Ascension Rebirth - Dangerous existences

CHAPTER XLI

PART ONE

-ARACHNA'S SIDE-

It's been three days since we arrived at this weird little town and the scent of the strange and repulsive mana has only thickened to the point that the stench makes me sick. I don't know how much longer I can stay here without starting to lose my mind.

If this is how it's been for these villagers I can sort of understand why they're so 'strange', though I doubt they're as sensitive to mana as I am.

According to Morgant they're being controlled by some being, and sure enough I can feel some sort of manipulation magic at work here but I just can't find the source. I've spread out small surveillance spiderlings to find the origin of the strange magic but nothing has turned up.

The towns people move around like zombies, only acting out the motions of life but the truth is they are no more than simple undead. No, that would be an insult to undead as even they have some level of self awareness, this is just puppetry.

Morgant has told us not to do anything that stands out for the time being but anymore of this and I might just have to move my hand.

Luckily at that time a certain piece of news came to our attention.

"Mister Lyn is missing?"

Morgant says as Enrich comes to deliver the news.

"Yes, when I asked around the townsfolk simply scratched their heads and suggested that maybe he left without telling anyone, though I highly doubt that's the case as most of his belongs are in his room."

"I don't like this.

Morgant started to touch the center of his face with his right hand, in a similar fashion to when someone pulls up their glasses. It's something I've only noticed recently but he does that whenever he's feeling frustrated or disappointed at something.

"Are there any clues among his belongings that could indicate where he might've gone?"

He asks Enrich, but all he gets his a denying head shake.

"It's almost as if he just up and vanished with no reason."

Once again he reaches for area between his eyes.

"I don't want to do this but mind going on a little rabbit chase?"

"I don't particularly mind but is Mister Lyn that important?"

"[Lyn] isn't the important one but most likely there's someone pulling the strings behind the scenes, but I want to search around the village a bit more before I join up with you guys."

"This 'King in Yellow' you mentioned?"

Morgant nods.

"I've no clue how dangerous or what sort of abilities he has outside of mind control so you'll have to be careful."

"Of course, I'll be sure to take precautions."

Enrich signals me to follow as well, though I didn't really want to leave Morgant all by himself in this weird town there's no other choice huh?

"Do you have any idea where to begin?"

I asked, Enrich is pretty smart so he should already have some leads.

"I was hoping that you had one since you're spiderlings are all over this village."

Or so I thought, but he's pretty perceptive as well. Just when did he notice my spiderlings? For someone who doesn't partake in combat he's got a keen sense of vision.

My spiderlings look like ordinary spiders so it shouldn't have been obvious that they were mine. Well, whatever.

"Hmph, well I do have one suspicious place in mind. It's just at the end of the cove. I've noticed a small wooden door protected by armed members of the garrison. My guess is that we should start our little treasure hunt there."

"Excellent, then please lead the way."

He commands me with that all important look on his face. It's annoying and I want to tear it off but I doubt Morgant will approve of that.

"Hmph, I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing it for Morgant."

"Of course, still I appreciate the help."

"Whatever, let's go."

…

…

Upon arrival we hid behind some boulders to scout the situation out before barging in.

Some of the villagers were guarding the entrance, even armed. As Enrich said, this place really is suspicious if they're going to put guards before an old wooden door.

I wonder what's inside.

"This is a bit of a problem. Do you have any ideas on how to get through the guards?"

"Isn't it fine to just kill them?"

"Mmm, somehow I doubt that's a good idea, for starters it will look very suspicious and we might get caught and if that happens Morgant will be in more trouble."

"Then we can knock them unconscious."

"That's a better idea, if they just think they fell asleep they will be less vigilant."

"Okay."

[Toxic spiderlings]

I can summon small undetectable ice spiderlings to inject venom into an opponent for various effects. Ordinarily skill would be used for assassinations if the target is someone weak, other times it could be used to temporarily paralyse an opponent during battle if they have a decent amount of poison resistance.

