NOVEL NEXT Chapter 91: /HEAR ME/
Deep within the spiraling waters of the Inverse Sea, a fleeting shimmer of crimson flickered through the gloom.
Kyyr pulsed through the muffled roar of the sea.
Found you…
Huddled in shadow, the S. Cerberus bathed in the dim glow of flickering neon lights that decorated the large clothing store it was in. It hung upside down, its claws burrowed deep in the ceiling. There it waited for any sign of its kin.
It peered through the gloomy glass using a single pale orb that bubbled from under the veil of writhing black tongues. One eye—with no pupils, seemingly useless. Yet it gazed with eerie intent, its glossy surface reflecting bursts of pink lightning that danced across its form.
Tap—Tap——Tap—
The S. Cerberus's houndish ears twitched at the faint, irregular tapping. Slowly, it unfurled, slithering onto the floor with a muted thud. Between flashes of lightning, it crept toward the window and peered through the glass. Only the churning sea and the rumbling supercell met its gaze.
It leaned in closer.
Tap—Tap——Tap—grrrrk…
It tilted its head in confusion. What was that scraping it heard? It focused its gaze on the dark waters below. It watched in the haunting quiet of its hiding spot, staring into the churning rend of water below. It pressed its one good eye to the window, trying to peer into the messy motion of the rising ocean below—but between the swirling storm clouds and turbulent waves, it was nigh impossible to see anything.
Still it lingered, anxiously.
Eye wide, breath ragged, it braced itself for the inevitable flash of abyssal lightning to sear the dark.
Then it came—a dazzling pink arc slicing through the murkiest waters and thickest of glooms. And within the radiant crackle—
A figure—rising.
The Cerberus staggered back, tripping on its own tail.
Tap——Tap—Tap!
TAP!
CLINK!
CLINK!
CLANK!
The unmistakable rhythm of claws scraping glass flooded it with primal dread. It flailed in panic, scrambling upright as paws slipped across the wet floor. But before it could flee, a scarlet shimmer blossomed behind it. Illuminated in the fleeting glow of lightning stood the mangled figure of the Coarseblood, its crimson jaws wide beyond the wet glass.
Glass shattered. Ezzeks's hooked arm burst through, scattering shards like rain.
The Cerberus howled desperately, but it was too late. The Coarseblood had it, hooked claws burying deep into its spine, barbed tongue deep in its neck.
Screeching in agony, the Cerberus's skin bubbled defensively; fluttering flesh rippled and twisted, reaching for the crimson-bound creature as tumorous growth ruptured from the panicked Cerberus. Yet Ezzeks remained firm, ripping away the growths as it held the Cerberus tight, his claws sinking deep into the beast, his hooked fangs locking onto the coarse bone within. His shattered gaze locked onto the Cerberus's single, teary eye.
"Why are you crying?" Ezzeks whispered.
The air crackled with abyssal Kyyr as a ripping swash of Kyyr ripped through the floor below the two as the L. Cerberus erupted into the room, its body coated in an arc of violent lightning. Ezzeks leaped back, the S. Cerberus still clamped tightly in his jaws.
The L. Cerberus charged the Coarseblood, its body enshrouded in the rumbling light of enraged fulgur. It aimed for Ezzeks's face, its swing wild yet precise, the strike edging the Coarseblood, who deftly evaded every striking blow.
Ezzeks felt it. From below, a wave of rending tendrils erupted through the stone floor, the bladed tips cast in shuddering Kyyr. The L. Cerberus' wild lightning swung in fierce arcs before it focused on the limbs that ripped through the floor like hungry sharks that attracted the electric surge.
CCCCRRRSSHHHH!
Thunder rumbled as the tendrils crashed with flesh, the electrified tendrils slicing through the S. Cerberus?! The tendrils retracted in a panic as the S. Cerberus let out a pained gasp; the L. Cerberus rushed to its side, but the downed beast suddenly jittered.
