Symbiotic Ascension : A Progression Fantasy Adventure

"Hurts... It hurts!"

Mary's voice was warped, Corrupted, just like the rest of her being.

"I-It hurts!"

Her voice rang with a painful plea.

"Kill me... Please, kill me..."

These were the only words she seemed to know, or rather, remember. For Mary was not human anymore. Glenn could see it as clear as water. Pieces of flesh fell from her arms as she clutched them painfully, an amorphous creature whose "face" had only one distinctive feature: a mouth.

A monster.

A Corrupted monster.

Glenn clenched his fists tightly, his spells pulsing with power. The ground crackled under his feet as the world trembled. Nearby, Decimius was guarding Glenn's mother, Emily. The Orc was barely standing, his tendons cut and his blood flowing out constantly from the multiple cuts covering him. Golden Aura fizzled weakly around his gladius.

Emily was cowering behind Decimius, her eyes large with horror, and a large, visceral cut on her neck. She would probably be dead if it weren't for her healing powers. Even now, Glenn could see the gentle green light coming out of her hands as she mended the cut.

"G... lenn?" Mary looked at him, her mouth contorted painfully. She cried in despair while pouncing down on him like a maddened beast.

The young man took one step forward. Gravity Manipulation crushed down on Mary, burying her feet into the ground. Black flames swirled around Glenn's hand, mixing with a violent Black Hole. His suit was burning away from the black flames, revealing the purple skin visibly progressing up his arm.

"You harmed my sister."

Glenn took another step forward. The Corrupted Mary sliced at his spell, dismantling it. Even so, flesh fell from her bones, ripped by the increased gravity pull. She cried painfully, but Glenn's ears were deaf to her screams.

"You tried to kill my mother."

Purple mist hissed out of his skin, growing into a cloud surrounding him. Mary disappeared in a flash, slicing at his neck. Glenn barely blocked her attack with his arm while using a pulse of Mana to kick her away. A bloody gash opened in his skin, revealing muscles and bones beneath. But Glenn couldn't feel the pain. He could only hear his mother's gasp as she tried to heal the wound on her neck, his sister's desperate call for help, even as she bled out.

Glenn stared down at the monster, his eyes dry and cold. He aimed his spell, the Mana swirling to obliterate everything that was left of the beast. The flaming Black Hole flew silently, crashing against Mary. She buckled to her knees, her face's "skin" melting off, revealing a pair of eyes beneath. They were bloodshot, filled with pain and insanity. And instead of the blue Glenn remembered, they were this disgusting dark green.

A metal clang rang in the area, dissipating the explosion. Mary stumbled out of a cloud of dust, her body charred and her daggers half molten. Glenn used Regeneration to heal the gash in his arm, coldly analysing his opponent.

'She's always been the type to be faster, more agile. She'll try to catch me off guard.'

Mary threw an Aura blade at him, which he hastily dodged. He threw a Solar Flare at her position, devastating everything in the spell's path, but she was already gone.

Stab!

Glenn coughed, peering down at the tip of the blade poking out of his stomach. He used Gravity Manipulation to stop Mary from retreating and grabbed the blade bare-handed. He turned his head, facing Mary's insane eyes directly. One was half-gone, the other, ravenous for pain.

"Absolute Zero."

He froze her in place, time itself slowing to a still. With a painful grunt, he ripped himself off Mary's dagger. She stared with these crazed eyes, foaming at the mouth, even as the Nitrogen froze her skin. He drew in a deep breath and clenched his teeth. There was no coming back from Corruption, he knew it. She was too far gone.

Glenn aimed his finger at her forehead and called upon the Elven King's black flames.

'But the Occult Wanderers can use Corruption as they wish." Glenn's hand froze, his spell continuing to swirl in his palm. The thought devoured him from the inside, doubt creeping up like an infection. The purple mist around him thickened while the Gravity Manipulation restraining Mary grew weaker.

Mary broke the spell, using the opportunity to slash at his face. Glenn tried to duck out of the way, but he still felt the cut on his forehead. Blood flowed into his eyes, but he immediately got rid of it with Gravity Manipulation. He opened his palm and created a sword of pure white flames.

