Chapter 140 ‒ The Fractured Veil
Chapter 140 ‒ The Fractured Veil
Tyler’s breath trembled as he took cautious steps forward, eyes wide and unblinking. Each crunch of dirt underfoot echoed like thunder across the scorched plateau. The figure before him — Milo — stood there, hair tousled, face innocent, eyes gleaming with childlike curiosity.
Tyler reached out a trembling hand and touched Milo’s cheek. The warmth against his fingers sent a shock spiralling through his chest, as though every nerve had been set aflame. His thumb pressed gently, tugging at the skin. Milo flinched, recoiling slightly.
“Hey! What are you doing? Ow—that hurt!” Milo yelped, swatting at Tyler’s hand with playful indignation.
Tyler’s knees buckled. His sword slipped from his grip, clattering to the molten-streaked ground. “You… you’re not made of sand? Then… Milo, is it really you?”
Milo pouted, rubbing his cheek with a childish huff. “Of course it’s me! Who else could it be? You really lost it while I was gone, huh?”
Tyler collapsed fully, knees hitting the ground with a hollow thud. His breath turned ragged, each exhale a trembling confession. Memories clawed at his mind — the day Milo’s figure dissolved into green mist, the sound of his choking gasps, that final plea echoing in his ears like a curse.
“I… I watched you die… you were… you were engulfed… by my Poison Mist…” His voice cracked like splintered glass, words struggling out through a raw, tearing throat.
Milo tilted his head, brows furrowed in mock confusion. “[Poison Mist]? What’s that? And what do you mean I died? Did you hit your head again or something? Haha! Let’s get out of here before we really do die for real! Come on! Hurry!”
Tyler looked up, tears streaming, voice a strangled whisper. “Where… where were you all these days? Why didn’t you come back sooner?”
Milo blinked rapidly, scratching the back of his head. “Oh! Well… I was in the forest, you know… looking for some fruits. I really wanted to surprise you with some of those sweet berry-things you like. But then… someone hit me on the back of my head! Really hard!”
Tyler’s eyes widened, searching Milo’s face desperately. “Who… who did it? Bandits? Was it those damned bandits?”
Milo snapped his fingers with sudden enthusiasm. “Yes! Exactly! I think it was… wait… Frost Bandits! They tied me up after that. I was unconscious for a long time, and when I woke up, I found my hands tied with these gross ropes. But I escaped! Haha! Took me forever!”
Tyler’s brow furrowed, confusion breaking through his haze of relief. “But… you said you were in a forest. The Frost Bandits operate in the icy highlands… if it was a forest, it had to be Timber Bandits.”
Milo let out an awkward laugh, his eyes darting slightly to the side. “Ah! Oh… right! Right! You’re totally correct! Must’ve been the Timber Bandits! Guess I got hit harder than I thought! Haha! My memory’s all scrambled, huh?”
Tyler’s shoulders sagged, his gaze sinking. His hands trembled as he lifted them toward Milo again. “I… I’m so sorry… I should’ve protected you… I pushed you too hard… it was all my fault…”
A sudden sting lanced through Tyler’s hand, making his fingers twitch violently. His arm muscles spasmed, as if strings were yanked inside his flesh. A sharp, screeching noise rang in his head, thin and metallic like nails on glass. He clenched his teeth, a bead of blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. But his heart screamed louder than the pain — Milo is alive. Milo came back. Milo forgives me.
“That doesn’t matter now, does it?” Milo said brightly, though his eyes shimmered oddly in the moonlight. “I’m back! That’s all that matters! We can go home together… you always said you’d protect me, remember? You’re my big brother… always so strong…”
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Tyler’s chest heaved, his vision flickering at the edges. The phantom pain twisted again in his head, but he ignored it, his voice turning hoarse as he stumbled forward. “I… I killed you… I watched you choke… I let you die… I’m sorry… so sorry…”
Milo tilted his head, the expression of innocence suddenly almost too perfect. “Hey… why are you crying so much? Did I really mean that much to you? You’re being a crybaby again… just like when you scraped your knee and blamed the old squirrel for tripping you.”
A soft, broken laugh rattled in Tyler’s throat. Memories collided in his skull like shards of shattered glass. The berries, the squirrel, Milo’s infectious giggle echoing through sunlit forests — each one pierced him deeper than any blade.
