Chapter 212 Two Sides Of The Same Coin [1]

-(Present || Location: Floor 13)-

'It's cold.'

Two 'corpses' were lying on the far corner of Floor 13. Susan's injury had healed with the hole in her abdomen closing while Nathan's eyes were empty.

'I'm…cold….'

Hundreds, if not thousands, of rifts spread throughout the floor. The fabric of space was being torn apart, pulling everything into itself.

'I'm cold.'

Suddenly, one of the two corpses twitched.

Ba-dump-!

Ba-dump-!

Nathan's red eyes returned the moment his heart started beating again. However, they had lost their luster.

'Something….warm…'

With eyes devoid of intelligence his figure curled, pulling his knees into his chest.

'Isn't there….anything….warm'

Broken thoughts swept through his mind. While he was unable to understand even his own thoughts, a voice came from the depth of his soul.

(Use your art)

He agreed without hesitation.

[Enchantment: Fire]

A warm sensation overlapped his left arm and slowly covered his entire figure. His pale skin turned slightly pinkish, and a bit of intelligence returned to him.

"E…th…?"

A feeble voice asked. Barely able to form thoughts, he was having a hard time comprehending the situation, let alone talking.

(Haah… Looks like you'll be okay)

A relieved voice filled with slight sadness continued.

(The entire Floor 13 is breaking. You need to escape to Floor 14 as soon as possible. But take [Fragment of Eternity] with you, it is possible that Abomination is on Floor 14 and hasn't yet reached Floor 15)

Slowly, vigor returned to Nathan's eyes.

(Don't do too many crazy things and look out for yourself. You are first to jump headfirst into problems although you complain otherwise)

(Don't think too much of the future and focus on yourself too, there is no need to carry all the burden alone.)

(Look out after our family and don't go fighting against them. Say goodbye to Isabell, Sis, Mom, and Dad from my side.)

Regaining a bit of clarity, Nathan put what little strength he had into his limbs and tried to stand.

(And! And! Don't try to keep everyone away, no matter what others say, this is the world you now live in. You belong here. There is no need to keep blaming yourself for your past and don't let yourself be put down.)

"W..hat are y…ou …trying to s-ay?"

For Nathan, he had to put in conscious efforts to even breathe. He was focusing on making his heart beat, his blood flow, he was barely able to leave enough mind to understand Eth.

(Take care)

Thud-

His limbs gave out and he lost consciousness.

An unknown amount of time passed. Nathan, who had regained consciousness, was lying on the ground lifeless, however, this time his heart was beating, his pulse was moving, he was alive.

"Ag..hh"

Groaning, Nathan opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings. Rifts and destruction, that was all he saw.

His body felt heavy and his thoughts were muddled, but, recalling what transpired before everything went dark, he pulled himself toward Susan.

'Eth'

No response came. Nathan repeated his name. He called him again and again. However, in the end, Eth never answered.

'Resonance'

Recalling the last time he lost contact with Eth, Nathan concluded. They were in Resonance.

'The Abomination pulled….a…. a rainbow-colored flame from me. Rainbow color, was it my stigma?'

Nathan tried to use his stigma, but he failed.

'The reason I lost consciousness was that I lost a part of my soul. So, when Eth and I entered resonance, I regained consciousness?'

Eth was also telling him something. It was…was…

"Errrhgh"

His head hurt. It felt like his head was being split apart, someone forcefully pouring molten metal into it. Thinking straight was more tedious than fighting for the whole day without rest.

Every time he formed a new line of thought, he forgot the previous one. He was feeling lightheaded, yet it was painful at the same time. The duality was tearing him apart.

"Healthy.."

He roughly checked Susan's pulse and found her to be alive.

How? Shouldn't she have died? Maybe it was thanks to the Legendary-grade skill? Appraisal couldn't read Epic and Legendary-grade skills of others yet. It might be…be…

"ARgghhhh!"

He pulled his hair, tearing his skin in the process.

'Eth'

No response. Why wasn't he responding? Take care? What was that? Who said that?

Cccrrack-

A familiar noise.

Nathan raised his head. Did he use his art unconsciously?

"Ah, rifts"

Right, Abomination. He needed to defeat it. Defeat? Shouldn't he run?

"No, I'll get the reward for defeating Abomination. With it, I can save Et…"

Who?

