Greyashe chapter 372 is entitled "What fear itself fears."

Previous chapter 371: No way back.

Next chapter 373: Just one life.

Summary page

-Short summary-

Van struggles to find Butcher's deepest secrets in the recesses of his mind. Butcher has had eons to forge himself mentally and physically, so does Van stand a chance?

-Long summary-

The farseer steels his own mental fortitude by reminding himself that he is no more than an extension of his own mind.

The reasoning behind this being that without a real "body" to return to, he has no choice but to accept reality as it is and charge forward. The beast Butcher had conjured to protect his thoughts can not, and will not deter him. Something so audacious means that he has an equally audacious secret to protect. The problem that the farseer has now is that Butcher has been alive for a long time and therefore the annals of his mind are vast and thick with memories layered upon memories, thoughts bisected by other thoughts, and knowledge that warps common knowledge. Van cannot assume that common sense works the same way it does outside here, and as such has to rely on pure instinct and most of all; their similar goals. What had gained Van entry into Butcher's mind will ultimately serve as his guide into it's facilities. If they had more in common, Van could even hazard a highly accurate guess as to where he needs to go, but he'll have to take what he can get --a mutual sense of killing intent. Butcher wants to kill him, and he wants to kill Butcher. The very intimate act of taking a life is what will ultimately doom or save society. 

Van rolls out of the way of the beast's swipe and jumps back from a paw smashing into the ground before him. He could try to attack the beast directly, but that would exhaust his resources. Truth be told he still only has a rudimentary grip on his ability and therefore cannot risk exerting himself too much. Since Butcher has the home team advantage, Van would have to pressure him into making a mistake and allowing him to move forward. Considering this beast's function --keeping him away from a secret, and where it appeared from he can assume that he needs to get around it and head from the direction whence it came. On the other hand, being too conservative means that he'll be overtaken in no time, so he'll need to at least be able to protect himself.

Considering his options, the farseer nods to himself and thrusts his hand into the ground, slowly pulling up something. The beast's many eyes widen at his sudden action and with a mighty roar it leaps upon and crushes him, the floor shaking and electric pulse throbbing. It slowly lifts it's paw to observe the should-be-dead farseer, but instead finds that he is gone. The beast looks back and forth, as the knight grabs the reigns of his monstrous steed in reactionary alertness. The "thought" of the farseer in this area had not yet disappeared, which means he is still around somewhere. Although he is in a realm of "oppressiveness" he still retains his ability to move and resist which only suggests that the dexterity of his ability is no small matter. It would be one thing if he could hijack a mind but only move to the extent of his entry place, or if he could only act as a spectator, but the farseer is able to move and participate in his cognizance --a dangerous ability for him. If Van can do that, what else could he do if prompted, or cornered?

The knight's thoughts are cut off as he is assaulted by Van emerging messily and painfully from the beast's shoulder. As bits of skin and blood smear his vision, the knight grabs his weapon, and thrusts it at the farseer who quickly dives and lands beside his enemy. The beast howls in pain and in an effort to flatten Van leans against the walls of their surroundings and runs dragging itself along the way. The knight struggles to regain control, while attacking him with his sword which acts as both whip and blade, a spear with long dagger like tendrils that snap upon the wall and drag chunks of it off as Van barely manages to avoid each sweep. The beast sways back and forth through the surroundings, and crashes into walls as it does so in hopes of rubbing Van out. The farseer and knight continue their haphazard battle upon the beast's back as it runs up against the wall and finally pivots against it roaring in pain and rage. The knight's whip-blade nearly catches Van off guard, but he surprises his enemy by grabbing it and gripping it hard enough for his hand to bleed. The knight's expression hardens and he snarls like a cornered animal as Van steps closer to him without releasing his weapon, his blood dripping upon the beast's back and oddly fizzling and evaporating as it makes contact. Once he is in arm's reach of his enemy, Van rears back as if he intends to hit him with a punch which the knight prepares to block with his free arm. Van surprises him instead by placing his hand upon the beast's furry back and reaching in as he did earlier. He sinks inside, and after a few moments, so does the knight. The two emerge from the literal belly of the beast below, and land safely. The beast continues it's mad tear down the seemingly endless space in Butcher's mind leaving the two to silently stare each other down.

