191 Hye Is On The Doorsteps Of Death!
[These two items will be paid through coins, do you agree?]
“Yes,” what else could I do with such greed higher up. I didn’t know why but dealing with him reminded me of the nymph of the Bringold impact.
[Alright, I’ll deduct the prices directly and then give you the items] the next moment I saw almost all of my coins gone besides my soul points.
I felt bitter inside yet I had to endure this. Set your eyes to the big reward at the end of the tunnel, I kept telling myself this.
[You got four items from the system higher up]
[You can find them in your inventory]
I opened my inventory and saw four strange looking items there. What caught my sight was the air they exuded even inside my inventory.
The first was a scythe-like weapon. It had black handle and blade made out of silver white thunder arcs that kept dancing and creating the shape of the blade.
The second was a normal looking needle. Yet it exuded green and red air from time to time as if both were rotating and exchanging positions inside it.
The third was a fruit like grape. Unlike grapes, this fruit had elliptical shaped pieces, some were red, some were green, and others were blue.
The fourth was a small bottle that had a swirling fluid, rotating non stop even inside my inventory. The fluid started with white, changed colour gradually to turn into red, then black, and finally white again.
[You got your things] the higher up said and I felt little joy in his tone. What? Were those higher ups this poor or was he excited about making a deal with me?
[You can start first by the body. You got a fruit, take it out and squeeze its parts over the body]
I thought that the fruit was for me and the potion was for the dead Curasee but I was wrong. I took out the killed body of the Curasee race and that fruit.
The moment I held it in my hands, I had a weird feeling. This fruit was in the size of a big fist, like a fist from a giant race like Selvators or Berserkers.
But the odd thing wasn’t in its size, but the feeling I got when I grabbed it. It was like it was breathing, like a life thing taking a breath in and out in a regular pattern.
“Squeeze this thing? Is it alive?” I asked in doubt.
[Just squeeze and rub that cursed body with it] the tone of that higher up returned to his impatience and anger. It seemed even by seeing the dead body of the Curasee dude here made him enraged.
*Squish!*
I had to admit, the feeling I got from squeezing this fruit was as disgusting as ever! It brought out a sticky liquid that I didn’t want to touch with my hands.
It was sticky green red fluid, having a very awful scent that turned my stomach upside down.
So I just squeezed it and kept it over the body of that Curasee. The fluid fell and covered its body fast like it was a living thing that found meat to eat.
*Sizzle!*
A strange sound came when I finished squeezing the fruit. “Is that supposed to happen?” As that sound appeared, a strange storm of gas appeared from the Curasee body, enveloping it and shielding it from my eyes.
[It’s normal] I didn’t believe that higher up words, [Now take out the scythe and use it as if you are stabbing your heart]
“Are you sure?” I took the scythe out. Unlike its small image inside my inventory, that thing grew up to become double of my size.
[Just do it] the higher up said, [And try to keep yourself alive. If you can’t, just drink that potion]
I didn’t know why but from seeing the sharp edge of that scythe I wanted to take the potion now. Yet when I took a peek at the Curasee body enveloped in that gas, I threw away that idea instantly.
I couldn’t even raise that scythe as it was so big and heavy. It wasn’t as heavy as my glaive, but it wasn’t as light as my other two glaives.
So I placed it on the ground, tried to raise its shining blade with dancing tongues of thunder without hurting myself.
At this moment I realised something. That blade seemed as soft as a jelly. Weird! I touched it again and confirmed my previous feeling.
*Rumble!*
Yet when I placed the sharp tip over my chest, my body got a violent tremble. Without controlling anything, that black handle of the scythe rose up in the air while its blade kept going deep inside my body.
I didn’t feel it coming out from my back. Yet I wasn’t in the mood to examine what was going on with this strange scythe.
As its blade got inside my body, I felt a pain that I never felt before. It was like something was peeling off my skin layer by layer like I was an onion. I didn’t know how long it had been, and didn’t care about my screams.
Yet when I finished, my voice was hoarse enough to rival that of the jumper.
[Grab the scythe by the handle] If that higher up didn’t alarm me with his urging voice, I wouldn’t have noticed that blade flying in the air just a metre above my head. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
[You got five minutes from now on, don’t waste them and take out the needle next]
Just as I extended my hand in a shaky way towards that blade, I felt myself dying. My power was gone! And all I could do was to prevent myself from falling.
I couldn’t even take a single step forward. Yet when I extended my hand, that blade flew over, shrunk in size to fit my hand.
