Advent of the Three Calamities

Although I didn’t understand, I immediately lowered my head upon hearing Owl-Mighty’s voice.

’You look, you die.’

Sweat poured down my face as I stared at the ground beneath me. It was also then that I noticed the numerous red leaves that were sprawled beneath me, their deep red color covering the entire floor in a veil of red.

Throb!

The mere sight of them made my heart throbbed and I hurriedly closed my eyes.

"Don’t look."

Owl-Mighty’s voice replayed in my mind.

’What in the world is happening?’

The situation felt suffocating, and I didn’t know how to react. However, despite it all, I remained calm.

"....What is happening?"

Although I couldn’t see, it didn’t mean that I couldn’t talk.

"I wasn’t able to fully integrate back with my main body."

"I figured that much."

I wouldn’t have found myself in this situation otherwise.

"...What next? Is there a way for you to reintegrate back with your main body?"

"I do not know."

"What?"

This piece of information surprised me.

How could Owl-Mighty not regain control over its own body? Wasn’t this its body? Why wouldn’t it be able to?

"Are you saying that her control over your real body is stronger than you thought and you can’t break through?"

"Yes."

A clear and affirmative answer.

"Hoo."

I took a deep breath, forcing my mind to calm down further.

"In that case, what do you need to break through? Is there a way that I can help?"

I didn’t really have much of a choice in this regard.

If Owl-Mighty couldn’t regain control over its own body back then I’d be as good as done for.

"Yes, you can do something."

".....Okay, tell me."

"Stall for time."

"Uh?"

I almost opened my eyes.

What did it just say...?

"Stall for time while I try to fight for control back."

"That..."

"...Make sure you keep your eyes closed the entire time. If you look, you will die."

"Wait—!"

"I’m leaving."

Just like that, Owl-Mighty left me on my own devices. I could hardly understand what was going on before I suddenly heard a familiar ’squelching’ sound coming from right behind me and my thoughts froze.

Swoosh—!

Instinctively, I moved my body to the side as I heard a gentle rustling coming from behind me.

However, I was a little late with my actions.

"Ukh!"

A sharp pain flared in my side as I felt a gash tear across my body. Quickly covering my right side and feeling my hand become damp, I tightly clenched my teeth.

’This is bad.’

Without the ability to see, I could hardly tell where the attacks were coming from.

I could pick up a few clues and hints from the sounds around me, but it was barely enough to go on.

"...!"

Swoosh!

Flicking my head to the right, the side of my cheek burned.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time to dwell on the pain as I heard a faint rustling coming from my right side.

It was just when I was about to move when a voice whispered in my ear.

"Stop, you’re moving too far to the right."

"Ah."

I pressed my foot against the ground, and something grazed the tip of my nose. Cold sweat trickled down my back as my entire body chilled—I had narrowly avoided being struck. Had I not listened to Pebble then I would’ve...

"Don’t get complacent. There’s several coming from your right and left."

"Damn it...!"

I felt my face visibly contort at the news.

What sort of messed up situation was this?

"They’re coming."

Swoosh, swoosh—

But I still didn’t have much of a choice.

Perking up my ears, and following Pebble’s voice, I contorted my body in a way I had never done so before and just barely avoided the incoming attacks.

Thump!

Falling back, I quickly pushed myself back up.

Following this, Pebble’s voice grew grave.

"...Use Step of Suppression."

I didn’t hesitate; I just acted. Stepping forward, I felt the mana drain rapidly from my body. What followed after were a series of ’thumps’ as the roots all fell down onto the ground.

However, instead of being happy, my heart sank.

’How many were there?’

Pebble’s tone made a lot more sense.

But...

"I can’t keep up like this."

Without the ability to see, I couldn’t rely on my ears and Pebble to tell me what to do. They were too unreliable.

I needed to think of something else.

A better way to handle this.

"Ah."

A thought occurred to me then.

What if...?

"Use the skill again, human. They’re coming from all sides. It would be be—"

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Snap—!

With a snap of my fingers, something stirred beneath me, writhing before gradually spreading outward. The mana inside of my body drained further but it was still manageable as my scope of vision suddenly expanded.

’I can see it.’

Swoosh!

My right ear tingled and several images formed in my mind.

...It all became easy from then.

Bringing my hand forward, threads shot out in several directions, all aimed at the incoming roots.

Xiu, xiu!

With pinpoint precision, the threads struck the roots directly, snapping them back. I heaved a visible sigh of relief upon ’seeing’ this as my muscles relaxed.

"I should’ve thought of this sooner."

Though I still couldn’t see, my Domain allowed me to sense everything that entered it.

Using that information, I was able to create images inside of my mind to replicate exactly what was happening around me. It all became easy from that point.

Swoosh!

The roots were neither too fast nor too slow.

I could easily avoid them now that I could visualize them. I also understood that this was merely a small glimpse of the power of Owl-Mighty’s real body. It was likely far too busy dealing with Owl-Mighty who was struggling to regain control back of its own body to fully focus on me.

I took advantage of this and flicked my hand in the air, giving form to several dozen threads that shot all around to form a small net that protected me from the roots.

From the moment one would get close, the threads would snap, cutting the root directly.

"Haa."

With a visible look of relief, I finally decided to open my eyes.

"Ukh."

