Advent of the Three Calamities

Chapter 287: Insomnia [1]

One after another, the candidates disappeared from the plaza. Overlooking the scene from a different area were several people.

"....Looks like it\'s starting."

Atlas mumbled, quietly taking a sip of the tea in his hand.

His yellow pupils were serene and clear as he smiled slightly. Opposite him stood another

figure. With short green hair and eyes, they appeared to be one with nature, their demenour and features otherworldly.

He was none other than the Seat of Genesis.

Emporium Modgarth.

Taking a sip, he quietly closed his eyes before opening them up again and staring at Atlas.

"You seem quite interested in what\'s happening."

"....I am "

Atlas quietly replied, turning his attention back toward the plaza.

"I think I\'ve found him."

"Hm?"

A shift occurred in Emporium\'s features as he looked at Atlas in surprise.

"..... You found him?"

"More or less."

Taking another sip, Atlas leaned back on the chair.

"I\'ll make up my decision by the time this summit is over. I would like to see how far he can make it before coming up with a decision."

|| ||

Emporium sat in silence.

It was hard to tell what his thoughts were as his face remained expressionless the entire time, but it wasn\'t so hard to see the shock in his eyes this time.

In all the years that he had known Atlas, this was the first time he had shown interest in someone else.

There had been many people who had tried to come under his wing and become the next in line for the Seat of Dawn, but he promptly rejected them.

Everyone assumed that it was because he was never interested in taking up a successor and accepted the explanation, but things were different now.

It soon became clear to Emporium.

\'It\'s not that he isn\'t interested in taking on a successor, but it\'s that none of them suited his tastes.\'

The realization came as a shock.

To be able to attract Atlas\'s attention.

Who?

Who could it be...?

"You\'ll see eventually."

As if Atlas could read through his thoughts, he placed the teacup down and smiled in amusement, seemingly anticipating what was to come.

"He\'ll be difficult to miss."

||

".....

Emporium quietly stared at Atlas for a brief moment before turning his attention toward the plaza. The more he looked at Atlas, the more curious he became.

A few candidates appeared in his mind before eventually, a figure emerged in his mind.

\'Caius...?\'

He was the number one ranked candidate amongst all of those participating, and he also had his eyes on him.

The more Emporium thought about it, the more likely he found the candidate to be.

\'It\'s not a bad choice.\'

No, it was a really good choice, but...

\'....I don\'t think this is it.\'

Caius was extremely talented. Amongst some of the best Emporium had ever seen, there were plenty of other talents that were like him that had tried to become the next in line for the Seat of Dawn, only to be rejected by Atlas.

There was something that he was missing, but he wasn\'t sure what exactly.

In the end, he could only silently observe the situation.

Since Atlas said that he\'d see, then he would see. For now, there was something else that he needed to talk to him about.

"What are you going to do about her?"

"...Hmm."

Atlas\'s smile gradually started to fade as the atmosphere suddenly grew tense. The subject in question was none other than Delilah who was hiding somewhere in the plaza.

"Now is not the time."

"Why?"

"....She\'s an important figure within the Empire. Until the leader is ready, we are not to make a move."

"But at the rate that she\'s growing, she will become a problem."

"She\'s already a problem."

Atlas replied with a helpless look.

"I won\'t be able to come out unscathed if the two of us were to fight."

Turning his palm, a black sphere appeared on top of his palm. Within the sphere, several images flashed. They were images of a young girl sitting alone in a small and ruined house.

She appeared to be talking to herself while her eyes were hollow and unfocused. It was a memory of a long time ago.

Atlas had kept it with him the entire time, reminding himself of what he had done.

Of his...

First failure.

***

I stood in silence, quietly taking in the view that was presented before me. From the buildings

to very little detail that was presented before me. I was able to recognize everything.

Without a doubt, this was the place within my vision.

\'No, not everything is quite the same.\'

There were a few things that were different, but it was still nonetheless about the same as in

the vision.

Back then, things were a lot more ruined.

But that was beside the point...

\'I did hear that there were ruins within the mirror dimension, but this is the first time that I\'m seeing

them.\'

Taking a step forward, I moved closer to one of the buildings and traced my finger over it.

"....A past civilization?"

The architecture was somewhat crude. It didn\'t look like anything from my current world and

the previous ones.

It was some sort of civilization that thrived in the past.

But as I looked up at the sky and felt the dry air that surrounded me, I frowned.

\'How can anyone survive in this sort of place?\'

Could it be that the Mirror Dimension was different in the past? ...Or was there more to it that I

didn\'t know?

||

I stood in silence while contemplating the situation.

