THE BLACK THORN CODEX
Episode 62 — The Void Puppets
Date: November 18, 2023 — Time: 6:21 PM
As the episode drew to a close, Leander and Clarisse realized something terrible but essential: Selerion knew no bounds. Each death brought a new challenge. Each possession became more powerful than the last. But amidst this chaos, there was a glimmer of hope: each successful attack allowed them to better understand the sorcerers' logic and prepare a strategy to turn the tide against them.
The storm of ice, fire, and electricity gradually subsided, giving way to an apocalyptic vision: dozens of mutilated corpses, still animated by the sorcerers' will, crawled, flew, or leaped toward Leander and Clarisse.
An oppressive silence fell... before a multiple voice, like a thousand mouths speaking from a single throat, echoed:
"You haven't understood anything. We don't seek to conquer. We seek to transform."
Suddenly, the bodies on the ground began to deform. Arms broke and grew back as bony blades, skulls burst open to reveal shadowy serpents, torsos split in two to form gaping maws. Each victim became a hybrid creature, a mix of human and unholy horror.
Clarisse screamed as she saw a woman, still alive, being possessed before her: her skin cracked, her eyes turned completely white, and black roots grew from her mouth and back. With a heart-rending scream, she attacked Clarisse with supernatural strength. Clarisse narrowly parried, but the pain in her heart left her vulnerable.
Leander, enraged, concentrated his lightning into his fist and struck the creature, exploding it into black ash. But this victory was bittersweet: two more victims emerged, their faces familiar, perhaps inhabitants of Selerion they had encountered, now transformed into weapons.
The ground suddenly vibrated. Gaping cracks opened, and giant hands made of intertwined corpses shot out, attempting to crush the two chosen ones. Leander conjured an electric barrier, but the pressure was so great that his knees buckled. Clarisse summoned a flaming runic circle beneath her feet, sending out a wave of burning ice to repel the abominations.
The sorcerers' response was immediate. Three hooded figures appeared in the air, floating above the charnel house. Their faces were hidden, but each bore a pulsing black mark on their foreheads. They raised their hands, and the victims still alive in the arena were brutally pierced by shadows, before immediately rising, possessed, screaming in a voice that was no longer their own.
"Each life condemns you more," hissed one of the sorcerers.
Léandre and Clarisse found themselves surrounded by an army. Dozens of monstrous possessed creatures leaped at them simultaneously. Léandre channeled his lightning into his energy sword and cut a destructive arc that cut down a dozen creatures. Clarisse, for her part, created a shower of blue flames that exploded upon contact with the bodies, sending charred flesh flying in all directions.
But amidst the carnage, a surprise chilled their blood: some of the destroyed bodies reformed instantly, as if the sorcerers were rewriting matter. Worse still, other victims, killed earlier, were rising again, but this time merged in groups. Three men coalesced into a single entity with six arms, four legs, and a gigantic mouth, advancing like an unstable but formidable titan.
Clarisse shouted, "Leander, they learn from our attacks! Every time we destroy, they reform!"
The central sorcerer raised his hand, and a black sphere began to pulse above him. Each beat sent a shockwave that destabilized the air, making breathing difficult. Leander and Clarisse understood that this sphere was the living artifact fueling the possession. But to reach it, they must first pass through the countless army.
Rage rose within them. They moved closer, placing their hands against each other. Their combined energy formed a burning vortex, a mixture of icy flames and lightning, swirling like a hurricane. They advanced, striking together, destroying everything in their path. But the sorcerers laughed in the shadows, for the more the Chosen Ones struck, the more Selerion's arena seemed to feed on their power.
The final image of the current battle: Leander and Clarisse, panting, surrounded by a hundred possessed hybrids, the sorcerers preparing an even more terrible incantation. The black sphere in the center of the sky cracked... revealing a glimpse of something about to be born.