epting the extended hand from the mysterious man, he shook it slowly before letting out the question he held, “…Sorry, but what’s going on? Which one of you is my Soulbound Spirit? The little–I mean, Hextrice, or you?”


    The man looked at him with his eyes mostly hidden by his bright-red bangs, “Both.”


    “Both…?”


    “You have six Soulbound Spirits, Master Emilio,” Gavill told him.


    “Six…? Six?!” He repeated in surprise.


    Now that he looked at the six-pointed star he had on his palm, it started to piece together what was happening, though of course, it was too good to be true from what Gavill exined next:


    “It’s extremely rare. Though, unfortunately…you’ll only be able to manifest one of us at a time right now. And more so…” Gavill scratched his head.


    While he stood there, he felt a numbness oveing his limbs before a prickly sensation ran across his skin. It was a jarring feeling, but he ignored it for the moment.


    “More so?”


    “You won’t be able to choose who you summon. This is simply the reality of the matter; you’re not experienced in ‘Spirit Arts’ quite yet, but you will surely grow to be–just have faith in yourself and us,” Gavill exined.


    That put a wrench in it all as he found himself not liking an element of randomness in a power that he would likely have to rely on with his life at some point. Still, he knew this was a positive either way.


    Gavill breathed out, “Apologies, I’d really like to talk more, but it seems like your soul is being rejected here. If you stay any longer, you’ll get the ‘Soul Strain’–just remember, all of us will be ready to aid you when you need it, Master Emilio.”


    That much was confirmed through his own body as he felt total numbness ovee him with the feeling of needles pressing against his skin bing potent.


    Before he could get another word in, he was ovee with an intense feeling of whish as his soul was taken straight from the Astral Realm and flung back into reality.


    –


    “…Huff…”


    Catching his breath, he found himself kneeling on ck-stained steel, looking up to find a vast, empty realm with walls forged ofbined, metallic cubes surrounding him in an enigmatic fashion.


    He looked at his palm, finding the six-pointed star seal inscribed on his hand.


    So it wasn’t an illusion, then, he thought, if what the Courier said is true, then it seems I was able to enter the Astral Realm because my Soulbound spirits wanted to help me. If that’s the case…thank you.


    As he clenched his hand that bore the seal, he finally focused on what was around him.


    It seemed to be a singr chamber, devoid of anything else but the scent of grime, leading to a mysterious hallway of unknown prospects.


    The next realm, huh…? I wonder…could this be the Unending Nightmare’s heart finally? He thought.


    He found a hand extended down to him, looking up to find it belonging to the ck-and-silver haired adventurer from before.


    “The name’s Kintoki,” the man finally introduced himself.


    For a moment, he looked at his callused hands that were missing pieces of skin, burnt away from earlier, before epting.


    “Emilio,” he replied, taking his hand before being helped up.


    From the fact that nobody questioned why he was gone for as long as he was, it seemed time operated differently between the two realms.


    Kintoki smiled, “Didn’t expect to find anybody else still alive and kickin’ in here. Much less a kid with some seriously kickass magic. Oh, right, this here is mypanion, Sumera,” the man leaned closer, speaking to his ear, “Between you and mean, she’s kind of a bi–”


    A kick to the back caused Kintoki to stumble forward as Sumera shot him a dirty re, “I’m the level-headed one between the two, as opposed to whatever he was trying to say.”


    Melisande stepped in as well, “I’m Melisande. Thanks for the help back there.”


    “Yeah, no problem,” Kintoki smiled.


    Though it was relieving to have more allies, the truth was that the realm Emilio found himself in was inexplicably nerverecking.


    “We should be careful moving forward. I have a bad feeling about what’s past that corridor…” Sumera advised.


    “I was going to say the same thing,” Emilio said, “Something is down there.”


    Melisande seemed to feel the same way as she held a concerned look in her eyes, “It feels like my stomach is in knots…”


    “Well, if you all are feeling queasy, leave it to me! I’ll lead the way!” Kintoki said with a brave smile.