The L. Cerberus skidded to a stop as the body of the S. Cerberus flew through the air as telekinetic Kyyr bounced the S. Cerberus into its counterpart before dragging it back into the shadows of the room and into the Coarseblood's jaws.
The L. Cerberus roared furiously as the M. Cerberus finally clambered through the shattered floor to join the fray.
Ezzeks let go of the writhing S. Cerberus, the beast flopping to the ground only to be dragged into the air by telekinetic Kyyr.
"You three smell of Cadrange… But you're independent. How peculiar!" He roared, glancing back towards the stormy window. "But you're too weak to be the cause behind this tempest."
The L. Cerberus let out a soft growl as it slowly dragged its talons closer and closer to the Coarseblood.
Ezzeks flicked his wrist, smashing the S. Cerberus against the broken glass behind him. "So—what exactly are you?" he asked, his voice dangerously gentle as he inspected the struggling forms.
The words rattled through their minds.
The M. Cerberus quickly shook its head and let out its usual hiss, but the L. Cerberus reacted differently. It straightened fully, the twin spikes on its back scraping the ceiling as it turned to directly face the Coarseblood. Slowly, it raised one clawed hand to its face, standing motionless in tense silence. Then, it glanced toward the S. Cerberus, which was shakily rising from the floor. Its gaze drifted upward, finally locking onto the crimson jaws of the Coarseblood standing partially obscured in shadow, his body torn yet imposing. As the Cerberus stared at those fangs, the memory of rending flesh beneath that bloody visage shuddered through its mind.
An old, inhuman voice rattled in the shroud of its mind, Ignore the crimson fiend…
The L. Cerberus took a single step back. The M. Cerberus twitched violently, then grudgingly followed, its movements jerky and tense. Meanwhile, the S. Cerberus began to drag itself toward the shattered window, its limbs trembling as broken glass crunched beneath it.
"Running away?" Ezzeks scoffed, amused. "Smart choice!" he bellowed.
In the reaches of the mind of the Cerberus, another softer voice rattled: Aren't you tired?
The L. Cerberus snarled violently, digging claws into its skull.
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The S. Cerberus, on the other hand, had stopped as it stared at the battered yet imposing form of the crimson beast—it reminded the creature of faded yearning, an old echo of a bygone remembrance.
It saw a Dragon.
The M. Cerberus glanced anxiously between its two counterparts, torn by indecision. Its jaws trembled violently, tangled tongues catching painfully on its jagged, gore-stained fangs. With a sudden, enraged roar, it broke the tense stalemate and lunged at Ezzeks. Darting swiftly to the Coarseblood's left, its body erupted with sharp, black tendrils that reached for the crimson carapace.
Ezzeks dodged most of the strikes but there was an inevitability with the sheer amount of blades. The M. Cerberus crashed into Ezzeks, sinking its fangs into the crimson scales of its neck. Ezzeks barely reacted, his crimson frame remaining stoic against its ripping fangs.
"You're an anxious one, huh?" He whispered.
For a moment, his body flashed with a violet glow as Kyyr surged through him. He ripped the creature off with his clawed hand—then released it.
The M. Cerberus hung midair.
Then, with a flick of Kyyr-infused claws, Ezzeks slammed it into the nearby wall. The impact cracked the stone, and before it could fall, he dragged it sideways across the surface, the telekinetic force grinding it along until the wall splintered the stone as the M. Cerberus melted into its slimy form.
The L. Cerberus ripped its claws out of its skull as it stared at the Coarseblood, its wounds mending in the afterglow of distant lightning.
The ancient, dry voice rattled urgently through the minds of the three Cerberuses. It writhes below us. Do not linger—ESCAPE!
The L. Cerberus shook its head and turned tail, bolting toward the hole in the ground—but it was too late. Mid-leap, its body jolted backward as the Coarseblood snatched it from the ruptured stone, hauling it out into the open. The beast shuddered helplessly under the Coarseblood's crimson Kyyr, before being hurled straight into the M. Cerberus, who had barely managed to regain its footing.
