Public Release: March 5th, 2019 - 5:00 pm EST
“STOP!” he roared. He struggled against me, but it did him no good. His muscles were already deteriorated due to my mana corrupting and twisting them apart. It pulled them to pieces and disintegrated his internals piece by fucking piece.
I howled with laughter.
Sorry, Nox. But this was my kill.
[-New Skill Acquired-
Deity Class Skill: Anti-Healing]
I couldn't hide my grin if I tried.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOO-”
Argyle’s scream was cut off. His body detonated in my arms. Blood and gore scattered throughout the cave, painting everything red.
I hit my knees. My laughs turned to sobs.
[Solution: I highly recommend you prepare yourself.]
‘Why?’
[Solution: You’re about to absorb Argyle’s soul.]
‘Oh fuck…’
It hit me all at once. A tremendous energy. A tremendous soul started to merge with my own. I didn’t try to stop it this time. I couldn’t if I wanted to. I couldn’t even move, let alone stop the fusion.
The memories of the perverted fuck entered my mind and, with Sal’s help, we quartered them off one by one. I didn’t want a single piece of his ego to touch mine, but even we couldn't stop it. One by one his thoughts started flowing into my head and I trembled...
But then something strange happened.
[Level Up]
I realized that…
[Level Up]
I was gaining more than just levels or memories…
[Level Up]
I was gaining skills too…
[Level Up]
…
[-New Skill Acquired-
Expert Class Skill: Healing Magic]
I looked at the notification over and over again. It hit my soul like a ton of bricks. If I had just been smarter, if I had just seen the Path Forward earlier…
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Sal could still have a body. Sal wouldn’t be consigned to my head anymore. I still wasn't sure why he ended up in the same situation as before we seperated, but I wasn't complaining. I was certain it was due to Nox's fuckery in some way.
I couldn’t remember how I built Sal's body the first time, either. It was a one time thing, the moment I ascended level 1000. In that strange God-like mental space I could create and destroy everything, and that was how I built Sal’s body but now…
I couldn’t replicate it. I tried over and over again, to think of a way.
“Impressive,” rang a voice that sent chills down my spine. “You’ve exceeded my expectations.”
“Nox you bastard,” I growled. “Did you send him? Did you do this to fucking test me?”
“I don’t know why you’d think so. Argyle was informed by the Pope of Barbory. You see, it seems some escapees from Gransus knew about you and reported you. I warned you,” Nox’s voice turned low and dark, “I told you to lay low and not cause too many scenes. But you had to play with fire. Thankfully, you cleaned up your own mess quite well.”
I didn't know what to say. I didn’t know what to think.
“I’ve wasted too much energy to just help you defend yourself in that last fight. I’m cutting my connection to the Garb and Blade for a while. Please start working on my army. I’ll be back in two years time.”
I couldn’t think straight. I looked over at Sal’s corpse and then I looked at Lily lying unconscious on the ground…
I walked over to one of the still-living escorts first. I touched his broken body and cast my newest gain, [Healing Magic]. His body started to regenerate before my eyes.
With my cursory test done, I knew I wouldn’t kill Lily. Was it callous of me to test something that dangerous on someone without them asking? Absolutely. Did I give a fuck about it right now? Absolutely not.
I picked Lily’s body up and held her in my arms. I cradled her close to me. I really hated my small body and short arms, though, because I couldn’t hug her completely to my chest.
My magic came to life and a yellow aura glowed. Lily’s scratches and wounds healed first. Her hair regained its luster and a gash on her left cheek vanished into nothingness.
Her thin legs started to fill out again. Her body literally mended itself under the influence of my ability. Then, her eyes fluttered open. She looked at my face for a second, her expression distraught and confused. She blinked.
“Calliope?” She asked.
“Yes, Lily.”
“Is this Heaven?”
I almost fell over. I coughed once. “No. We’re still in The Pass…”
“But I can feel my legs and you’re holding me like this~”
Suddenly her eyes went wide. “Wait, where’s Sal!?” She asked.
“He’s…” I paused to collect my thoughts. I wanted to tell her exactly what happened. I wanted to tell her everything.
“Sal’s gone, Lily,” I said after a long pause. Suddenly I felt her arms wrap around my shoulders. She buried her head in my neck as she hugged me tight.
“I’m so sorry, Calliope,” she said. “If I wasn’t such a dead weight, if he didn’t jump in there to save me…”
“It’s not your fault,” I said as I put one hand on her back. I looked over at the broken remnants to the carriage as well as the still-living escorts. I didn’t have a clue how to handle this situation. I didn’t know what to do, at that moment. All I could feel was a tremendous pain inside.
[Solution: I recommend you get Lily back to Gransus. Heal the escorts before you go, and tell them their own their own for a bit. You can come back for them after you get Lily to safety.]
I closed my eyes.
“I’m sorry, Sal,” I said aloud.
[Solution: Apology accepted.]
That cheeky fuck…
-
And so ended my trip to Barbory. I never actually got to see their country… Though, to be fair, I didn’t really want to.
Wait. If the people from Barbory were sending a message to the Fae, what was stopping them from sending another?!
[Solution: The Pope of Barbory needs to collect energy to send a message such a long distance. They can’t do it again for another year or so.]
Well, that decided it, then. I needed to go destroy the country of Barbory before that message artifact item could be used again.
I could probably wipe out the entire religion while I was at it…
[Solution: This user will assist by locating every higher up in their church and laying all their known details bare.]
Yes. That sounded like a wonderful vacation. I’ve always wanted to go hunting. My grandfather back home had a deer stand, though I never went with him to it. Maybe it was something in my blood…
[Solution: Data not found.]