Chapter 172 – Floor 16: Part 3
Mathew lived in a land of shadows.
The world around him was shrouded in darkness; the few lights seemed dim. The weight of the Crown on his head was far heavier than the Wrathful Blade had ever been. It weighed on him mentally and spiritually rather than physically.
Looking down at his body, he was shocked to discover the changes. He was taller than before, having become at least eight feet tall with a skeletally thin body whose skin clung to his frame tightly. Pale white, he could see the veins through his flesh like black webs. He wore a robe that felt like a cloud; it weighed nothing, and the wind rippled through it easily.
Mathew found the Celestials in the darkness, watching him curiously. They were no longer disembodied eyes but rather fully fleshed spirits with bodies. They were tall and long-limbed, pale white and bald. Their faces lacked any distinguishing features, no nose or mouth, just large eyes that were all a single colour without pupils or irises.
They were whispering to each other in a language he didn’t understand, but the world vibrated around him in response to their voices.
“Silence.” A strange voice hissed out beside Mathew, and the Celestials immediately ceased their discussions. They shied back in fear of the voice, and Mathew turned to look at who was speaking.
It was a creature made of darkness, a formless void that emitted malevolence. Mathew had never encountered such a being before and knew it was more powerful than anything he had ever faced. But, strangely, the ‘Buzz’ didn’t react to its presence at all. It was like the creature couldn’t access most of its strength; it was only a shard of a more incredible being.
The creature formed a hand from the shadows and pointed at the fallen Agent Barlow who was staring up at them with surprise and terror.
“Death.” It spoke, and the darkness that Mathew was in trembled. He felt a wave of energy erupt from the creature, but it dispersed almost immediately. Instead, the crown on Mathew’s head absorbed the energy, and he could feel it sweep through his body.
If the creature possessed a face, Mathew knew it would be frowning. It paused for a moment as if in confusion before pointing at Agent Barlow again.
“Decay.” Again, the wave of energy swept out only to disperse and be absorbed by the crown on Mathew’s head. The foreign mana inside his body contained it, and he could feel it swirling deep within him.
“Impossible! What has been done to me!” The creature shrieked, and the darkness that formed its body roiled. The Celestials, content up to this point to just observe, fled immediately.
“Get that containment facility ready, Agent Barlow.” Mathew ordered as the creature next to him ranted and raged. It tried half a dozen times to kill the agent, destroy the building around them, and use a number of other commands and spells that Mathew didn’t know the purpose of, but they couldn’t be anything good.
“It…it’s ready now, we just need to travel there. Do you have it contained?” Agent Barlow asked as she slowly climbed to her feet.
“I believe so. But hurry, I don’t know how long we have.” Mathew said as he turned his attention to the crown and the creature attached to it. There was a link between them. The crown and his body were fused in some way, connected similarly to the method the Tower was linked to him.
But, like a thread or rope, some ethereal and fragile binding wrapped around the creature next to him and his own body. Each time the creature tried to use its abilities, the thread would vibrate, and the crown would react.
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“I’ll bring the car around.” Agent Barlow stated as she hurriedly left the Community Center. Mathew ignored her as he continued to reflect on what had happened to him.
Despite the changes to his body, he didn’t feel different. But it was obvious that something serious had happened to him. While he was thinking, the creature’s rage slowly subsided, and it began to float around Mathew and assess its surroundings.
“What has happened to me!? I am Nadar the Immortal! I have witnessed the birth and death of galaxies! What has been done?” Nadar, the shadow creature, hovered around Mathew, and it finally seemed as if it had discovered him. It turned its attention to Mathew, and its large, yellow eyes narrowed.
“You! You have done this to me!” It shrieked, and its rage threatened to destroy the world around them. The darkness grew, and, once again, the ground trembled as it emitted enough mana that Mathew could feel it like a physical slap to the face.
But again, the crown instantly dissipated and absorbed it through the link between them.
“I will not be made a prisoner.” It threatened, and Mathew scoffed, finally acknowledging its presence.
“Too late.” Mathew taunted as he turned and began walking toward the Community Center's shattered doors. His body felt lighter than ever, and his feet barely touched the ground. Nadar followed him closely; the link between them meant it was unable to distance itself.
“You are an inadequate jailer, wretch, despite assuming my appearance. I am Nadar the Immortal!” It screamed.
“Not so immortal, Nadar. You’re already dead and gone. Nothing but a shard of your soul remains.” Mathew corrected it, and the shadow paused.
“Impossible….Impossible! You lie!” Nadar shouted, and it formed two hands from its formless shadow body. The two hands shot out and gripped Mathew’s head. He could feel tendrils of its consciousness attempting to reach into his mind and rip control of the crown from Mathew’s grasp.
“No!” Mathew growled. Gripping the shadowy hands on both sides of his head, Mathew tried to pull them away while simultaneously throwing his mana against the creature. The conflict within Mathew for control of the Crown sent waves of mana surging outwards, and the building shook around them.
Mathew was losing. The shadow creature, Nadar, was too powerful. Mathew’s consciousness was drowning under the relentless tide of dark mana that was engulfing him. He needed something more, something to give him an edge against it.
“Righteous Aura of Subjugation!” Mathew hissed out through his clenched teeth as he struggled to push Nadar away. Instead of the flow of mana and the familiar light surrounding him, nothing happened.
“Alter Body – Enhanced Strength!” Mathew shouted, but again, nothing happened. One after another, he found that all of his Blessings were blocked or unresponsive.
“Give me back my body!” Nadar shrieked, and it threw more of its mana against Mathew. The power was too much for the Community Center to contain, and one of the walls was blasted outwards, and a large section of the roof collapsed.
Mathew looked around for something to use to help him in the struggle. But he didn’t have access to his inventory, and none of his Blessings worked in this situation. As he frantically looked around, he spotted the Celestials.
They were standing far away from the pair, watching their struggle with interest. Their fear of Nadar had obviously faded or been overridden by their curiosity. Then, Mathew recalled that he had another Blessing that he hadn’t tried but had been wary of using.
Mathew didn’t care about the consequences much at this point; he was about to be consumed by the formless shadow creature.
“Word of Power: Burn!” Mathew said, his voice echoing strangely. It seemed to come from everywhere at once, and an oppressive power pressed down on Nadar from all around it. The Celestials began to glow as if they were drawing energy from the experience.
Nadar shrieked as its body was covered in bright, white flames. They consumed the darkness that formed its body, burning everything that remained of its power and soul. It released Mathew and tried to flee, but the connection between it and the crown prevented it from going far.
The flames soon died after a moment, and the use of the Word of Power and the sudden assault from Nadar left Mathew exhausted and drained of mana.
“Insolent worm!” Nadar screeched as the flames faded. Mathew felt a sharp yank on the link between them. Control of his body and the Crown was snatched from him at that moment, and Mathew watched in horror as the darkness that formed Nadar’s body enveloped him.
“No one will save you now.” Nadar said, his voice ringing out through Mathew’s mind. He felt his body smile, and Mathew was forced to walk forward under Nadar’s control. Soon, they were travelling through the hole in the ceiling of the Community Center.
He was flying. The darkness carried him through the air, and Mathew stood in the sky above the City in just a few moments. The dark clouds overhead blocked the sun, and he could see the lights from cars and streetlamps shining brightly far below.
“Insignificant. Offensive. Disgusting.” Mathew’s body said, Nadar speaking through him. His arm was raised, and Nadar used Mathew’s body to point his finger at the town far below them.
“Be removed from my sight. ANNILATION!”