*
Unveiling my newfound strength I opened my eyes to release the tension that had been building up within my body.
Feeling reenergized I couldn't help but smirk.
I knew now that I wouldn't be dying today.
But the threat wasn't over which meant I still had to act.
My ordinarily crimson eyes came to life as a bright red amber illuminated them seemingly causing a flame to appear.
My vision remained the same but those who glimpsed into them froze over in fear.
Instantaneously the swarm of birds that were about to feed on me stopped mid-air and fell to the ground unable to remain in the air.
Cowering on the floor the birds began to writhe in pain as they shook uncontrollably.
Yet this was just the beginning as a second later I felt a connection form that had been slowly developing all this time.
Like a mana contract and Nightfall a new force put pressure on my mind as I felt a new entity reveal itself to me.
Reeling in power I called upon that source and that's when a real change happened.
Rather than power being produced solely from my eyes, the red mist began to leak out of my body.
As if I was just a mold for containing the mist it quickly freed itself. Slipping out the cracks of my skin the force made itself known to the world.
The red mist continued to build up and resonate with my body until a large portion of it filled the forest.
All birds swept up in the mist dropped to the ground, while any of the few surviving monsters had their eyes dim before they too collapsed.
After a single minute, the hectic war came to an end and the once calm and silent forest reemerged.
The few thousand birds that passed me continued to move down the hill but having more than third quarts of their numbers mowed down they began to disperse.
Those further away that had yet to react to me and get in range of the mist realized how deadly it was and avoided it at all costs.
Together the remaining birds gathered in the air barely casting a small shadow before flying off leaving the mountain behind.
Once they were gone I looked around at the carnage and began to laugh.
"Ha, haha!"
I laughed and laughed wholeheartedly overwhelmed by emotion.
"That's it Nightfall, you really exceeded my expectations!"
Unable to control myself I threw my head back and laughed to the point that tears began to form in the corner of my eyes.
When I was finally done I dropped my head still having a terrifying smile on my face.
"Ah, how good it feels to turn past mistakes into fuel for future success."
All this while the red mist continued to layer throughout the forest as if it was an all-natural fog encompassing everything within it.
But from the mist, a shadow of a figure began to rise from under my feet.
I watched as the person formed while I raised my head to match its own.
[Are you ready to acknowledge me?]
In front of me stood a mysterious person shrouded in red hiding all its features.
"Must I?"
The figure took a single step forward and closed the distance between us until its forehead was a mere centimeter from touching mine.
[Yes.]
I sighed.
"Go ahead, it's all in the past anyways."
After saying that the figure leaned forward and our heads touched connecting our two worlds together.
At this point, the veil that was bidding the futures of the figure broke away and the identity of the person was revealed to me.
When it backed away and allowed me to get a good look at it I wasn't surprised by what I saw. After all, deep inside my heart I already knew the truth of the matter.
Staring back at me was none other than… myself. However, it was a much different vision of me.
The boy who had red wrapped around his body was me from my past life.
It had the same body, the same face, and the same aura I gave off back when I wasn't in my novel.
The person standing before me was the same person I was before I transmigrated.
But there was a fact that couldn't be ignored.
"A copy?"
Questioning it I glanced into the eyes of the mimic.
[Yes and no.]
Confused by the answer I was about to ask for an explanation but the mist answered first.
[I am merely a fragment of what remained from your body.]
"Does that mean-"
[Yes, you really died that day.]
I frowned and lowered my head.
I had an inclination that there wouldn't be a way back but being told directly that my body was killed truly sealed any hope I had of getting back.
But I knew I had to get over it, my past life might be over but there was still much I needed to do in the new one.
Pushing aside my feelings I went back to trying to find out new information from the copy.
"You are the curse I made for Evelyn."
[I am, however my creation was much more complex than you can even begin to imagine.]
"What do you mean?"
[I am sure you've noticed it already but this world, this novel, this work of yours, it is not some fantasy, it's real.]
I stayed silent.
[You can deny it as much as you want, but the truth of the matter is that this world is real, the people inside of it are real, and the experiences you've gone through are all real. There's nothing fake about it.]
I opened my mouth and closed it, but for some reason, I couldn't find a suitable response to give.
The mist saw that I was giving nothing away so it changed the course of our conversation.
[Enough about that isn't it about time I explained myself?]
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