Monster Integration



'Now what?' I asked as I stopped by the ring of fire. 'Get inside the ring of fire and reach the disc on which the statue is standing,' the answer came immediately. 

'Are yo,' I had let out the words to curse when I stopped mid-way as I saw the runes coming out of my body. This time, too, they have shocked me, not the runes, but their kind.

There are two types of runes coming out of me.

First are the strange runes that likely belong to the race of this being, and the second ones are ancient runes. They are woven together, forming a complex formation that I could not understand even a little.

I may not be able to understand it, but I know it is the most sophisticated formation I had ever seen.

'The runes will protect you, but it will be extremely painful and if you fall unconscious, you will die,' cautioned the hidden being.

'I will definitely, if I did not get inside,' I said to it and stepped inside the ring of fire.

AHHHHHHH…

Immediately, I screamed like I had never screamed before. It was painful. I was feeling such pain that I had never felt in my life.

I felt my consciousness slipping away, while at the same time, I felt my legs moving to get out of the circle of blood-red fire.

I don't know what had come inside me, but I had stopped my leg before moving it forward. Deeper into the ring of fire.

I know what had come to me, I had understood my condition unconsciously. I knew once I got out of the fire, I will not dare to enter inside again. I would rather die than experience this pain again.

The thing that made it even worse is this fire felt wrong. It felt like it was made of all the world's wrongness.

I want to take a thousand showers to wipe out of its every sign. It is unbearable as pain, but like pain, I bore it.

The fire is not only touching me but also entering it inside me.

I don't know what it is doing and nor do I care. I am feeling so much pain that I want to reach the destination as soon as possible and move toward it as fast as I could while screaming in pain like mad.

The pain is so much that I couldn't understand the knowledge my clones are gaining every second, it is like my own thoughts, but this pain made me dumb to even understand them.

I did not focus on whatever my clones learning. If I get rid of this pain and survive, I will have plenty of time to do it.

Till, then, I should move as fast as I could through this fiery swamp.

Yes, swamp.

This fire is swampy; I am using everything I have to move. Every ounce of my power, but I am moving slower than walking.

It is frustrating and makes me angry. Not just because of extreme pain, but also because of the time it was taking. Every minute, people are dying with no fault of their own.

Even the Sovereigns who followed me might be fighting.

I don't want them to die, especially not without purpose. Death should have a purpose, no matter how small or big it is.

Time passed as I took one step away after another, pushing myself harder and harder, but it is hard. I am not only having to focus on taking every step forward, but also make efforts to remain conscious.

I am doing that by circulating the supreme combat exercise.

I have made enormous progress in it and only need to create a single seal, but it is hard, but here there is a chance. Pain always helps me; I have created over 90% of seals while being in pain.

I hope this time it will help me too. It is the greatest pain I had felt, and if I was able to create the seals with it, then this pain will be worth it.

I am circulating, but creating the seal is not easy, especially the last seal. Which will roll the wheels for the completion of the supreme combat exercise and will give me what I want.

Time passed as I took one step after another, circulating each time after failing.

I did not find success, but it did not stop me, I kept trying. While wishing these runes will help me keep the fire seeping into my body through these runes.

That is what is happening since I entered the ring of fire.

I want nothing of this wrongness inside me. Even in this pain, I felt like vomiting seeing what was happening.

Time passed as I kept taking one step after another and finally crossed half of the distance. It felt like forever, and I just want to give up and let this fire consume seeing how far it is.

I did not; I had crossed the half of the distance, and I will cross the other half, without giving up.

There is no choice. If I want to survive, I will need to keep moving forward and I will do it.

I have crossed a few hundred meters, and now the disk is very close. There are barely two hundred meters between the disc and me, where there is no fire.

The fire is around the disk, not on it. Once I reached it, there will be no fire. I kept repeating it like a mantra as I kept taking one step after another.ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ N(o)vᴇl(F)ire.net

Finally, after what it felt like, a lifetime. I reached for the white disc and jumped on it, and immediately, all the pain disappeared.

I wanted to collapse on the floor and sleep for a hundred hours. I nearly did it, before stopping myself. It is not a time to sleep.

I will sleep to my heart's content after I destroy this bloody place.