Wreath of Lilies, Cauldron of Poison

Chapter 183

Kaukritya and Moha

(Regret and Delusion)

All of a sudden, a surge of power entered into Martell’s body. The pain caused him to scream and his body stiffening and jerking involuntarily.

“AAAGH!!”

“Boy!!” Sabrac shouted with worry.

Martell’s body jerked and his neck tilted back.

“Boy? What’s happening to you? Answer me!”

Martell’s head snapped back into position. The old Hunter saw that the boy’s eyes had turned fully black and a killing intent was directed at him.

“Telekinesis: Control,” the boy spoke. It sounded like two different people speaking in Sabrac’s ears.

The Sword Box laying behind Martell rattled and three swords flew to his side. He took hold of one and launched the other two towards Sabrac’s heart.

“What in Sud-Ghazid?!” The old man was surprised by the sudden change. He was a seasoned Hunter, however, and he reacted accordingly.

There were two reasons why Sabrac did not wear anything except for the trousers he had. The first reason was because an armour would hinder his movements. The second reason was because his body’s toughness was already at the level of a dragon’s. Only Artifacts or weapons at the National Treasures would be capable of drawing blood from him.

As such, the swords made of iron could not even leave a wound on his skin. He let the swords struck him, whereupon they shattered harmlessly.

But the two swords were distractions for the real attack, as Martell had jumped towards him, swinging his sword down upon Sabrac’s head.

“Hmh!” the old man pried his left arm from the stream of Mana and caught the blade just in time. With a grunt, he crushed the iron sword and unleashed a punch that blew Martell away like a ragdoll. Normally, one punch of his would be enough to shatter the defences of someone at the boy’s level, but he was directing most of his Mana to stabilizing the seal, reducing his destructive strength considerably.

Martell got up from the ground, his left arm bent the wrong way from the effect of blocking Sabrac’s punch. But he disregarded that and raised his right hand. Once again declaring his Telekinesis Skill. Another five swords flew towards him.

“Hrrhh!” the boy growled. Sabrac, unable to release himself from his current duty, scowled. If he let go, the Fragment of Calamity will immediately be released. If not, then he would have to take care of this without holding his power back. The boy would assuredly die.

“…I like you, boy. But you are forcing me to do this. I’m sorry.”

As Martell was preparing for the incoming attack, suddenly someone had tackled him to the ground. When Martell fell, so did the swords fell with him.

“Dammit. He’s strong!” the Hero of Calendia shouted as he was trying to hold him back.

“Hero?!” Sabrac was surprised seeing him there. He did not expect him to be able to reach the top with his current level of mental strength.

When the Fragment of Calamity was channelling its power into Martell, the pressure from its Authority was reduced, allowing for Akira to move. At that moment, his True Clairvoyance also reacted. And in his future vision, he saw what was going to happen.

So, using that chance, he dashed towards the shrine and made it just in time to prevent the worst possible future.

“Are you okay, Guild Master?!”

“I’m fine. He can’t hurt me, but I can’t move from here. You must stop the boy from destroying any of the platforms here!!” Sabrac answered.

Watch out!

The stream of light that connected the Fragment of Calamity and Martell became brighter, and with it, they boy’s strength. With a snarl, he dug his sharp nails into Akira’s neck, drawing blood.

Surprised, Akira cried out in pain and released him involuntarily, grasping at his bleeding neck.

“It didn’t touch the artery,” Akira said thankfully. “Thank God.”

The boy is being controlled by something. Cavenjaal spoke solemnly.

“Oh, now you want to talk!” Akira said exasperatedly as Martell snarled at him. “Forget it! You said he’s being controlled? How do we stop it?”

There is a stream of Mana coming from that thing. I think it’s what controlling him. But destroying it doesn’t seem possible. The best option is to render him unconscious.

“You want me to fight an Unrestrained Candidate by myself?!” Akira cried out. “Dammit! I’m going to have a headache tomorrow!”

“UUURGH!!” Martell got up from his fall and forcefully fixed his bent arm with the other, making an unpleasant cracking sound. The veins of his skin bulged as he let out a wrathful cry.

“AAAARGHHH!”

Inside his mind, Martell found himself standing in the middle of a thatched house.

The decorations were simple, and there were two unclean plates on the table. The place smelled of old wood and unwashed cloths. The door leading out of the house had a broken hinge on it due to the frequency of drunken kicks it was subjected to.

“This…? This is…my house?”

The door with the broken hinge opened and Martell saw once more the face that he hated and feared the most.

“You useless shit! Didn’t I tell you to clean these up?!

“No. No. You’re dead! I killed you!”

“What in Sud-Ghazid are you mumbling about, boy?!” the man shoved him angrily. The stench of soil and cheap spirits brought him painful memories that made him unable to form coherent thoughts.

“This…this must be a dream! I have to wake up!”

As the man tried to put his hand on Martell, all the colors - including his father’s - became black. Then, the house slowly started to become indistinct blobs that melted all around him.

“W – what?”

Martell then saw a patch of shadow behind his father began to bubble and froth, slowly rising until it was about his height and began to create a silhouette. Moments later, the shadow had become a figure that wore his face. Not just his face, it also had the same height, the same posture. It even wore the same clothes. Everything about him was perfectly identical. All except for his eyes. They were black as ink.

“Hello, Martell. Hello…” He called out his name, singing each syllables mockingly.

“I’ve been wanting to meet you. Oh, I’ve met you time and again, in your nightmares. But not like this. No, never like this.”

His dark twin held his father’s head and crushed it with one hand, whereupon his body immediately melted into the shadows.

Martell looked at him from the ground, trembling. “You…who are you?”

