Chapter 199: Awakening

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Frank saw the light quickly consume his entire being, as he slowly began to regain his senses.

The feeling of having his physical body back to him was something amazing, it truly felt as if he was being born anew.

His brain suddenly began to activate its neurons, as his blood started to flow through his entire body.

His muscles began to bulge, as his lungs tried to take into oxygen once more.

His Mana Core quickly reacted to the new changes of both body and soul and glowed with immense, blinding light.

It started to evolve.

Frank opened his aquamarine eyes…

His skin was not pale white anymore.

And his hair was brown and healthy.

Somehow he had stopped being Undead and was back to being alive.

This evolution that his father had helped him achieve on his body by using the residual energy of the power he unlocked within his soul seemed to have brought him back from death, literally.

However, he still felt that he could go back to any form he had taken previously.

But something was restraining him.

Frank pushed it by using his strength as hard as he could.

Until cracking noises resonated within the room he was resting in.

Crack, crack.

"Ah… Ni… an!"

Frank heard the voice of someone within such barrier, but it was not very clear…

Crack, crack!

"F…an…! …a…k!"

Once more, the cries of someone, of a girl, resonated within the room, making Frank begin to remember her…

Crack, CRACK!

"Fra…! …a…!"

CRASH!

Frank broke through the barrier covering his body, as the crystal that was making his cocoon fell into the ground and started to turn into particles of light, fading away…

However, before he could see where he was, Frank was embraced by a tight, and warm hug from slender and delicate arms…

The scent of flowers entered his nostrils, as warm tears started to fall over his shoulders.

The hug was so gentle and familiar, it was filled with love.

"Fraaank! You… You woke up…! Fraaaaaaaaaank! I missed you so much, brotheeeeeer! BUAAAAAAAAAAHHH…!"

Frank who had not just spent months inside of his internal space but several years could not help but feel incredibly happy after hearing such a voice…

It was someone he loved very dearly.

One of his most beloved family members, someone that shared his blood, and which he had been taking care of since she was born.

He still could remember when she was a tiny, little baby.

He saw her grow slowly, as she gave her first steps… as she began to speak… as she said 'Brother' for the first time…

It could not be anyone else than her…

His sister…

"Kamei…" muttered Frank, his voice was the same as ever, the voice that she had not to hear for months…

"You're… You are really here! You are really… here! Is this… not a dream?! FRANK! FRAAAAAANK! BUAAAAAH!"

Kamei cried more and more, as she saw and inspected her brother's body, touching his wide and warm back, smelling his scent, caressing his silky hair…

This was… real.

So many months has she dreamed about Frank waking up one day.

Only to wake up and be sent to the crude reality…

"You don't know how much I missed you… Kamei…" muttered Frank, as he hugged his sister back and caressed her silky long hair, kissing her forehead and beginning to cry over her shoulders.

"I also missed you so much, you idiot! Why did you leave us?! Why did you…!" muttered Kamei, as she cried even louder, she was releasing all of it, all of her sorrow, alongside immense happiness, so many mixed feelings made her words confusing, she was undergoing many emotions at the same time…

Both sibling's eyes met once more.

Their aquamarine eyes flowing with tears of happiness and sorrow.

Kamei touched her brother's entire face, stretching his cheeks, touching his nose, his forehead, his chin, even his eyebrows…

Everything felt real.

This was not a dream…

"Kamei… Sorry… I… I was reckless… Stupid, and foolish… But now… I have… I met my father… as I slept. And he taught me about me, and about what… I am truly capable of… Kamei… I will not fail you anymore. I will not fail anyone anymore…" said Frank, his aquamarine eyes glowing with iridescent golden light.

Kamei glanced at Frank's eyes as he unleashed a mystical, almost transcendental feeling.

As if his very eyes were like entire galaxies filled with millions of stars…

"You meet… with your father? What…? And your mana… it is overflowing so much… it is… endless…" said Kamei.

"It is a long story… We have to- First, I want to meet everyone… I miss everyone so much…" said Frank.

"S-Sure! I am sure that everyone will be so happy… Everyone… missed you so much… We were always… trying to be strong yet… it was so hard… so, so hard…" muttered Kamei, as Frank noticed that she had grown since then.