Since the guards are just humans I can just tone down the toxins to a level where they will just be knocked unconscious.

The small spiderlings made their way up their backs and bit them directly on the back and in only a few seconds they on the floor unconscious. I don't think the toxins were supposed to act that quickly, I may have used a bit too much but oh well.

"I think we can go in now."

I tell Enrich.

"Then shall we?"

He asks as he leads the way.

Surprisingly the door was unlocked, or rather there were no locks to begin with. The door creaked as we slowly opened it. Inside was a long set of spiral stairs that seemed to lead far into the abyss.

The bottom of the pit couldn't be seen as a blanket of darkness covered it.

A thick sensation of magic could be felt coming from within the abyssal cave, a dark and dreary feeling like having your soul slowly being chipped away. From that alone I was already beginning to think that this venture into the darkness was a bad idea.

"A lost spider enters the forbidden domain. Shall we begin the first act?"

Taking the first step into the descending abyss, the voice of an old man rings in my head. I turned and tried to find the source but to no avail. It was in my head, I think the strange mana in this town is finally starting to affect my sanity.

I turned to see how Enrich was handling this, but because he couldn't readily sense magic like I could he seemed relatively unaffected though it could also be that he's hiding his true feelings behind that façade of his.

Regardless, such an unnatural formation was not a common sight in this world, there were very few places that were reminiscent of such sensation as this. A [dungeon].

It could be that this was actually the entrance of a dungeon.

I've personally never been into a dungeon so I couldn't say for sure what awaits for us below but considering the average strength of an adventurer who regularly frequents such places were well below mine I don't think they'll be too much of a problem really.

I'm actually more worried if I could do a well enough job to protect Enrich since I don't know what kind of things could be down there. Perhaps I should've brought some of my [personal force] with me.

Without even a moment's hesitation Enrich took the first step into the spiral stairs.

"Wait, are you really going down there?"

He gave me a quizzical look.

"Hmm? Is this not the most suspicious place in this town?"

"Well yeah but, argh~ whatever, let's go."

PART TWO

-ARACHNA'S SIDE-

The more we walk down these stairs the worse I begin to feel. Like these stairs simply lead to our own graves and we're willingly treading down them.

Enrich doesn't seem to be able to feel much of the same sensation as I am right now. It's probably because he isn't as sensitive to mana as I am.

I started to scratch the walls as we walked down to put my mind off the pain.

"Are you alright? You have a terrible look on your face."

I guess it's starting to show.

"No, I'm feeling sick but we have to keep walking right?"

"Unfortunately so."

We make various small talk to distract me from the constant headaches but it isn't really helping.

The odd part about this place is that no matter how far we walk down there is always a bit of light shining through so it's easy to see where we're going.

…

…

It feels like we've been walking these stairs for ages, I don't even know how much time has elapsed since we've begun walking.

Even Enrich is starting to tire out.

"Hey, we should stop and have a little break."

I suggest and he agrees.

Since we can't go back up we just sit down in the middle of the stairs.

I heave a sigh as the aching of my legs start to fade, though the headache still persists. I form a small block of ice and place it near my forehead to cool it down.

Everywhere I look is just darkness.

Despite how far deep we've been going there is still light glaring powerfully from the top. Just how strong is that sunlight? Wait that doesn't make sense we started walking since midday and I'm certain at least 4 or so hours have passed.

I'm not entirely sure about this but I think we've been walking around in circles.

I look around to see if there are any other sort of landmarks to suggest that we haven't actually progressed much.

On the walls were scratch marks I left behind as we walked because I was suffering from that headache, but they shouldn't be here. They should've been much higher up.

I've heard about this magic. It isn't widely used because of its lack of viability in battle and the massive amount of mana it consumes just to lay it down. It's called [infinite hallways], a type of illusion magic that tricks people into thinking they're progressing but the truth is we're stuck in the middle of an endless stairs.

