~~~~
The landscape was a vision of hellish torment. The sky bled with hues of crimson and black, swirling in a chaotic dance that mirrored the agony of the realm. The ground was a mosaic of flesh and bone, pulsating and writhing as if the very earth itself was in pain.
Rivers of blood flowed between cracked lands, where the wails of the damned echoed, their cries forming the haunting symphony of this nightmarish world.
Twisted, grotesque trees with bark like flayed skin and leaves that dripped with venom stood sentinel over the landscape. Shadows moved with malicious intent, and the air was thick with the stench of decay and sulfur. Screams of creatures being torn apart filled the atmosphere, creating a cacophony of despair.
Surprisingly, there also seemed to be some sort of systems of society as countless buildings of horrors were interspersed in the distance of what appeared to be an empire of hell.
The beholder, its energy waning, floated agonizingly towards a gargantuan cave palace in the distance with a mission. The entrance of the palace was adorned with the carcasses and skulls of gigantic creatures, and lesser demonic beings scouted the perimeter. The sight was grotesque and suggested the horrors that lay within.
As it entered the slime and ooze-filled hall of the palace, the sight that awaited was one of perverse grandeur.
An enormous slug-like entity dominated the space. Its massive body covered in a sheen of it’s own slimy secretion. It was feasting on the remnants of various limbs with appendages that jutted out from it’s sides. Each movement followed by the sound of bones crushing and dissolving into it’s body.
The beholder, in its diminished state, floated low to the ground with it’s eyes all closed in a gesture of submission and fear. It moved towards the monstrous being, with its voice rasping and weak, it cried out, "All mighty Lieutenant! I must convey a message to the masters! There is a newborn flesh-sack that possesses two of the mana parasites’ within it! We must go and kill it before it grows!"
At the beholder’s words, the slug-like creature paused. The hall fell silent, the only sound was the drip of ooze from its massive form. Then, slowly, the slug’s head split in half, revealing a humanoid torso rising from the slime, slick with the viscous fluid of its birth.
This being, one of the countless powerful Lieutenants of the Dragal, was a horror to behold. Its upper body was humanoid but twisted in its features, with skin that gleamed like wet obsidian. Spear-like appendages, sharp and deadly, extended from its back, out from the slime and writhing about.
The face was devoid of a nose, dominated by vertical split eyes that gleamed with a more blackish red than the lower being’s red-filled eyes, and a wide mouth filled with rows of sharp tusks.
The air in the hall grew denser, charging with dark energy as the Lieutenant considered the beholder’s desperate message. Its eyes narrowing with interest and malice.
"Two parasites? You interrupt my feeding with this? What does it matter? One, two, three..... Those puny little faeries can give their toys as many as they want. How many ever they wish, it is all still the same result...
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They shall become consumed by our power. CONSUMED by our dimension. Our masses shall FEED on their toys. From there, there they will know despair and pain. Then, then we will take their toys from them and put them under OUR command..."
The slug-like creature’s spear-like appendages then shot out and pierced the beholder straight through. The spears rapidly absorbed the last remaining bits of abyssal mana inside it and shot through their transparent chitinous tubes.
"Hmm.... It witnessed many flesh-sacks. Food... Food... Yes, Food. I’m hungry.
It still remembered where that plane was." It’s tusk-filled mouth grew into a creepy smile, "The masters will be fine if we just take a few with us on our own. Let us... eat!"
~~~~
In the now eerily silent expanse of the elemental plane, the beholder and its malevolent presence had vanished.
Lassim, with the threat no longer looming, finally allowed the [Grand Aegis] to dissipate. The magnificent ice dome, along with the imposing figure of Aegrasian, dissolved into a mist of cold air. Vanishing and dispersing the elements into the surrounding area.
His legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground with his exhaustion pulling him down. His mana reserves were depleted to the brink. His halberd falling from his grasp and reappearing inside his inner-heart world.
The landscape around him, once teeming with the horde of the abyssal legion, was now devoid of life. The blood ritual performed by the beholder had consumed every last one of them, leaving behind an empty, desolate realm.
Lassim lay there, panting, his body sprawled on the cold, cracked earth, He was feeling the weight of his exhaustion and the toll of the battle in every fiber of his being.
Gathering what little strength he had left, Lassim pushed himself up and sat cross-legged. He tried to center his mind and meditate. He urged Mari and Zaphy, needing their help to regain some of his spent energy.
Mari, with her soothing aura, floated near, her fins gently undulated in the air, casting a calming light around them. Zaphyrella, still buzzing with some unspent energy and standing close by, her electric eyes reflected concern for Lassim.
"We at least protected everyone, didn’t we? We did that at least, right?," Lassim said, his voice weak but filled with a sense of defeat and worry.
"Yes, brother. With your strength and the [Grand Aegis], we were able to protect everyone," Mari responded, her voice like a cool breeze on his tired mind.
Zaphy chirped in, "That was intense! But, we zapped them good!"
Lassim managed a tired smile, pride and relief mingling in his heart. "We did, Zaphy. Thanks to both of you."
After a few moments of rest and conversation, he regained some of his composure and strength.
Lassim knew it was time to return to the academy. He looked at his jade bracelet, not bothering to even check the final ranking points. He was the last individual still listed as active in the trial and that was enough for him. With a deep breath, he tapped through the buttons and activated the teleportation function to face the aftermath of the trial.
Reappearing in the courtyard of the Myriad Spirit Academy, Lassim was immediately met with the concerned and expectant faces of the elders, students, and the towering figure of Headmaster Ferrum.
Headmaster Ferrum appeared quickly, as if he teleported, in front of Lassim. His expression one of intense scrutiny mixed with relief at seeing his disciple safe. "Lassim, tell me everything. What transpired after the other left the trial?"
Lassim, standing before the headmaster and the assembled crowd, recounted the battle with the beholder. He described the creature’s terrifying power, its ability to control time, and the desperate struggle they faced.
Then, his voice grew heavy as he detailed the beholder’s blood ritual that sacrificed all of the abyssal creatures across the elemental plane, and how they turned into a portal to the abyssal dimension.
The courtyard was enveloped in a heavy silence as Lassim spoke. The implications of his words were not lost on the assembled elders and his masters. The emergence of such a threat within the trial was a grim reminder of the danger they had allowed to lurk within a trial meant for first-years, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
As Lassim concluded his account, the Headmaster’s expression grew darker, his hands tightening around the haft of his great axe. The air around them seemed to fill with a pressure like a knife against the neck, a reflection of the cold fury building within the most powerful guardian of the continent.
"CLOSE THE PORTAL NOW!" The Headmaster quickly shouted at the guardians still maintaining the pink and bubbly gateway.