Single Wish: Rise Of The Omniscient Paragon
Chapter 846 - 843: Decision

Chapter 846: 843: Decision

As the Thirteenth Dawn stirred awake, Corey calmly observed every single one of them with an indifferent expression, and his gaze lingered on Yara far longer than the others.

His brows were furrowed slightly, and then he nonchalantly shrugged.

The Thirteenth Dawn stirred slowly with groggy and confused expressions.

Kieran was the first to sit up, and his brows creased as his hand rubbed his temple. His gaze swept the room, and he frowned.

"Did we... survive that thing?" he murmured.

Zeke groaned beside him, and then he spoke with a groggy voice like that of a person that had just woken up from a deep sleep.

"Yeah... I think so. I remember... bullets? And that thing. Gods, that bastard thing’s face kept changing to my father’s."

Aelric didn’t speak. Not at first. His eyes roamed his body as he touched several parts of his body, and his eyes flickered in confusion.

"This isn’t right."

Kieran looked at him. "What isn’t right?"

Aelric pointed at his ribs and left arm. "My ribs and left arm were broken after I tried to block one of the arms of the monster. But now... They’re perfectly fine like as if I never fought that thing."

Kieran and Zeke’s eyes widened in realization, and they also looked at their bodies.

When they saw that the injuries they had sustained on their bodies were no longer there.

Kieran had suffered a deep cut on his back, and Zeke’s legs had been bleeding.

But none of those were there.

They were extremely baffled.

"Maybe the trial dimension healed us after we survived against it?" Zeke muttered, but even he did not believe his words at all.

A brutal trial that desired their death and whose theme revolves around death suddenly heals them?

They didn’t believe it at all.

Corey knew that this was going to be the main problem when he was trying to recreate the effects of the ’battle’ they fought.

If he wanted, he could have recreated the injuries on their bodies, but he chose not to do so for several reasons.

One of which was that it was bothersome for him to do all of that.

He would rather allow them to make assumptions on what had happened to them, than stressing himself over making them believe that everything that happened was real.

Myra’s hand gripped her spear as she sat up. Her face was pale, and her eyes flickered between Kieran and the rest. "I remember the monster screaming. I remember attacking... there was fire, chains... and then... nothing."

Rhys’ voice came next, and unlike the past where he had been quiet and anxious about the loss of his eyes, his voice was calm and steady this time around.

"I should have cracks on my shield, but there’s nothing."

Kieran nodded slowly with a frown on his face. "You guys are right. Something’s off."

Corey stood silently against a wall with calm eyes. He watched and listened as the group tried to piece together what happened.

They recounted what they could remember about the battle. The illusion ability of the monster, the voices of their loved ones, and the face changing ability of the monster.

They recounted a battle where they fought a monster that shifted between family and friend.

"I remember your spear hitting it," Zeke said to Myra. "Then I got in close. Unloaded some shots. But... after that, it’s blank."

"Same," Kieran muttered. "I remember my blades hitting it, but I don’t remember it dying."

"Did we even kill it?" Rhys asked.

No one answered.

Then Rhys’ brows creased. He tilted his head slightly.

"Wait... Yara’s quiet."

That pulled everyone’s attention.

They turned.

Yara was still sitting against the wall where Corey had gently placed her. Her gaze was empty and vacant.

Her eyes which were once sharp, once burning with confidence and layered emotions were now lifeless and dull... Like glass without light.

Her shoulders didn’t move. Her breathing was shallow, and she was staring into nothing.

Myra was the first to move towards her. "Yara?"

No response.

Kieran knelt beside her and gently waved a hand in front of her face, but there was no response.

Aelric’s expression hardened when he saw this. He knelt in front of her, and placed a finger on her glabella.

His finger glowed with a pale green glow, and then he closed his eyes.

"Her mind... her spirit... they’re fractured."

Myra snapped her gaze toward him. "What? What do you mean?"

"The creature’s ability wasn’t just to use illusions. It had the ability to attack our minds, agitate our emotions, and go through our memories. Yara was already unstable before the battle, but when we started fighting it. It... broke her."

Kieran’s fists clenched tightly. "Is there anything we can do?"

