Extra Borne: Transmigrated Into A System Apocalypse Soulsborne Novel-Chapter 55 - 53: Deceived

"What do you want?" I asked again, my tone colder this time, as I suppressed the creeping unease within me.

The girl.. no, the thing that looked like Celia but clearly wasn’t, tilted her head, her playful demeanor unchanged. "Hey, no hard feelings," she said, her voice lilting and almost sing-song. "Like I said, I just came to greet you."

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"Now isn’t the time for greetings," I replied evenly, though the weight of her presence made the void around us feel heavier with each passing second.

Her smile widened, an unsettling expression that somehow managed to radiate both childlike innocence and malicious intent. "Well," she said, flicking her fingers as though brushing away my protest, "we’ll see about that."

In an instant, the oppressive darkness around us shimmered, and a screen materialized before me. The Tower of Rebirth filled the display, its ominous spire stretching into the ashen sky. Below it, the familiar notification burned brightly:

[NOTIFICATION]

+

TIME BEFORE YADRED REBIRTH - 26 HOURS LEFT

+

I stared at it, my voice tinged with exhaustion. "I’ve already seen it."

Her smirk deepened. "Oh, you’ve seen something, but not the right one."

Before I could respond, she flicked her fingers again. The screen shifted, the glowing text rearranging itself into something far more harrowing:

[NOTIFICATION]

+

TIME BEFORE YADRED REBIRTH - 1 HOUR LEFT

+

My chest tightened. The words hung in the air, a cruel reminder of how little time I truly had. "One hour," I murmured, the disbelief bleeding into my voice.

She nodded cheerfully, her gaze sharp. "The system," she began, her tone almost conversational, "is deceiving everyone in Ithelvaire. Yadred isn’t just being reborn... he’s awakening. And when the hour’s up, he’ll become a fully-fledged member of the Void Hands."

A cold dread washed over me, gripping me in its iron claws. One hour... One hour to prevent a catastrophe I haven’t finalized a plan for. My mind raced, panic clawing at the edges of my being.

"What should I do?" I asked calmly, my voice steadier than I felt.

She chuckled, her laughter like a blade sliding across stone. "Well," she said, her tone light yet impossibly heavy, "that’s not for me to decide." She leaned in slightly, her too-bright eyes locking onto mine. "That’s your burden to bear."

Her words settled over me like a shroud, but I understood their weight. Whatever choice I made, it would be mine alone.

I took a deep breath, steadying myself. "Then, could you do me a favor?" I asked, forcing my lips into a faint smile.

Her head tilted, the curiosity in her gaze almost childlike. "A favor?"

I nodded. "Yes."

***

When I finished explaining, the void around us shifted. The oppressive blackness faded, replaced by the desolate landscape of Ithelvaire.

Thick pools of darkened red ichor sprawled across the ground, their metallic stench mingling with the decay of the blood-soaked mud. The ashen sky above crackled with jagged streaks of lightning, red and yellow forks illuminating the grim tableau for fleeting moments.

I was still seated on the jagged stone, the cold surface biting into my palms. Geralda remained beside me, her posture unchanged, her gaze still fixed on the Tower of Rebirth in the distance.

But the world was still frozen. Time had not yet resumed.

The girl... no, the being, lingered for a moment longer, her presence a quiet storm. She glanced at me, her lips curving into a smile that didn’t reach her otherworldly eyes. "I’ll leave everything to your care," she said, her tone light, almost cheerful.

Her expression darkened subtly as she raised her hand, palm facing the bleak sky as if declaring something inevitable. "But remember one thing." She paused, her voice growing sharp, resonating with an unearthly clarity.

"Evolve…"

Her words hung in the air, the world around us beginning to stir.

"…or you’re nothing good but dead."

Her final word echoed through the stillness like a war bell, reverberating deep within me.

The still world cracked.

"0924…"

A whisper.

"0924…"

Louder this time.

Crack. BOOM!

A thunderclap split the ashen sky, and I jolted, my senses snapping back to reality. Geralda’s voice broke through the haze, calm yet tinged with concern.

"Are you alright?" she asked, her brown eyes, flecked with hints of gold, meeting mine. "You’ve been… blank for a few minutes."

I rubbed the back of my head, the sensation grounding me. "How long exactly?"

"Two minutes," she replied, her tone steady.

Two minutes. That was all it had taken for the weight of everything to fall on me again.

