Nightmare Mythos

Looking at the paper floor that almost kissed his face which could've either resulted in him being mushed in a pool of blood or flesh and bones scattered in the same area he was supposed to or was about to land, Cesar didn't even blink and remained with a calm eyes.

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If not for the fact that the time had momentarily stopped… well, so many ifs had questioned Cesar while being in here in the Mansion that he had to stop this kind of habit of his just for the sake of his mind being at peace.

'Just because I survived through ifs, shouldn't mean I continue thinking about them. Right, I have to fix this mindset of mine. I shouldn't doubt my capabilities because I was pretty weak back then. Now, I will carve my way out of here on my own…'

Cesar stayed in his position, momentarily shaking his head around to observe before finally widening his eyes after realizing something unbelievable right within his sight.

'Holy shit! I can move through a frozen time!'

Feeling a surge of surreal emotion at how impossible this moment is to him, thinking that his knowledge regarding the world has been so minimal right before transferring into the Mansion, Cesar couldn't help but almost eradicate the beliefs that weren't proven or untrue at first.

This was absolutely revolutionary.

His tiny knowledge continued to grow. It was breaking a wall of data he knew from outside which Cesar willingly hugged them, knowing opportunity like this rarely comes.

The outside world is indeed vast.

'Can I walk through it?'

Musing that thought inwardly, Cesar started to walk his leg in a walking motion after getting out in a frozen state before using his hand to assist himself in standing up.

Once he did, another gasp escaped from his mouth as he was flabbergasted, he was shivering in excitement that was apparent in his fists.

'Crap this is so fucking groundbreaking.'

Glancing at the eerie black book in his hand with a very intricate cover and a censored title in the middle which is something like a glitch, Cesar began to take account of how precious the item is.

It is easily way, way, and way better than anything he had acquired in his hand on his whole life.

If mere recitation of words and essence to suck from a person was enough to do something unbelievable as this one, Cesar knew that using it in a way that was efficient enough, he'll be more unstoppable in any situation.

If put in a scenario, he wouldn't have never lost an eye if he ever got the book beforehand.

"Fascinating? I guess maybe for a person of your caliber,"

Of course, Cedeit, the voice inside his head, seemed to be unaffected by the frozen time as he brought harsh words to Cesar, undermining his surprise that seemed natural thing to see the mysterious voice.

"Can't I have fun?"

Cedeit seemed to snort as he retorted with the same uneven voice.

"Nothing good comes from being too much in the Time Domain, kid. Besides, you are merely borrowing the power that came from the book. It's not yours hence it will immediately run out," Cedeit paused, "Let's see. The amount of essence you've given only amounts to a half minute of the frozen time. Hmm, in 3,2—"

Cesar frowned as he raised the question, "Why are you counting down? Don't I will where I want to stop or not—"

"1, and 0."

Finally, the frozen world reverted back to a normal passage flow of time as Cesar was able to spot the difference between being in 'cease' and the 'moving world. When it was truly frozen, everything was perfectly still. However, there's a slight difference between the two.

"Bluergh!"

And that was the sensation of being inside of the Time Domain or not.

"Bluerghh!"

Cesar was on his knees as he started coughing out whatever there was to cough aside from blood. Feeling nauseous, immensely hazy even, he didn't stop from puking out a variety of indescribable remains.

"Be careful of using this power, there's… someone I knew that has been lost through time and has never been the same since." Cedeit's voice seemed distant as his voice changed before he came back to reality very instantly, "Anyways, there's another thing you'll have to get before you face them,"

Hinting that he was talking about something else, Cesar probed even further to confirm his suspicions.

"I'm almost there on fighting the Keeper and the Librarian?"

Cedeit replied fast, "You are certainly right. It wouldn't be too soon to fight the two behemoths of the library so better be prepared. Aside from the Book of Contents, you'll have to grab a Fabric of Prison Domain's power,"

Fully committed to doing his bidding, Cesar was all set and ready to finish any mission given to him as he replied.

"If that's the way to get out of here, I'll take it no matter what it takes,"

Cedeit who was unusually chatty at this point, with his reply back became a bit fast, was silent for a whole minute before liking that he was being proactive.

"I like how you are being enthusiastic. Unfortunately, a Fabric of Prison Domain is on the 'current roof' of the library. Meaning, you'll have to wait for the Fluctuations to happen before getting it,"

Cesar frowned but Cedeit continued with a slightly jubilant tone.

"Fret not, this is a very good opportunity. Because we're on the 'current floor', no one is guarding that place yet. Usually, either the Librarian or the Keeper is looking out for it," Cedeit paused, "In the meantime, you'll have to position yourself near the landing point where the Fabric is being safely stored,"

Cesar's frown went even deeper. Now that the Librarian and the Keeper were being mentioned in their conversation could only mean one thing about their progress.

It was finally time to move deeper into the middle of the library.

"You're going to guide me, right? You might just disappear out of nowhere like you always did,"

Cesar was suspicious about Cedeit leaving him once more when he was in a pinch but by the looks of it, the voice wasn't planning any of that.

"I only left you because I don't have anything to spare to continue my connection to you. That's all there is,"

Cedeit then changed the topic, "Anyways, this is a good opportunity for you. The deeper we go to the middle, the more vast the knowledge we'll acquire in the books. The ones you're seeing now are a very low-level type kind of book where it just shows you different kinds of power and how most of them are impossible to learn for humans like you. This and that, blah blah,"

Cesar's eyes widened at that information, "They can be used to read?"

"Duh, what's the purpose of those books if you can't read them? That, however, is just one of its functions. Have the Time Domain got into your head already?"

Ridiculing Cesar as his last remark, Cedeit began to lead him deeper into the library with a certain direction in mind.

It was finally time to venture to the middle of the heart of the library.