Back in Time

“Salvos grab my hand!”

I glanced up and saw my companion leaning over the edge of the portal. I tried to swim out of the darkness— out of the black ocean that was closing in on me. My companion reached out for me and I reached for him—

And the circle closed.

Everything went black. There was no more light. I felt like I was being born once again, stuck in an infinite void. I tried to break out of it. I swung my arms, scratching at the surface, but nothing broke. Nothing except for the silence in my head.

Now Leaving [Lair: Lucerna’s Lamp].

Now Leaving [Demon King’s Domain].

Now Leaving [Nexeus: Netherworld].

After those words came, there was nothing for a moment. Just a moment. Then I heard a crack.

Now Entering [Nexeus: Mortal Realm]—

“Salvos!”

And I snapped back to reality; felt the loss of gravity. The memory flashed in my head, coming and going in an instant. I remembered that moment— the moment where I’d lost my first companion, Haec. It haunted me to this day. It was my greatest regret.

I hadn’t been prepared for it. I was only trying to save him, but I abandoned him. I broke my promise to him. I said I’d be his leader. That I’d always protect him. I failed. I left him alone in the Netherworld to fend for himself.

Was he still alive? My Dad told me he was alright. But that had been a month ago. The Netherworld was a dangerous place, and plenty of things could change in mere moments there. After all, I remembered a time when it hadn’t just been Haec and I. When there had been others there. We banded together. Not necessarily for safety, but simply because we didn’t know any better. There were so many of us, and in a flash, I was alone.

And it was happening again.

I was going to be alone again. Not just that— I was breaking my promises again. Just like last time. All in an instant.

I looked up. Daniel, Edithe, Willy, and even Orgaf yelled as they ran for me. I reached out to them, opening my mouth—

And the circle closed.

Everything went black. The portal vanished as I was dragged out of the Mortal Realm.

Now leaving [Nexeus: Mortal Realm]!

I remembered this feeling like it was just yesterday. The odd sensation of crossing through the planes. From the outside, entering and exiting a portal seemed simple enough. It was as though I entered and exited one limb at a time. Nothing complex about that.

But when I entered the portal, I was engulfed in darkness. No— it wasn’t just shadows. It was nothing like Orgaf’s magic. It was different. A deep, looming emptiness consumed me. I couldn’t even feel the [Hellabomination] clinging onto my leg. In here, there was truly nothing.

The only thing I sensed were words in my head, somehow echoing in this bottomless pit.

It was odd. I had been here before, but I felt nothing like this the last time I crossed planes. It was, as I remembered, a moment of nothingness. Then suddenly I was in the Mortal Realm.

However, here? At this moment? A split second extended to an eternity. A place where time itself didn’t matter. It was like I was trapped in a [Warped Time] bubble, except far more potent. It was the home of the Devil: the place where reality mattered not.

I could sense everything happening, unlike back then. But why? Why was I acutely aware of my surroundings? How did I know how quickly I was traversing through the thin fold between planes? No— it wasn’t a distance I was covering, per se, but it was the only thing that let me contextualize what I knew was happening.

It was like seeing something you couldn’t quite comprehend. It reminded me of when I first saw the corruption— or when I first took in the sight of a rock before proper examination. I knew what it was, yet I couldn’t quite parse this. But the fact that I was even aware of something I hadn’t known before was a testament to how far I’d grown. To the strength of my Class. [Planar Navigation] and my other Class Skills helped me make sense of my surroundings, and it let me act during this immortal moment.

I closed my eyes— not that it made a difference— and I concentrated. I was being pulled into the Netherworld. Not just by the wild Primeval Demon, but by something else. By the magic of the summoning ritual.

The fold between planes was nothing like how I’d imagined— there were layers to it. I was tearing through these layers, damaging reality itself. The holes closed behind me, reality reasserted itself, but weaker now. And I didn’t have much of reality to pass through until I was fully out the other side.

I had to cut it off if I wanted to escape. To get back to the Mortal Realm. I began to focus on distorting reality around me: to create a field that snipped the threads of magic reeling me into the Netherworld.