“Haha,” the thing that looked like him laughed as he bent down until he was at his level. “Ah, yes. You’ve never seen me like this, haven’t you? Even though you’ve felt my touch? I am the curse that resides inside your soul,” the thing pointed at Martell’s heart with his finger. “A mindless, incomplete being, driven by an instinctual desire to feed on your emotion. Well, not anymore! Whatever is happening out there has woken me up. It seems...Grea itself wished you nothing more than utmost despair, kinslayer.”

“T-that was not my fault! I didn’t mean to do it!”

“A lie,” His dark twin said as the image of his father appeared once more. “You’ve always dreamed about doing it. You just…wanted to forget it.”

Martell’s breathing became faster and a jolt of pain assaulted his chest.

“Look inside yourself, you know this to be true. A child, loved by no one. You, who begged for the pain to end every night of every day. Shrinking in a corner while your father drank himself to sleep? Don’t you remember? What you did to him? The wounds left on his body as you watched him die?”

The figure of his father, chest gored by pitch forks and hacksaw, grabbed his arm. The moment he did, Martell’s heart remembered the fear and the pain of his past. The smell of crude alcohol, the beatings, the angry voices. “If you are going to die, at least die like a real Sangyat! Offer yourself to the Demon Lord!”

“No! No! Please father! I’m scared! I don’t want to do this!”

Berated and belittled, Martell shrunk his body like a turtle, hiding his head with his arms. The emotions that had been shackled by the curse of the Demon Lord that Martell’s clan worshipped only affected him outwardly. But here, here was where all those feelings were trapped. The shame, the guilt; all of the hidden things that he had pushed down.

“Now, there is no one to help you,” the curse’s incarnation said.

“After all, what need of a warrior for emotions? All they need to be good at is one thing. Killing. Surrender, surrender to the bliss of oblivion. Show the world your contempt, your despair!”

“Stop it! Stop it!!”

Down at the village, the battle had started to die down.

Donovan, who was wrestling a juvenile Zagriva suddenly felt that the pressure from the monster was reduced significantly. Its glowing red eyes had dimmed and it looked confused. Seeing that, the man did not waste any time declared his Skill and clobbered the creature to death.

“That feeling of suppression is gone?” Eleanora squeaked after releasing a powerful Lightning Spell that scorched three monsters coming their way. “Have they done it?”

“I don’t think so, little one. I can still feel an ominous presence up there.”

Just then, they heard a hoarse cry that sounded like a wounded animal.

“That voice!” Nick took out his sword from the chest of a wolf. Grime and blood had dulled its edge. “Martell?!”

Eleanora, who had spent most of her power releasing spells after spells leaned onto her staff, fighting an urge to vomit from the nausea of using too much Mana in quick successions. “Go ahead…urp…we’ll…uegh, take care of the rest.”

“That doesn’t sound very reassuring.”

“Shut up and go!” Hannah shouted angrily. On these few days, she had killed more monsters than she had done in months. The stress had made her become more intolerant to bullshitting.

“The monsters’ power is diminishing, but we can’t hold the line forever. Do what you must do. But make it quick,” Klein said as he handed a Potion to Donovan. The bald man smiled as he wiped monster’s blood that had splashed onto his head with a cloth.

“The Lady’s gonna tan my hide if I let anything happen to the boy!”

“Just say that you’re worried about him, Mister Nick,” Rhoddes said.

Nick took a step on the stairs, but Rhoddes’s large hand stopped him from doing so. “Let me go first. I have a stronger defense against mental attacks.”

When the Anukaran Nankhudi took two steps up, he realized that the madness that he expected to assault him had disappeared. “It’s gone.”

He turned to the Paladin and nodded. Nick responded with the same gesture and the two hurriedly ran up the steps.

When the two arrived down the shrine, they were momentarily stunned by the strange and fantastical view. But quickly their attention fell upon Akira’s figure, whose body was bloodied.

Upon hearing Nick’s voice, Akira cried out. “Careful! He’s being controlled by the Fragment!”

Around Akira were deep slashes and remnants of swords that he had broken. He wiped his nose that was bleeding from overuse of his Cheat. He managed to whittle down Martell, who had started to slow down, his breathing slower and heavier from fatigue.

Nick looked at Rhoddes, unsure on what to do. He could not immediately believe the words of Akira, but Rhoddes had come forward before he managed to say anything. “The curse. It’s activated. I can see it enveloping him. I don’t know what happened, but I think the curse had mutated from contact with the Fragment. Its influence in him is darker than before.”

Nick was anything but not adaptable. He did not ask anything else but the most important thing. “So, what do we do?”

“I will use Spirit Dive to get inside his soul. Once there I can try to free him from whatever it is that’s controlling him,” the misshapen Nankhudi spoke.

“What if you fail?”

“I cannot fail. It is Anukara’s will,” Rhoddes replied with absolute faith.

“Ah, shit. Whatever happens, happens!" Nick growled. "You hear me, Martell! We’re going to wake you up! So, grit your teeth and wait!”

With a snarl, Martell called upon the swords in the Sword Box, but only two came. Nick cut down one while Akira parried the other.

“Close your eyes!” Nick raised his shield as he threw a round item at Martell. The boy, who lacked his usual levelheadedness due to the possession, did not react in time when the item exploded in a bright flash.

“AA!!”

The light blinded him, and this gave the Paladin time to aim a well-executed punch that hit him square at the jaw, felling him instantly. Alarmed, the possessed boy tried to get up, but his body could not obey. “Rhoddes!”

Using the opportunity gained by the Paladin's action, Rhoddes quickly came and slapped on the cloth covering his face. The symbol on them glowed as he chanted.

“I, your humble servant, pray to Anukara, Queen of Dreamless Sleep. Grant me the power to bring salvation to the sick of heart! Spirit Dive!”