    Though he was a bit loud, Kintoki was somebody that Emilio found himself d to have as an ally in these bleak times; the unquestionable optimism from the man served to lighten the gloom. As promised, Kintoki led the way as the others followed; Emilio stayed at the back, making sure to guard their nk as he held little trust in the nature of the iplete worlds.


    …I don’t know what it is about this ce. It almost reminds me of the Astral Realm; the air is thin, yet heavy…It’s dense with a malevolence. It’s hard to pinpoint this sensation exactly, but each breath sends a chill over my body, he thought.


    It was eerily quiet; the four of them slowly marched down the corridor that stretched on, remaining narrow with the steel walls neighboring them in darkness.


    While cautiously moving down the corridor shrouded in shadows and malevolence, crawling in mystery, there was an unexpected slope forged of steep steps.


    “Huh? Alright, then. Up we go,” Kintoki remarked.


    They ascended the sharp-angled steps, with him being thest one to ascend them. It was closer to adder than a staircase in how steep it truly was; the sleek steel made it difficult for his boots to grip onto anything as he moved upward.


    As he reached the top after a few minutes of climbing, he hoisted himself up, looking up to find the others frozen in ce.


    “What’re–”


    Before being able to question what had caused them all to freeze, he witnessed it himself: the entity sitting in the center of the vast, dark chamber of steel.


    There were gray-and-ck, intestine-like bindings that connected to the being, anchoring it to the chamber as it sat there in a humanoid shape with pale-gray skin and stringy, ck hair that hung over its face.


    Move, he told himself, hardly able to wiggle his fingertips.


    It has fingernails that curved like ws and unknown symbols etched into its flesh. Even though it was sitting, it was clear it possessed arge stature. Hanging from the ceiling were inanimate, headless bodies shrouded in abyssal veils, suspended by the intestine-like ropes that originated from the entity’s position.


    The unequivocal dread that overcame him whenying his eyes on the silent entity that sat there was unmistakable; what he looked at was the very embodiment of fear itself.


    “The Unending Nightmare.”


    As it rose to its feet, he began trembling uncontroble; it was the same for the others. The malignant being stood unnaturally as its joints reconfigured, bending and snapping as it possessed unnaturally long legs and arms, giving it an almost primal physicality as it stood with a height well over double his own.


    Its unkempt, jet-ck hair still veiled its face, hiding its expression as the unknown nature of it exemplified his fear.


    Move…! Move! He told himself.


    A word couldn’t even leave his lips as his teeth chattered; the air of dread infiltrated his pores in the form of unmatched fear.


    The Unending Nightmare reached behind its own back, bending its elbow unnaturally as it snapped for flexibility, piercing its fingertips into its own flesh before grabbing its own spine.


    With a grotesque tug, it seamlessly removed its own spine, though it wasn’t affected in the least as it wielded its own spine, covered in ck, gunky blood that solidified around the bone base, creating an abyssal, unrefined de.


    It’spletely unorthodox…! He thought.


    As it approached, slowly lumbering towards the frozen four, they all tried fighting in order to ovee the monstrous fear that encapsted them all.


    However–


    “Raaagh–!”


    Breaking out of the petrifying aura of dread was Kintoki, who seemed to literally flex out of it as his muscles bulged, screaming out to bolster himself.


    It was that boisterous nature of the man that led the others to follow, finally breaking free from the hold of fear as Sumera readied her staff with Emilio doing the same.


    “That’s our guy, isn’t it?!” Kintoki yelled out.


    “I believe so! There’s no mistaking this feeling–this is the source of it!” Sumera answered.


    “–Let’s end it here!” Emilio called.


    “Hell yeah!” Kintoki roared, leading the assault.


    –However, such bold, brash hope was swept away like dust to the wind as they all found themselves vastly unprepared for the foe before them. In a stroke of lightning-like speed, the pale-skinned, tall figure appeared between the four.


    It’s here already…? I didn’t even see it move, Emilio thought.