"I am sorry, Kamei… I will make sure to make up for it when the time comes… I promise… How much… time went on outside?" asked Frank.

"Time? Five Months… almost six…" said Kamei.

"Almost six months… within my dreams, it felt like years after years… I have lost some of my perception of reality…" sighed Frank.

Frank decided to stand up, as he felt how strange was to walk with his legs again, he even almost tripped several times, and Kamei had to help him walk.

Frank found out that he was in the depths of the Dark Lair Dungeon, resting over his bed in here.

However, the moment he began to walk better, a giant glowing white sphere flew towards him, crying loudly!

"MAAAAAASTEEEEEER!"

BOOM!

"Unnggaahh…!"

Frank was thrown to the ground as Orb appeared, finding him finally awake, she could not help but cry (albeit without tears), jumping over his entire body many times.

"Orb! Please stop…! UAGH!"

"MASTER! I missed you so much! BUAAAAAAHHH!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

"Ungh…! Calm down!" said Frank, as he extended his arms and embraced Orb.

"I am here, Orb… I am finally back… I missed you," said Frank with a warm smile, as Orb could not help but tremble, as she rubbed her spherical body over Frank's chest.

"Sniff… Master… it's really you… Sniff… I have been… trying to be a good girl… Sniff…" cried Orb.

"I can tell that. Good job… And… sorry," said Frank.

"Ah… sniff… It's fine… as long as you are with us… and never, ever leave again…" cried Orb.

"Yeah… sniff," cried Kamei, as she began to cry again…

"C-Come on, we can't… cry all the time, right? Cheer up… I have a lot to do… No, we have a lot to do. There is no time to cry… Let us be strong together," said Frank with a warm smile, he was also containing his own tears.

"Sure! I… I have tried harder… and I have leveled up and cultivated… So I can finally be more useful… so I can finally bear some of the burdens with you, Frank… I am… I… I am not letting you carry everything alone anymore! I WILL… Stay at your side!" said Kamei.

"Kamei… I see… I am glad that you are… so considerate. With these new abilities, I have… I will also make sure to protect you, and everyone else… better than before," said Frank.

"You're always saying the same thing… You may be a Hero, but you do not have to try and act as one…! But that is also why we love you…" said Kamei, as she kissed Frank on the cheek.

"That's right… Aw, what a bummer, now you're going away!" said Orb, as she realized that Frank would be leaving the dungeon to reunite with everyone else.

"I… I am sorry. Orb, but you can also speak to me through telepathy," said Frank.

"Oh! Right! Riiiiight!" said Orb, as she began to speak inside of Frank's mind… until he heard another very familiar voice.

"Haah… How long have I been sleeping? Ugh… I feel… quite good? Brat? Are you there?" asked the voice of someone Frank was already missing pestering him all the time…

"Hades… Yes, I am here, it seems that you went unconscious when I did too, although I couldn't find you inside of my inner space…" said Frank.

"Inner Space? What? Wait… how long have we been sleeping? Wasn't it just a night's sleep?" asked Hades.

"Haha… Well… About… six months…" said Frank.

"EH?! SIX MONTHS?! Are you kidding me, brat?! What kind of nap was that?!" asked Hades as he almost fell unconscious again.

"A very strange one… I can guarantee you that…" laughed Frank… as he suddenly felt a strange presence far away, within the town…

"Kamei… where did everyone else go?" asked Frank with a serious look.

"Eh? They went to the shop, but let's wait for them in the house! I can prepare you something-"

"There's no time, we need to go…!" said Frank.

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Within the depths of Terra, a spawn from the abyssal miasma, a creature without a defined form made of contaminating and toxic ooze crawled towards the surface.

It swam through the large Abyssal Ocean, crawled out of it, and reached the gray dust shores, only to crawl through dozens of caves, until it finally reached the surface.

Through its large journey, the entity devoured whatever it came in front of its path, eating even gigantic beasts that roamed within the depths of the world, growing considerably stronger…

Attracted by the large concentration of Mana due to a large number of people in a single area, the creature crawled to the surface, blowing off the paved streets of Acacia Town, and emerging slowly, as it received the light of the sun that startled it.

Gwendolyn and everyone else glanced at the alien-like monster emerge from the depths of their world, an immense aura of Mana emerged from it, alongside an ever-growing bloodlust…

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