31 Chapter 30
"Absolute Domain."
As the words rang out. Ariel's already narrowed vision shaped itself into a tunnel. A tunnel where there was only him and the singular monstrosity ahead of him. A tunnel that changed the very world around him, turning the almost abyssal night into a world of grey. Like an ancient being, tampering with the world to its whim. Giving him an awareness of his enemy and environment levels above his previous self.
His mind empty, his eyes the sharpest it has been in forever, his body teetering with raw power. Waiting for a chance to explode into action. His hands gripping his trusty blade in a death grip. Ready for any possible attack.
An attack blitzed towards him, its speed even faster than before. In a split second, the tentacle was already in his face, its length coiled around in the air. Intending to trap him.
This time Ariel could sense it, not see it, even with his amplified sight he couldn't catch it with his eyes. But he could sense it with his body. And with his mind failing to perceive it, the only answer was to trust his body.
And he did.
Ariel cocked his body sideways, neatly and briefly avoiding the attack. His mind still not catching up with his body. Causing him slight vertigo for a second, a second too valuable to waste. As the tentacle suddenly sweeped its long body horizontally, ramming into his waist with such a destructive force. Similar to slapping away a fly. Ariel was sent through the air. His left arm faced the blunt force first, immediately turning into mush. His bones pierced out of his arm, his mangled flesh flying through space.
Then came the damage to his whole body. His waist had a big gash. Spreading to his back like a snake. Its layer of skin drooping and hanging on weakly, the blood, the dark red ink, spilled out of his big wound like a waterfall.
The rest of his body took considerable damage from the shockwave of the blow, his insides stirring up violently. His meal beforehand almost coming out of his mouth. Any feedback from below his waistline was lost. Only a terrifying numbness remained. However, in just a snap. His body restored itself to perfect condition. All the excess blood and gnarly bones disappearing like it was never there, the weakness that was spreading throughout his form vanished. As if mere reminders of the past.
Fortunately, the platform beneath him was wide and spread out enough, that the attack only pushed him for twenty meters, his body taking the brunt of the damage, successfully Absorbed the wave of force driving him through the air.
As if nothing happened, Ariel shot back towards the tentecle, in case it decided to change its target. Luckily after a few seconds, he was already near it. Preparing to leave his survival to his body once more. This time ready for the dizziness that came with it.
The tentacle noticed him immediately, shivering in desire disgustingly. Its attention wholly focused on his rushing figure. It too lunged its slippery appendage at him, meeting him in the Center of the marble surface in an attempt to seize him. An attempt Ariel dodged by the breadth of a hair.
This game of mouse and cat went on between the two of them, never stopping for a second, never giving Ariel a peace of mind even for a moment. His body on overdrive at an all-time, his instincts screeching in his mind, as if a banshee was in his head, banging the walls of it with all its strength. Trying to break into the real world.
The sword was already cracking in multiple places, a result of all the parrying he had to perform to avoid getting ravaged by the fucker. The skin of his hands getting torn up roughly from the after-shocks of the attacks. The hilt of it covered in dried-up blood and small pieces of skin.
Numbness was slowly spreading through his mind, patiently eating away at his rational. If he wasn't immune to pain, he would've been in a world of pain by now. However, in some ways. The numbness was worse than the pain, at least the pain would've made him awake, it would've made him more active. But now all he felt was a sickening sensation. A sensation similar to that of a person pressing down on your scalp with all their strength, slowly pushing your head in. Like an infectious virus, no matter what you did, it didn't go away.
Too distracted. Ariel, too late to react, found himself caught by the neck. The nasty appendage twisting itself around his neck strongly. Leaving no chance to escape. The flesh around his neck caving in due to the pressure it installed onto him, which healed in an instant, but was pressed again. Making it bend once more.
The cycle of destruction and healing of his neck went on for a dozen times. It was a clash of two opposites, a battle of two concepts. And in the Center of their battlefield, the victim of their fight was non other than Ariel. Who felt nothing except of the feeling of his body going numb and restoring itself in a never-ending cycle.
His Absolute Domain was still active. His vision was switching between darkness and the grey coloured world. Confusing him. And giving him dizziness incomprehensible to anything else he has experienced before.
