Chapter 31

(Cyrus POV)

I really thought I would never see her again. I can't believe it. How is this even possible? I watched the life disappear from her eyes as I tried to resuscitate her. I never even thought to ask about her past or where she came from while growing up. Everyone was focused on raising me as the next heir, and it seems that may have gotten pushed to the side. "How much was kept from me growing up?" I thought to myself.

Shaking off my daze, I refocused on what I was brought here to do. I needed to clear this rift. I started making my way toward the exit that the phantom echoes were guarding. The words of my mother resurfaced in my head: the celestial tapestry does not make mistakes. There was a greater purpose for everything I had experienced up until now. Who I had become was the path I was meant to take.

It was reassuring to hear those words from her. Knowing that she didn't blame me for what happened eased my mind and helped release the burden I had carried. I felt lighter replaying that brief conversation as I walked into the field of echoes. With each step I took, I felt guilt and doubt melt away from my conscience.

"Oh, look, the little prince dragged himself back here for another beating," the echo that had taken on the form of my instructor proclaimed. I didn't even acknowledge his words. I kept moving forward slowly but surely.

"So you're just going to act like you don't hear me?" the echo yelled. "Everyone, surround him! He's not getting to this door."

Controlling my breath and calming my mind, I focused only on moving forward. Every time a negative thought or emotion entered my mind, I replaced it with all the encouragement I had ever received growing up. The loving support from my mother, the sense of pride from my father, the cheerful excitement from my grandfather, and the wise, helpful teachings from my uncle all gave me the strength to stand tall as I walked through the crowd.

The negative statements barely scratched me, and the force behind the attacks was hollow. I understood how this rift worked now. The more I gave in to its antics, the stronger the echoes became. No wonder the phantoms' attacks hit so hard before, while my own attacks just phased through them. Now, I finally felt in control of the situation.

The environment around us began to change as well. The rain started to lighten, and sunlight peeked through the dark gray clouds. The chasms filled with water began to recede. As the evaporation thickened the dry atmosphere, the air became more humid than before.

The echoes were frantically trying everything they could to find a chink in my newfound mental armor. Each attempt failed miserably. Standing about a hundred meters from the door, a cluster of phantom echoes that had taken the forms of people from my past began to gather, while the rest behind me started to fade back into their original forms.

"The failed prince seems to have found resolve. You're fighting hard, but you are far from complete, boy," the echo of my instructor said as it started to merge with the others around it. The merging echoes took shape, forming a new body. The figure that emerged was a male, just under two meters in height. He wore black pants and boots, with a black cloak that had its sleeves cut off. One arm was bare, the same skin tone as mine, while the other was wrapped in white bandages.

The form completed its transformation as the head took shape. A black mask covered its face, etched with red markings resembling a serpent coiling around one eye. The figure looked oddly familiar, but I couldn't place where I had seen it before.

"Are you ready to face the same fate as your mother?" the figure said in a deep, reverberating tone. The words startled me, jogging my memory of who it was. It was the man who had delivered the final blow to my mother the day of the massacre. A member of the Lux Tenebris.

The memory resurfacing sent chills down my spine. I understood that this was the echoes' last-ditch effort to drag me back into despair. It took all my focus not to let this act ignite the rage pent up inside me. Attacking these aberrations wouldn't get me closer to clearing this rift. Staring down my mother's killer, I maintained my course toward the door.

The echo tried to block my way, almost begging me to attack it, but I didn't. I gave no attention to the member of the Lux Tenebris, calming my mind and reinforcing my mother's words. It tried several times—even attacking me, throwing several strikes—but the effects were minimal compared to before. I was taking away all of its power without even raising a hand in protest.

"So, you don't care about avenging your mother? Does she mean nothing to you?" the masked man shouted.

"She means everything to me. But you are not real. You are not worth my true wrath. I will find that man one day, and I'll get the justice I seek," I said as I walked past the echo once more.

"Liar! You're just too weak to take me on. You'll never amount to my strength, little prince."

"As of now, you are right. I am not strong enough to face him. I saw him slaughter people far stronger and more adept than me. But I am stronger than a little ghost who died trying to clear this rift. Your jealousy is unbecoming of your soul," I calmly shot back at the echo.

The ghost lost its ability to maintain form and split back into several echoes. Then, in one last attempt, all of the echoes sprang at me. I didn't move. I let their feeble attack come at me. The remaining echoes phased right through me.

"Give up. There is no more hope in stalling me now. You have lost your loose grip on my emotions, and I hold the power now."

Quivering, the echoes began to fade, admitting their defeat. I turned my focus back to the door, now just a couple of meters away. When I grabbed the handle, it didn't open at first. Imbuing cosmic energy into my hand, I tried again, and this time, it started to budge. Before I fully opened the door to continue through the rift, a voice whispered in my ear.

"Thank you, little prince. Thanks to you, we will finally be able to rest."

When I looked over my shoulder to see who had spoken, I found it was the very first echo from the top of the mountain—the echo of the kid from my school. As it waved goodbye, its form shifted. It was now a young adult, appearing as if he had once been an adventurer. He had a grand smile stretching from ear to ear.

"Go ahead now. I think you have more pressing things to tend to. Thank you once again." The echo shooed me away, and I walked through the door, entering a dark void.