’It’s so dark...’
Lazarus found his thoughts slowly drifting in the silent world.
He felt muddle-headed, confusion permeating every aspect of his consciousness. As a result, it took him some time to collect himself and properly guess his situation.
His memories gradually stirred as brilliance began to manifest in the dim realm around him.
Then, after an unknown period of time, his memories returned.
’I see. I lost consciousness the moment I returned to the world...’ Lazarus sighed in his damaged and barely recovered Mind’s World.
’Although the damage is extensive, it’s not permanent.’
All of Lazarus’ memories were erased and his mind was wiped clean. If this happened to anyone else, they would have become mentally impaired, completely turning mad. Their bodies would only be empty husks, one that was beyond saving.
But who was Lazarus?
In his past life, he had lived for almost four hundred years, achieving Legendary Rank.
This new body of his was weak, but as an old legend, he had his methods.
’It’s a good thing I kept a backup in my mind. When all my memories were damaged and lost, this backup—that is, me—woke up.’ The semi-transparent Lazarus within the darkness nodded quietly while looking around him.
Indeed, he was the cluster of backup memories that his main body set up.
Back when the main Lazarus was inside the Celestial Library, he had made arrangements in case something happened to his body and damaged his psyche.
’All I have to do is dissolve and occupy the Mind’s World. Once I wake up, my mind would be indistinguishable from before...’ Lazarus quickly got to work, transforming into many brilliant balls of light that began to illuminate the darkness around him.
This continued for an extended period of time.
Until—
"Guh!" A young man loudly gasped as he woke from his sleep.
Sweat covered his face and his face contained a warped expression, almost as though he had just woken from a nightmare.
Finding himself lying on a firm bed in the corner of a pure white room, confusion best described the emotions that swirled through his mind. The sanitized atmosphere caused a cool antiseptic odor to permeate the air.
Without a doubt, this was a sickroom, one that he had been transferred to after losing consciousness in the hall.
Lazarus looked around him in a hurry before feeling a sharp sting all over his body.
’It hurts... My entire body hurts!’
He was puzzled as to how he could be experiencing so much pain at once. It took every ounce of self control that he had not to scream. Instead, he kept shuddering as loud breathing sounds left his slightly opened lips.
While he was still acclimating to these painful sensations, the entrance door in the room was suddenly pushed open and someone walked through it.
She was a middle-aged woman with pitch-black hair and slightly tanned skin.
She wore a dark brown trench-coat, with a slightly ruffled cream shirt and dark trousers. The boots that trampled on the pure white tiles in the room matched her trench-coat, but with a slightly brighter hue.
This woman’s dark green gaze pierced his confused crimson eyes, giving her an imposing presence. Although she had a light smile on her mature face, Lazarus couldn’t help but feel a tinge of nervousness.
"W-who... are you?" He hoarsely asked.
"Good question," She sharply responded, grabbing a chair by the side before arriving at Lazarus’ bedside.
As she sat, she introduced herself, "My name is Mercy. I am an Investigator from the Historian Association. As an Aspirant—or should I say a Sub-Integrated—you should already know what that means, correct?"
"Yes..."
The Historian Association, as the name implied, was an organization made up of Historians.
It governed all Historian activities in the Seventh Aeon.
"I’ll get straight to the point. An incredibly dangerous phenomenon happened in the Aspirant Integration Hall. Witnesses claim to have seen a brilliant surge of light coming from within the building, with rumbles and echoes of destruction. Even from outside, it was clear that dangerous activities were ongoing in the hall, and the windows were even destroyed in a final flash of golden light. However, once the officials arrived, all these signs were removed. The windows were in place, and after entering the hall, nothing was remiss."
"Okay...?" Lazarus was slowly nodding, trying to understand how this involved him.
"The entire hall was in one piece. Neither the Aspirants nor the presiding Historian, Winston, noticed anything strange. The latter was still in the process of Integrating the Aspirants when the officials barged in. After getting their testimonies, it was confirmed that no one in the hall detected anything odd at all—well, except for one incident...." After pausing for some time, Mercy raised her brow and stared hard at him, "Care to guess what that incident was?"
"I’m guessing it involves why I am in this place..."
Mercy’s dark green eyes beamed for a moment before she nodded. "That’s correct. You suddenly passed out after standing still for some time. According to reports, you were bleeding from all seven orifices and your body violently convulsed before staying still."
"A-ah...!" Lazarus’ eyes bulged. "I didn’t know it was that severe."
"It was," Mercy chuckled lightly. "In fact, the experts said your Mind’s world had been greatly damaged and you would likely be a vegetable forever. Even if you woke up, you wouldn’t be able to reason properly. Yet, it appears you’re completely fine..."
"It’s a miracle," The red-eyed boy mumbled, clearly happy that he hadn’t suffered the extreme case that Mercy had described.
But the female investigator was not done speaking.
"A miracle indeed, but I’d like to know how it happened," She quickly chimed in, her expression turning stern. "What do you remember from the incident? Did you see the explosion of light or witness anything abnormal?"
"N-no... Not at all... I can’t remember anything after I suddenly fainted."
"Is that so?" Mercy narrowed her eyes.
Honestly, the entire case was shady from the start.
Normally, an investigator like her wouldn’t even be wasting any time interrogating a clueless Sub-Integrated like this. However, there weren’t any other clues to explore. Everyone within the hall at the time of the explosion were saying the same thing—that they didn’t see anything.
These were the most credible witnesses they had.
’We also did a check on their Mind’s World and it appears normal. There’s no sign of infection from a Nameless. A scan of this kid’s Mind’s World also showed the same thing. Other than the extensive damage, nothing was wrong with it...’ Mercy silently analyzed everything she knew and quickly felt a headache.
Cases like this were usually quite simple to deal with.
’Right now, his statement corresponds with what everyone is saying. The only thing we can latch onto is the fact that our scan of his Mind’s World ended up being different from reality. Apart from his mild disorientation, this kid is in a proper state.’
That meant their initial analysis was wrong.
If that was the case, then what else about Lazarus could be different?
This was what Mercy had to consider.
"You see... I would have believed you, kid," Mercy slowly sighed while leaning closer to the confused Lazarus. "However, since you’re the only one who showed an abnormality in the hall, and you’re also the only person whose assessment has been wrong, you can’t blame me for wishing to investigate deeper."
"W-what do you mean?" Lazarus stared at the smiling investigator, suddenly getting chills from the older woman’s stare.
She paused for a moment before parting her lips.
"I wish to enter your Mind’s World."