"Allow me to show you what you've passed on by not choosing to follow Hex."
Maya grinned wickedly before pouring a pool of acid from her mouth, forcing Eryth to take steps away from them, putting distance between them. She stood back on her feet and clasped her hands.
"Borrowed Act, Mystic claws."
Eryth gasped as a being wrapped in bandages, with a long sword in its hand strode out of the pool of acid.
'I get it now… that is why they have such eyes, they merged with a devil.'
The Borrowed Act allows the user to be able to use only one ability out of any selected Act. But using Borrowed Act is only possible when a person merges with a Devil, beings summoned from the Hecahiyk (realm of the Chaos gods).
The creature screeched and launched itself at Eryth.
He managed to move his sword to parry the attack before trying a strike of his own but it was sluggish and telegraphed. The being swung its sword again, Eryth put his sword up but it was thrown out of his hand by the attack and the long sword left a long cut in his chest. He crashed on the ground, drowning in his blood, the fight ending just as quickly as it started.
The being raised its sword and struck again, dealing what was the final blow to end Eryth's life. The creature placed its sword on its shoulder before slowly walking back into the pool of acid.
"We are done here."
Maya said before turning away from Eryth whose life slowly drained away. She smiled as she saw her partner, Ash, dragging Uobleza and Blutox's bodies while Danila lay motionless on the ground.
"What's next?" Little Rock asked.
Maya pointed at Danila and the shifter quickly moved to where she was, dragging her body to where the other piles of dead bodies were.
She raised her head to the sky and took a deep breath. "Now we summon the mighty Hex and offer him this great gift."
They used the blood from the bodies to draw some markings on the ground, encircling the dead bodies.
Eryth lay on the ground, his breath ragged and his vision slowly fading into darkness. He dragged his head up to see the Maya performing her ritual to summon Hex, and amongst the bodies were Uobleza, Danila, and Blutox.
Eryth knew little about rituals, especially summons, but he was certain that after a ritual, the items used for said rituals would be lost, forever.
Eryth had only known these people for a few days, but seeing their state, seeing their lives come to an end; it hurt him more than the injury he carried.
He reached for his sword and used it to support himself up, but after taking one step, he collapsed back down.
"No," he mumbled hopelessly. "Stop!"
He outstretched his hand and Rune markings appeared on the ground in front of him.
It glowed bright black before a pale-skinned feminine being emerged from it. Her eyes were large and golden with a thin green line in the middle. She had long green hair that flowed over her back down to the back of her knees. She wore a brown ethereal gown that covered her entire body including her feet.
The lady sighed exasperatedly as she looked at Eryth.
"Is this how low I've gotten?" She hissed.
"Summoned by a mere mortal?" She let her words trail off and a smile crawled up her lips.
"You."
The lady moved closer to Eryth until she was only a few inches away from him before curbing to his level.
She held his chin and raised his head like a master inspecting his property.
"You are the boy Rapulnu has been monitoring."
"Huh?"
She laughed inwardly and placed her right hand on his cheek, caressing his face tenderly. A tiny centipede crawled out of her sleeve and into his ear without his realising it. She then got up on her feet and sighed in satisfaction, her face reeling with a much brighter expression than when she arrived.
"This is more interesting than I thought."
She then turned and slowly approached the four.
"Now, a summon is a summon."
The four noticed the lady approaching them and they suddenly went down to their knees with widened eyes.
They tried to raise their heads but a force opposed it.
"Ha-- Hahera?"
"Goddess of swarm?"
"Impossible."
"Unfortunately—" she said lifting her arms.
"I must serve my summoner."
She aimed her palm at them and a gigantic scorpion burst out of the ground, throwing them in a different direction.
"Run."
The scorpion moved fast and immediately struck down Little Rock the shifter, splattering his head with its stinger.
Ash tried to run but it quickly caught up to him and struck him down as well. It immediately moved to its next target, chasing after the Self-duplication Act user until he was dead before turning to Maya who was almost reaching the forest.
Hahera raised her hand and the scorpion disappeared, allowing the Poison Act user to escape. She then turned to Eryth with a smile.
"I see why Ra took a big interest in you," she said, a smile on her face.
"I'll see you soon, strong one." She turned into a worm and disappeared into the sand.
Eryth exclaimed softly as he felt his wound and injuries closing up, leaving not even a signal scar.
Eryth put little thought into how he summoned a goddess and how his injuries healed. Instead, he rushed up to where his unconscious partners were and crouched down to their level.
"Danila?" He called out while turning her around to inspect the injury she had incurred. The fairy had only sustained a little injury compared to the other two.
Before he could process anything, the goddess of the undead and ghosts appeared in the sky above Eryth.
He watched as she slowly descended in front of his unconscious partner.
"What do you want from me?" Eryth queried.
She held his stare for a very long moment before replying.
"Everything."
She then moved her hand over the head of his unconscious friends and held it that way for a few seconds before moving to the rest of the villagers to perform the same actions. She then turned to Eryth.
"The worst is yet to come. Prepare yourself, and be ready."
After spewing the last word, she spread her wings and took flight into the air, disappearing out of Eryth's sight.
"I just keep getting more questions."
As if on cue, the rubble blocking the entrance of the library burst open, giving way for Grevla, Heyt, Daya and the old Monk to march out. They quickly and immediately hurried to where Eryth was just in time to witness the awakening of Uobleza, Blutox and Danila.
"What happened?" Monk Zumma queried.
Eryth looked at the monk.
"A lot happened."
.
.
.
Maya, the Poison Act user continued to run through the woods, breathing heavily with blurry vision. She continued without stopping or turning back until she arrived at their camp and threw herself on the ground, bowing her head in front of a man on a horse.
The man didn't ask what happened to her, he didn't have to. He said only a single word in its own sent shivers down Maya's spine.
"Where?"
"W-we attacked a village to offer their souls to Hex but we were defeated. I was the only survivor—"
Before she finished her words, the man raised his hand to her.
She let out a scream as her left arm twisted in the opposite direction. Her scream became even louder as her right palm suddenly tore open and her blood began to tear her skin up until it reached her neck region.
"You, lost?"
He controlled the blood on the ground and turned it into spikes. He then controlled it into her left eye, causing more blood to gush out which he turned into a spike again and stabbed it into her.
"He summoned a— argh! godd."
He dropped his hand as he heard what she said. Maya crashed on the ground, breathing heavily with periodic yelps.
"One of them summoned the goddess of the swarm to aid him. We were powerless against her," she revealed.
The man unmounted his horse and slowly caressed its hair.
"I see."
"Take me to him."
....
ns216.73.216.12da2
