Rushing over, Ira tossed the pouch of alcohol into the Dune Lord's throat—its contents covering the Aberrant abomination's insides almost entirely.
"Hold it there..!"
She had burst into a sprint back over towards the cloth soaked in alcohol. Ira grabbed the sword that she had stolen from the mutilated corpse of one of the soldiers.
She planned to set the cloth aflame by focusing the sun's heat and energy onto a single point using the reflection of the sword.
The world came to a slow as the adrenaline continued to pump through Ira's blood. Her palms struggled to hold the weight of the blade as they began to become soaked in sweat—yet she still pressed on; this was an all-or-nothing.
If she succeeded, they both would live, if she did not..
'Let me not focus on such a horrible outcome!'
The piece of fabric refused to light no matter what Ira did, making her grimace.
"Hurry the hell up, Ira!" Astheneia yelled out, her voice full of strain as she endured the blows from the Dune Lord's eight arms. Soon, she felt the beast's fangs pierce deeper into her stub, her mind growing foggy as the warm blood dripped down the abomination's tooth and into its maw.
The brunette felt her grip on the beast's maw loosen, before entirely disappearing.
Yanking her hand away to prevent it from being bitten off, she berated Ira.
'Come on... Come on... Hurry up!' Ira mouthed to herself, but no words had audibly left her mouth though. Rage and hope began to fill her heart; both desires were core emotions to Ira's personality. Could she succeed? Was it possible to set the cloth on fire?
Fate truly was against her, making everything seem hopeless—contrary to the feeling the scenario should have brought before Ira, the burning desire of hope continued to scorch her insides. A feeling no mere Dormant human should have been able to contain.
Desires were a dangerous thing if given to the wrong beings, one of them being the Purge Beasts.
Soon, the Abyss began to speak: "Spark... Spark... Hissing and cracking it did.. What did? Oh simple it was; it was the cloth burning brightly of course! Small and frail, inexperienced yet brimming with talent, you are... Achlys calls your name, oh Champion Of Hope; embrace it, use it, overcome it you must..! Will you succeed, oh child? 'Death to all, death to all' the Frenzied Flame demands! Oh Champion Of Hope, will you succeed in snuffing out the flame?"
Willing a hand into existence, it clutched the very fate of the silver-haired girl in its hand.
"Oh child.. I am dearly sorry, Fate wants you dead, Achlys wants to bring you solace; and I, the Abyss, want to see how your story plays out, oh child destined to die by Fate.. Succeed you must, or the heavens will fall, the last mortal realm will crumble into corruption, and the Seals will be released…"
Snapping out of it, Ira slapped her face.
"Stop daydreaming!" the young girl demanded of herself.
Glancing towards Astheneia who had already pinned the beast down yet again, she felt a rush of excitement fill her very being, "Yes.. Yes! Astheneia, hold it there!"
She broke into a sprint once more, her final act to kill the Dune Lord.
The cloth in her hand began to burn her, the signals in her brain demanding the release it at once, but she did not.
Thus, the cloth had managed to reach the Dune Lord, and set its insides ablaze.
The flame began to spread through the Dune Lord's body—fire spilling from its mouth and nostrils and onto the golden sand.
A monstrous scream escaped from its very being as it writhed in agony; it did the same as all beasts did in pain... it lashed out.
"We... We did it Astheneia, we did-!" Blood began to pour out of Ira's mouth, a large slash appearing on her chest and gut—her intestines spilling out and mixing with the golden sand of the hellish desert.
Desperately grabbing at them, Ira foolishly thought stuffing them back inside would heal her; falling to the ground, she began to choke on her own blood as it filled her lungs. The slash nearly split her in half, leaving only her spine intact.
"Ira!" Astheneia screamed out, tears already beginning to fall onto the golden sand.
Quickly, Astheneia clutched Ira in her arms, with Ira muttering to Astheneia.
"I-I.. I do not.. do not wa-wanna die.. A-Astheneia.."
Swiping a piece of hair off of Ira's face, Astheneia could not form the words to comfort Ira—only three words left her lips, "I'm sorry, Malia..."
