The Crack In Heaven [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy] Chapter 60: Chapter 60: The Looping March

Read chapter 60 of The Crack In Heaven [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy] by Adamus_Auguste on NovelPedia.

Chapter 60: The Looping March "Paradox Wight?" Kael grimaced, both from the headache splitting his skull and the cold dread in his bones. The ground vanished beneath his next step. He tumbled, landing on his knees in a hole. No, not a hole; a trench that extended wherever the translucent abomination passed. Wait... did that mean... It couldn't. The idea still took root. Tonio lifted him by the arm. Els gave him a worried glance, which he ignored. "Keep moving." Marc stepped forward, hunched over his cane and limping slightly. Kael hurried behind him. A heartbeat of silence later, Marc answered without turning. "You never want to approach a Paradox Wight. Not even to kill it." "You heard me?" "I heard the most foolish thing you ever said." Marc sighed. "I'm not mocking you, Kael, but do you think temples, churches, and Veston's nobles would let it roam if they could end it? Same for Garrick. The pit's larger than the slums, and deep enough to limit the pollution of his factories." Made enough sense for Kael to nod even though he disagreed. If the Paradox Wight returned, it was kill or die. Unless... He gripped his throbbing forehead, remembering how any thought was immediately met and contradicted by its opposite. "Exactly." Marc twisted a finger against his sweaty temple. "You can't fight something that forces your mind to hold opposing thoughts. A headache's the gentlest symptom, its greeting from afar. Up close, your mind shuts down. Congratulations. You're paralysed right in front of the Paradox Wight." An icy shiver ran down Kael's spine. It was madness stripped bare. Worse, he couldn't tell if his mind had shut down, which made him tremble even more. "What a pernicious power." "Power?" Marc waved dismissively. "It's a part of what it is, not a power." Els paused for a heartbeat. Then she hurried to Marc. "W-what in Kraghor's name happens once you're paralysed?" "Can't you guess by looking at the ground? You die. Not cleanly. Everything it touches stops making sense. Stones become frayed and unstable, bones turn to dust, and flesh rots to oblivion. You're logically erased from the world." He waved his cane in front of him. "Look around. Edwin must have told you the burial is so deep it reaches the center of the world. It came from me. Because no one can put that thing out of its misery." Kael looked around, his idea turning into a deduction that shouldn't make sense. But what sense could be made from a creature whose steps twisted logic? "Because letting it roam deepens the pit." Now he no longer saw boulders and stones reeking of rot. He imagined flat ground connected to Ashcoil Row. Perhaps Els' shack once stood at the edge of the largest district. Or maybe rich mines? Whatever it was had long been reduced to rubble by the Paradox Wight. Along with all its inhabitants. Kael kicked a pebble in the silence. Els walked beside him, her brow creased, her expression screaming that she struggled to piece together the illogical. Behind her, Tonio simply... shrugged. They must have lost him on the very first word, not that it surprised Kael. Sometimes, he wanted to be the one who couldn't understand, and think "That thing is dangerous. We should avoid it even if I don't know why." Not so innocent a thought, not when he couldn't forget what he saw in the creature. The gods didn't shape it as they shaped spawns. It carried its story within, repeating it in an endless loop. "No one can end its misery. It was human, right?" Marc froze and half-turned. He glanced at Kael, closed his eyes, and shook his head. Then, the sound of his cane scraping the ground resumed as he continued the march. "A noble or prince of Veston. You saw and heard it as I did. The fool opposed Morvana, attempted to break through, and failed. I don't know who he was, but there is something I've always asked myself. Who in their right mind builds a city around a pit they fill with slaves and criminals?" "Sounds stupid." Els tilted her head, but Kael's breath caugh