John inhaled deeply, the thin film of yellow essence with black and blue streaks that formed a semi-transparent membrane over his mouth, nose and eyes blocking the pale yellow-orange sand from entering. At the same time, his grip tightened around the hilt of his sword as the faint hope that the light aircraft was only passing by fell like a setting sun. Each time the hum of its engines grew or dimmed, seemingly circling the area, he became more confident that there was only one reasonable explanation. That they were there for him.

"Why is nothing ever easy in my life?"

Resisting the urge to scratch the multiple itches sprouting across his body, even though the coarse sand faintly felt as if it were corroding his skin, John continued to suppress his vital signs.

"Tier one planet, my ass. That aircraft is in the low to the mid-tier tech range at worst, and I doubt they are the void suppression forces. If they were going to break the embargo, they'ed pick something more modern. That thing must be older than my great grandfather." John mentally cursed as he thought about who the aircraft could belong to and why there might be after him. "Bounty hunters? Rebels who want to use my background or what I know? Wasteland scavengers after an easy meal?"

The din of the aircraft's engines once again rose, snapping John from his thoughts as the sand started to vibrate violently. After a couple of seconds, the sand began to settle as the sound faded. "Good news is that it appears they don't know my exact position or they are waiting for me to come out. The bad news is I'm almost sure they know I'm here."

After what felt like hours, but had only been a few minutes, John released the breath he had been holding, allowing his muscles to unwind slowly. Even though his training and instincts screamed at him to maintain his vigilance, his exhaustion made it almost impossible. As he reluctantly relaxed, the adrenaline spike from his brief meeting with Akarhia gone, his eyes started to feel incredibly heavy.

"Fuck it. What will be, will be. No point worrying about the who or why. If they are enemies, I'll bury them he-"

The corners of John's lips twitched as he thought about how he was the one currently buried. At the same time, the mental and physical fatigue that had built up over the last few days continued to spread across his mind and body, making his thoughts more vague and hazy with each passing breath. After a brief mental debate, John decided there was no point in keeping his eyes open as the only thing he could see was sand. He knew it was a bad idea, like closing one eye when trying not to fall asleep, but at the same time, the temptation was irresistible. Johns thoughts started to drift further from his situation.

After another five minutes, John internally sighed as he thought back over the last four years. He found it somewhat funny, in a twisted sort of way, how far one decision had spiralled. It started off by allowing a young girl, even if she was a goddess, to escape a lifetime of imprisonment just because of what she was. After that, things had gone from bad to worse. In the last week, he had come face to face with three of the most notorious creatures in the five dimensions, traversed what is considered one of the most dangerous zones, and was now buried under a strange relic at the heart of the Voidlands as he hid from an unknown enemy.

"Still, its been eye-opening. I wonder... just what is the truth behind this place? Nothing seems to add up."

As he recalled his meeting with Akarhia, and how he had pretty much broken every know fact about the Voidlords with the limited interactions, John realised that he was becoming numb to the supprises that life seemed to love throwing in his direction. At the same time, the dull ache in his muscles and bones made him feel as if he weighed a couple of tonnes.

"I'm tired."

The single thought flashed past John's mind's eye as the sand around him began to shift again. While the idea seemed innocent at first, the concept quickly started to erode his motivation and willpower.

"I wonder... if this all that's left to my life? To struggle onwards, fighting a never-ending avalanche of shit, until I can't persist any more. To die in this wasteland, with no one knowing my fate? I could have even literally dug my own grave."

John wanted to sigh. "I finally understand the words of all those locked in solitude awaiting execution. If I could change one thing, it wouldn't be saving my life, but having someone."

"Even if I survive this shit. I'm alone. My family probably thinks I'm dead already. And, even if I can return. How long will it take? Will they even remember me? My kids will have already grown up and had their own families."

Once again, the movement of the sand intensified as the noise of the aircraft's engines blotted out all other sounds, helping John reign back his spirling depressive thoughts. After nearly shaking his head, John mentally scolded himself as he focused on what he had left to do.

"What a fucking wimp. Man, the Fuck up. Dig deep and keep moving forward. If I fall here, they win. As long as I'm alive, anything is possible."

