Chapter XLVII: Demonic Trial
Boom!
A force of immense proportions caused the grey sand covering the Ashen Barrow to rise in a dust storm.
Effie had managed to dodge it in the nick of time only for her instincts to begin shouting at her. Trusting the gut feeling she had rigorously trained under her unconventional mentor, the female Sleeper ducked low and managed to avoid being decapitated by the wicked-looking scythe arm belonging to the creature attacking her.
Using the momentary distraction of the nightmare creature, she created some much-needed distance between herself and it.
When she looked over at the house-sized creature of pure malice before her, she muttered under her breath, "I'm gonna kill that asshole when I get my hands on him."
The demonic creature clacked its metallic pincers in agitation at not being able to kill its prey. The feral intelligence in its black eyes sent a shiver down her spine. She gulped, feeling as if she were swallowing a baseball-sized ball bearing.
"That is... if I survive this."
Meanwhile, the cause of the brunette's current woe was sitting high on top of a thick branch of a red-leaved tree; snacking on a succulent-looking round red fruit. A sinister-looking runic sword floated menacingly beside him.
"Man, this shit is the best thing I have tasted since coming to this world," said the youth as he chewed, an aura of freedom and confidence exuding from his armored body.
Swallowing down the last bit of the fruit, he heard the Nightmare Spell whisper in his ear:
[Your soul grows stronger.]
Soul Fragments: 3995/4000
An invigorating feeling swept through his body and he felt instantly more energetic.
"The effects are nice too," he said, a smile flashing on his face before being replaced by an annoyed look. "Though... I could do without you trying to worm into my head."
His armored fist smashed down on the branch he was sitting on. However, unlike normal wood, the branch didn't break or even splinter rather it got a deep dent like a hammered piece of metal. Frostmourne floated towards the tree and moved as if to cut at it with its malefic edge before the presence received the message.
Feeling the unpleasant sensation retreating, his cerulean eyes moved to look at the reenactment of the legend of David and Goliath happening below. The Mournblade returned to its previous position and floated right next to its master, three runes glowing with a cold, ethereal glow.
"Huh, she is doing much better than I thought she would," he said to himself, his chin resting on his palm. A carefree smile appeared on his features.
"I must be a really good teacher."
He watched his student avoid a blow that would've surely decapitated her with the same enthusiasm of someone watching paint dry.
He wasn't stupid enough to do his advancement while his student was fighting for her life against an abomination far above her weight class. He just needed to use the fruits to gain enough fragments to be at the brink of advancement before slaying the Carapace Demon.
A yawn escaped his lips and he grabbed another juicy fruit, "Only a few more minutes left."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Several hours before the debacle on top of the Ashen Barrow:
Effie woke up from her dreamless slumber only to be greeted with absolute darkness. It took her a few moments to remember that she was sleeping inside the dark dome thingy made thanks to one of her companion's memories.
Still half-asleep, she rose from her lying position to find Mal sitting by the campfire they had made the night prior looking like he didn't just pull an all-night guard shift.
'I don't know how he does it,' she thought off-handedly, said person was stirring a large pot of meaty stew with a ladle while several large pieces of meat were being roasted around the fire.
It took a moment for her nose to register the smell of the food and for her stomach to make a very audible growling noise.
Mal's uncovered face turned towards her, his gem-like eyes seeming to stare right into her soul.
Effie's eyes immediately were drawn to the long scar on the right side of his face, stretching from his eyebrow to his cheek. It was the only blemish she could find on his otherwise speckless, handsome face.
It may be due to her mind still stuck in the mire of sleep but she much preferred the wild, dangerous look that the scar gave off to the doll-like faces that most awakened men get stuck with.
Of course, she would rather pull out her teeth than admit any of these thoughts out loud.
It absolutely had a story behind it but Mal hadn't taken it upon himself and Effie didn't ask. In the time that they were together, she had learned a bit about her companion; yet, at the same time, she felt that she didn't know anything at all.
Puzzling out her companion's secrets was not something that meshed well with her talents. Moreover, Mal had respected her privacy and didn't pry too deeply into her life so she could only reciprocate and do the same.
He was already helping her more than any other person in her life ever did - excluding her parents. If he wanted her to know something, he would tell her - eventually.
It was all a matter of patience and you can't be bedridden for years without learning a bit of patience.
"Finally awake, eh?"
She noticed the corners of his lips lifting upwards into a small smile, something that had become a much more common sight as of late. As per his admission, he hadn't fully recovered his emotions but he had restored enough to be able to express basic emotions like happiness, sadness, annoyance, etc. Yet, he could not understand the more nuanced aspects of emotions which showed in his actions.
"At least wipe off the drool running down your chin."
Before she could say anything, a handkerchief appeared in his armored hand which he used to promptly clean up said drool from her face.
"There," he said, throwing the piece of cloth into the fire, "much better."
It took her a few moments to process what just had happened, the gears in her brain shaking off the cobwebs of sleep and beginning to work in earnest. When she finally got ahold of her mental faculties, an intense feeling of embarrassment came over her but she refused to show it in front of the white-haired youth.
Her ears were red? Well, that's because of the heat of the campfire. Yes, that's the reason. Any other reason is slander.
