Immortal Druid

A few hours ago, when I lost consciousness, I found myself standing once more within the strange realm hidden inside me. It was exactly as I remembered, yet somehow far worse. Thorny vines twisted together to form the ground beneath my feet, weaving themselves through countless pale bones that protruded from the earth like the remains of an ancient battlefield. Every step produced a dry crunch that echoed into an endless darkness.

At the center of this grotesque landscape stood the throne fashioned from skulls and ribs, and upon it sat the existence who had once introduced himself as the Supreme Monster.

The moment his crimson eyes settled upon me, he clicked his tongue in irritation.

"You reckless fool," he growled. "And that little girl beside you is just as idiotic. Between the two of you, you're determined to throw yourselves into every disaster you can find."

His voice retained the same oppressive authority as always, but something was terribly wrong.

The vines composing his body barely held together the silhouette of a man. Entire sections had withered away, exposing hollow gaps that struggled to remain connected. His black suit, once immaculate despite its eerie appearance, had been reduced to shredded scraps clinging desperately to his frame. Calling those rags clothing felt overly generous.

Then I looked upward.

Suspended above us was the Dark Sun of Misfortune.

The ominous sphere had become vastly larger than before. When I had last visited this place, it had already been enormous, yet now it had swollen to nearly twice that size again. Countless streams of black mist spiraled around its surface as though the heavens themselves were bleeding corruption into it.

I immediately knew when that growth had begun.

It was after I questioned Mab about the other me.

The Supreme Monster slowly rose from his throne.

"So," he said, "was it worth it?"

His voice echoed across the realm.

"Playing king. Tugging at the strings of fate. Hoarding enough misfortune to feed that thing above us." He pointed toward the swollen black sun. "Tell me, was it worth pretending you understood what you were doing?"

He descended the steps one by one.

"You call yourself a druid, yet instead of nurturing balance, you actively disturbed it. You introduced Earth technology. Earth ideals. Earth sensibilities. You handed them to beasts who barely understood themselves, much less civilization."

Each step caused thorn-covered vines to spread beneath his feet.

"You didn't cultivate harmony. You cultivated chaos."

He stopped only a few paces away.

"And your conviction..." His expression hardened. "It is painfully shallow. Perhaps it is finally time I shattered this childish game of pretend."

As he spoke, his body expanded, the vines thickened, and his shoulders broadened. His height climbed until he towered over me like a mountain intent on crushing an insect beneath its weight. The pressure rolling from him would have terrified the old me.

Now, however, I heard something entirely different.

Thanks to the evolution of my Voice of the World, every existence carried a voice beyond spoken words. Beneath the thunderous threats and hidden underneath all that overwhelming intimidation, I heard the faintest sob imaginable. It was filled with pain, regret, and fear. It was so quiet that I almost mistook it for the wind.

I walked forward without hesitation.

The towering monster glared down at me as though expecting me to kneel.

Instead, I reached out and poked him in the stomach.

"..."

The enormous body froze. The vines composing his massive frame unraveled instantly, scattering into the air like dry leaves carried away by an invisible breeze. Standing where the terrifying giant had been was a small boy, barely reaching my knees. He had my face, my eyes, and my hair. He was me.

"Enough pretending," I said flatly. "No more tricks. No more gaslighting. If you—or rather, if we—don't want to die, then start being honest and cooperate."

For several long moments, the boy simply stared back at me. It had been quite some time since I had last entered this realm. Back then, I had only perceived fragments of what existed here. Now, after my Voice of the World had evolved again and again, the veil obscuring this place had grown thinner. The lies layered over reality no longer held together as neatly as before.

The boy sighed.

"Took you long enough to notice."

His childish voice sounded strangely weary.

"I lost far more power than I expected, shielding us from the backlash after you asked Mab that question. Don't ever do that again. That isn't what 'we' want."

I frowned. When I spoke of "we," I had meant myself and the Supreme Monster. But when he said it... he meant someone else entirely.

The thorn-covered wasteland vanished. The scattered bones disappeared. Even the throne dissolved into drifting petals. In their place stretched an endless field of silver flowers, swaying gently beneath a tranquil sky. Every blossom shimmered with a familiar aura. I instinctively understood why: each flower represented one of us, not merely another life, but another self, another cycle.

"There is something you should know," the boy said quietly. "This isn't the first time we've had this conversation."

I remained silent, absorbing his words.

"I once stood exactly where you are now. I was the Warden." He gazed out across the endless sea of flowers. "When I failed to accomplish what had been entrusted to me, I became another Prisoner... just like every Monster before me."

A cold realization settled in my chest. I slowly turned in every direction. There were too many flowers. Far, far too many.