Ezzeks pounced on the two and drove his hooked arm straight through the beasts with a sickening crunch. His visage cracked as he focused his Kyyr receptors. "Interesting…" Ezzeks murmured darkly.
By the window the S. Cerberus staggered to its feet, flesh dripping from its body, the writhing flesh reaching out into the empty air.
Suddenly, the two skewered Cerberuses convulsed violently.
"Agh!" Ezzeks wrenched his arm free, staggering back as the two beasts fused grotesquely, their mass lashing out with electrified swings that sent thundering ripples through the air.
The mass suddenly lunged forward. Ezzeks shifted aside just in time, narrowly evading the tumbling bulk as it crashed into the S. Cerberus, instantly absorbing it into the swirling, horrific blend of bodies.
Within the throne, Vaal began to complain, "What the hell are you doing? You could've killed those things!"
"Hush," Ezzeks replied calmly, watching the writhing mass as the crude form of the three slowly melted and twisted around one another as three became one. "Death is not a simple matter for beasts like these." His cracked visage curled into an intrigued grin. "There's also the matter of the sinister scent that lingers here. It's so dense and familiar, it feels like a promise of untapped potential!"
"HUH? What the fuck are you yapping about?! That thing's merging into a bigger problem!" Vaal complained.
Ezzeks smirked, "So? Will it not be easier to strike a single target?"
Vaal watched in terror from within the throne as the mass reluctantly coalesced into a vaguely animalistic shape. Multiple arms twisted grotesquely around each other as crystalline spires realigned from largest to smallest along its spine. Three tails spiraled in a sickening braid, their jaw-tipped fins blossoming into a gruesome, flower-like arrangement of teeth. The beast's body contorted sharply as three skulls erupted from its chest, necks violently tearing through blackened flesh until each rested unevenly upon the creature's shoulders. Two skulls shrieked in constant agony, while the third gazed numbly downward—until, with a horrifying crack, they all smashed together into one distorted visage.
Standing before Ezzeks, the silhouette of the Cerberus overshadowed his own. Its overlapping jaws and rows of ear-like organs shuddered erratically. From its side emerged a single pale, useless eye, bubbling grotesquely as it wept.
Vaal's eyes twitched anxiously, watching as violent pink Kyyr began to crackle across the creature's hulking form.
Ezzeks took a deep breath, savoring the miasma. "Smells delightfully sweet! Peculiar as always, abyssal spawn."
The Cerberus drew a ragged, deep breath, then unleashed a howl so powerful it shattered every pane of glass left nearby.
Ezzeks lowered his stance, his voice booming defiantly. "I see the teeth in your smile fell long ago! The blind hunger that drives those alien tongues! The terror facing this monster—" he pointed at himself proudly. "And worst of all, the one you are! But listen, spawn of the Vast Sea, even amidst this twisted, abyss-scarred tower, the world will still bend toward light. For the undying thrum of my heart RUMBLES in this body!"
The Cerberus furiously snarled, lunging at the Coarseblood with surprising speed! The thrust of its massive body ripped through the ceiling vents and tore into Ezzeks, who let out a hearty laugh.
"WAHAHA! Vaal, behold! This beast is now worthy to be split by the heavens!" Ezzeks roared as he was sent flying through the store and down into the flooded atrium, his crimson body bouncing violently against stone as the Cerberus followed behind like a bolt of meaty lightning.
Ezzeks crashed into the freezing water, his cracked visage still intact. His hand brushed an alabaster stone pillar, which he then raised from the depths. Kyyr rumbled through him just as the Cerberus slammed into the rising column, tearing through it like dried sinew. From the heart of the storm, the Cerberus summoned a bolt of pink lightning—Kyyr-laced and deafening. It struck down in sync with its charge, blasting the plaza upward in a violent eruption from the depths.
CRRRRRRK!
The resounding energy exploded throughout as the esoteric waters were pushed away, their watery facade receding as the water pressed itself around the edges of the atrium, climbing up the railings, creating a bubble of darkness around the two monsters.
