Chapter 34: The Redemption of Isolda
Isolda tore off her arms that burned in fire. Her face became more repulsive, showing yellow-bright teeth that gleamed like dirty, deformed pieces of gold."Damn rat!" she spat, her voice full of venomous fury.
Her body fell apart in pieces, convulsing as she tried to free herself from the runes carved into her flesh. No matter how much she tried, that was not going to change anything; Richard had already foreseen that desperate attempt and had left her a gift prepared."Explode…" he whispered as a command to trigger the fireworks.
At that very moment, each rune lit up like a miniature sun. The marks began to detonate one after another, blowing apart sections of Isolda's body, filling the place with the smell of burnt flesh. Her limbs were reduced to useless scraps, scattered across the floor.
With a quick leap, his legs propelled him toward the shattered body of the creature. Isolda lay stretched out on the cold floor, giving the impression that she was dead. Her body had stopped as if it were a machine that had run out of energy.
The regeneration she had been so proud of had also ceased, her body and even her organs seemed to perform no movement, as if she had suddenly perished. Richard, cautious, approached slowly. The veins in his arms bulged even more as he concentrated the blood to form new runes around his right fist.
The sound of a drum inside Isolda's chest had surprised Richard. He slowly opened her body and was shocked at what he found inside her organs. Everything was destroyed, as if it had been liquefied from within."Elías…"
It was the first name that came to Richard's mind when he saw the internal disaster that had ended the creature's life. Apparently, Elias had not died in vain, sacrificing himself as if he had awaited death."I don't want to die…" she said, extending a mutilated arm toward him.
Her face, now marked by fear and helplessness, watching as the last breaths of life slipped from her hand, was far from the monstrosity they had faced. Her core and every vital part that had granted her great vitality were a total mess. She would never rise again.
Richard restrained the compassion that wanted to surface and, without hesitation, began sealing each part of her body. If all this was like the outside, then there should be fragments of Isolda's core with which he could break the barrier and thus evolve to the next level of life.
He sank his hand into Isolda's torso. The sound was grotesque, a viscous squelch that filled the air with a sour, heavy stench. It was like stirring rotting entrails, each breath burning the throat. Elias had made a complete spectacle by liquefying everything inside.
However, it seemed Richard was mistaken. Perhaps because of Elias's feelings, Isolda's core was intact and safe within her heart, although it was isolated from the rest of her body, making it impossible for energy to circulate through it.
Isolda seemed to perceive Richard's thoughts. Regaining a moment of lucidity, she shed tears that slid down her cheeks, flowing over her pale skin."Brother…"
Her sobs broke the momentary silence of the room, putting Richard into an inner dilemma. He did not know what else to do with the core apart from its only use, which was to allow him to reach the next level of evolution of his body.
Richard looked at Isolda's face, who sobbed with her eyes fixed on her dead brother's body. He knew that if he absorbed the core, that would mean Elias's sister would die forever, and her soul would disintegrate, returning to absolute nothingness, with no chance of reuniting with her brother… if such a concept as an underworld even existed.
So, ignoring all rationality telling him to kill her and end it all, he reached out his hand without the slightest disgust at her condition and caressed her head in an attempt to soothe the girl's feelings."As your brother's last wish, I'll let you decide… do you want to end it all, or do you want to keep living, just as he would have wanted and for what he sacrificed his life?"
Richard was not good at comforting anyone, he knew it. But at least his words were clear enough. Isolda raised her gaze, with a mix of confusion and disdain.
She let out a bitter laugh, refusing to believe she still had another chance."Do I really deserve a second chance? I spent my life angry at my brother because he caused the death of my best friend. And now I did something worse… I ended his life. Whether I was aware or not, it was my hands that snatched away his last breath."
Richard observed her in silence, knowing it was best to let her vent so she could make the right decision. In the end, he still didn't understand anything about the phenomenon they were trapped in. Although, if he had to speculate, it might have to do with the doomsday phenomenon and how that strange tomb had started it all.
Could it be possible that some catalyst was capable of creating small-scale phenomena similar to the one that had plunged the world into chaos?
In the end, this was something new. There were too many questions and no one to answer them or provide the correct truth.
Richard turned his gaze toward Elias's body."Do you really want to die? If you let me give you some advice… at least live for your brother."
Isolda wanted to deny it, but her eyes shifted toward the corpse. For the first time, she hesitated. Her breathing grew shaky. An alternative existed, and the only thing she asked was to be left with a mark, something that tied her to this moment so she would never forget what she had done. She wanted to carry that weight, to suffer it to the end, just as her brother had."What is the way I could save myself…?" she murmured, using her last strength to lift her gaze.
Richard barely smiled, satisfied with her acceptance. He raised the daggers he held in his hand and pointed them at Isolda as if he were about to stab her heart."You will become the ego of my daggers."
* * * *
Richard pressed the core with his bloodstained fingers and tore it out of her flesh. The wet sound filled the room like a tear. For an instant, Isolda's body convulsed, releasing a moan of pain."I hope all this works…" implored Richard.
Isolda's body collapsed with a dull thud. Every trace of vitality she had possessed just minutes ago vanished with the extraction of the core, which still throbbed weakly, attached to the remains of her heart. Her eyes, once full of life, dimmed, losing their spark and becoming opaque and empty.
Richard placed the daggers on the blackened ground and, with a swift movement, opened a wound in his own palm. The blood fell forming irregular lines that slowly began to join into runic symbols. Isolda's core throbbed weakly in his hand, still bound by remnants of pectoral muscles he had not been able to remove for lack of time."If in the future there is a way to return you to a human body, I will… but now help me by being the essence of my weapons…"
When the first drop of blood touched the core, a sharp crackle spread through the room. A dark glow ran across the daggers as the runes lit up one by one. Richard pushed the core into the blades, and the moment the energy was absorbed, a muffled scream escaped from within Isolda's core."It hurts!"
Isolda's lament spread, her screams did not stop as the fusion advanced. In moments like this, Richard regretted not having brought Alan. If at least he had been present, all this would have been carried out in a less cruel way."Although I very much doubt he would have been able to withstand the sight of all this disaster," he murmured with a bitter sneer toward his adoptive father. Everything that had happened had been too much emotion for a single night, and he doubted that someone like Alan could have endured so much.
"Endure… at least one more time," he growled, clenching his teeth.
The surface of the daggers began to deform. Black cracks ran along the edge like roots embedding themselves into the metal. Unlike the dead material that had once formed those weapons, now there was a vitality that grew with every second."If this is my end… at least let it serve for something."
The metal responded to those words. A wave of heat ran across the floor, lifting dust and ashes. The daggers completely absorbed the core and, the next instant, released a dark vapor that revealed some traits that had once belonged to Isolda.
Richard fell to his knees, cold sweat running down his forehead. He opened his eyes with difficulty and lifted the daggers."I'm sleepy…"
That was the last time he heard Isolda's voice. The gem at the center of the blades, which simulated an eye, snapped shut. The girl had lost the strength necessary to spiritually manifest herself and speak to him from her new perspective.
Although, deep down, she deserved to rest."Rest, Isolda…" murmured Richard.