Chapter 18 - Darkness

As Paul looked at the large creature in front of him, he was shocked; he had never seen anything like it before. The creature was about ten meters tall, composed of earth with a mixture of stones, resembling a mountain brought to life. Its back and chest were covered in large rock-like formations that resembled armor. On the surface of its earthen skin were structures similar to veins in the human body, but devoid of blood. Instead, these veins were filled with a blue substance that looked like a blend of water and mana. The creature reminded Paul of golems from his readings, so he decided to call it that.

The golem wasn’t very fast, but it had already killed many people who hadn’t had a chance to flee. Those who tried to fight it found their attacks ineffective. The golem didn’t seem to feel pain and only appeared annoyed. Its strength was immense; a single blow from it crushed one fighter, shattering both sword and armor. Each hit sounded like a cannon blast. Seeing that they couldn’t harm it, Paul shouted for the survivors to retreat into the forest. As they did, Paul distracted the golem. He dodged all its attacks, but the creature seemed to be getting faster and faster.

Paul skillfully evaded the golem’s strikes and targeted its legs. Though he cut deeply, the wounds regenerated within seconds. Realizing this tactic wasn’t working, he activated Aura Shift, covering his blades in a blue flame. With the enhanced blades, he attacked again, this time destroying one of the golem’s legs. The golem fell, and a large club began to materialize in its hand. It swung at Paul, who, unable to fully dodge, leaped back to lessen the blow. The golem’s strike hurled him fifty meters away, breaking one of his swords.

Recovering from the impact, Paul drew one of his backup swords and braced himself for the next assault. He saw that the golem had fully regenerated but was not pursuing him. Instead, it approached the fallen bodies, picked one up, and a mouth-like opening appeared, consuming the entire corpse. Paul’s instincts told him he needed to prevent the golem from consuming more bodies. He sprinted towards the golem, attacking and destroying its legs once more. With the golem now on its back, Paul struck its head, but the head was too resilient, and his attacks barely left a mark. The golem struggled, forcing Paul to retreat a few meters to avoid serious injury.

The golem then did something unusual. It crawled to a small lake and submerged its hand. The water level dropped slightly, and the golem immediately regenerated, its veins glowing with light. It then charged towards Paul at twice its previous speed. Paul had to use all his speed to evade the attacks. Despite his best efforts, one strike sent him flying, and this time the golem followed. Paul recognized the upcoming attack and managed to minimize the damage. He quickly rose and ran towards the golem, destroying the club, only for it to reappear almost instantly.

The golem absorbed earth from the surroundings and regenerated from any damage. Paul tried to focus on the veins, but they healed just as quickly. He knew he needed to keep the golem away from the water, but he couldn’t. Whenever they moved far from the lake, the golem somehow managed to push Paul back towards it. Each time Paul inflicted serious damage, the golem absorbed more water and regenerated, becoming stronger and faster with each cycle. Paul could only partially destroy its legs now. Attempts to retreat into the forest and escape were thwarted as the golem seemed to anticipate his moves and stop him.

After successfully destroying the golem’s legs once more, Paul tried to prevent it from absorbing water by attacking its arm reaching into the lake. The golem had anticipated this, increasing the durability of its arm, and Paul could only manage to scratch it. During its next regeneration, the golem’s body shook, its gray rocks turning black, and its earth-like flesh becoming more rock-like. The golem’s speed and strength increased dramatically; each hit caused minor earthquakes and craters in the ground.

Paul used all his strength, but his swords broke, and he exhausted all his backup weapons. Now weaponless, he could only dodge. On a hunch, he used Aura Shift on his hands, and the same flames that had appeared on his swords enveloped them. Although he was unfamiliar with hand-to-hand combat, he attempted to strike the golem. Some strikes inflicted damage, but it was insignificant compared to what the blades had achieved.

As he wished for more swords, the flames on his hands began to solidify into a blade shape. Surprised, Paul attacked with these new flame blades, which cut through the golem’s rocks and earth effortlessly. Although the blades were not long enough to sever the entire leg in one strike, Paul cut repeatedly until the leg was fully severed. With the golem down, Paul continued attacking until he managed to stop it from reaching the water.

Feeling a moment of pride, he let his guard down, only for the golem to seize the opportunity. It struck Paul so hard he had no chance to dodge. Paul flew through the air and crashed down, breaking his left hand and a few ribs. He could barely move.

“I’m not even able to move properly. If I could barely fight him before, now I have no chance.”

As he stared at the golem, he knew that unless a miracle occurred, he was going to die. The golem grabbed Paul and threw him to the ground near the lake. Paul didn’t die, but his right hand was now broken as well. He crawled to the lake and drank some water, but it didn’t heal him as it did the golem. The golem continued to throw him around, seemingly enjoying his suffering. Paul was almost unconscious, his body broken and battered.

