Chapter 132: Who Is Fanning The Flames?
In the dream-like realm of creeping darkness, where silence reigned and shadows squirmed, a faint breath suddenly broke through the stillness. In this deathly quiet, the sound of breathing was deafening, and in the darkness, a figure stood trembling. It was Colin.
The moment he entered “Nightmare of Darkness,” he was struck by a near-fatal, high-dimensional assault that suppressed even the light within him. Yet perhaps due to some stroke of “luck,” all his defensive measures failed instantly, but he did not die; he survived by sheer chance.
Colin continually tried to ignite the light within him, as if tightening his body to resist the bone-chilling cold outside, drawing strength to counter the oppressive darkness. Fortunately, the devastating initial blow did not repeat, either due to timing or some unseen restriction. Struggling against the pressure, Colin’s mind slowly regained its clarity. He had no sense of time; it felt both like an instant and an eternity.
Clearly, Colin was in dire straits. The immense pressure bent his body, preventing him from standing upright, and his head seemed forcibly pinned, unable to lift. Every so often, popping sounds echoed—his blood vessels rupturing under pressure. Blood spurted from various parts of his body, some staining his clothes, others vanishing into the dark surroundings.
The pressure intensified; his bones began to crack under the force, bending his back even more. The rapid blood loss sapped his strength, and the dark, squirming tendrils seemed to whisper strange words, telling him that if he would just kneel and chant the name of some higher being, seeking forgiveness, he would be spared.
To hell with forgiveness!
A recovery card was consumed, temporarily restoring Colin’s body, allowing him to straighten slightly before the suppression resumed. He kept consuming his recovery cards—one after another—to fight back the crushing force, each one giving him just a bit more time to stand taller and lift his head.
But as he spent his last recovery card, only his head remained still. Just one more lift would unleash explosive power and sever the connection between darkness and reality. Yet, at that critical moment, Colin felt a sharp presence behind him—an even deeper darkness descending from above.
Within that darkness lurked an unimaginably vast will, causing a paralyzing dread. The terrifying entity had found a way to exert more influence over this world, sending tendrils of its power creeping in. Slimy, shapeless appendages wrapped around Colin’s body, tightening around his neck. He felt the cold, slick movement against his skin, his limbs bound as if trapped in a quagmire. The suffocating sensation soon turned to pain; his body squeezed, blood sprayed, bones shattered, and his form twisted grotesquely as if crushed by a giant hand.