Chapter 17 - Sacrifice and A lump of Meat.

The porcupine beast remained motionless as the creepy long hands touched its face. One hand held the beast's chin up, holding it in place. The other spread its fingers outward and moved toward the eye. But just before it could grab the prized orb, Ellie shot her right palm forward, gripping the wrist, the thing felt so fragile as if it could break under the wind's blow. Ellie almost felt bad for what she was about to do to the abomination. Almost.

She pulled the creepy arm toward her, using the momentum to lung herself forward, her left hand guiding a black quill and stabbing it into the limb belonging to the abomination. The multi-eyed beast recoiled against the sudden pain, not expecting to be ambushed by Ellie, and let out a piercing screech.

It thrashed the arm violently, trying to shake the quill off but the black needle had already impaled deep into the flesh, drawing blood. The waterskin, which was tied around the anchored quill on one end, swung chaotically in the air, its content spilled onto the beast, reflecting the dim light in a reddened hue.

Not long after contracting with the sunlight, the unfreezable water mixed with her blood immediately burst into a golden inferno, and a sickening smell of rotten flesh being roasted filled the air.

Ellie took off her helmet as she ran away from the beast, not wanting to be near its painful wailing, the multi-eye beast was still the size of a whale and she didn't want to be crushed into paste under its weight. Even if she somehow managed to survive in that situation, she doubted her psyche would remain intact, the pain would be too much.

After making quite a distance between herself and the multi-eye beast, she turned back. The golden flame was burning in the air. Ellie lowered her body, cupping a snowball in her palm before throwing it in the direction of the fire.

The snowball fell in the air before hitting the ground, passing through the multi-eye beast despite its massive frame.

'It's really is as if the fucker doesn't exist anymore.'

How could something exist and not exist at the same time? Ellie couldn't grasp her head around such a headache conundrum. So she just watched as the beautiful flame soared into the sky--the multi-eye beast was flying away.

'Oh shit.'

It didn't take a genius to know what it was trying to do. After failing to put out the flame, it wanted to at least bring her down with it.

Ellie turned on her heels and ran, she would occasionally look behind to see the beast appearing briefly as it aimed down toward her.

She laughed manically as she dodged one dive after another coming from the angered tyrant of the sky. Her heart beat loudly in her crib cages at the fact that she was courting death. It was a strange fun dance between her and the multi-eye beast.

Ellie intended to keep this dance between the two of them only, avoiding the direction of where the battle between the two armies was taking place. Yet, she could hear the sound of blades against blades, spells against spells coming closer, the beast was trying to send some of its vessels this way to help it, pushing the formations toward Ellie inches by inches, hoping to trap her in place.

The forest wasn't an option. Not only were there still innocent people living there, but Ray and the brute were hiding in one of the nearby tree husks. Ellie couldn't risk the multi-eye beast crushing them by chance.

It was a battle of attrition; with Ellie moving nimbly like a rabbit, dodging the flaming pile of flesh every time it came down, she also changed her pattern here and there, not letting herself be herded toward a dead end, and the multi-eye beast trying to snuff her life out and stopped her divine blood from ending its life.

But unbeknownst to both, something unexpected happened. Inside the dark confine of the multi-eye beast's right eye socket, from the cut of the waterskin, a single droplet trailed down before coming in contact with the open wound on the beast's wrist, seeping into the white flesh, causing it to screech in pain. Its many eyes darted in all directions. Its body convulsed mid-air, its flight turning into a chaotic spiral.

Meanwhile, while Ellie was running, a screen flickered into existence before her eyes.

**[Commencing sacrifice]**

'Huh, what?'

Ellie barely had time to process it before her blood burst from her veins, spilling out everywhere. A sharp, searing pain tore through her body.

A choked gasp left her lips. Her fingers lost their grip and she fell.

The world blurred in a violent swirl of red. Tendrils of her blood wrapped around the multi-eye beast before erupting into flame. Her scream was swallowed by the roaring inferno, her limbs flailing, there was no strength in them.

***

The sleeping saint's body suddenly glowed red, bathing the inside of the war machine in a blood-red light, distracting the driver, and almost making him crash into a tree.

He stopped the vehicle to a halt before running to the back. He checked for the sleeping saint's condition. Aside from the fact she was glowing, she was incredibly hot.

"Is she sick?" the driver said, the back of his hand on the saint's forehead.

He then rushed toward the little medical kit positioned at the opposite corner from where the saint was sleeping.

Then just as he made his way back, medicine and water in his hands, a screen suddenly appeared in front of him.

[The promise had been made.]

'Promise? Impossible. How could my character make a promise while mother's veil is still in place? And why did Mother's Virtue 'Screen of Self Reflection' appear without my command? Did she activate it herself?"

