Free Web NovelThe Gatekeeper's spherical head trembled slightly in Pavela's hand.
Those cracks were still slowly healing, but the speed was much slower than before.
Golden light leaked from the fissures, like some sort of bleeding wound.
"You—"
Its voice emanated from inside the sphere, carrying a tremor that tried to maintain dignity but was clearly lacking in confidence.
"You can't—"
Pavela's fingers tightened slightly.
Crack.
A new crack appeared on the surface of the sphere.
"...I'll talk! I'll talk!"
The Gatekeeper's voice immediately rose an octave.
"I'm here to save you! Really! I'm not lying to you!"
Pavela did not let go.
She merely tilted her head, looking at the broken geometric object in her hand with eyes that were terrifyingly calm.
"Continue."
"You—your current state is very dangerous!"
The Gatekeeper's words spat out like rapid-fire cannonballs,
"The load on the Spinal Interface has already exceeded your body's endurance limit. The power of the Path of the Magician is running wild inside you. If it's not controlled, your nervous system will completely burn out before you even hit the ground—in less than a second—"
"So you pulled me into the Mental Space."
Pavela said.
"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!"
The Gatekeeper nodded repeatedly—if the up-and-down shaking of a sphere could be called nodding.
"Here, the flow of time is different. I can help you stabilize The Way Back connection, I can help you—"
"And incidentally deepen my connection with The Way Back?"
The Gatekeeper fell silent for a moment.
"...That's just a side effect."
Its voice became cautious,
"The main purpose really is to save you. Think about it, we are a single existence; if you die, I can't live either. Why would I want to harm you?"
Pavela stared at it for three seconds.
Then she let go.
The Gatekeeper's spherical head fell to the ground, rolled a few times, and came to a stop after hitting a scattered polyhedron.
"Th—thank you—"
There was a sense of relief in its voice, like having survived a disaster.
"Now then."
Pavela crouched down, meeting the sphere at eye level,
"Now tell me, how exactly do you plan to'save' me?"
"It's simple!"
The Gatekeeper's voice immediately became enthusiastic,
"Your current problem is that the power of the Path of the Magician is too strong, exceeding your ability to control it. But if you can absorb a more powerful soul—"
Pavela's hand reached out again.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait!"
The Gatekeeper's voice instantly cracked.
"I was just making a suggestion! Just a suggestion! You don't have to listen!"
Pavela's hand stopped in mid-air.
"You only have one last chance."
"Uh—right! Right! I can teach you a technique!"
The Gatekeeper spoke as fast as if it were running for its life,
"A technique that allows you to actively deepen your connection with a specific Way Back! No need to absorb souls, no price to pay, just a—a method of use!"
"What technique?"
"It's—it's a form of meditation, a method of adjusting your consciousness frequency, allowing you to more precisely control the resonance intensity between yourself and a certain Way Back—"
The Gatekeeper spoke rapidly,
"This technique is extremely useful! And there are absolutely no side effects! Really!"
Pavela looked at it.
The Gatekeeper's spherical head trembled slightly on the ground. Those cracks were still slowly healing, but the golden light had dimmed significantly.
It did indeed look very weak.
And it was indeed very afraid.
Pavela stood up.
"Sounds good."
She said.
The Gatekeeper clearly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Right! I told you—"
"But I didn't say I was letting you off the hook."
The Gatekeeper's voice cut off abruptly.
"...What?"
Pavela looked down at it, the corners of her mouth curving into an arc.
That smile made every geometric part of the Gatekeeper's body start to tremble.
"Did you know?"
Pavela said,
"After the last time I entered the Mental Space, I did one thing."
"Wh—what thing?"
"I counted the time."
Pavela crouched down and reached out to pick up the spherical head.
"Twenty minutes in the Mental Space is approximately 0.1 seconds in reality."
"The time flow ratio is 12,000 to 1."
"You said just now that if not controlled, my nervous system would completely burn out within one second."
"That means—"
Her finger tapped lightly on the surface of the sphere,
"I still have over three hours here."
"And you seem to be even more afraid of pain than I am."
The Gatekeeper's spherical head began to tremble violently. freёwebnoѵel.com
"Wa—wait—"
"I don't even need that long; ten minutes is enough."
"Enough for me to pry every bit of information you know out of your mouth." ƒreewebɳovel.com
"I—I've already told you everything—"
"What you told me was only what you wanted me to know."
Pavela stood up, holding the sphere up to her eyes.
"But what I want to know is what you don't want me to know."
"For example—"
Her eyes narrowed,
"What exactly are you?"
"Are you a part of me? Or something parasitic living on me?"
"Are you an incarnation of The Way Back? Or the residual consciousness of some dead person?"
"And—"
Her voice became even colder,
"What was your actual purpose in having me extract Lev's ability last time?"
On the Gatekeeper's spherical head, those cracks that had just healed began to split open again.
"No—no—you can't—"
"I can."
Pavela's hand began to exert force once more.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
The cracks were spreading.
Light was leaking out.
The Gatekeeper's voice became fragmented.
"Stop—please—stop—"
"I'll talk—I'll talk—"
"I'll tell you everything—"
"As long as you—"
"Stop—"
Pavela did not stop.
Her hand was still exerting force.
She could feel a pain coming from her own head that felt like it was about to tear her apart.
She could feel her consciousness starting to blur.
She could feel her vision starting to dim.
"Then talk."
There was a certain sense of gratification in her voice.
"From the beginning."
"Don't miss a single word."
