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Demonlife
- Mana naturally exuded and generated by the Oxhorian Spawn, the children of Oxhor.
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Athelei was smiling.
"Demonlife, huh," A chuckle escaped his lips as he redirected his gaze.
Jack was still riding the waves, but his every strike was slaying more and more of his enemies. For every strand of hair he lost, he would kill one. For every prick he got on his skin, he would slash a dozen. For every stab in his flesh, he would blast a hundred.
He was dancing on the edge of a knife.
A strong wind swirled around the coliseum, fluttering Athelei's hair and kicking up dust. A small twister was forming, while dark red streaks of light hitched a ride, appearing out of nowhere.
Demonlife was gathering. Coalescing and spinning around the challenger who braved the seas.
Jack was soaked in the blue blood of Cave Spiders. His own, human blood had been drowned out.
One by one, as he fought, streaks of light shot into his body.
It brought about change.
A gradual change.
The coliseum had been flooded by the blood of tens of thousands. Now, its tide was receding. A blue sphere was growing at the very centre, floating magically above the incomplete spider image.
The sea of carcasses was drying up, withering at a visible speed. Limbs and exoskeletons were turning to dust, joining the twister that swirled throughout the coliseum.
At some point, all that filled Athelei's vision was a bloody red.
Wounds appeared on his snowy complexion and breathing had become difficult.
With scrunched brows, the angel turned into incorporeal particles of fog. He was then dragged by the raging energies around him, forced to join the storm to become one.
Meanwhile, Jack already had one foot in the grave.
He was now completely blind. He was dismembered. He was wretchedly wounded.
His breathing had become faint.
The bladesman was dying.
But... he had yet to let go of his sword.
Jack was floating within a sphere of blue blood and surrounded by a swirling galaxy of dark red.
He was within a recreation of outer space, here underground.
Athelei then bore witness to Jack's final breath.
The bladesman's heart stopped beating...
His lungs no longer gulped in air...
His body had been drained of blood...
....Jack was dead.
Athelei even sensed Jack's consciousness stir within the soul it resided in. It was trapped by the blood sphere, incapable of escape and dissipation.
Athelei was likely capable of devouring such a delectable complete consciousness at that very moment.
All the angel had to do was force his way through the storm and the blood, burrowing through whatever seal existed, and take a bite.
However, that was not an ending he wished to see.
Badump!
A heartbeat.
Badump! Badump! Badump!
The sphere of blue blood began to collapse into itself. Streams of blue forced themselves into Jack's dead body, kickstarting his heart once more through the sheer force of its flow.
Limbs formed from clots and hardening blood. Jack's skin was dyed in a deep, deep blue.
"Just like Ai'sklr," Athelei recalled a certain painting he had once seen. It was of a blue-skinned individual with horns and flowing robes.
Fwoosh!
Just when the sphere of blood ran out, the galaxy of Demonlife churned. Energy burrowed into Jack's body like millions of worms, dying the blue hues into a dark purple.
It was truly a work of art.
Athelei watched as the blood limbs grew solid, hardening and growing bones, flesh and skin.
Suddenly, Jack's eyes shot open.
AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!
A bone-grating scream shook the wondrous scene. Athelei felt chills, as he was familiar with the pain needed to make someone scream in such a way.
Many times had he dealt such pain to the targets of his little trip of vengeance.
'Unimaginable discomfort,' Athelei commented as he continued to observe.
Jack's screams and cries continued to echo across the coliseum. The sound of his body being torn apart and healed, again and again, rang out. His organs were shattered and remade. His brain turned into liquid before being reformed. His eyes wept in blood as energy poured into it like needles.
'This isn't healing, but forceful transformation,' A new book had formed inside Athelei's mental library.
It documented the process just as Athelei experienced it. Details that could perfectly recreate the scenes he now saw were all jotted down for future analyses.
Athelei's eyes flashed as his wisps of grey fog infiltrated what should have been out of reach at his level of expertise.
Inspect was once again utilised to his best abilities.
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Circle of Knowledge Concealment
- A Mystic Pattern circle created by an Oxhorian Spawn Artist to ward off spying techniques.
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Finally, through a hole created by the ongoing event, Athelei unearthed a hint.
'Hah,' He sighed in satisfaction. 'My suspicions have been moving in the right direction.'
"Orien!" A hurried cry sounded in Athelei's ears.
Jack, who was still writhing around in immense pain, was nervously searching for his presence. A shimmer of worry could be seen in his eyes.
He seems to have realised what had happened to the coliseum around him.
"Are you still there?"
Silence.
"I should have asked him to leave..." Jack coughed out his next words as a huge ball of Demonlife surged into his body. "I should have... Should have—"
"I'm still here." Athelei's voice rang out from within the dark red galaxy. "What's the matter, Sir Jack?"
A brief moment of surprise lit up Jack's regenerating facial features. Although he no longer looked human, with a small pair of horns on his forehead and his deep purple skin, he seemed happy.
He briefly forgot about the pain he was feeling.
"Then, can you tell me... What happened to Avina?" He asked
"Wiped off the map," Athelei answered. "Lotus Weizhe succeeded in reviving the underwater city of Atlantis, driving his enemies away and fleeing into the ocean with his family. Sky Cross fled through the sky, bringing along its students and teachers. Many who sought refuge with the nobles had perished."
"I see," The happiness on Jack's face receded for a moment. "Is... Is Lady Karire still alive?"
"She is. She escaped with Sky Cross at the last moments before Atlantis was born." Athelei answered again. His tone, unchanging and yet somewhat distracted.
"I see," Jack pursed his lips. "Then, can you give her a message for me? Tell her I'm still alive and well. I don't think I'll be able to see other humans anytime soon."
"I'll tell her... But why exactly can't you see other humans, Sir Jack? Is it because of your transformation?"
Jack nodded with a wry smile, "Smart as ever, I see."
Fwhooom!
A pillar of Demonlife crashed into Jack's body at this very moment. A pained expression flashed across his face, but he seemed able to fight through it.
After a few heavy gasps, Jack opened his mouth to speak.
"There's a place I have to go, and... Together with my transformation, I had made a vow."
"A vow?" echoed Athelei. At some point in time, he had appeared in front of Jack, standing within the strong winds. But he didn't seem to actually be there. He looked rather incorporeal... As if he was incomplete.
Jack saw this and was surprised. 'What a mysterious child. Even with the knowledge I obtained from Vellius, I still don't know what he just did.'
Pushing down his own curiosity, Jack continued, "Yes, and it was a vow that makes me an enemy of humanity. I have an obligation to fight... and kill."
He then scrunched his brows both in pain and in thought, 'Supposedly, my vow should already be in play. Why do I feel nothing from Orien despite him standing just in front of me?
'Could it be..? Is Orien not human? How?'
Jack couldn't help but scan the figure in front of him once again. Numerous thoughts flowed through his mind.
"I understand." Athelei's voice shook Jack out of his sudden reveries. "Then, is this goodbye for now, Sir Jack? Where will you be going?"
Jack blinked and then gave a nod. "It is goodbye for now. As for where I'm going—"
He hesitated for a moment. 'If the vow I just made isn't reacting then that means Orien isn't human... He isn't someone considered an enemy... It should be fine.'
"I'm going deep underground. Somewhere so extremely hot, that even rocks and metal melt."
It was at this moment that the surrounding Demonlife galaxy was exhausted. Jack's transformation was completed, and he could feel something tug at his soul.
'I'm being summoned,' Jack thought before taking one more breath.
"It's actually like one giant furnace."
And then he was gone.