A gentle warmth stirred in my chest, rising slowly toward my throat. Then it left me. A pink sphere floated upward, glowing softly, the word Memories shining faintly on its surface.
I watched it drift away and vanish into the serpent’s open mouth.
Almost immediately, I felt something slip away in my head, familiar shapes, laughter, a room bathed in sunlight but the details blurred and disappeared before I could grasp them.
And my rock slowed, steadier now, the pull weakening around me.
All of us floated there in silence, moving slower than before. No one spoke. No one looked at each other.
Because deep down, we all felt the same hollow ache where something once existed.
I lifted my gaze toward the serpent’s glowing maw. If even memories could be sacrificed, then maybe anything could.
I took a deep breath and focused inward, feeling the subtle currents of Essence and comprehension in my mind.
Among all the laws I had touched, one stood weaker than the rest, Illusion. I had barely explored it, and it didn’t hold as much weight for me as the others. But, my comprehension was enough to still allow me to progress it to minor law if I wanted.
So I made my choice.
The moment I willed it, a sharp buzz filled my head.
My Psynapse trembled, and a strange pulling sensation began deep inside my consciousness.
A dark black sphere formed in front of me, its edges flickering with faint static. The word Law shimmered over its surface before it shot forward like lightning, disappearing straight into the serpent’s gaping mouth.
I could feel it, the instant release of resistance. My floating rock slowed down sharply, the pull around me easing far more than before.
It worked.
I exhaled shakily, my body swaying from the sudden exhaustion that followed. My mind felt emptier, lighter, but also... quieter, as if a part of my understanding had been peeled away. I couldn’t quite recall what Illusion felt like anymore, just that it had once been part of me.
Vaelix noticed my rock slowing and narrowed his eyes.
Without saying a word, his body glowed again, and another dark sphere emerged from his head, marked with the same glowing word, Law. It streaked toward the serpent, and his rock slowed soon after.
Primus followed, then North, each of them forcing out their own spheres of comprehension. Steve hesitated the longest, gripping his sword with both hands, then finally bowed his head and let out a breath. A faint black light left him too, vanishing into the distance.
The pull lessened for all of us. The movement became slower, gentler. For a brief moment, I thought it was over, until the serpent’s massive maw snapped shut with a sound that tore through the void like thunder.
A blinding shockwave burst out, slamming into us and rocking the floating stones we stood on.
My footing slipped, and before I could steady myself, cracks split across the surface beneath me. The same happened with the others. One by one, the rocks broke apart into fragments, disintegrating into a stream of dust that vanished into the emptiness around us.
We were left suspended in the void, floating weightlessly under the faint crimson light.
For a moment, there was only silence. Then, from deep within the dark, the serpent’s body shifted.
Its two enormous eyes flared open, glowing a furious red.
The light from them wasn’t just illumination, it was pressure. It felt alive. It looked straight at us, and I felt my chest tighten, my thoughts freeze.
Then came the pull.
An invisible force slammed into my body, dragging me forward with impossible speed. My limbs trembled as I tried to resist, my Essence flaring instinctively but it didn’t matter. The force didn’t care about shields or strength. It was pure domination, a demand that bent the soul itself.
I looked around, Steve, North, and Primus were being dragged too, their expressions pale with fear. Even Vaelix was struggling ahead of us, his golden aura flickering violently.
The serpent’s roar echoed again, this time without sound, just a pressure that clawed at the mind.
And for the first time in a long while, I felt something I didn’t want to feel. Fear. The kind that makes your breath stop and your thoughts crumble.
My Psynapse trembled as my mind raced. The stele’s word came back to me again.
Sacrifice.
Every trial had meaning, every word carried purpose.
I understood.
The stronger the sacrifice, the safer you became. We had given away Essence, skills, memories, comprehension but this pull wasn’t physical anymore. It wasn’t something that could be blocked with power. It came from within.
Emotion.
That was the last thing left that could still hold us down.
I clenched my teeth and sent out a mental message directly to the other three. My voice echoed across their minds.
"Listen to me. Give up your fear. All of it. Right now."
I felt their hesitation for a second then one by one, their presences flared in agreement.
I closed my eyes and focused on the trembling spark in my chest, the one that made my heart race and my thoughts scatter. I took hold of it, that raw panic, and pulled.
A soft, gray light gathered before me, pulsing faintly, the word Emotion shining across it. My body went cold as the sphere drifted away, vanishing into the serpent’s distant form.
At once, the pull stopped.
My body froze midair, completely still. The crushing weight lifted. The fear inside me faded into nothingness, leaving behind an eerie calm. Around me, I saw the same happen to the others their motions halted, their eyes blank but steady.
Vaelix, however, didn’t stop. He hadn’t sacrificed anything. His body continued to hurtle forward, drawn closer and closer toward the serpent’s burning eyes.
The red glow around us intensified, casting everything in shades of blood and shadow.
And I just watched, my heart steady and mind silent, as the distance between Vaelix and the serpent closed without an ounce of fear left in me.