Stray

Oliver regained a little consciousness.

His entire body was depleted, and the feeling of being carried on someone’s back felt familiar. The memories of escaping in the Border Forest with Nemo were mixed with instinctive ecstasy, like hot water soaking in his thoughts. Oliver almost immediately forced his eyes open.

After seeing the dark red cloak and blond hair in front of him, the green eyes full of expectation quickly dimmed.

His head wasn’t completely awake yet, but sadness had already thrown a strong sourness to his eyes and the tip of his nose.

“Brother,” Oliver whispered.

“I’ll take you to find your companion.” Godwin didn’t look back. His tone was blunt. “You’d better sleep more.”

“I’m sorry, I lied to you in the first place.”

“About his strength? At present, it seems that Nemo Light has proven his position with his actions,” Godwin said dryly. “Although I have other conjectures, now…is not the right time.”

“What about Debby and the others?”

“Debby’s fine. I’ve asked her to contact Horizon to guard the reconnaissance team. Lord Karapan of the Mooney Sect is in a coma due to overextension, and the Preceptor Bishop doesn’t seem to be pursuing you for now.” Godwin continued to walk forward, silence for half a minute before speaking again. “…Now you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Thank you,” Oliver murmured.

Godwin wasn’t deceiving him. Bagelmaurus’ aura was indeed getting closer. At their current speed, they could rendezvous with the other team in less than half an hour. Although he couldn’t see anything on the surface, Oliver knew very well that Godwin himself was equally as weak— The commander of Horizon didn’t even have spare power to heal his bleeding wound.

“What are you going to do next…” Godwin asked before he could finish his sentence, and then he stopped in his tracks.

A terrifying force broke out from the direction of the other team, and the terrifying momentum and strong malice suddenly made Oliver’s hair stood upside down.

A long time ago in Noer, the terror he felt there in Nemo was still a little hazy, but now his own strength had soared and the gap between the sky seemed even clearer.

Godwin, who was also a top powerhouse, couldn’t hold on. His knees softened and he knelt to the ground.

Oliver took advantage of the situation and struggled down from his back, lying on his back on the slightly withered grass next to him.

“It’s surface magic, what’s going on. I’ve never seen this kind of—” His voice trembled uncontrollably, and Godwin’s gaze subconsciously swept across the face that resembled him.

But Oliver didn’t look too surprised. Godwin could see that it wasn’t the numbness after losing a loved one, but the calmness that had already been clear.

Oliver Ramon had indeed become different. In his impression, this cousin of his who liked to misbehave had always smiled, even if it was a bitter smile, there was still a smile nonetheless between his eyebrows, but now, Mr. Ramon was lying there in silence, his eyes were still red, and there wasn’t much emotion on his face.

The soft eyebrows of the past were slightly stiff, as if they had never learned how to laugh since they were born.

“Go back, brother,” he said, staring at the blue sky above his head.

Trying to ignore the increasingly heavy unknown force, Godwin looked up at the sky— A clear, beautiful cornflower blue, without a trace of clouds.

“Thank you,” Oliver still looked at the sky without blinking. “But I’ll have to go over there myself next.”

“I still have a few teleportation spells here. You come with me. There’s something going on over there. The strength of this power… Neither you nor I can handle it now,” Godwin replied immediately.

“I can probably guess who it is.” Oliver finally retracted his gaze and sat up.

Godwin frowned.

“I don’t know what you think of my dad now, Godwin.” Oliver’s voice became serious, “But I can tell you unequivocally that if you insist he was ‘destroyed’ by that expedition… Rather he was ‘destroyed’ by some intelligence from it.”

Godwin Lopez squatted down, his red cloak sliding across the grass. His brows were tightened tightly starring at Oliver with those eyes that were like his own.

“And I’m about to get that information.” Oliver licked his dry and cracked lips.

“…Do you know what it is?!”

“Now I can probably guess.” Oliver looked at the blue sky again, his tone trembling with wonder.

“Your situation isn’t good, Ramon. I can’t—”

“Although we have completely different views on many things, I don’t want to see you go that same path, brother. For example… I believe you feel the current sense of oppression, at least for now, please don’t explore it.”

“Are you sure you will be safe?” Godwin quickly pointed out.

“I don’t know, but I’m different from you.” Oliver staggered to his feet.

“I have no faith, no great ideals, and there is not much to lose… You’re more suitable for this world than me, Godwin Lopez. I…”

“I’m a crazy monster, maybe crazier than you think. If all this can end, if I still have a chance, I will tell you the truth one day. But not now. You still have your dreams, right? …You still have time to fall in love with someone.”

“Please, go back, brother.”