The monster tried to retreat for its life, but it was too late. Glenn cleaved downward, the blade meeting Mary's forehead in its center.

"Helios Judgement."

The blade of fire carved into the earth, creating a massive crevasse filled with lava. The surrounding forest caught on fire as well, the nearest trees immediately turning into ashes. Mary's two separated parts fell to the side, the blackened flesh seeking to rejoin together but failing.

Glenn glanced to the side, realizing that Decimius and Emily were long gone, thankfully. He didn't want them to get caught in his attack. Glenn's gaze returned to the burning pile of flesh and bones. He fell to his knees, his strength leaving him.

"I should have known," he muttered. "I should have known she wouldn't be in a normal state of mind."

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'It's not your fault, Glenn.' Diamanes' voice reached his ears through the blurry veil that had taken over his mind. 'It's the Occult Wanderers' fault—'

"I KNOW, DIAMANES!" Glenn screamed, his voice echoing through the forest. Around him, the flames engulfed the tropical forest, cracking the trees open with loud breaking sounds.

"I know..." Glenn couldn't force himself to look at Mary's corpse. "I know, but how does that make it any better?"

He punched the dirt, tears finally streaming down his cheeks. His emotions poured out, like water out of a broken dam. "Why, why, why is this world like this? Why did Mary have to suffer from the Occult Wanderers' insanity? Why not someone else, someone I don't fucking know!"

Glenn looked at the sky, his teeth gritted in fury. "Onnea! Why the fuck do you allow this to happen? Why do you let Corruption even exist? Is hiding the truth about the Gods more important than the lives of mortals? Is that it, you fucking despot?!"

Only the burning forest answered him. Glenn's head drooped down, and he clenched his fists. For a while, he just sat there on his knees, his eyes closed and his fists pushed against the ground. Not Diamanes' worried voice, not the burning forest around him, nothing made him move, until, eventually, he rose to his feet.

He turned away from Mary's body and raised his hand. Gravity Manipulation carved a rectangular hole into the ground. With a bit more effort, he compressed the dirt on each side of the hole, making it as hard as stone.

It wasn't anything grand.

Plic.

Glenn almost felt like laughing when the first drop of rain hit his face.

But he didn't.

Instead, he stared at the small grave he'd dug, gathering his strength to turn around. His face was blank. He had already cried all the tears in his body.

Now he just felt empty.

"I can save her, if you wish."

Glenn froze. Slowly, he turned around. The two disconnected parts of Mary's body joined back together, her skull, thoracic cage, and pelvis bones melting back into one solid whole. Corrupted energy swirled around her, violently shaking away the blood and flesh.

As if all that had previously happened was just a lie, Mary recovered her normal body, her normal face. If she were to be compared to an animal, it'd be a cat, or a jaguar, maybe. She was slim, yet very toned and muscular. She had wild red hair flowing on either side of her face, and no doubt many men fell for her.

The only difference between her and the woman he knew was her eyes. Dark-green eyes. There was no more hint of insanity in them, and they were clear of any blood. Instead, they felt... wickedly smart, vicious even.

"Do you need me to repeat myself?" Mary asked.

'No,' Glenn thought. 'Not Mary. This... This Thing isn't her.'

Mary's mouth contorted into an exaggerated smile. More Corrupted energy exploded out of her, corrupting everything in sight. The land turned black, and the few trees that had survived the fire crumbled from rot. The rain poured down violently, each drop feeling like a sharp knife poking Glenn's skin.

The Thing took a step toward him. "You only need to accept me, boy." It grinned. "And I will return this mortal to her previous condition. She will be Corrupted and forced to obey my orders, but at least..." The Thing's grin grew impossibly wider. "She'll be alive."

Diamanes cackled loudly, drawing the Thing's attention. "As if Glenn would ever listen to a dead idiot like you!"

The Thing glared at Glenn's left hand. "You..." He looked back into Glenn's eyes and grinned. "You have made an interesting ally. I shall separate him from you."

