Noah sat alone in the almost calming environment of the house, looking dead ahead. His form more disheveled than usual and his breath short, labored, and laced with coughs. His chest plate was caved in from the attack he had taken earlier, but luckily there were no open wounds. The real problem was with his arm.
Noah didn't know the extent to which his arm was destroyed, but judging by Effie's account it must be bad. Wanting to avoid the queasy feeling he knew he would get if he dared to even glance at his arm, he looked dead straight, hoping his curiosity wouldn't get the better of him.
The pain wasn't too bad, but unlucky for Noah, the adrenaline had started to wear off and the overwhelming pain started to settle back into his arm. His breathing became even more labored as he started to feel a sharp pain after every breath. Sweat started to appear on his face as the pain steadily got worse and worse.
Eventually the pain plateaued; now all that remained was just a constant sharp pain in his arm and a feeling of being stabbed whenever he took a deep breath.
Noah just sat there, seconds feeling like hours as he quietly endured the pain.
But the longer the pain stuck to his body, the clearer his mind became, slowly becoming accustomed to it. This was not to say he wasn't feeling the pain; he had just acclimated to the feeling of it.
He began to feel a warm liquid start to pool around him. Noah feared what it could be and felt around on the ground with his left hand until he felt the liquid, then pulled his arm up to his line of sight. On his hand was his reddish-purple blood.
Noah knew the mixture of his original blood and the (Umbral blood) attribute would cause this weird purplish blood, so he wasn't too surprised at the color. He was more worried about the amount of blood he was losing.
Noah's eyes began to feel heavy, and his body felt weak.
He sighed and let his neck go loose, causing his vision to head towards the ceiling. He then summoned a small black box made of jagged black stone. He set it to his side and wound up the box. The familiar melody of the box rang out as Noah fought to keep his eyes open.
He tried to look at anything around him, tried thinking of everything to keep his attention. Then his thoughts finally drifted back to something that should have been at the top of his mind: his arm.
His head slowly turned to his right, and he set his eyes upon his crippled arm. To say his arm was damaged was an understatement.
The arm was mangled beyond any reasonable metric.
The armor that had once protected him was melted and warped, now seared into his skin. The armor that wasn't metal was burned and left in tatters, revealing the skin below. His arm was broken in multiple places with the bones not poking out of his skin but visibly snapped; his skin, black and burnt, had pus oozing out of blisters left from the heat of the giant's fire. Surprisingly enough, the bleeding had slowed, being replaced with the aforementioned pus that had mixed with the blood that was already on the floor.
Noah gagged at the sight. His throat tightened with the rest of his body in an attempt to prevent the bile from shooting out of his mouth. Thankfully, Noah was able to keep the vomit down, but he had one more thing to check.
He swallowed and took a moment to gather himself. His gaze returned to his arm and swiftly went to his hand, trying to ignore his broken arm. His hand, too, was in disarray. His palm was also burned, and his thumb and middle finger were shattered, hanging limply on his hand.
He focused and, with all his might, tried to raise a finger.
"Come on, at least one."
Nothing, no movement, not even a twitch. Noah moved his other hand to confirm, touching his burned pointer finger. Noah's face dropped as he made contact, noticing that he did not feel anything on his destroyed hand. He then squeezed his finger just enough to feel the muscle underneath.
He then tried to induce a small twitch in his finger. Nothing. Noah's heart dropped.
He moved to his ring finger and tried again. Nothing.
Noah felt his heart sink deeper into his chest.
Finally, to his pinky finger… Nothing. An overwhelming feeling of dread washed over him. It felt as if his heart had sunk to his feet.
Noah let out a shaky breath and started to fidget slightly. His hands started to ball up into a fist. Then he slammed his hand down on the wooden floor of the house.
"FUCK… God fucking dammit."
He bit the inside of his cheek and tried to keep composure. He felt restless, like he had to get up and move, do something to let out his emotions, but his weakened body could not stand up. He was stuck there, left to stew in his pain.
"Guess Effie was right."
He raised his still working arm to rub his face, but then he saw a giant in the corner of his vision. He was instantly taken out of his abhorrent state of mind as his eyes darted to the object. Near the doorway was a crimson red sphere slowly entering the room.
The sphere seemed to be made of liquid held together by an invisible force. Its movements made the surface tension sway, clearly showing that it was a liquid, but at the same time, the orb was cracked as if it were made of glass.
