Capítulo 31: Pyromaniac
'Damnation!' I thought as panic overtook me. I attempted to take control of the body, but I couldn't. It wasn't that I lacked the strength—it was as if something was actively preventing me from doing so.
The usual connection Pleiades and I shared remained intact, but it was... tainted, like a thick veil had been drawn between us.
Though I hadn't been in control of the body for over fifteen days, the sensation of taking over still lingered within my memory, but the act itself now felt elusive—just out of reach.
Pleiades wasn't responding either. Not a single word from him.
I never thought I'd miss his sarcastic quips or our light-hearted banter, but now that silence filled the void, I felt a deep sense of regret.
I had come to think of his companionship more as an annoyance than a blessing, and now I realized how much I had taken it for granted.
'Damn it! Damn this whole place!' My mind raced, grasping at any possible way to re-establish communication with him.
In desperation, I dismissed my shadows, hoping that would calm the strange, raging amethyst flames. But they continued to burn, relentless, and soon they completely devoured the abomination with many hands.
Then, the Spell's voice whispered in my ear—confused, as it always was when Pleiades killed something.
Each time, I would receive shadow fragments from his kills, and even the Spell seemed perplexed by it.
[You have slain a Fallen Devil, Belittled Whisperer.]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
If I had eyes, they would've widened in shock. My shadow fragment count had increased by sixteen.
The flames, instead of fading, grew larger and spread, the flames went of the tentacled abomiantion.
The same terrifying screech echoed through the abyss, but it was quickly snuffed out by another whisper from the Spell:
[You have slain a Corrupted Demon, Witness of the Begotten.]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
I gulped at the mere thought of such a powerful creature. Twenty-four fragments entered my core, strengthening me further.
The bone serpent roared in fear, trying to flee, but the flames only grew fiercer, faster, until they engulfed the creature completely.
[You have slain a Corrupted Monster, Defiled Carrion.]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
Another sixteen fragments were added to my tally. I forced myself to focus, pushing aside the strange sense of exhilaration.
But no matter how hard I tried to reach Pleiades, nothing worked. The flames found nothing else to devour and began consuming the very water around us.
Pleiades floated in the center of it all, encased in a sphere of flames—a marble of pure amethyst fire.
'What do I do? I've been relying on him for far too long... how pathetic.' Frustration flared within me, and I began to despise the idea of leaving everything to Pleiades.
Focusing deeper into our connection, I reached as far as I could, only to be met with a strange, unsettling sensation—pleasure.
With each thing the flames burned, I felt ecstasy wash over me, a disturbing comfort in the flames' relentless destruction.
Almost forgetting my original intent, I pushed further and further... until I felt my very soul being torn apart, set ablaze.
A bestial roar of agony escaped me, a sound so primal I barely recognized it as my own.
***********
Elated. That was the only word to describe how I felt.
The insatiable rage had been burnt away, leaving behind a strange, blissful calm. My eyes drank in the beauty of my flames, still raging but somehow no longer part of me.
They had consumed everything—every enemy, every obstacle—and I felt nothing but satisfaction.
"Ahhhh... good." I relaxed, imagining the entire Forgotten Shore, then the reaches of the hollow mountains, the desert, the Dream Realm itself, all being devoured by my flames.
The thought alone brought a joy so deep that I let myself drift off, content to let the fire consume everything.
(GAAAAAAHHHHHH)
Suddenly, I was jolted back to awareness by a sharp roar of agony. I opened my eyes just enough to see a thin golden thread above me.
The thread was connected to my body and went deeper inside. Looking further, I saw it: two spheres made of shadow circling around a vibrant, pristine white sphere.
Then a small imperfection appeared within the tranquility of one of the dark spheres.
The perfectly black sphere was interrupted by a small wisp of ghostly purple flames. It continued to expand and expand. Smiling gently, I watched it grow.
Suddenly, I saw the flames exit the dark sphere and expand further. It then began to encompass the golden string and soon exited the body.
My mind relaxed, and my heart slowed down.
'So relaxing…' My thoughts were interrupted as I felt my body become weightless.
When I opened my eyes, I was met with a strangely familiar yet unfamiliar sight. Looking around, I saw a beautiful sphere of white light floating above glassy waters.
