A Background Character’s Path to Power Chapter 441: Damsel Yet Again

Nightmare Realm.

In the heart of a barren wasteland, where gray ashes formed the earth and a swirling vortex of purple desolation churned in the sky, a gravity-defying structure rose.

It was a grand yet terrifying black tower.

The obsidian edifice stabbed into the skies like a sharp thorn, devouring the faint illumination of this cursed domain.

And at the summit of this monstrous building, within a chamber that boasted gothic, vampire-like luxury...

A silhouette lounged near a curved window, propping their chin on a hand while gazing into the void.

It was a stereotypical scene.

In fantasy tales, typically the lovely princess or female leads would find themselves confined in the Demon Lord's lofty tower. They would shed graceful tears, peer out with yearning gazes, and await the hero's assault on the entrance.

Yet, reality twisted things with bitter irony.

Here, the captive was male.

That's right, A MAN!

And the worst part... the one cast as the 'damsel in distress' was none other than me.

'...'

'Urgh.'

I let out a groan, tilting my head against the chilly stone edge.

Recalling how everything unfolded filled me with mortifying shame.

About two and a half months had passed since that incident in the cavern.

I recalled my determination clearly.

The flickering flames. The resolve in my stare. The intense speech about enduring this inferno and discovering a return path. I had embodied a genuine protagonist, poised to triumph over the mysteries with cleverness and resolve.

With Nemo by my side, I had emerged from the cave, my aura surging, prepared to confront the perils of the Nightmare Realm.

Then, precisely ten minutes afterward, she arrived.

She descended silently from above.

An overwhelming force capable of pulverizing a peak descended, and a female form—if one could label a entity of shadows and moonlight as such—drifted downward.

She merely observed me, cocked her head, and grinned.

With a nonchalant wave of her finger, she hurled Nemo into a dark gateway and enveloped me in a shroud of night, hauling me to this height.

No fight ensued.

No grand confrontation occurred.

I remained utterly powerless.

...Urgh.

I shook off the thoughts and surveyed my confinement.

The space resembled a vast, luxurious sleeping quarters more than a dungeon. A grand four-poster bed with ebony silk bedding commanded the middle. Shelves of books covered the walls, stuffed with volumes in alien writings.

In truth, it appeared more akin to a luxury resort than a jail.

Still, it served as a prison, compelling me to—

My contemplation broke as the sturdy oak entrance creaked wide.

I tensed, rising gradually. I held my stance upright, my face neutral, even as my gut urged flight.

'Oh, you were truly roused.'

A voice like smooth silk yet icy as emptiness wafted inside.

A presence entered.

She towered high, exceeding two meters. Her ashen skin clashed vividly with the billowing jet-black gown that looked crafted from darkness. Her locks flowed like white celestial lights, drifting as though submerged.

But her eyes—whites pitch-black, pupils shining with a hunting scarlet halo—nailed me in place.

She ruled the Spire.

The captor who had snatched me from the desolation and sealed me in this accursed edifice.

I observed her approach smoothly, a platter hovering nearby with a chalice of dense crimson fluid and a dish of shadowy produce.

'I have brought you nourishment...'

She halted, her scarlet eyes forming sly arcs.

'...Dear.'

A chill raced along my back at the term.

It lacked warm fondness. It bore a horrifying, claiming intensity. Like a beast marking its treasure.

'I told you,' I stated, holding my tone even amid the chill perspiration on my spine. 'My name is Aman.'

'I know,' she murmured, pausing mere steps distant.

The aura emanating from her choked the air. It rang with eerie recognition. It echoed the unyielding might of Master Virion and Lady Nisha's essence. She probably ranked as an ancient being, or beyond.

Provoking her spelled doom. Yet, enduring this warped routine daily eroded my sanity.

She extended a hand, her icy digits grazing my face.

'You appear wan today. Did you rest adequately?'

'Sleeping proves difficult when the heavens wail,' I answered wryly.

She laughed softly, like bells tolling in a burial ground.

'You will adapt. The Void croons to its favored.'

She drew nearer, her features nearly touching mine. The aroma of storm and timeless grit reached me.

'And how fares... our little one?'

Her sight shifted to my torso, or precisely, to the soul-sealed area harboring that enigmatic egg.

I gulped deeply.

This sparked my torment.

The egg.

I learned the full truth afterward.

Upon discovering me, her target wasn't me but the egg.

And it appeared to be her 'offspring'.

But I had tucked it into the inventory prior to venturing forth.

Still... She detected it effortlessly.

Her scarlet vision had shattered the System's spatial veil like fragile panes, fixating on the concealed vitality right away.

She had detected the potent remnants of the egg's energy lingering on my flesh.

She had noted my blood and energy fused with the egg.

In her bizarre, otherworldly reasoning, that bond signified just one outcome.

I stood as the sire. She as the dam.

Thus, I became her spouse.

'Damn! I haven't even wed yet! But now I possess a spouse and an impending offspring?!'

'It is... still dormant,' I admitted truthfully, afraid to deceive.

'Good,' she breathed, her gaze warming with sincere, though eerie, sorrow. 'It must develop robustly. Mightier than its dam. So it evades my pains.'

She withdrew, her demeanor flipping swiftly from sorrow to household command.

'Now consume. You seem weak. A mortal frame is so annoyingly delicate.'

She selected a deep violet fruit from the platter and pressed it to my mouth.

'Open.'

I eyed the fruit, then her scarlet stare.

I parted my lips.

I had no option.

While munching the flavorless, chilled morsel, I wailed inside.

'I despise this storyline. I truly, utterly despise this storyline. I yearn to return home!'