Chapter 260
Awake
Falling…
IAM was falling through the darkness—completely unanchored, untouched, unbound by anything that could be called real.
There was no sensation of movement or resistance. Only the endless stretch of void that swallowed sound, space, and sense.
He could not tell if he was descending, ascending, or simply suspended in an eternal stillness. The concept of direction meant nothing here. There was only the nothingness that pressed gently against him like invisible water.
The Sacrificium Sanctum had vanished long ago, dissolving like mist into the black. Without it, IAM was left with no way to measure how far he had fallen—or if he had ever moved at all.
Time too had unraveled. Seconds bled into eternities, or perhaps eternities bled into seconds. His thoughts slowed, then blurred, as if his very consciousness were being stretched thin across the void.
And yet…
There was something achingly familiar about it.
IAM's eyes slowly closed. For the briefest moment, he felt as though he had been here before…
Before he could begin to investigate that creeping sense of familiarity, a sudden wave of trepidation coursed through him—it was absolute. His entire body stiffened as though his instincts were screaming in terror.
A violent shiver tore through his spine, and cold sweat began to pour down his skin, each droplet sliding through the void like liquid ice.
He didn't dare move. Not even to breathe. The air—if there was any—had turned heavy and suffocating.
Then, a feeling came.
A harrowing awareness that he was no longer alone.
The darkness around him... was watching.
It was no longer a shapeless void but a sentient expanse, a vast ocean of unseen eyes pressed against the edges of his consciousness.
He could feel them—each gaze ancient and cold, dissecting his being.
His heart pounded violently, echoing like thunder in the emptiness. Every instinct screamed to flee, yet there was nowhere to run. This was not a presence that belonged to this world—or any world bound by logic or time.
IAM could feel it with terrifying clarity.
Whatever it was, it existed on a scale so immense it eclipsed understanding—something that transcended his existence, the Academy, the nations, and perhaps even the entirety of Holem itself.
It was beyond power, beyond meaning—an entity that regarded creation as nothing more than a ripple in its vast, indifferent sea.
In that moment, IAM felt indescribably small—so insignificant that even the concept of "self" began to crumble. His thoughts fractured under the sheer weight of what surrounded him. Every attempt to think, to reason, to understand, only made his sanity slip further away, like sand running through open fingers.
What was this!?
The question tore through his mind, desperate and frantic. The oppressive silence of the void swallowed it whole. No answer came—only that same unbearable awareness suffocating him.
What could such a terrible being possibly want with me?
IAM's heartbeat hammered against his ribs as if trying to escape. His vision—or what passed for it in this empty expanse—blurred, and for a moment, it felt like his consciousness itself was unraveling. Then, through the chaos of his terror, something clicked.
A memory. A buried sensation resurfaced.
This familiarity—it wasn't new. He had felt this before.
The realization struck him like a blade. This was the same place… the same feeling he had experienced when he first fell into this world. That endless descent through lightless nothingness.
And not just then.
This was also the dream—the one he had every so often but could never remember upon waking. The one he had always dismissed as pleasant, gentle, almost serene. He would wake with a smile, thinking it was a good dream.
But now, before that unfathomable presence, IAM understood the truth.
This was more of a nightmare!
Upon realizing that this was most likely the existence that had brought him into this world, IAM's mind spiraled into chaos.
A multitude of questions surged through him, clashing and colliding until they became a storm of confusion and fear.
Why him ?
What could such a being possibly need from him?
It made no sense. Something of this scale—something that could shape worlds, twist reality, and erase meaning itself—had no reason to concern itself with him. It felt like it could achieve anything it desired, bend any law of nature, and yet… it had chosen him.
Why IAM?
Why now?
Had it always been watching? Waiting for this precise moment to reveal itself again?
Or—his thoughts froze—the far darker possibility crept in.
Could it be… that it no longer has any use for him?
The chill spread deeper, settling into his chest.
His heart turned cold at the thought.
If that were true—if this being had truly finished whatever purpose IAM had unknowingly served—then what was left for him now?
In that boundless void, under the gaze of an existence beyond comprehension, IAM suddenly felt the terrifying fragility of his own being… as if a single thought from it could unmake him entirely.
Suddenly—something happened.
[ ]
IAM's eyes widened, his pupils trembling as his mind struggled to process what had just occurred.
It had spoken to him.
But the words… the words were impossible. He couldn't understand them, couldn't even remember what they were a heartbeat after they reached him. It was as if the very structure of language had broken down, as if his brain wasn't built to hold such meaning.
And yet—he knew.
He couldn't recall it, couldn't translate it, but the knowledge existed somewhere beneath—etched directly into his being. It was neither hearing nor seeing, neither comprehension nor instinct. It was something beyond that, an awareness that bypassed the human mind entirely.
He could sense what it had said. He could perceive it. He could know it.
But he could not repeat it.
The knowledge was too vast, too fundamental, like trying to describe color to someone who had never seen it. His mouth opened slightly, but nothing came out—not even a breath. He was frozen, trapped between awe and terror.
He couldn't reply.
And yet… it seemed to understand.
IAM felt it— The crushing weight that had pinned his soul in place eased, and the immeasurable fear that had flooded every nerve drained away in an instant.
[ ]
The sound—or whatever it was—brushed against IAM's consciousness again, and this time, he instinctively answered, his voice barely more than a trembling whisper.
"...thank you…"
[ ]
His expression twisted, confusion flickering across his face. "What?" he muttered.
And then—chaos.
Symbols and sounds that didn't belong to any human tongue surged into his mind like a storm of molten glass—@£__*::£_##£¥$€¥¢. His thoughts fragmented, his vision flickered, and the air around him seemed to ripple.
IAM clutched his head in agony as a sharp pulse of pain tore through him—only for it to vanish in an instant, it was subdued,l. The existence had forced it to quieten, as if it pitied his weakness.
[ ]
He could only listen now. His face shifted repeatedly—confusion, disbelief, fear, realization.
"Ok… I… no… no… no!" he stammered, shaking his head as if to reject the incomprehensible truth being laid before him.
And then, finally—
[ ]
IAM's eyes widened. His breath stopped. And slowly, almost reverently, he whispered, "I… I… I understand… but—"
He never finished.
The world folded in on itself.
IAM's eyes snapped open.
A blinding white light filled his vision, and for a heartbeat, everything was still.
Then—
"He's awake! Quick, come! He's actually awake!"
The voice shattered the silence, pulling IAM violently back into reality.