Whatever had happened till now was in Charlie's domain of knowledge; the reason he was here without knowing? Well, that could be attributed to him being under some eldritch hex that was casted by Marlene;— the domain was probably her work as well; and the Sokketein being able to infiltrate the bunkers was probably due to Ayumi's Shadow affinity.
But what happened next was way above his pay grade.
The clerk that was kneeling on the ground, and silent as a mouse suddenly shivered all over like a wet dog after the shadow familiar removed its hand from his head. The shivering abruptly stopped; as a black smoke started to come out of his body; then a sound of bones breaking was heard from him; — as if some beast was crushing bones in its mouth; then the fellow's skin slowly withered like a leaf in the fall, his fat evaporated on it's own and the muscles and the blood vessels too started to burst apart and there was no screams to accompany the gory scene this time; but as if the time had re winded; the clerk's muscles and blood vessels started to heal and a new skin grew over them. The fellow who had was shouting in agony and an unimaginable a pain gave a last savage cry and went limp. But he seemed to be alive from what Charlie could discern from his movements.
Charlie had never known that humans could produce a sound that like in his life. He could even see goosebumps in his own arms. So there was no need to mention others who had as pale as a ghost shivering all over;— There was dead silence in the hall now with all of the people except Marlene and Ayumi looking at the figure of the clerk lying in his stomach in a pool of his own blood. No one could get more paler even if they were suffering from anemia. They would have if they knew what had actually happened to the clerk.
The clerk's condition may look normal to mundane people, and they may only be fearful of the 'process' that the clerk had gone through;— only someone who had come across an abomination or anything corrupted by the chaos essence could discern the faint aura of corruption coming from the clerk.
"Corruption…"
Charlie was startled by the sound of his own voice… he had meant to talk in mind, but had actually spoken aloud, then he looked at Ayumi who was staring at him with eyes that seemed to say , 'gotcha!'.
"How…is this possible?" Charlie asked in a grave tone, "how did he get corrupted like that… he wasn't even an aspirant, was he…?"
"No, no. Mr. Charlie. We don't want mindless beast now, do we?" Ayumi answered him in mirthful voice, "It's just a partial corruption, Mr.Charlie. Sis Marlene, can you explain it Mr.Charlie? I'm a bit busy here." She said so and started to order the shadow familiars who diligently brought the other captives to be turned, "don't worry, you guys will be here at the end." She said to Charlie and rebels, and got back to ;work'.
Then the sweet symphony of savage screams of suffering, agony, and pain drifted all over the music hall; the host of the show, Ayumi was probably smiling from ear to ear while announcing the actions of the future 'performers.
- - - - -
Malenia then approached charlie and sat beside him in a chair, still in her mist form and dragging the rebels with her mist and placing them near charlie.
"Let's have a nice chat guys, and we of course don't want any noise." Malenia said and casted a sound barrier around them with just a wave of her hand, but charlie still got goosebumps every-time he looked at the silent scene which had turned even eerie.
"Well, you're aware that others except awakened can also get corrupted, right?" Marlene addressed Charlie as if he was the leader of the rebels, and seeing him nod she continued," Only it is hard for someone to get corrupted while just using elemental fractals and conceptual fractals compared to soul fractals used by awakened; but what we've done is created an artificial soul core similar to an awakened's; but unlike an awakened's soul core that can be increased in rank; this artificial soul core rank is fixed."
Charlie asked her the crucial matter,"How will—well, let's say 'we' since I don't think I'm going accompany Mr.clerk and companions in his endeavors— get rid of the corruption from the fractals? Since we can't rank up like an awakened."
"That's the most interest interesting part, Charlie;— decreasing the corruption? You don't need to do any of that, Charlie" Marlene answered him, "There will be no corruption after you 'turn' from this method. Since you'll technically be an abomination;— a corrupted being the first place."
"But you do can replace the fractal to a higher rank if you want to." Marlene said with a grin, "if you can survive the process."
"So, you guys have already started to go against the gods now? Huh…?" Charlie muttered, "although I'm not the one to talk…"
"Haha, we've been against them from the beginning, Charlie. Our target isn't just this little Empire of theirs." Marlene laughed, and continued, "And this is just the start, Charlie. So, what is your decision?"
"What difference does it even make?" Charlie said in slight anger, "You don't have a any choice when yer near a whale's jaws of death."
"We can help reduce the flow of corruption unlike the clerk's" Malenia said with a shrug, and added with smirk." You shouldn't call a woman a 'whale' you know? That's not charming at all Charlie; that's why you're still single."
"And I think I will be for eternity if you two are near me…"Charlie muttered and asked the two woman in exasperation,"Why are you guys even doing this in the first place?"
"You'll know everything later. Just enjoy the show for now." Marlene said while waving her hands towards the stage, and addressed the captured rebels,"And what about you my dear rebels?"
Of course, she only received glares full of indignation and annoyance. They too had understood their situation.
Marlene just chuckled and brought the rebels near the shadow familiars, and their procedure started too.
Charlie realized that he wouldn't be trusted until he himself turned; so he sat back in his chair; and watched the people going towards the 'stage' against their will;— while he just sat there watching the most dreadful, and longest 'show' he had watched in his life; the horrible shouts of bone chilling agony, the inhuman shrieks, and the blood that was flowing like river.
The best thing? He himself was also going to be a participant;— he was going to shout in agony when his very anatomy would be altered, his soul taken over by some being from another realm, turning him into even more of a monster.
"This is turning out to be a fine day, isn't it?"Charlie said while looking at the rebels.
It really is our reckoning Captain…