His hands lifted again, trembling so hard they looked ready to splinter. Another spasm shot up his arm, and the screech in his head swelled until it felt like his skull would split. His knees buckled under the weight of conflicting worlds — the warmth before him, and the cold blood on his hands.
“Why… why can’t I protect anyone…?” His sobs cracked and splintered as he collapsed completely, clutching his temples. His fingers raked through his hair, nails digging until tiny crescents of blood bloomed on his scalp. The screech rose to a crescendo, roaring through his veins like molten metal.
A shadow rippled above him — silent, patient, waiting. A thin, scaly tail tipped with a venomous stinger slithered from Milo’s shell, curling like a coiled whip. It hovered for a breathless moment, trembling with predatory anticipation.
Tyler writhed on the ground, eyes squeezed shut, voice a strangled wail. “Please… no more… I can’t lose anyone else… please…!”
The tail lunged downward.
In that instant, Tyler’s eyes snapped open — scarlet, pupils razor-thin. His hand shot upward, gripping the hilt of his sword faster than instinct, faster than thought. He drove the blade upward into Milo’s chest with brutal force, steel cleaving through flesh and bone in one thunderous heartbeat.
The tail froze mid-air, twitching violently before crashing lifeless to the ground. Milo’s eyes bulged, blood bubbling at his lips. He choked out a final, distorted sound — a grotesque gurgle masquerading as a sob.
“Wh… why… why would you… cough…”
Tyler’s snarl rumbled deep in his chest, a primal vibration echoing through his bones. Crimson energy spiralled along the blade, crawling up his arms like hungry veins of lightning. With a savage twist, he shoved the blade deeper, his second sword flashing out to carve a horizontal arc across the creature’s torso.
The false Milo staggered backward, hacking up black ichor that hissed and bubbled on contact with the ground. Its face flickered between Milo’s innocence and something monstrous beneath — a sick parody that curdled the air around it.
“Please… don’t kill… me… spa-…cough.. me.”
Tyler’s gaze was cold and inhuman, lips curling back in a silent snarl. His swords dripped with venomous blood, his muscles coiled tight as a predator ready for the next kill.
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In the cold void of Tyler’s mind, a windless, starless expanse stretched endlessly. An absolute darkness, so thick it felt like a physical weight, pressed against his spirit.
Tyler blinked, disoriented, his feet scraping across an unseen floor that echoed with a hollow, metallic ring. In front of him, a massive screen — like a cracked, ghostly window — showed everything his physical body was doing.
He saw himself standing, swords dripping with venomous blood, eyes ignited with bestial rage. The creature’s — no, Milo’s — terrified expression replayed over and over, each frame a dagger through Tyler’s chest.
Tyler slammed his palms against the screen, sobbing so hard he thought his ribs might crack. “No! Please! This can’t be happening again! I can’t… I can’t…”
His fists pounded the barrier, each impact echoing in the hollow dark. Nails split, blood smeared across the spectral glass. But each strike only drove the blades deeper on the other side.
“STOP! PLEASE! SOMEONE… PLEASE!”
A slow, deliberate footstep echoed behind him. Tyler twisted, eyes red and wild. Out of the darkness emerged a figure — his exact form, but twisted and wrong. Skin torn in jagged lines, glowing scars crawling like worms, eyes lit with abyssal hunger.
“Monster!” Tyler screamed, his voice ricocheting through the endless black. “You killed my brother! How dare you—!”
He lunged, fist cocked back, but the other self raised a single finger. With a flick, an invisible force slammed into Tyler’s chest, hurling him backward like a shattered doll. His body hit an unseen wall, bones cracking, air ripping from his lungs.
The other self’s smirk spread slowly, each inch like a knife. “Pathetic,” he hissed, voice deep as a chasm.
Tyler crumpled, tears flooding down his cheeks. His eyes darted to the screen — Milo’s final collapse, the acidic blood hissing into the dirt. Each flicker another splinter in his heart.
“I’m worthless… I let you take over again… I couldn’t protect him… I failed… once again…”
The other self stepped forward, each footstep echoing impossibly loud, until the void seemed to tremble.
Tyler clawed at the floor, sobs shaking him apart from the inside. The world around him blurred into a haze of guilt, fear, and endless darkness.