The orb was a floating contradiction, looking both malleable but rigid at the same time. As soon as the orb entered the room, Noah had started the process of summoning his dagger.
It slowly drifted across the room, propelled by an unknown force, then stopped when it reached the corpse that lay on the other side of the room. Noah held his breath as the orb slowly lowered over the corpse.
As the sphere touched the corpse, his knife materialized in his still-working hand. Noah raised the knife and locked eyes on the orb. As the orb touched the dead body, it started to release a cloud of gas.
The gas was a slightly lighter shade of red than the orb and had what looked to be small chunks of something inside it.
These chunks weren't bugs, but something different. The particles that were within the gas weren't made of metal either; they were something organic. Their organic nature became apparent once an appalling stench hit Noah's nose.
A stench akin to a week-old rotting corpse punched him in the nose. Noah held in a gag as he watched the orb's gas come in contact with the corpse. As soon as the gas hit the corpse, the particles instantly locked onto the body.
Every particle, no matter how far, flew at incredible speed and latched itself onto the corpse. They slithered across the body looking for any injuries or holes to enter.
Once they had entered, the body began to move. It shook violently as a scream ripped out of the body's throat. Its skin became the same shade as the giant that had destroyed his arm. Then the orb lowered itself into the body's chest, slowly breaking through its rib cage with a sickening crack.
The distinct horns of the giant slowly started to grow on its head as the corpse began to grow in size.
As Noah watched all this unfold, his heart dropped back to his feet. He let his arm fall to his side, and he let go of his dagger. He blankly stared at the transformation happening before him.
Noah knew that there was nothing he could do. It took him poisoning that bastard and the whole effort of Effie's cohort to kill that thing.
And now look at him, what does he have in his arsenal now? No poison, no help, and almost completely immobilized. Noah resigned himself to his fate and watched on, hopeless of being able to escape. But as he watched in despair, something weird happened.
As the corpse grew, its proportions became distorted. Its torso became huge while the rest of the body lagged behind in the expansion. Then its head started to violently shake. It looked as if the giant were having a seizure. Then fire spewed from its mouth, not far enough to catch anything on fire, but enough to be noticeable.
Then its skin started to tear, unable to handle the level of expansion. The head and body were also tearing at the seams. Then, like an inflated football, it popped, splattering gore and viscera across the room.
Noah quickly summoned his helmet and placed it on his head. He then raised his hand to cover the slit in the helmet as blood painted the room. Removing his hand, he looked back at the exploded corpse to see that the still-cracked crimson orb was just floating where the chest of the body once was.
Noah sighed, feeling an overwhelming amount of relief wash over him, but it was right about then when he felt something touch his arm.
Looking down at his mangled arm, he saw one of the particles slithering up his arm. Then they came like rain. From every corner of the room, they all flew toward him. They all latched onto his arm and started to slither toward his open blisters.
Noah recoiled at the sight and froze for a second before picking up his knife. His hand shaking, he raised it high over his disabled arm and pointed the serrated side toward his shoulder.
Noah hesitated for a second, but then he saw the small pieces of flesh dive into his open blisters. He felt queasy and averted his gaze. Noah then closed his eyes and gathered his courage. His grip tightened on his knife as his hand began to shake even more.
The pain was unimaginable as he felt them slithering under his skin, burning everything in their path and causing smoke to bubble out of his arm.
Sweat started to appear on his face as one thought came to mind:
"Just fucking do it."
Noah closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and went for it.
His knife came down with pure desperation as it cut through his flesh. The pain in his arm was silenced once the cut made it about halfway down his arm. Then the knife stopped he hit something solid before he could make it through. He opened his eyes and looked to his side.
His knife hadn't gone all the way through. It had been stopped by his bone. He had missed the joint and was unable to cut fully through his arm. Noah reacted quickly and tried to use the serrated edge of his knife to saw through his bone, but by then it was too late.
His vision went blurry, and his left arm lost its strength. He felt the corrupted flesh spread throughout his body, causing his whole body to go limp. Noah knew this was it, and with one last gasp, he fell into unconsciousness.
Within the still ocean of Noah's soul sea, a large lamp sat unmoving. A small blue flame flickered, radiating light through the abyss that was his inner world. Within this flame lay Noah's soul core, bathing in the blue flames of his lamp.
