Book 3. Chapter 13.
“The smell of death.” Part 2
...Is that Persephone?
A great wall of cracked gray stone in a circular shape carved with strange symbols that she could not identify, almost three times as high as she was and surrounded by mist, stood before her. Traversed from end to end by dark-root-like crevices from which trails of smoke and slender tentacles of dark mana were rising.
Kalysto could recognize the snaking energy immediately.
Unlike the darkness around her, the mana escaping from the seal felt different, like when Persephone took control of her body.
What the hell does it all mean? Who put that in here?
“I don’t know who put that inside the Master’s inner world, but this is a space that some call the soul," Tsuki answered, his voice echoing in the midst of the sea of darkness.
You told me before that this was my mind! Kalysto complained, annoyed that he had lied to her.
“I thought the Master would understand more easily than to say the inner world. Although your mind is also connected to this place," he clarified.
A tense silence remained between them, while Kalysto observed the strange stone.
Why is it in that state? She asked as she took a step forward. Curious about the subtle light that surrounded the huge stone, one much dimmer than the white glow that surrounded her.
I don’t think the Master should go near it! It’s not safe!
Persephone wouldn’t hurt me. She’s taken care of me most of my life. She assured him as she took another step and stretched out her hand towards one of the tendrils that sprang up between the cracks.
Is the Master completely sure of that?
Kalysto was about to answer in the affirmative but paused and moved her hand away from the thin tendril of darkness that had moved away from the seal to approach her as a greeting. Remembering not only the queen’s words but also the last few times Persephone had refused to give her back control of her body.
Then doubt grew within her.
Is it safe for me to be here...Tsuki? ...If I am here, where is my body?
“Master I...I think... Mast...can...can...you...?” But her pet’s voice began to fade away as a large wave of undergrowth tentacles burst through the cracks trying to reach her.
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“Did it ever occur to you that if you are trapped inside me, my body is mine and not yours?” Kalysto shouted in response as she struggled to escape from the tentacles, but they seemed to multiply by the second.
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“So this is where you are hiding, my dear Persephone!” The dark voice that she had heard coming out of the gigantic eye echoed everywhere, causing the wavy water floor beneath Kalysto’s feet to begin to tremble uncontrollably.
Like a strong tide in the middle of a storm, at the same time, an oppressive darkness began to invade the landscape, suffocating Kalysto.
“Stop! Get out of here!” Kalysto panicked as Persephone’s thunderous laughter echoed amidst the chaos and the invader continued to advance. The oppressive darkness emanating from him felt like living fire, burning every pore of her skin as he came closer to where they were as Kalysto’s screams of pain competed with the thunderous laughter of her other half.
“Stop, please stop!” She screamed, but neither he nor Persephone stopped. Instead, a tentacle of darkness covered her mouth and nose.
Kalysto’s eyes widened in surprise at Persephone’s surprise attack.
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Damn traitor! growled Kalysto in response. Come on Kalysto concentrate!
[The skill Mental Defense has been activated.]
[Warning! The passive skill Mental Defense has been disabled by an unknown entity!]
What the fuck? Then she tried again three times, with the same result. As she watched in despair as the invading darkness drew closer and closer and the pain became more and more unbearable.
“Ahhh!... Damn it!” she growled in frustration, and Persephone’s laughter boomed in her ears.
Kalysto frowned, anger blurring her face as she stared at the seal, resentment, rage and betrayal seizing her as she saw that one of the people she trusted the most had chosen to ally herself with someone else and turn her back on her.
Ezhil Purification! Dispel Ezhil! She conjured, and the golden light of her skills spread several meters around her, undoing most of the tentacles of darkness that imprisoned her. But as the cracks inside the stone seal increased, and another shudder ran through her as she realized what a mistake she had just made by accident.
Shit! She panicked, but the cracks stopped spreading.
[The passive skill Pain Resistance has been activated.]
Finally! She rejoiced as soon as the agonizing pain stopped. At least something went right!
But she quickly realized that although Persephone’s darkness had half dissipated, the enemy’s darkness did not, indeed it did not even stop advancing. Shit!
“Ezhil Purification!” She conjured ten more times, but it only served to slow the enemy advance, not to undo it.
Desperate, she tried again. But she got almost the same result.
“Damn it! What do I have to do to get you out of here?” She growled in frustration and then began to run in his direction as she reached out her hand and caught one of the enemy’s tentacles of darkness. “Absorb!” She shouted at the top of her lungs.
[Does the user wish to absorb this target’s stats or skills?]
“Everything!” She shouted immediately, and the tentacle began to move wildly, trying to get out of her grasp, but she squeezed it harder as the rest of the enemy darkness stopped advancing to where the seal was.
[Congratulations! The user has gained 1000 HP!]
[Congratulations! The user has acquired 4000 DMP!]
A surge of pain squeezed her chest as the air escaped from her lungs. Still, she refused to let it out.
Shit! How much dark mana does this thing have? She worried.
[Congratulations! The user has acquired 1000 MP!]
[Congratulations! The user has acquired 150 stamina points!]
Suddenly, everything around her shuddered again. The whole world full of darkness around her began to crack and cracks of light flooded what should be the sky.
“Master!” Tsuki’s desperate cry echoed everywhere, but she had to stay focused. And from one moment to the next, the pain spread through her body from her abdomen, stealing all the air from her lungs, and making everything go dark before her again.
In the blink of an eye, her world changed.
One instant she was on a surface of water near the giant fractured rock of the seal and the next she was back inside the spacious top floor of the tower.
The gigantic eye in front of her seemed to be weeping blood, for the hour it appeared to be a little smaller than before as the eyelid seemed half open.
“Purification Ezhil! Dispel Ezhil!” She hurried to conjure as she began to cough up blood. As the light of her skills spread throughout the room illuminating the place, she watched in terror at the hole in her stomach. And the bloodied body of Tsuki lying next to her.