Tears slid down Nathan's cheeks. He couldn't think of a reason why he was crying, only that the loss he felt was tearing him from the inside.

"Defeat Abomination"

No, he must ensure his survival first. He had already lost [Fragment of Eternity], let alone having a weapon made of it. Defeating that monstrosity was impossible.

Phzzzt-

A colossal spear materialized in the air. Pulling himself and Susan over it, he flew into the sky and activated [Appraisal] to find the ore.

"There is a weapon"

There is not. [Fragment of Eternity] will not show its power to kill beings of chaos without a weapon, which Nathan did not had.

At that moment, a system window appeared in Nathan's vision.

[Fragment of Eternity [Legendary] ]

"I am"

Buried deep underground was a purple shine that couldn't hide from his skill.

***

-(Present || Location: Floor 14)-

Leon listened to the rustling of leaves with an expressionless face.

[ [Full-Frame] is evolving…. 99.01%...91.12%....]

"Two hours…"

That was the amount of time since Leon gained consciousness on this floor. The Abomination had yet to appear on this floor, that or maybe Leon couldn't sense it.

Suddenly, he turned his head with a snap and stared in a specific direction. Not thinking twice, Leon bolted in that direction.

He jumped from tree to tree. Without his stigma's reinforcement, he was a bit slower, but for some reason, this Leon felt more dangerous.

Reaching the destination, he silently stood on the branch and looked at the figure sprawled on the ground.

Left arm twisted in the wrong direction, a chunk of abdomen blown away, blood and dust covering the clothes, was a familiar figure.

A human figure.

"Nathan" He smoothly landed on the ground and rushed toward Nathan. "You are alive?"

Cough- Cough-

"Of c..course.."

Although Nathan said so with a smile, the amount of blood pooled beneath him was saying otherwise.

"How are you here?" Placing his arm in the correct position, Leon fed him an elixir.

It took Nathan a few minutes to heal to an average level, good enough to talk without exerting himself.

"I.. I don't know. I somehow woke up and found that I was alive. Rifts were covering the entire floor, so was moving to the next floor quickly. Thankfully, I was able to find the ore and was coming to you when…when…" Nathan's arms shook and he clenched his jaw with hateful eyes. "The Abomination returned. I thought it had left earlier, but I was na?ve. The monster was hiding, waiting there for the prey. I, along with Susan, used the ore to defeat the Abomination, but Susan…she…"

Blood dripped from his jaws as he clenched them too tightly.

Leon patted his back slowly and spoke the words of consolation.

"What about Lark?"

"I don't know…" Nathan's head hung low in shame. "He wasn't there when I regained my consciousness."

[ [Full-Frame] is evolving…. 99.87%...99.91%....]

Covering his mouth, Leon sighed and moved away. He removed his hand and, with his back toward Nathan, spoke in a shaky tone.

"I'm sorry. It must have been hard on you, too. No matter how strong your art is, it wouldn't have been an easy battle. At least you came out alive."

"Yeah…"

"But" Leon looked at the sky. "The weapons you create, wasn't that your stigma?"

Crackle-

"There is no way your stigma can provide such an amount of versatility."

For a moment, Nathan forgot how to breathe, but he exhaled deeply in the next second. Hearing the conviction in Leon's voice, he knew he couldn't deny it.

"Yes, it is an art. I di-"

Leon suddenly cut him off.

"Didn't you say it was a growth-type stigma, though? In that case, the versatility is a given."

Nathan froze. Like a door that hadn't been oiled in years, he slowly turned to face Leon. But with Leon's back toward him, he couldn't see his expression.

"I can explain."

"Ahahahahaaa" Suddenly, Leon burst into laughter. Wiping his tears, he looked back at Nathan. "Why are you so serious? I was joking. Of course, you never said something like that."

Turning back, Leon and Nathan stared at each other. Seeing the apologetic expression, Nathan shook his head and looked away.

At that moment, Leon suddenly stopped laughing and revealed his expressionless face.

"Oh, that was a lie, too. Nathan did say it was a growth-type stigma. But thanks for letting me buy time."

[ [Full-Frame] is evolving…. 99.99%...100%....]

Crackle! Boom!

Lightning shot from the sky and struck in between them.

Coming out of the seas of flame, Leon walked with an unhurried yet imposing gait. For the first time, he failed to hide his true self.

His mask had cracked.