No wonder the light from the surface is still coming down, it's because we haven't made any progress, and that nauseous mana was the cause no doubt.

I stood up and peered down at the abyss. I could barely sense it but it was definitely there, a thin veil of mana encompassing the darkness, there's no doubt that this was also an illusion to keep out intruders.

I grabbed Enrich like a sack of potatoes draped over my shoulders.

"Wha?! Miss Arachna, what's going on?!"

"Quiet you, we're jumping down and you… aren't you a little too excited down there? So you have a fetish for small girls? Pervert, anyway stop that it feels weird over my shoulders."

"I don't think- wha!"

Interrupting him I jumped down from the spiral stairs and into the deep abyss.

With the sound of shattering glass the darkness dissipated immediately to reveal the end of the dungeon. A large double sided metal framed door much like Mistress Astaroth's door in the Sanctuary.

On it there were eerie [yellow signs] on each of the doors.

"Umm, Miss Arachna, mind putting me down?"

"Hmm, oh yeah."

I threw him and he hit the floor with a soft thud.

"Ouch, so what's going on exactly?"

"We were wondering around in an illusion, no wonder we weren't getting anywhere. Anyway that level of magic I can easily break out of."

"I see then I have no complaints."

"That's right so shut up, follow behind me and keep low."

"Right."

I examined the door and other than the mysterious yellow symbol there was no trace of magic. At the very least it wasn't alarmed so it should be fine even if we entered it.

"There's no trace of magic but I don't know what's behind the door. You're good with these things, should I just open it?"

I asked.

He thinks for a while but just shrugs back.

"I don't believe we have much of a choice; we don't have any other leads except this one so I guess our only course of action is to see what lies behind door number one."

"So you wish to view what lies beyond the yellow sign, do you?"

The voice of an old man rang in my head. Compounded with the headaches this was not very comfortable. The air around me grows colder, almost deathly.

When I turned to look around all I got was Enrich's blank stare.

"Is something the matter Miss Arachna?"

He asks, oblivious of everything. He knows nothing of what's going on here. He can only stay so calm because he doesn't know, if only he knew.

If I stay here any longer I'll truly start to lose my mind. We should get this over with quickly.

I slowly open the steel framed doors fit for a giant. An unpleasant scraping sound screeches out as I skid the metal frames of the door against the stone floor.

However, no one else seemed to be beyond the door, or at the very least wasn't in range of the sound to notice our intrusion.

What enters our vision is a beautiful still, solemn lake. A real subterranean lake glowing softly by the small seams of light that reaches down from the little cracks on the ceilings above.

Never in my life have I seen something so wondrous and enchanting.

I forget about the pain in my head and am drawn closer to the center of the lake.

"Miss Arachna? We should scout the area first."

Enrich says something but I ignore him and walk slowly towards the calm aquifer.

The sounds of calm bells start to ring, perhaps it's only in my head but I feel all the more calm regardless. I feel the strength in my body fade as I grow closer and closer. If I could just forget about all my worries and stay here, then perhaps…

"Miss Arachna."

Breaking me from the enchantment Enrich grabs my shoulder violently. In an instant I come back to my senses.

A dangerous place, I almost lost myself.

I turned back to Enrich.

"Errr…"

I shake my head to recollect my thoughts.

"Are you alright, Miss Arachna?"

"I- I'm fine. Let's move."

I looked around a bit more and at the opposite end of the lake was a small castle. It wasn't grandiose as the ones owned by the Tetrarchy or other rich people.

This one was a little more modest, though still carefully constructed and elegant nonetheless.

"I suppose that's the most logical place to investigate next."

Enrich says the obvious.

Without replying I lead the way.

The castle was much larger than what I had previously thought. The same yellow symbols that were on the door were also on the castle walls. For the looks of it I couldn't feel any sort of living presence from inside.

"Closer… closer… inside you will find the second act."

