Chapter 639 Filling the Holes Pt 8
Rushing back to the castle, I found Xieus, her body changed. No longer the regal, intimidating figure, she was now barely recognizable. Her once radiant features were etched with strain, and her body changed into a horrifying form. The force of darkness within her was taking control, forcing its monstrous existence into reality against her will.
"Galio…" She looked at me, her eyes wide with fear and pain. "Why did you come here? Is your only path to seek destruction?"
There was none of the earlier grace or power. Her eyes, once full of life, looked pained and hollow. Her regal frame had contorted into a grotesque figure, an eerie semblance of the dark spirit within her that was now in control.
"I never meant for that to happen," I said, not sure what else I could say. My entire being felt heavy, and I truly wondered why I was even here. I never wanted to wake up after what had happened before. It was starting to feel like I had woken up in a nightmare. Even if I wanted to leave, there was no way my conscience would let me.
Her aching voice resonated with an unspeakable dread woven with deep-seated distress. "I am losing.....myself. This...creature," she gestured to herself, her voice wavering, "is surfacing more frequently. Its chaos is breaking my resilience, its malevolence is drowning me."
"What do you mean, creature?" I asked, moving closer to her, but I was blasted back with a burst of energy that was blacker than the void of space. I was only knocked back ten feet, and I had tried to block it with pure True Magic, but it barely stopped it. My body was left feeling numb and a sense of death washed over my being as I was hit.
"There is something inside of me that I was born with. I have no... Idea what it is, but it wants death and destruction," Xieus breathed out. Her gaze fell to the floor as she fought with the enormous power struggling within her. Her expression was filled with shame, fear, and a trace of resignation.
"It yearns for chaos, craves mortality, and delights in pain," Xieus finally admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. She looked at me with a pained expression, a plea for understanding in her eyes. "It's consuming me, Galio. Day by day, moment by moment. The world fears the monster within me, and slowly, I'm becoming the monster."
My heart clenched as the weight of her confession sank in. I had come here intending to convince Xieus of my innocence, but now, I was utterly at a loss. The woman before me was succumbing to a malevolent force, the woman she was simply disintegrating, leaving behind a cunning, destructive creature.
"No," I took a deep breath, attempting to steady my shaking voice. "This is not going to happen, Xieus. I won't let this darkness consume you."
She then erupted into painful spasms which convulsed her body, the air charged with dark energy. The transformation into the monster she dreaded was horrifyingly swift, but I clamped onto her entire being with all my power.
Nothing should be outside of my reach, no matter how I formed my magic, nothing could stop or reverse what was happening. I reach deeper, and invaded Xieus's mind, but was immediately blasted backward off my feet from something that felt mental, but it was so much more. Blood poured down my face as I put a hand up to it, feeling the three deep scratches that ran down my face.
It only took a moment for the wounds to heal, but I shouldn't be able to get hurt like that. I stared down at the blood on my shaking hand. I hadn't even bled during any of my fights with Matthias, yet, whatever was trying to consume Xieus was clearly stronger than me to be able to do this without even touching me.
Regardless, I refused to give up. Something told me that I was more than just to blame here. Something had drawn my body here, and I was almost sure at this point that it was whatever was trying to break through. Again, I tried to enter her mind, but this time I coated myself with every protection I could think of and then forced my way back into her mind, prepared this time.
"Another Vassal? Interesting. Where is that suffering creature that dares call himself Truth?"
The voice was the most beautiful that I had ever heard, but it tore deep into my soul on a level so vicious unlike I had ever known. This energy, or power was nothing like True Magic, and the being knew who Truth was, and that was something no one should know other than Matthias and he was sealed away. I could confirm that even in the position I was in.
"Speak, Godling, since it is clear that he is still a coward if your body is already 4 billion years old. Truth was always the type to hide even from his own name! I bet he sent you here to do his dirty work!"
"I have no idea why I am here, but if you know the being I draw power from, then you must be a 4th-dimensional being like him, yes?" I asked, but knowing that info would not help me. I was trying to stall for time.
"You can stall all you want, Xieus is mine, Child of Cowardice. You know, I can smell the weakness on you, but of the most despicable kind. You have killed an entire civilization, yet, you could not bring yourself to kill the one that forced your hand! No wonder that coward picked you!"
"Truth never picked me! My people stole his eye!" I snapped, desperately trying to sever her connection to Xieus, but there was nothing that I could do. It was like trying to cut through a steel cord the size of an old tree trunk.
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