Will of chaos

I was sitting cross-legged, trying to understand this new eye of mine. I grabbed another one that was sealed with 300 different seals.

“(Samara got this from someone from Greed or Curse, I’m not sure. It seems to be an acquaintance of hers from before we met, but she wasn’t an Avatar.)” (me)

“(It was stolen from Pride before she stole it from the thief.)” (me)

“(Should I use this thing?)” (me)

“(Why do I feel like I do…?)” (me)

“This isn’t the time for this…” (me)

Sigh

My intrusive thoughts are deafening. I just turned one of my eyes into an artifact, and now I’m thinking about using something that was in the hands of the Entities as an eye. That would be more than just stupid, it would be incredibly stupid, especially when you’re in the middle of a situation like this.

I put the eye away again. It couldn’t be stored in storage items, but I could still keep it in my shadow where only I could reach it.

“You should be careful.” (Lolth?)

“Careful about what?” (me)

“(She saw the eye?)” (me)

“Of everyone here, only you are exposing your body to this environment. The amount of curses here is absurd.” (Lolth?)

“I don’t need to protect myself. Ronan didn’t come after me for no reason. Curses have a different effect on me. I won’t die or be corrupted by something of that magnitude.” (me)

“(At least until the Concept’s power is applied… now, how will she react…?)” (me)

“Even so, don’t be careless. You never know… ghuh!” (Lolth?)

“You talk too much, just die already.” (Me)

The M|V|LE&MPYR team worked hard on this chapter.

I stood up, walking towards Lolth, and when we were close enough, my blade-like tail passed under the ground before stabbing her heart from behind. Her blood was a strange yellow that I ignored before stepping on her head.

“Why did you let that thing get close to me?” (Me)

“I wanted to see if I could distinguish the illusion with the seal in place.” (Lolth)

“So, what is this thing?” (Me)

“A cursed insect. Yaffe said they invade living bodies and make their nests there, usually in the head or heart. They are able to reshape the body of their nests.” (Lolth)

“It must be a guard. We must be quick now. Where are the others?” (Me)

“Helping Yaffe.” (Lolth)

I follow Lolth around the outside of this city. We soon reach one of the columns of skulls. The bones are rearranging, creating a door through the column of bones. Yaffe looks irritated while Ronan looks at us.

“How many did you find?” (Sarazar)

“I found three. I finished off almost all of them while I tested him with the last one.” (Lolth)

“Why did they think I wouldn’t know how to see through that illusion?” (me)

“They’re Metamorphosis Bugs imbued with cursed power. They don’t use illusions. They don’t need anything like that if they can modify the bodies they inhabit as they please.” (Ronan)

“(But I could have sworn I saw a humanoid bug superimposed on its body, which looked completely normal on the outside.)” (me)

“Why do these bugs matter?” (me)

“Because the chances of Krimus being present have greatly increased, which would be horrible for all of us.” (Ronan)

“Who’s Krimus?” (me)

“A Master of Curses. He’s very old and likes to use insects. They mutate easily, spread quickly, and aren’t very intelligent. They’re perfect for curses, poisons, and diseases.” (Yaffe)

“Krimus is as powerful as my mother. If I find him, I won’t stand a chance.” (Ronan)

“Don’t look at me. I’m barely strong enough to face a normal Avatar. I’m no match for Krimus when it comes to curses.” (Yaffe)

“My mistress promised to bring him to you, Mr. Zenos, if she finds him.” (Sarazar)

“Lena told me the same thing. She said you can take care of his curses and the insects.” (Lolth)

“I’d rather avoid meeting him…” (me)

“How about we get back to the mission?” (me)

Everyone entered through the passage created by the column of skulls. Hearing their wails and the chattering of their jaws was a horrible but bearable experience.

When we entered, it was different. My mind focused because I felt something trying to touch my mind. Looking around, I quickly took in my surroundings.

We were facing the city, continuing through the streets. The city was painted mostly red with some shades of green and blue. Blood painted the streets, walls, and doors.

There were skeletons and pieces of flesh scattered around, melting like ice cream. It was strange to see how this was happening without affecting the blood around us.

Chains bound Souls to the walls while black metal bars pierced these Souls, who wailed soundlessly. Yet it was as if I were hearing these screams with my own Soul.

