Opening my eyes, I found myself back inside the white palace.
Once more, I was inside the same room I last woke up in, though with a singular change — the painting of the tall insect was slightly altered; his face now had cracks forming all around it, and void was slowly seeping out of it.
Not really having anything else to do in here, I walked out and looked for the Radiance. She was most likely with the others, and she was going to fix this mess.
Once I had reached the meeting room, I saw them all writing something down on their scrolls. I couldn't quite see what it was, but right now I needed her to undo whatever she did.
"Radiance... we need to talk," I told her, still writing something down.
"What is it, shorty?" she said, still looking down and writing.
"It's about the angels. They've gone completely insane."
This caught the attention of both the Pale King and the White Lady, who both looked up from what they were writing.
"What do you mean, insane?" the Pale King asked me.
"I don't know much, but from what I've seen, they're completely infatuated with me. They think I'm their god or something."
The Pale King rubbed his chin before an idea came to mind.
"Tell me, did they have an orange glow in their eyes?"
"Yes, every single one."
The Pale King simply gave a deep sigh before standing up and walking over to the Radiance.
"What?" the Radiance said before getting slapped by the Pale King.
"What the hell was that for!" she yelled at the Pale King, who simply walked back to his chair next to the White Lady.
"You know why I did that. Now release those poor angels from your control," the Pale King commanded.
"You are such a dick sometimes," the Radiance replied while rubbing her face.
"I know," the Pale King replied back.
"As much as I would love to release those pitiful angels from their trance," she got up from where she was sitting and began to float, "I have done nothing. Maybe you should ask your precious vessel what happened." And just like that, she floated through the doorway, leaving me and the others alone.
The Pale King turned to me and spoke.
"Any idea what she meant?" the Pale King asked me.
"No clue. The only thing I know is that whenever they look at me, they seem to assume I'm their god."
The Pale King paused for a moment in thought before he suddenly got up and began walking out of the room.
"Follow me," he said, turning his head towards me before he continued to walk.
I said goodbye to Mother before following right behind him.
As I followed right behind the Pale King, the corridor we were walking through began to shift and change. Paintings began to appear and disappear, then suddenly the Pale King stopped walking while we were still in the corridor.
He turned towards me and pointed towards one of the paintings. I looked at the painting he was pointing at and saw a painting depicting the Pale King like a beacon of light.
"I may know the reason why the angels are going... insane," he said, still looking at the painting.
"What is it?"
"I wasn't quite sure at first, but now... I'm certain." He turned towards me, kneeling on one knee.
"You are more extraordinary than I could ever imagine. You possess the abilities of everyone here in this void," he said, his hand holding one of my shoulders.
"What do you mean?"
Getting up, the Pale King spoke once more.
"You see, child, this form before you isn't what I looked like before. In fact, I have taken hundreds of forms over my many lifetimes, and this form you see now is the last form I had taken before returning into the abyss."
He began to walk once more, and I followed behind him.
"This form you see now was the one I used to rule and give the insects of my kingdom sentience. It also had a small side effect — I was seen by all who looked upon me like a brilliant light. That may be the reason why those angels have mistaken you as their god, just like me."
"What do you mean, like you?"
"That's a story for another time."
As we walked, we reached a rather large balcony overlooking the vast void.
"With the Radiance sealed within you, as well as every single god consumed by the Lord of Shades, you may have direct or indirect access to their abilities. And the limits of these said abilities... well, I have no clue right now."
"So, I can control these angels just like the Radiance and what she did to your kingdom?" I said, looking up at the Pale King.
"Most likely. How to use her power... I have no clue," he said, looking towards the void.
"Well, at least now I know what caused this, but there's another problem... I'm currently trapped inside an angelic prison box."
The Pale King didn't answer me; instead, he continued to look towards the horizon. I stopped looking at him and looked towards what he was looking at.
Almost immediately, a towering figure was staring at me — the Shade Lord. His piercing white eyes stared at me, and with one quick motion, he grabbed me, picking me off the balcony.
"Once you wake up, listen to his voice. He will guide you," the Pale King spoke before I was quickly dragged into the murky dark waters below.
I felt my eyes slowly close and felt the world around me melt away.
---
Waking up, I slowly felt my eyes open, and once they were fully opened, I quickly took notice I was suspended in the air, covered in chains.
I tried to struggle free, but I couldn't move my body in any meaningful way to escape. Looking around more, I saw the box I was in and the chains surrounding it.
The sigils surrounding them glowed a bright white light with every movement I made.
I couldn't think of any way to escape the bindings alone. I needed someone from outside to help me.
Well, there was one way. I could break my own neck, die, and come back — hopefully out of these bindings.
As I thought of a way to kill myself, a voice spoke.
"Release the void," the billowing voice spoke.
"Release the void," it spoke once more.
Okay, creepy voice that sounds just like me — how am I supposed to do that?
...
The voice was silent for a moment until I suddenly felt my exoskeleton crack. It started from my chest, and it slowly began to spread.
Usually, this felt like agony, though this time it wasn't. As the cracks became bigger and bigger, I felt something within trying to explode out. I didn't try to stop it.
And within a few seconds, I exploded.
The bindings around me were destroyed, leaving nothing but black sludge in its place.
I landed on the floor with a loud thump, cracking the floor below me.
Looking around, I got up from the floor and walked towards the door to leave, but as I pushed the door open, I saw my hand was... different.
Instead, my hand was a pulsating darkness. I looked down and saw my entire body was the same. Touching my face, I felt... nothing.
What happened to me?