*back with a new chapter. Hopefully I didn't screw up too much, but here we are. Let me know what things I should improve, since I'm still learning how to write specific things and scenes. I appreciate all the input you guys can give me. Until then, enjoy. Peace out and Deus vult.*
Scalegorge Waterscape, the place where the Vidyadhara reside, an oceanic region transferred from their home planet. The entrance was surrounded fully by what looked like a vast ocean, a body of water so large that it could easily get rid of any trace of Mark. He couldn't swim, so it was even worse for him.
"Well, I guess here we are. We even have a warm welcome, it seems," he smirked, watching as the henchmen of the Antimatter Legion came over to them, ready for battle. March scoffed, drawing her bow.
"Are we seriously going to have to fight every little time?"
Stelle shrugged, swinging her bat around.
"I think that's the case here."
Mark tried to use some of the power within him, but his body was too weak to handle it at the moment. The energy simply refused to move, remaining immobile in his core.
"Damn it... I guess you guys are alone this time as well."
With a smug 'hmph', Stelle took to the enemy, her bat ravaging ahead. They were mere minions, sent to try and stop them down, so her strikes were pretty effective. Mark simply watched the fight unfold, the small number that came to greet them was nothing but a visible attempt at buying some time. Phantylia knew they were coming, and she made sure to simply put on a show.
"I guess we have to wait for them to appear as well, right?"
Just as he thought about it, dragon-shaped water moved through the air, taking the entire enemy force by surprise, swiping them away in one clean motion.
"Phew, well, that was easy," chuckled March, turning back to the group. The General and Dan Heng had both appeared together, with the latter looking different. Everyone looked at him with confused expressions, while Mark shrugged.
"Yo, nice seeing you're fine and well, Dan Heng."
He looked over at him, the new presence totally different from the old one. While Dan Heng's usual self seemed to carry a cold air around him, this one's presence could totally crush someone. It was a form of high power, something old of ages more than he could count.
"You are Dan Heng, right? What's with the horns?"
He sighed, simply shaking his head slightly.
"It's a long story, March. It's me."
"So, you do have secret strength."
Jing Yuan stepped in, the same carefree smile on his face.
"Let us save the reminiscence for later, shall we?"
What followed was a quick speech from the General himself about the entire situation and how the Luofu was in their debt, asking once more for their help. Mark simply stood to the side and listened to the whole ordeal, aware of the words that came from him. Still, his mind had another focus, both on Tingyun and on what awaited them right in their next step. Jing Yuan looked over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I understand that you're deep in thought. As General, I can understand the weight that comes with having to oversee the entire battlefield, trying to keep every possible variable in your grasp. However, in this very moment, we have no choice but to focus on what's before us."
Mark looked at him and nodded, the words a good reminder to do something that was usual for others and foreign to him: live in the present.
"I see. Thank you, General. Let's proceed, then."
The group made their way ahead, where only Dan Heng could reveal the rest of the path. The whole group watched in awe as water surrounded him, dancing around his body in elegant motions. Bright, blinding light shone in his palm, causing the waves to rattle and shake, droplets of water slowly levitating up in the air.
Mark felt as the ground shook slightly, the waters parting like two large gates that opened, revealing the path ahead through the underwater remnants of where the Vidyadhara had resided once. He looked over the remnants, taking in the fantasy sight that was laid bare before him. Countless ruins met light for the first time in a long time.
"This place looks awesome..." muttered Mark, walking a few steps with a somewhat shy demeanor. It wasn't anything new, but compared to how it looked in the game, things were taken up a few notches. Jing Yuan ordered Fu Xuan to remain behind with the Cloud Knights, just in case something was to happen, while he and the Astral Express crew were to go ahead and fight Phantylia.
Mark followed the group, staring around the place as he walked behind. He felt weak, maybe too weak, but he kept on going. It wasn't in his character to stop something so important just because he didn't feel too well. After all, his life would only become harder and filled with more challenges.
There were a few seals that had to be undone, with some weird puzzles having to be completed in order to handle it and proceed. Mark had done them in the game, but with the others there, it was a piece of cake. The large image of a dragon, the roots of the arbor shaped like it thanks to the Vidyadhara Elder's powers. One last seal for Dan Heng to break. One last moment before Mark would witness a battle like none other. With one arm held up, the last seal came undone, and soon their steps took them to a whimsical place. It was a simple realm, with odd fog of different shades, from white to a tinge of blue, mixing together in a soft dance.
Roots from the Ambrosial Arbor were scattered here and there, some taller than normal trees. In the center of the place, an odd green flame with outer layers of blue. It was none other than Phantylia.
"Oh? Hee-hee, has the General of the Luofu chosen to grace me with his presence?"
March got annoyed, looking at the flame with an angry expression.
"That witch! She was here waiting for us the whole time. Show yourself, Phantylia!"
"And the benefactors too? Patience, patience, let me make myself presentable... but first, there is someone I need to talk with. His actions were... interesting, to say the last, almost as if he knew what I was about to do."
Mark's pulse nearly stopped. That line wasn't something he knew about, and the words pointed clearly at him. Stelle and March turned to look at him, only to witness the moment Phantylia clashed with his chest, entering his mind. Mark could feel his mind slip a little as the external influence tried to touch his mind.
Silence followed for a moment as Mark simply closed his eyes, prepared to wrestle for control over his body. His mouth moved on its own, against his will.
"This human... what an interesting place. His mind is an utter mess. Hm, strange, some memories seem to be missing. Just what are you?"
