As a healer, Caitlin had always been the weakest link whenever it came to straight up combat. It was a given, as any healer in the modern age would struggle even against a Legendary rank beast in a fist fight. Caitlin was no exception to this fact.
Of course as a mage, she had taken the time to learn a few defensive and offensive skills so that she wouldn't always be over reliant on her teammates. However her overall aptitude for those skills limited her greatly. It wasn't that she didn't have talent as a mage, it was just that she specialized better as a healer.
Naturally she found an alternative method to compensate for her weakness.
"Pain…?", Dagro murmured to himself as the wounds on his arms healed at a visible rate, "When was the last time I even felt such a thing? How nostalgic"
"Don't worry", said Caitlin with a cold glint in her eyes, "There's still more nostalgia where that came from"
Dagro didn't respond to this and simply studied her briefly. His wounds had long since vanished but now he felt like taking her a little more seriously after what she had done. Slowly, they began circling around each other, both of them looking for an opening to exploit.
"I must say, this girl is quite amusing! Ha Ha Ha Ha!", the Dragon Emperor laughed heartily. He then vanished from where he stood and now sat on the throne placed at the back of the room.
'I might as well get comfortable' he thought to himself with an excited grin.
"Is Dagro really taking her seriously? That little thing?!", asked Aria in exasperation, her tone heavy with distaste for Caitlin.
Selei glanced at her for a second before she turned back to the two about to fight and said, "I doubt it. I think he's just curious as to how far she can go exactly"
Asrige nodded in agreement and added, "It was quite rare to find opponents who could even scratch us back when we were still active. I imagine that it is even rarer in this era"
Suddenly, the three little men became antsy and started jumping around again.
"Mistress!"
"The boy! The boy!"
"Awake!"
"Hm?", Asrige turned her head to where they were gesturing and saw Lucas finally stirring awake, "Oh, he's finally getting up. And just in time for the show too"
CLASH!
CLANG!
CLANG!
BOOOM!
"Erh, what the heck is going on?", Lucas groaned as he sat up and rubbed his head. He was still feeling a little sluggish and his head still hurt a little but he nearly forgot about all that when two silhouettes zipped past him at unfathomable speeds.
CLANG!
CLANG!
SMASH!
"Is that…Caitlin?" Lucas couldn't believe his eyes when he managed to catch a glimpse of her as she swung her sword down at Dagro.
He immediately tried to get to his feet to go and help her. In his mind, Caitlin was never a fighter so he thought she might be in trouble. Yet when he looked closer he noticed that although she was struggling a little, she could keep up with the man she was fighting.
"Cait…", Lucas murmured once again, wondering just how his friend was able to fight so well.
"Oooh, a name!"
"Was that her name or his?"
"Pretty name!"
Suddenly Lucas found himself surrounded by three funny-looking colorful little men. He looked past them and noticed more people staring at him.
'Are these the people that were in the statues?' thought Lucas as he stared back at them 'The man Cait is fighting must be one of them then'
He then noticed a familiar face among the group and clenched his fist. The rage he had built up before he passed out resurfaced with a vengeance.
"You!" Lucas growled as he glared at Aria.
"Hello, my advocate", Aria greeted him with a warm smile despite his clear hostility.
"You made a vow with me, remember?" said Lucas, "You said that if I freed your dumb King-"
FWISH!
"Argh!" Lucas cried out in pain.
Lucas didn't even get to finish what he had to say before something flew through the air and wedged itself deep in his shoulder. Selei slowly lowered the hand she had used to throw one of her bone spikes.
"Watch your tongue, insect", she warned, her eyes dead set on him with clear killing intent.
Lucas clutched his shoulder and wanted to spit back with a retort but he knew when to keep his mouth shut. He couldn't afford to die now.
"As you were saying, I will indeed honor my side of the vow and allow you to leave without me doing you any harm", said Aria.
"Then this stop fight!" Lucas shouted, pointing at Dagro and Caitlin with his good arm.
