/A-Aether… T-The Principal… is d-dead…/
Those words echoed in Aether’s mind, their weight refusing to sink in.
He blinked, trying to process the impossible as Sandra’s fist collided with his face, sending a sharp jolt through him…. Yet, her strike barely registered.
His thoughts reeled, looping back to Aqualina’s trembling voice and the words she’d spoken.
Dead?
What was she talking about?
Isadora Pinkheart—the strongest entity he had ever known—dead?
It was absurd!
Impossible!!
And yet—
/H-Her head was cut off… Sob A-Aether… S-She died protecting us… Sob/
Aether barely comprehended her words…. Instead, fragments of memories flashed before his eyes.
His master’s radiant smile!
Her unyielding presence!!
The way she would playfully trash him, only to push him harder than anyone else ever could.
It was unthinkable that she could be gone!
He refused to accept it!
“Nah… she wouldn’t die,” Aether mumbled, his voice hollow.
For the first time, his hand shot up, catching Sandra’s incoming fist mid-air… Sandra blinked, startled.
“What’s this? Finally fighting back? Don’t want to look unmanly in front of your little harem?” she taunted, her voice dripping with sarcasm…. But her words faltered the moment she saw his eyes.
Her sharp tongue was replaced by a cold silence when she saw his eyes…. They were pitch black—void of any pupils or any trace of humanity…. with a wicked grin curling his lips. The sight sent an unexplainable shiver down her spine.
She instinctively backed away, putting two meters between them.
“She didn’t die… Of course not… There’s no way… Haha…” Aether chuckled softly, his voice carrying a manic edge. “After all, she’s the strongest entity alive! I mean, come on now… No way, right? NO FUCKING WAY!” Aether’s voice grew louder, manic, as he rambled into the air, his laugh hollow and unnatural.
“A-Aether?” Aria’s voice quivered, her steps faltering. The others stood frozen, their faces pale as they took in Aether’s bizarre behavior.
Aria frowned, her mind racing with thoughts…. Something was wrong.
Something was very wrong with him!
His pitch-black eyes… she had seen them somewhere before, but where? She couldn’t remember, and that unfamiliar sight made her chest tighten.
She didn’t like it!
Not one bit!!
Sandra, who had been glaring, now furrowed her brows. “Have you finally gone insane?” she asked coldly, her voice echoing across the tense battlefield.
Aether flinched at her words, turning his soulless black eyes toward her… His voice dropped into a sinister growl. “You… I hate you.”
Sandra snorted, her tone unyielding, “That’s mutual,” she retorted without hesitation, her eyes narrowing into an icy stare.
Aether took a deliberate step forward… The ground under his foot groaned as if crushed by an invisible force. The air around him shifted, growing heavy with malice.
Sandra’s sharp senses caught it—the Arcane energy around him…. It wasn’t just flowing anymore; it was screaming. Agonizing, tormented screams.
Her breath hitched…. This was familiar.
She had seen this before… on Kai’s engagement day. That was the day Aether had shown what he truly was.
‘That’s not Aether,’ Sandra thought, her teeth clenching…. And judging by the growing tension, the others felt the same.
Aria and Maelona instinctively stepped back, their legs shaky as fear gripped them. Liora frowned deeply.
Unlike the others, she didn’t step away. Instead, she watched him carefully. She could feel it—this wasn’t just a change… He was stronger… Far stronger than before.
And something wrong with him!!
Kaelen cowered behind his mother, beads of sweat dripping down his face, ‘Fuck! Fuck! She pissed off Father… He’s angry! Really fucking angry!’ he screamed internally, his body trembling with both fear and confusion…. Yet, he didn’t know the real reason for this.
Aether walked forward, his movements odd, jerky…. His fingers twitched unnaturally in the air as if they had a mind of their own.
“Why?…” He muttered with uncanny sound,
“Why is everyone acting like this?
What did I even do wrong?