While John wasn't entirely clear who 'they' were, his sleep-deprived mind glazing over the inconsistencies in his thoughts, he felt better as he started to circulate a small amount of essence around his body to prepare for the worst-case scenario. However, just as he thought that the aircraft would never leave and he would eventually be forced to the surface through starvation or thirst, the ground shook with several loud thuds moments before the whine of the engines increased and seemingly shot off into the distance.

The essence in John's body stilled, along with his breathing as he strained to listen to what was going on above ground. The noise of the aircraft quickly faded, turning into an uncomfortable silence. Yet, just as he was about to move, John stiffened. Even though it was barely audible, he was barely able to pick up on small scuttling sounds, similar to spikes of metal digging in and out of the sand, nearby.

At first, he feared that someone was trying to dig quietly until he realised that it sounded more like multiple things crawling around on the sand's surface. However, instead of reassuring John, the unknown source became more and more terrifying as the occasional metallic clang all but confirmed his worst fear.

"Oh, fuck me sideways. Its drones, isn't it?" John ground his teeth, trying to find some dark humour to alleviate the gnawing pit rapidly developing in his stomach. "I must have done something terrible in a past life to have luck this shitty. Like blow up an orphanage or start a continental collapse on a populated planet or... drown a box of kittens."

John sniggered, wincing the moment realise the air escaping his nostrils had stirred a tiny amount of sand before his face.

"... I've really got rusty over these last four years." John stopped himself just as he was about to move his arms into a more defendable position. "The only good thing about this is that if they are anywhere near as old as the aircraft, they should be pretty crummy. I think the best was around Gem Rank 1 back in the day."

As John tried to imagen what type of drones were wandering nearby, deciding that it had to either be a swarm type based off insects or a couple of large, multi-legged variety, he tried to rest his body as much as possible. However, with each passing minute, his body began to subconsciously tense every time the scraping sounds got closer.

Just as John was considering whether he should reveal himself and try to escape on his terms, a massive explosion erupted in the distance.

"Great. What now?"

As the vibrations caused by the explosion died down, John was able to hear multiple scraping sounds hurridly moving in the direction of the blast. However, seconds later, the smile froze on his face. "Wait... I'm in the middle of a desert. There's nothing here that could cause an explosion?"

John frowned for a moment before his expression brightened. "Other than that aircraft. I wonder... Could Akarhia have created a diversion or taken it out for me? It would be like swatting a fly for a creature as powerful as her. She probably wouldn't even break a sweat."

Just as he was about to move, John froze again. "No. It's unlikely as she could have just taken care of it when it showed up. It felt like she wanted not to be discovered. If so, this is probably a trap they set to make me think they are distracted."

John's half-smile turned upside down as he continued to think.

"They could have just dropped a bomb and pretended to leave, so I reveal myself. I can't use any essence to sense my surroundings, not that I would be able to pick up drones if they have stealth, or even the oldest equipment will pick up my signature."

John quickly thought about his environment and what he could do, making him more and more disgruntled. "Fuck sake, why does this damn place have to be a lifeless wasteland. I bet if I took a piss, it would flag up like a solar flare on any scanners. I'm up shit creek without a boat, let alone a paddle."

"Damn it. What do I do?" As John continued to struggle with his options, the exhaustion he felt slowly overpowered him, and he subconsciously drifted to sleep.

A long time later, shivering slightly due to the cold sand, John slowly opened his eyes. After momentary panicking, until he remembered where he was, John cleared what little sand was left covering him after sending most of it flying after flailing around before using essence to remove the remaining grains that he couldn't blink out of his eye.

After nervously looking around, doing a full circuit of the fallen pillar, John looked up at the cloudy, night sky. The various colours of the nearby planets appeared like another world beyond the clouds. Something heavenly and divine. Without knowing why John felt more grounded and focused.

Looking around again, he sighed noisily. "Well... I'm not going to jinx it."

After carefully checking his surroundings for another few minutes, often stopping to listen, John jumped onto the column. After scanning as far as he could see and manipulate the dark essence surrounding him, John sighed and dropped down.

"Still not going to say it."

Examining the ground, John quickly found the most significant cluster of tracks and knelt beside them while brushing the remaining sand off him. As he did, he briefly noticed that he was bleeding in a few places where his skin was thinnest.

