The water's surface parted, splashing upward as Vincent and the creature ascended through the air. Shrouded in Green energy, their bodies continued to accelerate without cease before finally peaking at a height of around sixty feet, when the pull of gravity took hold.
At this point, the creature's form had completely expanded to an unbelievable thirty-five-foot giant, but it made no difference to him. The creature seemed to be affected by Kruger's blood beyond the damage it had sustained in the explosions. Its body was subtly shifting, details softening for a half second only to harden the next as if trying to become the misty shadow once more.
It was that very interval that offered Vincent his opportunity.
The moment the sphere shattered, Vincent yelled from the depths of his core, driving the blade further in and piercing the pseudo-flesh. Planting his feet momentarily against the creature's body, he felt the blue scales break before him and began dashing upwards, dragging the blade through shuddering flesh as gloomy mist spurted from the edges.
As Vincent reached the base of the neck, the creature's upper face suddenly parted again.
"" Please… don't hurt me anymore."" A woman's trembling voice cried out
It released another sound-based illusion that caused his movement to falter, and several arms converged towards him from its body.
'This thing needs to make contact to siphon off spiritual energy, but it's not getting any more from me.' Vincent instinctively bent his legs and pushed himself further up in the air.
Bang!
He had just entered free fall when the hands collided, quickly forming a round, bell-shaped ball of darkness. The hair on Vincent's body stood on end as he stared into the dark forming below, and in a split second, he redirected the energy in his legs up to his upper half as a powerful sound wave shot up towards him.
Woosh!
At that moment, Vincent raised his blade over his head, striking with a thick arc of blue light to destroy the massive ball as he was hit by the sound illusions.
Vincent understood that his normal mental protections would be ineffective against the sounds, so instead he decided to take a gamble and encased his temporal lobe in a three-layered sphere barrier to dull the effect.
If he had not experienced the effects of the creature's musical bombardment earlier, he wouldn't have dared do something like this; he would have probably lost consciousness in his current condition if he hadn't
'I'll aim for the wound and cast the sealing again before the priest surfaces.' As his body drew closer to the water below, the dark sphere shattered, and Vincent raised his sword again. He then gathered his azure energy for another descending strike, killer intent sharpening as he prepared to finish it in a single blow.
However, the creature had no plans to accept it.
As if suddenly reading his intent, it unleashed a wail that tore through the air like a hammer hitting steel, its body convulsing violently as it twisted away and began plummeting back toward the water below.
Panic flared through Vincent's chest as he felt himself dragged along by the sudden shift, the surface drawing nearer by the second.
Yet before either of them could reach the murky deep, the water erupted in a geyser once more.
Bang!
Kruger's figure burst upward from below the surface, his momentum carrying him through the spray as his transformed arm drew back and slammed into the side of the creature's head.
The blow sent it hurtling toward the shoreline, leaving Vincent stunned in disbelief as he saw the man landing, feet touching the water's surface like it was solid ground.
Unlike Kruger's acrobatic landing, he struck the water's surface hard enough to send ripples racing outward, and barely stabilized himself as the creature crashed down farther ahead.
Its immense body shuddered once before beginning to dissolve, layers of shadowed flesh breaking apart into drifting motes that scattered across the surface like ash caught in an air current.
Just as the remnants faded, something else quickly took shape before their eyes.
From within the dissipating spiritual residue, a blond woman slowly rose to her feet in a blackened dress, her soaking wet flesh pale and cracked as though assembled from the gloom itself. Her movements seemed rigid, unlike the form they were previously fighting, and when she extended her hand forward, the air around her twisted in response.
A violin bow formed within her grasp.
Its length was roughly seventy-five centimeters, and its body was crafted of reinforced wood, but this was no tool for music. Where the horsehair should have been, a straight, slender blade ran from the tip to the frog as if precisely modified for slaughter.
Once again, he found himself momentarily at a loss.
There was no mistaking it!
The weapon radiated the unmistakable authority of a Special Class Arcane tool. Its edge even rivals Damon's katana and Kruger's grotesquely transformed glove in quality and pressure. Among Specters, very few were capable of handling weapons of such a caliber; it was more common to see those below grade one using a weapon from the basic class.
Instinctively, Vincent reacted before she could.
Swish!