Her vision grew dark, "Has Achlys... came for me..? I... I do not want to... to… die…"
The writhing beast finally began to grow still as the flames burned its heart away; Ira's sense of sight, smell, taste, and touch had already faded away—but she could still hear even if it had grown slightly muffled.
She could hear the crisp wind of the desert, the screams and whales of Astheneia as she already grieved the dying Ira, as if she was already dead; she could even hear the sound of the flames crackling inside the dead beast...
Dead?
Resonance resounded inside her head once again:
[You have completed the Trail bestowed upon you by The Oracle Of Fate. You have received two boons. Vision Of History, and the Lineage of Mystery..]
Ira had no senses to feel her surroundings—she saw nothing, felt nothing, smelt nothing, heard nothing, she tasted not even the sterile air of Fort Delta, that would change in the next moment—her mind was assaulted with images of a man confronting a vile god.
Soon, the Shadow of -Unknown- spoke its profanity into the world—the heavens fractured, the shadows deepened, life itself began to quake.
"You Stand Before One Who Was Forged In The Death Of A God, Child Of Beast."
The man quickly retorted, "Forged in the death of a God? Do you mean blood, Defiled Monarch Of -Unknown-?! I will shatter your soul, mutilate your flesh, grind your bones, crumble your mind, rot your body, and watch as the maggots feast on the flesh of a vile god... I am Dacaius, Born From Rot, and I will relish in your death!"
The very fabric of existence seemed to crumble under their gaze.
Being unable to withstand the sight of a God—a vile one although, Ira began to feel her soul crumble, her mind break, and her body starting to implode.
Clawing at her eyes, nothing could stop the images from flooding in; soon, they became almost incomprehensible, and thus, the images stopped.
A painful groan left her mind, her soul had been on the brink of shattering, after all.
She felt different, her soul was filled with something else now.
Summoning Resonance, she began to read the golden runes.
[Name: Ira
Title: Champion Of Hope.
Rank: Dormant.
Class: Beast.
Fragments: 0/2000.
Techniques: None.
Attributes: Doomed... Soul Resonance... Realm Weave... Mistborne... Divine Shard...]
"What the..! How have I gained so many attributes!? Could this be what the "Lineage Of Mystery" was?"
That was most definitely the cause.
She demanded to see what Soul Resonance was, and thus it appeared before her.
[Soul Resonance: increases Echo proficiency and overall physical strength.]
At first, it did not seem that astonishing to her, but after further thought she realized the true strength of it.
'My Echo ability does not scale with my rank, so as I ascend I will need a far greater amount to equal the higher classes; with this, however, I will require less mist than before.'
Its effects albeit pitiful in the short term, would be quite deadly in the long run.
[Realm Weave: increases the fluidity and efficiency of realm thread circulation, while also decreasing realm thread ability consumption.]
Realm Weave was also an incredible attribute, but it was very straightforward so nothing needed to be said.
[Mistborne: when surrounded by natural mist, you become incapable of being physically damaged.]
'W-what the!? How lucky am I!?'
Not many attributes offered high resistance to physical damage, and nearly none offered complete immunity. So, having such an overwhelmingly incredible attribute such as this one would aid her greatly—if she knew for sure she could manipulate natural mist.
The final and most eye-catching attribute revealed itself to her.
[Divine Shard: You are capable of absorbing fragments without needing to crush the awakening crystal; You are completely immune to mind attacks, as the Figure of Mystery watches from a distant time..]
Not needing to crush an Awakening crystal was useful, but what was the "Figure of Mystery"? As its name implied, it was a complete and utter mystery to her besides being the origin of her Lineage.
"Maybe if I had paid attention in school, I would know.."
Another thing caught her eye, it was the change in name of her Echo.
Previously it had been "Child of Nothingness," but now it seems she had become much more important to Nothingness, she was now their Heir.
Light suddenly flooded into her eyes, her stomach grumbling and her throat parched—dried blood stained her lips.
"... Delta?"