Chapter 122: Stelle: So Your Inner Self Wants to Peep at Mermaids Bathing?
"Is this Rekka's inner world?"
Having formally entered Rekka's mind, the trio looked up, their surprise evident at the sheer realism of the psychic landscape. The sky above was a bruised, sunless expanse, where clouds drifted like clots of old blood.
"This place seems to represent his negative emotions, like fear and dread," March 7th explained, her voice a little hushed.
"Eh? Doesn't that mean..." Stelle's eyes instantly lit up with a mischievous glint. "I might discover a whimpering, crybaby Rekka that I can mess with however I want!"
In the distance, mountains stood like broken teeth, their peaks torn asunder by some ancient violence, leaving behind hideous, gaping cracks. Though the nearby vegetation was lush, the edges of every leaf were tinged with an eerie, sickly color. A damp scent hung in the air, thick and cloying like the sweltering heat before a storm, or perhaps the hot breath of some colossal beast.
This was a world built from Fear.
"Don't you guys think..." Dan Heng lowered his voice, his hand instinctively moving closer to the hilt of his spear. "...it's too quiet here?"
March 7th and Stelle immediately ceased their bickering. He was right. It was unnaturally quiet. There were no birds chirping, no insects buzzing. Even the sound of the wind was sporadic and stifled, as if the world itself was holding its breath, trying not to be heard.
"Where's Rekka?" Stelle looked around, her baseball bat resting on her shoulder. "Didn't they say we'd see him as soon as we got in?"
"His consciousness should be scattered throughout this world," March 7th said, closing her eyes. A faint, crystalline blue light sparked at her fingertips. "Let me look... over there."
She pointed toward a distant, shadowed rift valley.
"Hehe~ I can't wait to see little crybaby Rekka cowering in a corner," Stelle let out a wicked little laugh, already imagining the blackmail material.
Just then, a whoosh of displaced air tore past them. An eerie creature, a blur of motion, had just brushed by.
Stelle, with her combat-honed dynamic vision, caught a fleeting glimpse of its form. "...A wolf, with wings?"
March 7th looked in the direction Stelle was pointing, but only managed to see a blurry shadow disappearing over a ridge. It was impossibly fast, its body held low to the ground in a predatory, hunting posture.
"Did you see it clearly?" Dan Heng's hand was now firmly gripping Cloud-Piercer.
"...Something feels off," Stelle murmured, her playful mood evaporating.
"Hey! Look, is that person over there Rekka?" March 7th suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
"...Seems so," Dan Heng confirmed, his eyes narrowed.
"Wait a second," Stelle squinted. "Are his ears... furry?"
It was indeed Rekka—at least, the face was an exact match. But his eyes were a deep, dark purple, with pupils narrowed into vertical slits like those of a wild beast. He stood at the very edge of the rift valley, looking down at them from his high perch, a long, lupine tail swaying slowly in the air behind him. Most striking of all were his ears—pointed and furry, like a wolf's, twitching slightly as they took in the sounds of his domain.
"Rekka?" March 7th called out tentatively.
There was no response. Those cold, purple eyes merely swept over the three of them, a predator sizing up intruders, before finally landing on March 7th.
"...Rekka?" she tried again.
Still, he remained silent.
"You," he finally spoke. His voice was deeper, rougher than the Rekka they knew, as if he were unaccustomed to forming words. "How did you get in?"
"I sent them in," the real Rekka's voice echoed from beside them as he materialized in a shimmer of light. He gave his counterpart a nod. "You're a part of me, right? You represent..."
"Fear," the beast-eared Rekka finished, his gaze unwavering. "So, you..."
"I do not feel fear," he stated, a simple, unassailable fact.
March 7th stood her ground, studying him. Those dark purple eyes were unfamiliar, and the cold, primal expression on that familiar face was deeply unsettling.
"You don't feel fear?" Stelle raised an eyebrow, stepping forward with her bat slung over her shoulder. She looked the wolf-eared Rekka up and down with a challenging smirk. "Then why are you in the inner world of Fear?"
