Theo slowly opened his eyes. It was not the infinite library that greeted him, nor the cold void.
Dense darkness was the first thing he perceived, a familiar darkness, but this time it was not as terrifying as it had been in the void.
He felt the cold, damp ground beneath his body, and the hardness of the rocks that surrounded him, the smell of wet earth, the smell of mushrooms and dampness, and a strange, sweet smell resembling the air after a thunderstorm, the sound of water constantly dripping nearby. He was in the cave. He had returned to the cave.
He tried to move, feeling his limbs heavy with the return to a physical body after the experience of pure existence in the void, he sighed deeply, and his lungs filled with the cold, damp air of the cave.
He slowly began to regain sensation in his body. The old bruises and wounds ached, but not with the same intensity as the spiritual pain he had felt in the void. He was on the ground, standing, exactly as he had been when darkness swallowed him in the cave.
At that moment, a faint flicker of heat appeared on his right hand. He slowly raised his hand in the darkness, and saw a small spark of fire ignite on his palm, a small blue flame, illuminating a small part of the darkness around him. He hadn't lit it, it appeared on its own. It was different from the fire of the fire element he had tried to learn, it had a strange color and a different energy. Was this... was this related to the future self's talk about darkness, energy, and aura?
He stared at the small flame in astonishment, but this was no time to think about new abilities. He had to get out of this cave as quickly as possible.
He remembered the seven catastrophes, remembered the dark future that awaited him. Every second he spent here was a wasted second, a second bringing him closer to the destiny the future self spoke of without giving him full details.
Theo slowly got up, feeling weakness in his legs after all he had been through, he had been standing for almost a week, then he began to move, heading towards where the entrance had been.
He expected to see a glimmer of light at the end of the passage, the daylight he and Rayn had left behind, or perhaps the light from the torches they had left.
He walked for several minutes in the narrow passage, a faint light illuminated the way, and the sound of his footsteps was the only sound breaking the silence.
He relied on his memory and that faint light, but the further he went, the more anxious he felt. He saw nothing but the rocks that now filled the cave. He saw no sign of Rayn, and he was having difficulty passing through the rocks.
He reached the point where the entrance should have been, expecting to find the opening leading outside, to the world he knew. But his eyes found only... rock. A solid wall.
Theo froze in place. He stared for a moment, then felt the wall, it was rough stone, like the cave wall itself, but it completely blocked the passage. No opening, no crack, no sign that an entrance had been here earlier.
He felt a coldness sweep through his body, stronger than the cave's coldness. Had the dark entity trapped the entrance? Was this part of its plan? Was this a new trap?
He punched the wall forcefully with his fist. The blow produced a muffled echo in the narrow passage, but the wall did not budge. It was solid, as if it were an integral part of the mountain itself. He punched again, and a third time, using all his remaining physical strength. Pain spread through his hand and arm, but he ignored it. He had to get out. He had to get back to his mother, to Rayn.
He tried using dark magic. He gathered mana in his hand, shaped it into a small ball of dense darkness, then launched it at the wall. The ball hit the wall with a faint echo, scattering like black smoke without leaving a trace. He tried again, and a third time. His basic magical spells were useless against this wall.
Despair began to creep into his heart. Was he trapped here? Was this his destiny? To remain buried alive in this cave until his catastrophe ended, or what? He remembered the void he had been in, remembered the deadly boredom he had felt. Was this worse? At least here there was air, the sound of water, a feeling of the ground. But he was alone, trapped.
How long had it been since darkness swallowed him? Minutes? Hours? Days? In the void, there was no sense of time. Had he left Rayn alone for too long? Had his mother returned home to find him missing? Worried thoughts began to gnaw at his mind again. He had to get out, not just for himself, but for them too.
He looked at the rock wall blocking his way. It was massive, solid, unbreakable by ordinary force or basic magic. What could he do? What had the future self taught him? The advanced technique for absorbing aura? The Dark Mind spell? No, these were not for breaking walls. What about absolute power? The power the doppelgänger spoke of as part of the essence of darkness?
He remembered the future self's words about darkness's ability to completely destroy, then the Flame of Destruction spell came to his mind, that spell he learned from Celia which he had never dared to use at full power before, especially in an enclosed space. Celia had warned him repeatedly against using it recklessly, as its destructive power was immense, capable of destroying everything in its vicinity. Using it in an enclosed space like this cave would be suicide. The walls would collapse, and he would be buried under the rubble.
But... did he have another choice? Time was passing, and perhaps every second mattered. Was he ready to take the risk? Was he ready to pay the price the future self spoke of for power, and for the chance to escape?
Yes. He was ready. There was no room for despair now. He had to move.
Theo gathered dark mana in his hands, not just in his palms, but throughout his entire arms, drawing it from the depths of his body, from every part of his being connected to fire. He felt an immense power gathering, a power he had never felt before with such concentration. The blue mana condensed in his hands, transforming into a small blue ball, but radiating immense destructive energy. The energy surged, almost out of control.
