"I've seen something like this before," Hildegarde who was right next to Mane had a struggling expression on her face as she tried to recall where she had seen this. Luckily her struggles didn't go on for long. For Mane came to her aid immediately.
"You saw them in my memories," Mane had an unsightly expression on his face as he spoke. When he and Hildegarde had been bonded together during their transfer, she got to see his memories. There were some he hid from her, and some he showed to her. His first fight with the Possessed, when he and Abe had to deal with it after Abe's breakthrough, was amongst those memories that she had been allowed to see.
"Ah yes," Hildegarde exclaimed in remembrance. However, a huge frown framed her face when she remembered the actual details of that memory. She remembered that Mane and his friend had only been able to kill that undead creature by destroying its core. And that core had been discovered by that friend of his whilst Mane kept the Possessed at bay. It was different now. Not only was this suspected Possessed enough of a match for Mane, he had no help.
If he wanted to do this alone he had to make sure that his scholar level was the same as the Possessed's wielding level. When he fought the Earth realm Possessed on Zandor, 3rd lamented that if Mane was a Mid-Level Scholar he wouldn't have required any help to locate its core. And that was because a Mid-Level Scholar was equivalent to an Earth Realmer. Now that he was facing a Heaven Realmer, unless his scholar level was at the High Level, he couldn't possibly do this on his own.
"What are you going to do?" Hildegarde asked. This was a huge problem. Mane couldn't afford to fight a Possessed with his attention divided, which meant he couldn't try and find the source himself whilst keeping it at bay. But if he didn't do that, how was he going to deal with Camila's new form?
"Hers is different," Mane told Hildegarde. The rioting Edict around Camila was slowly beginning to settle. And the phantom of the large snake that hovered over her head like a protective spirit became even more tangible, slowly gaining substance.
"What do you mean?" Hildegarde asked as she sought to understand more of the issue whilst keeping her eyes glued to the figure of the formerly charming Barbarian. Camila's skin was now as red as her eyes, and several veins were wriggling underneath her flesh. Her body somehow became even skinnier, making her look more like a bag of bones surrounded by skin than a living thing, and her hair was slowly turning grey.
"Her aura of life is similar to a dead person's, but it isn't the same. There is still some life force; only that it has been suppressed." Mane explained. Although he was nothing but a Beginner Scholar when he fought his first Possessed, he had his masters to explain the attributes of a Possessed to him.
Possessed's were born via a dark technique. And it had a few conditions that had to be satisfied before it was activated. It was a technique that forced the soul of a warrior to fight on even after death. Therein was the first condition: one must first die. Camila hadn't died. She wasn't even in any danger when her transformation took place. Her transformation was that of emotions – not a loss of life. It was her rage that triggered her transformation, not her death.
Secondly, the source of a Possessed was implanted. It wasn't a natural thing. It was a device that was implanted by someone with a vast understanding of the darkness attribute. The one Mane had fought on Zandor was made by the Dark God Seth. But the fact that Camila and Nasir didn't know much about Absolute Killing meant that they weren't familiar with darkness. And it was highly unlikely that there was someone with Seth's level of understanding of darkness in the Barbarian Race – a race which had very little understanding of the elements.
Thirdly and most importantly, as Mane had just explained Camila's life force had only been suppressed. It hadn't disappeared. The fact that her life force was still lurking within her body meant that her soul was still very much alive. She wasn't being forced to fight 'after death'.
Last but not least was the snake phantom that Mane could see. Although he was a weaker Scholar when he fought his first Possessed, the Possessed was weaker too. He didn't see any creature appear above it. And it didn't undergo the kind of transformation Camila was going through.
"So what are you saying?" Hildegarde had only seen memories of the thing. And in those memories Mane's interaction with his masters had been covered up. She didn't have the understanding that Mane had when it came to Possesseds. So she needed some clarification.
"I'm saying that what she is experiencing is a transformation – not a Possession. It may be a skill exclusive to Barbarians. Or maybe just her. But it definitely isn't Possession." Mane explained.
"I see," Hildegarde felt a bit relieved when she heard his words. Knowing that it wasn't as bad as it could be was reassuring, even if the situation was still no good.
