"We'll do that then." General Halys nodded. He stood up and looked at everyone. "We'll attack at night. That's all." General Halys excused himself, leaving Lee Seng and the others alone. Lee Seng turned to his friends and raised his eyebrows at them.
"Should I take a nap until then?" Lee Seng asked. Evan yawned at the mention of a nap.
"That sounds good to me. I think I'll do that…" Evan smacked his lips. He looked over to Ysa and Fennec. "Is there a place to rest my eyes for a bit?"
"There's some beds down below. I'll take anyone who's tired there." Fennec pointed behind him. Evan nodded and stood up, looking at Ritsuka and Calis.
"Are you guys gonna sleep?"
"Nah, I'm too wired from driving." Ritsuka shook his head.
"Don't do anything too strenuous. We'll need to be ready for what's to come." Lee Seng told both of them. "I'm going to take a nice nap. All that fighting has gotten me tired. See y'all later." Lee Seng waved and turned to follow Fennec with Evan in tow. Calis stood up and let out a sigh of relief. He watched Lee Seng and Evan leave. His eyes continued to move back to Lee Seng, seeing the strange second energy growing inside of him.
"What're you going to do until then, Calis?" Ritsuka asked. Calis snapped out of it and looked around the library. There were still books in the library. Maybe he could learn more about Earth's history.
"I'll probably read some of these books." Calis pointed at the shelves. "I'm curious about your Realm. I want to know more about the Biohumans before being Biohumans."
"Well, enjoy your time. I'm going to do some light exercise." Ritsuka grinned.
"Didn't Lee Seng say to not do anything strenuous?"
"He said, 'too strenuous'. Jogging and doing light exercise isn't gonna be that bad. I wanna shake off all that driving." Ritsuka stretched and groaned in delight. He could hear his body crack as the thought of actually getting some exercise excited him. "I'll be around. Let me know if you have questions. I'm pretty good with history."
"Sure." Calis nodded.
"You don't understand what's going on, do you? You thought I was just your inner-child but I wasn't hahaha!" Son cackled. The way he looked at Lee Seng with those 'higher-than-thou' eyes. It made the flames within Lee Seng grow hotter. "You were only made so I could thrive!"
Lee Seng swung at Son, watching him disappear in mist. The anger within him was too much to bear. It began to burn him alive.
"What're you doing, Lee Seng?" Olivia's voice asked. Suddenly, he was on top of Olivia, burning. Her eyes shook in fear as she tried to cover herself. "Why are you like that? I-I didn't mean to! I swear!"
Fear washed over Lee Seng. The anger within him continued to swell and he watched his own fist bundle. Olivia's scream echoed in Lee Seng's mind, washing the entire scene in a black sea.
Lee Seng's bated breaths were the only thing he could hear. His hands shook as blood gushed from them. He could hear different people screaming and Son's voice mocking him.
"You are nothing. You… were just a stepping stone to make me - the greatest thing ever. You will never amount to anything." Son whispered.
"Go away!" Lee SEng swung his arm to the left. Son giggled.
"I have everything you ever wanted and you have nothing. How are you supposed to get a hit on me if I don't let you?" Son asked. "The most powerful Biohuman experiment ever. How does it feel to be nothing? To beak nothing without all of your countless abilities? How are you going to defeat me?"
"Go away! You're not real! I won't give into this feeling no matter what! I won't allow it!" Flames spewed all across the black sea. It ignited like oil, burning everything around him. The horrible voices screamed for help.
"Why would you do this to us?!?" Ritsuka shouted. "Why would you kill all of us!?!" Lee Seng's mind was cracking. It was falling in on itself. Lee Seng clutched his fox ears and shook his head.
"It's not real! It's not real! It's just a nightmare! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!!!" Lee Seng shouted.
Whoosh!
Everything disappeared, leaving a single spotlight on Lee Seng as he clutched his Fox ears. He muttered the same sentence over and over. Cracks formed around him. Pieces were broken, shattered - gone. Small and large gaps formed around him. Fractured lights poured from beneath, lighting the glass-like ground in an array of colors that resembled colored glass in the shape of Lee Seng, clutching his knees on the side.
"I'm not a monster…" Lee Seng's lip trembled. "I'm not—"
"He's coming."
Lee Seng ignored the voice that sounded exactly like him. He continued to clutch his ears, hoping the nightmare would end and he could leave.
"He's coming for you. He's coming to you right now! You need to get yourself together!" The voice warned Lee Seng.
"N-no. I need to wake up. It's a bad dream. It's a v-very bad dream! M-maybe all of this is a bad dream!" Lee Seng shook his head. The broken glass rose from beneath the surface. It floated around, showing different faces of Lee Seng.
"This isn't a nightmare." The voice spoke. "This is something worse than a nightmare!"
"We know the distinction. You know it very well!" Another voice spoke.
"It's a psychic invasion." Son's voice popped out of nowhere. Lee Seng stopped cowering. He stopped as every inch of his body shivered from the voice. "You've done it a couple times. The other you has done it, too. A parasite infiltrates itself into the host and ruins the host from the inside out. No one can do anything if they have little mental fortitude…
"But, I'm disappointed, Lee Seng… I thought you had the strongest mental fortitude out of all of the Numbers." Son's breathy words brushed against Lee Seng's skin. Lee Seng turned, swinging for Son and missing. Son reappeared farther away, smiling and waving at Lee Seng. His mouth was bloodied like his bloodstained shirt and pants. Purple eyes sparkled like stars as the monster smiled. "You're the easiest one I've infiltrated yet."
Lee Seng roared and rushed forward. Broken glass crunched underneath his shoes as he rushed at Son like an animal. He conjured his sword and swung at Son's neck, missing it entirely as the Failed One blurred. A blast of gravity rippled out, punting Lee Seng backwards into the air.
Son appeared, straightening his entire left hand and making an attempt to plunge it straight into Lee Seng's chest. Lee Seng lifted his sword, attempting to block it. Son's brute force shattered the sword, piercing Lee Seng's chest at his fingertips and sending Lee Seng downwards. The colored glass shattered, forcing more glass shards to float around as streams of different colored light shimmered all around the field.
"I won't end this. I'll keep your paralyzed to watch and to listen as everyone around you dies." Son said. "I'll kill your friends that came with you. I'll kill these Fox Spirits next and then… I'll find Olivia and take her for myself."
The fire within burned brightly. The warnings came. The screams of Olivia followed. The image of her burning below him filled his mind. Lee Seng began to question whether or not he would get out of this invasion. He was never on the receiving end, but he knew what would happen. He knew many things that could happen as a result. He would possibly be the person who would kill everyone.
The fire continued to build. It flared off of Lee Seng, flipping himself upright. Flames spewed through his shoes, burning them. The flames danced as his chest grew hot like the 'sun-like' orb he had accidentally made back at the lab.
"You've grown exponentially since I last saw you. You aren't the same Fox I watched over in the Flower Forest. You've grown into your own person and have good control over your emotions. I could feel them from where I sat." General Halys's voice echoed in his mind. "With your second cultivation, you should take time to ascend. Don't go so fast and fully take in that power you have been blessed with. The gods' power is nothing to flaunt."
'Right.' Lee Seng snapped out of it. There was a strange peace that came with General Halys' words. He focused on it, letting his eyes close and ignoring Son and the space around him. 'I'm not like the old me anymore. I won't be consumed by all of this… I have to - I must let it all go. Let it go and find peace.'
"You must be out of yer mind if you're going to give up like that." Son shook his head. "Let's get this over with!"
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