"Strange... but what isn't in this place." John chuckled, without any mirth lacing his voice, before finally forcing himself to look at the sand-covered in pockmarks in detail. While they looked messy at a glance, a triangular pattern could easily be seen for each imprint. Slowly looking up, John's eyes traced the markings as they converged in the direction that he believed the explosion had come from.

Taking a deep breath, John felt his left eye slightly twitching. "Oh, come on. I didn't say anything that could have jinxed it."

"Talk about bad luck. It's not even one of the two things I feared but a combo."

Sighing, John continued to examine the trails. "Definitely Drones and they have eight legs. If my bad luck holds, it's bound to be an animal-based type, probably an arachnid. Would kind of make sense for the tech bracket and because of the environment. The only question is are they ambush or predatory orientated and if they are based off spiders or scorpions."

His eyes continued to roam around the seemingly messy ground as he traced out paths with his finger. "Vertical and relatively close together for the weight, front heavy and seems to have two limbs. So anti melee, more than likely built for speed and hit and run. Absolutly~ bloody~ Fantastic~. Least they should only have weak short to medium range and weak power supplies."

After he had got all the information he could, John groaned as he covered his face with his left hand. Even though he felt the essence flowing through his body much more comfortable than earlier, he still felt exhausted and could also tell that his body had started eating itself as his fat reserves dwindled. However, he didn't let himself focus on the negative and once again tried to brighten his plummeting mood. "Gotta look on the bright side. If it wasn't for the almost certain death, this still beats boot camp."

In the distance to his right, a flash of light occurred, drawing his attention and nearly causing him to lose his footing from how violently he flinched. Several seconds later, the crack of thunder broke the unnatural quietness. "It never rains but pours."

"Better get a move on before something else goes wrong," John revealed a weak smile.

After standing up, John orientated himself towards the pressure the crystal in his cheek was pressing. After making sure nothing was nearby, he started to slowly jog in its direction while continually scanning his surroundings and trying to reverse jinx himself. "Come on you bastards, ambush me. I dare you."

After a couple of minutes, John noticed that the obelisks were gradually becoming grander and more ornate. The runes carved into them were also more complicated and glowing with various energies. The largest, curved at the tip in the direction he was heading, would cause his skin to painfully prickle at around three meters.

They were also better preserved than what he had seen before. While this interested John, wondering if they were built at different times or it was just they started falling from the outside, he pushed it from his thoughts as he weaved between them while trying to ensure his senses wouldn't be affected too much.

Half an hour later, John was taking a short break as he looked back at the trail he was leaving. "Damn it, I leave it as it is, they can follow, I clean it, if they have even the most basic scanner, they can follow the essence trail, and my pace will slow to a crawl."

Sighing, John stood up from his crouch and started jogging again. "Damned if I do, damned if I don't. I'd rather save the energy and get some distance then waste it and run out if they catch up. I can just hope they give up or don't return to the pillar."

Slowly, an orange hue appeared on the horizon. However, it didn't last long as the world around him became almost grey as it gradually passed above the clouds.

As the morning progressed, every now and then a flash of lightning or thunder would erupt in the distance. At the same time, John could almost smell the humidity in the air, and his craving for water reached an all-time high.

However, even though there was a storm approaching and John could see the clouds moving high above, for some reason, there wasn't any breeze around him. The airflow was so still that he almost felt as if he were suffocating.

It was around four hours after the second sun rose that John realised it wasn't just the clouds making everything seem grey. Colour and sound seemed to be bleeding away from the world with every step he took.

After realising this, when John found the next fallen pillar that was safe to approach, he slapped it with full force only to confirm that the noise generated was nowhere near what it should be. What should have been a bang was a weak thud.

Looking around cautiously, the hairs on the back of John's neck started to stand on end before he picked up his pace. With sound being muted and the world becoming shades of grey, he realised that the forest of obelisks made it incredibly difficult to spot anything out of place. It seemed the perfect place to stalk and launch surprise attacks with minimal effort.

