From the brief fight with Arjax, Endyr had realised the situation of her body. While she was a Grandmaster in this form, most of her Skills were reliant on her nature as a Denizen of Infinity: Skills which would get her killed if she used them carelessly. Revealing herself so soon after escaping Sky Cross would defeat the point of creating a Split Double at all. When this was over, Endyr swore to purchase more Skills and work on increasing her Rank and Level.
But before that could happen, she had to defeat the enraged Vampire before her.
Marianne had reformed her entire body, but she was still covered in gore and splatter, making her look like a demented slasher victim. Her red eyes were ablaze with fury and murderous intent, fully committed to draining the person before dry of their blood.
Both Endyr and Marianne were Level 1 Grandmasters, but the latter had an overwhelming advantage in experience, Skills and Stats.
=========================<<♉︎♉︎>>===================
Name: Marianne K'sthalt
Vitality: D
Strength: D
Speed: D+
Defence: D-
Mana: D-
Intelligence: D+
Luck: C
Charm: C-
=========================<<♉︎♉︎>>===================
Name: Endyr Syndrine
Vitality: C+
Strength: C
Speed: E+
Defence: E+
Mana: D+
Intelligence: C+
Luck: ???
Charm: A
=========================<<♉︎♉︎>>===================
Marianne beat Endyr across the board, except for Charm, Mana and Intelligence. As for Luck...well, Endyr knew that her fate was eschewed from all angles and had long since stopped paying it mind. In a battle of brawn, Endyr was as good as dead, something she was all to aware of. Her surprisingly low Stats had bothered her for a while, and she ended up asking the System about it earlier.
[Host acquired their current Tier in a very odd and specific way. As such, the laws of Orvonia restricted Host by crippling their Stats. Currently, Host only has the prestige and racial benefits of being a Grandmaster and not the raw power that comes with it. If Host wishes to gain {D} Stats, they must Level up. Killing the Vampire before you would be a good start.]
Endyr detected an underlying snarkiness to the System's respo0nse, but had no time to pay it any mind before having to dodge a rapier strike which would have otherwise pierced her lung. Marianne had struck while Endyr was distracted and nearly ended the fight in one blow.
Dodging backwards, Endyr was immediately put on the backfoot by the Vampire's swift attacks. Marianne kept piercing with her blade, giving Endyr no chance to catch her breath or counterattack. She had learned from Arjax not to give the young girl room to prepare and was determined to end this battle before she could let off another move.
Slowly being pushed towards both the wall and exhaustion, Endyr panickily ran through her Skill list. [Analysis], [Split Double], [Archaic Dialect]...Endyr only possessed half dozen Skills and all of them were useless in direct battle. She could use [Archaic Dialect] again, but it would likely kill her there and then. [Mana Manipulation] had taken a lot out of her already and Endyr felt that all the Water Mana in the air had been depleted. Kulkiri was now struggling against his opponents because his mist was having difficulty forming.
Another blow came dangerously close to tearing off the left side of her face, and Endyr lost a few locks of hair. 'It's now or never' she thought grimly and selected a Skill, a plan forming in her mind.
Marianne drew back her arm and changed its position, aiming for Endyr's right breast. Being a Vampire, Marianne could hear her foe's heartbeat and could practically smell her exhaustion. While she seemed as eager and confidant as at the start, she was annoyed internally. 'Why won't you just go down and die already?' she hissed.
Marianne had detected that Endyr's specs weren.t up to her Tier and exploited that fact viciously. But despite her expectations, Endyr didn't fold after the first few attacks and instead kept dodging. Fearing that she possessed another trump card, like that "tentacle" thing and destructive voice, Marianne sought to end the fight as soon as possible.
Putting more strength than normal into her strike, Marianne was poised to do just that before she felt a foreign and unusual presence pressing against her head. Before she could properly adjust, Marianne's mind was flooded with a cacophony of words, symbols and noises. The sudden and bizarre attack sent her reeling in place, as she struggled to regain her bearings. 'A mental attack!' she realised. Before her, Endyr smiled at seeing Marianne stumble and stop.
[Shared Senses] allow Endyr to connect her own senses with someone else's. Paired with [Mind Link], Endyr was able to establish a connection with the Vampire before her and "invade" her mind by sending a bunch of random and disruptive thoughts. But Endyr didn't' stop with simply cluttering Marianne's mind, no, she took it a step further.
As Marianne realised the nature of the attack and started expelling Endyr's presence, a sudden "blob" of information shot into her head, forcefully unveiling itself and revealing what was within. For a moment Marianne's mind went blank as all other attacks disappeared. Detecting the immense danger, Marianne desperately tried to seal off her subconsciousness but was too slow. A bloody scream broke free from her lips as forbidden knowledge poured into her mind.
"Denizens of Infinity are born from the collective souls and consciousnesses of trillions of beings"
"At the heart of every Universe lies an Ultima Core which holds all the information and blueprints of its inhabitants"
"A denizen of Infinity embodies multiple related Concepts and can exist within any Plane, but always destroy it after a certain amount of time"
"The Creator of this Universe was another me, along with several others"
"The leader of the Void is called ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮, and 'His' envoy is ▮▮▮▮▮▮."