Again the voice of the old man rings painfully in my ears. Persistent and sharp; each decibel hurts the innards of my ears.

Once again the cold overcomes me. Tragically ironic that the cold could hinder me so much. I, the [Ice Queen]? However this cold is different from magic or nature, it's a far more insidious cold.

The cold hands of death wring around my neck, or so it seems like it would at any moment. Cold, dry and lonely.

Enrich places his hands on my shoulders. Warmth.

I start to calm down a little; reassured that I am not truly alone here, thus my shaking stops.

"L-let's go."

I say and open the double sided iron doors.

'In here I'll find the second act', is what the voice told me, but just what does that mean?

When we enter the room a row of masked servants greet us. Well, they don't really 'greet' us, but just stand perfectly still and make a way for us.

But this can't be, I didn't feel any sort of living presence in here. Was my senses tricked? Perhaps this strange mana still has a grasp over me.

The way how the servants look dead and masked remind me of [Kyrios]. Maybe these servants are a bit of a step up though.

They don't say anything, don't make eye contact and don't move. They just pave the way to the inner chamber.

"The Second Act shall commence."

A piercing ring strikes my ears and I grasp my head trying to make the pain go away. Enrich runs over to me and tries to help me but all I can do is push him away.

He can't help me here.

No one can help me.

I'm all alone.

Suddenly the air becomes thick with the stench of rotting corpse. I feel like hurling everything up from my stomach; I cannot stand this place any longer.

I fall to my knees and start to cough violently.

"Miss Arachna?!"

He comes over but he doesn't seem the least bit bothered by the smell. Am I really the only one who smells this? I'm jealous of his ignorance.

"N- no. I'm not. This place is bad."

"Are you leaving so soon? When the fun has only just begun."

The old man's voice rings once more in my head. What fun?

Stop!

Due to the sheer pain induced by this place my mind starts to flicker in and out of consciousness. I could see Enrich shouting something at me but I couldn't quite register what it was.

Everything started to blur.

My vision.

The sounds.

No! I'm scared!

Even the smell started to mix with other things to the point where I couldn't even tell if it stunk or not.

I felt as though my soul was being ripped apart from my body.

Then darkness overcame me.

The cold, empty void, entwined its icy fingers around my neck.

How ironic that the ice queen falls to the cold.

Was this really it? Was my journey coming to an end here?

I don't know anymore… forgive me Mistress, Morgant.

…

…

"Oh, there's no need to worry, you haven't died yet. As I've said the fun has only just begun."

The old man's voice echoes once more.

However as I'm surrounded by darkness, there is nothing I can do but to just listen carefully to what it's telling me.

"I have but a brilliant second act. The song of a spider turning against its friend. Then for the third and final act to fight against the one it cares for. So shall we sing the song of this merriment?"

As the voice continues my vision starts to slow return, however I don't have control over any other part of my body. My voice fails to exit my mouth, my arms refuse to move and my legs are as heavy as iron.

The area around me grew cold and arid. But why? I should have a natural resistance to the cold, so why is it that my body chills; that my spine is shaken? Is it fear?

Enrich is gently shaking me awake but I can only observe like a doll.

My body then begins to slowly moves and as it does his expression lightens up. But I'm not the one moving my body; I've become a puppet.

"You're up again, Miss Arachna, I think it's best if we leave this place immediately and meet up with Morgant to discuss matters."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

He tells me but I do not have control over my body so I cannot answer him. Instead my body changes.

[Metamorphosis], but a different kind.

One of my last trump cards, the [True Spider Queen] form.

Stop! That form mustn't be let out!

My body begins to glow an icy blue shade. From the sheer coldness of my body a thick fog shrouds around me. I grow larger and my body begins to morph. My lower half turns into a more familiar shape; that of a spider, though my upper half remains as a woman's.

Eight spear like legs form, each capable of piercing through solid metal.

The red ornaments along my hair disappear and turn into eight ghastly red eyes across my forehead. My hands turn into sharp icy claws.

