I Became An Eldritch Horror-Chapter 29: The Other Side Of The Black Sun (1)

The journey back from buying the chicken was quiet. It was already past one, and the nightlife had thinned into nothing.

In a world where villains attacked civilians without warning, it wasn’t surprising that people stayed indoors this late.

Daniella and I walked side by side, the bag of steaming chicken swinging lightly in her hand.

Daniella, who had been talking nonstop just minutes ago, suddenly went rigid. Her steps faltered. Her breathing, though steady, began to grow shallow.

I glanced at her through the corner of my eye. "What now?"

She turned her head toward a dark alley to our right. The shift in her demeanor was immediate, sharp and tense and alert. Before I could ask anything, her hand shot out and gripped my arm.

"There," she whispered. "Something is there."

I stilled and stretched my senses across the area. Nothing felt strange to me. Maybe she was picking up on something I couldn’t sense simply because she was weaker, or because, as a Watcher, she was tuned to notice insignificant things.

"I can’t sense anything worth sensing."

Even as I said that, the sharpness in her eyes could frighten most people.

I sighed. "What do you think it is? A danger-zone gateway? Or another outer?"

She shook her head quickly, still staring into the shadows. "No. It’s nothing like that. But... something is there. I can feel it."

I frowned, shifting my gaze to her hand gripping mine. "And what exactly does that have to do with me?"

"Huh?" She actually looked surprised. Was I being too lenient?

"You do know I’m an Eldritch Horror, the enemy of all beings in the universe, right?"

She nodded. "Yes, I do. I just—"

I nudged her arm off me and took the bag of chicken from her. "And how many times have I told you not to grab me like that? Besides, shouldn’t a mighty Watcher be strong enough to handle a little ’something’?"

"If you want to investigate so badly, go ahead. I’ll head back to the apartment. Take it as your first mission as my servant."

I turned and started walking away.

But before I took my third step, her fingers wrapped tightly around my forearm, tighter than before. I could hear the faint tremble in her voice when she spoke.

"Wait. Don’t go." She swallowed hard. "I... know you aren’t a good guy. And you hate those I worked under. But are you really going to let something so dangerous go without doing anything?"

"Yes," I answered simply. "I’m trying my best to hide from the outers, not make them notice me."

"But I have a really bad feeling about whatever that is."

"It has nothing to do with me."

"I promise to be loyal from now on, so please just stay."

There was no point in arguing with her. I could end her with a swat of my hand. At least then I’d know why the outers caught me.

However, I couldn’t dismiss the way she was behaving. Either she had set a trap earlier and wanted me to fall into it, or something truly dangerous was there.

I lowered my head, grabbed her cheeks, and squeezed.

«From now on, Morning Star can only tell me the absolute truth.»

Daniella gagged slightly from the force of my hand. I didn’t care.

"So, Morning Star, did you plan all of this, and what exactly is inside that alley?"

"I..." She struggled to form words. "I don’t know. It isn’t human, and it’s nearly as strong as you."

My gaze darkened at her words. As strong as I am? A wicked smile crept across my face as I released her.

She collapsed to the floor, panting, her hands rubbing her cheeks.

I turned back toward the alley, my voice low. "I guess we have to look into it, then."

Daniella let out a shaky breath and stood, her eyes fixed on the darkness ahead.

She was scared. Not just of the alley, but of me. She had never stopped being afraid of me, yet she still acted brave through all of it. Even now, she was barely shaking.

It was interesting.

And I never turned down something interesting.

Noticing the grin on my face, she shivered. "Don’t think of doing anything funny."

A small laugh escaped me. She really was interesting.

She stepped into the alley first, and I followed.

From the outside, it looked like any other alley, but the deeper we went, the more wrong it felt.

There was an oppressive energy here, one I hadn’t felt in ages.

I could say I was the strongest outer being in the universe. Before my sealing, I could take on three pillars alone. Now that they were weakened, I could probably take six. Yet something in here was making my hair rise.

Daniella was noticeably trembling the deeper we went.

I let out a breath and took her hand, enveloping both of us in my Qi. If she kept walking alone, she would have died before we reached the center.

Daniella glanced up at me as soon as our hands touched. Shock flashed in her eyes, her steps faltered for a moment, then she steadied herself.

"Thanks."

"Don’t get used to it. I’m far more evil than I appear. And the warning I gave you at the vendor still stands." I didn’t look at her. "If you let your guard down around me, you will die."

She didn’t respond, but the faint trembling in her hands faded until it disappeared completely.

"I..." she began as we reached the center of the alley. "I think you have a high chance of taking the Mirror from the Princesses."

I barely registered her words as I stopped walking.

This was it. Whatever was exuding that pressure was here.

’System.’

[Yes, master.]

[Scanning area for signs of any outer creature or artifacts.]

I waited as the system scanned the area. A few seconds later, it responded.

[Scanning complete.]

[I have detected the presence of a subspace.]

I shut my eyes and let Qi flow through them. When I opened them again, I darted my gaze around.

It took less than ten seconds to locate it: a pocket world hidden behind layered arrays.

And it wasn’t just any pocket world.

"What happened?" Daniella finally asked.

My gaze darkened noticeably as the system projected the full information about the subspace.