[Necromancy]

The silhouette of the sperm whale emerges from the waters. On the back of the [Whalelich], I probe the surface of the Ocean.

The sapphire blade emits the little light that guides me. In the background, the air is filled with the roar of the Whirlpool.

Although the dungeon is in a state of almost complete ruin, the Whirlpool still exists. Just like the Ocean.

The pier and the Golden Doors are still being rebuilt, which collapsed during the Irferno Nova.

The dreams of the dead penetrate these waters. Nightmares included. Everything feeds the Corestar and, through the cosmic tree, returns to the rest of the universe.

Yet, at the moment, I only see the darkness and shimmer of coral. The aridity of their blossoming.

Fragments of error emerge like rocks from the waters.

[Whalelich] avoids them so as not to get infected. It is reaching the point where the Whirlpool spills into the Ocean. The current is getting stronger.

Soon, it will be too strong for a low [lv] being like this. I will end up overwhelmed by the torrential rush.

If the [Emperor] is still alive, it will prevent me from being lost in the Ocean. If it has dissolved like my father, then…

My wrists are shaking.

I look at my sharp nails and bury my face in the palms of my hands.

Fear.

Anxiety.

Terror of the void.

If the [Emperor] has disappeared, I too will disappear among these waters.

It's not just about dying. It's the erasure that scares me.

But I have to resist. Overcome these thoughts.

The God of Wisdom needs me. I know that. Consequently, its plan must have already taken this attempt of mine into account.

I will probably fail, but I will not disappear.

If it didn't, it would stop me somehow.

Right.

Right?

…

[Whalelich] doesn't answer me. Not that it usually responds, but I know it might.

In any case, it would be an answer given to me through the simulacrum. Perhaps understanding this, emulating the arrogant character it had in life, it prefers to remain silent.

Ci-cin.

I let myself fall on my back with my arms like a star. I perk up my ears to stay on course towards that increasingly louder noise. Against an increasingly impervious current.

I lift the sapphire blade and watch it shine against the great nothingness.

I could call Ilnerio to keep me company. Since I learned the truth I have been disgusted by these puppets. They worry me.

Yet I can't hate them. I can't help but feel a sort of attachment to them.

I feel like a little girl who can't separate herself from the puppets she loves.

Tears veil my eyes. I blink and sit up.

I don't have to think.

Not to these things, at least.

How many times have I told myself this? How many times have I tried to convince myself?

Yet I can't empty my mind. Time passes, and despite my actions, things get worse.

Sigh.

We are at the final resolution. I can't let myself be discouraged. I have to be optimistic. I know I can do it. I'm here on purpose to do it.

Sometimes, I wish someone like me would take the reins of these problems in my place.

My father no longer exists.

The System is ineffable.

Y couldn't be more different.

Dal-Dazzer has disappeared. And, despite his strength, he is only a fearful mortal.

Fulzo—what nonsense, I think.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Only it remains. The one I can turn to.

The [Leviathan]. The one who devoured the [Devil] to save me.

Now, the [Whalelich] is at the mercy of the current. It sways and splashes reach me. It tilts to one side and the other, it flaps its fin.

I dig my nails into its flesh. I bite with my tail. I have to hold on. It is not time to fall yet.

It won't be until it's inevitable.

But the whirlpool is already here! A torrential waterfall pours down on me.

I am thrown, with such force that it takes my breath away, and a piece of the whale tears off.

I fly underwater and desperately try to swim to the surface. Gasping, reaching and kicking.

Useless. I'm struggling, but the current pushes me deep, swirling.

Disorienting.

It is the moment.

I trust in you, great monstrosity.

Majesty of the abyss.

I beg you.

My head pops out, spat out by a sudden updraft. But as I exit, I am overwhelmed by the waterfall again.

Pushed into the depths, I don't give up and emerge again.

“I beg!”

I breathe in.

I am thrown again and emerge lost on that surface.

“Take me beyond these dark waters!”

Tired and cold, I feel my strength abandoning me.

I'm sinking.

…

After the darkness, the sound of waves follows their crashing between my fingers.

I feel the wet, compact sand. I sit.

Nothingness in front of me.

The Ocean is mixed with the absolute darkness surrounding it. Indeed, the absence of corals makes it indistinguishable from the surrounding darkness.

I'm wet. I can tell I've been spat out on some beach.

Ci-cin, Ci-cin, Ci-cin.

The tails shake off the sand. I run my hands through my knotted, water-soaked hair.

Where am I?

“Open!”

I don't see the grimoire forming. I feel it in my hands, but it's a vague sensation, perhaps false.

I look through it, but I don't see anything. The pages are like air and I begin to doubt their existence.

I have no way of locating myself.

[Will-o'-the-wisp]

[Will-o'-the-wisp]

[Will-o'-the-wisp]

Without valid targets, the will-o'-the-wisps are immediately extinguished and reabsorbed into darkness.