Looking at it I noticed a beautifully shining orb of silver white light at the tip of that blade. I felt a strange familiarity and warmth with that orb, and I wanted to grab it, hug it deeply and hide it away from the entire world.
[Focus! This is the piece you cleavaged from your soul] yet the moment I was about to do that, the higher up voice came to shake me awake. [Don’t ever touch it! The first body it will touch will get it attached to]
I got what he wanted to do so I took out the needle and held it with my other hand. That needle also grew fast and looked like a dangerous long spear.
“How?” I looked at the Curasee body just metres away from me. It was still covered up by that strange gas.
[Just prick the tip of the needle into its body] the higher up said, [Then place your soul over the needle’s shaft. It will carry it deep inside that Curasee body]
“Then?” I could only extend my shaking arm slowly before the spear tip pricked that gas. I felt like it hit something rigid and without waiting for the higher up to answer, I touched that beautiful orb with the needle’s shaft.
Then things started to get really ugly!
*Roar!*
I heard an ear deafening roaring sound coming from the entire world before a strange phenomenon appeared. The bright world turned all dark without warning, and I felt like I was the only person living and about to die here.
An ominous feeling filled with pure hatred gushed out from my arm and went deep into my body. I felt my knees hitting the ground without being able to see anything. I was going to die! And with that all the voices in the world vanished.
Without waiting or thinking about anything, I took out that potion from my inventory. I gulped its content without even seeing it at all.
I touched it and opened its lid using my fingers. I hoped it would work, as a cold feeling seeped deeply inside my body.
*Thud!*
The first sound I heard was the sound of my body clashing down on the ground. Time passed while I saw weird scenes flashing in front of me, things I never saw or heard about before.
Weird worlds… Strange races… Words I never heard before in a language that I never understood.
The darkness kept pulsating nonstop. Sometimes it would grow fainter and other times it would be pitch black.
I didn’t know how much time passed while I was like this, but when the world returned to look the same, I found myself landing over my back on my chariot, gasping for breath while my clothes were soaked with my cold sweat.
[Take you time to rest] the next thing I heard was the voice of that higher up, [You already placed your soul into that body. You should be able to do that crazy thing later but first you need to regain your strength]
I wanted to say thanks or curse him for what happened. I felt like I was on the doorsteps of death, only one breath separated me from crossing that door.
But that potion also worked and I didn’t die. I closed my eyes and reopened them, trying to shake myself awake.
Yet I took almost half an hour to be able to stand up again. When I stood up, I saw the dead body of the Curasee race.
This time it wasn’t surrounded with any gas. Also the wounds it had before were gone. Even the missing limbs he had were regenerated and he looked healthy.
He had a face that looked strangely familiar. When I looked closer, it was similar to mine, with few differences here and there.
[Just drop your blood over his head and the connection will be completed] the higher up was still here. I feared that the bastard would leave me behind, stuck in the middle of all this mess.
“Crack!”
Like a surface made of ice that got smashed, I felt the same feeling when my blood fell over that body’s head.
Then a beacon of light shone in the middle of my mind, preventing me from taking a single step away.
Many things flashed past my mind. Abilities, information, and even memories of a life I never lived before. Many scenes I saw were similar to the scenes I saw when I was on the verge of dying.
This time my mind was clear and I understood what was going on here. I was getting the memories of the Curasee I killed, alongside all of his abilities as well.
It was shocking to realise that Curasee wasn’t fresh to apocalypses. This was his third apocalypse while the previous two ended up destroying the world and leaving it under the rule of the dark realm monsters.
Just knowing that I killed someone as a veteran and successful in doing his dirty tasks like that one made me feel little pride.
The information I gained was mostly useless. After all, everything was said in a different tongue than mine. Yet I might gain to know their language at some point and this useless info would turn into a priceless treasure.
[You can now use that infestation ability of that cursed race] the voice of the higher up came and startled me awake from my thoughts, [Use it over your shadow and let’s see if things will work out the way you thought]
“It will,” I said with firm determination. I would neve fail after passing all this horror and pain. “I swear I’ll make it work!”
[Let’s put your will under test then] the higher up seemed to not hold much hopes on my success. But I didn’t care about his thoughts.
I extended my arm, pointed towards the direction of my shadow. That body opened his eyes. They had a strange silver-white lustre inside them.
As I did, he did. As I thought, he acted. It was my first time controlling this new body of mine, but things worked out smoother than I expected.