"...What just happened?"
I was still standing in the same place, my body exactly as it had been before. My claws immediately reached for both sides of my head.
My ears were still there. I checked them once... then a second time. Not even a single drop of blood stained my scales. My body told me that nothing had happened, yet my mind refused to believe it. I had felt them being torn away from my head.
The pain... the blood... every moment of it had been real. Yet my body carried no trace of it.
I remained there for a long time, trying to make sense of everything that had just happened.
Every question only led to another, but none of them had an answer. There was no one here to explain any of it to me. Only the endless darkness remained.
Even after what felt like forever, nothing had changed. Those invisible walls—or whatever they really were—still surrounded me, cold, solid, and unmoving.
That was when fear truly settled into my mind.
There was nothing I could do about this place, and no one was coming to help me.
Even the System remained silent.
My gaze slowly drifted toward where the silver-blue strand had appeared.
I still didn't know what it was. Was it the path the ancient voice had spoken of? Would it lead me out... or would it only bring that unbearable pain? Every instinct told me to stay away. My mind resisted. My body resisted. But what other choice did I have? If I gave up now, I would remain trapped here forever.
Like it or not...
I had no choice but to find out.
Taking a slow breath, I forced myself to calm down. Once again, I circulated Beast Qi through every sensory part of my body, trying to recreate the same sensation that had led me to the strand before.
It wasn't easy. I tried to settle my thoughts, but the memory refused to leave. The moment my concentration began to stabilize, the image of my ears being torn away flashed through my mind, forcing my Qi flow to falter before I could reach that strange sensation.
I took a deep breath and forced those thoughts into the back of my mind.
Gradually...
I felt it.
A faint silver-blue strand appeared once more.
It stretched much farther into the darkness than before.
I stared at it without moving. The memory of what had happened after touching it was still fresh in my mind. My claw stopped halfway before I slowly pulled it back.
"...No."
If touching it had brought that pain... then I wouldn't touch it again.
Keeping my distance, I followed the strand without taking my eyes off it. It drifted deeper into the darkness, and I matched its pace carefully. The farther I went, the more the memory of that unbearable pain returned. My breathing gradually became uneven. I tried to steady it, but the fear refused to leave. For the briefest moment, my concentration slipped.
The strand trembled.
Then it broke apart.
Before I could react, countless silver-blue particles rushed toward me.
"...No..."
The fear returned. I instinctively pulled myself into my shell.
Before I could—
CRACK!
The pain exploded through my limbs.
Every bone in my forelegs, hindlegs, and tail shattered at once. The sound of bones breaking echoed inside my body as fractures spread through every limb in the same instant. My body slammed against the ground, convulsing violently as the bones in my limbs shattered again and again.
Before I could even scream, another agony followed.
Countless unseen jaws tore into my limbs.
They weren't simply biting me—they were devouring me.
Flesh, muscles, tendons... everything was ripped away piece by piece, as though I had been thrown into a swarm of starving beasts. Every pull sent another wave of agony through my mind, yet there was nothing I could do except endure it.
Then my tail.
The same unseen jaws began tearing into it.
"AAAAAAAGHHHHH—!"
My vision faded.
...
My eyes shot open.
"Huff... Huff... Huff..."
My breathing came in ragged gasps, my heart hammering wildly against my shell.
Almost instinctively, I looked down, but the darkness hid everything. I could only feel along my body instead.
My forelegs... my hindlegs... my tail... none of them were missing. They were still attached to me.
Yet the moment I felt them, the memory came rushing back. I could still feel my bones shattering beneath my flesh, and those unseen mouths tearing them apart.
My body was unharmed...
But the fear refused to leave.
It spread through every part of me, making my limbs tremble uncontrollably. The little strength I had left vanished, and my legs gave way beneath me. My body dropped heavily to the ground.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't gather enough strength to stand.
Almost instinctively, I pulled my head and limbs back into my shell. My body refused to stop trembling, and every uneven breath echoed inside the cramped space around me. I tried to calm myself, but it was useless. Every time I thought I had managed to steady my breathing, those moments returned, dragging me back into the same fear. I didn't know how long I remained like that.
Gradually...
My breathing became a little less frantic.
The trembling hadn't stopped.
But at least...
I could think again.
Why...?
Why was this happening to me?
I hadn't done anything.
Then why did this place keep trying to kill me?
If it wanted me dead...
Why was I still here?
Why did everything return as though nothing had happened?
There were only questions, but just like before, no answers came.
I remained inside my shell, trying to put everything together. I didn't know what this place wanted from me, why it kept putting me through those things, or why I was sent back every time as though nothing had happened.
But one thing kept bothering me. The second strand had stretched much farther than the first... and the pain had been worse. Much worse.
I stayed still for a moment, thinking about that difference.
If the strand had something to do with what happened to me, then perhaps its length mattered.
But what would happen if it stretched even farther?
The thought made my body tense again.
I didn't want to imagine what the next pain would feel like.
For a while, I simply remained inside my shell, trying to keep my thoughts from slipping back into those memories.
Then I slowly took another breath.
This time, I focused on the coolness of the Water Qi flowing through my body.
I carefully circulated a small amount through my body, not trying to cultivate or increase its power. I simply let it flow, feeling its gentle movement through my meridians.
Slowly, the tension in my body began to loosen.
Not disappear.
Just enough for me to breathe without struggling.
I stayed with that feeling for a while, letting the Water Qi move gently through me until my thoughts became a little clearer.
Only then did I begin to think about the strand again. My gaze slowly turned toward the place where it had appeared. Nothing had changed. The same darkness surrounded me, and those invisible walls still kept me trapped.
But the strand... it was different. It had stretched much farther than before. I couldn't stop thinking about that.
If it had changed this time...
Then I needed to see it one more time.
I didn't move immediately. Instead, I slowly came out of my shell and tried moving my forelegs and hindlegs, making sure they would still support my weight. They were still trembling, but they could move. I steadied myself for a moment before slowly making my way toward the place where the strand had appeared.
This time, nothing stopped me.
I kept moving through the darkness, following the direction where the strand had appeared. There was no cold barrier blocking my way. A faint sense of hope began to rise inside me. Maybe... maybe this was actually the way out.
But that hope didn't last long.
The same cold, invisible barrier stood before me again.
I stopped and reached toward it with my senses, confirming that the same invisible barrier was still there. Then my attention returned to the strand.
But the strand... it had extended beyond where I had reached before.
Much more than the first time.
And suddenly, something began to make sense.
The strand wasn't simply appearing in front of me.
It was showing me a path.
A path through this place.
If it could extend like this, perhaps it was leading me toward a way out.
But there was one thing I couldn't ignore.
The longer the strand stretched, the worse the pain seemed to become when it broke.
If that was connected...
Then how much worse would it become if I managed to make the strand stretch even farther?
I didn't know.
And perhaps that was the most frightening part.
Because now I understood that finding the path wasn't enough. I had to keep it intact. And the farther it stretched... the more unbearable the consequences would become if I failed.