“Damn!”

I let the ethereal grimoire disappear.

My plan failed. The [Emperor] didn't save me and I didn't disappear either.

I just got beached.

I stand up. Instinctively, I look towards the foot toe immersed in the small waves, but I don't notice anything.

Sigh.

The darkness hides many things. Who would have ever thought of a beach in the Ocean? Who knows, maybe there are islands, cities, and entire worlds lost down here.

A home for the [Bakenekro] of the past… oh, father. It would be nice, but I know that can't be true. It wouldn't make sense, not from what I've discovered so far.

All I have to do is go back with [Dungeon path].

“Well awakened, Empress.”

Despite the unnatural distortion, I can recognize the voice that shakes my clothes, shakes the bells, and raises strands of hair.

The [Emperor] calls from the shadow empire.

“Did you bring me here?”

“That's right. I have been waiting for your plea for a long time.”

“I looked for you near the pier but I never found you.”

The silence becomes oppressive.

“That's because I'm rarely on that side of the waters. The corruption of the Devil is immense; the afterlife is now synonymous with condemnation for me. Only here, where the disease cannot progress, in this bubble built with my Guillotine, am I safe.”

“One of my kind, the Yellow Queen, can remove the infection.”

“It's too late for me now.”

A glimmer of corruption allows me to glimpse a maw with eyes on the being's back. I glimpse a moving fin, surrounded by many corrupted arms and then everything stops shining, becoming dark again.

“But I need your help, the universe is at an end. Soon, everything will be just a mistake, while the alternative is the birth of your murderer.”

“Look around you, Empress.”

The strength of those words shakes me. I look around and try to understand, but I only see darkness.

“I don't see anything… sorry…”

“At all. Seeing nothing is the correct answer. Outside of the System, corruption cannot exist. To prevent the infection from developing, I crossed the Ocean's edge. All I did was no-clipping with the Devil's abilities, mixing it with my Guillotine. That's how I brought you over every side of the Underwasteland.”

Ci-cin.

I shake my ears. “What do you mean? You just repeated yourself, but what you say—we're out of the Underwasteland.”

“An intermediate zone. Between transcendence and the Ocean. We are behind reality, but still in its area of influence. We cannot go further; we cannot conceive of true transcendence. This situation is already possible only from the uncontrolled interaction of powers made to remain separate.”

“Hm... I understand these things to a limited extent. Look, let me explain why I looked for you. It's important, you're the only option left.”

The being remains silent and so, taking courage, I begin to speak.

I talk to it about Irferno, Dal-Dazzer, and the elves.

I explain what happened next and about the storm that ends, about Y's actions, and about my death. Of my endless game with the God of Wisdom and the loop.

Its [Time Guillotine] possesses similar power. I tell the story in the hope of being helped. Whatever this place is, if the [Emperor] has managed to isolate it, even with the assimilation of the [Devil]—it can only help me.

But.

[Leviathan] does not speak. As my words cease.

I am silent, saddened by my own story. The silence lasts so long that I think I am alone.

[Dungeon path] does not work here. Only the sound of the waves on the sand reassures me that I am in a place and not in an absolute void.

“It took me a while to come up with an answer, but I can help you.”

I feel something slimy gripping my legs and shoulders, lifting me.

I hold my breath in fear and I am about to fight back—

“Now we'll swim over there again. But my help has a price, a price that you will have to pay me.”

“Which one?”

Ci-cin!

Hope rekindles in me and I feel the excitement rampage through my limbs.

“You have to make me remove the Yellow Queen.”

“What!?”

“With the Time Guillotine, I can prevent her from rewinding time, locking her in an isolated time bubble.”

I tremble. “Like for us now? Like Dal-Dazzer!?”

“That's right.”

“But then can we get her out?”

“I will make sure that won't be possible.”

“But it's unfair! Why!?”

“The price for my help. If you don't like it... now that you've spoken, I can also do it myself.”

I do not understand.

A horrible fate for a creature. She does not deserve it. I try to free myself, but the grip is too strong.

“Y is problematic, but she doesn't deserve this! The important thing is to save the System, the universe, prevent the birth of—”

“I decide for myself what I think is important. The Yellow Queen is not a living being, Empress. Let me act to enable you to save your home from the God of Wisdom. I will have my revenge and we will all be happy.”

“Everyone except Y.”

“Would you rather stay here for eternity, waiting for something disastrous to happen?”

“No… not really.”

I feel needles going under my skin, it lasts an instant. I feel the injection of something.

“Ha! What have you done?”

“I inoculated you with the contract. You will take me to the Yellow Queen so I will prevent the God of Wisdom from being born. Failure to comply with the agreements will activate the inoculation. It will trigger the activation of the Guillotine.”

“I…so—”

“So be ready.”