The Fallen Hero Reincarnates as the Demon King's Son
Chapter 74 - 73 - Time

Chapter 74: Chapter 73 - Time

Silence.

Caliste could not hear anything reach his mind. It was pure void.

The beating of his heart, his breathing, the sound of him walking.

It was as if they had never existed in the first place.

He wasn’t sure how long it had been since he had been inside this place, but he had been walking for quite some time. He also didn’t feel anything in his muscles, not the slightest sensation of pain.

Caliste had long given up on calling Liana’s name. He hadn’t gotten an answer, and he doubted that he would get one. He had no idea if she was even here in the first place.

’How long has it been since I’ve been teleported here?’ Caliste thought to himself.

It could be minutes or hours; he honestly had no idea. There were indications of time passing inside this space. It was extremely weird for someone like Caliste, who had spent the better part of his life on the outside where the sun would go up and down, with the sky changing colors.

Stuck in a place where darkness was the only thing that existed was certainly different.

Nevertheless, Caliste knew that it was not the time to give up. He was so close to his goal that it was only a matter of time before he found Liana or someone related to her. After all, he still wasn’t sure that Liana was the one who had created this cave.

***

A lot of time had passed; Caliste still hadn’t seen anything except eternal darkness. He was starting to get tired. He could feel his eyes closing on their own a little. However, he didn’t want to sleep; he could feel that he was very close to his goal.

And he also felt that if he closed his eyes in here... then it would be the beginning of the end.

***

He slept.

He got tired to the point where his body had completely stopped functioning, dropping cold on the ground.

Still, he woke up. However, once again, he had no idea how much time had passed.

’I-I just slept... which means I’ve been inside here for two days at most.’

A normal human would have no choice but to sleep every 24 hours. Given Caliste’s strength and condition, he could have lasted a little more, maybe as much as 36 hours. But above that, it wouldn’t make any sense.

Sleep was now the best way for him to keep track of time. At least, that’s what he thought at first.

***

10 sleeps later.

Caliste wasn’t sure if there was even a point in standing up anymore. He had walked for hours, maybe even days, and it had reached the point where he felt like this place didn’t have any end. It just kept going and going with no end goal in sight.

"Just a bit more..." he murmured to himself as he closed his eyes again, falling back to sleep almost instantly.

However, that was his first mistake.

***

"H-How many times did I sleep again? 30 or was it 31 times?"

Caliste muttered as he stood up, his body sluggish.

One month had passed by.

At least, that’s what Caliste believed. He had no idea if he was right or wrong. However, this fake "sense of time" was helping keep him sane. Walking in the darkness, all alone, without the slightest sound, could get to someone very fast.

"J-Just where are you..." Caliste muttered, his voice tired. "I don’t know if I can continue this for much longer."

He hoped Liana, wherever she was, could hear his pleas and answer them, but there was nothing.

"Is there a point to all this?" Doubts began to form in Caliste’s mind. "Is there even someone in here? I-Is she on the opposite side of this place? Did I go the wrong way?"

***

100 sleeps later.

According to Caliste’s sense of time, it had been around 100 days since he had been teleported in here. He had no idea what was happening in the outside world. He hoped that nothing grave had happened since he left.

He hoped his family wasn’t too worried about him.

He hoped they hadn’t given up on him like he had given up on searching for Liana.

At this point, Caliste was pretty sure he had searched everywhere for her. He just had no idea because there was nothing to guide him; there was no light, and there was no way to position himself in this place. He walked forward, but it felt like he was walking in place, unable to walk forward or backward.

Now, Caliste’s days were pretty much spent lounging around in the darkness, sleeping against the cold hard ground, waiting for a miracle to happen. If it would ever come...

"W-Was this a trap?"

Caliste shook his head.

"Did she prepare this to trap me in darkness for the rest of eternity?"

"Was I wrong?"

"Was she a traitor, after all?"

Caliste now had growing doubts that Liana was the mastermind behind his death. She was the one who had orchestrated everything. That’s why she disappeared. She wanted to get away.

"She created that child version of herself at the Demonic Academy because she knew that I would be reincarnated. She left me clues through her that would lead me to this place. Then, she waited for the perfect moment to trap me in here."

Caliste shook his head.

"W-Why did I even try looking for her? She betrayed me. Why am I still trying to forgive their actions? They killed me in cold blood."

Caliste remembered Thorin. He had forgiven him on his deathbed because of how he acted, but now that he thought about it, he could have been onto this as well. He could have been the one responsible for this whole space, receiving orders from Liana to guide him here.

Maybe his death was a fake one?

Maybe this was all an act to trap Caliste for good?

Maybe... just maybe they all knew of his reincarnation?

Caliste could feel himself panic. But he couldn’t feel his heart beating faster; he couldn’t hear his breathing getting ragged. He was panicking, but his entire body wasn’t. It was a strange sensation, but Caliste was tired.

"YOU BASTARDS!" Caliste suddenly screamed. "GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

But, as usual, there was no one who replied to him.

***

150 sleeps later.

"They betrayed me again..." Caliste muttered to himself as he looked at the ground, his eyes wide open. His eyes were red; Caliste was trying his best to stay awake now, thinking that maybe something would happen in his sleep.

For the past 50 sleeps, his mind had been reinforcing the theory that he had been betrayed by his old friends again.

He was now convinced that it was the truth. There was no longer any doubt. He fervently believed that he had been betrayed and trapped in this place. That this was all part of a bigger plan made by Liana.

Everywhere around him darkness resided, and the floor was just one big mirror that reflected everything against it.

Right now, Caliste was staring at himself.

His hair was messy, his eyes red with dark circles under them. It had been more than 150 days since he had been in this place, and he didn’t feel hungry or thirsty.

"Someone... please, I-I just want to get out. I-I don’t want to be here anymore."

Small tears formed in the corner of his eyes as they slowly began dripping down his cheeks before landing against the floor, his vision of himself getting blurry because of the tears, forming a small pool of water.

But then... when Caliste thought that everything was over and that the rest of his life would be spent inside this place, a strong light suddenly appeared. It almost blinded him as it reflected off the mirror.

Caliste’s eyes widened.

"A-An angel? H-Have you come to save me?"

Caliste hoped for that to be the case... however, that wasn’t the case. The light, which had started out to be insanely bright, was slowly dying out before Caliste saw it descend from the skies toward him. Then, it stopped right before him, floating before his face.

He tried to grab the now weak light with his hands. But it moved out of his grasp the moment it was about to reach him.

’W-What is this?’ Caliste thought as he managed to find some strength to stand up as the light was suddenly heading in a random direction. ’L-Liana? A-Are you finally coming to help me?’

Caliste followed the light. Hope slowly began to grow within him.

Someone had come to save him.

Heaven?

Liana?

An angel?

Rachel?

Caliste had no idea. All he knew was that this weak light was the only thing that had happened in over 150 sleeps...

Then, after a few minutes, or maybe hours of walking, the light suddenly stopped in place.

Caliste walked up toward it, and when he tried to grab it, his hand passed right through it, his body following his gesture, falling to the ground... but right as he was about to do so, Caliste passed through the wall of darkness.

He fell onto grass.