The golem, appearing to take pleasure in Paul’s pain, almost seemed to savor his suffering. As Paul resigned himself to his fate, a loud bang echoed from the sky. The golem froze and looked up, but saw nothing. It resumed tormenting Paul, only to be interrupted by another loud bang, this time closer, accompanied by a large dust cloud. Paul, barely conscious, saw a figure emerge from the dust. The figure, cloaked and shadowy, approached the golem. The ground was scorched where the figure had landed, resembling the aftermath of a meteorite strike.

The cloaked figure appeared to be a formidable threat to the golem. The golem attacked, but the figure dodged effortlessly, as though the golem were a child. The cloaked man then lifted his arm slowly and flicked the golem’s arm, causing it to vaporize instantly. The golem attempted to flee towards the lake to heal but was intercepted by the cloaked man, who either jumped or floated before thrusting his hand into the golem’s chest. The golem froze.

The man then extracted a crystal-like egg from the golem’s chest. The crystal was blue and pulsating, similar to the veins within the golem. As soon as the man removed the crystal, the golem crumbled into rubble. The man studied the crystal, but Paul’s sense of time was distorted due to his condition. It felt like the man stared at the crystal for a minute before crushing it with his bare hands and shouting, “DAMMIT!!! THIS ISN’T IT EITHER!!!!!”

Paul, shocked by the man’s outburst, tried to speak, but the man noticed him and approached in the blink of an eye. He lifted Paul by the collar and stared at him, though Paul still couldn’t see his face. The man’s voice, filled with anger, demanded, “Do you know where the source of the golem’s power is?”

Paul could barely speak but managed to answer, “N… No.”

“Do you know what the FAINO is then?”

“No…” Paul coughed, blood spilling from his mouth.

The man, with a calm voice, said, “You are useless,” and pierced Paul’s chest with his hand. Then, he threw Paul into the lake. As Paul fell, he saw the man vanish. Plunging into the lake, Paul’s heart stopped, but his mind remained “alive.” He was dismayed to realize that the man had not saved him. As he sank to the lake’s bottom, his heart began to beat slowly again. The water seemed to have healing properties, even for humans.

Paul struggled to move, but his body did not obey. The water was healing him, albeit very slowly. His heart was the only part showing improvement, though his other wounds remained. As he descended further, he realized he was not drowning but floating in a different substance. Though he no longer bled, his wounds were still open.

In the profound darkness, he lost all sense of direction. Days might have passed as he lay immobilized. He felt occasional movements around him, but his attempts to activate his skills were futile.

Surrounded by darkness, Paul began to reflect on everything that had happened so far: how he entered this world, Jonathan, Nori, the other people who had helped him, the events he endured, the golem, and the man in the cloak. Every time he recalled the cloaked man, he felt a surge of anger and confusion.

Paul continued to faint intermittently. In the oppressive darkness, he lost track of time; it felt as if days had passed while he remained unable to move. He couldn’t discern which way was up or down. Sometimes, he sensed something around him stirring the water—or whatever substance surrounded him—causing his body to shift. He attempted to activate his skills multiple times, but each effort was in vain.

Suddenly, Paul noticed a small light in the distance. His body slowly moved toward it, driven by curiosity about its source. The light was not static but shifted in color between blue, green, and pure white. As he neared the light, he saw that it emanated from an orb of some sort of liquid. The orb occasionally lost its perfectly circular shape. The light was bright but not blinding, merely preventing him from looking directly at it.

When Paul was about five meters away from the orb, he saw that it was roughly the size of his head. As he drew closer, the orb ceased its spinning, and small, tentacle-like appendages extended toward him. The liquid made contact with his body, flowing into his open wounds and mouth. As the liquid entered him, Paul felt an intense warmth spreading throughout his body. The more liquid he absorbed, the more he reveled in the comforting sensation.

Once the entire orb of liquid had been absorbed, the light disappeared, leaving Paul enveloped in darkness again. The warmth within him gradually faded, replaced by an overwhelming, excruciating pain. The pain surpassed anything he had felt before; he could feel and even hear his bones cracking and his skin tearing. Despite the agony, he remained conscious, experiencing the sensation as if all his previous pain had converged into one massive torment.

After what seemed like an eternity, the pain abruptly ceased. Relieved, Paul realized that he was beginning to drown. The liquid had apparently allowed him to breathe underwater, but now that its effects had worn off, he needed air. He instinctively sensed the direction of the surface and, with a powerful kick, propelled himself upward like a rocket. He emerged from the water within seconds and burst into the air, gasping and falling onto his back, gazing at the sky.

The air, once taken for granted, now felt incredibly precious. Dark clouds loomed overhead, and soon after, it began to rain. Paul didn’t care; he laughed aloud, savoring the rain as it hit his face and skin. Then, suddenly, his laughter stopped as exhaustion overtook him. He fell asleep, utterly worn out from everything he had endured. The physical and emotional toll had left him mentally and physically drained.