Bab 112: Felix Megistus - Chapter Twelve
"Trust me," I said, my voice low but resolute.
Before they could protest further, the agent stepped forward, a hint of triumph in his eyes. "Smart decision, Megistus. Maybe there's hope for you yet."
He made a subtle gesture, and in a blink, the surroundings warped around us. The agents' teleporters activated, engulfing us in a cascade of shimmering light and disorienting sensations. When the light faded, we found ourselves in a completely different environment—a stark, metallic facility that hummed with the sound of high-tech machinery and faint, eerie whispers.
The room was cold, sterile, and the air had a peculiar tang, like ozone mixed with something foreign. Beyond the small glass viewport, long, narrow hallways stretched out in every direction, lit by a harsh artificial light that left deep shadows in the corners.
Guy immediately reached for his revolvers, but his hands found nothing. "They're gone."
Liora, usually so composed, looked around, her face etched with concern. She whispered a few words, trying to weave a protective spell, but her magic fizzled out before it could take hold.
"I hope your happy Felix," she said angrily and worriedly, "You might have just killed us."
I, however, kept my discovery to myself. While it appeared that their magic-nullifying technology was effective against Liora and Guy, for some reason, I could still feel the thrum of my own powers under my skin.
"We need a plan," Liora said, her gaze sharp as she assessed our surroundings.
"Yes, but first, we need information. And to find my inside man."
"Since when do we have an inside man?" Guy asked, skepticism coloring his tone.
"We don't. I do... and he's more of a kid."
"Great, we're imprisoned with Felix's imaginary friends," Liora muttered, rolling her eyes.
"I need to split my consciousness. Stay sharp while I'm gone."
"What exactly are you planning to do?" Guy inquired, his tone a mixture of curiosity and concern.
"I'm going to scout the facility. Our bodies might be locked in, but they can't cage my mind," I said, closing my eyes and focusing.
As my physical senses dimmed, my spiritual awareness expanded. I envisioned my consciousness seeping out like mist, forming a soulself separate from my material body.
It started with a deep breath, a deliberate slowing of my heartbeat, and a narrowing of my focus. I felt the world around me recede, the cold metal of the facility's floor beneath me fading away. Instead, I focused on the inner vibrations, the hum of my own energy. I concentrated on the core of my being, the point where my mortal essence and divine spark intersected.
Slowly, I willed my spirit to unfurl from my physical form. It was like peeling away an outer layer, a delicate process that required both precision and control. My soulself began to take shape, an ethereal version of myself composed of shimmering light and translucent energy. I felt the familiar tingle as my consciousness fully transferred into this new form.
The last time I did this everything felt wrong. I felt wrong. Now, displacing my mind from my flesh felt as right as the sun rising in the east. Detached from my physical body, I walked a semi-detached realm from the living world of mortals.
I admired my ephemeral form, waving my hands in front of Guy and Liora to make sure I was not bleeding into the material realm like a ghost. Colors were more vivid, sounds were more profound, and I could see the strings of sorcery that flowed into my partners.
White, gold, silver, all kinds of precious and right hues of magic connected to Guy and Liora, but Liora had something else, a dark fiber turned antagonistic to the rest.
"Felix..."
The mind of the young god beckoned me elsewhere.
My soulself moved effortlessly, gliding through the air. Walls and barriers were no obstacle; I passed through them as if they were mere illusions. The facility, so imposing and labyrinthine in the physical realm, now seemed like a transparent maze.
The corridors were filled with a brutal marriage of technology and sorcery designed to imprison and control. I counted the guards—each corridor had at least four, armed with rifles and devices I assumed were capable of nullification.
I drifted past cells and containment units where entities of immense power were imprisoned.
In one cell, a creature of living flame raged against its restraints. Its body was a swirling inferno, flickering with shades of red, orange, and blue. It was bound by rings of cold iron and enchanted water that hissed and steamed as they held the fire in check. The air around it shimmered with heat, distorting the view of its fiery form.
Further down the corridor, I came across a giant made of stone. Its massive limbs were covered in intricate carvings, runes of ancient power that pulsed with a faint blue light. Vines of life-draining magic wound around its body, sapping its strength and keeping it immobilized. The giant's eyes, deep-set and glowing with a dim light, followed my soulself's movement with a resigned weariness.
I passed a cell containing a creature with wings like a bat, its body covered in obsidian scales that glistened in the dim light. It screeched silently, its mouth opening to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth. Chains of blessed silver bound its wings and limbs, preventing it from moving more than a few inches. Its eyes glowed with a malevolent red, burning with an eternal fury.