Godwin Lopez stood up and looked into the other’s red and swollen eyes.

“I don’t like you very much, Ramon.” The leader of Horizon sighed. “Remember, you lied to me before. If this is the second time, then there won’t be a third.”

Godwin simply ignited the teleportation parchment and disappeared into the air.

He didn’t say goodbye.

But another teleportation parchment fell leisurely from where Godwin disappeared and rested on the grass. Oliver picked it up and clenched it in his palm. Then he raised his head again and looked at the terrifying giant that covered the entire sky.

More than half an hour later, near the entrance of the Abyss.

Jesse Dylan silently observed the rise and fall of Adrian’s chest, and when the other party’s breathing stabilized, he just planned to lower his mouth—

“…That was you.”

Oliver walked a little wobbly, his voice hoarse and weak, but he spoke sounding very sure of himself.

He stretched out his hand and pointed to the sky.

“Tsk.” Jesse snapped. “I forgot that you were nearby. I just let go of a little bit of strength so it was natural I was seen… Oops, my mistake. Are you okay, captain? Maybe I can help you get rid of this unpleasant memory.”

The blond young man raised his head and did a once-over scanning Oliver from head to toe with his eyes. “Well, it seems that you’re not very good.”

Oliver was also looking at Jesse Dylan and the situation around this “God”.

It looked terrible here.

Oliver tried to remove the power from his eyes, and the blue sky showed its original appearance again. The warm and brilliant sun once again brushed the tips of the grass but made the rest of the scene looked more terrifying.

The blue dragon and the youth of the choir were sleeping on the fairly clean lawn, wrapped in countless tranquilizing spells. The fuller goat was chewing on grass on the edge of the battlefield and the gray parrot with half of its burnt feather was unconscious on its back.

The one-eyed dwarves gathered in one place, creaking and gnawing at the bloody bones with their beards covered in purple-black blood. There were still some fragments of clothing left on the bones.

The believers of the Mooney Sect staggered around, most of them clinging to their heads and stopped looking at the sky. The more intense ones even dug out their own eyeballs, some incontinent, and the air was mixed with the stench of blood.

Standing in the middle were a number of huge stones closely resembling the shape of people, with living human eyeballs embedded on the top, facing the sky.

“Don’t ask now. I can probably guess your intention.” Jesse seemed to be aware of the surprise of his own leader, and he waved his hand casually. “Adri has just recovered from his death, and I’m very busy— Why don’t I tell you what happened here through ‘other forms’ later.”

“I want to go back to the Abyss. I have to prepare first.”

He took a deep breath and withdrew his attention. Oliver neatly stated his intention. He stretched his hand into his pocket and squeezed the gold pendant tightly.

“I need your help, Dylan, please treat me and Bagelmaurus. I have to ask it as a guide, but I am not familiar with healing arts.”

“Oh?” Jesse raised his eyebrows with interest. “This is different from what I guessed. You still have your sanity.”

“Nemo is still there, I have to…think carefully,” Oliver said as if he had exhausted all his strength.

“To be honest, I don’t recommend that you go to the Abyss in the near future,” Jesse responded almost coldly, throwing out a mute array casually. “The Demon King will not be hurt by the kind of small fights below, you and I both know this. Now Mr. Light may be recovering, perhaps…”

He paused for a moment, didn’t go on, and instead changed the subject.

“You don’t seem to be too surprised by what happened to me.”

“Because I could not feel any more desperate,” Oliver replied calmly. “This is another thing I want to ask you, Dylan. Yes, I want to go back to the Abyss now, but I also know that if I just rush down into the Abyss in such a state, once I die, Nemo will really…”

The hand holding the Rest in Peace trembled badly, and Oliver’s tone became anxious.

“Nemo told me that you’re reluctant reveal what you know because you’re worried that we’ll fall into despair. Now I repeat again, I can no longer feel any more desperate.”

“Really? Listening to your tone, you clearly think that your ‘Nemo Light’ is still there.” The smile on Jesse’s face faded. “If you really want to know the truth, you’d better abandon this naive idea.”

Oliver bit his lower lip, his back straightened, and there seemed to be flames burning in his pupils.

“I know what you are thinking. You think your love is enough to overcome everything— Given that nothing could keep him down, I guess Mr. Light took the initiative to sacrifice himself. Yes, how amazing. Truly admirable.”

“He’s still there,” Oliver insisted, almost crushing the gold pendant in his palm. “He can’t just… disappear like this.”

The world was so absurd that this was the last stability he could grasp.

Nemo said he wouldn’t die.

