Chapter 108 Tearfall IV



"Wait."

I stopped Raven quickly as he reached for his daggers.

He frowned at me but obediently followed my order.

Rested at the center of the peak was a Phoenix, its size as big as a four-story house. The Phoenix's ember eyes stared at me sharply. Despite that, I didn't feel heavy pressure or hostility from its stare, instead, it seemed to call me.

I felt weird. Every thought I had in my mind suddenly scattered away, being purified by the warmth inside my head. Comfortable.

As I stepped forward, I could hear Raven's voice calling me but I kept walking toward the Phoenix. The warmth it gave me was drawing me in. Then, as I found myself standing before the magnificent firebird, my heart thumped uncontrollably as if I had just found my true love.

The Phoenix closing in, its great beak touching my forehead. Immediately, I heard a lovely and smooth voice inside my head.

"You're finally here, dear."

As soon as I heard that, the world fell apart, seemingly to distort and the scenery somewhat different. The lightning had stopped its violent strike. The dark cloud disappeared, replacing it was a red sun that looked like a fireball.

Turning around, I didn't see Raven anywhere, even the floating platform also disappeared.

Then finally, when I noticed the scars painting my arms, I realized I wasn't in my world but a memory.

But, it felt too real to call this a memory. Not only because I could feel the surrounding elements around me, but I could also move my body on my own, unlike the memories I had experienced in the past where I was only an observer.

"What is going on?"

Instead of seeking the answer by myself, it would be better to ask the suspect that causing this phenomenon. The Phoenix.

But, as I turned around again at the Phoenix, what I found wasn't a great firebird but a woman whose features were all flames.

The woman made entirely of flames stood before me, her fiery presence both mesmerizing and intimidating.

"I am the Phoenix."

She spoke, her voice still smooth and enchanting, but now emanating from the form of the fiery woman.

"And you, my dear. I'm glad to see you again after a long time."

"What?"

I asked in confusion, trying to make sense of the situation.

What the hell did it mean by that? Glad to see me again after a long time? When it was only a monster inside the dungeon?

The woman, who claimed to be the Phoenix, looked at me with a mixture of warmth and sorrow in her fiery eyes.

"You don't remember, do you?"

She said softly, her voice carrying a hint of longing.

"You were once a part of me, a cherished partner… But the threads of time have woven a different path for us in this already destroyed world."

I struggled to comprehend her words. Memories started to surface, like fragments of a forgotten dream. Images of a familiar city landscape, engulfed in flames and destruction, that very image depicted the scene of the ending of the novel, 'The Hero Beyond The Light'.

But, instead of a white-haired man and golden eyes standing as the last human on Earth, it was a red-haired woman with red fire-like eyes. 

I recognized her. Even though her red hair was disheveled and dirty, her eyes were not easy to forget.

Ember. That's Ember Crimson, I'm sure of it. It's not Nuria as she didn't have that unique touch on her eyes, unlike Ember.

'What is this?'

I couldn't comprehend any of this. Not until my wild imagination ran around and stumbled upon the wildest idea.

'Could this be an alternate timeline?'

"Huhu."

The woman sudden laugh interrupted me. Though I couldn't see her expression because of her flame form, I could tell she was smiling based on her gesture and subtle movements of the flame that resembled an eye.

"No matter where you are. You're still as clever as you were…"

Her words trailed off for a moment before continuing.

"Looking at your face, I guess you're already remembered what happened, right? You're always making that expression every time your Clairvoyance tells you the sight."

My frown deepened when I heard that.

"You. Are you Ember?"

She didn't say anything. The sound of fire crisp built tension, her still eyes stared at me for a long before it was closed. Looking at the gesture, I assumed she was having a happy response to my question.

"Hehe. You're such a dork."

Her laughter echoed in the air, filled with a sense of affection.

If I tried to guess what was happening right now…

I was inside a memory? No, perhaps a subconscious boundary, considering how strong she was. How did I know she was strong? Well, the information my Clairvoyance gave me was proof of it.

The information I got was filled with question marks on all of the profiles. This was the first time I'd got an error from my Clairvoyance appraisal. Even I could appraise Neychta, Nuria, and Owen Lawrence, the heroes whose power was considered to fit in the top 50 heroes— no, Enhanced.

Because of that, I assumed this flame woman, or the Phoenix, was above the Earth's boundary. Probably a multiverse level, because she talked to me as if I was a person she once knew in 'this world', which was the dungeon.

"I'll leave that for you to guess but, I just want to say this line, 'Death is too light of punishment for you!'."

At that moment, my heart skipped a beat, my mind went blank, and my muscles went numb simultaneously. I recognized that line, it was what Ember said when she came to save the younger Zio.

The Phoenix was definitely Ember. But, what the hell is going on? How could the Phoenix be Ember? What is this dungeon?

"Okay, fine. Tell me what is this place exactly, it's still the Wyvern dungeon, right? And, if you're Ember, then that means you're Ember from an alternate timeline. The last human on Earth?"

"Wyvern dungeon? Ah, so that's what they call my world now. If so, then yes, you're still in the 'Wyvern dungeon'."

I waited silently for her upcoming answer to the other question but nothing came. When I was about to ask her again, the world began to crack.

"Ah. Time's up."

She examined the cracks in the sky and turned to look at me with sorrow and regret.

"It's a short time. But I'm glad to meet you again before my end…"

The scars on my arms gradually disappeared and my appearance returned to the original — Ian Crow, as the world around me fell apart.

Suddenly, the flame woman hugged me tightly, making me surprised for a moment. Surprisingly again, the flame didn't burn me and there was no heat emitted.

While hugging me, the woman lifted her face to see me. But, her eyes immediately had a hint of hatred when she saw my face.

"Tch. You're still doing this annoying act?"

"Annoying… what do you mean?"

I wriggled as I said that, trying to get out of her embrace.

"Whatever. It's not like I can do anything about it. But, I hope she does do something about you if she doesn't want to repeat the tragedy."

"Huh?"

She seemed not to listen to me. She was trapped in her own world, everything inside her mind was telling her not to let go of me, as her arms around me tightened.

"Please, let's stay like this until the spell wore off…"

Eventually, I found myself complying with her request.

We stayed still like that as we watched the world's crack increase, slowly tearing the sky apart as numerous rift space was created.

Eventually, when the world began to fall apart, the woman started to sniff.

"Goodbye…"

The woman's flame danced, casting an ethereal glow for the last time.

Crack—!

Crash—!

Finally, the crack fell apart, plunging the world into darkness.

I felt light as a feather when the world around me turned into darkness. A few moments later, I could feel my senses again.

Opening my eyes, I found myself back at the mountain peak shaded by dark clouds and lightning. The great firebird, the Phoenix, or the woman flame had disappeared. In its place, I found Phoenix's Feather and the Phoenix's Core.

My heart suddenly tightened as I recalled the event earlier, but I quickly shook the thought away.

Stepping forward, I took the feather and the core.

"Wait, what happened? What did you do for the Phoenix suddenly gone?"

Storing them inside my storage cube, I turned around.

"Hey… Are you crying?"

I smiled, slowly wiping the tears that streamed down from my eyes using my sleeves.

"Am I?"

Staring at me with a frown, Raven finally gave up, sighing a short breath.

"Well. I don't have any idea what is going on. And you have the right to keep it secret. But, since we've got the feather, I think it's time for us to leave?"

Smirking, I pointed in the direction behind him.

"Yeah. We will. After we get rid of that thing."

[Snxol

Race: Monster / Wyvern

Rank: A]