When Simon heard the words of the Left Arm, he started to believe Nick and narrowed his eyes.
Was it actually true?
Did Nick truly find the Nightmare?
If so, that would be more than shocking.
Nick lifted his head and looked at the older woman.
"Yes, I have found the Nightmare and gained its ability," he said.
The Left Arm narrowed her eyes as she looked at Nick.
"Step closer," she ordered.
Nick stood up and walked forward.
He stopped right in front of the Left Arm and remained standing.
The woman slowly stood up.
Then, she pointed her arm at Nick, and Nick was spun around without his consent.
He couldn't move anymore, and a second later, he felt a cold hand touching the back of his neck, where his Zephyx Synchronizer was.
"Use your power," she commanded from behind Nick.
Nick was a bit nervous, but he did as told.
There wasn't really a good target for his ability, so he used it on nothing.
A lot of Zephyx came out of Nick and filled the room.
A couple of seconds of silence passed, and Simon was just watching.
A moment later, Nick regained his ability to move, and he stepped away.
He turned around and saw the Left Arm looking at him with an intense expression.
"Who knows of this?" she asked with a serious voice.
"Simon and me," Nick answered.
"Nobody else?" she asked.
"I have not told anyone else. You have to ask Simon if he did," Nick said.
The Left Arm looked at Simon with a stern expression.
"I told Aurelia that I had important news for the Left Arm. I did not specify," Simon answered respectfully.
Several seconds of silence passed, and the Left Arm just looked at Simon.
"Make sure it stays that way," she said. "This secret is more important than your life."
"Of course," Simon said politely.
"How much do you know?" she asked him.
Simon became nervous.
The Left Arm was a woman filled with immortal conviction.
She was willing to sacrifice anything and everything for the good of mankind.
If she believed that this secret was so important, she might actually decide to kill Simon just to keep him silent.
"He told me where he found it and what ability he unlocked. He did not tell me about its appearance or what it is," Simon said.
The Left Arm looked at Simon for a couple more seconds with an intense expression, making Simon sweat.
"You are no longer needed here," she said. "Wait in the Halls of Remembrance."
Simon's fear vanished.
He got to live another day.
"Of course," he said before stepping out of the room.
After Simon left, Nick became more nervous.
He was now alone with the Left Arm, one of the three strongest humans in the entire world.
Silence.
Nobody spoke a word.
Nick wanted to ask what was going to happen now, but he didn't dare to speak up.
The Left Arm's aura was dark and threatening.
He felt like he would be killed if he said the wrong thing.
Suddenly, the door opened.
"So? What's so important that it can't wait?" the bored voice of a young man spoke into the room.
Nick looked over and saw a young man with white hair walking into the room.
He was quite casually dressed. He wore some pants, a colorful shirt, and a white and dirty lab coat.
He just scratched the back of his neck with laziness and a bit of annoyance.
"We must meet the Champion right now," the Left Arm spoke.
The man blinked a couple of times in surprise. "That's unusual, but I don't see how I am related to this. Can't I just get back to work?" he asked, gesturing to the closed door behind him.
"This is also relevant to you," the Left Arm spoke coldly.
The man just sighed. "Sure thing, boss," he said in defeat.
After that, the man looked at Nick. "And you are?" he asked.
"My name is-"
"You don't need to know that," the Left Arm interrupted Nick.
The man just rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Fine!" he said.
"Follow," the Left Arm said as she walked towards the back of her office.
Nick nodded and walked after her.
"Don't mind her," Nick heard inside of his mind. Judging by the voice, it came from the young man behind him. "She's a stick in the mud."
Nick didn't dare to look at the young man since he didn't want to show the Left Arm that the young man's voice appeared in his mind.
The Left Arm reached a small door at the back of her office and touched it.
The next moment, the door opened, and bright light flooded into the dark office through the opened door.
The light was blindingly bright, and Nick had to protect his eyes until he got used to it.
The Left Arm stepped through the door.
Suddenly, Nick felt a hand pushing him forward gently.
"Come on, we gotta get going," the young man said casually as he stepped past Nick.
Nick nodded and also stepped through the door after the young man.
BANG!
The door closed behind Nick, and he found himself in a new room.
It was a huge hall with ancient ruins, but compared to the ones outside, these ruins seemed to be made of marble and stone, not concrete and steel.
There was no technology on these ruins.
They were basically just rubble that had once been built by humans.
At the end of the huge hall, Nick saw a gigantic golden throne.
Several pipes and wires came out of the throne, which led back into the wall.
Nick could feel Zephyx flowing through these pipes.
The bright light in the room came from the person sitting on the throne.
Although, it was more appropriate to use the word slumped.
An extremely old man, covered in wrinkles, was sleeping on the throne.
If he weren't shining with so much bright light, one would believe that he was a corpse.
As Nick saw the old man, he was reminded of the Nightmare.
The way the man sat on his throne reminded Nick of the way the Nightmare lay on the Zephyx.
The Left Arm stepped in front of the throne and performed a polite bow.
"Champion," she spoke respectfully.
'That's him, huh?' Nick thought as he looked at the old man, who looked like he was about to die.
The Champion of Light.
The leader of humanity.
The strongest human.
The man from the fairy tale.
A couple of seconds of silence passed.
And then, Nick heard the quiet sound of some shuffling.
The man opened his weary eyes and slightly lifted his head.
This bit of movement seemed to take all of his power.
And then…
A bright smile appeared on his face.
"It's been a while, Helia," he said, his voice soft and warm.
"13 years," the Left Arm answered.
"13 years," the Champion of Light repeated. "How much longer?"
"We don't know," the Left Arm said, her voice sounding uncertain. "Maybe 80 years."
"80 years until this body collapses," the Champion said. "I feel bad about leaving you, but I'm looking forward to finally being able to sleep."
"What brings you here?" he asked.
The Left Arm stood up and looked at Nick.
The young man had already stepped forward and waited beside the Left Arm.
The Left Arm stood to the Champion's left, and the young man stood to the left of the Left Arm, making it quite obvious that the young man was not the Right Arm.
He was probably the third Shield stationed in Aegis' headquarters.
"Tell us everything," the Left Arm ordered.
Nick bowed politely.
"Some days ago, I was ready to become an Expert," Nick started.
"I said everything," the Left Arm interrupted Nick. "Start at your earliest memory."
Nick took a deep breath.
"Well, okay, I-"
"Wait."
Everyone turned to look at the Champion of Light, who had just spoken.
A warm smile was on his face as he looked at Nick.
"You can see things by not seeing them. You can feel things by not feeling them," he spoke slowly.
"I can see what you can do."
Nick understood what the Champion of Light meant.
The Champion of Light was saying that he knew that Nick had the Null's ability since it was the polar opposite of the Champion's ability.
"Your true self must stay hidden," the Champion said. "Even from us."
The Left Arm looked with shock at the Champion of Light.
"Please," the Champion said, "start from your previous starting point again."
"As you wish," Nick said.
"A couple of days ago, I was ready to become an Expert. The ability I chose came from a Specter called the Fiend of Darkness. The Fiend of Darkness can consume people and put them into a space of darkness."
"However, I only chose the Fiend of Darkness because I had a suspicion."
"I suspected that I would be able to find the Nightmare by getting absorbed by it."
"And I was right."
At that point, the young man's eyes became intense.
Now, he was happy that the Left Arm had called him.