Shao Jin's Cosmic Mind Sea was a vast and awe-inspiring spectacle. Swirling galaxies painted across the expanse of an endless space were being fueled by radiant nebulae that glowed with indescribable beauty. Colors danced and vibrated in an ethereal ballet, defying the limitations of mortal comprehension.
At the center of this breathtaking cosmos blazed a massive sun—Shao Jin's Solar Consciousness. Its incandescent radiance illuminated this mental universe.
WHOOSH!
The blue and white spheres, remnants of Raphael's soul, were pulled relentlessly toward the center of this majestic sunscape.
"Be one with me, foolish human souls."
The absorption process was swift but spectacular. The blue sphere was consumed first. A ripple of power then coursed through Shao Jin's Solar Consciousness.
The white sphere followed closely behind. It met the now-enhanced sun, and as they touched, a burst of intense brilliance ignited that shattered and recreated this Cosmic Mind Sea. It was blinding even to its owner.
The sheer power of the white Solar Consciousness was staggering, far exceeding the bull's expectations. But such a powerful soul, belonging to such an insignificant, weak creature… what did it mean? He shrugged away the question with arrogance and ambition. There was power to be claimed so who cares about consequences right?
The once-golden core pulsated violently before settling into a calm and peaceful state as those remnants were subdued.
"HAHAHAH! Finally."
Shao Jin felt an exhilaration unlike anything he'd experienced before. With his newly expanded Solar Consciousness and the added benefits from devouring Balphazar's essence. It appeared as if he was on the path to ascending to godhood. This thought amplified his joy!
"Hm… Time to test this newly acquired strength!"
He eagerly opened his eyes to the physical world.
"Is it done?" A bat from the eagerly awaiting shadows dared to whisper, even though Shao Jin hadn't awaken fully. The tension in that chamber was so thick it could have been cut with a spoon and served for dessert.
"Shh, be silent, can't you feel the pressure…?" Another brave one cautioned, and as if this utterance was a switch of fate…
BOOM!
The bull's hooves radiated even more golden brilliance that was fueled with dark shadows that crackled with powerful streaks of lightning.
A sight for sore, bloodthirsty, yet envious eyes.
"The power! Its multiplied by several folds… Oh, great Emperor, bestow upon me wisdom and strength! I'm worthy!"
The Shadow Bat Army were basking in the reflected brilliance that seeped outwards. For even the smallest and weakest was getting stronger from just basking in this reflected power.
Their pleas were drowned out as their mighty bull awoke with a fearsome growl.
"Hmph! That human's consciousnesses… they tasted pretty damn good. Hahaha! Who knew their flavors would so perfectly compliment my own. Delicious… And such potent energy!" Shao Jin was impressed by the boy's Solar Consciousnesses, even though it wasn't his intention to compliment them.
"Now then, it is time to…"
A sudden, searing pain exploded within his mind and shot downwards. It wracked his massive frame with such intensity that he tumbled from his throne of light, clutching at his head as it buzzed and crackled with a mixture of gold flames and black shadow energies.
His mighty horns sparked wildly.
"Master!" The bats fluttered nervously.
Their excitement replaced by concern. However, their power was nothing to even dent the furs of Shao Jin's innate might, so what could they do, besides… stare on.
"Argh… What… what's happening?"
In the blink of an eye, Shao Jin's consciousness was dragged back into his Cosmic Mind Sea by the sheer power that now ravaged it!
It was no longer that wondrous tapestry of color, stars and swirling nebulae… Instead.
It was hell!
CRACKLE! CRACK! BOOM!
At the center, the once radiant and immensely beautiful sun was being devoured. Jagged, dark blue lines spread across its surface like an untamed virus spreading with unstoppable speed and purpose. And in front of that disintegrating orb, floated that insignificant little white Solar Consciousness.
"IMPOSSIBLE! How can this… be!"
It glowed menacingly as it span rapidly. Tendrils of pale energy reached out and tore into the golden core, and devoured with unimaginable power. The pulsating, vibrant sun was fading.
"ARGHHHHH!"
Then there was silence. His last pronouncements echoed, a chilling melody to accompany the change in ownership of that chamber.
On the outside, the bull's mighty form crumpled to the ground, but…
"Snort..."
Even in unconsciousness, the beast's innate resilience battled against the power of the invader.