The words came out in his voice, and everyone took a few steps back, looking over to him, just in case he would attack. Surprisingly, his muscles didn't twitch. Silence fell around the place, a most deadly sense of tranquility before the storm.
Inside his mind, Phantylia threaded the same frozen plane where Mark had been back when finding his flame, back when he managed to subdue the Stellaron on Jarilo-VI. She moved around curiously, trying to search for the core of his mind, only to find it: Mark, standing there in the middle of nowhere, the blinding Light moving above like the sun, not melting the snow.
"This is it: you inner-most chamber of the mind. Let's see what's hidden in here."
As she came in contact with it, sparks ignited. The fire burned like nothing else, triggering different parts of his mind—different memories from his past, failures, regrets—the part that he hated most. All of it only made the Fire of Will within him burn higher, soaring to the very skies, engulfing Phantylia.
Outside, screeches and shouts came from Mark's own throat, which wasn't his in that moment. Still, he wanted to scream as well, to shout and rid himself of his senses. Despite closing his eyes, the images were bright, showing everything. The voices that had talked with him, the dark version of himself coming back to strangle him. The very thing that Phantylia had done was to trigger every possible stimulus for his wretched self.
The flame left his body, flying high up above the roots of the Ambrosial Tree.
"What are you!? You're no normal human! It burns! I'll make sure you pay for that, insolent vermin!"
With the power of the Abundance, she once again formed the towering body that they had fought in game. All eyes moved between the raging Phantylia and Mark, who was spasming as he fell to the ground, nearly hitting his head on the ground to make it all stop. Inside, the images only got worse, bringing fears and unlived futures where he had failed to light, showing them as reality. He felt each and every thing that crossed his mind.
"Mark! What is going on?"
March nearly rushed to his side, but Jing Yuan held her back.
"Something doesn't seem right. If worse comes to happen, we'll be caught right in the middle of it."
The Lord Ravager quickly formed her body, with large flowers blossoming around as well. Mark was still on the ground, mumbling different things to himself while she glared at him, the rage visible in her expression.
"You vermin! You're no damned human being, you freak! Perish!"
With one movement, her arm took up to the air, falling down like thunder. Everyone prepared for it, with Welt ready to use his walking cane, while Jing Yuan and Dan Heng prepared to strike together. It wasn't needed. A few large spikes made of ice struck up, moving through her flesh with ease, piercing it and stopping its descent.
"What the?" asked Stelle, turning back to see Mark. He stood up, but his gaze was simply lifeless. Pale in the face, with traces of blood barely visible beneath his nose, he looked more like a monster than anything else around. He was silent, his right hand pointed upwards, the empty orbs staring straight at Phantylia.
"I'll show you destruction, you wretched creature... I'll show you how nice of a place hell is in comparison with what I'll do to you."
"You dare threaten me, you arrogant insect!?"
He clenched his fist. Tens of tinier ice fragments burst out from her hand, freezing all of it to the point that it just broke off from the writs. It grew again thanks to the power of the Abundance, but the pain was slightly noticeable on her face.
"The things I had to see..."
He stepped forward, walking right through the others, focused on nothing but the enemy before him. The flowers tried to crush him, to use their sheer size to take him down, but large ice icicles formed in the air, pinning them to the ground. Mark's body was slowly freezing, the right half of him covered in ice, his sword stuck to his back while the pipe simply got trapped in ice next to it.
"The horrors of my own mind... they're not just of my making, but remnants of the Stellaron's influence... they're trying to drive me insane and escape my control..."
He kept walking, looking up at her with no shred of life left in him. His eyes were not what humans regarded them as, mirrors to one's soul, they were simply tools to aid him in bringing her vengeance.
"For the sin of bringing back these abominations to the Xianzhou, and for the sin of trying to trespass into my mind..."
His left side of the body was engulfed in flames that moved higher and higher, increasing in intensity. They didn't burn him. For him, they were there—a part of him, a mere extension of his will. The fire that burned within him, the very thing that pushed him to the brink of doing something great, the very thing that kept him powered at nights as he discovered how great different worlds he read about were. It was a simple desire that pushed him to achieve greatness that his world didn't hold.
Soon, what stood before her was not a man but a perfect mix of ice and fire, a being whose existence is a contradiction in itself. Unbound by fate, fueled by nothing but the need to change it and reach the perfect ending he held in mind. In that split second, he had chosen to be selfish and grab that ending no matter how much he'd have to ruin his body. In that very moment, everything within him disobeyed him, running on nothing but pure fear and scattered bits of insanity that threatened to come together and become one. He was in control, not of his powers but of his body, even if his mind was slowly slipping from his normal state to something far more sinister.
"...witness what horrors lie inside of me..."
With that, both the flames and the ice amped up, reaching high above her form, threatening to swallow her whole. Mark could feel his body cry out, begging him to stop, but the power didn't listen to him. With anger gushing out of her being, she grabbed him in her hand, trying to crush him. She brought him up to eye level, the ice freezing her palm, while the fire kept burning her flesh away with loud crackles and fizzling sounds as the fat beneath her skin heated up.
"Damn you, just die!"
Her palm contracted, forcing his limbs together. The pain was much, and Mark opened his mouth.
"Yes, scream, shout, and wail!" she laughed with a perverted sadistic sense.
Still, what came out wasn't sound. It was fire, and it slowly gathered up, crashing with itself. Slowly, a sphere formed between his teeth, burning ominously. Her eyes tried to look its way, only for him to breathe out a wave of his turquoise fire, pure and raw, in waves that engulfed her face.