NOVEL NEXT Chapter 257: Maria Changed
"...Maria?" Neptunia whispered, her voice barely audible.
Her eyes darted across Maria's still body, little or so worry flickering through them. The air was unnaturally quiet now no sound but the faint hum of distant waves and the soft rhythm of her own heartbeat. Maria's chest rose and fell slowly, but there was no movement, no response.
Is she alright? Neptunia wondered. She crouched lower, leaning closer to Maria's face. Even though Maria's eyes were open, there was something off her gaze was blank, unfocused, as if she wasn't really there.
"Hey… can you hear me?" Neptunia asked again, her voice a little louder this time. "Hello Hello.. Can you hear me Maria?"
She hesitated for a moment, unsure what else to do, before reaching out carefully. Her fingers brushed against Maria's shoulder it was warm, surprisingly warm, and her skin seemed almost to hum faintly beneath Neptunia's touch.
But Maria didn't move.
Her eyes stayed open, yet lifeless, like a doll's. No awareness or consciousness in them.
"Will she not wake up?" Neptunia thought. Little anxiety began crawling up her throat. What if something had gone wrong? What if Razeal's insane plan.. whatever he did to her had actually…
And then
Shoooom!
A low pulse of energy rippled through the air.
Maria's body twitched, her fingers curling faintly. Then.. suddenly her eyes snapped into focus, flicking to life so fast that Neptunia nearly jumped back as if thinking she got possesed or maybe about to explode or maybe go crazy or whatever... She doesn't know but this girl was giving a little weird feeling to her now as she slowly just took a step back.
For a heartbeat, neither of them moved. Maria lay there, her eyes wide open.. Focus and aliveness in there, but her face… completely blank. Empty of expression. It was eerie almost wrong.
Then, slowly, Maria blinked.
Her lips parted, and a faint, hoarse murmur escaped. "...Arghh… What happened to me?"
Her voice sounded distant, as if even she wasn't sure it was her own.
Neptunia blinked rapidly, still trying to steady herself. She watched as Maria pressed a trembling hand to her head, wincing slightly as she slowly pushed herself upright. Her movements were sluggish at first uncoordinated, unfamiliar.
It was as if she was new to her own body.
Maria's legs trembled as she stood, and before Neptunia could even warn her, her knees gave way. She slipped forward, her balance faltering completely about to fall face-first to the ground.
"Hey.. be careful!" Neptunia exclaimed, lunging forward on instinct, her hand already reaching out to catch her.
But she never made it in time.
Before Neptunia's fingers could even brush her arm, Maria's body moved.
It wasn't a normal movement.. there was no hesitation, no sign of control. One moment, she was falling, the next, her entire body twisted midair with inhuman precision. She spun lightly.. almost effortlessly and landed soundlessly on both feet.
Her posture was perfect. Balanced and stable.
The air shifted slightly with the motion.
Neptunia froze mid-step, eyes wide. "...What just happened?" she whispered, stunned.
Maria blinked slowly, her expression confused.. as she herself was confused. "What… was that?"
She looked down at her own hands, flexing her fingers as if she didn't recognize them. Her brows furrowed. Everything felt different. Her limbs, her breath, her very heartbeat.
"This… isn't like my body," she muttered softly, her voice barely audible.
Yes it was her body, but at the same time, it wasn't. It felt lighter, stronger, sharper like something inside her had been completely reconfigured. Every small sound, every faint vibration in the air, reached her ears clearly. Her heartbeat echoed in her mind like a steady drum. The sensation was overwhelming.
Her senses were… sharpened and maybe strengthened too.
She raised a trembling hand, staring at her palm. The texture of her skin, the faint shimmer of light reflecting off her nails everything looked far clearer than it ever had before. Her vision was unnaturally precise, as though her eyes had gained a new layer of perception.
"What happened to my… vision?" she murmured under her breath.
Instinctively, she lifted her hand toward her face and pressed her fingertips gently against her left eye. A strange warmth pulsed beneath the lid.
"This eye…" she whispered. "It feels… different."
Her right eye.. the one she was used to felt normal. But now her left one… it pulsed faintly, almost humming with energy. When she opened both eyes fully again, she gasped softly.
The world looked… enhanced.
Her gaze stretched far into the distance beyond what human sight should allow. She could see tiny details, shifting particles of mana, the faint rippling distortion of heat across the battlefield. It was like her very reality had deepened.
Her breathing hitched. "This is… weird…"
She didn't have a mirror, but she didn't need one to feel that something fundamental had changed. Her instincts screamed it.
If she could see herself, she would have noticed the vibrant aqua blue of her left eye had vanished completely. In its place now glowed a deep, demonic crimson, faintly pulsing with dark light.
Her entire body radiated a subtle aura now one that was both graceful and dangerous, foreign yet familiar.
"What… happened to me?" she whispered again, a nervous tremor in her tone.
But deep down, she already knew.
Her gaze dropped slowly to her chest the place where Razeal had cut her open. Her hand trembled slightly as she brought it up, touching the area gently through the torn fabric.
The skin beneath was smooth.. unbroken.
She pressed harder, her brows lifting in surprise. "There's… no scar?"
There was nothing. No pain, no wound, no trace of the brutal incision that shouldve been there.
She let out a shaky sigh, her shoulders relaxing for the first time. "So… he healed me…" she murmured softly.
Her voice softened, a faint disbelief lingering in her tone. She remembered the fear, the moment he'd driven that arrow into her chest, the pain that had torn through her entire being and yet now, she was standing. As Whole.
"Maybe… that bastard's not so bad after all," she muttered faintly, almost smiling despite herself.
