"GAAAH!" A scream of a woman in pain and an unknown hollow voice echoed in the area. It was ear piercing, heart wrenching and soul crushing scream.
Sho tasted the iron in his mouth as it surged forward. Just a scream could do this damage to me? It's just like saying I'm extremely weak compared to Mythical Creature. He felt bitter, but he knew he was really too weak. He could only overcome his shortcomings with imaginative breakthroughs for now.
"Let me go, stupid human!" but the more Asterion struggled, the more Sho felt he was winning.
He didn't let go of the Mythical Creature while his skill was still activated. The Mythical Creature continued to struggle but it was futile, Sho was resolute not to let go. The more it tried to shake him, the more he wanted to hold on.
~Bzzz… bzzz~
There was a static sound in the air as two bodies continued to dance around. Sho felt the scratch on his arms and back. He felt the kick on his feet and ankle. He also felt the bite on his shoulder. But he refused to let go even when he felt the hot blood flowing out of his body.
He was swaying, trying to balance himself, but his fingers were like tight locks refusing any key that was given. He had no desire to open up.
"No! I'm not letting go!" Sho shouted, more on convincing himself than talking to the one he was hugging.
The shouting and screaming echoed in the vast nothingness. It was as if someone was getting tortured by a hundred ways. It was a gruesome noise that left a lasting impression on Sho.
He tried to cut off his sense of hearing, instead, he focused on his feelings. He immediately noticed how the draining he felt earlier was getting reversed. Now, the stolen life force was coming back to him.
And soon, everything was over.
Silence.
Only Sho's heavy breathing could be heard.
He stopped hugging of Rahmath's body with a pained expression. Asterion wasn't there anymore, he felt the Mythical Creature disappeared from Rahmath's body. But doing so, Rahmath stopped breathing.
"Was it my fault?" He whispered.
Another death, just like that. He saw a lot of deaths ever since he took over Sho's body. But this time he was stabbed by reality.
Death was a common thing now. Each second someone dies. And only the strong survive. Even he could've died if he was any weaker. He just got really lucky to have a protective skill with him. But Rahmath, Evan and Zhuang weren't lucky at all. And they were weak, just like any other human. Death was an inevitable outcome.
This is their reality now.
Unlike the peace they had before. The security everyone had was gone.
Only the strong survive.
Only the strong can protect those they care about.
Only by being strong can he survive.
Sho closed his eyes tightly, not letting go of Rahmath's dead body. He wanted to face this reality. He knew, ever since he got his Hobbies skill, he kept running away from the dark reality. But he needed to face it now. To be stronger. He needed to accept everything. To protect everyone he wanted to protect.
He felt a sense of dread deja vu.
Enemies are now everywhere. Monsters, Dragons, Beings that rode the Dragons, Mythical Creatures and even humans can be enemies.
Honestly, it was too much.
*Why me?*
That question can't be shrugged out of his mind. If he died in his previous life, why not just stay dead? Why did he have to be chosen to go through this suffering? Can't he rest in peace? Why did he have to be resurrected in another body if he couldn't even remember any of his previous memories? Any advantage a transmigrator or reincarnator had was lost when he lost his memories.
But along those questions he felt the answer was within him.
Maybe he was the one who didn't want to die. That's why he clung and went to Sho's body. He might have a lot of regrets and didn't want to die in the first place. That's why he was still there, suffering.
Because of his loss of memory, he didn't know the real him. He was mostly moving along with Sho's memories. Borrowing his personality that he found acceptable.
But he knew one thing that he and Sho differed. He wasn't lazy. Sho was lazy to the bones and at fault with that.
Thinking about that, he slowly let out a sigh.
There was still part of him. He was not lost. And knowing that the real him was just there, waiting for him to pry open when he was ready. He didn't want to give up.
But then, another negative thought started to permit his head.
*Not good! This is not normal!*
He immediately realized. He just dispelled his negative thoughts, those thoughts have been pushed aside by him for too long. So, he thought they were normal. But having another set of negative thoughts after that, that isn't normal at all!
He knew it was a side effect caused by Asterion before he disappeared.
Hobbies!
*Damn!* He thought he heard that earlier. But because of his guilt towards Rahmath's death, he couldn't process the information given to him.
*Would I die here?*
It was good that one of his skills leveled up. But how would he be able to escape from his predicament without his skill?
*What a twist of fate.*
He realized even with a restrained Mythical Creature, one shouldn't let down his guard. He could feel a darkness inside invading him.
He lay Rahmath's body gently in the ground as he frowned and started to think.
It seems the leveling up of his Hobbies skill was due to Asterion. Earlier, he was just desperate to use his skill towards the enemy. And when he started to get his life force back, he was ecstatic and held on to his skill. Thinking back, it wasn't just his Life Force that he got, he also got Zhuang, Evan and Rahmath's Life Force. He felt strengthened beyond before.
He let out a bitter smile. He knew it was a ploy of Asterion to make his skill level up faster, so he would be defenseless just like now. And with him being defenseless against mental and soul attack, he was more susceptible with negativity.
Sighing, he started to gather Qi Energy around him, slowly absorbing the pure Qi Energy to balance out the invading negativity inside him. He didn't know if it would work, but theory wise, it felt like it would. It was almost the same theory when he cured Sumaya. Pure Qi Energy is also Positive Energy, while Impure Qi Energy is Negative Energy.
Right now, Negative Energy was trying to invade him. And to balance it out, he needed more Pure Qi Energy.
He sighed again, not losing the focus of gathering Pure Qi Energy.
He had to admit, he must really have been a Qi master in his previous life. He couldn't account for everything he was doing for being a genius. He knew in his heart that he was unlike Miya at all. He must be hard worker instead of just plain genius.
He doesn't have anything to prove this, but deep down he just felt that's the real answer.
He had been gathering Pure Qi Energy for a while now, but had made little progress. He was only able to stabilize himself, but because the accumulation of Negative Energy was still continuous, it was a stalemate battle.
The thing was he couldn't find the source of the Negative Energy.
Suddenly, his hair stood up. He knew danger was lurking around.
As he opened his eyes, he saw Sumaya with a familiar dark energy.
"Asterion." He muttered in disgust. He felt pity as he knew Sumaya wasn't there anymore. He got taken over by the Mythical Creature.
"Hah! I would've been disappointed if I found you dead before I arrived. Good thing you perverse. But you would die soon, kid. You underestimated me too much."
He gritted his teeth. "Fight with your own goddamn body! Stop dragging other humans in between us!"
"Haha! I would if I could. But you see, kid, I'm chained up here. And only people like you are loopholes to my predicament. Thank you for coming." It mocked.
He gritted, he knew that there was truth in his sentence, but also lies. "Then take me instead. Stop going after others." He tried to make Asterion give up Sumaya's body. Maybe… just maybe, the guy was still alive. If Asterion gave up his body, then he would survive. As for him? He didn't know if he could last long, anyway. But he believed that his soul was stronger compared to others. He was a transmigrator. He should've a strong soul to travel to another body.
"Hah! You think I'm a fool? I'll wait until you're exhausted until I take over you. But you really are my main course, kid. Be flattered." It chuckled evilly.
"Coward."
"I prefer calling myself smart. Foolish naive kid."
He could only give Asterion a dagger look as it stopped twenty meters away from him. He wanted to chase after him. However he knew it would be a waste of effort. If the Mythical Creature wanted to get close to him, it would have done so. But seeing it keeping distance, it was trying to expend Sho's Energy. Until he has nothing left. When he was in his weakened state, that was when Asterion would strike.
He felt helpless, but still, he didn't give up balancing his Energy.