As he ran, his mind tried to make sense of what was going on until a strange thought came to mind. On one of his frequent breaks, lasting no more than a couple of minutes, he relieved his bowls only to discover he couldn't smell anything. This was further proven when he sniffed his armpit, drenched in sweat from his relentless pace.

"What the hell is this place?" John slowly turned around in a circle, looking at his surroundings that were becoming more and more like a graveyard. "It's like the traps and arrays we made for those Gods or divine beasts with superior senses. But far more complicated."

"These columns mess with sight, sound, smell and essence. Even if they collapse or are turned off if something was trapped here for too long or got used to it, the sudden change would probably act like a concussion grenade to the senses."

Hesitating for a moment, John wiped his pit with his finger and then licked it. After revealing a disgusting expression for what he had just done, he frowned. "What the hell, even taste. It's like they didn't know what would work, so they just did everything."

As John was pondering his discovery, a movement between two pillars to his right drew his attention. After staring in its direction for a couple of minutes, almost beliving it had been his imagination, he spotted more movement to each side.

"Balls." Without waiting to confirm what he had spotted, John broke into a sprint. "Whatever it is, there is more than one of them. I'd bet my right hand its the drones."

As he ran, John gripped the handle of the essence blade tightly, continually grumbling about how useless such a short sword would be against even the oldest and inefficient of drones.

As if his discovery and attempt to escape were a signal, a light drizzle of rain started to fall. Within minutes what John had found refreshing had turned into a downpour that left him soaked if slightly relieved due to being able to actually get enough to drink as he ran.

Having quenched his thirst, to the point of feeling sick, John continued to run while feeling that something was wrong. However, he couldn't put his finger on it. It wasn't until a couple of hours had passed that he realised what was nagging at the back of his mind.

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The natural essence in his surroundings, which was already low, was thinning at an alarming rate.

With each breath he took, matching the circulation from his core, John was able to capture and refine less and less essence. It soon reached the point he was worried that he would start bleeding refined essence back out into the world.

At the same time, the unsettling thought that he had back in the town when he was hiding resurfaced. "Well, the jury is in. This place is, without a doubt, a prison. And one built a long time ago. But... am I meeting an inmate or-"

John's thoughts scattered as he heard a faint pop, barely audible above the rain, and threw himself to the side. Moments later, a dark red streak flew past him and exploded after hitting a nearby pillar. The sound from the explosion was quiet, and the colours were dull, making it seem odd and strangely less threatening. However, the scorch marks left behind and the blastwave that reached John quickly cased a cold sweat run down his back.

"...And of course, they have essence cannons."

John regained his footing and was quickly weaving between the columns trying to block the line of sight between him and the drones. As he did, a few more pops, followed by red streaks trailed by what looked like steam, passed before exploding harmlessly around him. For a brief moment, he wondered why the rain was so loud, but everything else was almost silenced. However, the thought flew from his mind as he realised something more important."

"And... they don't want me alive."

Every time he heard a pop, it would be shortly followed by an unimpressive sounding explosion. However, a small smile soon appeared on his face as he realised he was creating distance between them.

"That... or the sounds are being muted quicker the closer we get." The smile froze, but only for a moment as John decided that it was pointless to worry.

The rain took a brief pause, only to turn from a downpour into what felt like a waterfall a few minutes later. This drastically reduced John's visibility, and as the cluster of obelisks grew, he had to cut his speed to safely navigate between them.

After pausing for a couple of seconds too long, trying to work out if he should go left or right around a pillar that he couldn't even see the top of, John found himself flung into it by an explosion that landed too close.

As he hit the pillar, he felt the essence in his body become chaotic as his vision instantly narrowed to a pinprick as he fought to remain conscious. His insides seemed to squirm, and he vomited the stomach acid that no longer seemed content to stay in his body as he rebounded off the side of the obelisk. As he slammed into the floor, the momentum causing him to half bounce, half rolled out of its range and quickly regained his senses along with the agonising pain from his left arm.

Without checking the damage, feeling his arm hanging listlessly at his side, John pushed himself up and started running. After a couple of minutes without receiving any incoming fire, he took a glance at his arm. Even though the sheet-like rain, he could see a dark grey-purple bruise as well as a very swollen bump.

