305 Binding
I went ahead and entered the mansion first. I had a few recollections of this place, so I knew where I was going.
More than memories, it felt like I was driven by instincts. I knew just where to go even though technically I had never been here.
As I headed to my room, I passed several whispering and gossiping butlers and servants along the way.
Naturally, all of them were confused.
Some even wanted to stop me and ask me to get out of here before their lords returned, but none of them dared to carry on with their foolish thoughts.
After ascending a spiral staircase and walking down a uselessly long, lavish hall, I arrived in front of a particular room.
Taking a deep breath, I twisted the doorknob and swung open the door, entering the room.
It was a huge room, almost twice as big as my current dormitory apartment in the Global City.
Opulent and luxuriant were the two words that popped into my head at the first sight of my room.
Luxurious items like custom furniture, modern art pieces, all kinds of high-
end state-of-the-art electronics, regal carpets and rugs, and things like that filled the room.
However, the one thing that caught my attention the most was an enormous silver mirror with all kinds of precious stones like diamonds and rubies embedded in its frame.
The ornate mirror was set in the middle of the room, taking almost one-third of the space in the room.
“Damn, he really was obsessed with his appearance.”
Well, to be fair, I’m obsessed with this appearance too. How could anyone not be– Ahh, no, focus.
Shaking my head, I walked up to a window and leaned back on the wall.
The front side lawn view was clearly visible from my room. I could see Adel there, still with his wolves.
Looking up through the glass, I saw a black dot circling around the mansion in the vast, clear blue sky.
It was Sera. Should I call her down?
After thinking about it for a while, I decided to leave her for now. After all, I had something I had to do first.
With an exasperated sigh, I strolled over to the giant silver mirror standing in the very middle of the room.
“Damn it,” I cursed.
The reason I cursed was that I had finally decided that it was time to bind Enigma Sightstone to me.
…And it was going to be very painful.
I don’t like pain.
Releasing another sigh, I summoned a knife that I stole– that I took from Amelia and raised it up.
Slowly, I brought it to my left eye and tightly clutched the helm of the knife, clasping it in a firm grip.
The only way to bind the relic to me was to rend my eye and stuff the violet crystal orb in place of my iris.
The relic would then heal my eye, and grant me supernatural sight along with the powers to thrall someone with a single glance.
Gritting my teeth, I positioned the tip of the knife right in front of my left iris and gradually started drawing the knife closer.
I felt a chill crawl under my skin as the tip of the knife began to get bigger and bigger in my vision with each passing second…
…Until it was almost about to touch my eye!
“Arghakaaa!”
The moment the knife made contact with my eyelid, I screamed like an elementary school girl and pulled the knife back.
“Gaaah,” gritting my teeth, I took in the fact that I was just about to rip my eye open.
Through deep breaths, I calmed myself down a little.
Ah, why am I scared? It’s just a stab… a stab in the eye. I had been stabbed plenty of times before. Hell, I had been bashed, slashed, and stabbed together.
Right, this shouldn’t scare me.
Taking a few more deep breaths, I brought the knife close to my left eye again.
But just like before, when the knife brushed against my eyelashes, my mind involuntarily pulled my hands back.
“Ahh, come on!”
Grunting, I threw my head back and cursed a few times. Why is inflicting a wound on myself so hard?
I mean, I know the biological reasoning behind it, but I’ve sustained far worse lacerations! Hell, I’ve even been shot to death once!
“So then why is my body scared of a small injury that’ll heal instantly?!”
Voicing my irritation again, I clicked my tongue. Once again drawing a few deep breaths, I started to iron my resolve.
Come on.
You’ve fought a former Vampire King.
You’ve dueled the fated Protagonist of this world to almost a tie.
You’ve killed so many high-vampires.
You’ve got every talented cadet in your academy working under you.
They call you the Fallen Angel. Well, what’s a little pain an angel, right?
“Right.”