I now tower over him.

Enrich's expression turns instantly grim as he seems to have caught on to what was happening.

I point at him with intents to kill.

Stop! Don't!

"Then my little puppet. Shall we dance?"

The voice commands; I cannot disobey.

"Miss Arachna?"

He takes a few steps back but I draw close with my claws. Even as I do his all-important façade doesn't fade and only stares back at me.

Stop!

Run!

I want to scream but my voice doesn't escape from my mouth. It can't. Reduced to nothing more than a mere puppet for this voice my body moves against my will.

In a fell swoop I dig my right hand into his stomach as the warmth of his life covers my hand. Once icy blue now stained red with the life of my friend.

He chokes and coughs blood doesn't say anything. He simply looks at me and gives me a sympathetic look. Stop! Don't give me that look!

No!

"Hahaha! Oh how joyous! Then shall we play a little more? There was another friend of yours upstairs if I remember correctly."

No! Don't you dare!

I try to fight against my own body but it does not yield. Instead my vision becomes dark once more and I am embraced by the cold.

My consciousness begins to fade for a second time.

No…

Please don't…

PART THREE

-MORGANT FALLON'S SIDE-

About a day has passed since Enrich and Arachna were sent to investigate. Even though I haven't expected to hear from them any time soon it is a bit worrying.

Well Enrich's has a pretty good head on his shoulders so I shouldn't worry too much.

Now I've gone through some of Lyn's stuff but as Enrich told me, most of them don't have any hint as to where he could've gone. There's really little point in going through his stuff.

"Is something the matter?"

The village chief comes up and asks me in that dead, monotonous tone.

"I was just wondering what you people were trying to hide from us."

I asked, this time with [Enchanting Voice].

The old man opens his mouth but no words come out. He grimaces at me as though he's in pain. Perhaps he's trying to fight against the mind control from the inside?

Suddenly the chief turns around and walks away.

I can't say it's all that surprising to see that my mind control is weaker than the one used by the [Yellow King], who likely specializes in manipulation. Still, it's good to know that it at least had some sort of effect.

I started to wonder around town trying the same thing on other villagers. They all seemed to be fighting against it as well but after a while just run away from me.

Before I knew it half a day has gone by and the rain starts to set. I found myself taking shelter in a nearby shed with only a small source of light from a candle to keep me company.

It sure is quiet with the two of them around. Even the good doctor hasn't appeared lately.

"Excuse me, are you a resident of the village? I'm looking for a place to lodge for the night."

Two people approach me and from the looks of it one of them is a child. They're wrapped in grey robes and hooded so I couldn't exactly see their faces.

"Uh no, I'm not…"

My words trail out of my mouth but stop as soon as I read his title.

[Charles Evett. Level 32, Cleric]

It's him.

I could only stare at him, my mind wasn't prepared to meet him so soon, I didn't even think of a plan for when I encountered him.

"Excuse me?"

He calls out to me but I just stand there blankly.

It's not rage that swells inside me, though that would be the natural recourse after knowing what he has done to my villager's corpses. It's not curiosity either.

For some reason I just want to see him dead.

I slowly reach out my arms with the [life drain] effect. Truthfully I could just use it from a range but for some reason I wanted to touch him.

As my hand got closer I was stopped.

By the child standing next to him.

[U010111011001. Level 78, Unknown]

What? What gibberish is this? His name is a jumbled mess and his class is unknown? More importantly he's level 78, but he's a child or so I assume.

"I won't let you touch the doctor."

The voice of a boy.

An ancient, nostalgic voice, one I have not heard in years. No… it couldn't be…

"Who are-?"

I wanted to ask but before I could he pulled his hood back to reveal his face. Signs of surgery; stitches all across his face. Light brown hair. Hazel eyes.

"I'm disappointed that you've already forgotten me, Morgant. It's me remember? I'm [Ian], we lived in the same village and played together along with my younger sister."

