Chapter 117: Chapter 117:What If? [4]
Corruption leaked out of the gigantic hole in his stomach, and with the massive losses of corruption, he couldn't even manifest a bandage.
The figure looked fine on the outside, as the pitch blackness of the void filled in the massive hole in his stomach, making him seem normal.
However, with my eyes peering through the darkness, I could see tons of corruption leaking out and falling to the floor
*BANG*
As I crashed into the invisible glass floor, the corrupted figure's body dissolved even more as he no longer had a head.
Dusting myself off, I got off the ground, blood leaking from my countless wounds onto the floor.
But, the blood descended further into the night-black abyss below the invisible glass floor until it finally disappeared from my sight.
It seemed that the invisible glass floor... had some special properties that made it not like blood.
Not leaving behind any trail of blood, I walked towards the puddle under the corrupted figure's body, which, unlike the blood, was able to stay above the invisible glass floor.
As the last bit of corruption leaked out of the figure's hole, the corrupted figure completely disappeared, only leaving behind not a puddle.... but a lake of corruption.
Kneeling down on the glass floor, I moved one of my fingers into the lake of corruption, instantly feeling a sense of unease and coldness down to my very bones.
Peering into the lake of corruption, I attempted to see its bottom; however, I couldn't even see through the surface with my enhanced eyesight.
Shivering from the coldness, I persisted, placing the rest of my fingers into the corruption before moving forward.
Placing my right leg into the lake of corruption, I felt it actually sink below the surface, indicating that it had somehow gotten past the invisible glass floor.
After placing my left leg into the lake, I slowly descended further into the void below the glass floor.
Finally, my head was the only remaining body part above the lake.
Taking one last glance at the star through the tree branches, I let myself go, allowing my head and entire body to fully sink into the lake of corruption.
As my eyes went under the lake's surface, my vision was instantly cut off and shrouded by complete darkness.
Attempting to move my body, I realized that no matter how much I tried, my legs and arms wouldn't move a single bit.
It was like I was swimming in a hard substance like oil.
Further descending into the lake of corruption and the pitch-black void below, a sense of unease and powerlessness enveloped me.
"Just die."
"Give up and drown already."
Ignoring the thoughts, I sunk further into a lake, and to my surprise, there was no pain anymore.
In fact, I wasn't feeling anything.
Where was my body...?
Who was I?
Where was I?
What am I?
How did I get here in the first place?
I was nothing...
Just a leaf, forever bound to my tree, swaying in the breeze.
A meaningless grain of sand on a gigantic beach.
My memories became foggy, and no matter how much I tried to recall the past few months of life, nothing came.
It was like everything I had up to this point was a dream.
These memories began to fade away, and even though I could tell that I was losing them, I had no idea what they were or what they were about.
I couldn't even remember the fight with the corrupted figure I had just a few minutes ago... or was it a few minutes ago?
Was it a few days ago... or months... or years?
As my consciousness slowly slipped away, and my eyelids became unbearably heavy, my mind eventually cleared.
Who was I?
I had no identity.
Who was I without my past experiences?
An empty and lifeless expression appeared on my face as I sunk further into the void, not knowing how much time had passed by.
Had it been a day? A month? A year? A century? A millennium?
Who even cares?
Only one word echoed throughout my mind.
Corruption.
Ah, I was a vessel, wasn't I?
I was surrounded by corruption, so I was corruption, wasn't I?
A particle of corruption... that was me.
This was my home... surrounded by my fellow particles of corruption.
Why was I trying to leave, then?
A smile appeared on my empty face as I mouthed.
"Ah, how stupid am I? Trying to leave my own home...didn't my mother teach me better?"
Mother?
I had a mother, didn't I...?
Then, a sudden light enveloped me for less than a second before instantly returning my world to darkness.
Instantly, a surge of memories flooded my head, causing my grin to disappear and a pained expression to appear.
The scenery of a truck and the vivid streets of Japan replayed in my head, seemingly removing the shroud of darkness covering my eyes.
I was that dead body on the road.... but wasn't I a particle of corruption?
How was I, human...?
Then, a word echoed throughout my mind, replacing "corruption."
Promise.
A promise...?
I had a promise to keep, didn't I?
As the scene played out, the flashing of blue and red entered my vision, and the loud ringing of sirens entered my ears.
As my eyes slowly closed in that memory and blood leaked out of my mouth, my eyes became shrouded in darkness once again.
I had to escape.... to keep a promise.
What was that promise?
I couldn't tell you even if I thought about it for centuries...
But I knew I had to keep it.
That was all that mattered.
I had to leave and fulfill that promise.
A particle of corruption, a human, or whatever being I was, I had a promise to keep.
That was all that mattered.
There was also a single girl...whose foggy figure appeared before me for a single second before instantly dispersing.
Returning to my senses, I mustered up all my force and opened the palms of my hand.
Then, the lake of corruption slowly shrank and shrank, entering my body through the palms of my hands.
Ignoring the overflow of corruption inside my body, I continued draining... and draining the lake until finally, I was out.
Lying lifelessly on the invisible glass floor with my memories back, I simply stared upwards at the single star above me in the vast black sky.
A star... huh?