"Is something the matter?" he asked innocently. "Your face suddenly became red? You didn't contract some illness, did you? Wait, can people like us even become sick?"
Watching her partner enter into his own world again, the amber-eyed Sleeper let out a tense sigh, 'Don't lose your cool Effie. You've been through this countless times now. This idiot still isn't in his right mind so he doesn't understand what he does. You can have your revenge for these acts later.'
She cleared her thoat in an attempt to interrupt the discussion Mal was having with himself. She pointed at the stew pot, "Is breakfast ready?"
She didn't even blink as a wooden bowl suddenly appeared in Mal's hand into which he poured some of the stew he was stirring. The next moment, the bowl of steaming meat stew was right in front of her face. A wooden spoon appeared in his hand which he put into the bowl of stew.
"The meat still needs a bit more time on the fire but the stew's ready."
Taking a spoonful of the stew, Effie blew on it a few times before putting it into her mouth. She let out a satisfied hum before swallowing down the food.
Seeing the brunette so engrossed in eating her meal, the white-haired Sleeper cracked a small smile before eating his own share.
Much like sleep, he didn't really need to eat or drink. However, it was nice to feel normal while doing these menial tasks.
As per usual, the meal time went by in silence.
Soon enough the stew and the cooked meat were all gone with naught a scrap remaining thanks to the resident glutton.
With the cooking equipment cleaned and stored, Mal retracted the True Darkness forming the dome around them, allowing the grey skies of the Forgotten Shore to be seen.
Thankfully, the sun had just been rearing its head over the horizon; otherwise, he would have lost a good chunk of his darkness to the unforgiving rays of the artificial sun. He had learned the hard way that his darkness did not mesh well with the Forgotten Shore's sun.
Regardless, with the dark dome taken down and the sun rising to usher the beginning of a new day, the dark sea began its habitual retreat to whatever depths it used as a hiding place from the sun's piercing rays. This allowed the duo to see their surroundings which were previously engulfed in inky water.
Lofty coral walls emerged from the depths of the retreating Great Titan. However, in the distance among the forest of red coral was a structure that stuck out like a sore thumb. The skeletal remains of a giant leviathan that seemed too big even based on the standards of the Dark Sea. Its spine arched upwards towards the sky like a twisted tower. Its height is enough for the top part of the spine to protrude above the Dark Sea's level at night.
Effie took in the sight of the gargantuan dead abomination with a nervous gulp. On one hand, she wondered what manner of being could fell such a massive beast; while on the other, a small part of her mind wondered what its meat might have tasted like. It was neither the first dead remains that they had come across on their journey nor was it the first time these thoughts circled in her mind.
It had been on Mal's insistence that they didn't make their camp inside the collosal bony structure and instead opted for a suitably high rocky ledge further away.
Speaking of the devil, the white-haired Sleeper was staring at the structure with an unreadable expression on his face. Not due to fear since he had spent a long time watching different harrowing leviathans try and breach the protective dome surrounding Leonia in the past - or was it the future?
After a few minutes, the sun had properly risen over the horizon and the Dark Sea had fully retreated.
"Let's go," the youth said, the black helmet of the [Black Knight Plate Armor] manifesting over his head.
Then, without a warning, he lept off the ledge they were standing on leaving the brunette all alone on the platform.
"Damned crazy bastard," she cursed under her breath. This had become such a normal occurrence now that she didn't even bat an eye.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hours had passed since the two Sleepers ventured into the depths of the coral labyrinth; however, much to the male's chagrin, they seemed to have been cursed with a recent dry spell since they haven't had found much if any nightmare creatures for the last couple of days despite his best efforts to deliberately search for them.
A series of floating runes appeared before his vision.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Iceborne Cores: [4/7]
Soul Fragments: [3994/4000]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Just when I am about to get my fifth core, too,' thought the youth, his lips arched downwards in a grimace as he stared at the runes that seemed to taunt him.
He had even considered whether he should try diving into the Dark Sea at night in an attempt to slay some abomination. Unfortunately, he quickly dismissed that notion for several reasons.
Firstly, he would be leaving Effie alone while he is in the water. The brunette warrior was a competent fighter after hundreds of hours of grueling training; yet, it was too soon for her to face whatever creature that might come out from the Dark Sea. Secondly, he would be fighting whatever abominations lay hidden inside the Dark Sea in their natural habitat. True, he didn't really need to breathe; yet, he lacked the abilities or memories required to give him an edge underwater. Thirdly, after his stay in Leonia, one thing became very clear for him regarding himself: He could potentially strike above his weight class since unlike him, his enemies were not immortal. Death wasn't the end for someone like him no matter what way he died, he would return. However, it only took one lucky strike for him to kill his opponent.
He could potentially kill anything as long as he set his mind to it. The only question was... How much was he willing to sacrifice for that victory? What else was he willing to put on the line?
Suddenly, the feeling of his shoulder getting shaken broke him out of his depressing thoughts.
Turning his head, he saw Effie looking at him with a worried expression on her youthful, healthy features, "I've been calling you for a while and you haven't been answering. Are you okay, big guy?"
"Sorry, I've been... thinking," he said the last part coming out with a much softer intonation, "it's nothing that you should worry yourself over."