"Fuck, broken. Just my-" John's thoughts seemed to spasm in his mind as he continued to block the pain receptors with essence, realising he was clutching his left arm with his right hand. "The sword..."

John's mind rapidly went over the implications of losing his only physical weapon, yet his feet didn't slow in the slightest. "Crap, the world essence is too poor to support any spell over the first grade, and I suck at combat magic even with my affinity. Fuck, I can only do body enhancements or maybe alter the environment a little bit with the basics. Even then, they are going to suck."

As the rain continued to increase, which was joined by the setting of the second sun, flickers of lightning crisscrossed the sky as thunder made it feel as if the world was going to end.

Looking over his shoulder as he paused to catch his breath, John realised that he had been running for an entire day. However, during the few glimpses he had of them, he noticed that the pursuing drones seemed to be as hindered by the obelisks as he was.

"Looks like this place doesn't just fuck with biological senses. It hates everyone equally." Panting for breath, John couldn't resist dropping to one knee as his eyes scanning his surroundings like a trapped animal. As he did, he felt as if he could almost feel the touch of death drawing closer. "I swear, if I survived meeting the Void Lords only to die to some shitty half-rusted drones, I would not be amused."

Just as he was about to stand up and continue, a metal blur erupted from a bump in the sand nearby. Before he could even work out what it was, John was forced to roll to the side as a tail-like stinger slammed into where he had been kneeling moments before.

Without conscious thought, John pushed his right hand out, extracting the light and fire elements and rapidly cooling the water around the joints of what he now realised to be a meter long metal scorpion. As the automaton pulled the blade-like stinger from the sand, ice formed inside and around the joints, slowing it down. However, the ice only lasted a second or two before shattering. It was only John's continued efforts that bought him enough time to dodge the claw and two spear-like legs thrown in his direction.

Clenching his right hand, something that had become a habit from when he had to concentrate and visualise his control of external essence, John forcefully shattered the ice causing a mini-explosion as he condensed the shadows around him to push him up and away.

Before the drone could regain its balance, John had already fled as he cloaked himself in darkness while lowing his body temperature. However, even as he tried to offset whatever tracking he could think of, his mind kept replaying the small logo that he had just spotted above where the eyes would have been on the drones biological counterpart. A white fist on a red triangular background. "Regent Corps? Why are they here? Out of everyone who wants to kill me, they should be pretty low on the list."

Questions bombarded John's mind, wondering why the Regent Corporation would send such an out of date model to kill him, or leaving the logo on, yet he knew that it didn't really matter. All that mattered was to keep running. As long as he could outlast the drones power supply, and get enough distance, he would live another day.

However, as the weather continued to worsen, John's speed plummeted. Because of the interference from the columns, he couldn't use his abilities to navigate through the stone jungle. If it wasn't for the occasional bolt of lightning or the eerie, nauseating feeling the working pillars gave him when he got too close, John was almost sure he wouldn't have been able to get as far as he had.

Just as he was considering stopping to tend his arm, the numbing effect of using his core quickly becoming unsustainable due to the lack of natural essence, a flash of lightning reflecting off the metal caprice of a scorpion out of the corner of his eye. It was mid lunge, seemingly having approached him at high speed from his right.

Without conscious thought, John's reflexes kicked in as he flinched, taking him out of the path of the vice-like pincer. However, one of the legs managed to graze his chest as the drone flew past.

Staggering backwards, John watched his jumpsuit become a darker, slightly greyer orange. Hearing a faint knock, as if someone had tapped a desk, John turned around as he used the dwindling mana in his body to constrict the blood vessels and stem the bleeding.

As he did, he almost expected to be killed by the follow-up strikes only to be shocked by what he saw. The drone he had dodged looked like it was having a fit as it tried to drag itself away from the pillar it had crashed into.

"I knew it, the pillars really are messing with them as much as me. That's why they haven't caught me yet. They probably lack that creepy sensation that lets me know when I'm too close and have to use trial and error." Ignoring the burning pain of his chest and left arm, which seemed to throb with every breath he took, John forced himself to turn and continue running. The faint spark of hope that had almost died roared to life as he realised that while it seemed to be getting worse and worse for him, the environment was actually levelling the playing field and giving him a chance.