"Who is doing this to us?" I demanded, unable to keep the anger from my voice. "Who keeps ignoring our will? Who forces us through this endless torment? Who thinks they have the right to torture us with this fate?"

I swept my arm across the vast field, my voice echoing through the silver blossoms. "Look at this! There are countless versions of us. This has been happening for so long that no one could possibly remember where it began." I clenched my fists. "This is too much."

The boy smiled sadly. "You'll understand when the time is right."

His calm answer only deepened my frustration. "They all made this choice."

"I don't remember making it."

"You will."

I stared into his eyes and took a step closer. "Then tell me this: what exactly am I supposed to do? What is expected of me?"

He slowly shook his head. "No one expects anything from us. Whether we live... or whether we die... the greater reality remains unchanged." His voice stayed calm and steady. "As long as we continue to exist, we fulfill our role."

He lowered his gaze toward the flowers. "But not all of us accepted that answer. They wished for something different." His eyes met mine again. "They wished for the Warden to free the Prisoners. They wished to break the cycle."

Only then did I realize we were no longer alone. Figures made entirely of vines stood throughout the field. There were dozens, hundreds, perhaps thousands. Every one of them possessed my outline. They silently watched me, unmoving and unspeaking. Their quiet expectations pressed down on me more heavily than any mountain.

The boy followed my gaze. "They all have tremendous hopes for you." He smiled faintly. "I know you have countless questions. We cannot answer every one of them, but we can at least help you understand our role."

He extended one hand. Before I could react, he pushed me.

There was no sensation of falling. Instead, I became submerged in reality itself. The countless voices of existence flooded into me from mountains, rivers, stars, living creatures, and even the wind. For the briefest instant, I became the world.

I understood for some time now how misfortune worked, accumulating somewhere. And that somewhere... was me. I gathered calamity so the rest of existence could receive providence. I became the vessel that accepted disaster so others could unknowingly walk beneath clear skies.

As my consciousness merged deeper into the world's pulse, my vision pierced beyond its surface. I saw things that did not belong: filthy presences pressing against reality from beyond its boundaries, endlessly searching for cracks through which they could force themselves inside. They writhed without shape, carrying intentions that even the world rejected instinctively. Every instinct within me screamed that they were not merely enemies.

They were impurities.

And the cycle of Wardens and Prisoners existed because someone, somewhere, had to keep the door closed.

The impurities came in forms that defied reason. Some resembled colossal masses of flesh suspended within impossible geometries, their countless eyes opening and closing without rhythm, each pupil containing a different sky. Others drifted like translucent leviathans stitched together from bones that belonged to no creature born in this universe, their ribs splitting apart to reveal entire galaxies writhing inside hollow chests. There were towering figures draped in darkness whose limbs bent in directions reality refused to follow, and serpentine horrors woven from black lightning that devoured the very laws surrounding them wherever they slithered. I witnessed enormous insects whose wings carried continents of parasites, flowers blooming from empty voids whose petals whispered forgotten histories, and oceans of living mouths that drifted through dimensions searching endlessly for something to consume.

Every one of them wandered beyond the walls of our reality, yet every movement they made left scars upon history itself.

Slowly, I saw their footprints. Civilizations that had vanished overnight. Kingdoms that recorded impossible eclipses before disappearing from existence. Ancient wars where both victors and losers had been erased from every surviving account.

The traces had always been there, hidden beneath myths, legends, and fragmented ruins. They had never truly belonged to this world, yet their existence had brushed against ours countless times throughout history. Every age had narrowly escaped becoming another feast.

Their mere presence awakened something primal inside me.

It was hatred, fear, and revulsion.

It was instinctive, as though every cell within my body rejected their existence before my mind could comprehend why. They were wrong. Not evil. Not malicious. Simply... wrong. Reality itself recoiled from them.

Among the countless abominations, one became restless.

A forest of black tentacles erupted from an immeasurable abyss beyond reality, each appendage thick enough to coil around mountains. They clawed frantically against the invisible boundary separating our world from theirs, tearing at it with growing agitation.

Suddenly, the creature stopped and looked directly at me.

Countless eyes emerged along every tentacle, all locking onto my existence at once.

At that moment, another voice reached my ears.

It was neither human nor beast.

Instead, it was the world itself.

"Please... stop... it hurts..." the trembling voice sobbed. "Don't tear me apart anymore... someone... anyone... please save me..."

The desperate cries echoed through my soul. Every word carried unbearable agony. Without thinking, I stepped forward and pointed my staff toward that impossible creature.

"Get your filthy tentacles off my world!"

Silence followed as every eye curved into what could only be described as amusement. The creature smiled with its eyes, its voice twisting through reality like wet flesh being torn apart.

"FoOd jUst TAlkeD bACk tO mEeEEE! Hah!"

