Shadow of Death (SOD)

Chapter 20

"..."

There were a few moments of silence as the wind rustled as it should have.

Asher’s mind was now in panic mode as he contemplated opening his eyes to take a peek around him.

For some reason, the lack of words or even actions made his stomach churn in dread.

What the hell was going on in this city?

And how hadn’t his father even made any investigation before moving the whole family here?

Surely, something this serious should have spread outside the city, warning anybody from coming to Vespers.

So how were people falling victim, and his family too?

And who was the Unseen Ruler Nuel spoke of?

So many questions ran through his mind, but he had no answers whatsoever.

But the most pressing question was, who the hell was the figure that had saved him?

Unlike Nuel, he couldn’t sense the person’s presence at all.

’Wait. Come to think of it, I have never sensed such a thing before. No human has emitted such a presence for me to sense. So how did I do that with Nuel?’

"Hm. She seems weaker than the normal ’Possessed.’ Did the Shadow just newly acquire the body? Maybe it hasn’t mastered the body properly to use it well in combat. Hm. Crazy."

Asher could hear the strangely feminine voice of his saviour speaking to herself as she looked at the spot Nuel had just been standing earlier.

"That would also explain why it wasn’t as fast as normal ’Possessed.’"

A strange voice was heard replying to the woman.

Why had Asher tagged it as ’strange’?

Well, because it didn’t sound like anything human.

He couldn’t place what sort of voice it was, but it definitely didn’t belong to a human at all.

"Oh. By the way, that kid is dying." The strange voice uttered without any ounce of urgency in its voice.

The woman blinked.

"Oh shoot."

She dashed towards Asher and quickly crouched down in front of him.

"Yikes. That Possessed really did a number on him."

Quickly rubbing a ring on her finger, she pulled out a vial filled with a red liquid.

Slowly and carefully turning Asher onto his back, she uncorked the vial.

"Can you hear me? Kindly open your mouth."

Asher’s eyes were still closed shut. Not just because he was ordered a while ago to do so, but because he had no strength left to leave them open.

He could feel himself drawing closer to sleep with each passing second.

Most especially since the threat was supposedly neutralised.

But he was still able to crack his mouth open, wide enough for the woman to pour a red liquid from the vial into the boy’s mouth.

Asher reflexively swallowed.

"Hm. He doesn’t have any bags under his eyes." The ’Strange’ voice noted.

After pouring more than half the liquid into his mouth, the woman dropped the vial to the side, then stared at the boy’s face.

"Yeah. He is new to Vespers, obviously, then. He and his family just moved in a week ago."

’Wait. How does she know that? Can they tell from the bags under my ey—’

"Which means they all have three weeks left before it begins for them." The ’Strange’ voice replied with the same calmness as before.

The woman thought for a few seconds in silence, then exhaled.

"Unfortunately. There’s nothing we can do to stop it. It will always happen."

Slowly dropping Asher’s head down, she corked her vial closed and sent it back into her ring.

She knelt beside the boy, looking at him from top to bottom.

Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, his injuries were healing.

The missing chunk of flesh from his neck was knitting back.

The crushed fingers were being fixed in place, and so was his cracked spine.

They were all cracking into place while Asher felt a flowing warmth coursing through his body.

The woman looked at him a few times, then sighed.

"We can’t stop it, but I can at least help him prepare as much as possible."

’Wha—?’

"Ohoy~! Asher. Are you awake?" The woman asked.

’How does she know my na—?’

"No need to say anything. Just tap the ground twice if you are listening. I need to tell you as much as possible."

Choosing to push the thoughts on how she knew his identity aside for now, not like he was able to voice out, he tapped the ground twice.

The woman breathed a sigh of relief and began.

"Listen. What you had just encountered is called a ’Possessed.’ Vespers City is dangerous. Incredibly so.

"So here... one can enter this city but can’t leave ever. Within one month of settling into the city, one will be pulled into a Nightmare. It will initially begin with distorted dreams and visions that will seem real. The stronger those dreams get, the closer you are to a Nightmare."

’Nightmare? But I have that normally.’

Asher was currently fighting his hardest against the claws of exhaustion, trying his best to retain as much information as he could.

After all, it was because of this information he was in this condition.

"...Those who fail the Nightmare die. Their souls perish forever, and only their Shadows remain. The stronger the Shadows, the crazier things they can do, like inhabiting a dead body. Those are who we call the ’Possessed.’"

’Like Nuel?’

"Unfortunately, there’s no way you can stop the Nightmare. So you just have to prepare yourself as hard as you could. Also, if you are many in a family, this curse would work randomly.

"For example, it could begin with the eldest in the house going into a Nightmare and dying, then slowly to the youngest. Or begin from the youngest to the eldest.

"It is randomly selected. But a way to know who would be the first is when their distorted visions and dreams grow more persistent and stronger. You are smart. Figure out the rest."

Asher’s heart skipped a beat as exhaustion was beginning to wash over him, but he had one question he wanted to so desperately ask.

His lips cracked apart.

"Ca-How-How to survive?"

The woman looked at him for several moments in tense silence, then shook her head.

"Survival is impossible."

Then she reached forward and grabbed the boy carefully in a princess-like style.

"I will take you home now."

’Wait. You don’t know where I live!’

Asher wanted to desperately call out, but before he could, his consciousness slipped.

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