Terror.
Pure terror.
In his entire life, Nick had never been this scared before!
Something deep inside of him told him that there was no way he could survive.
Something told him that he couldn't possibly resist the power of this child.
There was only death waiting for him.
The entire room seemed to warp.
It seemingly spun and distorted until there was only a contorted hallway remaining, with Nick and the child at opposite ends.
And then, Nick felt like the darkness inside the hallway was pulling the light out of him.
He felt like the core of his being was getting pulled toward the starving child.
He was vanishing!
He was disappearing!
He was dying!
Crack.
Nick's right hand strengthened a bit, and a moment later, the sound of something cracking reverberated throughout the hallway.
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
It was like a gigantic explosion suddenly appeared in the room!
Red!
The entire room was filled with a fiery red!
Nick saw the storm of fiery red shooting past him at insane speeds, and he felt like he had fallen through a mountain made of fire.
And yet, while Nick could see the red mass, he couldn't feel it.
It was almost like it wasn't real.
Nevertheless, it had to be real.
After all, Nick felt the room turn to normal, and he no longer felt like he was being consumed by the darkness.
The starving child kept looking at Nick.
"Your power will be mine," the child repeated.
"I will consume the power of the Eternal."
"I will kill you."
"The haven you call Crimson Fungus City will cease to exist."
"You will be mine!"
At that moment, the expression of the starving child turned into a mad grin, and Nick felt like something had taken hold of his heart.
The darkness in the child's eyes seemed to extend towards Nick, and a moment later, he felt like the darkness was surrounding him.
"You are mine!" the voice of the child thundered.
And then, Nick felt like something that he couldn't afford to lose was leaving his mouth and eyes.
A moment later, he saw a gentle white mist coming out of his body.
Nick recognized the mass.
It was Zephyx!
'No!' Nick thought. 'You're not taking it!'
But it didn't matter.
Nick felt the essence of his being getting pulled out and extending towards the child.
He was dying!
At that moment, the door to the room exploded, and two people ran in.
Although, people was the wrong word.
Nick saw a man with black hair and dark eyes on one side and a young woman with blonde hair on the other.
Riker and Monica.
"Master!" Monica shouted with urgency.
"You failed me," the starving child said.
"Your existence is no longer required."
The two of them looked at the starving child.
If they were human, they would probably be terrified.
But they weren't.
They were Specters, and Specters couldn't feel fear.
When someone was standing in front of someone who wanted to kill them, there were only three things they could do.
Fight.
Flight.
Surrender.
Since surrendering didn't work, there were only two options left for Riker and Monica.
Monica ran forward and stopped behind Nick, who couldn't move at that moment.
And then, Nick suddenly felt some kind of force pulling him backward.
The next moment, Nick saw the white mist in front of him halt.
It was no longer moving towards the starving child.
That was when Nick noticed that the sucking force had come from Monica's hand.
It was like Monica's hand was consuming all the Zephyx in the surroundings.
"Shouldn't have told us that you were going to kill us," Riker's charming, cold, and calm voice came from beside Nick.
WHOOOM!
Suddenly, a black wind, filled with tormented faces, left Riker's hand and shot towards the starving child.
However, as soon as the black wind reached the starving child, it flowed around it.
It was like the starving child was a solid and massive rock in the middle of a small river.
Obviously, the black wind didn't do anything to the starving child, but it did accomplish something else.
The darkness that was pulling the Zephyx out of Nick was weakening, and Nick even saw the white mist flowing back into his body.
"Meaningless resistance," the starving child said.
"It doesn't matter when I get what I want."
"It only matters that I get it."
WHOOOOM!
Suddenly, the darkness inside the child exploded outward, and the black wind leaving Riker was annihilated.
Then, the darkness shot forward.
But then, it suddenly stopped.
That was because Riker and Monica had hidden behind Nick.
They knew that their master would have long since killed Nick under normal circumstances.
The fact that he was trying to consume Nick's power meant that he was extremely interested in Nick's power.
If Nick died, his power would disperse, which made it impossible for their master to absorb it.
So, they had bet on the fact that their master wouldn't dare to kill Nick.
And they had bet correctly.
The power the starving child had released this time was very different from the one he had used to absorb Nick's power.
This was something that could kill Nick in an instant.
Right now, Nick felt like some kind of force was in front of him that could extinguish him as easily as an ant.
He couldn't possibly resist it.
For just a moment, everything inside the room paused.
"Just wait," the child said calmly.
"I'll soon be there."
Then, the darkness started to slowly move towards the starving child.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Nick felt like time had stopped.
What the fuck had just happened?!
What had he just seen?!
A moment ago, the starving child had still been there, but now…
He was in the middle of the Dregs!
Yet, he hadn't left the room.
In fact, his half of the room was still there…
But the other half had vanished.
Just like everything else in a 20-meter radius!