His answer seemed to intensify the worry on the hazel-eyed girl's features slightly which she showed by unconsciously increasing the strength of her grip over his armored shoulder.
"Y-You know," she said, uncertainty evident in her tone and body language, "I can listen to what bothers you. W-we are partners, no?"
The white-haired youth found it both amusing and endearing that the sickly girl he had picked up by chance was getting worried over him. It was a nice feeling, he discovered, having someone care enough about you to worry after so long.
His lips curled into an amused smile hidden perfectly by the black helmet of his armor, "Worrying over little ol' me, huh? How cute."
His hand, now devoid of the armored gauntlet, as if driven by instinct went and ruffled her soft brown hair causing the owner to steadily turn red until she was no different from a tomato.
"Stop treating me like a kid!" she snapped, removing the hand ruffling her hair, which caused her to feel an inexplicable sense of loss.
An involuntary chuckle escaped the youth at the girl's flustered appearance. "Maybe when you finally manage to land a hit on me, will I stop treating you this way. Now, come, we've wasted too much time talking."
Effie followed after her martial arts teacher while grumbling unintelligibly under her breath.
It was not long before the two encountered a sudden change from the constant red walls of the coral labyrinth: sand - or more precisely, white sand that stretched as far as the two could see.
"Uhh... am I seeing things or did that damned labyrinth suddenly turn into a sea of sand," uttered the flabbergasted Amazonian rubbing her eyes as if trying to clear up a mirage. Then, her voice took adopted a disbelieving tone, "and... is that a damned tree over that mountain?'
'So we have finally reached IT huh...'
Mal's [Soul Sight] allowed him to see the tree that Effie had seen for what it really was: a container filled with thousands of souls used by it as a sustenance for growth - something clearly visible through the six corrupted cores floating idly in the center of the torrent of souls.
He also registered the presence of another group consisting of three rotten orbs near to the tree. As soon as he focused, familiar runes appeared before his eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Soul Devouring Tree]
Rank: Awakened
Class: Terror
[Carapace Demon]
Rank: Awakened
Class: Demon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mal casually disregarded the Carapace Demon, a mere awakened demon was not something that his mind even registered as a threat at this point. Instead, his thoughts were fully focused on the Soul Devouring Tree.
'A terror huh?' thought the Lich King, realization finally dawning on him on why the area around it was the way it was. As a terror, the cursed tree was extended its influence over the area around it; however, there is a much stronger terror holding dominion over these lands from its crimson tower.
Yet, he had to give credit to the retched abomination. It was fighting back against the encroaching powers of the ruler of the Crimson Spire despite the clear gap in rank.
He looked down briefly to see Frostmourne glowing menacingly, three of its seven runes already reactivated and giving off an eerie glow. As its master, Mal could somehow understand the intentions of the strangely sentient cursed blade. To it, the Soul Devouring Tree and the souls trapped inside of its were nothing but an all you could eat buffet for the gluttonous Mourneblade - especially after their most recent cold streak in hunting nightmare creatures.
'So you want me to feed that thing to you huh?'
Frostmourne vibrated slightly as if it was affirming his thoughts.
Despite Mal's constant reliance on the Mournblade as his weapon of choice, he knew just how fickle the balance between them were. If he ever stopped providing the cursed sword with souls to eat; then, it would take his as collateral.
A weary sigh escaped the youth's lips as his grip tightened on his aspect legacy, 'I swear this thing is going to be the death of me.'
It was not that he was afraid of the giant tree or its mind fucked guardian crab. On the contrary, he knew that he could finish off both abominations with relative ease.
It was just that the Soul Devouring Tree was a critical plot point for the Forgotten Shore arc where Sunny got Weaver's lineage along with the Midnight Shard, one of seven keys required to seal the Dark Sea.
Thus, him going out of his way to eliminate the whole scenario would surely affect the original plot greatly.
However, as if by the mockery of fate, the Soul Devouring Tree held within itself what he needed. It was no wonder that Frostmourne was so adamant in slaying the Soul-devouring tree; the thousands of souls trapped inside the insidious plant were enough to unlock the cursed blade's fourth rune - Spell if they were lucky, it would even unlock the fifth too.
Moreover, the Tree was Mal's way to get his hands on soul fragments to create more soul cores for himself.
The damned tree was having the Carapace Demon guarding it for a reason. Just like his Mournblade, other nightmare creatures also salivated at the chance of devouring the red-leaved tree and consuming all the souls in it.
So, if he managed to camp at the base of the tree, Nightmare creatures would be coming to him instead of him running around chasing them like a headless chicken.
In addition, if he remembered correctly, the fruit of the Soul Devouring Tree could substitute for Shadow Fragments in Sunny's case. He wondered whether it would have the same effect for him.
"Sooooo...," Effie's voice broke through his thoughts. He turned towards her and saw her staring at him intently, "what is the plan, big guy?"
Looking at his protege and then at the Soul Devouring Tree in the distance, his mind churned for a few moments balancing the Pros and Cons of the choices he had at hand.
Then, with a wry smile on his lips, he decided to favor his own growth and development over the narrative of the original story.
'Sorry Sunny, I will make sure to leave the Thieving Bird's egg untouched for you. Trust me, I am doing you a favor right now.'
