Chapter 142 Inner Realm

<strong>--AN) Another chapter coming soon! Also, don't forget to vote and check out the author's note before for more ways to get more chapters. Besides rank goals there are also power stone amount goals as well!--</strong>

No one questioned Bret's actions. Lillia actually gave Bret an approving nod. Her gaze then fell on the three elves who were still standing there. "Now then… time for contracts…"

Blake found himself engulfed in darkness. He felt like he was floating in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing around him, just total blackness. "This is?" He shook his head, feeling slightly foggy. He could have sworn he had just jumped in front of Noa to protect her but now…. "Did I die? No…. For some reason, I can feel it, I did not die. Then what is this place?"

Blake furrowed his brow as he looked around. He saw nothing that was even close to being able to give him a clue as to where he was. But he still did not panic as he tried to grasp everything. "I was in the forest when that elf girl attacked so my guess is that this is inside me?"

"Good…." A faint glow appeared next to Blake, causing him to shut his eyes due to the sudden brightness. "If you can figure this much out you can fight against it."

"Fight against it? Lillia, what is this place?" Blake asked. The voice he was hearing was something he could easily recognize. It was the same voice of the dragon girl who he picked up inside the cave, his wife.

"You are inside your own mind. The soul devouring poison is not like other poisons. It has a will of its own and has a bad side and a good side. If you are able to overcome it and defeat it, it will turn into your own strength. Sadly I can only guide you this far. Blake…. You have to win and return to us because failure means death." Lillia's voice faded out as did the light that was next to him. Blake's lips curled up into a small smile as he let out a long sigh.

Putting his hands behind his head, he stared into the darkness and shook his head. "If I fail here I will be leaving some very angry women who might curse me even in death." Chuckling to himself, he looked off into the darkness and calmly gazed ahead. "Since I have to somehow defeat this poison shit then let's first figure out how I can do it. If this is within my body, then that means I should have the ability to control what is going on in here right?"

Blake closed his eyes and began envisioning a grassy field and blue sky. When he opened his eyes again, he was met with half of what he envisioned and the other half a gray version of his original thoughts. "That area must be the poison. To think it covers half this place already….."

"Since that is the case let's take back over my inner realm shall we?" Blake decided to call this place his inner realm. He clapped his hand and dashed over to the barrier where the gray and green blades of grass seemed to be at war with each other moving back and forth. Seeing this, he breathed a sigh of relief, knowing his body was trying to fight this poison as well.

As soon as he stepped forward and crossed into the dark area, two feet from his body suddenly turned green, but at the same time, the ground shook. Skeletal hands poked up from the ground, which reminded Blake of the time when the undead began to form. They were monsters he really did not want to deal with.

Closing his eyes, he formed a sword in his hand made of fire and then slowly opened them again. He looked down to see a blazing sword that extended from his hand by a few feet and smiled. "Cutting off the heads or setting them on fire. Either way works for me. Since you wish to make undead, I will just push them back into their graves."

Blake snorted as he charged forward, each step leaving behind a patch of green in the gray area. He swung his sword at the skeleton that was trying to pull itself out from underground and severed its head, and set its exposed body on fire at the same time. The flaming boney head rolled across the grass, turning it from gray to green as the flames touched it.

The skeletons themselves were not difficult to defeat, but they were numerous in numbers. You could call them the weakest of the undead since most had brittle bones. While this was not the real world, the same concept seemed to apply. Whether this was due to his own memory or not was another question.

The only problem was the sheer number. And they were quickly leaving the ground and gathering up. Numbers over quality can sometimes cause a problem. Blake was finding no end to them even after cutting so many down. He would cut one another would spawn. But he did notice that the line in this world was slowly retreating. This meant his efforts so far were not in vain…..

Sitting next to Blake, seven girls, including Faana and Anna stared at him with worry written all over their faces. They wanted nothing more than for Blake to wake up, but they knew now, after Lillia's explanation, everything relied on his own efforts of whether or not he will pull through. Lillia did not tell them that she sent part of her consciousness inside to help him slightly. She couldn't do much but give him a push, but she knew with how Blake is that he would be able to do it. She had faith, and that was all that mattered.

The elf girl Rin was punishing herself. She was currently kneeling on the ground with her forehead pressed against the cold stone floor. Noa had tried to get her to stand up, but she refused. She said she would not move from her current position until Blake woke up. If she had taken Blake's warning a bit more seriously instead of looking down on him, this would not have happened. She would not have harmed the man who was willing to give up his own life for her Princess. Such a man was worthy of her princess. She watched as he unhesitantly used his body as a shield, got stabbed, and was inflicted with the soul devouring poison in place of her Princess. If such a man was not worthy, then who was? So, for now, she could only do this as a means of trying to repent for her actions.

In the holding area, a few elf girls sat in fear as they looked up at Ged, Tel, and Bret. "Can you make them talk?" Brett asked.

"It is more than likely that they had nothing to do with it. But we can ask them a few questions. Madam Lillia did ask us to do this much for the time being. She said she would figure out what to do with them after." Tel replied. He looked at his own people and sighed. He saw the harmony in this place as he walked down the halls to the holding area after he was forced into a contract of servitude. He was no longer an elven knight under the elven royal family but a knight who would serve under Blake. This was his punishment for putting Blake in harm's way. Whether he meant to or not, it was all the same. He should have been more thorough in checking those who were going to see the princess. So now he and Ged were serving under Blake. Only Rin was allowed to keep serving the princess personally.

"Then I will leave it to you. But do not harm them. If they are innocent, they are innocent, and innocents should not suffer. But if they show signs of being traitors, then send them to the goblins." Bret snorted before turning around. He would let the elves handle the elves. He was human, and it was not his place to deal with them.

He walked back to the medical bay where Blake was and sighed, seeing the young man lying on the bed and the girls, who were all red-eyed, watching over him. He then looked at Rin, who was kneeling on the floor, and sighed once more. "Stupid girl is blaming herself…." Scratching his head, he walked over and found a spot next to the wall, sat down, and leaned against it. Since his brother was fighting, the least he could do was sit and wait.

Mike had also stopped by, but he could not stay long. He had to keep things running in the base. But he really never thought he would see the day when Blake, of all people, would be lying there on his deathbed, fighting for his life.

Hours passed, and many in the base kept showing up to check on the situation. It just showed how much everyone cared for Blake and hoped he would wake up soon.

? Inside Blake's mind, he was still fighting. He was currently standing on a mound of bones and ash as he looked out over the battlefield. His lips curled up into a smile as he saw how much of the area was now under his control. "You came into my body, and you are now on the losing end. But don't worry, I will make sure to take full control and use whatever power you will give me to its fullest!"

<strong>*Crack!*</strong>

A cracking sound was heard as the shell around Blake that was freezing him in time began to break open like an egg. It had been seven days now…. Lillia raised her head and looked at the cracks forming, and smiled brightly. "He is coming out!"