In the end, I decided to explore the space around better. There was no one around me, and it

was just me.

Of course, it wouldn\'t be like this for long.

Soon, my pocket vibrated and I took out a small map where several dots appeared.

"It looks like everyone has been transported."

The map was something that was given to us by the organizer, and it displayed the location of

all the cadets from the same Empire. At the same time, there was also a large orange circle at

the center of the map, which indicated the place where we needed to go.

....The first phase was simple.

Reach the orange point.

"This is quite troublesome."

We also had a time limit of one week. If we failed to reach the destination in time, then we\'d

be eliminated. That wasn\'t all. The Mirror Dimension was filled with incredibly powerful

monsters and beasts.

If we lost against them, we\'d also be eliminated.

The trial was simple, but at the same time incredibly hard.

"I should try to find someone to team up with."

Right now, I was located in the lower corner of the map.

There were several dots not so far from where I was, and the best approach was for me to find

them so that we could team up and leave this place for the orange point.

.... Avoiding monsters was not hard for me, but the same couldn\'t be said for the members of

the other Empires.

They weren\'t going to be as easy to avoid as the monsters.

"Okay, that\'s decided."

I wrapped the map and placed it in my bag.

\'Good thing I have the ring.\' The bag was quite small, and could hardly fit a few bottles of water and food. Since relics and

artifacts weren\'t banned, this would provide a good advantage for me.

Rustle~

I had just taken a step forward when I stopped.

From the corner of my vision, I spotted a silhouette.

Immediately, I grew alert.

\'A human?\'

Warily staring in the direction of the noise, I slowly closed my palms, my breath hitching in

the cold night air.

I quietly stretched the threads around the broken remains of the building, every creak and

rustle making my heart twitch.

As the world grew silent, the quiet wail of the wind whistled through the air.

My fingers trembled as I worked, sensing a presence watching from the darkness, waiting for

the right moment to strike.

"Who is there?"

As I spoke, the threads quietly stretched in the direction of where the noise came from, and

soon, they covered the entire area.

Only then did I stop and continue to eye the area.

"Come out before I attack."

"........"

My words were met with silence, and my body tensed.

Suddenly, the ground beneath me trembled.

"!"

My head flicked down, and as it did, I saw two thin, slender hands emerge from the ground

beneath me.

They gripped my ankles tightly, their touch cold and firm.

I didn\'t hesitate to cross my arms as the threads that surrounded me sprang into action and

directly sliced the hands apart.

Spuuuurt-!

Black blood spilled into the air as the hands were sliced open.

Immediately, I jumped back and distanced myself from the area that I was in.

"Hoo."

My heart skipped a beat as I watched the hands slowly regenerate, sinew and bone knitting together before my eyes.

Panic surged through me, but it was only the beginning.

The ground beneath me shook violently, and more hands began to emerge, clawing their way

out of the earth.

They seemed desperate in their approach as they clawed toward me in a desperate attempt to

reach for me.

||

ײן

Like before, I jumped up in the air and tensed the threads which directly cut the slender hands

that were reaching out for me.

"What sort of...!"

This time, I didn\'t stop to look at the hands.

Looking around, my eyes darted all over the place as I looked for an elevated area.

"There...!"

It was then that I spotted a broken building that was covered in moss and vines which gently

rustled under the wind.

I didn\'t think twice and ran in that direction.

"Ukeh!"

But just as I took a step in that direction, another hand emerged from the ground beneath me.

Stunned, my finger twitched as another thread appeared, trying to cut the hand.

Tink!

But it was to my utter shock and horror to see the thread stop right before the hand.

"Uh!?"

I felt a certain pain over my ankle as the hand firmly gripped me.

"....!"

Stunned, I summoned more threads and tried to get rid of the hand, but if that wasn\'t enough,

several more hands emerged from the ground beneath me.

My eyes widened in horror as they reached out for my clothes and grabbed me tightly.

"Ukh!!"

From my thighs, ankles, shirt, shoulders, neck, hair...

Before I knew it, over a dozen hands were gripping every part of my body, pulling me back.

"Ahhh...!"

I could only groan as they pulled me down to the earth.

In moments, half of my body was buried in the ground. Desperately, I tried to pull myself up,

but more hands emerged, gripping my head and shoulders tightly.

They reached for my face, their cold, bony fingers slowly pulling my mouth and eyes back.

Desperately, I clung to the ground, my fingers digging into the dirt as I fought against their relentless pull.

My muscles strained, and my breath came in ragged gasps, but the hands were firm, dragging

me inch by inch toward the dark, suffocating earth below.

"Ahhhk..!"