29 Chapter XXIX: The Kingdom at the Bottom of the Abyss

He didn't know where he was or who he even was. All that he knew was floating in some form of liquid and that he felt safe and warm. A steady beat resounded around him, which quickly resonated with one of his own.

He didn't know how much time had passed with him in this state before he suddenly felt his surroundings shift and change. The fluid that he had been floating in suddenly vanished, and something began pushing against him.

He tried to move, but his muscles were too weak to withstand the tyrannical force of whatever was trying to expel him. Soon, he got tired and gave up resisting. The pressure on him increased as he was pushed into some sort of tight opening.

His head got compressed by the tight tunnel as he was getting pushed further and further into it.

Then, after an agonizingly long time, the pressure on him got removed, and he felt a weird sense of freedom and weightlessness.

When he opened his mouth, a burning sensation surged through his lungs, causing him to let out a piercing, shrill scream.

Immediately, he felt himself being moved in the air before being lowered into the embrace of someone.

He felt himself getting pressed against something incredibly soft and warm. It was then that he felt the same rythm beat that he was familiar with from his time floating in the strange fluid, and it served to calm him down immensely. He didn't know why but he instictively knew that he was in a safe place.

Opening of his eyes proved to be a challenging endeavor as the blinding light outside almost blinded him. He had to squint his eyes to see a few inches before him. The face of a fair skinned woman was looking down on him. Her blond hair was matted with sweat, and her green eyes were marred with exhaustion. Yet, her lips were graced with a lovely, gentle smile.

She moved her lips to say something that he failed to understand at the time, "Welcome to this world William, I am your mother."

Then, he felt something soft being introduced into his mouth. His insticts immediately made him open his mouth and begin sucking. Sweet and warm fluid flowed into his mouth, and he gulped it down ravenously.

Suddenly, the scene froze as if a video was paused. Then, hairline fractures began appearing all over it, making Crack! Crack! sounds

Soon, the cracks began expanding and branching until the scene was like a horribly damaged mirror. After that, the scene shattered into trillions and trillions of shards, which fell into the dark abyss - never to be restored again.

All that was left was darkness.

William opened his eyes and was immediately met by the runes of the Nightmare Spell.

[You died.]

[You have become less whole.]

Immediately, he got assaulted by the worst headache of his life. It felt as if someone had been beating his head with a sledgehammer.

"Fuck!" he hissed as he shut his eyes and held his head in his hands. Taking in deep, measured breaths allowed for the headache to dissipate.

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was that he was lying on some sort of smooth, cold, hard surface while being illuminated by a large brazier hanging from the top; said brazier was burning with an eerie blue flame that failed to give off any heat whatsoever.

Also, he was buck naked.

"Why the hell am I naked?" he muttered feeling extremely confused by his whole situation as he lifted himself off the ground. As he rose up, a cold draft passed through his lower region where his little brother was dangling freely. With but a thought, spinning sparks of light appeared over his entire body and after a few seconds they disappeared, revealing the [Osseous Exoarmor] that covered William's entire body sans the head.

"That's better," he nodded in appreciation. After weeks of traveling in armor, he felt weird and exposed when not wearing it. With his wardobe situation handled, William observed the area around him.

He was standing on some sort of platform that had four thick pillar made of a dark grey stone supporting the roof from which the big blue-flame brazier was hanging from.

However, the platform he was on was the least of his worries as he gazed, slack jawed, at the humongous black palace infront of him. The castle looked like one of those old gothic-styled buildings he had seen pictures of in the past; yet, it was much bigger than building had the right to be. Surrounding the castle was some sort of wall that didn't even reach half of the palace's height.

Moreover, the area surrounding the palace's walls was packed full of carefully spaced and designed luxurious buildings and houses. That area also was surrounded by a wall that seperated it from the final region.

Unlike the previously posh and luxurious region, the final one was more akin to a mish mash of mismatching building and sloppily made wooden structures that bled and mingled into each other in a mess that stretched as far as the eye could see. It was clear to him that it was the slums while the previous one must have been where the wealthy were living.

At the far edges of the slums stood a wall that reached about to three-fourths the height of the palace.

Behind that wall, in the dark void, there was a shimmering layer of light. William followed the shimmering layer until his eyes layed upon a large crimson moon in the dark skies that seemed to have a dark hole in its center.

William gazed at the red moon in confusion - afterall, the Forgotten Shore had no moon. Then, the moon blinked and his blood ran cold in his veins.

'That is not a moon!' he thought in panic as the red structure blinked again before moving away. William's gut was yelling at him that something bad was going to happen. Thus, he went to one of the pillars and held onto it for dear life with both his hands and the bony spider-legs that emerged from his armor. Not a second later, a deafening Bang! rang out as the whole kindom shook heavily.

Looking at the skies again, the white-haired youth saw the owner of the red eyes - a titanic serpentine leviathan - was smashing it's head against the shimmering globe that encased the entire place. Against all odds, the globe of light stood defiant against the unrelenting assault. One after another, the attacks continued and the kingdom shook on its foundations.

William heard something crash down below him. Looking down hesitantly, he saw that several of the wooden hovels that could not withstand the excessive earthquakes generated from the leviathan had broken down into debris on the ground.

After a good while, the leviathan grew either frustrated or bored and decided to swim elsewhere. William let out a sigh of relief before letting go of the pillar he wa holding on to, which had his hand prints engraved in them with how strong he was holding onto it.

"What the fuck is this place?" he muttered under his breath as he observed the silent kingdom below him. "And how the in the nine hells did I get here?"

The last thing he remembered was finishing Cassie's familiar ritual which had thankfully succeeded before finding himself here. Something had happened in that blank period in his memory that resulted in him being here. But what was it?

He never read about a place like this existing in the novel which reaffirmed the notion that this was no longer a linear novel. It was real life now; so, it's not that far fetched that places and people exist that the author wrote nothing about.

Speaking of novels, he wondered what the others were doing right now, 'Hopefully, me dying will not impede them from reaching bright castle.'

William shook his head to clear away those thoughts, he needed to focus on how to leave this this place; fate will facilitate for the trio to get to Bright Castle - one way or another.

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I'm very sorry that this chapter is so short and has been delayed.

My university postponed one of our exams, so I still couldn't write anything even on the 8th.

I have some things I want to clarify with you guys in regards to future chapter updates. I have already said before that when I get into the next block of my 4th year, the update schedule would change.

Well, I have good news and bad news.

Good news: I have zero plans on abandoning this fanfic, so rest assured to everyone wondering.

Bad news: The medicine block I am in now doesn't give me enough time to post a chapter every two days without it affecting my academic performance so the new updates will be few and far in between but I will try to update every once a week or several times in that period if I have any spare time.

Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,

John_Doe_777