"Don't breathe out just yet. We are still in trouble" Mane frowned and said.
"Yeah. But it's better than facing a Possessed." Hildegarde argued.
"True," Mane assented. Although he knew that it was going to be troublesome to deal with Camila, it was better than dealing with a Possessed. At least with Camila, the death energy around her was only protecting her life energy – the irony of which wasn't lost on him. But it could be breached. As long as Mane broke through the death energy that protected her soul, he would be able to reach Camila and break her transformation. And this meant that she wasn't immortal like a true Possessed. As long as her transformation could be undone, he had a huge shot at winning.
*Roar*
The snake phantom above Camila roared loudly, a characteristic Mane was certain snakes weren't supposed to have. For a snake was a hisser, not a belter. But he soon understood that what he thought was a snake wasn't actually a snake when he noticed the small horn on its head.
"It's a Flood Dragon," Mane screamed internally. The snake didn't have wings so it couldn't be a Winged Serpent. But because it had a horn and could roar, it definitely wasn't a snake. The only beast that fit this description was a Flood Dragon. And it made Mane wonder how this transformation was achieved.
Once the Flood Dragon had announced its presence – which Hildegarde didn't see or hear due to the fact that it wasn't quite visible – it flew into the clouds and then dove down and found solace in Camila' body like she was a water body.
Once it had achieved its aim, it was like a floodgate had been opened. For torrents of energy even stronger than what was around Camila now rushed into her body and filled her with even more power. She skin grew swallower somehow, and her bones became more visible. The power that filled her was so strong that Mane was certain that she wasn't a Heaven Reamer anymore.
"She's half a step into the Nobility Realm!" Hildegarde was familiar with this sort of energy. This kind of power didn't belong to a Heaven Realmer. As a Nobility Realmer herself she knew that this power was closer to the Nobility Realm than it was to the Heaven Realm. It wasn't fully across the line, but it was close.
"Such a powerful aura!" Mane frowned and said. He heard Hildegarde's words. After all, who else would she be speaking to if not for him – the only person who could see or hear her? He was a tad bit relieved to hear that Camila hadn't risen above the barrier that separated Nobles from the warriors of Heaven. But she still had her foot halfway through the door. And that was still something that Mane will struggle to handle.
"I must prepare as well," Mane frowned and said. He had watched patiently as Camila underwent her transformation because the energy that was around her was violent. He couldn't afford to interrupt because he didn't see a way to breakthrough it. Since he couldn't do anything, he had only been watching. But seeing that Camila was beyond what he could currently handle, he knew he had to make some adjustments. And adjust he did.
"Deactivate Brimstone" Mane mumbled, and the flames around him disappeared.
"Activate Takeover"
Along with Mane's command came the change that will help him cope with the hole he had dug for himself. A pitch black aura surrounded his frame like a leather coat and held him close. His eyes became red, much like a Barbarian's and his hair followed suite, taking on the same color as his transformed eyes. His power instantly skyrocketed as the ground around him struggled to contain his new change. Several large cracks appeared all around Mane as his aura wreathed havoc; with Night Mare and Night's Kiss shaking and screeching loudly.
As if that wasn't enough, Mane summoned the element of his birth; he called that which he had control over by birthright. And several snakes of lightning appeared around him, winding themselves around his figure. The lightning moved in between the dark aura of Takeover, with each bolt gaining more strength once it came into contact with the aura.
*Roar*
Camila's transformation had just ended, yet she didn't rush at Mane. And that was because she could feel the threat of death from Mane. Although her eyes were still lifeless and her body akin to that of a skinless corpse, that flicker of intelligence that remained prevented her from making a rash decision.
"What are you waiting for?" Mane slowly mumbled, his voice like thunder in a furious storm. The ground shook like it had been hit by the mallet of Gaia herself, and the sky trembled in excitement at the grand spectacle that was to come.
Camila growled upon hearing Mane's words. The boy may now look like a war god, but his words provoked her. And every last bit of hesitation was wiped away. She moved like a freight train, and like a freight train the power that she carried was destructive and could destroy anything in its path.
But what was in her path was no minor obstacle. Mane moved as well. Like a furious bolt from Zeus's spear he snaked into Camila's path. And both clashed midair.
*Boom*