The Thing stretched its hand out, a cloud of Corrupted energy flying out toward Glenn. He tried to shake it away with a wave of Mana, but it didn't affect it in the slightest. The dark-green cloud enveloped him from head to toe, seeping into his skin and entering his lungs.

"Cough, what—cough, cough!" Glenn heaved with difficulty.

"Glenn, hang on!" shouted Diamanes. More purple mist hissed out of Glenn's skin, pushing back against the Corrupted energy and giving Glenn a second to breathe. In that second, he noticed the Thing's gaze turn from curious to purely annoyed.

'Shit!'

Without thinking twice about it, he dashed forward with Gravity Manipulation and slammed a hand covered in black flames in the Thing's face. Glenn had expected some resistance, but the Thing flew dozens of meters away, the black flames burning him away.

The corrupted mist dissipated, letting Glenn breathe freely. He glanced at his arm, his eyelids twitching when he realized that his skin had become purple up his shoulder, and probably even further. He'd have to use a mirror to confirm how much.

"Diamanes, whatever you did, thank you," muttered Glenn. Helios' Judgement appeared in his hand, burning with the desire to purify the Corrupted creature.

"Attaboy," Diamanes groaned weakly. "Why don't you show this bastard what you're made of?"

"I do not know who, or what you are," said Glenn as he slowly stepped towards the Thing's fuming corpse. "You might be a God, but I don't give a shit."

The Thing slowly rose to its feet, its charred flesh falling away to be replaced with clean, flawless skin, unblemished.

"My identity does not matter. I simply know that you and I are connected." He grinned widely, his mouth ripping open to make the largest smile possible. "For I woke the same moment you did."

"Yeah, why don't you shut the fuck up?!" Glenn shelved the information for later and rushed forward, a burning sword aimed at the Thing's chest. The creature simply took it, grinning. The spell shattered on its skin, but Glenn wasn't done. He pointed his finger down, and his spell crashed down.

"Starfall."

The rainy sky disappeared, replaced by a starry night filled with countless lights. The Thing looked up with a grin as hundreds of small meteors shot down in his direction. Glenn retreated just in time to watch the explosions shake the world around the Thing. He wiped the sweat off his forehead, the Mana expenditure starting to take its toll.

'It's not going to be enough,' he thought. 'I need to finish him off with the black flames—'

"Interesting trick."

A sonic bang was all that Glenn heard before he felt the Thing's hand tighten over his neck. Mary's slim hand was clenching down on his throat, trying to crush it.

"I will take your soul, and study it outside," said the Thing. "Then, I'll do the same with all of your friends, your family, and every last mortal in this world."

Glenn tried to call for his Mana, but the Corruption seeped into him, burning away at his reserve. Countless voices laughing and raving entered his mind, mocking him and trying to push him toward the edge.

"It's all your fault, hahaha!"

"If it wasn't for you, none of this would have happened!"

"He wouldn't have woken up, had you not existed!"

"Hahaha, just give yourself up!"

"Hahaha!"

Glenn's head dropped back, his eyes turning glassy.

'No.'

The Thing's lips curled upward. "Yes. Everything you know and love shall be sacrificed to me as I take over. Become my flesh—become my soul!"

Diamanes cried painfully, the corrupted energy driving him out of Glenn's arm.

"No!" Glenn screamed, a sudden surge of energy entering his chest. He grabbed the Thing's wrist and stared deep into his surprised eyes.

"Fuck you."

Glenn's eyes filled with countless stars as he drew Mana from the deepest parts of his soul. The corrupted energy fled away from him, as if it had burnt itself on his existence. The Thing was forced to let go of his neck, his weight growing too heavy for him.

It was as if trying to hold the sky itself.

Glenn Starborn, the Devil's Hand and Duke of the Stars, opened his eyes to a whole new world.

Seven Circles spun vibrantly within his chest, humming with power. And he could see it.

The link connecting to Mary's heart.

A corrupted chain, rusty and old.

And he knew how to break it.