It’s not my fault, right?… It’s not like I’m the one to blame here, right?” His voice cracked, his words spilling out like an unfiltered torrent of emotion,
“I mean, come on now… What am I supposed to do? I’m doing my best. I’m trying my damn hardest to keep everyone alive, and yet… and yet they doubt me, question me, hurt me!” His voice rose with every word, his anguish morphing into rage.
The sky above darkened, ominous clouds swirling overhead… His body slowly turned black, darker than the night. It was as though something monstrous was clawing its way to the surface, possessing him.
Aria’s hands trembled as she raised her bow… Whatever that thing was, it wasn’t Aether.
She refused to believe it was her beloved.
Liora’s multicolour eyes narrowed, her ears twitching as her tail stiffened. The Aether before her was powerful—far too powerful—but he wasn’t the man she loved.
Aether’s voice softened, trembling with an almost childlike confusion “I chose this path so I wouldn’t have to worry.
I gave up everything for it.
So why is everyone against me?
Why?
Why?
WHY ME?” Aether’s voice thundered as he appeared before Sandra in a blink, so fast that even her trained eyes couldn’t keep up.
His body slowly turned black, like he was burned to crisp and leaking a deep mist that seeped into the earth…. The ground beneath him decayed instantly, the grass and stone crumbling into dust as though they lost something!
Sandra’s face twisted into a frown, her sharp eyes glaring at him, “Who are you?” she asked.
“Me?” Aether tilted his head, raising his hand—or what was left of it. His arm was no longer flesh, but an abyssal mass leaking dark mist.
He brought his fingers to her cheek, suddenly,
“Argh!” Sandra winced, a sharp pain shooting through her as his fingers touched her skin. Her cheek turned black, crisp, as though something was being sucked out of her body.
Aether chuckled lowly, “Hehehe… What’s wrong? Hesitating, are we? That’s not like you.
Not like before… When you slit my throat without a second thought.”
Sandra froze… She didn’t understand what he meant.
What throat? What moment? Her brows furrowed in confusion.
What was he talking about?
Then his blackened eyes scanning her face before shifting to the others.
Aria and Maelona flinched under his gaze, stepping further back…. Their thoughts echoed in unison: ‘T-That’s not Aether!’
Then, his attention shifted to Liora, and a wicked smile stretched across his face. “Oh… My dear darling…” His voice oozed with unsettling affection.
Despite his affectionated words, Liora stiffened, her instincts roaring in protest. That love—whatever it was—felt wrong…. Twisted!
Not possessive or Love…. Something more Twisted!
Like Possession or Slave maybe?
She did’t get it but… Her lips curled into a snarl as she took a defensive stance, her tail lashing behind her.
Sneering, she spat back silently in her mind: That is not my husband.
Aether chuckled as if reading her thoughts before turning to Kaelen, who trembled visibly behind his mother. For a moment, Aether’s gaze lingered on him, but then he ignored him entirely.
Kaelen sighed in relief, though for some reason, being ignored felt like a slap in the face.
Aether just smiled before turning to trembling Kaelen who was hiding behind and ignored him, though kaelen sighed in relief at the same time he felt insulted for some reason.
Suddenly—
Chucckkk…
Sandra’s eyes widened in utter shock as blood gushed violently from her mouth. She staggered back, looking down in disbelief at the gaping, grotesque hole in her stomach. Black mist curled ominously from her wound as Aether slowly retracted his mist-shrouded hand, gripping something glistening wet and crimson—her inner organs, still faintly pulsating.
“Hmm… your insides feel good~ It’s making me hard~” Aether murmured darkly, his wicked grin widening as he admired his gruesome prize.
Then, with an almost playful brutality, he grabbed Sandra’s head and slammed it forcefully into the ground.
BOOOMMMM!!!
The entire caved village trembled violently under the sheer force of the impact. The ground beneath them cracked and buckled, further caving in… A shockwave tore through the air, blasting those standing nearby like ragdolls, scattering them into the chaos.