Those bats wondered what was to become of them.
Would their mighty, unstoppable master return?
Or perhaps, he's dead… again?
What if…
Then, after some time, their anxieties were appeased as Shao Jin's body stirred and moaned softly. He was alive! But something was off… terribly off.
"Huh… what… where…?" Shao Jin slowly regained consciousness but appeared dazed. He shook his head, disoriented. The words he spoke came from a weak and confused place, no longer filled with arrogance or dominance.
"This smell…" His gaze drifted towards the bat horde that watched him with curious dread.
"Master, you're feeling better?"
"Huh…? Why are they… calling me 'master'? I thought… wasn't it… wasn't it the cow…?" A cold, unnerving thought came crawling to the front, "Why does my head feels so heavy and where is…"
An excruciating headache wracked its massive frame then…
Thump, thump…
Faint memories surfaced, pushing past that impenetrable golden haze that clouded its thoughts.
Memories of a racing heart, cold chills across a skinny and smelly form, then everything fades to black. He remembered… passing out. However…
"Wait, that memory…" It wasn't from Shao Jin's vast consciousness of battle, but… a measly human!
More images, fragmented and bizarre, flooded his thoughts.
A young, skinny human corpse emitting a brilliant blue and blinding white light…
Two majestic Solar Consciousness rising over him as if commanded…
An enormous golden hoof descending, then… oblivion.
All of it, flashes of stolen moments… from the bull's perspective!
His eyes widened, and he staggered back, finally grasping a terrifying truth.
"It's me! I… I'm in control of the bull's… body? How? What?!"
"This is… Am I dreaming? I…"
Raphael's internal monologue was a jumbled mess of confusion and disbelief. One moment he was staring death in the face, ready to become a Calamity's chew toy, the next... he was inhabiting the very body of that monstrous bull!
How did this happen?
Was it his dual Solar Consciousnesses? But he remembered Shao Jin absorbing them… or was it himself…? Did those spheres, his spheres somehow merge and took over the Golden Bull Thork's powerful form?
This entire situation was as absurd as it was terrifying.
"Ugh… this makes my head spin…"
Raphael struggled to reconcile this new reality.
He thought to himself: "Okay, calm down, calm down! Gotta get back into my body… But how? Oh…"
A dreadful realization slammed into him, hitting harder than Shao Jin's "Gold Press" attack ever could, leaving Raphael in utter despair.
"Wait… he… he ate me! That damn bull swallowed my body!"
His new monstrous body reacted instinctively, mirroring the chaotic turmoil raging inside him.
"ROAR!"
Raphael's roar shook the very foundation of that underground chamber, causing dust to erupt into a cloud and blowing away the Shadow Bats like leaves before a hurricane.
Those cries from those bats, their fear. That sound… was that his? He was surprised. He had never released a sound with such power, but before he could further admire this strange body's power…
"MASTER! You're awake!"
"We are glad master!"
The bat army trembled in submission. It seems the sounds coming from him had pleased them immensely.
"Okay… First things first. Stay calm… Gotta figure out what's going on."
Raphael tried to steady his pounding heart and take stock of his situation. He scanned his new limbs, still in disbelief. His voice, his roar, those massive hooves… this overwhelming power pulsating in every single atom, they weren't his but now they were? He couldn't make sense of it!
One thing was certain, however.
He couldn't let those grotesque creatures realize he wasn't the terrifying, arrogant, and domineering bull they now worshipped!
"What will they do if they find out… I'm just a pathetic human inside a Golden Bull Thork shell… Surely they'll turn on me! Gotta play this cool. Keep it low… Play dumb… but for how long…" These were the internal instructions Raphael repeatedly chant in hopes of delaying the inevitable, his demise.
Unfortunately for him, these bats, those annoying, disgusting creatures that had constantly tried to devour him earlier now possessed an innate fear, respect, and loyalty to the Golden Bull Thork's lineage. His fears were completely unfounded. Their subservience had been bestowed by their emperor's wings, and they couldn't rebel against it.
Raphael wasn't privy of this important fact and as such continued to worry needlessly.
"Okay, gotta think logically… First, I need to get out of here… but how? Those tunnels…" As he finished this thought, his instincts, those instincts that were now his, and not his took over.
WHOOSH!
His large black wings expanded.
Raphael's jaw dropped as he was suddenly levitating off the ground.