He remembered Celia's warnings. He remembered how this spell could consume its user if not fully controlled. He felt intense heat radiating from the blue ball in his hands, a heat that was not ordinary fire, but the heat of nothingness, the heat of disintegration and destruction.
He had noticed that what had changed was not just the color from red to blue, but even its power had become stronger.
He looked at the wall blocking his way. He knew the risk. Using this power here meant the cave would collapse on him.
But he had to try.
He had to get out.
He directed the blue ball towards the wall, focusing all his will, all his energy, all his desire to escape into this spell. He felt his body tremble under the immense pressure, and a sharp glimmer of pain in his head from the intense mana concentration.
He unleashed the spell.
The small blue ball transformed into a dense blue beam, shooting towards the wall with a sound like a roaring storm. The beam struck the wall with a deafening echo that shook the entire cave. The sound was not an explosion, but the sound of disintegration, the sound of matter returning to nothingness. The wall began to erode, turning into black dust scattering in the air, as if time was turning back, erasing it from existence.
But the energy emitted from the spell was not entirely directed towards the wall. A large part of it spread into the narrow passage, bouncing off the walls, hitting the cave ceiling and floor. The cave shook more violently, and a tremendous cracking sound was heard coming from above and from the sides.
Theo immediately realized the horror of what he had done. He knew the spell was dangerous, but he hadn't expected its effect to be so violent in an enclosed space.
The cave was collapsing on him!
He didn't waste a second. As soon as the wall began to erode, even before it completely disappeared, Theo rushed forward, towards the black dust that filled the place. He didn't wait to see the full result of his spell. He had to escape. Now.
He ran through the passage that was collapsing around him. Large rocks fell from the ceiling, blocking the passage directly behind him. The ground shook violently beneath his feet, cracking. He heard a terrifying screeching sound coming from the rocks, as if they were screaming in pain as they disintegrated.
He ran at his maximum speed, dodging falling rocks, leaping over cracks that suddenly appeared on the ground.
The mana in his body was rapidly depleted due to the use of the Flame of Destruction, and he felt exhaustion hit his body. But he was driven by something stronger than physical fatigue, driven by the fear of being buried alive, and driven by the desire to survive, to return.
He looked behind him for a moment and saw the darkness and black dust swallowing the passage he came from. He realized that he was about to be buried alive under thousands of tons of rocks. He increased his speed, his lungs burning from the effort and the flying dust.
The collapsing passage was incredibly long. It seemed as if it would never end. The further he went, the more violent the collapse became. He heard a tremendous roar coming from the depths of the cave, as if the entire mountain was screaming.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of running in the heart of hell, he saw light. Not the light of floating candles, but real sunlight, daylight he hadn't seen in a long time. It was a small glimmer at the end of the collapsing passage, but it represented hope, it represented salvation.
Theo rushed towards the light with all his remaining strength. He heard a tremendous sound behind him, as if the entire cave had collapsed at that moment. He felt a strong wave of air hit him from behind, carrying dust and small rocks. But he did not stop.
He emerged from the collapsed cave opening, gasping for breath, his lungs burning.
He fell onto the grass outside the entrance, eagerly inhaling the fresh air. His body trembled, his muscles screamed in pain, and he tasted blood in his mouth.
He survived.
He miraculously survived.
He slowly raised his head to look at the cave entrance. It had completely collapsed, a massive pile of rocks blocking the opening he had exited from, no one could enter it now, and no one could exit it.
He felt a mixture of relief and fear. Relieved that he had survived, and scared because he realized the extent of the destructive power he had unleashed, and how it had almost killed him.
The air outside the cave was cold and refreshing, different from the damp and heavy air of the cave.
The sun was bright in the sky, radiating warmth on his face.
He tried to stand up, leaning on his knees, then slowly stood, feeling dizzy.
He looked around. He was in the same area from which he had entered the cave with Rayn, trees surrounded him, and the grassy ground stretched before him. But something was different, something unsettling.
He heard sounds. Sounds coming from the surrounding forest. Not the sounds of domesticated animals, but rough sounds, clanging weapons, a low growl. Sounds of... monsters.
Theo tensed his exhausted body. He gathered what little mana he had left. He looked towards the source of the sounds.
They emerged from among the trees. Not one or two, but dozens. Huge green creatures, carrying axes and primitive clubs, Orcs. Beside them, smaller creatures, with long noses and malicious yellow eyes, Goblins. But they were not just ordinary Orcs and Goblins.
There were other creatures among them, larger and more terrifying, their skin darker, their eyes glowing red or orange, and bearing strange scars or markings on their bodies. With dangerous horns on their heads.
Demonic Orcs and Demonic Goblins.
Their numbers were incredibly large, much more than Theo had ever seen. It seemed as if they had been waiting. Waiting for something. Were they waiting for him? Was his exit from the cave what prompted their appearance?
Theo stood alone, exhausted after his experience in the void and his escape from the collapsing cave, facing a small army of Orcs and Goblins, some of whom seemed possessed by a dark power. He had no weapon, and his mana was almost completely depleted.