As it turned out, gravity worked quite differently in Art’s world...because Leonidas could find no other answer to his grand plan failing.

Yes, his descent was slowed tremendously because of the ruby umbrella, but it also veered him off course...straight into a sharp pit of metallic spikes.

Cold winds crashed into his body, dropping his temperature far beyond what was normal. Leonidas was already shivering from the cold water of the abyssal wave, and on top of that, the damned wind. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

But why can’t I hear that horrifying flute?

There was no sound of the melodic flute. Leonidas was so used to hearing it that its absence felt weird, as if an essential part of nature had disappeared.

Did the wave perchance push him out of the Realm of Madness? That would be less than ideal. If Willow survived, she would be heading towards the settlement she had seen, and so would the two siblings.

Did...did they survive?

Shaking his head, Leonidas cleared his thoughts. There was no time to think about others’ survival, especially when his own wasn’t confirmed.

The spiky boulder was approaching at high speed...more accurately, Leonidas was barreling towards it faster than a horse.

The area around the metal death trap was covered in a thick canopy of trees, hiding what lay beneath from his cerulean eyes. It barely took him a second to make a decision.

Let’s jump into the canopy.

Although he didn’t know what lay beneath it—maybe another spike mountain—what he did know was that it wasn’t immediate death, and that was good enough.

Having made up his mind, Leonidas patiently waited for the perfect time, and soon the opportunity arrived. He let go, hands slipping from the thick wood of the onyx stem, and fell face-first.

Leonidas twisted his hips, rotating his body until his legs were aimed downwards instead of up. Of course, that wasn’t the end; his legs would break if he landed like that.

Leonidas curled into a ball, entering the imaginative world simultaneously. Leonidas made a hollow cocoon, a ball of ruby, capable of withstanding massive amounts of pressure.

It would serve as his primary protection. He poured Insenium into the construct and manifested it around himself, all the while falling like a meteor.

The crimson cocoon unfolded from the very air, like colored mist, and wrapped around Leonidas like a protective shroud. It was smooth, from both inside and out, a perfectly round ball of ruby.

Wanting to take no chances, Leonidas used the second ability of his Edict as well, [Free Will]. Invisible tendrils of support bloomed around him, like limbs sprouting from odd places.

They passed through the inner walls of the cocoon and wrapped it from the outside. The primary purpose of [Free Will] was to push something to the very peak.

Free Will: [You possess the power to force things to reach the peak of what they truly are.]

By wrapping the invisible tendrils of enhancement around his defense, he had effectively raised its usefulness by a large magnitude.

The change was not only in the molecular structure of the ruby, but also visible. The color had glazed to a darker red, deeper than the previous bloodied shade.

Leonidas had done his part, and now all he could do was wait patiently for the landing.

Oh gods, I know you’re dead, but save me! I don’t wanna die, I’m not even 18 yet. Hell, I just became 17 two weeks ago.

He was no man of faith, but Leonidas knew enough to know that the Gods weren’t truly dead, at least not in the way mortals like him died.

When a human died, it was the end for them; their soul would leave their body. What happened afterwards, he knew not. But gods...they were beings of immense power, their souls vast and boundless, containing enough energy to flatten the entire planet by just existing.

Leonidas didn’t know what had happened to their souls, but he knew damn well that they had spent their last days with their children...on the surface.

Because if their souls were truly dead...the planet would no longer exist.

The devastation would be beyond words, beyond thought and imagination. It would be as if the entire universe had come undone...the end.

So they weren’t dead. Not entirely. Their souls had simply...gone somewhere else. Somewhere beyond his comprehension, beyond thought and imagination. The Gods had fallen to an unseen adversary, maybe destroyed on an existential level, maybe unmade at the very moment of their birth by something that could reach backwards through time.

There were an infinite number of possibilities, but Leonidas still held faith in the fact that the 27 could hear him—not because he was devout, he wasn’t—but because two of the strongest beings alive had told him so.

His parents.

Too vast, the world is simply too big.

Leonidas felt like his head would explode if he thought any more, and he still would have, if not for the sudden crash.

The cocoon crashed against the jumble of branches with a neck-breaking impact. His body flew like a ragdoll, crashing against every possible angle, the smooth walls of the construct buckling like they were slammed with a hammer.

His head nearly collided with a sharp edge that had formed because of the crumbling structure. Thankfully, he had forced his hand forward.

"Aghh."

A cry of pain escaped his lips, blood covering the crimson spike like a second layer of glistening polish.

On the upside, the spike served as a sort of foothold, allowing him to anchor himself in the violent turbulence.

But that was not the end, the ball kept tumbling down...whatever it was tumbling down. It crashed against every possible surface. Thankfully, no spike had impaled Leonidas yet, but he didn’t know how long that would last.

Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to enter the imaginative world. He failed...miserably. His connection was shattered instantly, before he could even register the black world.

Obviously, he wasn’t so easily deterred. Leonidas tried entering again, his mind focused on the singular task ahead of him, but the fear of being impaled wasn’t so easily diminished.

His connection was shattered again. The shell was only a few seconds away from collapsing inwards...on top of Leonidas.

I gotta focus...I’ll really die this time, by my own hands at that!

Taking a deep breath, Leonidas let everything out. His fears, his desires, his dream, his aspirations. Everything.

Four things make up a person: intelligence, will, memory, and soul.

Take out even one, and a person would start losing their identity; take out two, and they would question their existence; take out three, and the person no longer remains, only an empty husk. Take out the last, and they would cease to exist...the world itself forgetting they ever were.

Leonidas had removed his intelligence. He was losing himself, but losing was necessary to win. Sacrifice was required for results.

His mind was blank...a dark chalkboard ready to be filled. He felt calm, as if he had entered a flow state. Which he had.

Insenium could be used to achieve many things; supplying yourself with oxygen would be one of them. It could also be used to interfere with your mind...at the risk of losing yourself, of course.

The imaginative world lay in front of him, and a creeping sense of abstraction behind.