My heart started to beat rapidly.

No it couldn't be. But how? I saw him die in my arms that time.

I turned to face the older man. Through his hood I could see his face. A middle aged man, light blue eyes and dulling golden air with wrinkles across his face.

Was it him? He brought Ian back to life?

How?

"Necromancy? You dug up those corpses at Karta village to revive him?"

I spoke out unconsciously, but it prompted a reaction from the man.

"Hmm? Ho, you have knowledge of such quaint arts? I'm impressed. Yes I have tried my hands at necromancy, though it wasn't my intentions from the beginning."

"What are you talking about?"

"Who knows?"

He gives me a shrug and laughs it off.

I don't know, in fact is he even friend? Or is he a foe I must defeat?

No, I can't forgive him for disturbing the corpses of the villagers. He's also wanted by the Tetrarchy as a criminal. Shall I probe around for information a bit?

In the first place I think I'm getting far too emotional. I need to take back control of this conversation. I took a deep breath, calmed myself down and recollected my thoughts.

Accessing my [inventory] I took out the file given to me by Duke Lucius. As I did he gave me an intrigued look.

"Name: [Charles Evett]

Occupation: [Cleric]

Crime: [Disruption of corpses, kidnapping, murder]"

As I read out the contents of the file his expression turned grim.

"Oh dear, it seems I've been discovered. That won't do, that won't do at all. How should we rectify this situation?"

"Why don't we start from the top? Why did you dig out the villager's corpses? From the looks of it, it wasn't only them but you've done your fair share of horrendous crimes all around the place. To the point you're wanted as a criminal from the Tetrarchy."

"PFFfftthahahaha! Interesting, you think a mere child can intimidate me? If you think so then I'm afraid I have to-"

Cutting him off I summoned three [Skeleton knights]. Bursting out of the ground like a zombie movie, the ground started to tremble a little and surrounded him.

With the soft tapping sounds of rain against their obsidian armor, they stood towering over him, watching them with their menacing red eyes, ready to strike at my command with their lances.

The man's expression went from amused to serious.

"Ho~ fascinating. So this is true Necromancy. It's the first time I've beheld such a sight. How about a deal then? I'll tell you my true intentions if you teach me how to use this power."

Is he serious?

No, it doesn't matter.

"Talk."

I told him. If there's some purpose he wants to learn Necromancy I don't mind teaching him because it doesn't matter in the end. Necromancy requires 60 years of magic conservation and people in this world don't usually live longer than 70, and considering how old he is now there's no way he would ever master Necromancy even if I told him.

"I'm searching for it you see. The [Perfect Power], one not limited by mana or the divine. Not limited by death or life. The power that reaches far beyond the grasp of those foolish gods. And researching Necromancy was just the first step, but unfortunately I wasn't able to perfect my necromancy, but I did somehow manage to bring Ian back to life somehow. Even know I still don't get how I did it but I'm bringing him along to experiment on him and find out."

He brought Ian back to life, along with his personality. How? Even I could only bring back the dead as nothing more than puppets, even with the soul the best I could do was create the undead. That was the case for the megalodon, but this is on a different level.

Perfect Necromancy? No, that impossible.

Necromancy requires magic, to be precise it requires the sacrifice of one's magic. He's a cleric, so that means he still has his magic.

Can Clerics bring people back to life ? No, that's highly doubtful, then how?

He said even he doesn't know.

Then what was this about [Perfect Power]? A power that goes beyond that of the gods? Is he talking about [Ascension]?

So then he wants to learn Necromancy because he wants this [Perfect Power]?

"Then I've fulfilled my side of the bargain. It's only fair that you hold your side as well, don't you think?

"Normally I wouldn't barter with criminals but I'll tell you. To become a Necromancer you need to give up your magic, this includes your [holy] magic as well. For 60 years you must conserve it. Create a [soul shard]; a phylactery for your soul and become a Lich. Only then can you use Necromancy."