Aria frowned, "Well, it's not really up for me to decide. I am simply a bystander now so whatever happens to you or that girl is completely up to his Majesty"
His Majesty in question, was still sitting at the back of the room on his throne. This time, clapping his hands enthusiastically with a twisted and sadistic grin on his face each time Dagro pummeled Caitlin. Lucas literally shuddered at the sight of him.
"How sick…", he muttered in disgust before he turned to the rest of the group and asked, "Is that really the master that you all choose to serve?"
[System: Warning! You have been placed under the effects of the skill
Once again Lucas felt his body seize up and he couldn't move. However this time it felt like a hand was wrapped around his throat, slowly choking the air out of him.
"I never knew ants could bark, but I guess you learn something new everyday", said Asrige with a finger pointed towards Lucas' throat.
Aria laughed cheerfully and said, "Right? The humans, all seem to be like that for some reason"
"Pathetic", Selei whispered.
Lucas felt sick to his stomach just looking at them. Were people, humans, really nothing but specks of dust in their eyes? He wondered if it were other races, would they be treated any differently?
While he was pondering about all this, the system flashed before his eyes.
[System: The Chaos Core resonates strongly with you]
[System: Checking subject's compatibility with the core…complete]
[System: Initiating assimilation process…5% complete]
"Might makes right, little one", said Asrige as she continued suffocating Lucas, "Have you never wondered as to why that is?"
"When one has strength, nothing else matters. How they live, what they do and who they choose to have by their side is completely up to them", she continued, "Every single living being in this universe carries their own will, opinions and values. Not everyone would agree with what someone else dictates and at the end of the day, how one chooses to live their life is their choice"
Asrige eyes darkened as she said, "But the fact remains that strength is, and always will be, the only thing that determines how far that choice takes one"
Once again, Lucas felt like he was teetering on the edge of unconsciousness as his face had turned a sickly shade of purple. Luckily for him, Asrige dropped her hand and he fell to the ground and retched. Lucas clutched at his sore throat, coughing and gasping as his lungs filled with air once more.
[System: Assimilation process…49% complete]
"Would you look at that. Just the perfect example for you, boy", Asrige remarked as she pointed past Lucas to where Dagro and Caitlin had been fighting.
Turning his head, Lucas' eyes widened to their extremities at the sight before him.
There stood Dagro in victory with his hand clutched around Caitlin's throat, suspending her in the air. However Caitlin didn't look like her usual self at all. Her skin had shriveled up into deep wrinkles and her beautiful brunette hair looked like it had been dipped in a bucket of bleach.
"CAIT! NO!" Lucas shouted as he pushed himself up off the ground and charged towards Dagro, "Let her go you beast!"
Dagro barely glanced in his direction before he sneered distastefully.
"Kneel, you filthy pest", he ordered calmly.
[System: Warning! You have been placed under the effects of the skill
Against his control, Lucas was forced to drop to one knee mid run. He desperately tried to get up and run forward once again but just like before, he simply couldn't.
"You lack strength", said Dagro, noticing the desperation in Lucas' eyes, "If you had the necessary strength, you would be able to ignore my soul aura and save your friend. If you had the necessary strength, neither you nor her would've even been in this situation. If you had the necessary strength, I would be the one kneeling before you in that pathetic state"
Dagro then flashed him with a sinister grin as he yelled, "But instead you're so weak!"
[System: Assimilation process…87%]
"Lu…cas…?"
Lucas was surprised to see that Caitlin was still conscious in the state she was in, let alone alive. Whatever Dagro had done to her looked like it had drained the very life out of her.
"I…I'm...sorry…could…n't…save…you…", Caitlin croaked with each word seeming like a struggle to get out.
"Cait, I should be the one apologizing to you!" said Lucas with tears of frustration threatening to spill from his eyes, "I'm sorry I couldn't prevent whatever this monster did to you"
"Huh? Is your brain as weak as the rest of you, roach?", Dagro snapped at Lucas, "She did this to herself"
"What?", Lucas asked quietly, not daring to believe him.
