Chapter 65
“On the brink of death.” Part 9
”All right, it’s time to test my theory!
From the back, the portal only looked like a swirl of energy.
But unlike before, Kalysto could now feel the mana flowing. Even with her eyes closed, the hairs on her arms stood up at the proximity of such an amount of energy. Sending a shiver of pleasure throughout her body.
Kalysto wished she could bathe in it and touch the portal, but she didn’t know what consequences that would bring. However, she felt as if something in that portal was calling to an unknown, dormant force within her.
Almost as if it invited her to caress that strange surface with her bare hands.
Her fingers itched at the urge to touch it, but still she forced herself to stay away from that tempting siren song.
All right, come on Kalysto! You can do this! She encouraged herself.
And she stretched out her hands and closed her eyes. Feeling her mana spread from her chest to the rest of her body, especially her hands and feet.
Then she opened her eyes and chanted.
“Blessing!“ She said, pointing to herself with one hand before extending her arm again. “Dispel Ezhil! Dispel Ezhil! Dispel Ezhil! Dispel Ezhil!” As she concentrated on continuing to conjure, she could see small, thin cracks begin to appear inside the portal from the outer edge inward, as if it were made of glass instead of energy.
Then she brought her outstretched hands closer, placed them a few inches from the center of the portal and again continued to conjure.
“Dispel Ezhil, Dispel Ezhil, Dispel Ezhil, Dispel Ezhil!” The next crack formed from the center of the portal as if she had smashed her fist against glass and began to extend with three thin lines to the edges.
But the more incantations she cast, the harder it became to keep doing so, as if there was a force inside the portal fighting against her to prevent her intervention.
But that didn’t make her give up.
A trickle of blood began to trickle out of her nose as she continued to press and conjure.
“Dispel Ezhil! Dispel Ezhil!“ she continued. Suddenly, a surge of energy burst from the door surrounding Kalysto. A strong breeze ruffled her hair and hit her in the face, forcing her to close her eyes. And when the former waitress opened them again, she saw that she was no longer alone.
Inside the portal, as if it were a large crystal ball, a gigantic black eye appeared inside. The pupil moved from side to side searching for its prey until it finally stopped moving when it found it and focused on the lone female figure at the back of the portal.
“What the hell is that?” Kalysto panicked.
Almost immediately, six semi-transparent tentacles of dark mana shot out of the portal, extending all the way to the back. The thinner ones began to wrap around Kalysto’s legs and hands curling around her body, the two larger ones began to lash against her back. Dealing to break her concentration.
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A vague forgotten memory from her childhood, one from a time before she lost her memory, came back to her like a quick flash.
In front of her, a little girl whose blurry face she could not identify was smiling, as she sat on the green grass on a beautiful sunny day. Wisps of black smoke began to surround her until it became a thick black mist that dyed the grass and the surrounding forest in thick shadows.
But as quickly as that unknown lost memory came to her mind, it was gone. And in that instant, she felt as if her head was split in two and an intense pain erupted behind her eyes.
Immediately, several windows opened to her left.
[The Mental Defense skill has been activated]
[The Pain Resistance skill has been activated]
But even with her skills activated, she could still feel some pain.
“Come on Kalysto, concentrate! Stay focused!” She scolded herself. In an attempt to force the ability to activate again, she believed that maybe there had been some mistake during its activation and that’s why she still felt pain.
“Who are you?” The tentacles and that eye inside the portal seemed to growl. To the point where Kalysto could almost swear she could also hear that same unknown voice in her head as the pain grew stronger and stronger. She felt like someone was not only dealing with rummaging through her head but also that they were crushing her brain.
“Get out of my head!” Kalysto shouted. And remembering Caranthir’s words, she imagined her mana rising from her heart to her head, reinforcing her barrier.
[The Mental Defense skill has been activated].
[The Pain Resistance skill has been activated].
[The Mental Defense skill has been leveled up to level 41!]
[The Pain Resistance skill has been leveled up to level 31!]
“Ezhil Purification! Ezhil Purification! Ezhil Dispel! Ezhil Purification! Ezhil Dispel! Ezhil Dispel!” she recited. Every time Dispel’s golden light touched one of the tentacles, it froze, but as soon as it was purified by her other spell, the tentacle not only regenerated but seemed to double in size.
And more notification windows appeared to her left.
[The skill Ezhil Purification has leveled up to level 10!]
[Ezhil Dispel skill has leveled up to level 5!]
Four new black mana tentacles came out of the portal, joining the previous ones, almost forcing her back.
“Dispel Ezhil, Dispel Ezhil, Dispel Ezhil, Dispel Ezhil!” She continued to conjure like crazy, barely pausing for breath. She watched as those tentacles of dark energy seemed to freeze and distort slightly for a few seconds as she conjured the next batch of spells again. “Dispel Ezhil! Dispel Ezhil! Ezhil Purification! Dispel Ezhil! Ezhil Purification!” And this time, unlike before, the area bathed in the golden light of her ‘Ezhil Purification’ skill seemed to be about twenty meters, instead of only ten.
But as soon as she purified them, three more tentacles of black energy shot out of the portal, as if they had regenerated from within.
At this rate, this will never end. The saintess feared. She felt several beads of sweat trickle down her forehead as fatigue built up in her body and the air seemed to be escaping from her lungs.
But still she continued.
“Dispel Ezhil! Dispel Ezhil! Ezhil Purification!” The same cycle continued for another ten minutes, and before the usual warning sign came up, she conjured: “Dispel Ezhil! Dispel Ezhil! Dispel Ezhil! Ezhil Purification!”
[Warning: the user has only 10 MP left. Please wait a few minutes before attempting to use any ability again or your health will be severely affected.]
“Shit!” she growled. And before more tentacles came out again, she pulled out one of the bottles of super-concentrated mana Caranthir had given her and took a sip.
And as she ran to finish approaching the portal, after storing the potion in her inventory, and touched the portal with her bare hands, seven tentacles of dark energy came out this time through the door, through which for several minutes no other monster had come out again.
Not since Kalysto had begun to use her skills against it.
“Dispel Ezhil! Ezhil Purification! Dispel! Ezhil Dispel! Ezhil Purification! Ezhil Purification!”
[The skill Dispel has leveled up to level 11!]
[Dispel Ezhil's skill has leveled up to level 6!]
“Dispel! Dispel Ezhil! -Ezhil Purification!” At her words, the energy surrounding the portal seemed to tremble as she could feel the cold ‘mana from the portal burn her palms. Rejecting her presence.
And as the energy of those tentacles began to disperse, a resounding crack resounded in Kalysto’s ears, bursting her eardrums and a powerful breeze burst from the portal, almost knocking her to the ground.
And as if it were glass, thick lines began to form inside the portal.
And for a moment, silence reigned.