Chapter 84: Mind the Gap

[Faded: Svadishtana

Invoke: Vishuddha]

Overmind began to glow as her healing activated; fighting back against the burning arm piercing her chest. But whilst this proved enough to keep her alive, it did nothing to address the root cause of her injury; with her Chakra already occupied, she had no tools available to dislodge the fire elemental.

"The All Fools' Day bonus event," Overmind coughed. "Free passage on one floor, to be repaid with additional hardship on another, later round. You could not have possibly planned this; the underlying mechanics behind it are a closely guarded secret. Anathema, this is your doing."

[You said it yourself; a battle between a fifteen year old and someone who knew King Solomon on a first-name basis can never be fair, even when both are supposedly at the same Level. This is just me giving my descendant a chance to show her best self.]

"That, I understand," Overmind retorted. "What I fail to comprehend is the targeting. Sure, you could have baited my positioning to take the first blow when the bonus event triggered a second time, but the elemental should have withdrawn immediately after. Why is it still attacking me? Emma was the designated enemy on the sixth floor."

[You refused to allow my System full synchronisation with Scholomance. Because of that, certain stats are subject to a degree of simplification when my descendants take their trials. For instance, the tower can't properly distinguish between classes, so it just records them as a System user. Then, it tracks their growth between floors to ensure the right target is selected. Accordingly, the target for the elemental when it reappeared just now, was set as the first Level 11 System user it encountered. It's your own fault for mimicking Emma's strength so precisely. Ditto?]

"...Have I ever mentioned I hate fighting precognitives?" Overmind hissed, her sustained healing fading as the flames began to consume her body.

[Many times.]

"Samsara." Overmind spat, and vanished.

[Faded: Vishuddha

Invoke: Manipura

-500 Anima]

Emma turned intangible the moment the first blow struck her from behind, caving in most of her helmet. Running on fumes now, Emma turned to lock eyes with her foe, already thinking how best to maneuver her into the fire elemental; until she spotted a critical difference.

[Fragment of Will (Overmind) - Level 8 Grand Arbiter]

Overmind's body was pristine once more, but whatever ability allowed her to cheat death clearly didn't come for free, as she'd lost three precious Levels in the process.

Leech King, kill her! Emma called her final gambit into being, then steeled herself for the battle of a lifetime.

Oversoul.

Emma had been warned that Oversoul relied upon willpower, when she first chose the ability, and several times after that to boot. Nonetheless, given her own impressive willpower (something even the System recognised as one of the few redeeming qualities of the magic mushroom incident), she'd had no problem suppressing the will of her targets and puppeting their bodies. Until now. From the first moment, a splitting headache began to build, as a mind older than the Bible commanded her to depart. Phantom pain across every inch of her body; surmounting the barriers of her undead state and intangible form, all tinged with the promise of release, if she would only yield control.

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Emma clung on grim, knowing that to yield was to fail, and quite possibly die to boot. Having realised that attempting any semblance of control was far beyond her means; Emma's full whole effort became dedicated to remaining within Overmind's body and doing absolutely nothing. No movement, no magic, nothing except waiting for external actors to finish the fight in her favour. Even with such reduced ambitions, she wasn't altogether successful. Overmind dodged the Leech King's first bite, and the spray of acid that followed; before catching the elemental's claws with her palm.

[Faded: Manipura

Invoke: Sahasrara]

Invisible force pushed the elemental backwards; but it was weaker than its last appearance, unable to shatter the construct as it had its icy cousin. Critically; applying the force to repulse the flames locked Overmind in place for just a moment, allowing the Leech King to descend from on high and swallow the combatants whole. Flesh and flames alike vanished into the summon's massive maw; while the searing enigma burning Emma's mind abated just a touch, giving her enough of a reprieve to start blaring her thoughts as loudly as she could. She cycled through memories of yowling cats and fighting foxes, the screams of the dying, the loudest airhorns at the funfair and more besides, anything and everything she could think of to disrupt Overmind's focus. Pulses of force wreaked havoc upon the Leech King's innards, but not quickly or forcefully enough, for he was vast and well-accustomed to taking wounds in pursuit of victory. Overmind's struggles slowed, and finally dimmed into nothing.

Samsara.

[Fragment of Will (Overmind) - Level 5 Monk]

Then, Overmind was freed from her confines, at the cost of another three Levels and her advanced class. The Leech King spat out the fire elemental, the pair of unlikely allies converging upon Overmind once more.

[Faded: Sahasrara

Invoke: Anahata]

Overmind stood her ground; her face the picture of defiant resolve that belied the trap she'd set. The elemental took the bait; grasping Overmind with both claws and squeezing; the fires died, bursting into bright sparks that wouldn't be out of place on Burns Night before fading into nothing. The Leech King, fortunately, was still mentally bound to Emma.

Self-destruct. Emma ordered triumphantly, and it exploded in a shower of acid and gore; and thanks to the thread of dharma connecting it to Overmind, so did the latter.

Samsara.

[Fragment of Will (Overmind) - Level 2 Monk]

There were no summons remaining on the field, but such measures were no longer necessary; for with such a drastic reduction in Level, what remained of Overmind's fragment no longer had the will to resist Emma's Oversoul, ceding control of her body at last.

"Deactivate all abilities," Emma spoke with borrowed voice, seeing the results play out as the System acknowledged her dominance.

[Faded: Anahata]

Then, Emma knelt against the cool wooden floor; somehow undamaged by all that had occurred, and slammed Overmind's head against it until she heard a crack.

[Fragment of Will (Overmind) has been defeated!

500 EXP gained!

For winning a battle meant to be impossible, Divine Conduit (Anathema): ??? has been upgraded to Divine Conduit (Anathema): ??

Two criteria remaining until Trait unlocked.

Emma Knight - Level 12 Damned Apostle

* Anima: 98/4000

* EXP: 5310/6000

Choose up to two options from the following:

1) Ability - Parallel Lives (Cooldown: 1 minute): Swap places with your active Summon.

2) Trait - Naraka (Cooldown: 77 Days): Upon death, return to life at a location of your choosing (that you have visited before).

3) Lose Weapon Enhancement - Weeping Scar and Weapon Enhancement - Can I Play With Madness? Gain Weapon Enhancement - Nergal's Rot: Wounds inflict Poison, Insanity and Frenzy; those afflicted by Nergal's Rot spread it by touch.

4) Item - One of a Kind (Practitioner): Gain a random item from Scholomance Lost and Found, belonging to an aspirant who died on floors 11-30.]