Eternal Freedom's Ascension-Chapter 132: What... happened?

Kaiser blinked, finding himself in the middle of a seemingly endless sea. He was sinking.

’Swim out, damnit!’

He immediately paddled his arms, his muscles instinctively adjusting to the motion of swimming.

In a few seconds, he surfaced and swam towards the shore. After vomiting the water he had swallowed unconsciously, he lay on the sandy shores, staring blankly at the sky.

’This... is the Northern Region’s sky.’

The artificial sun had turned off its bright light, changing into the form of an artificial moon instead.

’W-wasn’t I just about to enter the ruins?’

He frowned to himself, feeling his body ache with pain and exhaustion. Lowering his eyes slightly, he saw his armor carrying several harrowing marks, as if it had been torn apart repeatedly.

’The... hell?’

He forced himself up despite the pain, feeling his nerves gradually awaken to the pain. The taste of sea water in his mouth added a sense of bitterness to it.

He tried to remember what had happened when he entered the doorway beneath the granite altar but... he couldn’t.

It wasn’t like he couldn’t remember clearly. His memory of that period was entirely blank. It was as if something had torn a portion of his memory, leaving a gaping void in its place.

’Goodness gracious...’

He plopped back to the ground, overwhelmed by a sense of discomfort at his missing memories. Calming his nerves with controlled, rhythmic breathing, he reassessed the situation.

’I entered the ruins... ended up in the middle of a sea, and can’t remember what had happened before that.’

His blue eyes narrowed. ’Surely there must be a clue, right?’

He checked his surroundings, immediately spotting a small book attached to his hand.

’Hm?’

He picked up the book, untying the bands around it. It seemed the binds were what protected it from getting wet.

Holding the book in his hands, he slowly opened it. Surprisingly, the language was what he understood. In fact, anyone could understand the words written within the book.

The first page read:

"I didn’t expect that you would actually come. You’re just as reckless as our master. Naive weakling."

"Well, whatever. If you survive and don’t die from your injuries, you’d probably be able to read this."

"According to Master’s instructions, I have listed the detailed information about basic runic sorcery in this book. If you’re really as talented as Master, then you should be able to grasp them within a year."

"I used a memory sealing rune to block out your memories of whatever transpired in this ruin. I hope that settles your current confusion. Never come back into this specific ruin until you’re a Transcendent—never come back."

"Accept this warning as a gift from me."

The first page stopped there. Kaiser stared at it in a daze, realization dawning upon him.

’So... this was written by father’s servant...?’

He took a shaky breath, his hand trembling as he held the book. Although it wasn’t something personally written by his father, it was still close.

He opened the other pages of the book, seeing a lot of intricately designed runes with detailed explanations beside each one.

Holding the book in his hands, his eyes trembled uncontrollably. He forcefully took deep breaths, slowly regulating his agitated nerves.

As his agitation settled, he saw something glisten and moved in the waters.

’Oh shit.’

Ignoring the pain he was feeling, he rose to his feet, cautiously backing away from the lightless waters. He retreated far away from the shore, climbing onto a tree for concealment and a better view.

While his heart throbbed in his chest, something crawled out of the sea.

It was small, the size of a regular dog. However, Kaiser felt a terrifying pressure emanating from this creature. The pressure was so strong the world seemed to ripple around it.

’Crazy. This must be an Ascended Demon or a Transcendent Beast.’

Despite its little size, he absolutely couldn’t even let it detect him—else his journey in life would end at this moment.

Channeling essence into the armor, he activated its first function. The armor slowly shifted, the folds lining against each other until it became transparent.

Kaiser heaved a sigh, but he knew that was not enough. He took a deep breath, then regulated his breathing until it was barely noticeable. He also made his other body parts go still, leaving only his heart and brain active for blood circulation.

His eyes meanwhile, were locked onto the body of the creature.

It slowly climbed out of the shore, sniffing the ground with its elongated nose. Its claws were unnaturally long, digging into the sand smoothly.

Trailing what seemed to be Kaiser’s scent, it headed straight for the tree. Unflinching, Kaiser watched it approach his hideout.

As soon as it got close, he felt the pressure of the creature first-hand.

It was as if something was grinding space, slowly twisting it and rubbing it against itself. Even the tree swayed slightly, distorted by the creature’s might.

Kaiser pressed his lips tight, stopping the blood that threatened to spill from his mouth.

His brows furrowed, veins popping on his head painfully. It was really a hassle. Hiding from a Transcendent creature while enduring its crushing oppressive might was no trivial thing.

Thankfully, the creature didn’t have a mind like that of the Stormveil Patriarch. Therefore, its oppressive might was rough and raw, like a wind without direction.

After a few minutes of not detecting him, the creature whimpered softly, then returned into the sea. Kaiser relaxed slightly, but didn’t cancel his concealment until he could no longer hold it.

He fell from the tree, knocking his head on the tree branches and crashing face-first into the ground.

"Keuk!"

He spat out the blood he had been holding back into the ground, his body wrecked with pain. This feeling—the feeling of helplessness against something overwhelming. He despised that feeling. He desperately wanted to be free from such unsavory feeling.

"Really... when will I be strong enough to confidently face something like that?"

Surely, if it was Gomez who had encountered that dog-like creature, he would have killed it. He turned around to lay on his back, staring at the artificial moon in the sky.

Slowly, his body—pushed beyond its limits, succumbed to rest.

By the time he opened his eyes again, the artificial moon had transformed into a bright scorching sun.