My head throbbed the moment I did so as the faint outline of a tree appeared not far from where I stood, but I was still able to remain conscious due to the fact that my Domain presided over it.

"...Looks like we’re safe for now."

I looked at Pebble beneath me, its body gently blending with the darkness that surrounded the two of us.

If not for its eyes, I would’ve probably lost track of it.

"It’s not over."

"What...?"

I hastily raised my head and looked at the outline of the tree in the distance.

At first glance, everything seemed fine. The leaves rustled gently in the air while the tree remained firmly rooted.

What exactly could—

"There’s no guarantee that stupid tree will be able to take back its body. No..."

Pebble’s eyes narrowed.

"...It’s in fact losing."

"What?"

I hastily turned to look at Pebble.

"Is her control that strong?"

"No."

"Then..."

"The body is rejecting that stupid Owl."

"Is that even possible?"

"Yes."

Pebble turned its head to look in my direction.

"...And it’s all your fault."

"My fault?"

I incredulously looked at the cat. How could it be my fault? I don’t even recall doing anything to its body that might—

"More precisely, it’s that blood of yours."

"Wait..."

A thought suddenly occurred to me.

"Are you talking about the blood I ingested? Oracleus’s one?"

"Yes."

Pebble nodded its head, slowly walking towards the outline of the tree in the distance.

"Whatever that blood may be, whether it’s from a past version of yourself or someone else, it has seamlessly integrated into your body."

"....."

"That includes your bones."

It all suddenly started to click into place.

"That foolish Owl and I are now part of those bones. The two of us reside within them, and the entity to whom that blood belonged was incredibly powerful—powerful enough to completely overpower us and integrate the bones fully with your body."

"Ah."

"With that stupid Owl out of its main body, it no longer was capable of cognitive thinking at a high level. The moment that Owl left, its main body merely became a vessel waiting for its ’mind’ to return. However, its mind has been tainted."

Pebble looked directly at me.

"Its body can no longer recognize its mind. With the added control imposed by the woman who birthed you, the owl is now struggling to reclaim its body. In fact, the situation looks very grim."

Rustle~

Right after Pebble’s words faded, a rustling sound echoed through the air.

Lifting my head, my face started to stiffen. A faint droplet of red appeared in the dark world of my domain.

At first, I was perplexed. But soon, like ink spreading from a marker, the color red began to expand in the dark world. Leaves started to spread and my heart started to throb. Staring at the expanding red, I felt something invade my mind.

Immediately, alarm bells rang in my mind, telling me to shut my eyes and look away, but..

’I can’t.’

To my horror, my eyes wouldn’t close.

They refused to close.

All I could do was stare blankly at the leaves that hung in the air, slowly exposing the true body of the tree.

"Haa..."

I felt my breath leave my body.

I wanted to turn around, but before I knew it, roots appeared all around me, grasping onto my legs and arms.

When exactly...!?

Squelch, Squelch~

My mind churned all of a sudden.

Unable to tear my gaze away from the tree, I felt everything around me grow blurry as all noise and thoughts started to fade.

I was able to remain calm.

But what could calmness do in this situation?

I was starting to losing my mind.

My thoughts were start to fading.

I couldn’t thinking.

I calm.

I...

"Snap out of it!"

"Uh?!"

Breaking me out of it all was a loud voice as I felt my body get shoved to the side. What in the... By the time I regained my bearings, a pair of gray eyes stared back at me.

"Leon?"

I blinked once more to make sure I wasn’t seeing things and soon I finally started to realize what had happened.

"You.."

"Me... haa.. what?"

His breathing was rough and he looked to be completely worn out.

"...You look like shit."

"I shouldn’t have saved you."

I cracked a smile then.

"Took you long enough."

"...Yeah."

Leon took another deep breath and swiped his sword down, cutting the roots and tangling my entire body.

"I was also stuck in the same spot as you. If not for the fact that you made your position obvious with your domain, I would’ve had a hard time finding you."

"Right."

Shaking off the roots tangling my arms and legs, I wobbled down and just barely managed to keep myself steady.

Pebble appeared right below me.

"You don’t have much time."

"...I know."

I wasn’t looking at the tree, and yet, I could already feel it trying to influence my mind. We didn’t have much time.

"But what do I do?"

I didn’t know what to do.

What exactly could I do to stop this entire situation?

If I failed to help Owl-Mighty, Julien’s mother would fully control the tree, and I’d be done.

Especially since there was a very high likelihood of her figuring out that I wasn’t the real Julien.

"What exactly can I—"

No, don’t think.

Keeping my head lowered, an idea occurred to me and my chest trembled.

Under Leon’s and Pebble’s confused looks, I stepped forward.

Towards the tree.

"Human?"

"Julien? What are you...?"

I didn’t pay attention to their voices and just focused on the tree.

My mind was once again starting to grow numb and my thoughts were starting to disappear, but I didn’t need to think.

I just needed to act.

"...."

Arriving by the tree, I reached out for my mouth and retrieved a small vial.

Plop!

Opening it, I slowly poured it down.

A viscous red liquid plopped down onto the tree, sinking into its root as I slowly brought my hand forward and touched the bark of the tree.

"Very well,"

I mumbled,

"....I hope this doesn’t go to waste."

My vision grew dark shortly after.

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