The countless tentacles exploded toward me.

...

I opened my eyes, and the vision shattered. The present returned with terrifying clarity.

The rift above the lake had grown wider. Black tentacles continued forcing their way through the opening, stretching farther into our world with every passing heartbeat.

I slammed my staff against the lake’s surface. Using the water as my medium, I projected my voice across every current with an empowered sound transmission.

“All creatures of this lake, flee immediately!” I commanded. “Abandon this place!”

My Voice of the World surged outward, carrying the weight of authority itself.

“Command Beast.”

The order rippled through the depths with the full force of the world behind it.

Every fish, serpent, turtle, spirit beast, and aquatic monster instinctively obeyed. Those that had hesitated no longer possessed the will to resist. Panic spread throughout the lake as countless creatures escaped in every direction. Many had already fled the instant the foreign presence emerged, their instincts recognizing a predator beyond comprehension.

Beside me, Hu Gang's eyes snapped fully open.

"...Fuck."

He stared at the widening rift before gripping the hilt of his sword.

"I think I bit off more than I could chew agreeing to help you."

Nyx remained remarkably composed despite the overwhelming spiritual pressure crushing the surroundings.

"What do you need us to do?" she asked.

I ignored the crushing weight pressing down on my body and began gathering quintessence within my staff. The air trembled as mana, qi, and life itself flowed toward the emerald crystal embedded atop my weapon.

Suddenly, the entire lake turned black. An endless torrent of viscous ink spilled from the widening rift, contaminating the once-pristine waters. The liquid moved with unnatural purpose, as though alive.

The shadows swelled. Monstrous figures climbed out from the ink, some with too many limbs, others crawling on twisted spines, and a few lacking faces entirely, their heads replaced by endless rows of teeth.

“Nyx,” I said, never taking my eyes off the rift, “deal with those monsters.”

She nodded at once. “I’ll do my best.”

Darkness expanded beneath her feet as her own shadow rapidly swallowed the shoreline. “Rise.”

The ground quaked. An enormous Shadow Elemental emerged behind her, towering over the forest with glowing violet eyes fixed upon the approaching abominations.

I shifted my gaze toward Hu Gang. “I need you to help me push that thing back.”

He looked between me and the rift, his expression one of disbelief. “Push it back?” he exclaimed. “How are we even supposed to do that? The spiritual pressure coming from that monster probably surpasses our realm! That shouldn’t even be possible!” He clicked his tongue in frustration. “You really should’ve brought that other immortal who’s been following you around.”

Before I could answer, one of the enormous tentacles twisted toward me. Its surface split open, revealing rows of jagged teeth that erupted from the flesh. Those teeth developed lips, and then eyes blossomed across every smiling mouth.

The grotesque faces spoke in unison, their voices overlapping in a nauseating harmony. “WhAt’s YoUr NaMe, litTle One?” They stretched wider. “I aM FaMURoeN! LEt’S bE friEndSsss...”

Above us, an immense sphere of darkness rapidly condensed. The surrounding elemental energy spiraled upward uncontrollably, devoured by the growing orb as Famuroen absorbed the ambient energy of the world itself.

I inhaled deeply. Every ounce of quintessence I had accumulated surged through my staff.

“Entanglement.”

I drove the butt of my staff into the earth. The forest answered.

Countless colossal roots burst from beneath the lake, the mountains, and the surrounding valleys. They erupted toward the heavens before wrapping themselves around Famuroen's invading tentacles, binding every appendage with layer upon layer of ancient roots.

The strain struck me instantly. Warm liquid trickled from my nose, followed by another stream. Blood splashed onto the ground as I continued pouring every remaining drop of quintessence into the spell. The roots groaned under impossible pressure but refused to yield.

I gritted my teeth. “Hu Gang!”

He turned toward me.

“Start by cutting its tentacles!”

He nodded without another complaint and launched himself skyward.

I had deliberately left Mab behind. Selfish as it sounded, I wanted someone capable of protecting the Touch Grass Sect if everything here went wrong. As for Hao Lei, he was still recovering from his injuries. Bringing him here would only place another burden on us.

I raised my staff once more. “Spirit of the World Tree.”

The ground shook violently. An enormous ancient tree materialized behind me, its trunk reaching into the heavens while countless emerald leaves illuminated the battlefield with gentle light. Boundless vitality surged through its roots and flooded into my body.

My depleted qi recovered. My exhausted mana rapidly replenished. The nosebleed refused to stop, but fresh strength returned to my limbs.

I fixed my eyes on the abomination struggling against the roots. “That filthy existence must be annihilated at all costs,” I said grimly. “If we fail to stop it here, this won’t merely be the end of a continent. It could be the end of our entire world.”