Miasma

"Fifth, use Scarlet's Miasma to enter a dream and strengthen myself."

…

"This is taking too long," Celine mumbled in wait. She feared her slave seal acting up mid-escape.

*Boom! Not even a moment had passed when Celine clearly knew the signal had gone off.

Dozens of explosions rang and the mysterious figure she saw earlier would be running for his life so Celine needed to wait for the perfect moment when all the black market thugs would leave.

"Not yet," she muttered while people scrambled in fear. Thousands of ants seemed to move erratically but Celine stood still.

"Now!" She thought and telekinesis surged around her. She used all of her strength to make the small blue vial float away from its protectors and into her hand at an intense speed.

When Celine grabbed the miasma, she suddenly dashed away while flying and changing the distance between her and the people in pursuit.

They flashed across a thousand houses at immaculate speeds that scarred Celine. "They're stronger than I thought!"

However, just like Ray had assumed, they eventually gave up because they still had to protect the auction. Still, Celine kept flying at max speed away.

Suddenly, Celine felt an intense pain in her chest like she was going to die. "Shit!"

Her slave seal was acting up because of the time limit in combination with how she wasn't following Malphus's orders.

Celine struggled to keep her flight and movement going and eventually fell like a bird with its wings clipped. Her breathing became instensely ragged as her body became limp.

"I… can't… move…"

In a last bit of effort, Celine used what was remaining of her poor divinity to burrow into the floor and conceal herself. She made a small room for herself a hundred buildings down.

She clung onto the vial containing the miasma and prayed for the best while holding it above her mouth. Within moments, Celine broke the vial and ate both the glass and the liquid while hoping for the best.

This was the most dangerous thing Celine had ever done in her life.

She would not know if she could survive the miasma…

…

"Scarlet's Miasma. A concoction made by the great elven mage, Scarlet. It is used to incapacitate enemies who get even a single whiff of it. CAUTION, consumption effects are unknown."

Celine however, knew the consumption effects. She knew it was a powerful hallucinogen that would put her in a weird dreamy state.

If she died in the dream, her brain would deactivate in real life. Anything she did in the dream would also affect her body in real life.

This was how Celine would circumvent her inability to train. After all, how could the slave seal affect her while she was dreaming? This was the most critical part of Celine's escape plan

…

*Cough cough, Celine roughly awoke. "Where the hell am I?" She croaked out while rising and seeing nothing but flames.

"This must be hell. Maybe I died and I belong here instead of heaven." Celine completely forgot of the procedure she endured. As for as she knew, this was real.

Celine sighed. "I never really was a good person. Maybe that's a regret of mine." Celine forced herself to move on and carefully walked around the flames to what she hoped was outside.

Gradually stepping out, Celine began to see something in the distance. In the dancing field of flames, Celine saw a person who she couldn't identify not too far.

However, the person immediately appeared right in front of her and Celine saw somebody she closely remembered.

"M-… mom?" She hesitantly asked. Her mother died of cancer long ago.

Suddenly, her mothers eyes became hollow as they glared at Celine.

"What have you become?" The hollow voice of a fragmented soul calmly asked.

Suddenly, Celine saw herself doused in flames but they weren't harming her. Instead, they surrounded her like armor, protecting Celine from her mother. Then, Celine saw the trail of fire and destruction follow her and listen to her commands.

"What have you become? I raised a monster."

Celine looked at her hands, at the bodies behind her that she hadn't seen beforehand.

"It's me…" Celine realized. The fire that set this world ablaze was her. The bodies were her trophies and the destruction was a cherry on top.

"Where's the little girl who liked to paint and draw?" Her mother's gaze became sorrowful.

"The only thing I see is a monster who kills," her mother cried out.

Celine saw a memory she had long suppressed. It was her years as a child with her parents when life was simple.

She would paint, she would laugh, she would be a simple child.

A small tear rolled down her face when she remembered that child. "What have I become?"

Thousands of kills. Atomic powers. Abandoning humanity, her home race. She had sacrificed everything and left behind the small human girl who had dreams and aspirations of impressing others.

Now, she was a merciless killer who selfishly pursued only what she wanted. Nothing else mattered to her and she wouldn't hesitate to destroy entire countries in her way.

Celine began to scrunch up into a ball of regret and despair. She wondered why she had become like this, then she came to a realization.

Celine's eyes shot up as she looked hopeful again. "This was not my choice," she thought.

"I may be a monster, but I am the monster humanity made me into. I am like this because I am a survivor and I would do it all again if it meant living."

Celine slowly calmed herself. Her overflowing emotions began to settle and she slowly laid down whilst her mother berated her again.

"Shut up, mom." She smiled annoyingly. "I would become like this again and again if I had to. This wasn't my choice so why should I care?"

Celine became calm and prepared herself for the next oncoming trial that she would face. She assumed that it would be harder than this trial she had just surpassed.

"Still, I wonder where I am?" She pondered without any recollecton of Scarlet's Miasma.