Her hand remained on her chest, feeling the steady rhythm beneath her palm. Her new heart was strong stronger than ever before. Each beat thudded with energy, with life, with power that didn't feel entirely her own.
"I'm… alive," she whispered, almost laughing in relief. "I'm actually alive…"
The realization washed over her fully now. He had replaced her heart. He had literally taken it out and given her another and she had survived. Not only survived… But she was even feeling little stronger too?
The thought sent a mix of fear and wonder spiraling through her.
What had he done to her? What kind of heart was this?
Still, she couldn't help but feel little grateful because whatever he'd done, it worked.
She clenched her fists, experimentally flexing her arms. The movement felt powerful, smooth, effortless. Her strength was undeniable.
"This… isn't normal," she murmured. "But… it does feels good."
Her lips curved into a faint smile before she shook her head lightly, as if shaking off the strange thought.
"Hey! Are you fine now?"
The sound of Neptunia's voice jolted her out of her thoughts. She blinked and turned toward her, realizing she'd completely forgotten she wasn't alone.
"Ah.. yeah…" Maria said quickly, rubbing the back of her neck. "Just a little nauseous, that's all. But… I think I'm fine... I think so.."
Neptunia's brows furrowed with uncertainty as she studied her.
Maria clenched and unclenched her fists again, her movements fluid and sure now. "I mean.. It seems like it," she added, nodding more to herself than to Neptunia.
"Ohhh, that's good," Neptunia exhaled, visibly relieved now that Maria was standing and breathing normally again. "Because… well, we don't have much time, as you see."
Her tone turned serious as she gestured toward the distance behind them. "Those sea creatures are just a little distance away now. He said you'd take care of them after he's done. So" she paused, studying Maria's face, "Will you be able to now? I mean… he did whatever he wanted to do with you, right?"
Maria blinked, slowly turning her head toward Neptunia, not fully processing the words for a second. But as soon as she followed her gaze her pupils narrowed sharply.
Her eyes locked on the horizon.
A colossal, churning wave of sea monsters was surging toward them, the water itself trembling beneath their massive movements. The swarm stretched endlessly across the dark ocean, their glowing eyes flickering like countless lanterns of doom. They were close too close.
Barely a kilometer away now.
Maria stared at them quietly for a moment. Then, unexpectedly, her expression shifted.
Her brows lowered. Her lips curved slightly downward.
And then came that expression.. disgust.
A deep, cold disgust that made even Neptunia hesitate.
"These disgusting… low-life creatures…" Maria murmured, her voice low, distant, but sharp enough to pierce the silence. Her tone changed regal, venomous, almost inhuman. "Abhorrent little pests… dare to crawl into my presence?"
Neptunia blinked, caught off guard by the sudden venom dripping from her words.
"What astonishing ignorance such wretched, irrelevant beings."
Maria's eyes glowed faintly as she continued, her voice growing colder, each word rolling from her tongue like it was rehearsed by someone else entirely. "Loathsome degenerates… malformed caricatures of existence. How terribly unfortunate that such low-born filth should stumble into my sight. I can scarcely tell if I should laugh… or have them erased."
Her tone was dripping with disdain pure, unfiltered superiority. It wasn't even her usual arrogance or temper; this was something else. Something far weirder.
The words came out as if from instinct, not thought..her but rather ber instincts.
Neptunia stood frozen, her mouth slightly open. "...Malformed caricatures whattt?" she muttered under her breath, blinking in confusion as she repeated what she said not able to comprehend such difficult words.. Even for her. "What the hell is she even saying…?"
For a moment, she just stood there awkwardly, unsure how to respond. But realizing they had no time to dwell on Maria's strange new vocabulary or personality shift Neptunia shook her head and quickly took a step closer.
"Whatever," she muttered, waving it off for now. "Look, before anything else.. take this."
She pulled something out from behind her a small, familiar waist bag and held it out toward Maria.
Maria blinked, glancing down at it as coming out of her weird trance. "What's this?"
"Razeal gave it to me," Neptunia explained quickly. "He said I should give it to you and that you should wear it."
Maria's brows lifted slightly. "For me?"
"Yes," Neptunia nodded, already urging her to take it. "He said it'll protect you."
Maria hesitated, staring at the waist bag in her hands. It was the same one she'd always seen Razeal wearing the dark blue leather bag with fish scales on it. Remembering he made it out of that living Shark on ship
"Protect me?" she echoed skeptically. "Why would he give me something like this?"
Neptunia shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, he just said that. Said it'll protect you and that you should wear it no matter what."
Maria frowned, her expression stuffing with confusion before shifting to mild irritation. "You definitely heard him wrong," she muttered. "It's not to protect me.. definitely that bastards just doesn't want anyone else to touch his precious junk if.. he died."
"Huh?"
"Yeah," Maria said flatly, rolling her eyes. "He probably gave it to me so I could protect whatever's inside it. That half-burnt creepy book of his, right? He's obsessed with that thing."
She gave a small, exasperated sigh but still fastened the waist bag around her hips. "Fine, whatever. If this makes him happy, I'll wear it.. Or who knows he will kill me after if he saw i didn't."
As the strap clicked into place, she could feel a faint weird pulse of energy coming out from the bag subtle but definitely weird.. She doesn't know she just shook her head at this.
But Neptunia focus was somewhere else as she.. Well
Her tone grew tense again as she turned back toward the approaching storm of monsters. The water around them vibrated faintly with the rhythmic tremor of their advance.
"Can you really… hold that back?" Neptunia asked quietly. "Because if not, we're really in trouble."
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