The Cerberus raised its arms overhead, black flesh rippling as the pale scales adorning its hide twisted sharply. Now facing outward like serrated blades, they slammed downward, slicing through the air.
Shrapnel burst outward, and the room filled once more with violent crackles of pink lightning, each bolt striking savagely toward the crimson form beneath.
BOOOM!
BOOOM!
BOOOM!
BOOOM!
With mindless fury, the Cerberus hammered relentlessly into the consuming darkness. Its arms, reshaped into massive halberds, cleaved desperately at the shadowed void below.
BOOOM—CRK!
Over and over, the Cerberus blindly pummeled the darkness beneath.
BOOOM—CRRRK!!
It showed no mercy—not even to itself.
BOOOM—CRRRRKK!!!
Bones splintered under the crushing force of its own blows.
BOOOM—CRRRRRRKK!!!!
Its arms fractured and shattered, finally succumbing to the violent, reckless assault. Exhausted, the Cerberus fell still as the rising waters receded silently into the murk.
"RIVETING!" Ezzeks roared from under the beast. Crimson spires surged upward, lifting the Cerberus and slamming it against the towering wall of rushing water. "Truly riveting… I understand your plight, fell spawn—and worry not! Your rest draws near." He stood proudly within a scorched crater. Gone were any traces of Berserkrios, leaving behind only a battered, crimson-scaled aberration whose monstrous form stood defiant.
The Cerberus easily tore the crimson spires, its body instantly healing any damage beset upon its spiraling frame.
"Vaal, this beast is worthy of the old king's technique. So watch with those hateful eyes and etch this feeling into your very bones!" Ezzeks weakly laughed as he raised the mangled arm that now barely resembled a hook. "This Calamity synthesis… it's hauntingly familiar to Draconic Corpus… Intriguing, isn't it?"
"HOLY FUCK EZZEKS I ALMOST DIED! Just shut the hell up and do your stupid thing! Our body is at the literal LIMIT!" Vaal cried out.
Ezzeks offered a broken smirk—or at least, the flickering remnant of one—and, lowering his arm, rolled his shattered shoulders. Pulsing their body's native Kyyr through his battered frame, he braced himself.
Sensing the shift in energy, the Cerberus charged, closing the gap in mere seconds. Lightning-bound blows rained down, blades and writhing flesh lunging hungrily for the agile Coarseblood. Each strike left deep gouges, burning away crimson scales, yet from every bleeding wound, sharp bone erupted to shield Ezzeks from further harm.
Ezzeks rolled swiftly beneath the barrage, splitting the waters with a surge of Kyyr as he dropped to all fours and vanished into the raging storm.
The Cerberus moved to pursue—but the cold, inhuman voice pierced its shattered consciousness, erupting in garbled wails. yOU /MuST/ NOT GO! HIDE-HIDE/DIE?! SURVIVE! YOUR DESIGNATION is/You have to play by MY RULES!
Yet, beneath the shrieking command of the abyss, another voice surfaced—soft, defiant, weary. "I don't want to play anymore."
The Cerberus convulsed violently as a bony foot tore itself free, flesh rupturing in gruesome sloshes. An arm and skull emerged, ripping free as a defiant fragment of itself clawed toward the storm. Toward the Coarseblood.
The ancient voice howled, its tones distorted with agony and desperation. NO—The truth is [ROUGH AND PAINFUL]! Listen to/ ME/ YuO belong—
"To no one."
Before it could escape fully, the monstrous bulk of its other selves slammed violently into the escaping fragment, merging once more into a grotesque, desperate shape. With a roar of anguish and determination, the Cerberus tore through the storm, struggling against torrents of rain and darkness as it chased the warm pulse of Ezzeks's Kyyr.
It stopped at the brink, facing the impenetrable darkness of the abyss. Beyond the deep, black waters—above the churning sea—it sensed him, waiting.