"I'm… I'm flying?" The sheer exhilaration of soaring through the air, defying gravity, was unreal. "Oh wow. Wait, I remember now. The Bull… gained these wings after… he consumed the Shadow Bat Emperor. Could it be...? Are those shadows also mine now…?" His eyes settled on the shadowy figures that waited eagerly with gazes of devotion and subservience.
"Lets… test that theory…"
His hooves nervously tap against the ground which he instantly stopped to maintain a semblance of confidence, but in actuality, his heart was doing somersaults as another thought washed through.
"I… I need proof."
Looking straight at an elder Shadow Bat whose wrinkled face and ancient, deep-set red eyes held more power and respect than a hundred other combined, he said something he hoped he wouldn't regret.
"YOU!"
His tone wasn't exactly as deep and as scary as Shao Jin's, but its arrogance carried enough weight to shut up the bat before him instantly as if preparing to be devoured whole, which could easily have happened now.
"Kneel!"
BOOM!
Without any defiance, without any resistance, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, the ancient beast…
THUD!
…prostrated itself upon the cold ground instantly. This show of power over such an ancient entity, it frightened Raphael. He was still human, and as such, the instincts to submit were almost overwhelming even though it should be the other way around!
The shock, it was very, very real!
His trembling hoof gestured for it to rise because the last thing Raphael needed was a mutiny on his hands due to unneeded show of power or arrogance that could be mistaken for… respect, which would certainly kill his motivation, which at this moment was rapidly diminishing.
And the subservient bat followed his every will! It didn't dare to question its new master.
"Haaa… This is too weird… I… This power…" He stared at those subservient shadows. Could this really be real? He was in control of a literal army of monstrous, terrifying beasts. These were the things that used to terrorize and attack others for their essence!
Raphael's mind wandered briefly to Tajmani's earlier antics about commanding him to do ridiculous tasks like carry luggage and how cruel her gaze had been. It felt strangely cathartic, knowing he was the one commanding others now, and that they wouldn't hesitate to jump off cliffs at his word.
Shaking away his distracting thoughts, he focused.
"How much time has passed? It can't be too long, right? An hour, maybe two…" He hadn't been in the cave that long, he thought. If so… then things may become complicated, terribly complicated!
"That spoiled brat… I bet she has already contacted the Bloodthorne Empire for reinforcements. And those guys… they won't play around with a Calamity. Oh, man…"
He finally recognized how much his predicament has worsen as a result of "accidentally" taking over Shao Jin's body.
His previous fears about getting eaten by monsters, crushed by hooves or swallowed by acid were replaced by a more terrible fear.
Fear of those that would stop at nothing to get what they want. And this was usually done in the name of…
Justice.
Raphael thought about Tajmani, her arrogance and influence. Surely, she wouldn't relent, knowing he carried her belongings. He'd probably be branded a traitor or a delusional idiot trying to claim the mother Crimson Fang Hound's bounty. His life was already shit before this, what about now?
But there was something more urgent…
"I…I need to get out of here fast! But first…" He looked over the shadowy legion, and saw them with new lenses…
"What do I do with these…?" Before he could even finish that question…
WHOOSH!
Instinctively, his wings reacted and unfurled.
They felt like extensions of himself, drawing information from beyond the frozen cave walls. A wave of power, subtle yet vast, emanated outwards. Images appeared before his eyes. He wasn't even controlling it, it just was!
"This is… unreal…"
Raphael saw trees, shadows, falling snow and the glow from serious knights! He saw them as blurs! Their movements amplified in an echo that his brain deciphered in terrifying detail as… a massive Bloodthorne Garrison.
"Crap! They're already here… This is bad, very, very bad!"
They were heading straight toward the ice cave!
"I… I gotta get out of here. NOW!"
Raphael's new instincts screamed at him, warning of approaching danger. He had to get out, now! Turning, he flapped those massive dark wings and flew upward, aiming for the fiery heart of the Fire Pool.
As he gained altitude, the Shadow Bat army that waited below watched with devotion and obedience. They were ready to follow.
"Wait for us, Master!"
Their screeching cries echoed through the chamber as hundreds of bats rushed after him.
Instinctively, Raphael felt his wings grow warm. Glancing back, he was astonished to see the bats merging seamlessly into his wings. With each joining, those shadowy appendages grew larger and more imposing.