944 The Fourth Ac (1/2)
On the heavily scuffed and damaged Revival Square, the environment turned dark as a gloominess and eeriness filled it in a seemingly corporeal manner. Even the blinding silver lightning wasn't able to dispel this feeling.
Daly Simone acutely sensed that an unknown creature was crossing the spirit world and approaching. An ominous feeling rose up in her as though she could already see Ince Zangwill using such an accident to easily escape, never to be found.
She felt ice-cold in a manner that couldn't be resisted, just like when she first became a Beyonder.
Back then, due to a particular accident, as a nineteen-year-old, she had lost her family and ended up drinking a potion by mistake. She ended up becoming a Corpse Collector and was placed into a Nighthawks team.
The influence of the potion and the wounds from losing her family had made her enjoy gloominess and coldness. She couldn't help but approach corpses, often loitering in cemeteries and sleeping there.
This made her appear odd, with people instinctively avoiding her. This not only dropped her body temperature, but it also slowly froze her heart and soul as they turned ice-cold.
She was afraid of this feeling. She still hoped to live as a person; hence, she instinctively used how men coveted her for her looks and body to gain a boyfriend. She wanted to use the warmth of a body to stop her soul from turning cold.
In this decadent and surreal life, she met that man, a man who always warmly listened to her. He was a man who always stayed by her side and provided her help. He was a man who became embarrassed when faced with jokes involving the two sexes. He was a man who accepted all the flaws and weaknesses of his teammates with a sincere attitude. He was a man who fumbled in helplessness when she jested at him again and again. He was a man who hid the pain and sorrow in his heart, to the point of suffering an early receding hairline. He was a man who was the first to step forward when encountering danger, putting himself in between the danger and his teammates.
She changed. She began putting on makeup that made her appear older. She stopped mixing with other men but kept her jokes to deliberately express that she hadn't changed in an obvious manner.
However, she still didn't make it in time. She didn't manage to witness the man master the acting method, digest potions, and advance to Sequence 6. She didn't manage to see him reach out his hand to invite her to an opening dance or be able to participate in his final battle. She didn't manage to tell him her feelings in time.
I was wrong. I failed to do anything in time. Today, I'm not having it repeat again… Daly's expression turned sorrowful as the corners of lips curled bit by bit with tenderness and sweetness.
With her eyes closed, she suddenly pulled out a small metal bottle from a hidden compartment. She threw the stopper and gulped the liquid inside.
Her blue eyeshadow and blush instantly brightened, and even her skin turned slightly translucent. Her coiled up hair was instantly released, pushing her hood back as they fluttered.
”Spirit wandering the void, higher-order creature that leave one with awe, the unforeseeable creature,” Daly chanted with simple and forceful ancient Hermes, ”I, I shall sign a contract with you in my name, pray that you leave this place!”
Behind the eight-”legged,” the white-feathered Ince Zangwill, a figure appeared. It was a blood-colored piece of flesh with countless eyes on it and arms of different races.
Just as it was about to grab Ince Zangwill and drag him into the spirit world, it suddenly paused. It then turned its gaze towards Daly Simone.
Pitch-black snake-like scales instantly appeared on Daly's skin, and within the gaps of the scales, white feathers grew.
Her knees buckled as she knelt down in pain, but she ultimately maintained her spirit channeling posture.
That quill began writing autonomously on Ince Zangwill's body.
”The unknown existence descended upon Revival Square and was just about to take Ince Zangwill away—but no, it was attracted by Daly Simone. Its sense of aesthetics was inclined towards humans. Oh no, it abandoned Ince Zangwill. It decided to listen to Daly Simone's suggestion and ended up leaving.
”How surprising that when it came to spirit channeling, Ince Zangwill, a demigod, would actually lose to Sequence 5 Daly Simone. Although this lady had consumed the Flower of Spirit and paid an immense price, she had little chance to defeat Ince Zangwill who was barely using the Quill of Alzuhod.
”Ince Zangwill was just too unlucky. He actually encountered a matter with nearly zero probability!”
Amidst the lightning strikes, blood-red beams lit up in Ince Zangwill's pitch-black eyes that were covered with mysterious symbols before calming down. His ”hand” which held the quill wrote on his body once again:
”Another unknown existence was lured into the vicinity and attempted to enter the real world…”
Just as he wrote that, the quill suddenly paused as it continued writing:
”Incoming! Incoming! It, no—'She' was Reinette Tinekerr! No, Reinette Tinekerr chased away all the surrounding creatures in the spirit world. 'She' gave Ince Zangwill a glance, looked away, and left, continuing 'Her' patrol of the surroundings.
”Ince Zangwill is too unlucky, just too unlucky!”
Ince Zangwill's rapidly-moving body suddenly paused as though he had suffered a terrible blow.
Boom!
A thick bolt of silver-white lightning smote the eight-”legged” monster. It sent Ince Zangwill flying up as he let out an inhuman cry.
In his pitch-black eyes, the blood-red beam spread out like an explosion, turning into two bloodthirsty, cruel, and maniacal blobs of light.
”Ince Zangwill could no longer control his emotions and maintain a good state of mind. He lost most of his reason…” The more the slightly damaged quill wrote, the darker it became until it slowly stopped.
With a scream that left one with goosebumps, an endless darkness blanketed the area, pulling Daly Simone and Leonard Mitchell into a dream.
However, the thunder booms and lightning snapped the dreamers awake.