"It's not 'cuz I'm hungry. I need to consume it to gain more knowledge of it. Well, not like I'm gonna eat it whole. I'll use my ability to consume it" I moved to the base of the tree, "I quite like this tree; it's beautiful, and I want it in my realm".
Near the base of the tree, was the vestige of the Avatar in charge of Salem. Its serial number was 49923419. It was quite the unique one… Apart from its natural-borne urge to die—although, minimised—it was quite the cheerful one; almost like me from before.
It kneeled in my direction with both of its arms limp at its sides: akin to a statue with mild and mediocre stature. I prodded its head, glowing with a blue flame, and the effigy collapsed down and into the earth. "Thank you for your service…" I muttered under my breath.
I had no right to work these Avatars against their own wishes; even if they were identical to an artificial intelligence. They were part of my soul. Perhaps, that was the reason for me losing my humanity… my empathy. A terrible cycle… and one I cannot brook.
I jumped from a standstill to one of the bigger branches, up on the ginormous tree. I collected intriguing materials from within hands' reach; namely: multiple samples of the magical leaves; a few tiny branches, and some of the bigger branches; two different types of fungi growing on the tree; an abnormally giant ant right besides me—which totally freaked me out; a fruit—strangely reminiscent of a dragon fruit, but of multiple colours, forming a rainbow. In addition to the items I already gathered, I procured an additional sample of each—for consumption purposes.
After consuming said materials, I dug out all the goodies that the Avatar had stored in a chamber beneath the mystical tree. I consumed most of the items: four wands—one of which being the little girl's, unfortunately; a few metals exclusive to Salem—perhaps, due to the magick essence; and, a multitude of other materials. I spared a gemstone the size of my fist, slowly being overcome by a dark, cold flame from within.
Raphael: 'What's the point of ingesting such… odd resources?'
Ready with an answer all along, I said: "There's a code in every single thing that exists, y'know? With the extent of my abilities, I can store the code of anything and everything that I consume in my… soul—if you would—such that I can exploit it to my heart's content. I can mass produce it, modify it, experiment with it, implement its functions into my own body, and whatnot".
Lucifer: 'Lad, what was that gemstone you stored away? It contained a soul,,, Quite the unruly fellow'
"A soul? Huh…" I looked into the information of the gemstone and the dark flame which might very well be the soul, "You're right. That flame's the soul… and it's riddled with impurities".
Lucifer: 'Aye, quite the grudge that one held. Said that a witch trapped his arse in that insignificant gemstone'.
"Insignificant, you say? I wouldn't say that Amrita… is insignificant. Quite the opposite, in fact." I said, delighted with my happenstance, "The Philosopher's Stone… or Amrita, is a creation that, supposedly, could grant its wielder immortality. I dunno how, but according to the information I've gathered, it may even grant a wish. And, it's of utmost importance that I get the wish granted…"
I had a grave expression for the duration of the talk about the Amrita, reflecting a grim reality of what obstacles I might have to face in the future, from my gathered intel.
Lucifer: 'What's with the dour expression, lad? What do you wish for? Aye, before that—I must say—that soul… it is a primal existence. Its power is immense and its grudge has brewed for aeons. It curses the WItch of Arnoldeira to eternal agony. Its rage can only be quelled after the completion of its wishes…'
"Well, what do I get for completing his wish? I'm running a charity; especially mercenary work…"
Lucifer: 'Demon God, he is—he says that there are no restraints on what he can grant you…
I, Errlartian, will grant you ultimate, chaotic power—or so he says. He wishes that you kill the Witch in the Griffon-barrow tomb, in Arnoldeira.'
I thought for a few minutes as I sat down on a plastic chair that I created as I considered the proposal. "Two wishes…One, if the information is accurate, from the Amrita; and one from this Demon God guy, huh?" I buried my face in my hands in deep contemplation. "This guy seems like bad news… but, this isn't something that I can just give up on…just to be morally good? To whom exactly? Myself? The Witch…? My Avatars…?! Who am I kidding…?! If anything, I oughta be concerned with myself. The things that're out there… I'm not strong enough to face those things and get out unscathed".
…
"I'll do it" I got up, "But, what happens to him? There isn't a seal on him that'll get released when I kill the Witch, is there?"
Lucifer: 'No lad, What this God offers is a Soul Contract, so there is no way that he will go back on his words; neither of the two parties shall go against their words. All the more, his soul will pass on to a higher level of being. Do you accept?'
"Hah… no use thinking of useless stuff… Let's go-" I sighed and teleported out of the forest, into the sky, and flew to Arnoldeira. I had all the maps of this realm already stored in my memory. And so, I reached the Griffon-barrow tomb in less than a second. No surprise when you're travelling at near the speed of light. Got a bit confused along the way…
Lucifer: 'Aye, lad, I forgot to say, but I've absorbed the powers from the multitude of Shoggoths you killed. It'll take a bit longer to absorb the Demon God, Errlartian's power; even a minute fraction of it… All the more, he isn't completely dead now, is he?'
I landed on my feet, on the crumbled and cracked ground, and asked: "Absorbed? So, you can strengthen my body with the grudge of the things that I killed? Sounds messed up…". Even after death, my victim cannot rest. Such is the abyssal reality of the things that I kill; so that I can live another day.
Even though Lucifer absorbs the grudge of my victims, I feel like I'm shackled by the power that I gain from them: their grudge, materialised.
Lucifer: 'Exactly that. It's the power that helped me kill my God'
The terrain was deserted. I was in a giant crater about 3 kilometres in radius, 70 metres or so deep. The area surrounding the crater was barren land, a distance away from which the trees were crushed down in an outward direction.
"What the hell…" I uttered, "Did someone drop a nuke here? Did you guys fight it out here?"
Lucifer: 'Aye. An army against an army; A God against a Witch… She must've had the physical soul of the God in an artefact to slay him. Surely, she did not kill him through blood shed…'
"I heard that no one survived. Not even the Demon God… How's the Witch still alive? It must've been aeons ago, the fight, right?".
Lucifer: 'She is, and that's all we know. Kill her; he says'.
There was no entrance to the toum. The stairs that originally led down to said tomb were pulverised, and only the blasted door was somewhat jolly - although, seared through, it was. It was made of Wiblo; weird name. It's made of Black Witch bones, and demon-grade monster horns, and is said to be the most durable material in all regards; in this realm, that is.
The walls were infested with creepvine looking vegetation that was covered in black dust. "Is that poisonous?" I jerked a vine, "Only one way to find out-" I nommed on the creepvine with the black dust on it.
Surprise, surprise-! It's poisonous. Well, not that it can affect me. I can pretty much consume anything that has a physical form, and I can neutralise any poison inside of me too.
"This is weird…" I cleaned my hand, "This dust is found on hazardous asteroids. Did she bring down an asteroid from outer space to wipe you out?! Jeez, what the hell happened?"
Lucifer: 'He says that the Witch launched a surprise attack that she had been preparing for the past hour or so, hurling a heavenly rock, and killing most of his army'.
"Hahahahah, a heavenly rock, huh? And, you still messed her up? You must've been really strong".
Lucifer: 'Naturally—he says'.
I made my way through the convoluted pathways of the labyrinth; nowhere near as confusing as R'lyeh, but it tried its best. Boobey traps, traps on the wall, floor; arrows, guillotine, spiked pits, and other gimmicky traps. Not that they have any effect on me; I'm just quite literally built different physically.
--END OF CHAPTER 10--