Looking at the brunette before him, he placed a hand on her shoulder before speaking, "I think it is time for you to graduate the basics."
"Graduate? The hell are you saying?" The young woman seemed extremely confused about what was going on in her mentor's weird head.
"Don't worry, it will just be a little trial to test if you have a firm grasp on the basics or not. It won't be anything too hard..."
"If you say so..." She said, her hazel eyes narrowing at the nonchalant attitude of the man before her. She knew him well enough by now to know that his common sense wasn't the same one shared by the normal part of humanity.
It would be a few hours later that her suspicions would be proven correct.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back to the present:
'I was an idiot to expect any common sense out of him.'
Effie eyed the monstrous creature standing before her.
The shape of the creature was not foreign to her; after all, she had slain and eaten much of its weaker kin before. Yet this one was a different specimen in its entirety.
Standing taller than a damned house, with eight segmented legs supporting it like sturdy pillars. Like most creatures of its species, its body was comprised of a crab-like carapace that made up its lower body with a vaguely humanoid torso protruding from it.
Instead of the chitin that the scavengers and centurions used as armor, this abomination had a shell that greatly resembled polished metal - particularly the way it reflected the stray rays of the sun that passed through the tree's branches. To add more to its sinister appearance, the metallic shell of the monster was covered in sharp, jagged spikes that looked like they could pierce her body like it was made of wet tissues.
From its torso, four mightly armored arms extended. One pair ended in pincers she had seen on most scavengers while the other pair ended in razor-sharp scythes belonging to its centurion kin.
On the top of its torso lay its head, one that was more prominent than the rest of its species with several horns decorating its top. The metallic face was human-like yet at the same time simultaneously alien and bestial - looking at her with intelligence that made her skin crawl.
(Image - Fan art by Santimm on SS wiki)
In Effie's opinion, the creature greatly resembled the knights from the old fairy tales her mother used to tell her when she was a child - if the nights were creatures sent from hell - that is.
According to what that bastard of a mentor told her, the creature before her was known as the Carapace Demon, a name that resonated with its strength: Awakened Demon.
A creature she had no business fighting with her meager strength as a Sleeper - at least, that was what was supposed to be the case. Unfortunately, her reality rarely seemed to conform to the norms of common sense these days.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few minutes ago:
"Just survive against the Carapace Demon for ten minutes and I'll count it as you passing the Graduation Trial," he said, as if he wasn't just sending her to her doom.
They were hiding against a large rock at the base of the ashen mound that housed the Soul Devouring Tree. They had managed to sneak up there undetected by its guardian thanks to the tree's large shadow obscuring the sun enough that Mal was able to use his darkness to hide them without it burning away under the unforgiving rays of the Forgotten Shore's sun.
"Nope! No! Nu-uh! No way in hell am I doing this!" she refuted, whispering so as not to attract the attention of the house-like nightmare creature.
"Why not?" he asked, sounding genuinely confused.
"Mal," she said, trying as best as she could to keep a level head, "do you even see the size of that thing. Not mentioning ten minutes, it would take only a few seconds for it to kill me."
The youth before her tilted his head slightly, "It's just an Awakened Demon. Plus, it is already too late for us to backtrack our way since the sun is going to set soon."
"Just an Awakened Demon? Do you even hear yourself!? Plus, it was you who said that we should check out this place!"
He sighed, "Look, I know that it looks like an impossible challenge but I know that you are up for it. You are stronger than you give yourself credit for. Just trust in yourself and use all that I taught you and you'll be fine."
Effie was lost for words. She didn't remember the last time someone had such trust in her before.
She had always been the sickly child who wasn't even expected to live to reach eighteen. Yet, a man she had only known for two months had such unshakeable confidence in her abilities.
"Don't worry, with me around, nothing would ever come close to taking your life. After all, I would be a shitty teacher to let any run-of-the-mill nightmare creature kill my cute student," his helmet now was gone, allowing her to see the small smile on his lips.
She could lie, his words made her heart skip a beat.
"A-Anyways," she said hastily, trying to hide her reddened cheeks, "assuming I do this... what do I serve to gain from this?"
The cerulean-eyed Sleeper looked to be in deep thought for a few moments before he suddenly snapped his fingers.
"How about I promise to show you something cool if you manage to pass the trial?"
Effie felt like a bucket of cold water drowned whatever emotions stirring in her heart.
"What kind of reward is that?" the brunette asked incredulously. "Do I look like a little kid-"
Before she could finish, she saw him summoning something into his hand.
It was... a shell?
She saw him bring his arm back, "H-Hey, Mal, what are you doing with that thing?"
An unsettling feeling settled in her chest as her companion aimed at the behemoth defending the tree.
"What else?" he looked unperturbed by her fearful expression. "Trying to get his attention."
"Wait I didn't agree-"
"Too late!" before she could finish, the shell was already hurtling through the air at a slightly slower speed than a bullet before crashing against the body of the Carapace Demon whose back had been facing their direction.
Fear gripped her heart as she saw the house-sized nightmare creature slowly turning to face them. No, it was only facing her, Mal was no longer in the place he was a few seconds ago, as if he had vanished.
It was then that the reality of her situation came crashing down on the poor girl.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been less than a minute since she had been locked onto by the Awakened Demon's gaze, and since then she was only barely able to avoid dying by a hair's breadth.