However, his new wound and the drain it caused on his core weakened John significantly. He was beyond exhausted and knew he was running on fumes. The only thing that kept him going was that the occasional ranged attack had stopped after even he was forced to backtrack to find his way through.

"I can do this. I just need to keep ahead and find a safe spot I can fix myself up and pass out. I just need to outlive this storm."

As he moved, John started to focus on small, seemingly insignificant goals, only to change them the moment the conditions were met. The instant the downpour stopped, he set his next. "Just let me see another dawn."

An hour later, as the clouds started to part and the first sun crested the horizon once again, John slowly came to a stop, supporting his right arm, as he stared at the pitch-black circle, surrounded by blue runes, floating like a black sun a mile or so ahead of him.

He had been so focused on where he was placing his feet and navigating the obelisks that he had completely missed it until a strange, somewhat terrifying sensation caused him to look up.

While he didn't know what it was, having never seen something as ominous as the black hole or as complex as the glowing blue runes that seemed to contain it, John swallowed hard as he forced himself to carry on. However, before he did, he double-checked the direction the crystal was pulling towards and cursed his luck that it was the same.

Every now and then, he would glance upwards at the black sphere. While he was no stranger to darkness, both its nature and energy, his gut told him that the black circle had nothing to do with the natural energy. Instead of being a colour, or lack of, it felt as if he were staring into a bottomless void. He wasn't entirely sure, but the longer he stared into the darkness, the more thought it was trying to swallow him and everything that existed.

Shivers run across his body as the feeling that something was terribly, terribly wrong with what was before him he grew at an alarming rate. However, there was also a strange sense of longing, one that was almost drowned out by everything else, that seemed to be urging him forward.

Thick, semi congealed blood began to flow down from the wound on his shoulder as the refined essence in his body started to run out, dragging his eyes away from the black sphere. When he saw the wound, John felt his chest tighten. While the strange dullness of the world made it look less gruesome, the fact that he could see bone nearly brought him to his knees.

"That's... going to need more than stitches." John tried to silence the part of his mind that was trying to decide how long he had left to live if he didn't receive treatment soon as he took a deep breath and stumbled forward at a half run, half jog while keeping his eyes on the ground. Unlike the environment earlier, columns being the only obstacle, now twisted metal and lumps of concrete scattered the pale, almost grey sand.

He was so focused on keeping moving that he only realised he was no longer surrounded by stone pillars when the sand gave way to a hard, dark grey surface that looked almost like the roads on some of the middle tier worlds.

Looking up, finding the effort surprisingly difficult, he spotted what appeared to be the ruins of an old military outpost. Without giving it much thought, he assumed that it must have been the centre of whatever he had passed through. "... Am I here? Have I made it?"

Slowly coming to a stop, clutching his arm to his body as if it would fall off if he let go, John stared at the ruins. It was only after a couple of minutes that he was able to override the fear that would envelop him every time he tried to take a step forward.

After a couple of meters, crossing what he thought could have been the perimeter wall, his skin briefly prickled as the tugging from the crystal came to an end. "I... made it. But..."

"Now what?"

Instead of Joy, John felt his stomach lurch as he scanned the ruins before him. He knew how the military built their complexes and the materials they used, they could survive hundreds of years with minimal maintenance. However, the place before him looked like nature was a few storms away from wiping it from the face of the planet. If it wasn't for the occasional ruined tower or bunker marring the skyline, he felt it would just be a field of rubble.

"This is it?" Unlike his weak, half rambled statement earlier, his voice was now laced with venom and depression in equal measures. "What the fuck is meant to live here? A ghost?"

The hope he had and joy felt for reaching his destination, vanished as if it were never there. Even though his rational mind thought it was foolish, he almost believed that when he reached the end of his journey, he would find a saviour or at least a way out.

Feeling a slight tremor from the hard ground, John slowly turned around. Half hoping that it was whoever he was supposed to meet and not what he feared. Once again, the reactions developed over his career saved his life as he barely dodged the barrage of streaks that were now various shades of grey.

While he could still scarcely hear the knock-like explosions, John realised he could no longer hear the sounds when they were fired. Not only that but even though he had managed to dodge most of them, one fell short and landed just in front of him. The explosion that looked surreal ripped him from his feet and sent him flying further into the compound.

