Chapter 8: Chapter 5: A Story Of Death (Part 1)
Near the clearing in the forest, there's an eerie silence. As Sona stands there with her palm outstretched, for a single moment, nothing happens. But just then, a flock of birds fly out of the tree trunks and branches. It happens so suddenly that anyone there would be distracted for at least a second. And in that one second,
Sona: "Vessel of Abyss, sink the world into your darkness!"
The ground in front of her, tears open as if it's made of paper. A beast emerges from it. It is a black, shadowy creature. No, it's more like it is covered in black shadow. This beast has four legs, is as tall as a human and resembles a tiger in many ways.
Sona: "Wreak Havoc!"
And with those words, Sona unleashes this beast on the tomb. The beast looks at the clearing and roars. Its roar silences what little noise any creature around it had been making. From the largest of the creatures to the smallest ones present in the forest, not a single sound came out of any of them.
A human, a psychic, an animal – no matter who it was, it would be clear to them how terrifying of a creature they are faced with. This tiger-like shadowy creature is a spirit known to people as,
Sona: "Death!"
That's the name of the spirit. It isn't that those who named him have a bad sense of naming, but nothing else would come to anyone's mind when they look at this beast and look at what it can do.
Sona: "Go on. What's wrong?"
Yet, at this moment, this killing machine that has come to be known as 'Death' itself is not moving. It's just looking intently at the clearing it has been ordered to rush to. Sona can't tell what kind of emotion is on its face, but she can tell that whatever it is, it's not happiness or anger.
She sighs. This situation isn't completely unexpected, but she did wish it didn't happen. She had wished Death would attack no matter who the opponent is, even the dragon.
Sona: "But I guess that was being too optimistic."
She again stretches her hand in front of her. But this time, it is the other hand, the left hand. She points her fingers towards Death and,
Sona: "Your enemy is the dragon. Go, and kill him."
With those simple words that aren't nearly as flashy as her first two incantations, she orders Death again. This time, Death cannot do anything but listen. This is a technique to force a spirit to obey the person it's contracted to. While it may look like just stretching your hand and ordering the spirit around, there is more to it than that and most people with contracts don't have a clue how to do it.
Death: "GRR … GRRRRR!!!"
Death's rage is clear at being forced to do something against its will, but it still moves forward. It doesn't run forward, and it can't run backwards, so it just walks forward. With a few steps, it reaches the clearing with Sona some steps behind.
Suddenly, a light shined in a distance. Stepping in the clearing just a moment later, Sona sees that it's a building glowing golden. The shine is so bright that it's hard to tell what its shape is, but Sona understands that must be the tomb.
Sona: "Be ready!"
Death: "GRRRRR!!!"
Death is not happy at being bossed around like that. The irritation is clear. This is one of the few spirits that could manage to be in this aura which is deadly to the spirits; of course it regards itself with much self-esteem. But it won't do anything foolish like run away or attack Sona. It knows full well how dire of a situation they are in. If they try to back down now, they'll instantly be killed and if they start fighting among themselves, there will be no chance of survival. Considering these possibilities, it holds itself back. Death didn't have any loyalty towards Sona, and she is well aware of it.
Sona: "Why don't you come out in front of us already?"
She shouts as to provoke the dragon. For a moment, there's silence. Gazing at each other, they both confirm that they are ready for battle. Then,
???: "Very well then."
A figure emerges from the tomb. The golden glow suddenly starts to dampen.
Sona: "Did I … just hear him talk?"
She knows instinctively that is the dragon even if it has a human appearance. That said, the fact that the dragon can talk, while not out of bounds of her imagination, it is certainly an unexpected discovery.
Dragon: "Don't be so worried about it. I can talk because it was one of the things my friend blessed me with."
Sona: "What …"
She is still a little shocked at hearing his voice, but her mind immediately starts to work. She understands the dragon is referring to Ozyllus when he says 'my friend'.
Dragon: "Oh well, I wonder if you even actually care about that though."
Sona takes a short glance at Death. It is ready to attack. It is smart enough to realize that there's no way out now, so it is ready to give it all it has got. That brought some relief to her knowing that her most powerful weapon is in top form.
Dragon: "Now, why did you call me here?"
