As one of the leaves floating around him touched his right arm, it crumpled and turned into ash.
The ashes of the leaf blew over Leon's wet skin as the curtain got raised and splattered down.
Around Leon's arm, yellowish light glowed in his skin as his veins turned gold.
…
Meanwhile, in his dream world, he stumbled back in shock, crossing his arms over his face.
Uncrossing his arms, the ground he stood on shook and began to shatter bit by bit. When the first part of the stairs collapsed, a void of no return caught Leon's eyes.
His heart skipped a beat when he saw the solid ground drifting downward.
"Help!" he fell and screamed, feeling unable to stand straight.
Leon stretched his arms toward the two sentinels as sobs escaped his mouth. Not receiving any help, he crawled forward and clung to the door.
At that instant, the ground he leapt from seconds ago collapsed and fell, giving him a narrow path to place his foot on.
Tilting his gaze back to where the two sentinels were, he saw them unmoving, almost as if where he stood was the only place experiencing the collapse.
Feeling the ground his leg was resting on shaking, a voice boomed from within the door: "Remember Who… You… Are… Before it… Opens!"
Leon's ears throbbed under the weight of the voice and how fast the door vibrated, almost as if it wanted to throw him away from its side.
Leon tightened his grip on the jagged stones erected at the surface of the door. But as the door vibrated on a second motion, his left arm slipped as the stone he held broke and fell.
His left arm staggered for a while, then slammed onto another stone, which also broke the moment he wrapped his fingers around it.
This time, his right arm also slipped as the stone he held broke free and fell. He staggered, whirling his arm at his side like a bird.
His mouth opened wide as the tiny land he stood on also broke, causing him to slip and fall at great speed.
His screams turned silent as he realised the void to be endless. But after spotting a glistening spear stretched upward like an army below, his eyes widened, followed by the screams.
"Ahhhh!"
….
Sweat turned into a pool around his physical body, soaking the bedsheet, while the leaves also turned into ash whenever some touched his skin.
The air moving in and out of the room felt distant, as it conspired with his mind, trapping him in the nightmare.
A loud shunk! echoed as he got pierced by the jagged spear in his dream.
He hung impaled on the sharp edges, unmoving. Blood oozed from his heart, ribs, and legs, and dropped on the dark, solid ground like a waterfall.
The moment two crows flew past him at full speed, he gasped heavily for air while he cracked his eyes open.
Cough
He coughed once, twice, then on the third, blood bubbled out of his mouth. The crows that lingered around him, their cries piercing through his eardrum like a freshly crafted sword.
Though almost all his vital parts were pierced, he could turn his neck around freely.
"WHY NOT KILL ME INSTEAD?!" he screamed in a sorrowful tone while the blood kept on bubbling from his mouth.
Countless crows shot up from the dark, solid ground and hovered in a scattered stance around him.
Leon closed his eyes and smiled. But when he felt his skin get pecked by a bird's beak, he forcefully shoved himself sideways.
A bell sound echoed from all the spears he clung to as tiny round metals chained around the spears raised and slammed against the spears.
Then, in the distance, loud footsteps that sounded like an earthquake echoed.
Leon's expression changed when he turned his head and gazed in the direction from which the sound erupted.
Seeing a colossal being moving at an unnatural speed toward him, a bright city of gold flashed in his eyes—a view of heaven he read about in history books.
When the being closed in and stopped, the bright city vanished, letting Leon see the eye socket that had no eyes.
Leon clenched his jaw and closed his eyes when the being opened its wide mouth.
A chorus of laughter surged on Leon like fire.
Thin streams of blood dripped from Leon's ears, nose, and eyes like drizzling rain when the being closed its mouth.
No air flew across the land the spears were pierced in, yet he felt something moving the strands of his hair and shifting them sideways.
A massive force slammed into his body, which was already limp, letting the spears pierce through him deeper.
Everything went black when a spear pierced his head, cracking his skull.
And in the blackness, a voice rang in his ear: "I'm still waiting to end what you started."
Leon jolted awake from the nightmare and met another nightmare, spotting the bed he was in now looking like a mini swimming pool.
Huge amounts of water were hurled out of his throat after he gasped for air, splashing on the ground beneath his bed and around it.
The water-dropping sound echoed so loudly, he clutched his palms around his ears and squeezed his face.
Before he could notice, he scrambled onto the slippery floor. His chest heaved after he slammed both elbows hard on the ground.
Feeling the pain streaking through his elbow felt as if the spears he dreamt of were piercing his real body as well.
The humming sound of the medical machines echoed in his ears, bringing him back from the dream experience.
One breath at a time, Leon calmed himself. He managed to stand up without slipping down, neared the bed, and sat on it carefully.
His body shot up immediately as the water-filled bed touched his skin. He moved toward the foamy seat at his left-hand side and sat in it.
Soft wind blew across his face the moment sleep tried to swallow him again. Quickly, he shook his head and opened his eyes wide.
As his eyes closed for the second time, the statement repeated itself around him: "I'm still waiting to end what you started."
…
Meanwhile, inside the hallway of the academy, one door remained open. And inside the room that had its door open, Tiger sat there, anger filling his face like a skin.