I Possessed The Worst Character In The Hellish Game

"You have awakened your essence....."

"?!"

Mikael heard Elara’s shocked voice from somewhere behind him as he threw himself sideways, barely avoiding a tentacle that carved a furrow through the gravel where he had been standing.

He rolled as he came up on one knee and opened his mouth.

「Siste!」

A glowing grey magic circle appeared above his throat, freezing the aberrant mid-lunge.

Mikael used the brief moment to glance over his shoulder towards the two princesses.

Alice’s eyes were glowing with sharp golden light.

’She really awakened? And at the age of twelve at that?’

From the game’s lore,

He knew that in this world, Aetheris, people awakened their essence only after their souls were connected to the ’World’s Will’, which typically happens at age fifteen to sixteen.

That was the window when the person’s soul was said to be most receptive and most open to the call of the World’s Will.

But awakening between the ages of fifteen and sixteen wasn’t a hard rule.

In some rare cases, people also awaken at much later stages of their lives.

Headmaster of Astralspire Magic Academy, Nicholas Hughes, was one such example who awakened at age 63 and still managed to become one of the few awakeners in all of Aetheris to reach the Rank of Tier 9 Monarch.

But awakening at the age of twelve, three whole years before the expected age.... that was completely unheard of.

The awakening process itself was still poorly understood.

Scholars had debated for centuries about what triggered the connection between a soul and the World’s Will.

Some argued it was emotional maturity, others believed it was tied to physical development.

There were theories about near-death experiences, about moments of extreme stress forcing the soul to reach out and grasp at power.

But no theory had ever been proven yet.

The connection happened when it happened, and no amount of study or preparation could force it.

When someone awakened, the World’s Will would imprint a basic status screen on them, which displayed their rank and abilities.

Although it wasn’t nearly as advanced as Mikael’s system, which showed him his exact levels and experience progress, and even gave him quests.

But the fundamental function was the same.

Others saw their rank in much broader strokes, such as Tier 1 (Low), Tier 1 (Mid), Tier 1 (High), and so on.

They couldn’t see the precise numbers behind their growth, but they could feel it.

The Siste spell broke, and the aberration regained control of its body.

A tentacle lashed out at Mikael as he threw himself sideways, his boots skidding on the ground.

Before he could regain his footing, another tentacle slipped past him--heading directly toward Elara and Alice.

Elara noticed it just in time as she grabbed Alice and dove to the side, barely clearing the path of the appendage as it slammed into the ground where they’d been standing.

The impact sent up a spray of dirt and stone.

「Siste!」

Mikael’s melodious voice rang out in the clearing again, halting the aberrant’s movements for a few seconds.

"Elara, focus!" Mikael voiced his thoughts in a strained voice. "I know she’s awakened, and you’re worried about her, but this isn’t the time to be stunned by it. You need to send Alice back to the pal--"

"No." Alice said in a firm, determined voice.

Elara looked at her sister in disbelief. "Alice, don’t be stubborn. You need to—"

"No, Big Sis.... No"

Alice’s golden eyes were still glowing, but there was something else in her eyes-- a desperate urgency that made Elara’s protests die in her throat.

"You’re not understanding. We all need to get out of here before it’s too late, like before."

She pointed at the frozen aberrant with her small finger.

"That thing... It’s going to explode. I saw it with my own eyes."

Mikael’s blood ran cold.

"What?!"

"I saw it, I swear I’m not lying, Big sis."

Alice repeated as her words broke out in a panicked rush.

"The big magic circle that Mikael drew on the ground.... the one with the light element.... it failed. It just.... stopped working. And then the tentacles went into its own head, and its stomach started getting bigger and bigger, and then—" Her voice broke. "And then everything went white. There was an explosion. A huge explosion. And you were both... You were both..."

She couldn’t finish the sentence as her face and tears began streaming down her cheeks.

"Your bodies were all burned..... I saw you both dead in the crater. I saw it happen. I wasn’t able to do anything while you.... while you....."

She broke down sobbing, her small body shaking with the force of her grief.

’The light affinity magic spell that I drew on the ground?’

That was exactly what he had been planning to do.

To draw a light-elemental magic circle on the ground with his own blood, which he had seen in the Game, then use his Spellcasting Talent to create a relay switch, and have Elara pour her light-essence into it to activate the trap.

It was a strategy he had been piecing together in the back of his mind.... a desperate gambit that he hadn’t even fully articulated to himself yet.

So how could Alice know what he was planning to do.... unless she....