Her breathing was ragged, her muscles tense, and her eyes felt dry and itchy from her not daring to blink lest it brought her untimely death.
For a moment, she felt the exact same feeling that she felt when cornered by that Carapace Scavenger two months ago. A wry smile came unbidden to her lips at the thought.
'Come on Effie,' she told herself, trying her best to psych herself out of the fear holding her heart in its cold grip, "it's just a bigger scavenger. You can do this.'
However, the maddened red glint of the Carapace Demon's eyes made her feel like she was staring at death in the face.
'I can do this... can't I?' she questioned herself, her resolve wavering by the second.
Well, whether she had the chops to face the creature or not, she didn't have the leisure to ponder that at the moment since the Carapace Demon was charging at her with its wicked scythes ready to cut her in two.
Effie didn't budge from her place; instead, she lowered her posture and tensed her muscles in anticipation.
She knew for a fact that the abomination before her was much faster than her so she wouldn't be able to outmaneuver it even if she wanted.
Thus, she had to use a different strategy. She would make deliberate openings in her posture to bait the nightmare creature into attacking her in a manner that she could actually predict.
A strategy that wouldn't have worked against the intelligent Awakened Demon if it was any other time. However, the nightmare creature was already seeing red after discovering that a creature had dared to come into its domain.
Seconds stretched into minutes as she observed the abomination rushing at her like a raging bull ready to gore her with its horns.
Then, like the blades of a guillotine, the scythes came down upon her figure from both sides preventing her from escaping.
However, just when the sharp edges were about to cut into her skin, they were met with nothing but empty air as the female Sleeper jumped using all the strength she had in her legs and landed on the surface of the giant scythes that were about to kill her a few moments ago.
A moment of silence ensued between the nightmare creature and the human, each unsure of what just happened.
Thankfully, the brunette was not someone to repeat a mistake twice, so she shook off the momentary shock before starting to rush up the arm of the house-sized abomination, wincing slightly as the jagged spikes of its armor threatened to penetrate the leather of her armor. Her goal was to reach near the monster's face and try attacking the least armored part of its body: the eyes.
She had never expected to make use of the weird acrobatic training that Mal forced her to do.
She thought he was joking when he said that she would have to learn to scale the bodies of the bigger nightmare creatures to reach their weak spots.
Although this was a valid strategy for her at the moment, there were only two caveats that rendered it unlikely to succeed.
Firstly, the nightmare creature she was facing was not a mere beast or monster class abomination but a Demon with countless battle experiences under his metaphorical belt.
Secondly, even though she had been trained in scaling various types of terrain, it didn't mean that she was proficient at it yet.
The Carapace Demon shook off the momentary daze he was in just as the spear-wielding girl was halfway up his left scythe arm.
Feral intelligence flashed through its eyes and with its abominable strength, it tried smacking off the little pest with a swipe of its golf-car-sized pincers.
Luckily, Effie was able to avoid the retaliation by unsummoning her shield and hanging off the arm she was on by tightly gripping one of the spikes covering it.
Incidentally, from her position, she noticed the tiniest gap in the metallic armor where the arm connected to the torso.
Ever the opportunist, in less than a moment, she tightened her grip on her [Azure Spear], and using every muscle fiber available for her, she thrust the sharpened head of her weapon into the soft flesh hidden beneath the layer of thick armor.
Unlike its other brethren that bled black blood, the Carapace Demon's blood was the same color as her spear so much so that she thought that her weapon was melting in her hands when she saw droplets streams of azure fluid running down its shaft.
A grunt or what she thought of as a grunt escaped from the Awakened Demon after receiving its injury. An indication of it having suffered far worse injuries in the past.
Not wanting to linger near the deadly creature anymore, she loosened her grip on the spike she was holding on and fell to the ashen ground but not before twisting the head of the spear inside the open wound.
"If you manage to wound a creature, be sure to twist your spearhead in the wound to further damage the insides," one of Mal's teachings randomly popped up in her head as she landed near the Carapace Demon's front legs.
She momentarily considered going under the nightmare creature's body and trying to wound one of its leg joints to unbalance it.
Unfortunately, that idea had to be scrapped since her instincts told her that the sapient monstrosity might be gunning for her to do just that so that he could easily squash her under its weight.
With a huff, she resummoned her shield and ran to the opposite end of the nightmare creature, in an attempt to create some space between them.
Effie never let her eyes lose focus of the foe before her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Never let your enemy out of your sight for even a moment," Mal said before seemingly vanishing in a burst of speed before reappearing behind her. A shiver ran down her spine as he whispered in her ear, "Unless you want to get stabbed in the back..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Having gained enough distance, Effie watched the Awakened Demon turn its large body to face her directly. She noticed that the left scythe arm was not moving as well as the other three.
She must have lucked out and hit something critical with that opportunistic strike of hers. A ghost of a smile stretched her lips, proud of herself for damaging such a formidable entity.
The human and the nightmare creature studied each other for what seemed to be an eternity before finally one of them moved.
The Carapace Demon rushed towards Effie, its pillar-like segmented legs causing minor tremors every time they dug into the ashy ground.
Unlike the last time it rushed at her, the Carapace Demon had all of its four limbs primed to rain pain and woe onto her this time.