What’s more, even a huge monster that covered the world like Jesse Dylan still cared about Adrian Cross, who was an ordinary human being. Oliver turned his gaze to the sleeping knight commander.

“I don’t ‘love’ Adrian Cross.” It seemed that he was aware of Oliver’s sight, and Jesse responded faintly.

“If you look at it by human standards, I don’t love him. I will not be crazy for him, abandon everything for him, and abandon my own desires for him. I am just intrigue by him and am willing to let this human stay in the world for a while longer. When Adri wakes up, I will tell him under no uncertain terms.”

Then, in a rare moment, Jesse Dylan sighed.

“You are different from Mr. Light, aren’t you? There is no doubt that between the two of you it’s a passionate love affair between normal humans. You love Nemo Light, who’s a ‘human’ deeply, but Nemo Light, who is ‘human’, can no longer continue to exist.”

“Whether you admit it or not, Dylan, ‘caring’ is also an emotion. As long as I can have a conversation, as long as I can talk to him again…”

“Yes, you think that as long as you can talk, you can get your lover back.” Jesse shook his head, with a little more sarcasm in his tone.

“One piece of advice. In terms of sensibility, you’d better not use me as a reference. I said that, didn’t I? Mr. Light and I, no, the strength gap between me and the Demon King is huge. He’s not the same kind as me— As a parasite who needs to communicate, my feelings are naturally more delicate.”

“You know I won’t give up because of these words, Dylan.”

“I know, I know… Alas, I’d better show it to you directly, if you are ready to realize it.”

Jesse put Adrian’s head on his thigh, vacated a hand, and stretched out in Oliver’s direction.

The fingertips flickered with warm white light.

Oliver didn’t hesitate, he threw away the Rest in Peace and stretched out his hand to the fingertips…

First, there are countless fragments with mixed perspectives. It contained a bloody hole in someone’s chest. The knight commander who was still standing in place, the screams of Commander Rugo, the roars of the fanatics, and all the blood and despair that had occurred in the past half a day.

Naturally, it also included the moment when Jesse points his finger on the forehead of the petrified believer.

Then he saw it.

That’s it, Oliver thought vaguely.

If this was the truth that his father came into contact with back then, maybe he could understand why his father was hit so hard— Not to mention the unprepared father, even himself who knew the original appearance of God and had been enlightened in advance shuddered in an instant.

That was from the most primitive instinct, uncontrollable fear.

Why was Nemo Light able to reach the surface intact? Why did Bishop Hagen of the Abyssal Church declare that “the law hasn’t been broken”?

Why did the Demon King keep changing, being reborn, and never destroyed? Why was the Abyss so vast?

Why did Jesse Dylan give up hope himself?

The truth of the matter was simpler and more desperate than he had guessed. Yes, the dark Abyss under the surface was extremely vast, and there were hundreds of millions of demons in the depths.

But this was just a crevice.

In the vision of “God”, a white behemoth was sleeping.

Oliver had never seen this kind of creature before. It was curled up with its wings wrapped around most of its body, almost balling itself into a standard sphere. A thin layer of rock wrapped around it, but because the white monster wasn’t flat, there were many irregular voids in it.

That gap was called the “Abyss”.

Deep in the Abyss, the strange white ground in the Ghost Throat was nothing more than the edge of the creature’s slightly erected wings. The Demon King that the expedition was fighting against was just a little bit of flesh with consciousness.

His father was really brave, Oliver thought to himself.

The title of the strongest man on the surface now sounded almost like a joke. If his father had sensed this scene through the “corpse” of the Demon King, what kind of mood would he be to face wars, power struggles, and intrigue?

It was right not to let Godwin follow.

Wrapped in invisible gentle darkness, people embraced their pride, stepped on the thin rock formation, and between monsters eulogized the Gods of their dreams.

But…

“Dylan.” Oliver wiped the tears he couldn’t help but shed with the back of his hand, and finally smiled again. Although it revealed some despair and bitterness, it could still be called a smile.

“…I still want to see him again.”

His Mr. White.

The author has something to say:

Those little cuties who once wondered why the proper Demon King didn’t go to the surface by itself!

…People cannot stand on their backs (.

——

Nemo on the surface is indeed just a piece of flesh containing consciousness, just like Jesse’s situation.

Oliver, the world-class first love (………………

The fuller goat may be the luckiest creature in the whole world.

Kinky Thoughts:

This is the bombshell of what the secret is all about. While to us reader it may not seem that bad, think of it from the perspective of the characters. If one day all the things you ever believed in was shattered in an instant, you probably would have a mental breakdown too.

It seems like the entire world of Stray is built upon a monster, and the Abyss are gaps between that monsters.