Aether face became a very well-known shade of green. He tried holding back, not to throw up in Avrie's hand.
'Just what the heck is this thing!'
Two of its legs belonged to a lizard, but now they were much bigger. Bones ravaged out of them, bloodied in their green blood.
Pairs of wings bloomed across them, as its claws were all different kinds, some were from a fox, some looked to belong to a bear, and others from a wolf. There were many others, but he didn't recognize them.
It also had four pairs of spider legs, or whatever animal they belonged to.
Some were smaller, while the other were sharper.
Fur glided across one of them, while the other looked to be from the skin of a snail, slimy and not from this world.
It also had two additional legs, which were significantly larger, used for maintaining its balance and handling the weight. They were strong, with bones and claws.
They could also might as well be used as hands, but he tried not to think that, that way it wasn't so fierce.
Its skin was a shade of purple transitioning to white as it got close to the legs.
Its tail was long, and many spikes penetrated through its flesh constantly, but they were being eaten by some small monster that lived on it.
Its spine arched like a bridge, rising high at the tail and dipping unnaturally low near the center, giving room for its spider legs to stab into the earth.
A the front, it curled back up, its body shaping to be more of an animal that lived on two legs, not six.
Its skin looked cut and stitched, as its chest was buried in feathers and its back in scales,
its spine came out, with long and sharp carved bones sticking out.
On top of it, there were many small monsters like it; they had small arms, and their skulls came out of their heads.
They ate each other trying to dominate over the others.
As one died, another came out, bursting through the past body and bleaching the body with its blood.
Its skull bore the rodent shape of something Earth had once known. a rat, maybe, but the lower half unraveled into something unspoken. Bone stretched and folded like wax over fire, lined with twitching teeth that didn't sit still. The jaw didn't open. It bloomed
It was hard to describe; it bent up and down, with sharp teeth running alongside the bone.
It opened up, in the middle, its tongue came out long, sharp, and green.
It didn't have ears, but he had a feeling it could hear, just in another way.
The upper body had four hands.
One looked exactly like its front legs, with gills running on them, letting it breathe. They allowed it to survive
The other was shaped into a ball with many bones. This one allowed it to crush.
While the other two were sharp, like scythes, dripping with their blood. They were made for death and destruction.
If he had to give it a name, he couldn't come up with one, because he would be speechless. But if there had to be a word to describe it.
'It would be chaos. A crawling manifestation of chaos.'
He stood still, trying his best to hold his breath, while his body was rapidly panicking.
'Calm down! It doesn't have eyes, just stand still.'
But it was becoming harder and harder to do so.
His legs scrambled, almost bringing him to his knees.
His stomach was aching in disgust, and his body was sweating bullets.
But as he was dreading in fear, he didn't notice his hand gripping the hilt of his blade tightly. It was as if it were another person completely, someone who wished to fight.
But while for him it wasn't going that well, for Avrie it was worse.
She tried her best to cover their mouths, but her legs were screaming, pleading even at her, her arms were shaking, and her body was constantly tilting.
She didn't look to be fully conscious.
They waited about five seconds for it to leave, but that time felt like eternity, like they had been frozen like the rest of the world for that time.
As it left, they both fell to the ground, trying to catch their breath.
But even that was hard to do.
Hyperveltelling, they tried to regain themselves, but nothing was working; it was as if it had caused a permanent trauma.
Its image was buried in Aether's mind, slowly eating him from the inside. His mind was in utter chaos. He was hardly keeping himself together from being torn into pieces.
That was when he heard a voice coming from his sword.
At first, his mind was too numb to understand it. But somehow, he was slowly starting to calm down.
He just had to concentrate on the voice, don't bother with anything else, let himself falter.
He needed to understand what it was saying.
But as he slowly put the words together, it looked to him that the words were some kind of praising. He didn't understand it, but he continued to concentrate on it and was somehow putting himself back together.
...
Aether took a deep breath, and with it, he clenched his blade, using it to keep his balance.
He slowly got up on his feet, his legs still shaking, but enough for him to limp around.
He looked over at Avrie, who, just like him, looked as if her mind was being torn open and eaten alive.
He glanced over at his sword, and when it recognized his glimpse, it spoke.
"The monster you saw, its powers allow it to enter someone's mind after they see it, and destroy it from the inside. It infects itself like a parasite deep into your brain. After it gets inside, there's no way of getting it out without killing it."
A bittersweet smile appeared on his face.
"So, what do I do? Kill it? And... who are you?"
The sword didn't respond; it just stared at him as it hesitated to reveal itself.
"Yes, you shouldn't worry though, while I'm here, its powers won't work on you. I shall destroy it each time it enters your mind. As I, am the Killer of the Abyss.
Aether's eyes widened, and he repeated her words in his mind.
'Killer of the Abyss.'
Just what did that mean? Who was it? And why was it helping him?
He was the last living vessel of the abyss; could it not see that since his path changed and his affinity was restricted?
And the Abyss was a god who could kill him.
And how was it able to show the monster's attack with words?
There were many questions, but all were forgotten at the thought of fighting that abomination.
Even without its ability, its body was just as fearful. Its bones were sharp enough to make a hole right through him with the littlest of effort.
He didn't want to do it, but as he heard Avrie's squeeles, his hand independently clenched the sword yet again. The same conviction from earlier, the same conviction that washed over him when he killed the fisherman.
He cursed himself as his feet moved on their own.
But hey, it was just a monster that eats your mind from the inside.
He chuckled, as in his vision, the ferocious figure of the beast appeared.
A part of him wanted to turn back, while the other wanted to kill it.
How many had it devoured, how many lives had it stolen? How many had suffered because of it?
He didn't care.
What he did care about was that it dared enter his mind; it invaded his privacy. And now, it was going to pay.
His footsteps echoed through the forest, and as they reached the creature, it slowly turned to him. And dashed forward, with its sharp hands first, ready to fill his body with holes.
But instead of being scared, he just stared as it approached.
He didn't know why he was acting like this; he wanted to be scared, to run.
And yet, it felt good.
This was the first step of his rebirth.
A mischievous grin curled along his face, making it unrecognizable.
And as the sharp tip of its arm reached his eye, he saw the codex appear for a brief second.
[Dream Resonance: 100]- The God of Praise has poured its will into your hands.
'Well, damn me.'
The next second, his hand slashed the creature's head clean of its head.
Aether just watched in awe; he hadn't done anything, his hand had moved on its own.
He looked at the monster's head, rolling on the ground.
He didn't believe it, only when the codex appeared to confirm it did he finally accept it.
[You have slain a Bearer demon, Chaos]
[Your knowledge grows stronger.]