After crashing heavily onto the ground, the pain almost causing him to faint, John shook his head as he fought against the urge to remain on the ground and give up. After bitting his lip, he managed to stagger to his feet before stumbling into the outpost. While he had almost given up all hope of survival, he still didn't want to die.

After glancing over his shoulder, it seemed the drones were extremely hesitant about following him. However, as he ducked behind a ruined bunker, that changed as the chase resumed. As he fled, thuds would occasionally erupt around him as debris flew in all directions in a surreal display due to the lack of colour and sound.

After a couple of minutes of weaving between the few structures that offered any cover, a slightly louder than usual thud accompanied a force that caused his body to quake slammed into John and flung into a nearby wall.

"This is it."

John groggily pushed himself up and into a sitting position, with his back against the half-collapsed wall. Small thuds, which he presumed to be the remains of the volley previously fired at him, petered out as a sad smile slowly appeared on face.

"Fucking hell... I always joked that I didn't want to go out with a bang, but this is pathetic."

The faces of his children, his ex-wife and the goddess he saved flickered across his mind's eye before vanishing. John wasn't sure if he was looking for a flashback, or that was it, and he somehow missed the epiphany that it was meant to invoke, but he found he didn't really care.

As his body became increasingly numb, he found himself staring at a dull, grey world. Four scorpion-like droids were crawling over the rubble steadily towards him, dots of grey energy, which he knew should be red, gathering at the tip of their stingers.

"Fuck it," John spat out the crystal, that felt incredibly hot and irritating as it vibrated and burnt his mouth. Just as he was about to roar in defiance and charge the drones, he suddenly noticed that the world wasn't completely grey.

In the corner of his vision, he spotted the top half of a pitch-black head. It was no bigger than a four-year-old child's, sticking above what could have been a wall, so the short smoke-like hair and glowing blue eyes could be seen. The vertical pupils of the eyes looked similar to those of a cat, seemingly watching him intently as blue lightning, far more vivid than he had seen the night before, flickered around them.

If it wasn't for how bright the eyes were, or that the pitch-black was stood out in the grey world, John felt he wouldn't have spotted the strange sight. "If this formation is meant to dull and hinder the senses, it's also designed to make whatever that is stand out like a sore thumb."

[Curiosity, Confusion, Fear]

Similar to how he sensed the Void Lord's, John sensed emotions that were not his own. As he slightly turned his head in the creature's direction, the gathering energy of the essence blasters almost forgotten, the head seemed to move down a little as if it was trying to hide while keeping high enough so it could still watch him. At the same time the pointed elf-like ears, what he initially thought to be horns, flattened in a somewhat comic, almost cute, manner.

John had almost completely forgotten about his situation. The eyes, a more vibrant and vivid glow compared to those that had visited his nightmares after the curse took his father, had sparked long-forgotten memories from when he was a child, and suddenly, the things he had experienced started to make sense.

The most vivid memory fragment was of a time when Eos had told him and his siblings a bedtime story, which also was what she claimed to be the start of her journey to godhood.

It was a story that started with a tragedy. When a young girl came face to face with a monster perfectly suited to nightmares. A creature spawned from the madness of a being chasing immortality and power. A beast that devoured itself as much as those around it.

John licked his lips, the pieces of the puzzle coming together faster and faster as his mind took leaps and slightly warped what he knew to make them fit.

Out of the corner of his eye, John spotted streaks of grey flying towards him. Yet as he had already given up, he didn't care. Closing his eyes, wondering if everything seemed to be taking so long because he was about to die, John uttered the name that he had long forgotten.

"Nyx?"

[Terror, Panic, Resentment, Bitterness, Hopelessness, Frustration]

A barrage of emotions, far more intense than he had experienced with any of the Void Lords seemed to slam into John as the pupils of the creature became vertical slits that seemed demonic in nature. At the same time, what looked like an invisible shockwave erupted, disintegrating the wall and revealing the body of a small child-like creature that seemed far too skinny to be healthy.

However, as his eyes were closed, John just smiled. The change in emotions proved that he was correct. He felt a small surge of happiness that he was able to answer one question before he died, even if it was pointless.

