The cracks spread faster, ripping across the false sky like spiderwebs. The lightning giant trembled, its golden form flickering as the foundation of this memory world collapsed.
Pieces of the land floated up, breaking apart into glowing dust. The air itself thinned, warping and unraveling.
I stood there, watching it all fall apart.
The cage crumbled. The towering giant split apart into motes of golden light. Red's shredded mind couldn't hold the world together anymore.
A soundless pull grabbed at me. Like a tide, dragging me backward, away from the broken pieces, back toward the real world.
I closed my eyes.
The last thing I saw was Red's ruined figure crumpled inside the dissolving world.
Then—
My senses snapped back like a rubber band.
I gasped as reality crashed over me.
I was back.
Back in the cell filled with darkness.
The weight of her hand still rested on my head, but it was different now. Limp. Heavy.
I slowly extended my perception around the place.
King Holt stood nearby, arms crossed, looking smug like he was waiting for something. His two guards flanked him, and Steve was restrained against the wall to my right, beaten and bruised.
And then there was Red.
Her hand slid from my head, falling uselessly to her side.
She staggered, her knees buckling.
Her face was pale—paler than before. Her black eyes, once full of wicked amusement, were empty now.
Vacant.
She collapsed onto the floor without a sound.
I followed a moment later, dropping face-first onto the cold stone, pretending to be unconscious.
King blinked in surprise, taking a half step toward her.
"Red?" he called out.
She didn't move.
She lay there, breathing shallowly, like a puppet with its strings cut.
She wasn't dead. But she was gone.
Her mind had been shredded beyond recognition. She would never wake up again.
At least not as the person she used to be.
One of King's goons hurriedly knelt next to Red, checking her condition.
Her eyes were open, but vacant, staring blankly into the darkness.
The man muttered, "She's alive, but… it looks like she's in shock."
I chuckled inwardly.
She was more than just shocked.
The man stood up and moved toward me.
I controlled my breathing, keeping perfectly still, silent.
He flipped my body over, and I couldn't tell what he checked, but after a moment, he simply said, "He looks fine."
King's voice cut through the stillness, urgent. "Try to wake her up."
The other man leaned down and shook her roughly, even slapping her cheek. But there was no response from Red.
King's irritation flared. "Let's go. We need to get her treated as soon as possible."
The goon picked up Red's limp body and they hurried out of the cell.
I didn't move right away. My perception followed them as they rushed down the hallway and out of sight. I waited, making sure they were really gone.
Only when I was sure they were far enough did I slowly sit up, letting out a deep breath I hadn't even realized I was holding.
"Damn, that was intense," I muttered under my breath.
The whole encounter with her felt like a nightmare. I never thought King would have someone like Red working for him. Someone so dangerous, so completely out of control.
Steve stirred weakly from where he was. His voice came out shaky.
"Hey... what happened?"
I sighed, rubbing my face with my hands, still feeling the leftover tension in my body. Then, keeping my voice low, I explained everything to him—how Red had tried to invade my mind, how I turned it around on her, and what I did to shut her down for good.
When I finished, Steve let out a dry, tired chuckle.
"Why do I feel like you just pushed us into even more trouble?" he said.
I smiled a little and leaned back against the wall.
"That was the only way I had to stop her. Imagine if she had messed with our minds. If she had controlled me... or you... and found out the truth about our mission."
Steve grunted, his face turning serious. He understood, even if he didn't like it.
We both sat there in the cold darkness, catching our breath.
I heard Ming's voice calling out to me from across the cell.
"Hey, kid, what happened?"
I answered casually, "I don't know. That Red woman tried to do something to me... then she just fainted."
He snorted.
"I saw that part. I'm asking what really happened. She messed with our heads pretty bad when we first got here. But between you two... something else went down, didn't it?"
I shrugged.
"Honestly? I don't remember anything."
He burst out laughing, his voice echoing around the stone walls.
"Boy, we've been stuck in this place a long time. You don't have to be so guarded with us. We can really help you, you know. And you definitely don't seem like some innocent kid anymore."
I chuckled under my breath.
"When did I ever say I was innocent? And stop calling me 'kid.' My name's Billion."
He laughed again, this time softer.
"Alright, Billion. So... can you tell me what really happened?"
I grinned, even though my body ached all over.
"Nope. I don't know anything. And right now, I'd really like to get some rest if you don't mind."
The cell fell silent after that. Only the sound of shallow breathing filled the darkness.
I opened my status screen and looked over the new skill, [Psynapse Overdrive], once more.
The skill provided an even greater boost to my Psynapse, and the best part was that it allowed me to impose my will not just on myself but on the real world around me.
Curious to see how it worked outside the memory world, I activated it.
[Psynapse Overdrive]
Essence surged from my core, flowing through the Essence channels toward my brain. My senses sharpened immediately.
But the biggest change wasn't just heightened awareness—it was the new feeling that I could actually influence the world around me by forcing my will onto it.
Of course, it wasn't anything as extreme as what I had managed inside the memory world, like creating that massive lightning construct.
Here, the effect was much more limited.
The range where I could enforce my will was barely thirty meters—only a tenth of my full perception range. And the will didn't create objects or structures; it was more about asserting my dominance, my conviction, pressing it down onto enemies and the environment around me.
I let the skill fade and leaned back against the cold wall.
My body wasn't looking so good after the beating I had taken from King's goons. Everything ached.
I wasn't sure what they would do once they realized Red was out of commission, but I needed to be ready. I needed to recover.
I activated [Essence Engine] and let my core slowly absorb the ambient energy, converting it into pure Essence.
With a quiet sigh, I closed my eyes and drifted into sleep.