Published at 12th of May 2023 6:00 pm

Chapter 432 No Longer Human (VIII)

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Even with the sloshing footsteps of whatever existed beyond the broken wall echoing ominously, closer and closer, the silver-haired man remained slow and methodical in retrieving the all-powerful parchment from its case.

The air itself changed with the removal of the precious paper from its case. Between his fingertips, he held it up, slowly exhaling through his lips.

It was at that same moment that the fantastical scrap was hoisted up that the nebulous presence revealed itself, stepping through the hole in the wall. Abyssal tendrils latched onto the steel threshold, extending and contorting as the monstrous figure stomped down.

“–”

Jin looked straight towards it, witnessing the arrival of something truly inhuman: it held a humanoid shape, though standing well over three meters tall with pitch-black, sooty skin that seemed devoid of real skin, made up of flowing liquid.

From its back, abyssal limbs stretched out, waving around in every direction and lashing out at anything within its range. Despite the hulking nature of the abyssal monstrosity, the figure was slumped over, possessing spiraling eyes that flowed with tears as it sobbed and groaned out, echoing throughout the chamber.

Jin kept his distance, finding himself not yet seen by the figure as he held the precious paper in his palm.

‘What is that? Is it “Dread”? No…Not exactly. That’s Krimjaw–he’s taken in the essence of Dread,’ he thought.

There was a zone of “death” around the monstrosity; its corrupted limbs rapidly struck in a range around itself, annihilating anything within ten meters of its position with impunity.

As the silver-haired man stayed in the higher level of the large chamber, he watched from above, finding his body shifting between hot and cold as his heart throbbed in his chest.

‘I could run. If I did, there’s a good chance I could make it out of this continent before the curse puts me down. If I just ran with everything I had, abandoning everything else here without second thought. I could do it,’ Jin thought.

Still, even as utter dread crept through the man’s body, he found himself once again staring at the liquid-filled container that held the unconscious girl, suspended in sleep.

‘…But I won’t. I’ve already decided. Even if I die in this hellhole, I’ll exterminate that bastard,’ he resolved.

With his own life being placed onto the threshold of death, Jin firmly held the fantastical paper in front of himself while looking ahead towards the sobbing monster.

“Contract: Open!” Jin shouted.

The commanding words caused a dormant power to awaken from the parchment that seemed normal at first glance; an expulsion of wind brushed outward in a dome-shape.

It hovered in the air by its own merit now, awaiting the contract to be forged by the earnest words of the man.

Whatever left his lips next needed to be words he entrusted with his entire being.

“In exchange for half of my lifespan, grant me unlimited mana for five minutes!” Jin commanded.

Just as the contract was forged, the torn paper emitted a supernatural force, repelling the debris and tendrils that were flung in his direction.

All at once, boundless mana flooded through the man’s body, simultaneously supplying him with power unlike anything he’d felt before.

BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP.

Inside of his chest, his heart pounded faster, more desperately, as his clock was shortened; even with the overflowing energy that surged through his veins, as he looked upon the sobbing monstrosity present in the chamber, he felt himself uncertain.

‘Is this enough? Am I one-hundred percent confident I can win with this? “Don’t ever go into a battle half-assed, half-cocked–that’s how you die without accomplishing the bare minimum”–that’s what you taught me. So, let’s take this another step,’ Jin decided.

In preparation for the Primordial force, Jin squeezed the mystical paper between his fingertips as his heart thumped behind his chest, releasing the words of fate from his lips:

“Contract: Open!” He began, “In exchange for my soul, grant me supremacy with the element of light!”

As the words left his mouth, they were instantly etched onto the paper, written in a contract of blood that was irreversible. Just like that, as the contracts were forged, the promises filled the scrap of paper, completing its space; it burned away into discarded embers.

‘It’s done,’ Jin thought, pausing for a moment.