The brunette momentarily considered simply hoofing it and having the demon chase her until the time limit her mentor imposed was up. Unfortunately, she lacked the speed to outrun an Awakened Demon.
Thus, she hunkered down with her shield propped up before her and her muscles tensed. Her hazel eyes scrutinized the approaching catastrophe, searching for any tells of what the intelligent monster was going to do next.
Her answer came in the form of a slight twitch coming from the undamaged scythe arm. Then, the sound of air being cut was heard as the razor-sharp edge of the instrument of death came bearing down on the young Sleeper.
With impressive flexibility, Effie managed to avoid being cut in two just for her to be forced to jump back as a pincer slammed down at the place she was in with enough force to make the Soul Devouring Tree and the whole mound shake from the aftershock of the attack.
Suddenly, Effie's instincts blared in warning. She just managed to raise her shield before she smashed into the black trunk of the giant tree.
A large indent could be seen on her shield which tried and failed to protect its owner against the tyrannical power of the surprise attack.
Effie slumped down onto the ashen ground like a marionette whose strings had been cut. The bones in her shield-bearing arm were shattered, given how it lay floppily beside her. Moreover, she could feel intense pain coming from her back. Her head felt like someone had repeatedly beaten it with a sledgehammer.
'Probably fractured a few vertebrae,' she thought morosely. Her breath was ragged and she barely held back from screaming from the pain her body was going through by clenching her teeth. She felt something wet run down her face. Her spear hand felt empty as the sheer force of the strike weakened her grip and caused her weapon memory to fly off to gods know where.
With bleary vision from the blood seeping into her eyes, she saw the abomination lowering one of its front legs which it had used to strike at her blind spot.
One attack... It only took one strike to leave her in a semi-broken state. It was only thanks to the endurance boost provided by her armor memory that her spine was not simply bone dust by now.
She felt the ground tremble beneath her as the Carapace Demon marched towards her on its leisure as if enjoying the sight of her broken body.
Remembering her companion's words from before, she looked to where he was sitting a few moments ago.
"Hey, Mal!" she yelled, her vision still not sharpening. "A hand will be appreciated right about now!"
The Carapace Demon stopped its movement, alarmed. Was there another intruder? It thought in its twisted mind before looking at the direction her prey was shouting at. Only for his feral insticts to scream at him to move his head.
The nightmare creature narrowly missed the projectile that was aiming to piece one of its eyes by a hair's breadth. No, he still got clipped at the side of his face where he felt his blood flowing down from a newly formed gash.
Silence ensued as both the human and the nightmare creature were left stumped at the sudden development.
"Tch."
The sound of someone clicking his tongue from the top of one of the branches broke through the silence.
"I need to better my aim," the voice said, with the same gravity as someone missing a shot in a carnival game, "I was going for the eye."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mal's POV:
Mal jumped down from where he was standing and landed gracefully where Effie's half-broken body lay against the trunk of the Soul Devouring Tree.
He let out a low whistle when he got a closer look at his female companion, "Damn, he really did a number on you, didn't he? But hey, look on the bright side, you managed to stand off against it for twelve minutes and forty-seven seconds. I will give you extra points for going over time."
Effie closed her eyes and clenched her teeth as anger bubbled in her heart; yet, she didn't have the energy to mouth off at him particularly when there was an Awakened Demon just a few meters away from them.
"Now," the white-haired youth turned his head to look at the Carapace Demon who had been stuck in its place thanks to his [Mantle of Death] ability. He had managed to find a way to have it affect the targets he wanted during his stay in Leonia. He also discovered a very neat detail about the ability, if he focused it only on one target, then its effect would be amplified.
It normally wouldn't have been able to affect an Awakened Demon to that degree due to the power gap; however, the Carapace Demon's mind was already compromised long ago by the Soul Devouring Tree so it was easy for Mal to keep the nightmare creature under the effect of his ability. However, with Effie ending up the way she was, he wanted to exact some revenge on the perpetrator.
Despite the joking manner he adopted earlier, inside he was seething. Over the two months, he had inadvertently become fond of the energetic brunette, and seeing her hurt made him feel an unfamiliar but painful sensation.
With a thought, the [Mantle of Death] was deactivated and the Awakened Demon's pincers twitched as it woke up from whatever visions it had seen. The abomination flinched involuntarily and took a tentative step back when he saw the young man's cerulean eyes laser-focused on it.
"I ought to exact some revenge for how you treated my cute pupil," he raised his hand and ordered, "Frostmourne, return!"
A black blur shot out from behind the Carapace Demon and placed itself into its master's awaiting hand. Then, a rune on it glowed and its form changed from its [Black Spear] form to its original one.
The temperature around the mound decreased by several degrees when the cursed sword made its sinister appearance.
Mal eased into a stance a wide-legged, semi-slouched stance where Frostmourne, gripped with his right hand, rested on his shoulder while his other arm lay slack next to him. A stance that mirrored more the appearance of a rabid animal than a refined warrior.
(Image)
A black helmet materialized itself and encased his head within it, only showing two cerulean orbs through the darkness of the eye slits.
No one moved as the armored Sleeper and Awakened Demon stared down at each other.