In a more secluded part of the facility, I encountered a being with an ethereal beauty, its body composed of shimmering light and delicate, translucent wings. It was held in a cage of dark iron, the bars inscribed with spells that dampened its radiant glow. The being's eyes were a deep, sorrowful blue, and as it noticed my presence, a single tear of light trickled down its cheek.
"Felix..."
I found a staircase downward. At the end, another set of hallways sprawled into corners and security doors.
In one room, arrays of crystals hovered in mid-air, suspended by an intricate web of energy threads. These crystals pulsed with an eerie, rhythmic light. Technicians in lab coats monitored the crystals, adjusting dials and scribbling notes as the crystals hummed with a deep, otherworldly tone.
Another room housed a series of metallic spheres, each inscribed with marks that glowed faintly in the dim light. The spheres floated in a tank filled with a viscous, luminescent liquid that seemed to respond to the presence of magic. Scientists observed the spheres closely, their expressions a mix of fascination and caution. Occasionally, a sphere would emit a burst of light, causing the liquid to ripple and change color.
Next, I found a chamber filled with mechanical constructs, each one a grotesque blend of metal and organic matter. These constructs moved with an unsettling fluidity. Wires and tubes connected the constructs to a central console where researchers manipulated their actions with a combination of technological interfaces and spoken commands. The sight of these abominations, neither fully alive nor entirely mechanical, sent a shiver down my spine.
In another room, a large, circular platform dominated the space, covered in intricate sigils and surrounded by an array of technological apparatuses. Scientists worked together, adjusting the machinery and chanting spells to stabilize the portal that occasionally flickered into existence above the platform. The air was thick with the scent of ozone and the faint whispers of distant dimensions.
Adjacent to this room, I discovered hourglasses filled with strange, glowing sands were connected to devices that seemed to accelerate or decelerate the flow of time within localized fields. Researchers observed the effects on various objects, noting how they aged or rejuvenated under the influence of these time-manipulating devices.
"Follow me..."
I descended deeper into the heart of the facility, where the air grew colder and the magic more concentrated. The hum of the high-tech machinery was almost deafening here, mingling with the whispers of ancient bindings. Finally, I sensed it—a powerful, familiar energy signature contrary to the rest.
The child entity. He was below me, further.
The further I went, the more grotesque and horrifying the entities I encountered became, each cell a new nightmare brought to life.
The first cell I passed contained a being that defied the very fabric of reality. It appeared as a swirling mass of dark, oily tendrils, constantly shifting and undulating as if struggling to maintain a coherent form. Its surface was covered in countless eyes, each one darting frantically, filled with a haunting, malevolent intelligence. The air around it was thick with a palpable sense of dread, the entity's very presence warping the space around it, making the walls of its cell seem to pulse and breathe.
Next, I came across a cell housing a grotesque amalgamation of human and insect. This abomination had the body of a man but with elongated limbs ending in razor-sharp pincers. Its head was a horrifying blend of human and insect features, with mandibles that clicked and chittered incessantly, and multiple compound eyes that reflected a fractured view of the world. It moved with an unnatural, jerky motion, its segmented body twisting and contorting in ways that should have been impossible. The sound of its clicking mandibles reverberated through the air, sending shivers down my spine.
In another cell, a creature stood in stark contrast to the others. It was eerily beautiful, with alabaster skin that seemed to glow with an inner light. But its beauty was marred by its grotesque features—elongated limbs that ended in delicate, clawed fingers, and a face devoid of any human emotion. Its eyes were black voids, and its mouth was a lipless gash filled with rows of needle-like teeth. As it moved, it left a trail of shimmering, ethereal mist that seemed to writhe and pulse with malevolent energy. The sight of it filled me with a deep, instinctual revulsion, as if I was gazing upon something fundamentally wrong with the world.
Further along, I encountered an entity that appeared as a mass of writhing flesh, constantly shifting and reforming itself. Limbs, eyes, and mouths emerged and disappeared from its amorphous body, each new configuration more horrifying than the last. It seemed to be in a constant state of agony, its many mouths emitting a cacophony of screams and groans that echoed through the corridor. The very air around it felt heavy with despair, the creature's torment seeping into the fabric of reality.
One of the most disturbing sights was a cell containing what could only be described as a living void. It was an absence of light and matter, a black hole in the shape of a man. It moved with a slow, deliberate grace, its form distorting the space around it, drawing everything into its inky darkness. There was an overwhelming sense of hunger emanating from it, a void that could never be filled. As I watched, it reached out with a shadowy hand, and the very light seemed to drain from the air, leaving a trail of darkness in its wake.