So, get that knife and stab it right through your iris. Do not hesitate, okay?
“Okay,” I nodded and gripped the knife tighter in my hand. But this time, instead of taking my time, I brought it to my eye and pierced it in one fluid motion.
—Kach
“Anghh!”
I bit down on my lower lip in order to desperately stifle the excruciating scream that threatened to escape my mouth.
Soon, the metallic tang of blood assaulted the taste buds on my tongue as my teeth sank into the tender flesh.
A soft mewl still managed to escape me. In the mirror, I saw blood gushing out my left eye, coursing down my cheek as if I were crying tears of crimson.
Some of it was smeared across the silver mirror in front of me in which I saw my face was contorted in unsightly agony, my teeth still digging into my flesh, letting the blood drip out from my lips too.
Ahh, yes, it was a mess, to say the least.
The knife was still plunged into my eyes and I didn’t have the resolve to take it out. In fact, I didn’t even know how I was standing.
By all logic, I should’ve crumpled down on my knees after being subjected to this level of intense pain.
But somehow, I managed to not gracelessly fall back first onto the ground and start wailing like a scolded child.
What are you doing, fool? Pull it out!
Pull it out and place the relic there!
“I’m trying! Gaaah!”
Talking with myself – or rather cursing myself – I mustered my remaining strength and pulled on the knife that was still planted in my left eye, practically jerking it out.
“Arghhhaa!”
Screaming this time, I fell down to my knees and started hitting the ground in pain, practically crying.
It’s fine, it’s okay! The worst… the worst is over! Well… for the most part….
Telling myself that over and over again like reciting some sort of a mantra, I ignored the scarlet blood trickling from my eye – or at least what remained of it – onto the luxurious, furnished carpet below, staining it in a revolting patch of crimson.
I resisted the urge to summon the Silver Flames and heal myself right here and now, since my task was still unfinished, and doing so would mean experiencing this entire harrowing ordeal from the start once again.
Through my labored breath and pained whimpers, I once again gathered what little strength I had left in my body to move my arm.
In the very next moment, I channeled mana into my dimensional storage ring and summoned a violet mystical marble in my hand, its surface adorned with intricate patterns so bewitching that one could lose their mind if they stared at it for too long.
Gasping, I left my mind blank and brought the violet orb to my injured eye… then inserted it into the gaping wound!
“Arghhha! Arghahahaha! Ahahaha!”
I didn’t get it in on the first try, so I had to try again.
When I finally succeeded, the excruciating sensation of the tiny marble stretching the tear in my eye was so intense that I just wanted to cry.
By now, there was a puddle of crimson beneath me on the carpet.
But finally, the organ-rending pain that had numbed all my other senses finally started to diminish a little.
Slowly, after I successfully inserted the Enigma Sightstone in my eye, the open wound quickly started to heal.
Gods, finally…
Through relieved pants, a slight chuckle escaped my lips. Finally, it was over.
To be honest, inflicting a wound wasn’t that painful… The expectation of incoming pain was just fear-inducing.
A smile appeared on my face as my vision finally returned to my left eye and the pain fully subsided.
“Haaa~” letting out a comfortable sigh, I staggered back and exhaustedly reposed on the bed.
Shaking my head, I missed, “Gods, why couldn’t binding it have been as simple as when I binder Phoenix’s Embrace to me?”
I mean, I literally just had to enter the mouth of a talking tree and touch a glowing orb to bind Phoenix’s Embrace to me.
It was thatsimple.
Scoffing, I threw my head back on the pillow and closed my eyes. I wanted to test out my new relic and the enhanced sight it had granted me, but I was extremely lethargic.
I had to sleep first.
I didn’t even know when my tired mind let go of my consciousness, and I slipped into the embrace of sweet slumber.
…But when I woke up, I wasn’t in my room.𝓷𝚘𝓋𝖊𝗅𝒏𝐄xt.𝗰𝒐𝓜
I was in heaven…
Standing before a God.