The knight jerks backward suddenly surprising the farseer enough that he is able to retract his weapon and lunge for him. The farseer flicks his blood into his eyes, and he slows down momentarily to see that he has disappeared into the ground without a trace. So this is his ability while in the mind of another? It makes sense really. Since he is now an incorporeal thought and not a physical entity, he can transmute himself into something easily able to travel along his thought patterns and appear at will. Considering how long it takes for him to actually activate this ability leads to the belief that the "oppressive nature" of his mind is actually doing its job of limiting him. That notwithstanding, the farseer's ability is a vexing one, but there is nothing stopping the knight from doing the same. After all he is the guardian of this space, and Van a foreign substance which needs to be purged. The knight thrusts his whip-blade into the ground and in moments sinks through and lands in a dark area. He is able to use the same ability faster which is a plus. Now to find Van and completely obliterate him before he causes any more trouble. He can hear footsteps, and immediately dashes toward the source of the sound. Again it is only natural that Van cannot erase his presence entirety since this is not his realm, and the "oppressiveness" is keeping him at bay. What the knight never "thought" of is that this is precisely what the farseer wants --for him to follow his lead. Van runs through the darkness with his eyes only able to give him a faint "idea" of where he should be going. He is furiously working through a plan to destroy Butcher's mind, and is employing actions as he thinks of them. He doesn't have time to come up with a concrete "plan" as the knight's aptitude for learning and natural speed due to this being his domain is keeping him on his toes. In addition to this, Van knows his speed is being severely handicapped, despite him making a full effort to run as fast as he can. It won't be long now until the knight reaches him, and unless he can find Butcher's secret, he will have to fight the knight one on one, which is a losing prospect no matter how many possibilities he considers. He had purposely brought his enemy down to this level in hopes of using his haste to trigger a mistake, but the knight is much faster in his ability to adjust and adapt than he could have imagined. Even now he can hear the knight drawing closer with every passing moment. Is his haste the confession of his proximity to the secret? Van isn't sure, and doesn't have the luxury of trying again if he's wrong. On that note, he does realize he has been running in complete darkness for some time, and wonders why this area of Butcher's mind is unlit.

The knight appears from behind the farseer, and the whip-blade howls in the air as it lunges for it's target. Van tries to jump away at the last second, but is slashed in his arm and torso. He lands on his back, and quickly tries to dive into the ground again, but the knight is one step ahead and stabs him from a distance with the whip-blade, the pain disorienting Van and stopping him from escaping. The knight smiles sadistically as he swings the blade in the air back and forth while walking toward the incapacitated Van. Once a sadist, always a sadist it appears. The farseer's mind whirls as he tries to think of a means of escape. As much as the idea of running even  more angers him, he has to survive in order to find Butcher's secret. If only he had a clue of what to look for then he could...

Survival.

It all hits Van at once.

Only once ever has Butcher ever been pushed to the brink and concerned about his own mortal longevity, and that one incident had been what created the being before him now. When beings fear they overcompensate in their response to the fear --the giant beast, and the knight are all related to this. A primal fear that had resulted in even creating mental guardians despite the extremely low chance that the mind would be attacked directly in this manner. The secret isn't in one area of Butcher's mind, it permeates his entire thought process --no, his entire being. The question now is can Van actually take advantage of this discovery or will he be purged before he can do so?

The knight is standing above him, and holds his sword high in the air. Van is partially submerged in the ground and cannot move in time to dodge the knight's next move. So rather than dodge, he looks up at the sword, and concentrates on the ground before him. The sword's movement slows as the ground bubbles around the knight and suddenly drags him in, leaving only his head above ground, and allowing Van time to pull himself up. The farseer runs past him and with a yell rams his fist into an invisible wall that seemingly suddenly appeared. The wall shatters and before the knight and Van is a scene all too familiar to the knight --the scene of Dio lunging at a young Butcher with his energy bared. The knight struggles to free himself desperately as pieces of debris from the wall fall and more of the surroundings become clear. They're all repeating the same scene, over and over again from different angles. The farseer says to the struggling knight that he used his own "fear" to capture him and find out his. The difference between the both of them however is while Butcher wants to survive for his own nefarious ends, Van has to survive until he defeats him. After that, well....

The knight is frothing at the mouth in his efforts to escape the scenes of carnage, his mind collapsing. Van can feel himself fading as his limited time in Butcher's mind comes to an end. Hopefully this is enough to stop the sentient, as he has nothing else to give....

The scene dims like a lamp bulb burning out after extended usage and finally burns out.

Van comes back to himself because of the immense pain that racks his consciousness. His teeth chatter and he has to stop himself from vomiting. Looking at his body, he sees that his lower half is a few feet away from his top half, and quickly remembers the situation he had left when he jumped into Butcher's mind, and that he has nothing left now but death. At the very least he had come and accomplished what he had set out to do, so if he is to die then so be it.

He closes his eyes and allows death to comfort him until an "off" feeling causes him to jerk upward and come face to foot as he is kicked in the face by someone. Van's torso flies a few feet and lands on it's side, the shock shaking the farseer awake. He glances over in the direction from whence he was kicked and freezes in complete shock.

Before him is Butcher who has a dark jet black ink like aura dripping from his mouth, hands and feet, and his eyes are completely white. He slowly and unnaturally turns his head over to Van and tilts over with an empty expression at first, which quickly changes to one of fury as he grits his teeth and saliva drips from his mouth. The aura becomes more intense as he does this, enough to dry and kill nearby vegetation. Van stares his mouth opened in pure unbridled horror at the thing that now has him it it's sights.