A little ways away, Noah found himself standing by himself. He looked at his body. It was still damaged, but the pain he had felt with every breath was gone. He then looked at his destroyed arm. It was no longer mangled and bleeding, but it was now burnt to a crisp.
It now looked like a log that had been burnt, but it did not crack like a regular burnt log would.
Noah tried to move his burnt appendage but got no response. He then reached out and touched his destroyed arm, running his fingers down it. It felt rough and brittle, but when he pressed down on it, it did not break.
It actually reacted almost like skin. Sure, some small bits of the charred flesh fell off, but other than that, the arm was still firmly attached to his body. Like a paralyzed limb, it hung there without much purpose.
He then grabbed his wrist and moved his arm. A few chunks of charcoal fell off the joints of his arm, but other than that, there was no damage. He let go of the arm and watched it lifelessly drop to his side.
Noah's gaze then turned to his soul. A puzzled look came across his face as he scanned the dark horizon of his soul.
"Why am I here?"
He racked his brain for answers but couldn't find any reasonable explanation for this sudden transportation into his soul. The most reasonable explanation he could think of was that this is what you would see when you die.
But as he racked his brain for an explanation, his attention was stolen by something that didn't look right. For as long as he could remember, his soul realm had stayed the same, a blue fire that resided in an ornate-looking lamp, illuminating the vast empty abyss, with a blue tint to everything within vision.
But this time, there was a different color disturbing the empty aura of blue. Red, bright and violent, started to invade his soul.
At first, it was almost unnoticeable, a splash of red below the surface of his sea. But over time, the small splash of red became a puddle, then a blob. As the red got closer to the surface, Noah could see that it wasn't the water that was red, but an object.
Noah's eyes widened in horror as he recognized the shape. It was the crimson-red orb with the same distinct crack on its surface.
The still water of his soul sea was violently disturbed by the orb breaching through the surface. But as it rose from the water, Noah noticed that the orb was much larger in his soul than it was in the real world, about three times his height, standing at about 15 feet tall.
As the orb slowly rose from the sea, Noah summoned his weapons. His knife was still intact, and his fist wraps were slightly burnt but still functional, but his spear was a whole other story. As it materialized, he realized that most of the blade was missing. It had slightly repaired itself, but it was still basically unusable.
Noah looked at it, gave a deep sigh, and let it fade from existence. He then turned his attention back to the invader. As it loomed over his sea, the crack on the surface of the orb began to move.
It ran down the middle of the orb, eventually meeting itself on the other side. Then, like an egg, it cracked open, and the same mist that had been seen before spilled out. The chunks of rotten flesh that were in the gas then condensed into one mass.
Then everything stopped. Noah's entire inner world went silent, and then one noise could be heard.
Bu-BumpBu-BumpBu-Bump
The clump of flesh had started beating like a heart. This set off a chain reaction.
Once the heart started to beat, the shell of the orb melted and lathered the heart. The melted shell began to flow downward until it hit the floor. Then it twitched, springing to life and twisting in shape. Soon after, the distinct shape of a person could be seen.
Then, in an instant, the melted shell tightened to the general shape of the giant that had taken his arm. Then the features started to show the distinct four horns, long fangs coming out of its mouth, sharp claw-like fingernails, and the ugly face.
However, Noah didn't just let this happen. He quickly sprang into action, running at the melted visage of the giant. He lifted his knife and, in a vain attempt, stabbed it repeatedly in the leg.
The knife, being small, didn't do much damage, but Noah didn't have much of a choice. He stabbed and stabbed in a useless attempt to stop the inevitable.
He moved to the back of the foot, slashing away, digging through the almost-formed flesh. After seconds of digging, he found a tendon. He slashed the Achilles tendon, causing the giant to fall to one knee.
But by then, the monster had already formed in all its corrupted glory and swatted at Noah. Noah had to jump out of the way, leaving him prone on the ground. Quickly getting up, he tried to move in to attack the other leg, but with the unfiltered attention of the giant on him, he was unable to get any closer.
The giant, who still had one leg left, was able to slowly make his way toward Noah's soul core and fend off Noah's desperate attacks. As it inched closer and closer to his soul, Noah's attacks became more frantic.