In the deepest part of the facility, I found a cell containing a creature that was barely recognizable as anything that should exist. It was a mass of twisted, sinewy flesh, covered in a thick, oozing substance that bubbled and hissed as it dripped onto the floor. Multiple heads, each one more grotesque than the last, sprouted from its body, their mouths filled with rows of jagged, broken teeth. It had too many limbs, some ending in claws, others in tentacles that writhed and twisted with a life of their own. The air around it was thick with the stench of decay and the sound of its gurgling, labored breathing.
"Closer..."
In one of the more isolated cells, I encountered an entity that defied all conventional forms of perception. This being resisted observation, appearing as a constantly shifting, staticky silhouette. Its form flickered and buzzed like a poorly tuned television, never settling into a coherent shape. The more I tried to focus on it, the more elusive it became, each attempt to perceive it in detail resulting in a nauseating, vertigo-inducing sensation. Its presence exuded a sense of wrongness, a violation of the natural order that left a lingering discomfort long after I had moved on.
In a chamber lined with orichalcum, I found what appeared to be an ordinary man. His features were strikingly normal: a Caucasian man with black hair, his face serene and untroubled as he lay sleeping on a thin mattress. Yet, there was an otherworldly quality to him that belied his mundane appearance. His clothes and cape seemed to be made of pure light, glowing softly and casting gentle, ethereal shadows on the walls.
There, in a chamber reinforced with layers of occult and technological defenses, the child lay half dissected. All kinds of preternatural deterrents surrounded him: rings of white ash, shards of orichalcum, circles of salt from the Dead Sea, seven crucifixes, sigils drawn in still-wet blood, chains of cold iron, and mirrors inscribed with Enochian glyphs.
I passed by samples of flesh floating in blue liquid. Fingers and toes laid splayed on pin boards while organs unlike those in humans had been peeled and separated by layer.
"Hello again," I transcribed into the ether, my thoughts echoing in the spiritual plane.
While his body remained mutilated and partitioned like a frog in high school, his soul stood beside the bed gazing longingly at his flesh.
The child's spectral form turned to me, hollow eyes filled with an unspoken plea. "Hello again, Felix."
I approached him, feeling the weight of his sorrow and anger pressing against my soulself. "What have they done to you?"
"They birthed me here," the child began, his voice a haunting melody of pain and betrayal. "After you embarrassed them in Carthage ten years ago, they wanted a way to beat you Felix. Fire with fire as the humans say, so they made a spurious god, born to beat you. I do not blame you though. It was not your head I sprang from."
His words made me feel guilty, as if I handed the axe to the executioner.
"You are too great at sorcery for these mortals. Too wise. Too capable." He paused, his gaze drifting back to his dissected body. "They wanted a tool, but they made a life. I wanted freedom, but they punished me for it."
He sulked, pacing around his alive corpse.
A flash of red erupted from me as wrath rose within me. "No parent should ever do this."
The child's form flickered, his light shifting to red to match his emotions, "I want to be whole again."
I nodded, "I can help with that."
Determination sharpened his brow as I looked into the abyss where his eyes should be. "They made their scalpels... It hurt Felix. So much."
"Not again," I promised.
The child's spectral form leaned closer. "I have faith in you, Felix. Free me and I will help you find their recipes."
"Recipes?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You seek their book, don't you?" the child responded, his hollow gaze piercing through me.
I hesitated for a moment, realizing what he was hinting at. "You mean-"
"That knowledge is profoundly potent."
"And you know where it is?" I hesitantly inquired.
"I can lead you to it," the child replied, his voice tinged with both hope and caution. "But only if I am whole, only if I am free."
We locked eyes—or rather, I stared into the voids where his eyes should be. There was a mutual understanding forming between us, an unspoken accord.
"I'll get you out," I said, my voice steady. "And you'll help me find it."
The child nodded, a faint smile playing on his spectral lips. "We have a deal, Felix."
With a final nod, I pulled my consciousness back to my physical body, the sterile coldness of the facility washing over me once more. Guy and Liora stood over me, their faces a mix of concern and anticipation.
"What did you find?" Guy asked, relived to see me moving again.
"The core of the DEVIL," I replied, standing up and wiping the dirt from my body. "It's heavily guarded. We need to free the being that counters sorcery. I also have a lead."
Liora's eyes widened. "And how do you plan to get out of the cell and past the guards?"
"Like always," I smirked. "With a bit of luck and a lot of sorcery."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone