277. The Last Page

When Nyx came to, she was standing in a pure white world, blemished by only herself. The change in her surroundings felt surreal and she couldn’t help but wonder how Rakna had done it.

‘Was he capable of illusion magic?’ She thought. ‘No… he said it was his dimensional trait. The third layer of Enthymio; The Cloud of Dreams. So, he put me to sleep with Sloth Magic and pulled me into a dream of his making,’ she concluded as she was looking around, affirming that she was all alone in this place, then she heard a low and subdued noise coming from above.

She looked up and spotted a twisted area amidst the white. It was akin to water spilled onto an oil painting. Then, the sound got louder and before it was loud enough for her to properly recognize it, she was taken by surprise when it rose to full volume in an instant.

Thunder; loud and deafening. One that made her entire body vibrate along with the sound waves bouncing in this unicolor world. It was as if her body had been chained by the echo. The thunder roared several times, each louder than the previous.

But there was still no change in the dream’s color. Everything was still white, but it was also clearly being twisted by something. Then, she saw it, a black strand of lightning shot out from behind her and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Both her body and mind were frozen. She felt a chill down her spine and her every instinct refused to allow her to turn around. The thunder began to be accompanied by a dreadful pressure and she paled. Her legs nearly gave out on the spot but she persisted until more of the lightning crept into her sight.

It was uncannily slow, like spider legs forming an encirclement around her. A faint crimson outline was pulsing around them at the rhythm of her heartbeat. 

‘I see…’ Her eyes widened. ‘I understand now…’

Quickly, the thunder had become loud enough that it was hurting her body itself. And the lightning was still creeping around her; nearly a third of her field of view had been obstructed. Then, all of it suddenly stopped. The lightning became immobile as if locked in time, and the thunder faded to silence.

Then, Nyx regained control of her body. She stared at her trembling hands and clenched them. She knew what this dream wanted her to do. She remembered this feeling all too well; helplessness in front of an insurmountable power.

She could run or turn. The dark lightning was not moving, but it was still glowing and electrifying the air to the point of making her skin itch.

She took a deep breath and slowly turned her head. The second she reached the halfway point, the lightning abruptly gained a speed worthy of its name and finished swallowing the white world in the span of a millisecond.

All that Nyx was left to witness was the epicenter of it; a hazy figure with draconic wings, a beastly silhouette, and a voracious grin, so dreadful that it felt vociferous to her every sense.

The image was reflected in her pupils for a split second before everything turned black. It was a darkness that even the Night Goddess herself felt lost in. Then, she heard a voice. She would have assumed it was merely a part of the dream had she not met the man himself in the past.

“This Night, do you know why I called it Eternal?”

The question made her shiver.

“Because the lightning bolts that thrive here are not beautiful. They are eternal. They never fade for they are always here, squirming in your shadow. As such, they are ugly. And as such,” the voice paused and she could imagine the grin widening. “…it rebels.”

A burst of thunder paralleled his last word and Nyx gasped when she felt a cold touch around her throat. “Tell the kid for me.” Her eyes widened in disbelief. “The last page is being written.”

Then, the next thing she knew, she was hurled out of the dream.

* * *

Back inside the house, Rakna was wincing whilst his wolf ears bent to muffle the deafening sound of thunder that had invaded his territory. His hands were busy maintaining a small rune array that was keeping the lightning emerging from Nyx’s body in check.

“This kind of noise isn’t normal!” Higure yelled with a deep frown on her feline features. “There is definitely divinity in both the lightning and thunder! It’s not just here, the sky outside this cavern should also be in chaos!”

Rakna scowled and when he decided that he should add a new layer of runes, the noise went away and the Aeter finally retracted inside Nyx’s body. But he didn’t fail to notice that something about it had changed. It felt eerier than usual and moved like a sentient being.

The therian ultimately sighed and took down the runes. It seemed that it was a success. He just never expected that ascending Nyx’s Eternal Night Magic would cause such a mess.

“Argh, my poor ears. That sound was filled with power,” the lioness complained right after it was over. She rubbed her ears with her paws and Pronos gave her a quizzical look. “Oi, don’t give me that look! You’re lucky that snakes don’t have eardrums!”

Rakna sighed as Flavia supported Nyx, stopping her from falling after being released by the force of the runes and her own power. It didn’t take long for the goddess to open her eyes, and she did so with a rasping intake of air. Her expression was pale and she was visibly out of breath.

“Are you alright?” Flavia asked her and she took a few breaths to calm down before nodding.

“I’m… fine,” she uttered and directed her gaze to a system window signaling that her Eternal Night Magic had directly broken through to level 13. She groaned and wobbled to her feet, supported by Flavia. She retook her seat at the table and sighed in relief; what happened seemed to have taken a lot out of her. 

There was also the fact that her divinity had drastically increased. When she opened her status, she saw that her level had actually gone up on its own. She was only two levels away from reaching the one-hundred milestone now.

“How was it? Was I able to properly convey it?” Rakna asked and she chuckled dryly.

“Yes… definitely,” she responded and looked back at him. “By the way, while I might already have an idea, there’s something I need to confirm with you.”

“Hm?” He tilted his head. “What is it?”

“I am asking just to be sure but… the words that were spoken to me in that dream were not of your design, were they?”

Rakna raised an eyebrow but his mind quickly came to a conclusion based on the small encounter he had had with a version of his uncle. “An incarnation…” He muttered. “What did he say?”