The Rekka with the furry ears turned his gaze upon Stelle. His slitted pupils suddenly dilated, locking onto her.
It was like being stared down by something ancient and terrifying. Stelle felt her limbs turn to lead, her movements becoming sluggish and heavy. An invisible hand seemed to clench around her heart—not the sudden shock of being startled, but a deep, seeping chill that radiated from her very bones, freezing her from the inside out.
In that instant, Stelle understood. The one in the world of Fear wasn't a cowardly Rekka. He was the Rekka who dominated Fear.
"Don't do that," March 7th said sharply, stepping in front of Stelle and pushing her back. "You're scaring her."
The purple eyes narrowed slightly, the intense gaze shifting from Stelle to March 7th's face.
Before he could react, the real Rekka's figure blurred.
The takedown was, to put it mildly, instantaneous.
March 7th, Stelle, and Dan Heng watched, dumbfounded, as the two Rekkas exchanged a single, beyond understanding look. Then, the embodiment of Fear was met with a single, devastating punch. The blow was so clean that the wildness in his eyes seemed to clear up significantly. In the same motion, his entire form warped, shrinking from a wild, handsome beast-man into a tiny, chibi-sized version of himself.
"No, wait! You were wearing that super cool waist-baring armor, holding that looooong sword, and you had all those wolf-things... why did you get turned into a chibi with just one punch?!" Stelle complained loudly, gesturing wildly at the anticlimax. "That was such a perfunctory battle!"
The chibi version of Fear, his eyes now wide and clear, looked up at her.
"Otherwise, am I supposed to fight him for a long time and pad the word count by tens of thousands?" the real Rekka asked, turning his head in genuine confusion. "That glare he gave you just now made you unable to move, didn't it? That's his ability."
The chibi, now barely knee-high, looked up at them. Those dark purple eyes were watery, and his furry ears drooped sadly.
"You scared my friend," Rekka said, his tone firm.
"I was just performing my duties," the little person said, his voice now high-pitched and righteous. "These are the rules of the world of Fear. Anyone who intrudes must accept the scrutiny of Fear. I only looked at her; I didn't actually do anything."
Stelle leaned in, squatting down before the little person, and reached out to poke one of his furry ears. "Whoa, the texture is real!" she marveled. "So, are you really a part of Rekka?"
"I am him," the little person said with a straight face, trying to maintain his dignity. "He is the dominant consciousness, and I am one emotional facet of him. We are the paint, and he is the blank paper. Besides, I didn't intend to hurt anyone."
"Still talking back," Rekka sighed, flicking the chibi's forehead.
The little person's ears drooped even further. He covered his forehead with both hands, his dark purple eyes staring wetly up at Rekka, the very picture of a large dog being scolded by its owner.
March 7th crouched down to get on eye level with him. "So, you are Rekka's Fear? But you said just now that you don't feel fear toward anything?"
"Correct," the chibi nodded seriously. "My duty is to dominate Fear, not to produce it."
Stelle, still squatting on the ground, stared thoughtfully at the little figure. "So you are Rekka's Fear. Tell the truth then—what are you afraid of?"
"I am afraid of nothing. That is a fact."
"Then what is Rekka afraid of?"
The little person's expression changed subtly, his mouth clamping shut.
"I won't say."
After a bit more prodding and poking, the embodiment of Fear was sent back to doze on his throne, leaving the group to move on.
"Next up is Sadness," Rekka announced.
The world dissolved and reformed around them. They found themselves on the bank of a crystal-clear river, the air filled with a gentle, melancholic melody. As soon as they landed, Rekka saw them: three beautiful mermaids, their tails shimmering with iridescent scales, soaking languidly in the water.
"Rekka," Stelle gasped, pointing an accusatory finger at him, her face a mask of utter shock and betrayal. "I didn't expect your inner self to be so filthy..."
She looked as if she had completely misjudged him, her voice rising with theatrical indignation.
"So filthy, so filthy! Your inner self actually wants to peep at beautiful mermaids bathing!"
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