Will of chaos

Chapter 1969: Cap 1964: I will be the one to pick him up…

Pov Ibuki:

I was standing looking at Zenos, his face was pale, sweat was dripping all over his body, wetting the bed, his red hair was dull and his skin was covered in goosebumps.

I tried everything to wake him up, I tried calling out to him, I tried using magic to wake him, I tried using my Aura and I even tried using my blood, spilling it into his mouth, but nothing worked.

I felt frustrated when I looked at the other two people in the room, Karina who was kneeling on the other side of the bed and Erica who was using various rituals from her Grimoire to try and find out what was happening.

“Why won’t he wake up?” (me)

“He’s in a trance, in a deep sleep to be precise.” (Erica)

“His body is a little tired due to the refinement of that energy, but there doesn’t seem to be any long-term damage.” (Erica)

“His soul seems to be a little affected and his mind is in a trance, other than that I don’t see anything else abnormal with my Divinity.” (Erica)

“Then look harder!” (me)

“Ibuki, repeating the same process looking for a different result is foolish.” (Erica)

“Then how are we going to…” (me)

“I found out…” (Karina)

“…” (me)

“…” (Erica)

I was the first to enter the room and see him like this, I called the two of them because they were the closest when I wasn’t able to wake him up, I also informed the others who seemed calmer and didn’t even show up.

I trust him, I know he’ll be alright, I’ve seen him fall and get up even when he had lost half his body, I’ve seen him come back from Hell and I’ve seen him fight impossible battles, but knowing that he’ll be alright doesn’t mean letting him suffer now.

“There’s another consciousness fighting against him, someone has invaded his mind.” (Karina)

“Who!?” (me)

“I don’t know, I can’t even contact him, so it’s powerful.” (Karina)

“This is difficult…” (Erica)

Before we could think of a solution, someone entered; it was Ronan, who simply greeted us all with a nod before approaching Zenos, but before he could touch him, I appeared in front of him with my sword pointed at his neck, where a shield protected him from my blade.

“What do you want to do?” (me)

“I don’t want to do anything, just check on his condition, Lena asked for it.” (Ronan)

“Does she know?” (Erica)

“I warned her, I left a message with everyone.” (me)

“All the Entities know, they knew the moment it happened, Urd knew immediately since this is still her Temple.” (Ronan)

“Does she know who is attacking?” (Karina)

“No, and it doesn’t matter either, whoever is attacking, he won’t lose, the mind is where the Will is most present and this also represents Zenos’ strength.” (Ronan)

“Erica, what do you think?” (me)

“They are using him to find the enemy, am I right?” (Erica)

“Yes.” (Ronan)

“You bastard!!” (me)

“Don’t misunderstand me, we are not able to wake him up, they are using a Mind Origin Artifact, but at least we managed to track the one who is acting.” (Ronan)

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Pov Zenos:

I felt a shiver down my spine, and looked back, my mind was shaken, a creature appeared, it had the appearance of a person covered in a hooded cloak, only one of its hands was covered in ethereal silver bandages, its aura was strange to the point that I couldn’t understand it, and as soon as it appeared it was as if everything around it began to deform with it as the center.

“You’ve done well so far, Zenos… but why are you afraid of me?” (Paradox)

“I’ve always been with you~…” (Paradox)

“I can’t escape this, can’t I?” (me)

“No, you can’t.” (Paradox)

I try to look around, but there’s no sign of that damned bird or the Dragon that should be flying, covering the sky, but otherwise everything was as terrifying as before, the Orphanage could appear in a horror movie at any moment and the presence of the being in front of me was bizarre.

“Do you understand the danger you’ve put yourself in…?” (Paradox)

“Unfortunately, yes.” (me)

As I looked at her, I noticed her bandages bending the space around us as if separating from everything else.