Spreading every remaining thread of usable spiritual energy through his limbs, he forced his body into motion and flickered behind her, the strain ripping a sharp gasp from his throat as he completed the movement.
Shiing! His blade flashed in a single motion, severing her arm at the shoulder just as her fingers closed around the weapon's grip.
The limb fell away, dissolving into shadowy mist before it could strike the ground.
Vincent landed heavily in the mud moments later, his legs nearly giving out beneath him as exhaustion finally surged forward unrestrained.
Huff..Huff..Huff Struggling to catch his breath, Vincent channeled his energy towards his legs again to remain standing, heart pounding through his chest as weakness seeped into his limbs faster.
At the same time, Kruger appeared directly before the woman.
The priest's devil-morphed hand shot forward, clamping around her mouth as it opened, preventing the release of another sinister song forming within her throat.
BANG!
With brutal efficiency, he slammed her down into the mud, the impact sending dark ripples through the ground as he pinned her in place. Kruger then began reciting the incantation he had used earlier in the day to send the five souls to the afterlife, his voice steady despite her violent struggle.
"O Shepherd of Silence, who walks the resting fields."
["O Pastor do Silentium, er koga marsha do miren-felden."]
"O Heir of the Final Mile, whose touch ends all burdens."
["O Heritor do Final Mil, da-ty karesse finet oni graven."]
Suddenly, he paused, and his stern features softened, ever so slightly.
"Your suffering ends now," he murmured, the words almost gentle. "May the path beyond be--"
"Wait!"
*****
Five minutes earlier.
Lingering in the space of resonating minds, two figures were outlined in a white void of sudden silence.
Under the force of Damon's will, the memory had collapsed into that very void, yet that didn't mean Cecil had forgotten the scene she had just relived. As she stared up from the paper-white ground, gloomy dark tones began spreading from beneath, eroding the bright world around them.
"Why didn't you fight back?"Walking even closer, Damon stared down at the Adult Cecil, struggling to suppress his anger. He couldn't understand why, in her final moment, Cecil had chosen to give up when she was still capable of moving her body despite her injury. At first glance, such a thought seemed impossible, but after sensing the chilling acceptance she felt in that moment, Damon was certain she still had the strength to.
Sadly, his question was only met with more silence as her darkened eyes merely blinked with a blank expression.
Yet as his ocean eyes were drawn to the shadow, Damon discovered the encroaching mist was diverging to avoid touching even the edges of his boot.
Although he could still feel the gloomy intent waltzing its way into his mind and pain following its every step, it was rather apparent that something was different.
Had Cecil been directly focused on his presence from the beginning?
"You must have given your parents a lot of heartache when you got upset."Damon let out a sigh as his train of thought ended. Taking a seat on the ground beside her, he crossed his legs and continued, "Isn't it unfair to ignore me when I'm the one who spoke first?"
"Maybe I should try charming you with compliments like Henry."
Hearing his words, Cecil suddenly broke out in laughter, the shadows halting as her lips parted. She then rolled onto her stomach, popping her chin in her hands.
"I haven't fallen so far as to accept advances from a child," she said, amusement lingering in her voice. "At least Henry's eyes are honest. He speaks sincerely."
"You seem a little rotten inside."
"I'd rather be myself than some innocent flower."Not expected such a response, Damon's expression faltered as his brows rose. He pointed at her, then added snidely. "And you wouldn't be here if you hadn't been so naive."
His words seemed to strike her heart as her smile faded.
Cecil lowered her arms and rested her head sideways. "I was afraid, if I didn't go along with it, Josephine would've sent her cousins after my parents," she admitted.
She stared ahead into the endless white canvas for a few seconds, then added. "It was only after attending the picnic that I understood how far envy and spite could drive her. When I tried to leave, it was already too late, and fighting back would've gotten my family killed."
Author Note :
Hey guys, I might make another edit to this chapter later, but I just had to leave this here.
I know I've already mentioned a type of weapon in chapter 18, but an Arcane tool is not the same as an Artifact.
While both may be a weapon or item, they are differentiated by what caused their creation and the strength of the creator. Artifacts retain the Will of what being they were made from and tend to align towards malevolence as they can only be crafted moments before death. In comparison, an Arcane tool is much safer as it's devoid of a past Will and forms one through the user's subconscious desires.