St Chaos Healer

Ch 83 - The One-Eyed

I woke up to the sound of growling beasts and immediately sprang up, on guard. As soon as my eyes opened, I found myself in front of a cage-like barrier where two enormous monsters were locked in a savage struggle. One was a massive tree creature, its roots and branches stretching like tentacles, trying to ensnare its opponent. The other was a dark purple slime, a goo-like beast that had latched onto the tree.

It looked like a cage fight between two creatures trying to destroy each other. The tree monster occasionally emitted glowing orbs from its leaves that burned the slime, while the slime responded by consuming chunks of the tree and regenerating. Despite having never seen such beasts before, there was something unsettlingly familiar about them.

Beneath the battling monsters, I noticed a glowing barrier, eerily similar to the one Damien had drawn back in the cave. I had no idea where I was or what this strange place was supposed to be.

"This is your meridian plane," a voice suddenly echoed from behind me.

I spun around and saw a giant, floating eyeball hovering a few meters away, its gaze fixed on the barrier.

"What the—" I backed away quickly, startled by the sight.

The eyeball shifted its attention to me for the first time, its golden iris narrowing. "No need to be alarmed. I thought you were already expecting this... our fated meeting," it said, its tone oddly calm.

I took a few more cautious steps back, trying to make sense of the creature before me. The eyeball had a golden iris with a slit pupil, like the eye of a beast. Despite its unsettling appearance, the creature seemed intelligent and, for the moment, non-threatening. Strangely, though it lacked a mouth, it spoke as if it could read my thoughts.

"Who are you? And what is this place?" I demanded.

The eyeball floated around me, moving slowly as it answered. "Of your two questions, I've already answered one. This place is your meridian plane." It turned its gaze back to the barrier, observing the monstrous battle. "To simplify things, the tree creature you see is the Fabled Eternal Dendrite, a Divine-class spirit. Its opponent is the Malicious Spirit, an Undead Morbid Legion, which takes the form of slime."

I turned to look at the beasts again, realization dawning. The tree monster's wooden texture and leaves looked unnervingly similar to something I had seen before. My mind raced, and I quickly glanced down at my own arms. They were back to normal, but my body had a semi-transparent quality, as though I were some kind of ghost.

"So... this place is inside my body?" I asked, my voice rising in frustration.

The eyeball nodded. "In a manner of speaking, yes. The battle you're witnessing is between two powerful spirits. It will decide who takes control of your body. For now, the barrier Damien created is working, minimizing the damage and keeping your mana core from collapsing completely." It paused and gestured toward the sky with its gaze. "You can already see the cracks in the sky—those are signs your mana core has sustained significant damage."

I looked up, and sure enough, black cracks split the otherwise pristine white sky, like dimensional rifts that seemed to pulse with the threat of destruction. The sight sent a chill through me as if I were staring into an endless abyss ready to swallow me whole.

"Okay, this feels like a nightmare. I can't believe this is real," I muttered, my thoughts still reeling in disorientation.

"I know it seems unreal, but this is the truth," the floating eyeball responded in its unnervingly calm tone, almost as if it found my confusion expected.

I frowned, still trying to process everything. "Well, who are you?" I asked, suspicion creeping in. "If this place is inside my body, what are you doing here?"