"Alice, you’re not making any sense." Elara said in the gentle voice of an older sister trying to calm her frightened sister. "You probably just had a nightmare. It’s very common at the time of awak—"

"She had awakened an ability to see in the future." Mikael’s voice slipped out of his mind, cutting Elara’s sentence.

Both sisters turned to look at him-- Elara with wide-eyed shock and Alice with tear-streaked hope.

"That’s what I think." He said. "She possibly saw the future outcome.... a future where we sent Alice back.... where we both died fighting the aberration."

"See the future?" Elara said. "That’s... that’s not possible. There’s only one person in the entire Aetheris who has this ability th—"

"The Oracle of the Dawn, Saintess Cecilia Hall. I’m aware."

In the entire Eclipsed Realms, Saintess Cecilia Hall was the only character who had the Ability to see into the future.

She was a major NPC who appeared in every protagonist’s route, a mysterious figure whose visions shaped the course of the main storyline.

Her power was considered one of the rarest and most coveted abilities in the entire world.... the power to peer through the veil of time and witness events that had not yet come to pass.

And now a twelve-year-old girl who didn’t even exist in the base game had awakened the same power.

’Is she really a major NPC from the DLC.... added for Mikael’s route?’

But there was no time to dwell on the implications.

If Alice’s vision was accurate....

Mikael’s gaze unconsciously fell on the aberration’s bulging stomach as he gulped, dodging another tentacle by a hair’s breadth, but it still grazed him, drawing blood and tearing his flesh.

Then the woman’s stomach was definitely carrying the bomb.... it wasn’t the simple corruption.

If the explosion from the vision was inevitable if they stayed, then his previous plan of sending Alice for reinforcements was useless now.

By the time she returned with help, it would already be too late.

A tentacle slipped past his guard.

He tried to dodge, but his exhausted body was too slow.

The edge of the appendage caught him across the stomach, tearing through fabric and his skin as he felt the warm rush of blood spilling down his abdomen.

He staggered backward, one hand pressed against the wound, and forced himself to keep moving and dodging.

Elara was doing better than he was, even while carrying Alice, but she, too, was accumulating injuries.

Cuts along her arms, a gash on her leg, blood matting her pale blue hair.

Neither of them could keep this up forever.

They needed to think about something quickly.

’Ah! Damn it.’

’For fuck’s sake this was not even the first Arc.’

What was he even supposed to do in a situation like this?

That was when Liren’s voice echoed directly inside his head.

{Mikael. I have an idea}

He ducked under another tentacle, hissing as the movement pulled at the wound on his stomach and didn’t answer immediately.

{What if I act as bait to go to the palace? I can slip through the shadows unnoticed. I can find a high-tier awakener and lead them back here. Draw their attention to the garden.}

"No."

{Mikael, listen to me. I can move faster than you. I don’t have a physical body to tire. I can—}

"I said no."

He said sharply as he felt Liren’s presence flinch inside his core.

{But I can at least try—}

"You’re not going anywhere, Liren."

He dove to the side as another tentacle slammed into the ground.

"The palace is filled with multiple high-tier awakeners. Any one of them could detect you in seconds. There is also King himself.... In public, he’s registered as a mid Tier 8. But the truth is, he’s already close to breaking through to Tier 9. If he sensed you, if he even suspected a Red Spirit was loose in the palace grounds, he would kill you without hesitation."

{Mikael—}

"And even if you got away successfully. I wouldn’t risk your life like that.... You’re important to me."

The words hung in the air between them as Liren fell silent for a moment.

For a long moment, there was only the sound of his own breathing and the distant shrieking of the aberration.

{....You’re important to me, too. That’s why I don’t want you to die.}

".....I know. And we’re not dying today."

He said softly, and he looked at the two princesses.

Elara was still moving and dodging, but her movements were growing sluggish.

Alice was clinging to her back now, her small arms wrapped around her sister’s neck, her golden eyes squeezed shut.

Suddenly, a thought struck his mind.

The King should have been here by now.

He was a Tier 8 Awakener... even if he kept his true strength hidden, there was no way he wouldn’t have felt the distortion of the essence in his own garden the moment that woman transformed.

But he hadn’t.

That meant something was interfering.... some kind of essence jammer, maybe a barrier array, smothering every ripple of essence so no one outside could sense what was happening inside these hedges.

If that were true, expecting outside help would have been useless then.

He had made his decision.

"Liren.... We’re running away with Alice... leaving Elara behind"

*****

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