Whenever he got a chance, he would throw his dagger toward the giant's face, scoring some hits, but nothing that could kill the beast. Once the giant was on its final stretch, Noah knew he had only one option.
He threw caution to the wind and ran directly at the monster. Noah had decided that no matter what hit him, no matter the pain, no matter the situation, he would keep moving forward, keep pushing, till either he or the monster was dead.
With a knife in hand, he dodged blow after blow till he made it. He was finally within range. He lashed out with everything he had, slashing at anything within reach, be it vital or not. If he couldn't kill it with one decisive attack or weaken it with a trick, then he would bleed it out, make it feel the pain that it had brought him.
With every slash, little spurts of fire jumped from the wounds, instantly cauterizing them.
But even with the minimal damage, every hit brought a sadistic glee to his heart, but deep down he knew that this fight was unsustainable. After minutes of fighting, Noah had lost himself, and the glee faded as he was cut across the chest, the nails of the giant cutting through his armor like butter. He was then struck by the giant, sending ripples of pain through his body.
He was sent flying through his soul sea, landing on his stomach. Noah tried desperately to get up, to do something about the monster attack. Eventually, he managed to get to his knees, but as his eyes found the monster, he saw the giant nowhere near him.
In the distance, Noah saw that the giant was feet away from his soul core. Its arm was reaching to grab it. Noah, with all the strength left in his body, heaved himself up, but as he tried to run, his body collapsed under its own weight.
All Noah could do was watch in despair as the giant's hand wrapped around his soul core. Within his chest, he felt a squeezing sensation as if his heart was being crushed. Noah grit his teeth and closed his eyes as the squeezing sensation got stronger.
Noah scrunched up into a ball, grasping at his chest as a scream tore from his throat. As the pressure reached a new feverish pitch, Noah could feel his soul giving way, but then it lessened. Noah opened his eyes to see something peculiar.
It looked as if his soul was fighting back. A large steel sword protruded from his core. Then the familiar tendril shot out of the fire, grasping onto the giant's arm.
The flames that always bathed his soul core grew in ferocity. The visage of a human grew from the flames of the soul core. Like living flames, they took a few steps and jumped on the giant's arm.
The giant swatted at the figure, but with a grace that Noah could never hope to replicate, it ran up the giant's arm all the same. Once it reached its head, the fight was over.
A familiar voice of the spell rang out: (You have slain the awakened tyrant Orino the ONI)
(You have received a memory)
The tendrils that were still connected to the ONI's arm slowly pulled the corpse into the lamp as the raging soul fire continued once more.
Noah stared in disbelief. A monster that Noah couldn't even fathom defeating on his own was slain in a few seconds by this wraith of soul fire.
Noah watched as the living fire slowly made its way to him. It stopped near Noah and turned to the side, gesturing towards the corpse.
"Donum novo ferrenti lucernam."
A puzzled look came across Noah's face.
"What?"
The spell whispered to him once more: (You have received an attribute)
"Oh… huh, what did you do?"
The wraith didn't seem to respond to his inquiries as it turned away and walked towards the soul lamp. Before it left, it said some parting words:
"Bella tua gloriam bestiae sub umbra ferant."
Then it dissolved and reunited with the empty and cold blue flames.
Noah lay there on the floor of his soul, repeating these lines to himself to never forget them. Curiosity burned within him as Noah once again pulled himself to his feet and hobbled his way toward the lamp. He sat, his back resting on the cage of the ornate lamp, and opened his runes. He scrolled down to attributes and found a new one:
(Corrupted Limb)
Noah opened the runes to the attribute and read it.
Description: (Corrupted Limb)
A limb, battered, broken, and burned, hung from a crusader. The essence of the beast that had mauled him lingers in it, infecting it with its vile corruption. The soul and lineage of the crusader hold it at bay, but the limb has been lost. From the limb emanates a putrid gas from which only pain is derived.
"Huh."
Noah looked down at his burnt arm and watched as a gray gas started to rise from it.
He then tried to move his arm again. Nothing.
"Yeah, I expected as much."
Noah's gaze drifted back to his runes. He then went back to his soul count:
Souls: 0
It seemed that the wraith had consumed all the souls he had. Noah sighed and looked into the inky black horizon of his sea. A feeling of melancholy washed over him as the adrenaline of the experience started to wear off, and he slowly drifted into unconsciousness.