NOVEL NEXT Chapter 192 - Who Are You!?
The [Simulacrum of Lord Moebius].
An unholy ability bestowed upon the Priestesses of the Black Eye. Fire and madness emanating from that forbidden eyelid, destroying mind, soul, and body alike.
Except… If the Discord surrounding the soul was so dense that the eye could not see through it.
Like the sickening miasma that emerged from Tristessa's dark soul at a constant pace. Absorbing and rendering the madness useless, freezing the invisible fire that had burned down the Mercer-Archeos' house along with the family and the witches of the Coven, in the fourth loop.
"Girl…"
Daiana's tone of voice suffered a radical change. No trace remained of those childish, clownish nuances, replaced by the severity that the homicidal intent of a psychopath like her could bring. The same could be said of her expression, as diabolical as the vilest of sins.
"Do you want me to crack open your skull with my own teeth and devour your putrid brain? You will be my dessert, so for now, step aside…"
"…"
Tristessa wouldn't have hesitated. The fear was maddening, far more so than the original intent of that eyeball created for malevolent purposes. But if she had gained anything from her victory against the Dullahan, it was the ability to muster -even if only a little- courage. A tiny sliver, insignificant to the average hero, but one that could still make a world of difference when facing Death.
"I TOLD YOU TO STEP ASIDE, YOU FUCKING WORM! MOVE RIGHT NOW, OR I'LL RIP OUT YOUR BACKBONE AND STICK IT INTO YOUR VIRGIN CUNT!"
With that roar, Daiana made it clear that she didn't know. She hadn't suspected a thing yet. How could she? There couldn't possibly be anyone alive on Nekrom who had witnessed the use of that evil eye and lived to tell the tale.
It would have been an excellent advantage under more favorable circumstances. A pity, but the priority was ensuring the two men behind Tristessa were safe and sound until reinforcements arrived.
"Auron, Zephyr! Whatever you do, don't look at Daiana's hand!" She warned them, provoking an immeasurable outburst of rage in the witch. "It will burn your sanity away!"
"YOU BITCH! YOU KNEW, ALL ALONG?! HOW…?! AH!"
Realization. An epiphany that interrupted those screams that echoed throughout the blood-soaked Crossroads. The pieces of the puzzle falling into place amidst the storm of insanity raging inside Daiana's mind.
"You… YOU! IT'S YOU!" With the same hand she used to display the Simulacrum, Daiana pointed an accusing finger at Tristessa. "You are the fracture in my omniscience! You are that strange presence that jeopardized my lord's plans! You! YOU! IT'S YOU! IT'S YOU, IT'S YOU, IT'S YOU, IT'S YOU, IT'S YOU…!"
There was a morbid satisfaction in seeing her enemy so frustrated and confused for several loops that Tristessa couldn't help but smile. Which only enraged the witch further.
"How dare you save my family from the fate Lord Moebius foretold for them?! My lord's word is absolute, do you understand?! ABSOLUTE!" Daiana screamed with all her might, so lost in her own chaos that her nails dug into her temples and her eyes were a breath away from popping out of their sockets, blood spurting from her sides. "How did you know of my lord's plans?! A spy?! A Divinity?! What is it?! AH, AHH, NO, NO, NOOOOO! IT'S NOT ENOUGH!"
So many doubts. So many uncertainties. So many questions that had a common origin; a question that the Priestess shrieked with such force that her heart-rending voice pierced the very heavens.
"WHO ARE YOU?!"
An ironic question that the gray-eyed girl would have liked to answer with a laugh. Perhaps in another context, she would have. If it weren't for all the dead around her, all those mangled bodies that continued to provoke constant waves of nausea and horror that contaminated her soul, perhaps she would have had more courage and confidence to answer.
"My name is..."
Courage and confidence that floundered in a subterranean sea, cold and dark, far from the light. How could she trust herself when she couldn't keep the promise she had made? Seeing that entire amalgamation of corpses made her realize what a tiny human being she was, incapable of achieving perfection despite possessing an ability that manipulated the threads of time and space.
Perfection was reserved for the Gods. For mere mortals, suffering and decay.
"I am Tristessa Irandell... You fucking, disgusting piece of shit, degenerate witch," was her reply, surprising the two men behind her and Daiana herself. "I'm a good-for-nothing nobody with amnesia, zero combat skills, and someone who can't keep her promises…"
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She sighed. "I promised no one else would die, and now I'll carry this unforgivable sin forever."
Angry with herself and the witch of the Coven, she mimicked the gaping woman by pointing her index finger at her.
"So, feel even more humiliated knowing that someone as useless as me ruined your and Moebius's plans! You hear me, crazy bitch?! I fucked up your precious lord's prophecy!"
Zephyr was in shock at what he was hearing and the context, and Auron had approached his partners with a mischievous smile behind his handkerchief, which dripped with the blood of the Coven's victims.
