm himself down, he slowly raised his head as he looked around him, and then the figure.
“About this…”
Kyle swallowed.
“…Were you the one who did this? Who defeated it? Are you—”
“Ah.”
The figure made a soft sound as a flash of light flickered into the room, briefly illuminating his face.
Looking around, the figure slowly nodded.
“Yes.”
Myles muttered, a slow smile creeping up his features.
“…I did this.”