And instead of the somewhat familiar sight of the stars, I saw a massive, beautiful triangle surrounded by them.
'Those are… my abilities?' Some clarity began to return to my head, but with clarity came a headache.
Then I heard a strangely robotic voice speak:
<Notice! User's mental state unstable.>
<Cause discovered.>
<Ability True Destruction has been found as the source of the problem.>
<Calculating…>
<Finding user's motivation for ability within memories.>
"Huh?" I murmured as the voice continued.
<Inspiration for ability creation has been found from user's memories of reading a novel.>
<Novel name: The Beginning After the End.>
<Ability was made when the user's mental state was damaged. The ability was made with a flaw of making the user become insane if used for extended periods of time.>
<Ability has all but consumed the user's mind.>
<Ability has begun to devour another lifeform. Lost From Light has begun to get devoured by the ability.>
"What… What the hell is this thing saying?" I asked, confused, as the voice stopped, then boomed again.
<Solution found. Destroying the ability may harm the user.>
<Extracting the ability and creating another entity more suited for it has been found.>
"Fucking whaaa…" I lazily said and covered my ears.
"Just let me sleep…"
<Denied. User's life and mind come first.>
<Processing…>
"Hol' up… ya hear me?"
<User's speech has dulled. Ability has begun to devour Lost From Light's very fate slowly.>
<Beginning countermeasure.>
<Creating lifeform.>
From the triangle came a raging purple star. It shot down and stood there, only a meter away from me.
The triangle then pulsed, and from it came five different smaller stars.
<Containing ability within a shell. New ability created: Shadow Body.>
A dark star gently floated down and surrounded the raging purple star.
"Wahhhh… so pretty, is this youw poap?" I giggled and approached the star.
I was then sent back to my position by a strange force and returned to where I had originally stood. I looked around in confusion and tilted my head.
<Baby mode has been activated to keep user at bay.>
"Wahhh, where buby?" I said as I frantically looked around.
Then, before me appeared a strange screen. On it was a strangely animated cartoon.
"Sooo many colors…"
<Continuing creation. Shadow Body has stabilized True Destruction. Now creating another ability.>
The voice spoke, but I was too distracted by the addictive show. There was a baby with a big head and small eyes.
How did babies' heads even get that big?
<Ability to contain true destruction has been made. Adding ability to entity… Successful.>
<Lifeform can now use true destruction without losing its mind and with good control. Continuing.>
<Giving lifeform Greater Regeneration… Successful.>
<Giving lifeform Body Transformation… Successful.>
<Giving lifeform ability to speak with the user telepathically and with others through speech… Successful.>
<Giving lifeform human-like intelligence… Failure. Retrieving information from user's memories. Giving lifeform all of the user's memories and creating an ego from the personality of a fictional character… Successful.>
<Giving lifeform Special Soul Core… Successful.>
<Giving lifeform Essence Absorption… Successful.>
<Conglomerating abilities… Successful. Creating additional ability for lifeform to be tethered to the user and completely loyal to him… Successful.>
<Ego and personality for lifeform have been created.>
<Contingencies are finished. Saving the user was successful. Disabling baby mode.>
The screen before me disappeared, and my face fell—it was just getting good. Looking at the strange triangle with spite, I pointed an accusatory finger at it.
"Ou meanie! Gibe back Bawby!"
The robotic voice remained silent until it audibly sighed. I was about to continue, but then I felt like I was being dragged back to my body.
Looking around, I saw the flames dissipate, and then I was once more embraced by the cold water. I opened my eyes wide and began to choke on the water.
Clarity returned to me far too fast and unnaturally. Confused, I focused on the task at hand.
It looked like I was stuck in a whirlpool, likely created by the flames.
Focusing on my raven, I sensed his panic and worry. Thankful that he was alright, I switched POVs and focused on the boat.
Looking at it, I switched places with the hammock and was immediately met with the cold steel of the boat. Puking on its floor, I wheezed for air and felt my eyes burning.
Looking down at my chest, I focused on the golden thread and saw that it slowly reformed, connected to the inside of my body, and then gradually disappeared.
Sighing in relief, I looked deeper in and saw that the two shadow cores stood firmly in place. Sighing once more, I leaned on the wall and looked to the side.