"You are the crazy one, lady."
He took the opportunity to empty the chambers of his revolvers, discard the used anti-magic bullets cartridges, and got ready. Standing beside the General, who regained consciousness and brushed off the remains of his soldiers that had clung to his armor and the length of his spear.
"Irandell…"
Daiana was hyperventilating. The venom in her voice, unparalleled. She had just made Tristessa her prey.
"I don't know where the fuck your last name is from, but I'll find out and I'll personally see to the massacre of your entire family and all your loved ones," she warned, hugging herself to control her own trembling, emanating pure evil like a cancer spreading through the bloody remains beneath her bare feet. "I will desecrate their corpses, curse their souls, and burn them along with the rest of the fucking town they live in…"
"My loved ones are your family, you bitch." With that statement, Tristessa made Daiana dig her nails into her arms. "You tried to kill them, and you failed."
"…where are they?" the witch asked, shivering without any grasp of control. Piercing her skin with her nails and going further. Thin lines of blood flowing; that woman, radiating legendary rage, cared little of the self-inflicted damage. "Their traces disappeared in this forest…but you know that's impossible, right? They can't escape my Simulacrum and you know that, for some reason that I'll find out soon… No one in this fucking outpost knew shit about my family, but you seem to know quite a lot about me and my girls. You hold quite a lot of surprising knowledge, do you? So, I'll ask again: where are they? Where are you hiding my family?"
"…"
Tristessa's silence wasn't deliberate. What she heard made her think like crazy, considering the options and discarding others.
"The Mercer-Archeos are in this forest?! But… They haven't passed through here, only the Coven pretending to be escaped hostages. If no one saw them, neither the soldiers nor the Coven, then where are they…?"
"WHERE ARE THEY?!" The witch demanded, interrupting Tristessa's train of thought and spitting saliva that bubbled at the sides of her mouth. So full of rage that it was a miracle she hadn't yet lunged at Tristessa. A miracle that lasted only seconds. "ANSWER ME!"
Having manifested her Umbral Blade, Daiana descended from the small hill of gore and ran toward Tristessa, eager to tear her to pieces, sever her head, and devour her brain…
BANG!
The first of several shots rang out from the gunslinger who had taken his companion's place. Almost point-blank shots, of which Daiana could only deflect three with her Divinity. The rest of the bullets were too much for her, forcing her to dodge by throwing herself to the ground and using the remains of the dead soldiers and witches for protection.
"Damn, what a slippery viper!" Auron complained as he ran out of bullets in his right revolver. He had holstered his other weapon, placing his hand on the hesitant girl's shoulder to pull her out of the trance she had induced in herself while thinking about the Mercer-Archeos and their whereabouts. "We have to retreat, lady!"
"A-Auron?"
At that moment, not only did Tristessa realize that Daiana wanted to end her life, but the General's massive shadow passed by them both, like a wall that had just come to life.
"Good work, Casimir!"
It was Zephyr's turn to take the lead and attack that lunatic who wanted to reach Tristessa at all costs. The tip of his spear sought her head; Daiana narrowly dodged the razor-sharp edges that would have rendered her jaw apart.
"SHIT!" she cursed as she tried to force Zephyr to look at her newly revealed evil eye and failed. The man swatted her hand away with a powerful blow from his greatshield, and because of the short distance between them, he could only counterattack by striking the witch in the head with the opposite end of the spear's shaft. "UGH…!"
That hard blow to her temple opened a gash and made her stumble. Dizzy and bleeding, but unfortunately for them, Daiana still had enough reflexes to deflect Zephyr's attacks with her Divinity.
"Auron, shoot her!"
"No, Zephyr's in the line of fire!"
Both Auron and Tristessa knew that the General needed the support of just one more person to subdue that wicked enemy who had caused so much pain and suffering for over a decade in that part of the world.
Tristessa lowered her right hand to the hilt of her hunting knife, but it wasn't fear that prevented her from drawing the weapon, but rather common sense: Zephyr and Daiana clashed spear and sword with great speed and intelligence, each seeking to subdue the other by capitalizing on the first mistake. Tristessa would only be an obstacle for Zephyr, or worse, a distraction.
"Just a little bit more of help!" she murmured and realized something amidst the sea of fire caused by the migraine she had grown accustomed to in her head. "Someone..."
"H-how much Discord...!" She heard the gunslinger exclaim, overwhelmed by the miasma emanating from Tristessa's soul, but her attention was almost entirely focused on the abyssal signals of her [Divinity of Accursed Existence].
On the dozens of light-switch cords dangling in the darkness she saw within herself, waiting for someone -a [necromancer]- to pull one and cast the black light into the void where the broken souls of both soldiers and witches that perished in the Feydra Crossroads awaited.
"Arise!"