Chapter 216 ( Acnologia )
"I guess you're right, we just have to defeat him" - Meru said while frowning.
* * * * *
"What happened?" - Cloud asked as he looked around in confusion.
He was in what appeared to be a completely dark room that wasn't emitting any kind of sound - ". . ."
"So you're the worm that stole my power..." - a male voice was heard in the middle of the darkness.
"!" - Cloud's eyes shot open when he heard that man speak because he recognized his voice almost immediately - "Impossible!"
"Nothing is impossible, worm" - said the voice again as the man appeared a few meters away from the blond, showing his appearance. He was a man in his early 20's, wild blue hair, eyes as black as night and tanned skin. He was not wearing any clothing over his torso, only a cape that showed off his musculature - "Welcome to the void, trash... place where all consciousnesses merge..."
"Acnologia..." - Cloud muttered as he squinted his eyes.
"Don't say my name, trash" - Acnalogia replied with disdain - "I will not allow my great name to come out of the mouth of a human trash who doesn't even have the power to defeat a child from my world."
". . ." - Cloud fell silent when he heard this because it was fucking demeaning - "How was it that you appeared in front of me?"
"I don't have to answer your questions" - Acnalogia replied neutrally - "And if it wasn't because I'm just a consciousness chained to this place, I would destroy your consciousness and make your body destroy the world you came from..."
". . ." - Cloud again fell silent when he heard this as he felt his back freeze.
"Surprised that I would say something like that?" - Acnalogia asked with a huge, feral grin - "Then you're stupider than I thought..."
"You were the one who brought me here?" - Cloud asked as he decided to ignore the disdain-filled words of the man in front of him.
"You could say yes" - replied Acnalogia as he narrowed his eyes - "I wanted to know what kind of entity had managed to break off a fragment of my consciousness and devour it.... though now I regret knowing it, not only are you human trash, but you're also a worm that can't even stand up to me... a disgrace to my title of [Kokuryū], more so knowing that you found it difficult to fight someone who isn't even a full dragon..."
". . ." - Cloud fell silent again as he felt his anger steadily growing.
"Angry to hear the truth?" - Acnalogia asked disdainfully - "Too bad you can't do anything to stop me from continuing to insult the pathetic excuse for space in the multiverse that is your disappointing existence."
"Tell me at once what it is you want so I can get out of this place" - Cloud said as he frowned furiously.
"Heh~" - Acnalogia just smiled as she looked at the boy - "If I'm honest with you, I wouldn't be wasting my time with you if it wasn't for the fact that I know a little bit about you, as well as the system you have"
"Huh?" - Cloud's eyes widened when he heard this because he never thought he would get this answer.
"What are you surprised about?" - Acnalogia asked while frowning - "I said that I am the consciousness of my original self and at the same time that of all my alternate selves."
"What do you mean?" - Cloud asked with irritation.
"That I not only have the knowledge of my original self, but that of all my other versions" - replied Acnalogia as she shrugged - "The one who was defeated by those pathetic Dragon Slayers, the one who managed to kill them and destroy the world, the one who managed to get her revenge and live in peace, the one who could never become a Dragon Slayer, even the one I was born as a woman... I am also the one of those who were 'Rebooted'..."
". . ." - Cloud was shocked when he heard.
"Anyway, let's get straight to the reason why I called you" - Acnalogia said as she narrowed her eyes - "As pathetic as your existence is, you still have the talent to grow at great speed, that's why I want to make a deal with you..."
"A deal?" - Cloud asked as a small smile appeared on his face. He never thought to hear that the Dragon of the Apocalypse himself would try to negotiate with a mere 'worm'.
"As I said, I am the combined consciousness of all my 'incarnations'" - Acnalogia replied - "That is why I am talking to you and not simply using every means to subdue your consciousness."
". . ." - Cloud was silent when he heard this because even though he wasn't sure if it was possible, there was a fairly high possibility that Acnalogia could affect his mind in some way and thus control his actions one way or another.
"It's good to see that you understand your situation" - smiled Acnalogia coldly - "Anyway, the thing is simple... I want you, when you get to my home world, to help me make a connection with my 'Actual' self so I can escape from this fucking place..."
Cloud's expression changed when he heard this because it was obvious that if he did something like that, he would end up having a myriad of problems.
Whatever the name of this void was, it was obvious that any entity that dwelled here, he shouldn't leave because it would be a problem not only for his home world, but also for others, after all, the entities in this place had the knowledge of hundreds of other places.
"Calm down, I understand very well that it is impossible for me to leave complete" - Acnalogia answered neutrally - "The entity that created this information bank, made it in such a way that it would be impossible to extract knowledge from the multiverse and take it outside, so even if I left this place, I would only take knowledge from my original world, as well as my emotions, the rest of my knowledge would be transformed into what you could call.... artificial intelligence? I'm not quite sure of the term as I never paid attention to advanced knowledge because I'm more of a man of action."
"I see..." - Cloud nodded as he looked at the man in front of him - "If you talk like that, it means you know someone who has managed to escape."
"Exactly" - nodded Acnalogia - "Although in fact, I've escaped before."
"Huh?" - Cloud was surprised when he heard this because that was an answer he hadn't expected.
"I won't go into more details since it doesn't concern you and it would only make my chances of escaping become smaller, so let's leave the subject until there" - Acnalogia said as she went back to her condescending attitude - "Well?do you accept the deal?"
"What's in it for me?" - Cloud asked seriously.
"Hmm... excellent question" - nodded Acnalogia earnestly as his aura exploded.
Cloud felt all his senses screaming for him to run away at high speed.
"I may be restrained without being able to do much... but that doesn't mean I can't do anything against you, you little piece of garbage" - Acnalogia said coldly - "I feel that because you're talking to me, you think I'm someone very different from my original self.... and if you really think that, then let me tell you that you're wrong... I'm still the same entity that wants to see the world fall, it's just that now I have a bit more self-control thanks to my lives in which I lived in peace... although now that I think about it, in those lives I still ended up killing countless people.... Hmm... it's ironic that my destiny is still heading towards destruction despite all the changes..."
". . ." - Cloud could only feel himself running out of air at the sheer pressure he was feeling right now.
"Oh... I guess that happens when one remembers the past..." - Acnalogia said as she smiled coldly as she noticed how the boy was on the ground with a pale face - "And answering your question, what you will gain, is getting out of here alive and with all your mental faculties optimal... not a bad deal, right?"
". . ." - Cloud was silent as he nodded firmly.
"It's a deal..." - Acnalogia nodded though after a few seconds he frowned as he thought some things - "Hmm..."
Cloud froze as he felt Acnalogia's gaze on his body.
"I think I'm going to give you some benefits..." - Acnalogia said as he narrowed his eyes - "If I remember correctly, you [Users] are a lot more annoying than [Protagonists], so it's possible that when we meet again you'll be a lot stronger than I think..."
The blue-haired man was silent for a few seconds before shooting another glance at the blond boy and next to his necklace.
"I'm going to give you a perk now and another one when you complete your mission" - Acnalogia said seriously while looking at Cloud.
[Congratulations, Mission Completed.]
"Huh?" - Cloud was surprised when he heard this because he didn't remember any mission that has any relation to Acnalogia so he quickly looked at his System, only to open his eyes even wider when he saw the mission he had forgotten about.
[Thanks to Resisting the terror of Acnalogia's presence, you have managed to pass your Third and final critical situation, every critical situation you manage to overcome from now on, only rewards "Skill [Danger]"]
[Note: [Danger] Will increase in level the more critical situations you pass, so keep up the good work.]
". . ." - Cloud was silent as he looked at the notification.
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