On it, I saw Nephis looking over the edge of the boat, and Cassie holding her face as she gazed down. Nephis' shoulders slumped, and she let go of the side.
She then looked at Cassie before gently touching her shoulder.
"The flames stopped" she somberly said, to which Cassie buried her face deeper in her palms.
Nephis leaned on the side and looked somberly at the sky. Then, an actual tear streaked down her face.
She quickly went to wipe it away with her hand, but then she finally spoted me. She remained motionless. Finding it amusing, I smiled and waved at her.
Audibly gasping, she threw her head back and hit the back of her head on the steel surface of the boat's side, letting out an incredibly strange squeal.
Cassie looked even more concerned and turned her head to Nephis.
"Are you alright? Is there something else attacking?" She hurriedly held Nephis' shoulders, and I could still see tears coming from her eyes.
Knowing it was the best time to say something, I cleared my throat.
"Hello again. Did you miss me that much? I'm touched."
Cassie stopped in her tracks and looked in my direction with horror.
Confusedly staring at them, I frowned.
"What? It's like you saw a ghost" I said, looking at them in confusion.
Getting to her feet, Cassie rushed toward me, embracing me in a tight hug. Too weak to return the hug, I simply accepted it with a soft smile and looked at Nephis.
Her face was still pale as a ghost, and she looked utterly appalled. It was quite funny, actually.
Stifling a laugh, Nephis touched her face and frowned, knowing she had been caught not only crying but being terrified of me.
This was the second time today I got her to make a strange face, I proudly noted.
[Sunny, are you there? Are you alright? Are you wounded? Do yo—]
(I'm fine, just very confused. I don't even know what the hell happened. I felt my very being get burned and then… it just stopped, and all the pain was washed away.)
Relieved that Sunny was fine, I looked at Nephis, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Thankfully i was still in one whole piece, if it werent for my attributes i likely would have died almost as soon as i fell into the water.
Thanks to my protection against physical attacks and the fact that the monsters were hesitant about attacking with full power, thankfully due to the whole slayer one i was able to endure.
I'd have been torn apart by the bastards the second i got caught, looking down i saw that the shroud had been all but torn apart, the only reason it hadn't been destroyed was because sunny augmented it with one shadow when i was hit by the bone serpent.
Realxing slightly nepis let her head fall down and she looekd at me once more, only this time she looked scared and stood up on guard.
Even cassie yerked her head up, and to my surprise tried to pull me back.
Confused i looked to my right and… saw it.
There on the steel of the boat i saw a small pup, made of shadows, with a purple mane made out of wisp like amethyst flames, it had white eyes that looked at me with intelligence.
It's tail was also made of shadows with a small amount of wispy amethyst fames dancing on it.
It stood on four little stubs that looked like paws, along it's back were starnge markings that shone slightly and dimmed at irregular intervals.
Nephis pulled me and cassie back and stood before us in a protective manner.
The pup backed away, snorting. Then, with a sharp crackle, it spoke—its voice unexpectedly deep for such a small creature.
"Well, don't everyone jump at once. I know, I know—I'm Adorable aren't i." His white eyes gleamed with mischief as he added, "But try to pet me, and I'll bite your hand off. Consider it fair warning."
Chortling at his own joke he sat down and wagged his tail while observing us.
Nephis stiffened and froze before weakly muttering, "did it… Talk?"
Cassie held onto me tightly but i was simply, shook, i mean what else would i have been.
The pup cleard it's throat and stood on the steel while looking at me, he sniffed the air and took a deep breath, "Hello there, i am regis, The Grand wolf, and i have come from my masters miserable short ass."
(What the--)
"WHAT THE FUCK!!!"
Next Chapter: Walking Mischief
A/N: Readers!! From next week onward i'll be realeasing one chapter everyday except the weekend. So from Monday to Friday there will be one chapter each day, Woohhooo i finally have a good amount of freetime and my schedule isn't as brutal as before.
Anyway i hope you guys are looking forward to it, and i hope you guys enjoy the new character i added, i really wanted to challange myself with another character with a unique personality.
So guys i can't wait to write more chapters for you guys, keep commenting to give me even more motivation.
See you guys next week and hope your looking forward to it.
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