I shot to my feet, turning to her. "The system is deceiving everyone," I said, my voice sharp, though the tension laced through it was undeniable. "We have less than an hour before Yadred fully awakens as a member of the Void Hands."

Her calm expression faltered for a fraction of a second, her gaze darting to the Tower of Rebirth in the distance. The notification still displayed the lie—26 hours left.

She stood as well, her movements purposeful. "Then we have to go. Now."

"But you can’t fight Yadred," I reminded her, my tone firm. "The curse.. "

"I won’t fight him," she interjected. "But someone has to join you. If you face everything alone, you’ll lose too much energy before you even reach him."

Her logic was undeniable, though her concern caught me off guard.

I nodded slowly. "Then let’s go."

We began descending the hill, my boots and her armored feet sinking into the blood-soaked mud with every step.

The land ahead of us stretched endlessly, a grim expanse of decay and ruin. The scent of iron and rot clung to the air, a suffocating reminder of what lay ahead.

And then, in the distance, I saw it.

The laser beam carved through the ground beneath the Tower of Rebirth, an unrelenting column of light that pierced the heavens with an intensity that seemed to devour everything around it. The air crackled with an unnatural energy, oppressive and suffocating, as though the beam itself was a sentinel of impending doom.

It wasn’t just a portal. It was a doorway to something incomprehensibly dangerous.

The ashen gray sky darkened further, its clouds swirling and convulsing as though caught in the grip of some unseen force. The hum of the atmosphere shifted, a low, guttural vibration that thrummed in my chest. The ground beneath us trembled violently, threatening to split open, each quake sending sharp jolts through my legs.

My senses, honed to an edge over countless battles, screamed in warning. Detection flared and then faltered, a sharp burst of panic as my instincts dulled. It was as if the world itself had grown still in reverence or fear.

Something was coming.

And then, from the sky, it fell... a blackened comet, a streak of darkness that seemed to swallow the light around it as it plummeted. The very air bent and warped in its wake, space itself unraveling like torn fabric.

BOOM!

The impact was both deafening and strangely muted, as though the world couldn’t decide whether to acknowledge its arrival or deny it.

From the center of the rupture rose a figure, a towering being birthed from the depths of the void itself. It stood impossibly tall, humanoid in shape but radiating a presence far beyond human comprehension.

Its armor pulsed with a darkness that defied the natural order. Black, utterly void of reflection or shimmer, it consumed the light around it. It wasn’t just armor; it was a rift, a piece of another dimension draped over its body.

The knight stood, silent and imposing, its very presence a weight on my chest.

None of us moved. None of us spoke.

And then...

[SYSTEM]

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DEFEAT THE KNIGHT OF THE VOID ALTRONOTCH

+

The name etched itself into my mind like a brand, a silent declaration of what stood before us.

Then, it spoke.

"I hereby vow..."

Its voice was not just heard; it was felt, a resonance that shook the very marrow of my bones. It wasn’t just sound... it was power, raw and unfiltered, tearing at the fabric of my being.

"...the destined death of everything in my path."

The rumble began again, a deep, rolling growl from the earth and sky alike.

"O void..."

It raised an arm, and with it, reality itself seemed to fracture. Dark energy coalesced around its hand, rippling like living shadows, devouring the air and light. The space it touched cracked, spiderwebbing with jagged lines as though the very concept of existence couldn’t hold against it.

"Become my blade once... again."

The rift it held splintered further, and from its depths, the knight pulled forth a weapon.

[SYSTEM]

[BLADE OF THE VOID HAS BEEN SUMMONED]

The greatsword was a thing of nightmares. Pitch-black energy swirled around it like a sentient storm, waves of void energy crashing against its edges. The sword pulsed with a rhythm that seemed alive, an extension of the knight’s will.

The sky darkened further, an impossible feat. The multicolored lightning that had once streaked across the heavens now fell silent, the streaks bending as though in submission to the knight’s presence.

He pointed the Blade of the Void directly at me and Geralda.

The air around us thickened, choking and stifling.

He chanted, his voice a low, resonant growl that reverberated through the ground.

"Eon... Trovotan."

The words were a spell, an incantation that defied reason and comprehension.

From the tip of the blade, a burst of void energy erupted... a tidal wave of pure destruction. It surged toward us with a speed that mocked the very concept of time, its sheer force bending the world around it.

The earth beneath us screamed in protest, the sky held its breath, and for a split second, all sound ceased.

BOOM!

The explosion of energy should have consumed us, should have obliterated everything in its path.

But something blocked it.