Villain Path

Chapter 63. The appearance of an elder brother

Shen could see Al's distant face, his eyelids closed in a peaceful sleep. He leaned a little closer, merging with him in a kiss. His lips began to crack, as if made of porcelain, and from the cracks on the pale face of the main character, dark purple blood oozed out.

Shen pulled back in horror, trying to control what was happening. But then Al opened his eyes and threw up a hand, roughly squeezing his jaw and making him freeze in place. His eyes radiated an incredible rage, and before his eyes, his appearance changed: from a teenager, he turned into the main character who had to kill the villain in the original story.

"Teacher," this Al hissed, "decided to torture not only my body, but also my soul?!"

For some reason, Shen was unable to raise his hand and push him away, or to resist in any way. It felt like it was cracking and crumbling. As strange as it sounded, he was sure that was what was happening: he was crumbling like a broken porcelain figurine.

The protagonist's fingers slid through the air.

"Teacher!" he shouted.

Shen watched as Al sat alone in the blood and ashes. He himself was aware that he was no longer there. Not at all.

Shen was awakened by his own scream.

Staring up at the dark ceiling, he felt his body tremble. In a normal dream, he had never experienced such vivid emotions. And that meant only one thing – the nightmare of Deep Darkness again. It was the first and last time she had indulged in such a thing, revealing to him the indescribable sensation of her own death at the hands of the main character, and it had been a long time ago. Now, for some reason, she was loose again.

Shen ran his fingers over his lips against his will. It seems that his own emotions have merged with the nightmare of Deep Darkness, turning into an indescribable mixture of anger and helplessness. He could only be glad that it was all just a dream.

Shen told himself for a long time that this was just a dream. He sat up until dawn, never closing his eyes again.

As planned, Shen had decorated the entire facade of the Black Castle with paper lanterns for the Bright Moon Festival. Unlike the usual flashlights, the talismans burned with a subdued bluish light inside, and they themselves were made in a regular round shape. The lanterns that adorn the black castle were personally made by its owner from materials found in the bins. Shen found a vocation for this occupation, and patiently made them for several days, until he made more than fifty.

In the evenings, when the gloomy castle was shrouded in twilight, the talismans inside the lanterns were lit with a bluish fire and gave the lonely square a festive atmosphere. They were bright enough for Shen to find it convenient to read on the bench after sunset. He had become more fond of twilight and gloom lately, the bright light irritated him, and the sun especially infuriated him. As soon as this luminary got out from behind the clouds, the caster would look at the sky with displeasure and say: "Well, it has appeared! No one is waiting for you here, go home!" And when the sun did not go away, he hid under the arches of his castle.

Perhaps this attitude was due to the fact that the sunny weather was in stark contrast to the mood in his heart, and the gloom and darkness of the surrounding world somehow calmed him down a little.

Here is only literature, worthy of reading and not causing irritation, and becoming less and less. At some point, Shen gave up and asked the old senile Ep to let him read his new novel. Scribbler fell into a real shock from the request voiced by Shen and even shrank in his massive size.

As for the owner of the Cursed Peak, it had seemed to him for some time that something was wrong with his physical strength. He needed more time to rest, and he got tired faster. Not too serious physical activity tired after a couple of hours, and this state of affairs he did not like at all. He rested a lot, and slept even more, but from time to time he was overtaken by soul-sapping nightmares. All as one they were connected with the main character, only the plot sometimes differed. Only one thing remained unchanged: it did not end well for the main villain, and he always died. The intensity of these nightmares, inspired by Deep Darkness, was so intense that each time he woke up, it was harder for Shen to tell whether it was real or still a dream.