It was a tangible feeling: his own soul being taken from him. As if a warmth that had been there since his conception, one that he was not aware of until that moment, was ripped away. Everything began to dull for him as the essence of himself was exchanged; memories felt blurred, his own emotions were shaken up in the moment–it was difficult to grasp onto who he truly was.

Only when losing it did he begin to realize what the soul was: a construct of himself, where his experiences were imprinted–where Jin Van Strezzhume originated.

‘…Hold onto it. Remember who you are, until the very end: You’re Jin! Jin Van Strezzhume! Your little sister’s name…It’s Celly! Remember! Hold onto it! Tuck it close to your heart!’ He convinced himself.

Readying himself, he breathed out before flexing his newfound aura, causing a riptide of radiant mana to flash around him as he repelled the abyssal tendrils that had come near him.

The pitch-black monstrosity seemed to finally take notice of him as it lumbered around, letting its arms hang and sway as it groaned out with its sobs echoing through the messy chamber of experiments.

“Evelynne…Evelynne…” The abyssal figure cried out through a deep, distorted voice.

It didn’t seem to bear any outward malice or aggression, only crying and slowly lumbering forth before the tentacles extending from its back whipped around, obliterating anything in their path.

Jin reacted quickly, slashing his newly-made, light-forged daggers as he unleashed cuts large enough to repel the tendrils.

“Oooh…?” The monstrosity slowly said.

‘If I’m right that Dread has incarnated through Krimjaw, then light magic will be incredibly effective against it. I have five minutes–five minutes to deal with a Primordial Aspect,’ Jin thought.

On the threshold of death, he found himself posed with a task impossible to ask of anybody else–yet, at the same time, with the boundless energy flowing through his body, it felt just possible enough with the time given.

“Evelynne…! Evelynne! Evelynne!” The newly-incarnated Dread howled out.

Suddenly seeming to wake up, the abyssal humanoid’s cry was followed by the many tendrils extending from its whipping around violently, smashing through stone and steel walls. The magecraft the silver-haired man knew was extended through the unanchored will of the Script, allowing him a natural mastery of light as he burst forward with a single step.

As a flash of light bolting through the length of the chamber, he evaded the limbs of Dread while simultaneously cleaving through them with a dozen, radiant slashes.

[“My life is a weapon for mankind. A sword and shield that stands against evil and injustice. It’s not as if I don’t have dreams of my own or things I want to do. Of course I do. But, if something as small and meager as my life can make a true change–if I can save hundreds, thousands, or maybe even millions–then I don’t need to think twice.”]

Remembering this, he came to a stop after cleaving his way through the newly-manifested Dread’s tendrils. The monstrosity groaned, grinding its teeth together as the nauseating sound echoed.

‘That’s who I am, right…? Then why does it feel like I’m thinking of somebody else? As if…”Jin” is someone else entirely, as if these memories are nothing more than words I read in a book,’ he questioned.

Holding his own face, he felt his memories become corrupted with a loss of identity; he observed them from a distanced perspective, seeing “Jin” as a figure foreign to himself.

‘Who am…’ He began to think.

As he was caught in his thoughts, he instinctively dodged as a pair of abyssal tendrils shot towards him, attempting to pierce his torso. Through the endless mana that flowed within him, a parallel strength supplemented his body.

Even as his mind loosened from its self of identity, the countless years of experience in combat etched into his body were only sharpened–driven by the instinctive drive to win.

“Evelynne! Evelynne! Evelynne—!” The distorted being roared out from its abyssal gut, causing shock waves to tunnel through the chamber like cannonballs of wind.

The relentless attacks hardly seemed to be intelligent or aimed with any sense or reason; they were merely the expelling of emotions from the sobbing monstrosity that wailed like a banshee as it thrashed about.

As the shock waves pummeled the chamber, shooting in every direction, the silver-haired man evaded them swiftly, untouched as he moved closer-and-closer to the reincarnated Aspect.

‘Who…’ He repeated in his mind, hardly even considering the danger around him.

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