The speed of the blastwave, and the sudden destruction of anything it touched, made the approaching bolts of energy seem to stall mid-air before being forced away. Just when it looked like John was about to meet a similar fate, the edge of the blast wave touched the side of the yellow crystal he had spat out.

Instead of the nothingness or sharp pain he expected, John's body was flooded with warm, nurturing energy flooded into his body, easing his pain but not healing his wounds. Opening his eyes, not knowing how close he had come to death, John was forced to squint as a blinding golden light filled his vision.

[Pain, Confusion, Fear, Despair]

The foreign emotions were nothing more than a faint sensation at the back of his mind as John blinked a couple of times before looking around.

"You have done well, John." Eos' voice came from everywhere at the same time, sounding vast and ancient. "Unfortunately, it seems Nyx's temperament hasn't improved, but I expected as much."

[Agonising Pain, Confusion, Hatred, Anger]

The golden hue faded, to reveal a gigantic illusionary form of Eos, wearing ancient-looking battle armour as golden flames fluttered off her silhouette and the six angelic wings behind her. John had seen this scene many times before, every time Eos needed to give an impression of strength and power, so his gaze quickly moved to the semi-transparent, golden bubble that seemed to be the size of a small colosseum he found himself in.

Streaks of light passed by the sides, whereas the planets and suns they directly passed by would grow before shrinking behind them as the bubble seemingly shot through space. "Realm Travel. This is a God Tier spell."

"I know you both must be confused. While this is nothing more than a recording, I believe I have taken most scenarios into account so you will get your answers. John, allow me to introduce you to the Daughter of Night and Ice. Goddess of the Void. One of the oldest beings in existence. The source of the curse that has affected your bloodline for over a hundred and fifty generations. The first known creature of the void and... your ancestor, Nyx."

John frowned, each time his mind went over what he had just heard feeling both less, and more confused.

"Nyx, Sorry for restraining you but I need you to listen first and maul later. This is John. He is your blood descendant as well as my great-grandchild. He is both biologically, and spiritually linked to you."

[Pain, Confusion, Bloodthirst]

"Now introductions are over, let's get to the point." Eos' voice made the air vibrate. "It's been a long time, and I'm sorry that this is merely a recording. I can't risk exposing that you are once again free. Its-"

John started to turn his head, trying to see the creature that the illusionary figure of Eos was talking at, when shriek, full of pain, misery and seemingly bottomless rage, caused his mind to go blank.

As the shriek faded and John regained his wits, an explosion of dark and ice essence turned the dome into a condensed black blizzard seemingly desiring the destruction of all life. Recognising how violently the energies were colliding with the multiple golden barriers that suddenly covered his body, John swallowed hard and tried to roll further away from the centre of the tempest.

[Despair]

["Why?"]

[Hatred]

["Leave me alone. I don't deserve this. Not anymore. I've suffered enough."]

[Anguish]

["Why can't you leave me alone? Why can't I have even a little happiness? Why? I... I hate you all."]

[Conviction]

The snowstorm died as if someone had flicked a switch, revealing a tiny black creature. It was the same one that John had spotted earlier. It was pulling its long ears down in a seemingly painful manner as it rocked back and forth with its legs pulled close to its chest. It reminded John of those he had seen that were on the verge of a mental breakdown.

However, John could hardly care about his so-called ancestor's wellbeing as his attention focused on the outer dome. Large black cracks littered its surface and he could see faint golden runes flickering if they were about to go out.

["No! I don't want this."]

"It can't speak common?! Of course not, Gods fall was around seven and a half thousand years ago, and she should have been imprisoned long before then. Eos you fucking old bat, how could you miss something so obvious? You are projecting words, not intent!"

John, realising the series of hisses, snarls and whines as some sort of language, paled the moment saw the golden sphere that was transporting them start to bulge and warp as if it were about to break at any moment.

Returning his gaze to the small creature he now knew to be Nyx, John's complexion paled further as he noticed she had spotted the deformity as well. Slowly, a maniacal, crazed grin, only visible due to the sharp, white teeth behind, spread across her face as John felt he could almost hear the crackle of the flickers in her eyes.

"Fuck~ me."