Chapter 178: You’re Our Only Hope, Lidia Rose...
Lidia screamed in pain. Her skin started glowing with a faint yellow hue. Slimo started to panic, but when he tried picking her up, she pushed him away.
"D-Don’t touch me! I think I’ll be okay."
Lidia cursed and clenched her teeth. Her skin glowed more and more, illuminating the dim room around them. Slimo listened and gave her some space to go through the process herself. Suddenly, the glowing faded under her skin. Lidia was left heavily panting on the ground, staring up at the ceiling in silence. Slimo looked through the lenses at her in awe.
"L-Lidia... you-"
Before he could finish speaking, Lidia stood up and touched her face lightly.
"I feel different. It feels like my very soul is has been strengthened in some way."
She looked over at the broken tail of the serpent.
"I heard... a voice call to me."
She finally looked at Slimo. His silver eyes were still widened as he looked at her through his lenses.
"Do you see anything different about me?"
Slimo jumped slightly hearing her voice.
"I... can write it down for you."
Slimo took off one of his metallic boots and shook out a small, flattened piece of paper. Slimo looked around the room for something to write with. He ultimately decided to make something himself. Using his saliva, a bunch of dirt, and a thin rock, he wrote out the new symbols for Lidia as best as he could.
"This is what has changed. Your Zalo is completely different. I’ve never seen anything like this before."
Name: Lidia Rose
Bestowed Name: Queen of Lumos
Zalo [Awakened]: Energy Transfer
Zalo Type: Error
Zalo Description: This user can convert any physical energy done to her and amplify it using their own strength. The greater the energy stored, the deadlier the attack or the more efficient the defense.
Awakened Description: The Queen can mark people with a brand of her choosing. Those who are marked by her are more resistant to corruption. Her ability spans to every person she has marked, meaning if someone takes a physical attack who is marked, it will feed her power further. She may also choose to share her energy between those marked by her.
Threat Level: Error
Weakness: Corrupted being of a similar strength.
Release: After storing enough energy, this user can release all of it in one massive burst. Releasing this much energy at once doubles the power of all the energy that had been stored before its use.
Luminous Touch: This user can cleanse any person of corruption with the touch of her hand. All hail Queen of Lumos. May her light guide us home.
Royal Blood: The Queen’s Blood is special. Unable to identify benefits.
Lidia read the description thoughtfully. She stared blankly at her bestowed name.
"Bestowed name? Why was I given a name? How is this possible? What the hell is this statue?"
Suddenly, the glasses on Slimo’s face cracked and shattered into many pieces, followed by the statue, then the walls around them. Slimo looked around and without wasting a second, grabbed Lidia and darted out of the room at full speed. They were barely able to jump out of the hallway before everything collapsed in on itself. Both Lidia and Slimo face planted into the cold, stone floors.
Lidia still held on to her stomach, where her armor had been easily penetrated before. She let out of a sigh of relief as she looked over at Slimo.
"So, does that mean we’re both royalty?"
Slimo was still at a loss for words. After three moments, he finally spoke.
"What the hell is corruption?"
Lidia scratched her head.
"Who knows? I must say, for getting stabbed, I feel great! Powerful, even!"
Slimo ran his hands through his white hair.
"Powerful is the understatement of the year. This is the first I’ve ever heard of Zalo’s being able to awaken. I wonder why being stabbed by the serpent’s tail caused that...and whoever made that plaque was friends with Zalo himself?! What a crazy thing to think about!"
"If we’re stuck in a moment in time, could that mean there was no telling when this statue was built?"
"Exactly. But the real question is, why hide it here?"
Suddenly Lidia held her stomach tightly and bent over. Slimo rushed over and put his arm around her.
"Is everything okay? Are you in pain again?"
"No, that’s not it. I just feel really sick all of a sudden. Do you not feel that?"
"I don’t feel anything."
"Something isn’t right. How did I not sense this before? It’s... everywhere."
Slimo grabbed Lidia and looked into her brown eyes.