I was becoming confused about the purpose of making these Souls suffer more, since there was one trapped in each building, and some buildings had more than one Soul trapped in these black metal bars.

I spent at least several seconds without understanding the reason for this torture. That was when I saw the miasma particles leaking from the suffering Souls; they were producing more miasma.

We continued walking until we reached a fork in the road where a five-sided obelisk stood 3 meters high, covered in magical circles, all interconnected in a way too complex for me to understand.

I could see the miasma particles gathering, being absorbed by this obelisk before forming a stream of miasma that rose to the sky where the great creature still stood.

“A Curse Converter, a Malice Condenser, a Curse Refiner, and finishing it all off with Runes that seem to possess the power of the Curse Concept.” (Yaffe)

“Compacting all of this into something so small is simply… marvelous…” (Yaffe)

“How do we shut down this ritual?” (Ronan)

“Killing Raakoy, if he was the one who built everything, will produce one of two outcomes. The first would be the full activation of this Curse Factory, while the second would be the deactivation of everything, which I don’t believe will happen since there will still be other Avatars of the Curse.” (Yaffe)

“This is just one part of the Ritual. After passing through this city, I’m now certain. There must be hundreds of these cities all over this planet, maybe even more. This city is just the center.” (Yaffe)

“Then Ronan and I will head towards the enemies.” (Me)

“Sarazar, you come with me. You two… be careful.” (Ronan)

“Then let’s go…” (me)

We walked for a few more minutes before arriving at a singular place. It was a square a little far from the city center where the dome was. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have to see through the illusion. This place was horrifying in every possible way. Even the energy flow seemed more like a ditch where people were trying to escape before drowning.

Even the smell around was horrible. It wasn’t the smell of blood, it was something else, something that completely overpowered the smell of blood. Unfortunately, I discovered the source of that smell when I reached the square where they were.

There was Raakoy. He was covered in blood, half of his body inside a circular tub of blood. He was holding a skull that had been assembled like a puzzle from parts of other skulls.

He wasn’t alone either. Near him was a thin man with long arms and baggy clothes. This man had insect-like eyes, and his mouth was a jaw with two fangs underneath. There were two Avatars here, just as we thought.

But what caught everyone by surprise was the other creature. A specter rose from the ground. It had six arms with a sword in each hand, three heads, eight tentacles from the waist down, and its single eye was on its chest, opening vertically.

This thing exudes Anomalous Power of the Destruction type. It also emanates very strong Phantom power, but even so, it doesn’t seem to possess intelligence. Its aura is like that of an uncontrolled beast hurling itself at us as soon as it emerged from the ground.

As soon as the thing attacked, several patterns of magic circles and runes appeared on its body, further increasing its power.

But I could see even more than that: streams of cursed energy fueling it with an even greater overload of power; it was as if it were being strengthened twice over.

“I’ll take care of him.” (Sarazar)

Sarazar begins to transform into a Dragon, and the two begin to fight, heading in a specific direction. But it wasn’t Sarazar guiding him away; it was the opposite.

It all happened very quickly, but Ronan and I exchanged a nod as we each headed toward an enemy. I went against Raakoy, while he went against the insect man.

Raakoy didn’t panic, nor did he immediately try to attack me. He assessed the situation. From the moment we arrived, his calm gaze was evident when he looked at Ronan, but his eyes lingered on Sarazar before turning to me with doubt when he saw who was heading toward him.

When I reached the surface of the pool of blood, I stepped onto its surface as if I were standing on solid ground, and Raakoy rose as if in an elevator, his eyes still fixed on me. My eyes noticed that copies of him were appearing around me, rising from the pool just like him, blood dripping down their bodies. But to me, only the one in front of me had two overlapping images.

Even though I knew who he really was, I still let my eyes wander as if confused about which one was real. I couldn’t let him discover my ability to see beyond his illusions, not yet at least.

“I could ask who you are, but a Bringer of Chaos is too illustrious to be unknown.” (Raakoy)

“I know about you too, but I won’t waste time while your reinforcements are on the way.” (Me)

“So the Ascended attack was really your idea to separate us. Krimus was right in the end.” (Raakoy)

“(I knew it… I knew it wouldn’t be that easy…)” (Me)

Exactly the powerful enemy Ronan told me about, it seems he was here. This could get dangerous. I have to be quick if I want to end this quickly.