The Gamer's POV-Chapter 216: Between Life and Death

A few minutes earlier...

——

Slowly, Cedric’s consciousness began to pull itself together.

At first, there was nothing but silence and the void. Then, his mind gradually began to settle, until after a few seconds, he could finally think again.

’What happened?’

Despite his consciousness having returned, Cedric could not feel his body. It felt like he was just floating in a cold, dark expanse that had no end.

A few seconds passed, and then, Cedric could see again.

The moment his sight returned, he raised his hands to look at himself, then gasped in silence when he saw that his silhouette was glowing and ethereal, unlike his physical body.

He began to process and question what was happening when, suddenly, something else caught his attention.

Still looking down, Cedric could see that he was floating above a vast expanse of darkness. He couldn’t see beyond the inky black veil, and a sense of absolute nothingness emanated from the depths below.

If Cedric had a heart, it would have definitely been thundering in fear right now. But since he couldn’t feel anything, he slowly looked away and shifted his gaze upward.

That was when he saw that just like the darkness below, a boundless, blinding radiance stretched across the sky above.

"Where am I?" he muttered to himself in a low voice.

Although he didn’t expect an answer to that, he was not startled when Aika’s voice sounded beside him, due to his lack of a beating heart.

"I think we are in our anchor," she said, pointing up and down as she spoke. "The liminal space between life and death."

"Oh..." Cedric looked up at the white sky briefly, before looking down again at the vast darkness below.

Then he frowned and turned to Aika. Just like him, she was floating some meters to his right and was dressed in a flowing white tunic.

"By the way, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"What do you mean ’what am I doing here?’" She turned to him. "I died too, you know."

Cedric was silent.

He began to recall the incident that led to his death. Since Aika had also been listening to the conversation between him and Argentos, it made sense that she had died as well.

Cedric sighed, then said in a heavy tone, "I’m sorry I let you die. I should have stopped listening when I had the chance."

Aika looked at him for a moment, then giggled, reached out, and tried to ruffle his hair. "God, you are so cute."

Cedric rolled his eyes. "Tsk. I’m serious here."

Aika shook her head gently. "Don’t be silly. It was my choice to listen, too. I should have stopped you when things started to feel wrong. So if anything, I’m the one who should be sorry." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Cedric let out a long exhale and looked away.

They had both died because they pried into information they couldn’t handle at their level.

Of course, everyone knew the gods existed, but the people of the empire did not know their names or their history. They did not know the gods were once a royal family, or that the realms known as the rings belonged to them. Nor did they know the family was at odds with one of their own, or that the God of Restoration and Benevolence was the eldest sibling.

Knowing all that information, including the history of the Hortus Conclusus, had caused both Cedric and Aika’s heads to explode, killing them both.

That aside, many questions now began to surface in Cedric’s mind.

Where is Proserpina, the Goddess of the Verdant Gardens?

Where are the rest of the gods?

Why does no one remember much about them?

Do their disappearances have something to do with the red and blue bridges that connect the cradle to their different realms?

Also...

Which one of the gods is responsible for bringing the lords into this realm from Earth?

Cedric’s mind raced.

Among the numerous thoughts that were running through his mind, the most disturbing was the fact that the God of Restoration and Benevolence had given a revelation to Argentos, instructing him to tell Cedric about their history.

Why was that?

Cedric had reason to believe that this god knew about him and his powers. If not, why instruct Argentos to do that knowing it would kill him? Unless he knew that Cedric would come back to life, he wouldn’t have instructed something as specific as that.

Suddenly, Cedric froze as a suspicion began to take root in his mind.

Wait... Could this God of Divine Restoration and Benevolence be the reason for his transmigration?

Cedric couldn’t be certain, but the more he turned the idea over in his mind, and the more he considered the strange sense of familiarity he felt whenever he thought about this sibling, the more plausible the theory became.

But if this were truly the case, then what could a being of such magnitude possibly want with someone like him?

If Cedric could feel right now, he would have been horrified. He had no way of telling what this being’s true intentions were, and the lack of clarity was its own kind of torture.

’The more I know, the more worried and confused I become,’ Cedric thought as he stared into the blinding light above. ’And yet, the uncertainty only makes me want to know even more.’

At that moment, Aika, who was floating beside him, seemed to notice that he was spiraling in his thoughts. She drifted closer to him, then wrapped her arms around him from behind and spoke, snapping him from his spiraling thoughts.

"Hey, stop overthinking. Whatever answers we’re missing will find us when they’re ready."

When Cedric turned his attention back to her, she added, "In the meantime, let’s go back. I don’t really like it here."

Cedric smiled, then reached up and placed his hand over hers where it rested against his chest, brushing it gently with his thumb.

"I’m really glad that you’re still here," he whispered. "I was afraid that if you died, I’d lose you completely."

Before now, Cedric used to believe that if Aika died, she would completely vanish like other bonds did. It turns out that was not the case because they both shared the same bonded ability.

Of course, if she died, the tattoo would disappear, and Cedric would lose his magic, and thus, his skills. However, he would still have his bonded ability, and so, as long as he had negative karma, he would be able to bring her back to life.

Aika smiled. "You can’t get rid of me that easily, you know."

He scoffed, but after a few seconds of silence, a practical concern crossed his mind. "By the way, if both of us are stuck here... how exactly do we get back?"

Aika turned to look at him. "We will ourselves back to life, of course."

At that moment, a notification popped up in front of their vision.

[Resuming Gamer Privileges...]

[...]

[The exclusive attribute ’Gamer Privileges’ has detected that the Gamer and his Bond have both died.]

[Activating Gamer Privileges...]

[Would you like to use the bonded ability: ’Chrysalis’ to bestow new life upon the Gamer and his Bond, in exchange for 500 karma points?]

’I guess since Aika is a part of me, she isn’t charged separately for now. That’s a relief,’ Cedric thought.

Without wasting any more time, he looked at Aika and nodded. "Let’s go back then."

[Activating the bonded ability: Chrysalis...]