"The origin of the Abominations is likely ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮"
"The original creator of the System was ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮"
"The cosmos is actually one giant ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮"
Wave after wave of words drilled their way into Marianne's head, scrambling her brain and causing her to scream loud enough to shatter glass. Some of the information she could not even digest: her mind shut the exact details out in an attempt to save itself, but it was all futile. She fell to her knees, clawing at her eyes and trying to dig her way to her brain. Seeing this, Endyr ramped up the assault, sending images alongside words.
Her encounter with the figures in the Astral World, her memory of transforming in Fellise, the dream she had with with Eros, the times she had slain countless Gods and destroyed worlds...and the time Endyr had seen the Core of the MU System.
With each image being forced upon her, Marianne's body and mind deteriorated. Her flesh writhed and jostled, tearing apart. Her eyes began to melt out of their sockets, partly from her own mutilations but also because of the force behind them. Muscle and bone broke through the skin, as countless eyes, moths and other orifices formed along her body. Marianne slowly twisted and broke, as she became something else. Something other than what she once was.
Endyr was not surprised upon seeing this. Knowledge was power, as her [Archaic Dialect] proved. In the Main Universe, such information was considered the top of the confidentiality chain and learning it would warrant oblivion for all but the select few. The System was quite brutal in maintaining its secrets, and the Gods under it were even more so. While Orvonia, and likely the whole Infinite Universe operated differently than the Main Universe, Endyr doubted the punishment differed too much. No matter where you go, some things are better left unknown and unsaid.
Endyr also threw in all the sights in the Astral and Shadow World, yet more data Marianne was unprepared for. If even a [Vessel of Mana] like her nearly asphyxiated from environment, then a mere Vampire Baroness would fare far worse. Sure enough, Marianne let out one more horrid screech before her entire body collapsed into a puddle of blood and black bile. Once the last recognisable remains had decomposed, Endyr stop her Skill and heaved a sigh of relief. Her sigh turned into a coughing fit however, as she expelled blood and a small amount of black bile from her throat.
In order to send the knowledge along the [Mind Link], Endyr had to relive them first. The information had been nearly as damaging to her as it was to Marianne: the only difference was Endyr had resistance towards the damage. While the move was incredibly effective, it was also very risky. Thanks to [Mind Link] being D-Rank it worked on a Grandmaster, but Endyr had no idea if Marianne had any Skills or equipment capable of blocking mental attacks. Thankfully, the Vampire Baroness lacked such a thing, even if her mental defences were stronger than Endyr anticipated on their own.
[Congratulations Host!] the System's voice rang out in Endyr's head, muting the nausea and remnant whispers.
[For successfully killing {Marianne K'sthalt} you have gained EXP!]
[You have Levelled Up!]
[You have Levelled Up!]
[You have Levelled Up!]
[You have Levelled Up!]
[You have Levelled Up!]
...
[Congratulations Host! For reaching Level 10, your Stats have risen and you have gained a portion of a true Grandmaster's power!]
[Congratulations Host! You have completed a Mandatory Task: {Kill a Grandmaster}! You have received 10 Authority Points!]
Endyr waited for several seconds for the System to speak again, but it stayed silent. Letting out a groan of pain, she clicked her shoulders and turned her attention to the others in the room. Kulkiri had managed to slay both Vampires, but his right arm looked dislocated and blood seeped through his cloak in several places. The two Shadow brothers had also dispatched their targets but Johan had lost his weapon and Erich was hunched over, holding what Endyr presumed was broken ribs. Sensing her gaze, the three looked over and widened their eyes upon seeing what remained of Marianne.
Kulkiri came over to her, nonchalantly popping his shoulder back in place as he did so, his steps light and bouncy. He stopped in front of her, whistling at the sight. Endyr felt a bruise forming on her chest and face, and she was certain a rib was busted. Her right forearm was definitely broken, the one she used to clash blades with Arjax. She had a haphazard haircut where the Vampire Baroness nearly gouged out her eye and her clothes where bloody and torn.
Thankfully, enough cloth remained to ensure her modesty was preserved.
"Well, I guess you do have the strength to back up your place on this mission" Kulkiri teased. "Though I'm sure you realise why the others objected to your presence. You might be a Grandmaster, but we can tell your state is...unusually disproportionate. You struggled against a Vampire Knight, which corresponds to a Master, and barely beat a fellow Grandmaster. We humans are at a natural disadvantage compared to Mythical Races like the Elves and Vampires, so we have to rely on numbers and ingenuity to stay ahead" Kulkiri said amiably, before adding "Of course, having the majority of Gods be Pro-Human also helps, heh."
Johan and Erich also came over and complimented Endyr on her victory, glancing at the blob that once was Marianne K'sthalt occasionally. Everyone soon turned their attention to the door however, and Kulkiri pulled it open to reveal a well-lit corridor with a carpet and velvet walls. "Seems this is the way deeper" Johan commented.
As everyone left one by one, Endyr followed suite. As she past the blob however, an alert from the System popped up in her face.
[Alert! It is highly recommended that Host absorbs that liquid into their body!]