It was clear his body was at its limit. Even though it was instantly adapting to his situation, even though his aspect was working non-stop to help him, something was stopping it from going overboard. A limit, it was something that he couldn't just surpass in a snap of a finger. It was an insurmountable wall that couldn't be climbed.
It felt like years for Ariel, being in the hands of a nightmare creature. His neck being crushed and healed hundreds of times. In reality however, only a few seconds has passed.
Then, he heard it.
Clank!
Deafening. That was the only way he could decribe it.
He felt his ears burst, blood dripped down the sides of his face, joining the mess that his neck created.
Thump! Thump!
His heart thumped against his chest powerfully.
His body glowed with white light, shining brightly in its place. Like a sun.
His eyes saw nothing but a blinding whiteness that seemed infinitely strange but familiar at the same time.
After all that, silence descended. A silence only he could hear. A silence that felt overwhelming. A silence that sent dread to the very core of his being.
…
…
…
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!"
Ariel screamed at the top of his voice, his hands clutching his head. His body laying on the marble floor in a fetal position. Coiling into himself. His blue eyes that previously blazed like an inferno appeared blank. His mouth drooling spit non-stop, staining his chin and armour.
Abruptly. He stood up. His blank eyes looking around. Searching for his enemy.
The tentacle was gone, as if it never existed in the first place. The unconscious bodies of his three acquaintances were resting peacefully on the grey surface, though the only thing that was out of place was Nephis's severed foot.
Ariel continued staring into space for a while, his mind blank, no. Wounded from the previous phenomenon. A wound that couldn't be healed by his power. His figure would twitch erratically once in a while, his nails would scratch and dig deep into the statue's head.
He could see but he couldn't feel.
He felt as if something was taken away from him.
It made him empty.
He felt like a bystander, watching and wandering from the side.
he felt invisible.
What was this?
What did he see?
Why does he feel so weak?
He reached for his heart.
It wasn't beating, it wasn't providing him with warmth anymore.
It felt cold to the touch.
Then he stood up.....
No...He didn't, his body alone stood up.
It walked, its steps ringing out everywhere around him.
It walked.
It walked.
It walked.
It walked.....
Eventually, it reached the pale sun in the sky. The sun that just now blanketed the skies, its light reaching everywhere in the region. Nowhere was safe against its light.
A figure became visible in the very center of the blinding sun.
The figure's skin was beautifully pale. Its eyes a shining white, even its pupils was glowing with radiance.
It was slender in build, its arms as delicate as a withering branch. Its legs long and sleek. There was four feathery angel wings rooting out from its back. They were angelic, holy.
It opened its arms in invitation for his body. An invitation his body took without hesitation.
Ariel watched as his body submerged itself in the white radiance of the sun. spreading its arms and wrapping them around the figure tightly.
The figure's eyes peered at him from above, the real him. Its eyes empty just like his body. It continued staring at him as his body along with it disappeared into the sun. The sun that was now covering his whole vision.
He felt entranced.
He wished he could replace places with his body.
He felt cold. A cold that was dangerously spreading through his being.
His hands shook as they rose in the air, yearning for the sun's warmth.
His legs already cold. He couldn't stand up.
But he didn't want to give up.
So he crawled and slid, using his hands as propellers.
The only thing in his vision was the sun and nothing else.
That was his destination.
...
...
...
"Urgh."
A grunt slipped through his lips, his head felt like melted clay, his vision was blurry. He didn't remember anything besides lying down in fear due to the warnings of his shadow. After that, darkness engulfed him.
A few seconds later, his vision cleared up, his eyes wincing at the sight of the blinding sun.
Sunny looked up in annoyance. Only to freeze at the sight in front of him. His eyes locked onto a tall figure, the area around the figure had patches of blood, the figure's stature was bloodied, especially at the neck area. However that wasn't what made him freeze.
What made him stuck in his place, the reason his eyes glued to the figure was its unnerving posture.
The figure's head was aimed upwards, its neck straining from how stretched it was. Its mouth gaped open in a silent scream, Its eyes completely white. It was just standing there, as if frozen in time.
Sunny's stomach turned upside down in nervousness. His lips eventually opening in hesitation.
"A-Ariel?"
A/N: I hope you enjoy it, tell me if i did something wrong, I'm open to professional criticism. and thank you very much for the support.