Something was seriously wrong. He needed to figure out what was happening before it was too late. But it was already too late. His eyes became heavier, his body became sluggish, and he fell to his knee. Just before sleep overtook him, he saw the screen erupt in flame, rivers of blood spilling out of it, splashing onto the floor before moving toward his mouth. A new line of text appeared on its surface.

**[Commencing sacrifice]**

Similarly, the same thing was happening near the lake, heroes, and hooded figures all suddenly fell asleep while the vessels that were no longer controlled by the multi-eye beast stared blankly at the bizarre sight. Blood poured out of the hovering screens and flooded the ground, flame burning on the red liquid as it spilled into the lake, coloring the surface crimson.

The multi-eye beast couldn't maintain its power anymore and many had returned back to their original bodies. There were also those who didn't have a body to return to. The civilians ran for the forest, yelling at the top of their lungs, hoping for the guards to hear.

***

On the cold ground, Ellie lay faced-down on her stomach. She felt weak, her limbs wouldn't bulge no matter how much willpower she exerted. All her blood vessels had bopped simultaneously, causing her to feel intense pain all over, it was so overwhelming that her body had become numb to the sensation.

'Am I dying?'

Ellie took in deep breaths, the smell of burning blood filled her snout. Each inhalation filled her lungs yet the lack of oxygen was still getting to her, causing her head to spin in a circle.

She bit into her cheeks and found that the familiar taste wasn't there, she was quite literally bloodless.

'No, I won't end like this. Not yet. I still have a lot of things I want to do with my life.'

Ellie tilted her head on both sides, scanning for anything that could get her out of this predicament.

Then, she saw it--a small puddle of water with flame dancing above it. If this was normal water, it would have evaporated long ago with the waterskin.

Ellie dragged herself forward, lifting her chin and anchoring it on the ground, using her neck muscle to propel her upper body. She could only arch her abdomen and back slightly due to the pain; each time she did, she made sure to kick her feet into the ground with as much force as possible to push forward.

The journey toward the puddle of water was a slow and painful one.

'Just a bit more. Don't give up. Push. Push forward.'

Ellie recited a part of the prayer to the Divine Wind in her head.

'Let no chain bind us, no wall contain us, no storm cast us astray.'

'Let no chain bind us, no wall contain us, no storm cast us astray.'

'Let no chain bind us, no wall contain us, no storm cast us astray.'

The scripture repeated over and over again as she closed her distance with the puddle of water.

It continued to play in her head like a broken recorder even when she reached her lifeline. Only when her body began to heal, rapidly replacing the lost blood, did she see the desperation in her eyes in the reflection, her pride was hurt at the unpleasant sight of her protruding her tongue out, lapping at the liquid like a dog.

But she couldn't care less about pride. She was happy. Yes, this was it. This was true happiness. And she needed more of it.

Ellie got up on four, her face planted directly into the puddle of water, burning against the flame as she continued to drink the divine nectar greedily, her skin healing as fast as it was destroyed. With each mouthful gulp, the puddle became smaller and smaller until it completely vanished. But it was still not enough.

'More. Give me more.'

She bit her tongue but her blood didn't contain the divinity she yearned for anymore.

Ellie stood up. Her head spun around to find more of the divine taste. Follow the flame, it would lead her to the blood. She thought. Smoke could be seen coming from two opposite directions, the forest and the lake, Ellie decided to choose the former as it was closer to her, she couldn't wait another second to fulfill her greedy tongue's desire.

Each step brought her closer to the smoke, filling her lungs with sharp, stabbing throbs, yet the torment only seemed to encourage her to push forward the source of the fume. The treeline slowly became visible within the ashen fog, fire running along it but something was different; the lifeless husks had sprouted new leaves--yellow and red stood out against the snowy field--autumn had come to this winter hell. Beautiful. But not as beautiful as the scarlet fluid the trees were consuming.

"Damn greedy trees! Not leaving any for me." Ellie yelled out, hands gripping at the reddened snow that was turning back to its original color. "I have to go deeper into the forest if I wish to have even a droplet."

Passing beneath the golden canopy, she didn't spare a second to the mesmerizing surroundings. Soon, she saw a small pool of blood in a small clearing. There was also a huge figure bending down beside it. Not far away, something small could be seen burning.

That something immediately yanked Ellie out of her happiness, throwing her right into the river of sorrow. Tears swelled in the corners of her eyes as she started babbling nonstop.

She rushed for the pool of blood, hands holding onto the small bundle, the heat assaulted her arms. She cupped a handful of blood.

"Please, please, please. I beg you. I am sorry. I am sorry."

But no matter how much she called out, it was already too late. Her cries echoed through the forest. Memories of her past life surfed forward as the whispers once again hammered against her skull. The pain was so intense and unnerving that it made Ellie spasm uncontrollably. Seizing the momentum, invisible hands opened up her foaming mouth and grabbed the back of her head, forcing her to lean forward. Her body reacted subconsciously, her neck fought against the pushing force. Meanwhile, her mind and memories were in a jumble as an illusion was being played for her.