"… I dislike jokes."

"Unfortunately that's the only way."

"Then what of yourself?"

"I was born with my powers, of course in exchange I cannot use magic."

"…"

"Still, I cannot just let you walk after what you've done, truly a conundrum."

I sighed, not knowing what to do with him. I could just flat out kill him and bring him to North Tetrarch but that would waste time. Time that I don't have.

"Unfortunately I do not have 60 years to spare, nor can I forfeit my magic. Then the only method remaining would be to study you. Ian, seize him!"

Suddenly Ian jumps but with my high [insight] stat I was able to foresee it and quickly dodged out from the shelter.

He lunges at me once more but I strafe from side to side and evade all of the strikes.

"Ian stop! I don't want to fight you!"

He ignores me and goes on the offense once more.

The rain obscures my vision a little but for now it's manageable.

I move my skeleton knights to my side to defend against the attacks. A single punch from him creates a crack in the [skeleton knight's] shield. Dammit, that level 78 wasn't a lie.

In just a few more strikes the [Skeleton knight] lies in pieces on the wet muddy floor.

What do I do? Do I really have to fight him?

In my indecision all my [skeleton knights] are defeated.

"I'm disappointed in you Morgant. All this power and you've done nothing for it. You haven't even found my sister."

"What?"

His sister? What's he talking about? everyone from the village is dead.

"My sister, or have you forgotten her too? Ira. When the knights attacked our village I hid her away. She's still alive, but you have yet to find her."

He lunges at me once more.

Distracted I'm hit directly and sent flying.

Before I land I use [Transformation - black pharaoh]. A large mass of black miasma surrounds me and I exit the black smoke with a different form.

Neither Charles nor Ian expected it. They flinch in my presence.

Due to [physical damage resistance] I'm able to escape the prior hit with relatively minor injuries, but my level are too low to fight him directly without transforming.

At the very least with this transformation and my items I should match his stats.

"Ho~ I'm beginning to want you more and more. What fascinating skills."

Charles comments from the background. If I can take him out maybe I can make him relinquish his control over Ian.

I jump straight at Charles but Ian defends him.

"Have you turned so cowardly that you'd strike a lesser opponent? I'm truly disappointed."

"Tch."

"What about your family? Have you even found them yet?"

"… What? My family is gone."

"I wonder if that's really the case? Have you truly checked? Were their graves dug? Have you found their remains? How can you be so sure? I can feel it you know. Inside my body are the amalgamations of all the people the doctor has cut up, that includes our entire village, but I cannot feel the essence of your family nor my sister."

I… no, they're gone. He's just trying to trip me up.

"Shut up!"

I decide to go straight for Ian this time, a straight punch which he easily blocks.

And another strike.

Blocked again.

Another strike.

Blocked.

"What have you been doing these past six years? Or have you just been playing around and twiddling with your thumbs?"

"Shut up! What would you know what I've been through?! You're already dead!"

I strike him again but he easily evades and returns a counter attack, launching me in the air and across the town. I destroy someone's barn from my fall but these villagers probably won't care.

Ian shakes his head.

Being told off by a 5 year old, no, despite his looks I guess he's now 11.

It can't be. My family is gone.

"I expected more from you Morgant. I thought if anyone could save my sister it would've been you. But clearly I've been mistaken, you couldn't even save your own family."

"Shut up! All of you! What do you know about me?! Why do I have to live up to all of your shitty expectations?!"

Ian freezes in place, trying to make sense of what I'm talking about.

"No, I won't acknowledge you! You're not Ian, you're just a fake!"

I summon several [Obsidian Lances] and toss it at him one by one. They fly at great speeds through the rain and land with a moderately sized explosion, though none of them manage to actually land a direct hit.

Ian dashes in at great speeds and gets a direct hit across my face.

I fall to the side coughing up blood. When I had to go through hell and back to obtain my powers, how is he so powerful? Is this what Charles was talking about? This [Perfect power]?