“He mentioned why he had named his element Eternal Night and then… he told me to pass on a message to you,” she said with a slightly puzzled tone. “I didn’t understand it but he said exactly this: ‘The last page is being written.’”

“The last page is being written?” Higure reiterated. “What kind of--!” She stopped herself and then snapped her head toward Rakna who had the same realization as her. His face darkened a bit and he stayed silent for a moment before nodding.

“I see,” he muttered. “I have something to verify on my own; I’ll be going to the smithy alone, join me there for your weapon after you’ve gotten some rest,” he said and started walking toward the elevator.

Flavia and Nyx looked at each other but didn’t try to ask him for an explanation. From what they had seen on his expression, it sounded like it could potentially be serious and personal.

* * *

Rakna sat cross-legged on the glassy floor of the underground room and expertly plunged into his soul realm. He opened his eyes, standing in the field of flowers, the black and blue petals raining from above.

He glanced at the two opposite stars in the sky then turned to the shore of his soul sea above which Fray’s library was currently drifting. A high-pitched cry reached his ears barely a few seconds later and Rex promptly landed next to him to cuddle with him.

The therian smiled lightly and stroked the Luquila’s beak. “As fast as ever, huh? I didn’t even have the time to react after noticing you,” he commented and the young creature cried out happily. He petted Rex for a little longer before leaping toward the library.

He could control everything in his soul so his jump was closer to him falling in reverse. When he arrived at the building’s entrance, he caught something from the corner of his eye. It was Fen who was nonchalantly resting on top of the illusion-like book pages that orbited the library. It seemed that a bunch of them had gathered to make a bed for him.

The Nine-Tailed Wolf opened his eyes when he sensed the gaze. He briefly made eye contact with Rakna before yawning and returning to his sleep.

“He hasn’t changed, has he?” Rakna snorted and on cue, Fray came out of the library whilst waving his fan around as usual.

“Well, he has been this way ever since he released that Tailed Pearl against the demon that came out of that book. So, I controlled the pages a bit to make a bed for him,” Fray shrugged. “Between you and me… I am plenty certain that he has already recovered but he seems to have developed quite a troublesome addiction to sleeping.”

“Troublesome? A lazy one, rather.”

“Oh, well,” the storyteller chuckled. “The poor pup is technically dead, despite his living soul. It is not like there is anything much he can do or even look forward to.”

“Is it? I think Rex is doing quite well,” Rakna retorted matter-of-factly. “Look at him go,” he pointed up at the Luquila who was happily flying in the sky and performing stunts.

“Haha, he is an exception. It could be said that he was born here. It’s to the point he sees you as his father,” Fray said as the two of them began to head inside the library. “At any rate, this is not what you came here for now, is it? I heard it.”

“So? Is it true?” Rakna shot back.

“…yes,” Fray nodded. “At first, I didn’t pay much attention to it when I told you. But, indeed, it is the last page of the book that is being filled. But for those words to directly come from your uncle’s mouth, even if he was a temporary incarnation made by your dream, it gains a whole new level of weight. If we take the word ‘last’ in the most pessimistic way, then…”

“I know,” Rakna stopped him from going on as he stood in front of the room where the book was stored. He didn’t look nervous at all but he did pause for a few seconds before opening the door.

He walked inside and approached the book, which was emitting an unsettling aura as usual, whilst Fray merely peeked inside like a curious child. “Do not worry, I have your back! I am simply staying here in case of an emergency,” he merrily stated and Rakna gave him a blank look.

“What kind of emergency? Running away?”

“Hahaha…”

The therian rolled his eyes and reached for the book. Nothing happened when he touched it, so he swiftly skipped to the last page. As Fray had said, one word had been written near the center. He squinted his eyes and slowly traced the paper with his finger.

When the tip of his index covered the word, he stopped for a moment and then continued tracing the page further to the right. As he went on, more words appeared as if it was following his touch.

Even as the sentence was getting formed, Rakna’s expression didn’t change. No… to be exact, it got colder and colder with every passing second. 

Fray quickly noticed that something was wrong. “What does it say? This book has only told your uncle’s history until now… is it truly his life’s last page?”

Rakna didn’t answer and distanced his hand from the book, right as the two last words signaling the end of the ‘story’ appeared. He silently turned around, leaving the book open, and walked to the exit.

He halted at the doorstep; Fray gazed at him. “Why would you think that the last page of this book is related to my uncle?” He asked and the storyteller blinked.

“Huh? Well… it is as I just mentioned. The story inside is what I conjured with what remains of my magic. It recounts Eternal Night’s life, doesn’t it? You saw it yourself.”

Rakna snickered. “Fray, where is this book? Remind me.”

“Where, you say? Obviously, that would be…” Fray’s voice died down and his entire body froze. He breathed in sharply and Rakna vanished from the soul realm.

The storyteller rushed inside the room after recovering from his shock. He completely threw away his fear and frantically read the book’s last page. He stumbled and slammed his hands on the table to recollect himself.

“This book is part of his soul... It exists because this soul realm exists. The same way I do. So, if the realm itself ceases to exist… the book will naturally end,” Fray uttered, his eyes already repeating the exact same movements for the fifth time. “This is…”

The last page of the book.

< The Once and Now, First and Last, where Life resides, a cherished wolf howled and presented his existence for the sake of balance. >

< His Last Harvest plucked the Fruit of Eden. >

< The End. >

AhraManyu

Now, this is what I call foreshadowing. The next chapter will start on a time skip btw. 

Also, I will be busy next week but I don't really know how much that will hinder me to write to be honest. We'll see.