“I think I’ve helped you a lot, so why be afraid of me?” (Paradox)

“You’ve had several Chaos Bearers before me, but none of them had a good ending!” (me)

“You helped create the Anomalous Dragons and the Ascendants!” (me)

“You created that Fallen Chaos Lord and who knows what else!” (me)

“Even now you’re acting secretly doing who knows what!?” (me)

“More than once you’ve made it clear that you’re doing everything for yourself, you don’t care about anything else besides that.” (me)

“Distrusting you is a fact, being afraid of you is a necessity.” (me)

“So what comes next? You know what’s going to happen now, after all, you’re the one who created me.” (Paradox)

“I know, overcoming your fears and all that nonsense, unfortunately you’re not my target.” (me)

“I just want to eat roasted chicken right now.” (me)

“That’s not how it works~.” (Paradox)

The rules of this technique are very simple: overcome your fears, a simple thing to ask and also to imagine, but almost impossible to actually achieve.

I myself have gone through this more than once; I had to confront my fear of becoming a monster a long time ago. Back then, I chose to accept my monstrous side. There are many ways to overcome your fears; there is no single answer to this.

This nightmare is based on fear; there is nowhere to escape when the enemy is inside you, a perfect lock for the mental prison that a nightmare represents.

To be honest, I’m afraid of many things; everyone is afraid of something, and throughout life, these fears inevitably accumulate. I was prepared for many things, and I just didn’t expect that of all my fears, the worst would be Paradox.

The one in front of me wasn’t her; it was that Dragon, and it couldn’t deceive me precisely because I know how the technique works. I can be affected by it as a target, but also as the caster.

The space around me was already vibrating as if I were inside the ocean; she was emanating an increasingly aggressive presence and seemed ready to attack when I raised my hand.

“If you attack, I will devour you, and there’s nothing you can do about it. I’m not afraid of you, and I can leave this nightmare whenever I want, you know that.” (me)

“Now I’m going after that bird, and I advise you not to get in my way!” (me)

“As you wish, but be careful on your way…” (Paradox)

She disappeared without doing anything, but I know she’s lurking and will try to destroy me at the first opportunity she gets. I have to stay alert and never let my guard down. This technique doesn’t have a real ego; it assumes a false ego using the fear of its target, and its only purpose is to destroy its target.

He will never stop and will do everything to achieve his goal, I know that better than anyone, his mind is artificially formed using the target’s mind as a base, created with the power of Chaos, it can alter everything and that’s why this being knows everything there is to know about its targets.

“(Now I have to think about how to get rid of this thing later…)” (me)

“You damned bird, you’ll see!” (me)

“I’m coming after you now!!” (me)

And I leave the Orphanage and look down at the ruined city from above, my eyes shining with the power of Chaos flowing through me, able to see through what is hidden, I can see an overlapping space, there is another ruined city surrounded by fire, that damned bird was fighting someone there.

As soon as I looked at them fighting, they both turned to me at the same time, that damned bird came towards me with a breath of fire burning everything in its path, the space burned, making my head hurt a little.

“Bearer of Chaos!!!!” (Phoenix)

“Where do you think you’re going…?”

The bird emerges from that opening, it was possible to see wounds on its flaming body, chaotic energy leaking from it, then it attacks with apparent fury.

Right behind it was something else, the enemy it was fighting, it was a shadowy figure, it was impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman, but its eyes were strange and more than anything else, there was Chaotic power around it, a presence that was slightly familiar to me.

“(Paradox…?)” (me)

“Is its fear the same as mine?” (me)

“< Fire Origin Magic: Feathers of the End >” (Phoenix)

“< Breath of Chaos >” (me)

My Breath attack burns with Starlight Fire as I defend against thousands of fire feathers launched at the speed of light towards me, our two attacks create a shockwave that pushes it back towards its enemy, the shadowy creature extends a hand that grows into a claw trying to reach it.

“Damn it!!!” (Phoenix)

Unfortunately, this also caused me to be pushed back, and that’s when Paradox appeared behind me, her bandages transforming into spears that bent space to reach me almost instantly. She took advantage of the opening immediately.

“(Damn!)” (me)