Uriel sat looking at Cassia for a moment, then lowered his gaze to the diary whose handwriting was familiar. Although it had been made as his version created by the spell, he wondered how complete the spell of Weaver had actually made it.
Shaking his head, he began to read the contents of the diary.
---
Date — Year 1
One year has passed since I fell into this nightmare.
I've decided to start writing a diary from today. Although there's no particular reason for it, beyond Shade's nagging that I should do it already so I wouldn't be so depressed and all that. I suppose writing this could be a little pleasant; every day seems impossible, but at least I can do it once a week.
Maybe someone might read this diary by chance. For my own sake, I left my personal recommendations and tastes at the beginning of this diary. If you read it out loud in front of a beautiful girl, congratulations! You've just been labeled a pervert. But putting that aside, I think writing at least improves my mood a little.
First, about where I am. I'm adrift in a small boat I obtained by killing a corrupted monster. Although I don't know how to navigate, and I see nothing but water in all directions. At least it's fresh water, so I won't die of thirst.
From what I've managed to gather based on some memories I possess, this seems to be the interior of the tomb of the Demon of Terror Ariel, or at least a recreation of the real one.
I fell here a year ago after an incident in Antarctica, so I don't know how things turned out there. I hope it ended well; I worked hard to save Antarctica after all.
But well, no way to know if everything is fine. God, I sound like a child writing his complaints in this diary, and Shade is laughing at everything I write here. That bastard, I'll throw him to the fish when I finish writing.
I suppose I'll write about my small experience inside the tomb.
Well, it's hell. There are many corrupted creatures, from simple beasts to terrors. I think I'm being pursued by a great nightmare creature. But I'm not worried; I've killed several of them before, so I can do it now... I think.
Well, I suppose I'll leave it here for now. I think I'll add dates with numbers from the last entry.
---
— Year 1, Day 12 —
A week has passed since I last wrote in this diary.
I've had new interesting experiences, so I'll take my time to explain them.
Remember I mentioned that a great nightmare creature was following me? Well, it turned out I was right.
It was a huge monster. It resembled an enormous shark, gigantic, measuring at least a few hundred meters long and almost a hundred wide. Its skin was a pale color with horrendous black spots. It was missing one of its eyes; I suppose it had been in a fight from which it didn't come out well.
Anyway, I decided to call that shark Moby Dick. Yes, I know you're wondering, why a great whale if it's a shark?
The answer is: "None of your business." It's my creature, and I decide to call it whatever I want. I could even call it Shrimp, and nobody would care, or Pedro or Juan or those names kids use to form simple sentences.
...I'm sorry, I got carried away by my emotions. I've had a difficult week, and this helps me release a little stress.
Where was I? Ah, right. The shark.
Well, the battle was difficult. The storms inside this place are wild and dangerous. My boat struggled not to sink under the enormous waves and the tearing wind, not to mention that Moby Dick kept attacking me. It used its massive body to raise enormous waves to drown my boat, sometimes leaping to try to crush me under its immeasurable weight.
But I avoided it somehow. I'm good at running away; in fact, I'm the best escape artist in all the worlds. I used my Aspect of Darkness to create a sort of catapult that launched me far away every time the creature tried to crush or eat me.
I escaped from the creature multiple times until exhaustion. Unfortunately for me, my luck ran out along with my essence. The creature somehow knew I could no longer escape, so it attacked and managed to sink my small boat.
I remember being surrounded by water, desperation, and fear. Me, the Lord of Darkness, the coolest and strongest of masters, afraid of a giant fish. It was absurd, but it's the truth.
Heh... even now as I write, I find it amusing.
Moby Dick... that bastard attacked me. I barely managed to avoid dying in the first bite. Although I managed to avoid death, I suffered terrifying wounds. I had lost both legs along with my entire right arm, leaving only my left arm. With the last traces of essence I had left, I surrounded myself with darkness and moved as far away as I could between Dick and me.
At some point, I must have passed out.
The next time I woke up, I was floating adrift, weak and barely alive. Although I had regained consciousness and part of my essence, I doubted whether I really wanted to keep living. I am human, or at least I think so; I no longer know. I've done so many things.
Many say I'm strong, that as long as I'm with them, they'll know victory is certain. They see me as a cool hero who saves everyone... but... who could save me from myself?
I...
Never mind, ignore what you just read. Using my Aspect, I created new limbs of darkness: two legs and an arm, perfectly usable and tangible. Now I write this after creating my limbs. I suppose they work well.
One day I'll take revenge on that Moby Dick and make him suffer, but not now. This will be my vengeance. The vengeance of the Dark Lord.
---
— Year 1, Day 19 —
Another week has passed, and I've grown accustomed to my new limbs. At first it was a little difficult, but with time and patience, I'm now quite skilled. Shade says I look like some kind of shapeless mummy with genetic malformations.
Seriously, one day I'll throw him into the water and let him be Dick's food.
Speaking of Dick, that bastard started chasing me again. I suppose I'm too irresistible for him to let me go. For now, I headed toward a massive school of corrupted beasts that will keep him busy long enough for me to get away again.
I hope to find some land soon. The constant rocking of the boat makes me a little dizzy.
Well, that was my week. See you next week.
---
— Year 1, Day 26 —
Hello!
Yes, a week has passed since the last note. Did you notice the exclamation mark at the beginning of this entry? Wasn't that great?
Well, I must say that after weeks, finally something good happened. I just arrived at an island. Yes, a great island that floats over an enormous... uh... I don't know how to describe it.