The wind blew against the red leaves of the giant tree behind them and a single leaf was dislodged from its branch. Ignorant to the tension brewing in the air, the solitary leaves weaved and danced on the wind before falling to the ground.
In the blink of an eye, Mal blurred from where he was standing and reappeared right before the Carapace Demon with his sword already raised to strike down at the creature's armor. Alas, the abomination was able to barely block the slash by blocking it with one of its arm scythes which buckled slightly under the weight of the attack since it was also the one that was injured by Effie prior.
Mal's left arm rose up and the third rune on Frostmourne's blade glowed ominously.
The Carapace Demon's instincts shouted at him to move from his position. The nightmare creature hurriedly disengaged from its human foe and set into a panicked retreat. Not a moment later, a large pointed pillar of ice rose up from the ash-colored sandy ground, a feat that spat in the face of all laws of physics.
"You have some good instincts on you," said the white-haired youth in a relaxed manner, unbothered by the fact that his attack didn't land, "no wonder you had survived long enough to become a Demon. Unfortunately... this is just the warmup."
Mal blurred again but this time instead of appearing in front of the nightmare creature, he was circling around it like a wolf would its prey causing the Carapace Demon to constantly turn to face where he thought his foe would attack him.
SHLICK! THUD!
The sound of flesh being ripped and a heavy item falling resounded in the nightmare creature's ear as he suddenly buckled towards his left side where one of its hind legs had been severed. The limb in question was lying on the ground with ice slowly creeping along it to freeze it entirely. A similar - albeit extremely slower - process was happening to the stump where the segmented limb had been once connected.
As a veteran of many gruesome battles, the Carapace Demon quickly changed its weight to focus more on its right side while it used its left scythe as an impromptu support to keep itself from destabilizing.
Alas, being forced to use one of its arms as a support had immensely impeded its mobility, a fact that the young Lich King exploited to the fullest.
Slowly, over the course of several minutes, with every few seconds that passed, a new wound or injury would appear on the previously impervious armor of the Carapace Demon. It lost several other legs and one of its pincer arms was also severed and fallen to the ground.
To any outside observer, what transpired in those few minutes could not be, in good faith, considered a battle between a weak human and a fearsome nightmare creature thrice his size. Instead, it looked more akin to a predator playing with its food before ending its miserable little existence.
By the end of the 'battle', the formidable Carapace Demon that ruled over the Ashen Barrow with an iron pincer was nowhere to be seen. In his place was a nightmare creature painted azure from the constant blood that spurted from the numerous wounds and gashes that covered its armored body. Its house-sized body had long fallen under its own weight as the three segmented legs it had left could no longer support it. Of its four arms, only one pincer arm had remained relatively intact along with a scythe arm that was hanging by a mere strip of meat from his body.
The feral intelligence in its red eyes was nowhere to be seen; in its place, was a hollow, soulless look as it stared at the giant tree with the red leaves - as if silently pleading for salvation.
Alas, the Soul Devouring Tree didn't lift a branch to aid its broken and defeated champion.
With slow, confident steps, Mal approached the Carapace Demon with Frostmourne firmly held in his grip.
His helmet was no longer on, and a look that resembled disappointment marred his features.
"You know, I thought that you would have been stronger," he muttered more to himself than the creature before him, "but I guess having to fight Fallen creatures on a daily basis does change one's perception of strength in a way. I wouldn't say that you fought well since you honestly were just able to bully a dormant human, I just hope that you would prove a more useful undead than a nightmare creature."
With a disheartened sigh, he plunged Frostmourne straight into the Carapace Demon's skull with nary a resistance from the said creature - as if it no longer held any more will to live after the embarrassment it had gone through.
A heartbeat, then another passed before the voice of the nightmare spell resounded in his ear.
[You have slain an Awakened Demon, Carapace Demon.]
[You have gained a memory, Midnight Shard.]
[Your soul grows stronger.]
Suddenly, a very familiar and dreadful feeling washed over his entire being as words that he both anticipated and dreaded echoed in his ear.
[Your soul is overflowing with power.]
Hurriedly, he moved near where Effie was and summoned five Darkspawn Knight Echoes around them.
He didn't let Effie speak a word before he barked an order through clenched teeth, "Secure the perimeter and kill any that comes near."
The soulless echoes followed their master's commands and stood in a circle around the two Sleepers.
"Mal, what-"
"Please," he pleaded, "keep your questions... until this passes."
Then he doubled over and gripped his chest fiercely as the spell continued with its announcement.
[Your soul fragments are coalescing.]
Boom! Boom!
Both of his hearts beat with enough force to be mistaken for the sound of a canon being shot. Even though it was the fifth time undergoing this damned process, it didn't get any easier for him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Effie's POV:
Effie watched in wide-eyed horror as the same person that just a few seconds ago played around with an Awakened Demon was writhing on the ground next to her as if his entire being was being crushed.
His armor memory had been desummoned - unwillingly, she hypothesized - shortly after he had doubled over so she could see how his entire musculature was spasming uncontrollably. She wasn't the best one to ask about biology but even she knew that it was highly abnormal for them to do that.
She observed his face, which had a heavy grimace over it. His eyes were closed tightly and his teeth were clenched so hard that she feared that they would shatter at any moment. Sometimes they would open briefly to let out a silent cry before clenching back up again.
Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do in this particular situation but watch helplessly and hope that whatever was happening would pass without any problems.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mal's POV:
He didn't know how long he remained a pitiful writhing mass on the floor. Whenever he underwent these advancements, time always seemed to become a null concept as it stretched far beyond its natural premises.
Thankfully, after an unknown amount of time, the voice of the spell resounded in his ear - washing away the entire soul-wrenching agony like a panacea.
[Your Iceborne Core is complete.]
With a long sigh, he flipped onto his back and summoned his runes to see what new ability did he get.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: ?
True Name: Malevolent Star
Rank: Sleeper
Class: Tyrant
Iceborne Cores: [5/7]
Soul Fragments: [8/5000]
Attributes: [Fateless], [Eidetic Kinesthesia], [Adaptive], [Living Undead], [Monarch Beyond the Grave], [Mental Fortitude (D+)], [Muscle Evolution (B-)], [Essence Assimilation], [Enhanced Reflexes (C+)], [Royalty], [Abyssal Scion]
Undead Monarch Abilities(Not Aspect Abilities) : [Mantle of Death], [Undead Resilience], [Soul Sight], [Frozen Heart], [Army of One]
[Army of One] description: You are the embodiment of your undead army - its living, beating heart. You can takeover the body and senses of any one of your undead minions that are within your area of control. You can switch positions with any undead minion that is within your direct line of sight. Your soul essence regeneration increases based on the number and strength of the undead minions under your direct control. (A.N. The increase is very slight but it can build up if enough undead minions are under control. The strength of the undead minions also affect the degree of the increase.)
Aspect: [Living Lich King]
Aspect Rank: [Semi-Divine]
Description: [You are an abomination that breaks all laws of nature and fate. No greater being will have ever allowed you to come into existence if they could help it. You are an undead who had not only retained his humanity but also his soul.]
Innate Ability: [Anomaly]
Ability Desciption: [You are unaffected by the flaws of others.] (A.N. I decided to change the innate ability since it was far too vague to be properly used in the story. The premise of the new description is that he is unaffected by the flaws that exert themselves on other. For example, Kai would not be able to tell whether the MC lies. Or, the Sleeper whose flaw was that no one could remember their name. The MC would not forget that Sleeper's name - whatever it is. I believe that this is a much more streamlined and better use for an innate ability rather than the previous one.)
Aspect Ability: [Raise Undead]
Aspect Legacy: [Frostmourne], [Profane Grimoire]
[Frostmourne Description: The fabled, nigh-unbreakable mourneblade, Frostmourne, has chosen you as its new master and is the new conduit of your immortality. However, its powers have faded due to its long slumber. et, even in its weakened state, Frostmourne will not sit to be wielded by a weak-willed coward. Strive to stand at the top lest your soul be consumed as many previous unworthy masters.]
Memory Name: Frostmourne
Memory Rank: ?
Memory Tier: II [389/3000]
Memory Type: Weapon
Memory Enchantments: [Soul Rune], [Forge Rune], [Frost Rune]
[Frost Rune] Description: [Frostmourne houses in itself the power of primordial frost. Enhances the wielder's cryomancy.]
[Profane Grimoire Description: An old book containing magic alien to the world. If one listened carefully, one may hear the lingering voice of the foul entity that created it.]
Memory Name: Profane Grimoire
Memory Rank: Dormant
Memory Tier: -
Memory Tyре: Тооl
Memory Enchantment: [Magic]
[Magic]
Enchantment Description: The owner of this grimoire can cast spells written in it by consuming essence.
Flaw: [Hollowing]
Description: [To live forever, one must forget. Your immortality is imperfect. Every time you suffer fatal wounds and die, you shall lose a part of yourself until nothing remains but a shell of your former self.]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Loot Log:
Total Awakened Beasts slain (Personal + minions) = 191 (Memories gained: x10 Weapon Memories, x9 armor memories, x8 tool memories, x10 garment memories, x5 charm memories.]
Total Awakened Monsters Slain (Personal + Minions0 = 100 (Memories gained: x4 Weapon Memories, x3 Armor Memories, x4 Tool Memories, x3 Garment Memories, x4 Charm Memories, x1 Echo.)
Total soul fragments collected: 1173
Total soul cores eaten by Frostmourne: 391
(P.S. I will be adding the memories later to the memory chapter since it is really getting late now.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A.N. Hello everyone, John_Doe_777 here.
Firstly, I would like to apologize for the delay despite my previous claims. Exams and family medical emergencies tied down my hands both figuratively and literally. But hey, the chapter has been delivered.
Also, on a side note, I would like to have a vote made for a decision for the next chapter. Give your opinions in the section below the question. Firstly, I'm planning to have the MC open up about his undead raising ability to Effie in the next chapter so the question is.
Should the MC come clean to Effie about a part of his aspect's nature, like the fact that he could get extra cores along with it or should he gloss it over with a half truth despite the whole thing that happened above. Personally, I believe that it would be better for the MC if he did but what do you guys think?
(Drop your opinions here)
Then, my fellow ladies and gentlemen, I bid you adieu until the inks of fortune bring us together once again. I hope you all remain in good mental and physical health.
Sincerely,
John_Doe_777