“M-Mom!!” Aria screamed, her voice filled with desperation. She leaped forward without hesitation, catching her mother midair, cradling her as they skidded along the fractured ground, finally coming to a halting stop.
“Are you alright?” Aria’s voice trembled with worry… But Maelona wasn’t looking at her daughter or even registering the excruciating pain…. Her wide eyes were locked on Aether—no, the thing that holding Aether.
“What… is that…?” Maelona whispered, her voice barely audible.
Her gaze fixed on the figure looming behind Aether. A deep, black feminine silhouette clung unnervingly to his neck, its massive, unnerving grin glowing stark white against the impenetrable darkness.
Aria froze in place, her heart skipping a beat as she followed her mother’s gaze. Her breath hitched sharply. The figure… she had seen it before. Once, she had dismissed it as a mere illusion, a trick of her terrified mind.
But now, there was no denying its existence. It was real—terrifyingly real.
Liora stiffened as well, her sharp eyes narrowing at the shadowy figure. Unlike Kaelen, who could see nothing beyond Aether’s shifting, blackened form, she could see it all too clearly.
Sandra’s hazy eyes fluttered open, her mind a storm of dizziness, agony, and confusion.
Her mind spinning from the blow, blinked repeatedly. She tried to focus on Aether, but the pressure in her mind was overwhelming. It took her a while to process everything before finally speaking, her voice trembling:
Then, her blurred vision settled…
“I-It… It’s you… a-again.” Sandra mumbled in disbelief as she saw the black feminine figure glaring at her…. Its grin only widened, seeming to take pleasure in her fear.
“Your death is inevitable, Marisandra Naiadia”
It whispered, its voice echoing in Sandra’s mind like a haunting truth.
As Sandra shuddered, Aether’s grin mirrored the figure’s…. his body fully turning pitch black…. The black feminine figure that had been hovering near his shoulder flickered and then seemed to merge with Aether, its ghostly form fully joining with his like it was possessing him.
Merging as though it were a part of his very being.
And then… Aether’s face disappeared entirely, replaced by a terrifying same enormous, glowing white grin that seemed to mock everything around him.
Aether—or whatever he had become—raised his hand and…
“Hehe”
BOOM!
His fist slammed into Sandra with horrifying force.
BOOM!
“Heheh”
Again.
BOOM!
“Hehehe”
Again.
BOOM!
“Heheheh”
Again.
BOOM!
“Hehehehe”
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Again.
BOOM!
“Heheheheh”
Again.
…
….
The ground quaked violently with every devastating impact. Blood splattered in grotesque arcs, painting the ground and walls in crimson streaks as Sandra’s body crumpled under the relentless assault.
“A-Aria… we should stop him,” Maelona stammered, her voice barely above a whisper. Her pale face betrayed her overwhelming terror as she watched the relentless beating. The Aether she knew was gone, replaced entirely by something monstrous and utterly unrecognizable.
Aria snapped out of her frozen stupor, her hands trembling as she nocked an arrow with shaking fingers. “Y-Yeah… You stay here. I-I’ll talk to him,” she stammered.
She glanced nervously at Liora, who nodded silently, her expression grim…
Together, the two began to approach cautiously, their movements slow and deliberate.
But then—
“ARRRHH!”
A bone-chilling roar echoed violently through the caved village… They all froze in place, except for Aether, who continued pummeling Sandra without pause or hesitation.
Aria and the others turned toward the source of the sound…. On the ledge above the caved village stood a monstrous figure—a grotesque Elf, its twisted form glaring down at them with feral intensity.
But it wasn’t just one… One by one, more Monster Elves began to emerge, surrounding the Village
“Shit… they’ve come here,” Maelona muttered under her breath, her face draining of color. Those were her people, the soldiers who had been turned into horrific monsters, and because of the commotion, they had finally arrived.
The commotion had drawn them in, and now they surrounded the village, cutting off any chance of escape or survival.
“This… Fuck!” Liora growled in frustration as the caved village was completely surrounded by the monstrous, corrupted Elves.
The situation had just become even more hopeless…