82 CHAPTER 81 (1/2)

”Y-you're both lying right? Right?!”,

Otorine insisted with expressive tears. Although, neither the adult Nassus and Senku react. Instead, Senku just scratched the back of his head and uttered out his calm words,

”Err nope. It's all true. Rather, this whole place is the last sanctuary of Celestia Heavens. As the whole Celestia Heavens has been destroyed a long time ago.”.

Once again, Otorine looked around and saw that her friends were still slumbering on their stone slabs. Everything had a runic cosmic divine feel yet, it was faint. Otorine grinded her teeth and expressed with strong gestures at the two males,

”You're telling me that we've all been sleeping?!”.

Senku crossed his arms and nodded,

”Yep, all of you had been sleeping and dreaming the good times at Celestia Heavens. By the way, I tried to switch sides but, it was all too late.”.

Otorine felt tense and she was flabbergasted once more, as she couldn't believe the words from Senku,

”What do you even mean? That can't be!”.

Suddenly, Otorine gripped Nassus's sleeves tight and looked at him straight,

”Please Nassus! Tell me 'tis ain't be true!”.

Although, Nassus just looked away with a cold face of disappointment. As soon as she witnessed how Nassus reacted. She had stopped asking, as she already knew the hard answer. The only thing she could do was to look down and pour out lots of regretful tears,

”N-no I don't want to believe it. All this time, we've been living a dream?”.

Senku and Nassus just didn't reply but, they were having looks of pity at the saddened weeping Otorine in silence. Later, Otorine had stopped pouring out her tears. Thereon, Senku held his hips and suggested something,

”Since you're awake now. Why don't we show you what Celestia Heavens is now like.”.

Otorine felt another chill in her spine but, she just nodded and went with Senku's proposal,

”Okay...”.

Nassus gave out his hand. Even though Otorine accepted his hand, she looked lifeless, as her glimpse of hope had disappeared. They moved along the aquatic corridors outside. Though, everything had cracks and crevices of a vast ruined basement. As her sorrowful yet, numb-looking eyes glanced around. She was witnessing the traversing faded spiritual lights that were wandering endlessly. They entered through the vacant elevator that didn't have any presence at all. As soon as they went out, Otorine saw everything that the Celestia Heavenly mall was decimated into a barren wasteland. Shops and boutiques were destroyed into smithereens. More so, the wandering wisps of weak lights were denser than ever before. Last but not the least, the sky was blanketed in crimson hazy aftermath, as lots of worlds and stars were destroyed as well.

”Is this Celestia Heavens now? Have we...lost the battle?”,

she said with a mournful look. Senku just looked down while they were traversing,

”Somehow yeah...”.

Nassus just nodded with a sad and cold expression. Their scarred journey took longer than expected and Otorine couldn't hold her regrets and guilt. As the hallways was devoid of life and it wasn't bustling as before. While they were continuing forward. Nassus and Senku sensed an atrocious presence. Suddenly, a wrathful spectre from a damned realm emerged behind Otorine. Then, it tried to swing down its scythe behind her back. Thankfully, Nassus and Senku deflected its attack and smite the distorted visage down. In an instant, the spectre's presence disintegrated into nothingness. For some reason, Otorine didn't even react as she was about to be taken down. Since, she was engrossed in her sorrowful and confused thoughts,

”I don't want to believe it yet, it all feels so real. I don't know what to believe in anymore...”

The longer they traversed the hallways of the damned and desecrated, the more monsters from the chaotic abyss appeared and tried to bring her down. Though, both Nassus and Senku were fighting with everything they got and destroyed every fragment of threat approaching Otorine. For some strange reason, Otorine's feet just moved forward,

”I don't know where I'm going...but, I'll just let the winds take me where ever I go...”.

Soon, they've arrived at a mass graveyard and she was looking at a white tombstone. The next moment, she fell down on her knees, as hopelessness had eaten her soul, while she was seeing the tombstone,

”Am I...gone?”.

There, she witnessed that the tombstone had her name on it written in blood. Senku sighed and crossed his arms once more, but his glitchy statements sound unnerving somehow,

”Well you've failed to save Arca—Celestia Heavens and the others think you're gone so...yeah. But Novu—Nassus found you and let you sleep alongside the other remaining Goddesses of Arcane—Celestia Heavenly system...”.

Otorine just shut her eyes, as she doesn't want to witness the endless despair anymore. When she held her hands together, Nassus and Senku's face were blank as the faceless void. At that moment, the two of them brought out their scythes of the damned and readied to smite down the vulnerable Otorine. Otorine let out her final tear for a miraculous wind,

”Please someone...help me...this can't be real, Nassus...”.

The next moment, Nassus and Senku had a glimpse and flash of a white aura around their whole bodies. Their expressions weren't cold as the darkest abyss anymore. Instead, they had their own self-aware consciousness and list of emotions somehow. Since, they were looking at their own hands and own bodies for some reason. Senku made a grin. He patted Nassus's shoulder and left elsewhere,

”Now do what you have to do, hero. To end this altered nightmare...”.

Nassus gulped as he felt tense. Strange thing is, Otorine's aura was visible but, it was turning darker and darker similar to the likes of miasma. As her pessimistic vibes were coursing throughout the atmosphere, while she was crying in silence.

Nassus grit his teeth, twisted her whole body around and hugged her suddenly,

”Believe what you want to believe...”.