Chapter 420: Hive Mind

The sun sunk down the horizon making way for the moon, the day embracing the dark of night...

Down an isolated alley located in the backyard district of the Duskreaver Estate. A figure could be seen bolting through the lone path, the blurry shadow streaking through the alleyway faster than the human eye could track.

Draped in a black leather coat, fluttering through the wind as they ran, silently and nimbly, moving past a few passersby unnoticed.

It wasn’t until they got into a specific corner, a block section located at the backyard of an old pub at the isolated part of the estate, that they stopped.

Coat fluttering, they pulled their hood even lower to protect their hidden features even further, the wind howling past their frame as an arm sprang from underneath the coat, caressing the wall, with faint pulses of essence rippling from their fingertips.

Their hands trailed down, before halting. A sharp glint sparked from under the hood, and with a huff they exerted pressure, pushing on the brick like a button.

The brick sank into the wall, everywhere remaining silent for a bit, before sharp clinks and whirrs rang out, the hidden passageway activating as the bricks making up the dead-end wall rearranged themselves, sliding into place like Lego to form a passageway from nowhere.

The figure, without an ounce of hesitation, walked into the dark, lightless, newly opened pathway, the clay bricks clinking back in place and in a matter of seconds the pathway was gone, reverting back into a plain old brick wall...

The splatter of footsteps padding against water rang in the dark, as the shadow moved through the darkness, going straight through a tunnel before bursting out into a large ancient hall of sorts.

Walls lit with flaming torches, the figure finally pulled down their hood, revealing a face that was all too familiar...

Lionel Duskreaver!

His crimson pupils shone through the dimly lit hall, locking onto a corner, "You know there’s no need for the extra caution, right? Little sis!" he announced loudly.

The hall remained still and silent for a few more seconds, almost giving the illusion that he was speaking to himself, until suddenly from a dark corner a shadow moved.

A slender figure walked into the light, her hair glowing with a healthy shade of silver, the Duskreaver family trait.

With crimson eyes matching Lionel’s meeting his gaze...

Nora Duskreaver shrugged, "You can never be too careful, you know..."

Lionel shook his head, wearing a faint smile, he beckoned to her while unraveling an old brown parchment upon a small table by the side.

Nora walked over, peeking as the contents of the old parchment spread onto the table, and quickly branded the image before her to memory.

Silence settled as she took her time, "And you’re sure mother has no knowledge of this route?" she asked, glancing at Lionel by the side.

Lionel exhaled, responding calmly, "I checked it myself, it was free of her spawns..."

Nora nodded, waving her hand, the parchment instantly burst into flame and ash, scattering into nothing and leaving no trace.

Lionel, seeing his part was done, got ready to walk away, when his sister’s wavering voice called from behind, "Are we really going through with this? No matter what, she is our mother. I can’t help but feel..."

"Was!" Lionel paused in his tracks and corrected...

"What?" Nora blinked.

"Whatever that thing is, it is no longer our mother..." Lionel explained with a bitter scowl, "I’ve seen it first-hand, Nora, the elders weren’t crazy, if we don’t act now the family will be doomed before father or brother can return to save us."

The two fell back into silence...

"If we truly care about mother, then we will have to slaughter the entity wearing her body like a coat, allow her spirit to rest in peace, because we have to face the reality, Mother is long gone." He dropped this last line.

Lionel waited for nothing more, he had given them the route. It was time for the others to play their part while he finished his...

Nora glanced at Lionel’s receding back, her lips pressing thin.

Regardless of what Lionel said, killing that thing wearing their mother’s face wouldn’t be easy, and she wasn’t saying this just because of the prowess that thing wielded.

But though it wasn’t going to be easy, it was still going to be necessary...

Fortunately they were able to discover this brewing threat on time, the possessed wench had been slowly sinking her claws into the family, planting seeds of control.

Slowly infecting member after member, suppressing the awakening of more powerful ancestors, with her filling their father’s role now that he was absent, making all this quite a bit too easy for her.

They didn’t know when that thing replaced their mother, they didn’t know how, heck they didn’t even know what its end goal was.

But regardless they knew they had to stop it by any and all means...

Nora’s frame faded back into the dark, while Lionel marched back out of the secret room, a silver dagger glowing in his grasp, his crimson pupils glowing with lethal purpose, his bloodline beginning to bubble, an aura of red brewing around his cloaked frame.

"I won’t let you cause more harm, not even in death mother..." he whispered, his frame dissolving into a shadowy mist.

...

Meanwhile within the grand mansion of the Duskreaver...

In an open grand hall, a figure could be seen sitting upon a grand throne high and mighty, her slender figure billowing with a dark evil aura.

The sclera of her eyes had gone completely black as ink, the pupils glowing with a potent shade of sanguine, and her silver hair flowing down her back like streams of a waterfall.

This was none other than Liora Duskreaver, or at least what was left of her being worn as a suit by something eerie and ancient.

Around her, humans, members of the Duskreaver household, bowed, infected with the evil aura, their eyes of a darkened shade, their identity erased...

Their mind consumed and assimilated into a greater whole of what one could call a hive mind...

A sick smirk curled on her lips, as they parted to make way for words... "I can’t wait to have a taste of him... origin soul eh? I bet it would be delicious..."