"Lidia, what is going on?"
"We need to find the kids. Fast."
However, the moment Lidia finished her sentence, the walls and floors around them started moving. The exit, which was once close to them, had completely disappeared. Stone was morphed into claw-like hands, a gaping hole appeared in the center of the room, and the ceiling began to shake. Slimo and Lidia were sent in different directions.
Slimo jumped onto a moving stone pillar whereas Lidia balanced herself on a bookshelf that appeared from the ground. A massive roar came from the black hole in the center from the room. The teeth that surrounded the hole were onyx and rotting like an untreated wound.
The massive claws made of dark stone swiped at them as they moved. Slimo was hardly able to dodge the attacks, but Lidia effortlessly shattered the claw into thousands of pieces as it crashed towards her. The room seemed to focus its effort on crushing her over Slimo. In fact, after the initial assault, nothing came after him. It was as if the room was gravitating towards Lidia’s figure.
"Lidia! Whatever this thing is seems to have taken a liking to you! Be careful!"
Lidia didn’t respond. Her eyes and skin glowed a faint yellow light as she smashed through the stone and wood with ease. No matter how much of the palace came down on her, she broke through it effortlessly. Suddenly, Lidia did something that made Slimo sick to his stomach.
She jumped into the creature’s mouth.
The jaws closed around her in an instant. However, loud bangs could be felt under his feet as he watched the scene in horror. In less than three seconds, Lidia was spat back out into the room. A dark green goo covered her body. Steam was evaporating from its surface. It melted the stone as it fell from her armor and on to the ground.
Despite that, Lidia and her armor were perfectly fine. Now, even her armor shared the same yellow light as her skin.
The creature roared one final time and disappeared as quickly as it appeared. The room slowly settled back into its original position. Slimo looked at Lidia in awe. Lidia panted heavily as she stood tall in front of him.
"What? Is there something on my face?"
Slimo was speechless. He ran over to her, embracing her gently.
"I’m just glad you’re okay."
Suddenly, something strange started happening to Slimo. When his hands had touched the dark green substance still falling off of Lidia, a reaction occurred through his body.
First, it was his limbs. Slimo fell to the ground screaming. Lidia dropped down and studied him.
"What’s wrong? What happened? Did the monster get you?"
Next, it was his voice. Slimo was screaming so loud, his voice broke. All he could do was convulse and twitch in pain. Lidia started to panic. She put her glowing hands on his wound and tried releasing her power. Nothing.
"Slimo?! Stay with me!"
Finally, his mind shattered. Slimo became rabid. His eyes had turned completely black, his teeth turned like a beast, and his jaw drooled madly. He jumped on Lidia, trying to bite her throat open. Lidia held him up with all her strength, but she was being overpowered by the second. With one final push, Lidia sent everything she felt in her soul out through her hands. Slimo’s body bathed in the blinding light for three moments before going limp.
Lidia pushed him off and backed up hurriedly, staring at his body. The dark substance had disappeared completely. His white hair covered his face as he breathed shallow breathes. Lidia slowly approached him again, lifting up one of his eyelids. They were back to their normal, yellow color. A wave of relief washed over her as she lifted him into her arms.
Even without knowing what the substance was, Lidia had a good idea from the events that had transpired.
"Corruption... Slimo had been corrupted just now. That had to be what that was. But that means..."
Lidia stared at the floor where the mouth of the beast was.
"There’s a corrupted beast living in the kingdom... no, that’s not right."
Lidia stood up, her head felt light, panic started rising in her chest once more. She tightened her grip on Slimo as he laid in her arms and sprinted up the stairs as fast as she could.
Despite the state he was in, Slimo coughed awake in her arms. When he woke up, Lidia was already sprinting through the halls of the palace.
"...Lidia? Where are you... what happened?"
"We’re taking the kids and leaving this place. We’ll figure out how to escape the time lock."
"What? What happened?"
"This isn’t a kingdom. This entire place is a beast, and not just any beast... it’s a corrupted leviathan."