It's an island that floats over a enormous whirlpool that leads to the depths of who knows where. I decided to call it the Vortex of Death because, well, there doesn't seem to be anyone here, so I decided to name it.
I must say it's a hell, a pleasant one. There's not water everywhere; there's solid ground, trees, a strange fog that prevents seeing 90% of everything, and a bunch of great aberrations. Truly the perfect vacation spot.
Oh, and there's also a time loop.
God, how I hate time. It reminds me of when I was in my second nightmare. I spent thousands of years trapped there, heavens.
Well, technically it was my fault for using something created by a god to rewind time and save a friend, but well, minor details.
Anyway, since I was familiar with time loops, I knew I was in one from my first death at the hands of a giant cat with bird features. It wasn't a pretty death. At least I made sure to kill it eventually.
I explored the island completely. I discovered that each cycle resets every twenty-four hours, so I had a whole day alone accompanied by terrifying things. Yes, quite an adventure.
Oh, damn.
Sorry, I suppose I'll leave this here. There's a great devil hunting me right now for killing its prey before it could, so well, I'll write this again... I think.
---
[Year 1, Day 26-2]
Another seven days have passed. Well, I've repeated the same day seven times, so I'll leave it as Day 26-2. I'm not good at this kind of thing.
I've had time to improve this diary. I had to use a fragment of a transcendent soul to make time not affect it after modifying its enchantment. It was slow but steady work, and now I have a diary immune to temporal flows.
Truly, I'm a genius.
Putting aside how great I am, this week I discovered the name of this island. It's the Isle of Aletehia. After killing some things and obtaining memories, I discovered that this island was the home of a traveler from outside Ariel's tomb. One who sought the truth that Ariel left behind, or that's what I pieced together.
There's also a great tower that I'll visit soon to see if I find something important.
---
— Year 1, Day 26-3 —
Another week passed. Things went well, at least at the start.
I reached the tower and managed to enter. I found the corpse of a great tyrant which time didn't affect. I explored the tower and found the enchantment that created the time repetition flow. I didn't destroy it. Of course, I could have, but I didn't want to deal with the guilt of releasing great things to who knows where. So I let it be.
I explored the tower until I reached a beautiful room, fit for a princess, and I wasn't wrong. In the bed lay a dazzling woman, a sleeping beauty oblivious to the outside world. I tried to wake her, but it didn't work.
After a few hours of investigation, I discovered that her mind was trapped in a kind of tranquil dream. Like that syndrome of being trapped inside your own mind, except you can create things from nothing. It's the closest comparison I can make.
Naturally, being the genius I am, and with Shade's help, I created a supreme memory. This memory would allow my mind to enter the woman's mind to get answers. It was crazy and sounded risky, but I was a little desperate at this point, okay?
After creating the memory and using it, I went into the woman's mind, who was surprised to see me. She told me her name was Windflower. She was the daughter of Daeron, the Serpent King, the last Supreme of his kind.
They came from a divine world, that of the Goddess of Storms, which was now the Storm Sea. According to her account, her tribe, along with her king, ventured through Ariel's endless inferno toward the great tomb for two purposes. The first was salvation for her people; the strongest champions would enter the real tomb to help the challengers of the spell complete it and become transcendent.
Although the plan was risky and the journey was one-way, Daeron bet everything on survival. He guided his people and managed to enter the great tomb, overcoming trials and adversities.
However, they failed. The Profanation won, and all the champions were corrupted, including the Serpent King himself. Although Windflower didn't know the ending, since her soul was infected by a seed of corruption, the Serpent King created a powerful sorcery on this island to keep her safe.
I also discovered something strange. Windflower, or at least the one I spoke with, mentioned that she was only a recreation of the nightmare spell, so she didn't know if the real her was still alive in the real tomb.
My time with her ended that day, but in the next cycle, we met again to continue our conversation. Something to clarify is that she's aware of each cycle, so she remembered our talks.
Anyway. Windflower explained to me about the culture of her world, telling me stories, their struggles, their dogmas, and more. I did the same, telling her about the Kingdom of War and the current situation. It was the first real and pleasant conversation I'd had in months.
In the end, after nearly a month of repetitions and conversations, I finally decided to leave the Isle of Aletehia through the whirlpool. According to Windflower, the whirlpool was the only way to escape the time loop, and it would take me to a distant place in Ariel's tomb.
After thanking her for everything, I threw myself into the whirlpool, emerging at some point in the great river in the future, and continued my journey.
---
Uriel paused, sighing.
"Why do you stop?" Cassia asked, who was immersed in the story.
"Cassia, it's already daytime," Uriel pointed out.
Cassia's face wrinkled for a moment before her expression changed to surprise.
"Has that much time passed?"
"Yes."
Cassia wore a thoughtful expression.
"How long will it take you to finish the diary?"
Uriel quickly looked at the remaining pages.
"If I continue at this pace, it will probably take me until the next morning."
"I see. Then continue."
"Lady Cassia, I don't mean to be discourteous, but I have to work and customers to attend to."
"I'll pay double what you earn in a day," she said with a sly smile. "Money is not a problem."
"Well, if that's the case, then I'll continue," Uriel said, as he went to get juice and hot food this time.
"By the way, Mr. Sun, why can't I see anything about you?"
"What do you mean?"
"I can see the attributes of all things, whether Awakened or nightmare creatures, but you are like a huge dark blot that devours all light to my sight."
"Well, perhaps it's due to my Aspect. I have a strong True Darkness attribute, and let's just say that darkness is very particular and doesn't let anyone see through it."
"I see."
"By the way, would you like a slice of lemon pie?"
"Make it two, please."
"Okay."