During all this, the glow had continued to dampen little by little. Now finally the tomb has stopped shining. Now it looked like just stone, the color golden is just painted over it. But with this, they can finally take a look at the Dragon.
Sona: "Huh?"
He looks completely like a human. Built of a slightly muscular, good-looking man with green eyes, slightly dark skin and brown hair length of which almost touched the shoulders, the dragon stands there. If she didn't already know he is the dragon, she would have mistaken him for another human.
Dragon: "If you are worried about this form, don't be. It is just convenient for me to be like this when I have to interact with humans."
And this human that she may mistake him for is not someone whose lookalike can be ignored.
Sona: "What the hell? Why do … why do you … look so much like Ozyllus?"
Death turns to look at Sona. Beneath the shadowy figure, there is surprise on the spirit's face. The dragon's surprised too.
Very few people know what Ozyllus actually looks like, so few that every single psychic that had come to this island and met the dragon had not known, those who sent them here had not known, those who ordered them to do so had not known either.
But Sona knows. She knows what Ozyllus really looked like. And it was perfectly clear from the story that the dragon was much different than Ozyllus. So it doesn't make any sense for the dragon to look like him.
Dragon: "Well, I'm surprised you know what he looked like. Could you tell me how you learned that?"
The look on the dragon's face is not the eerie smile that Ethan has when he asks questions or the cautious demeanor Kais has when he asks questions; it is a completely serious expression devoid of any smiles. It looked as if he is giving a message that they can't not answer.
Sona: "None of your business."
But even in front of that, Sona doesn't say anything to him. It's not like the expression hasn't terrified her, but that she could not let that factor control her.
Dragon: "I see. What will I have to do to make you answer me?"
Sona: "Nothing, because you are dying today."
Dragon: "That's what you would like, wouldn't you?"
While his attention was grabbed by the fact that the woman in front of him knows what Ozyllus looked like, he has failed to notice the movements of the spirit beside her. Death has been building up energy in its body. However, it's a spirit so it itself is made from energy. So the correct way to say it would be that it is condensing the energy around him into his body to become more powerful than it already is.
The dragon has failed to notice this until now. However,
Dragon: "I see you are planning to attack me once you're ready. Well, feel free to come at any time."
With one glance, he notices it. That said, whether it affects him or not is a different matter altogether.
The confidence in his voice irritates Sona, but she knows full well that the dragon is capable of defeating both of them and so the confidence is not really a problem for him.
Sona: "Death?"
Death: "GRRR!!!"
Death grits its teeth and looks intently at the dragon, the intent being murderous. Even if the dragon is more powerful, Death has suffered enough humiliation to lose control and go berserk. Sona knew from the start this could happen, in fact, she wanted it to happen.
Dragon: "Are you sure letting your spirit succumb to anger and attack in blind rage is good for you?"
She looks at the Dragon; the expression of seriousness on his face is accompanied by hostility now. There is a hint of madness in his expressions as well but for now, she judges that it would be fine to ignore it and focus on the muscles twitching in the dragon's arms out of his hostility.
Sona: "Are you sure letting yourself succumb to anger and attack in blind rage is good for you?"
Even if it is a pointless troll, it still satisfies her. If even that small victory brings joy to her, she wonders what will happen when she gains a real victory over him. But will she able to do it? Now, at the worst time for it to happen, doubts have come back to her mind. She has decided to completely believe in her plan, yet now she is having doubts once again.
Sona: "Damn!"
Her irritation is at herself the most. But the dragon doesn't understand that. To him, it is an odd change of expressions from trying to joke at him to some kind of irritation.
Dragon: "What's going on in your head? I can never tell with you humans."
Sona hears the dragon but doesn't pay much attention to what he is saying, and just then, she notices.
Sona: "Well, it doesn't matter now, it's time."
As soon as Sona says that, the ground beneath her feet cracked. Just in time, Sona manages to jump back, but the cause of it all stood there. Beneath the feet of the tiger-like shadowy spirit, the ground had been torn apart like paper.
Dragon: "What are you …?"
Before the dragon could finish its question, Death disappears. It takes just a second for the dragon to realize the spirit is behind him, but it is already too late. Claws have peeled the skin of the dragon's back.
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