Extra Borne: Transmigrated Into A System Apocalypse Soulsborne Novel-Chapter 72 - 70: The Weight of Grief

My body… was done.

The crushing pressure of the grieving gravity bore down on my very being with a force that defied reason, my bones threatening to crack under the sheer weight of this maddening grief, my soul was being ripped to shreds like it was nothing. It wasn’t just my soul or bones that was being crushed... it was my spirit, my very existence, suffocating beneath the relentless tide of grieving despair.

I tried to scream, but even that required strength I no longer had. The emptiness around me blurred into a formless haze, and every beat of my heart felt like a distant echo fading away with each passing seconds, a fleeting reminder that I was still alive. Barely.

The empty grieving ground beneath me cracked again. Splinters of space radiated outward, and I felt the tremor run through me like a shiver of finality.

It hurt. Shit, it hurt in ways I didn’t know were possible. My chest felt like it was caving in, my ribs straining under the pressure. Every breath was shallow, wheezing, each gasp dragging me closer to the edge of unconsciousness.

And yet, it wasn’t over.

"Pitiful," Alter Yadred’s voice rang out, calm and unhurried. He didn’t need to raise it... his presence alone ensured every word carved its way into my mind. "You crumble like sand beneath the tide. Was this truly all you had to offer?"

I wanted to reply, to spit something, an insult... anything back at him. But the words never came.

Then the grieving air shifted. A cold chill swept through the empty space, cutting deeper than the grieving gravity that pressed me down. I looked up... or tried to just in time to see it.

From nowhere, shimmering tears began to form in the air. Ethereal droplets, glowing faintly with a ghostly light, hung suspended for a moment before they began to fall.

Tears of the Void.

The first one struck the ground near me, and the explosion that followed sent a shockwave rippling through my body. I was thrown back, sliding across the fractured empty expanse, the edges of the tear’s anguish biting into me.

More tears fell. A rain of sorrow, grief, each droplet a bomb of pure despair. I scrambled to move, my limbs sluggish and uncoordinated under the weight of the grieving gravity. The air itself seemed to pull at me, dragging me toward the explosions, forcing me to endure the brunt of Yadred’s grief.

I dodged one, barely, the tear exploding behind me with enough force to send shards of anguish slicing across my back. Another fell, and I tried to roll away, but the explosion caught my leg. Pain lanced through me, and I collapsed to the ground with a cry that barely left my throat.

I couldn’t keep this up.

The void itself felt like it was closing in, the constant assault of despair pushing me closer and closer to the edge. Every movement was a struggle, every breath a battle.

Then it happened.

I stumbled. My legs gave out, and I hit the empty space ground with a heavy thud. The impact sent another wave of pain through me, but this time, I couldn’t get back up. My arms buckled, my strength completely gone.

I lay there, motionless, my breaths shallow and labored. My vision blurred, and for a moment, I thought I saw the fractured ground beneath me reflecting something.. someone. A figure with gray-streaked hair, their body broken and beaten. It took me a second to realize it was me.

"Pathetic," Yadred’s voice broke through the haze, closer now.

I felt him before I saw him, the oppressive weight of his grieving aura pressing down even harder. He didn’t need the grieving gravity anymore. His very presence was enough to smother what little will I had left. If I even had any...

His massive grieving greatsword, the Sorrowblight, dematerialized into wisps of darkness as he strode toward me slowly. The way he moved was deliberate, unhurried, each step echoing in the empty void.

"You thought yourself worthy to stand against me?" he said, his voice low and almost… disappointed. "A worm, groveling in the dirt, daring to challenge a tide."

His grieving shadow loomed over me, and I could do nothing to stare up at him, my body too battered and broken to even flinch.

Then...

Bam!

The first kick landed square against my ribs, the force of it lifting me off the ground for a split second before I crumpled back down. The pain was immediate, sharp and searing, and it was all I could do to let out a ragged gasp.

He didn’t stop.

Bam!

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Another kick, this one to my stomach, knocking the air out of my lungs. My body convulsed, but I couldn’t even curl up to protect myself. I was completely unmoving..

"You disgust me," Yadred said, his voice still calm, as if this was nothing more than a routine task.

Bam!

His armored leg came down on my chest, pressing into me with enough force to crack something. I coughed, blood splattering against the fractured empty space ground beneath me.

"You were supposed to fight with me," he said, his tone laced with quiet disdain. "And this is all you are? A pitiful, trembling and worthless... wandering failure?"

I couldn’t respond. I couldn’t even think.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

He kicked me again, and again, and again, each blow accompanied by a fresh wave of agony, more powerful than the last. My vision darkened, the edges fading to black as consciousness slipped further and further away.

I was dying.

I could feel it, the slow, creeping pull of the empty void calling me as my body gave in. My breaths were shallow, my chest barely rising and falling.

Through the haze of pain, I caught one final glimpse of the empty ground beneath me. The reflection stared back, unrecognizable. My hair, once streaked with gray, was now completely, unmistakably pure gray.

And still, the suffering continued on.

Will this Agony ever end? I couldn’t help but ask myself.