Chapter 39

Revision 09-14-21: Changed the design of Tannhauser Revision 09-19-21: Changed the little paragraph about Tannhauser's poem

In the previous chapter…

The ‘Prison of Illusion’ skill sent Slade into a picture of Griscent’s subconscious. There, he regained his composure and accustomed himself to the mechanism of the skill.

When Griscent arrived to pursue him, she was put face to face to her deepest fears and insecurities. Unable to act freely, she sent young Slade to fight against the real Slade.

Indeed, she took back control of the fake Slade, turning him into a convenient puppet. Her aim was to overwrite the real Slade with her imitation. If the puppet devoured the real Slade, it could take control of his real body after waking up.

As a result, Slade was losing badly after plunging into the red sea.

It doesn’t hurt anymore… Slade thought.

Slade sank into darkness, losing too much blood.

I’m done for.

The zombie boy feasted on the man who stopped struggling.

The pain of having his flesh eaten faded alongside his consciousness. It was a silver lining amid despair.

He was left with the sadness of losing pieces of himself, memories that were forever gone.

His shameful defeat also doomed Violet, Lorely, Shaki, Milia and Metiva.

He closed his eyes for his final slumber, then a childish voice giggled.

Slade pried his eyes open. He was no longer underwater.

Ugh… Another dream? What is it? Inception?

Instead, he was inside another hazy vision.

His younger self carried him under a dusk sky. The boy walked on a path through a flower field which led towards a cliff.

Young me?

“Yes, I guess we’re merging as I’m eating you. That woman did quite the number on us.”

Sorry… Our precious memories are going down the drain.

“Hmm… Don’t fret too much about that.”

Why? Are you happy to take over?

“Of course not.”

Then what?

The boy silently walked forward.

I want my name and my face back.

“You already have a name, Slade.”

Hearing the boy utter the name felt strange.

That is not my true name.

Light appeared beyond the cliff as they walked closer. The setting sun dragged down the yellow sky to the sea. The boy smiled as he stared at the horizon, blown by a gentle breeze.

He pointed forward. “That is where your old name belongs, Slade.”

The setting sun?

The boy nodded. “‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it’, right?”

Yeah…

“Yet, what does it mean to change?”

To chase after new possibilities?

“And as you walk forward, you leave the past behind.”

But, why should I change?

“The past is not a fail-proof compass. If you focus too much on what worked, you’ll eventually run into a cliff by stubbornly sticking to your old thinking. Likewise, if you commit to the wrong path, it becomes harder to take new perspectives. Change is opening new possibilities.”

You mean that I can’t win against Griscent unless I change?

“That’s right.”

Well, shit.

“Changing is not easy, but you can entrust me with your face, your name, and your regrets. Then when you’re finally ready, find me.”

The faceless boy stopped at the edge of the cliff.

“That is as far as I go. But I want to see you make it to the finish line. Just like that piano song, only you should decide its ending.”

“Okay…” Slade said.

Young Slade chuckled. “Don’t let your preconceptions hold you back, because you’re Slade the toilet slime.”

Before he realized it, Slade had turned into a pink slime, a formless ball of infinite possibilities.

He let the slime hop down onto the ground.

“Heh, I never needed opposable thumbs anyway,” Slade said.

“We might have lost the first round, but your fight has only started.”

Slade nodded, admiring the setting sun. “By the way, are you really m-!?”

“TIGEEER SHOT!” The faceless boy kicked the slime with all his strength into the horizon.

Slade flew towards the sun for what seemed a few episodes’ worth of football anime.

When he splashed into the ocean, his consciousness was thrown back into Griscent’s red sea. Unbearable physical pain assaulted his mind.

The zombie boy was removing big chunks of his arm from each bite.

Ha! Eating is a slime’s specialty!

Slade’s body bursted in a white flame, collapsing into a round slime. He wrapped around the zombie’s head.

It dawned on him that the ability to shape illusions was more about conviction than knowledge.

Losing hope meant defeat, but this husk of his younger self miraculously brought a second chance.

Thank you buddy, but I’m going to drag you into this fight one more time.

Blinding light engulfed the slime and the zombie.

…

Griscent waited on the mechanical island while her minion fought Slade. In the meantime, she calmed herself by staring at the ceiling. But light erupted in the sea, cutting her reverie short.

A slime surfaced, grinning. “It is my turn, Griscent. You will submit to me.”

“Ha, what a joke. You are too scared to confront others. Even now, you’re searching for a way to escape- what?!”

A figure emerged underneath the slime.

After the red water poured out, it revealed a knight.

“Yes, I’m so scared so I called my homie,” Slade said.

The knight walked up towards Griscent, carrying the slime on his head.

“Who are you?!” she asked.

The knight struck a pose. “Stand name: Tannhauser! Stand master: Slade!”

He wore a bizarre mismatch of equipment, much like a game protagonist who looted stuff randomly. His ragged cape and the fur gave him a rough look, but he wore an incomplete set of plate armor. Even stranger, an Adidas knock-off tracksuit stuck out from the gaps of the plates, and he wore sneakers.

Ignoring their nonsense, Griscent guessed that Slade understood how the prison of illusion worked and turned the zombie Slade to his side.

Indeed, he kept his other self functional, so that it held his lingering past, like shoving a photo album in a cupboard. After cleansing his alter ego from her influence, it turned into a weird knight with a weird name.

Griscent snorted as they taunted her with ridiculous poses.

Eyes at the tip of her tentacles lit up. “I’ll wipe off your grin!”

Author Notes

The german poem of Tannhäuser told the story of a knight seduced by Venus and her attendants, promising to satisfy all his desires.

Growing tired of empty pleasures and seeking redemption, he left Venus' cave to return to the human world. His journey brought him to the pope, only to be denied his pardon.

In an ironic twist, God revealed the pope’s mistake, granting his forgiveness to the knight. But Tannhäuser had already returned back to Venus.

Honk honk!

Slightly early chapter.

Guys, I’m so fucking rusted at painting from the lack of exercise during these two months. Like that sunset is god awful lol.

I started a grayscale wip, and I realized that I forgot how to choose good values families, and I’m totally untrained at shading metal xD. I’ll need some really good training.

As usual, thank you for reading and commenting!

Special thanks to our subscribers: Eternal_Havoc, LabRunner, JK, GM, TB, MS, S2, SD, Moose, U8, XCER, thedemongoku, Panthara, Nova69, PandaDaoist, Xerias, Mervvin, Vex, DivinePoodle, TheMuffinEmpire and especially Hedgeboar for generously funding our degeneracy (´▽`ʃ❤ƪ).

See you Tuesday,

OwOtrucked