Then I hesitated. Did I really want that? This was my goal all along, wasn’t it?

I had wanted to return to the Netherworld since the very beginning. Since I arrived here to the Mortal Realm. I’d be able to find Haec— reunite with him! I’d make sure he was safe; bring him back with me.

…to the Mortal Realm. Where Humans would hunt him and kill him for who he was. For the sin of being born a Demon.

If he was discovered, I wouldn’t be able to protect him. Not against Helena Warshade. Not against Clayton Skyshredder. Not against Humankind.

I was not strong enough to keep my promise to him. I didn’t want to admit this— my pride refused— but I knew it was true. I’d fail him, just as I did the first time around.

And more than that— I still had promises to keep in the Mortal Realm. There were so many things I had to do. I couldn't leave yet.

Words echo in my head. Belzu’s words.

“You who have shed what you are in exchange for the security and protection of Humans.”

It swayed me— tried to convince me not to make my choice.

“Are you actually ashamed to be a Demon?”

But I’d already made my decision. Long before this moment. I brought up an arm, even if I couldn’t feel it. The only thing I sensed were the mana threads that tugged me through the fold between space, protecting me from its pressure.

Once I severed the thread, nothing would protect me from the all-consuming nothingness. I’d have to fend for myself. Still, I grabbed the mana threads and ripped it all away—

Then I was turning. I was tumbling. I was no longer headed for the Netherworld. I was spiraling out of control, yet I remained still. It was paradoxical. It didn’t make sense. But a sense of dread crept in. And the encroaching death of my senses loomed over me.

I began to wrap myself in my own magic, like [Warped Time] did to my targets. A distortion in space, but in this compressed reality. I wove the threads, creating a cloth to wear. To protect me.

I couldn’t build a house with what little magic I had to work with. I wasn’t as strong as my Dad— not yet, anyway. I only had what little layer covering me. And it was eroding quickly. It would fall to this overwhelming pressure.

My sensations numbed even further. Even my magic felt like it was withering away. I opened my mouth to scream— just to feel something. But nothing came out.

I couldn’t lose myself. I had to make it back to the Mortal Realm. I couldn’t die here, trapped between the planes. My Dad wasn’t going to save me. No one was going to save me here. Except for—

[Advancement Available]

—myself.

I still had a Class advancement. One that I had saved up for the future. I had options. Four of them, to be exact.

[Archmystic of the Nexeus] was the first of them. It offered me security— kept what I had and built upon it. There was little risk to it, and while it could save me from being overwhelmed by the fold between planes, it also might not offer me a way out.

The next was [Draconic Apprentice]. It offered me power, pure and simple. It was a drastic shift away from the path I had undertaken, but it gave me strength above all else. Perhaps it might be enough for me to brute force my way out, or maybe not…

Third came [Space Archmagus]. It was the clearest solution to this predicament of all: a net of safety in this pit of nothing. The equivalent of a [Space Archmage], I’d undoubtedly be able to find my way back to the Mortal Realm with it. And, eventually, I’d be able to find my way to Haec with it. But… would I be able to keep my promise then?

Lastly, there was [Younger Sentinel of Spacetime]. It promised to give me what I needed to protect those I cared about, and more. To save the world. Like a [Hero]. Unfortunately, I wasn’t a [Hero]. That was Daniel’s job, not mine.

I looked through my options. All four of them, once again flashed in my mind. [Archmystic of the Nexeus], [Draconic Apprentice], [Space Archmagus], and [Younger Sentinel of Spacetime]. It was a tough choice.

I felt the cloth of protection I wore beginning to peel away, the threads undoing themselves. A sense of fading urgency moved me to act, and I considered it all.

Belzu’s words. My failures. My regrets. My goals. My predicament. It all weighed on me.

All of it. For a moment, it felt like it was too much for me to handle. My pride felt like it would shatter. But my eyes flashed. In the nothingness, there was something. I was there. And I made my choice.

Advancement Complete—