"I couldn't figure it out before but now that I'm closer, I think I've got it all figured out", Dagro explained, "I don't know where she obtained such a ridiculous ability but it seems she activated a skill that actively refines her soul and converts it into raw power"
Lucas sucked in a breath of cold air and he wasn't the only one shocked by the news at all. Asrige's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets and Aria's jaw hang loose with her mouth open wide. As veteran warriors themselves and beings who had lived longer than most, they both understood the consequences of tempering with the soul to such an extent.
"I don't know whether to call her brave or foolish for her actions", Aria muttered, staring at Caitlin's shriveled form in a different light.
Asrige nodded in agreement and added with a grim expression, "Unfortunately, her sacrifice hadn't amounted to anything"
"C-Cait…why…?" Lucas choked, with tears streaming down the side of his face. He couldn't fathom why Cait would sacrifice her very life force just to try and save him.
"You must be really stupid if you have to ask that", Dagro scoffed harshly, "The girl sacrificed her very life just for even a chance to save you from certain death. What other reason could it be for apart from love?"
Lucas almost outright denied Dagro's claims, dismissing them as some cruel way to try and break his spirit again. However, for a brief moment his eyes locked with Caitlin's. To everyone else, only a second had passed but for Lucas it felt like years worth of emotions were somehow conveyed in that single second.
[System: Assimilation process…95% complete]
"Boooo! I'm bored again", the Dragon Emperor spoke up for the first time in a while. The whole time he had been silent because the clash between Dagro and Caitlin had been quite entertaining.
"If she has nothing left to show, get rid of her", ordered the Dragon Emperor with a lazy wave of his hand.
"NO! Please!" Lucas begged and pushed with everything he had to get off the ground. After what Caitlin had just done for him, how could he let her just die?!
[System: Assimilation process…98% complete]
"As you wish, my King", Dagro shrugged his shoulders without a care. He raised his free hand and let it hover it front of her chest, directly over her heart.
"Any last words?", Dagro asked almost mockingly.
Slowly, Caitlin tilted her head towards Lucas and forced a smile onto her wrinkled face.
"I…love…you…"
Those were the last words heard from Caitlin before Dagro plunged his hand through her chest, snuffing out her life in an instant. At the same time, Lucas received a strange message from the system.
[System: Assimilation 100% complete]
"Be grateful that she didn't have to suffer in her final moments, pest", Dagro sneered, half expecting Lucas to start bawling in torment any moment now.
"How could you…? How dare you…?" Lucas muttered blankly, his face now pale and void of emotion. Although he himself couldn't see it, a strange red aura was slowly building up around him.
Asrige frowned when she saw this and thought 'Is he going to attempt the same thing that girl did? No, this seems to be something else entirely'
"Idiot! Get away from him!", Selei suddenly yelled at Dagro.
Dagro frowned in confusion at her warning before he too noticed the strange energy building up around Lucas. Without realizing it, Dagro's soul aura had already been shattered and Lucas got to his feet as he glared at Dagro with unbridled hatred.
'Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kiiiiill!'
Such were the thoughts that now ran through Lucas' head. Voices that weren't his own and so loud that they threatened to split his head open. Not really knowing what to do, Lucas did the first thing that came to mind.
"RRAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGG!"
Lucas channeled everything he felt into one big, mighty roar. The whole area within five meters of him outright exploded, sending powerful shockwaves rippling throughout the whole room. There must've been more damage done but Lucas' vision dimed and began to darken as soon as he delivered that world shattering roar.
However, before he blacked out, the last thing he saw was the system screen:
[System: Congratulations! Subject has successfully merged with the chaos core. You have acquired exclusive feature
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A/N: Hey guys! A bit of a long chapter so I hope you enjoy. RIP Caitlin :p
I have added the general power ranking system for most of the sentient entities in the auxiliary volume so be sure to check that out.
Please don't forget to add the book to your libraries if you love it and I'd appreciate the power stones too, they really help.
Have a great day y'all! <3