He's fast and powerful; I can't land a direct hit.

He tries to come in for another hit.

"Stop"

I call out to him with [Enchanting Voice], he misses his attack and slides through the mud. It looks like he doesn't have much of a mental defence even if he is of a higher level than me if [Enchanting voice] worked on him.

Using this opportunity I lob more [Obsidian Lances] at him.

One of them managed to hit and take his left arm clean off, but it quickly regenerates at an uncanny speed. Almost disgusting to look at.

"What has happened to you?"

I unconsciously ask.

"I thought you weren't going to acknowledge me?"

Very well then.

I throw more [Obsidian Lances] at him.

He quickly recovers and evades them once more.

"Stop"

I command with [Enchanting voice] again. He just barely manages to dodge all of the lances but that the only attacks I launched at him.

Soon, two invisible silhouette created by the rain appear by his side and stab him with their daggers.

[Phantasmal Apparitions].

One through his heart, the other through his stomach.

He starts to cough blood as I did but pulls through and counterattack the [phantasmal apparitions] and they soon disperse. They weren't very defensive.

As before he regenerates at a frightening speed.

I summon several [Skeleton knights] and they make a leap for him. Of course they're easily repelled but that wasn't my intention, this was.

[Soul Gambit].

A large explosion ensues covering the entire area. Even he couldn't have survived that, could he?

As the smoke clears from the rain, it reveals his decimated body. Only a torso, head and right arm. He starts crawling but once again begins to regenerate.

He won't even die from that?

I can't even use [Life Drain] or [Avatar of Nyarlathotep] since he has no life force, at the very least I can't sense it. Or perhaps I could use it on Charles.

I smile flashes on my face for a second as I prepare to gather strength to summon the disgusting floating eye once more.

However before I could three sharp spears of ice quickly strikes Ian and pierce into his body.

Head, neck and heart.

What?

I turn to the side and a familiar figure in a non-familiar form approaches.

"Arachna?"

END REPORT

[Status Menu]

Morgant Fallon. Level 61

NECROMANCER

DEMON GENERAL

SUCCESSOR OF THE COSMIC LEGACY

Strength: 325 (230+95)

Dexterity: 110 (5+105)

Intelligence: 60 (5+55)

Insight: 200 (95+105)

[Status point: 0]

[Skill menu]

(AUGMENT) [Strike+]: Level 50 (MAX)

(ACTIVE) [Summon - Skeleton Knight]: Level 50 (MAX)

(ACTIVE) [Transfer Life]: Level 50 (MAX)

(PASSIVE) [Life Force Sensory]: Level 50 (MAX)

(ACTIVE) [Avatar of Nyarlathotep]: Level 24

(ACTIVE) [Wither]: Level 45

(ACTIVE) [Decay]: Level 50 (MAX)

(AUGMENT) [Aura Field]: Level 34

(ACTIVE) [Soul Gambit]: Level 46

(PASSIVE) [Physical Damage Resistance]: Level 50 (MAX)

(ACTIVE) [Obsidian Lance]: Level 50 (MAX)

(ACTIVE) [Obsidian Shield]: Level 50 (MAX)

(ACTIVE) [Reanimate Dead]: Level 34

(AUGMENT) [Enchanting Voice]: Level 35

(PASSIVE) [Lord of Ghosts]: Level 21

(ACTIVE) [Phantasmal Maelstrom]: Level 45

(AUGMENT) [Transformation - Black Pharaoh]: Level 30

(PASSIVE) [Mental Fortress]: Level 50 (MAX)

(ACTIVE) [Summon - Soul Reaver]: Level 12

(ACTIVE) [Summon - Phantasmal Apparition]: Level 11

(ACTIVE) [Essence Prison]: Level 1

(ACTIVE) [Summon - Terror of the Depth]: Level 1

(ACTIVE) [Silence]: Level 50 (MAX)

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Do you like cliff hangers? =D