Aelric slowly shook his head. "Not now and not here. We need to leave this place and get a priest from the Temple of Miracles, or if we’re lucky to find somebody with the talent to heal somebody’s mind and spirit."

The room went silent as Aelric’s words fell over them like ash.

Some seconds later, Zeke spoke. But unlike his usual playful voice, his voice was uncharacteristically quiet.

"This is messed up."

Everyone turned to him.

When they saw that he was staring at Corey, they were baffled at first, until they saw that he was specifically staring at the spot where Corey’s tongue had once been.

Zeke shifted his gaze to Rhys’ empty eyes, and then at Yara.

"This system trial is so fucking messed up. It’s not just dangerous. It’s fucking cruel."

His tone grew heavier.

"What kind of trial takes parts of us every night? What’s next? Our memories? Our dicks? Breasts? Vaginas? Assholes? Our fucking sanity?"

He laughed dryly.

"The next night is going to be the Third Night. That means three things is going to be taken from us. Will it be from three people? Or will the three things be from one person?"

His expression suddenly grew extremely serious.

"What happens on the Seventh Night? Will someone lose seven things? Will someone lose their life? Or will it be all of us?"

No one answered, and Zeke went on.

"And it’s not just the damn rules. The monsters are getting stronger. That thing we fought last night? It was Tier 5."

"A Tier. Freaking. Five!"

"I’m a bloody Tier 3. How do you expect me to face a freaking Tier 5? That’s not something any of us are supposed to deal with right now."

His voice dropped.

"What if the Fourth Night brings a Tier 6? Or higher? What if the Seventh Night spawns something none of us can survive?"

He paced a few steps while shaking his head.

"We can’t even hide. We can’t wait this out. The Universal System takes something from us no matter what we do. Even if we choose to lock ourselves underground and don’t move... It’ll still come for us."

His voice broke.

"And what do we even do? Do we go deeper into the City? Do we try and find the source of the corruption of the city like the system told us to? Do we want to see what’s at the heart of this nightmare?"

A deeper silence engulfed the room once again because Zeke had said what they were all thinking.

Kieran looked at his sabers.

Myra stared at the floor.

Aelric closed his eyes.

Even Rhys turned his head slightly toward Yara despite his blindness, and a tinge of worry could be seen on his face.

After some seconds, Kieran spoke.

"We can’t hide. We can’t stay here."

Myra nodded. "We’ll die if we wait. I doubt we can last till the Seventh Night. But... the source of the corruption..." Her voice suddenly reduced.

Rhys added, "The source of the corruption is definitely dangerous, but we have to go there to have a chance at survival... Whatever’s at the core of this place, we have to see it... We have to end this."

Aelric opened his eyes. "And maybe... just maybe we can find a way to stop the rule. Or understand it better."

Kieran looked at Corey.

"What do you think, Ryan?"

Corey didn’t respond verbally. He only looked at them.

His gaze fell on Kieran at first, and he saw the captain looking at him with a calm but worried expression.

’Hmm... He’s worried that he won’t be able to protect Zeke and the others.’

He shifted his gaze to Zeke who was repeatedly tapping his foot on the floor.

’He seems anxious, but he’s still calm. His ability to still remain internally calm is a good quality.’

He shifted his gaze to Rhys who had a worried expression on his face as he stared at Yara.

’Seems the two of them have a relationship that is more than friends.’

He then shifted his gaze to Yara whose expression and gaze was still lifeless.

’Her sea of consciousness is in shambles. I infused a little bit of Dream Energy to make sure she doesn’t get worse since she’s currently living a nightmare.’

’If they survive, they should be able to find somebody who can heal her mind. If they cannot, then that’s their business.’

He shifted his gaze to Aelric.

’He’s wary, but he’s still subtly absorbing the death energy in the environment. I can also sense curiousity and intrigue from his gaze.’

Corey then shifted his gaze to Myra, and when he did, he frowned.

’Anger and frustration at me? That’s surprising.’

Corey did not bother wasting his energy or time to ponder on Myra’s anger towards him since he truly did not care.

After having that thought, he did not have another, and he calmly looked back at Kieran.

However, he made sure to pay a little bit more attention to her.

He gave a small nod at Kieran, and it was enough for Kieran to understand. The decision had been made.

They would move forward.

Toward whatever the Dying City had waiting for them.