The soul-bound manifestation of the Demonic Legacy starts to shatter into the void.
The ether it's made of is so refined, it cannot be compared with high-quality ether. It has reached a potency to the point where it is at an equivalent density to the dark purple gel it surrounds.
The only name that resonates with me as I break through it would be flawless grade.
Shards of this pristine material shatter like frail glass and begin covering our bodies as we dive through.
Many of the glyphs imprinted on this translucent bubble are extremely ancient and fragile. Some attempt to spin and activate, while others just break apart or even explode into pure white dust in the void.
It's clear this array was extremely delicate, meant for a peaceful period of solitude in the void, and to be meticulously activated once the time is right.
The enormous weight of abrupt pressure completely disrupts all of its functions.
Even as the stray mist seamlessly sinks into the gel that forms around the silver threads in my body, it only increases the overall ether pool depths. There are no longer any mysteries left for me to uncover about this Demon's Legacy; it has all been laid bare.
Violent splashes into Noctus' pool of consciousness send waves of this consolidated essence away from the pool and into the void. With each splash, I can feel the remaining strength of this Demon wane.
Yet, with our swords, and now even arms, plunging deep into the purple pool, the Demon's yells echo directly into our minds without any need to wait for its wisps to travel through the void.
"This is truly what you have chosen? Still so weak and naive. I have given you the chance to retreat and live your lives in the Realms below, but you still run toward your demise."
The deep ocean of consolidated gel becomes denser and denser the further in we push.
It even slows down our movement, creating pressure on our energy bodies, breaking them apart once again. Yet, this time it is no surprise. There is no moment of shock or hesitation. Instead, there is only a stronger pulse of silver threads that erupts out from our chests.
The thin network of silver threads holding our bodies together instantly grows brighter, and new bends and cracks in space open up to summon far more of this eerie, divine light.
It even condenses large amounts of our auras into far more of this consolidated gel.
Instead of the deep demonic purple pool we fall into, the energy states that form become an extremely bright and solid version of our primordial auras. The metallic red glow that fills the void erupts like a fire that threatens to devour the void to ashes, and the pristine light-blue, mirror-like gel that consolidates all throughout Maria's being shines so bright that even the purple essence surrounding her becomes overwhelmed.
It looks like we're burning and freezing pathways through the demonic sea of essence, but actually, anything our auras touch becomes assimilated into our own power.
I yell back to the Demon as its true body beneath the sea starts to come into range of our blades.
"Retreat? To an enemy that is already dead? Your reign over this system has come to an end."
Even as we reach the innermost depths of this demonic gel pool of consciousness, its density increasing by many times, our energy bodies easily keep up.
I can feel my own cores flailing in closer and closer to each other, to the point where over half of each of their mass is intertwined.
It makes my body so densely packed with silver threads that there aren't any weak points left at all. Even though we're at the deepest depth of the consciousness sea, I do not feel my forms cracking or shattering anymore.
In fact, the physical barriers between all of my energy bodies, as they stack within each other, are also starting to have blurred boundaries. It is as though they are bending to become one, just like my cores.
Maria and I are fully submerged in the sea, but the streaks of our auras behind us have created a powerful enough dent in space to not let the purple pool close up behind.
In a powerful and absolute movement, with every fiber of our being, we both slash into the epicenter of this construct in the void toward the unguarded chest of this completely motionless, silver-cored Demon.
It appears as though he is still sleeping, trapped in time, in the exact position he was left in when his soul was severed.
Even his clawed hands are still raised in the air above his head, showing where this array was manifested from.
The tips of our blades both meet the flesh-like body of this bright silver Demon, and I even feel it give way, allowing us to thrust forward and through.
Yet, just as we do, a terrifying pressure ripples through the void.
It is the sensation I felt every time this Demon activated its skill in his memories, yet all of its data was scrubbed away and bent into a black shadow in all of the images.
The imagery of reality itself turning into a countless number of spinning glyphs and gears makes tremors vibrate in the depths of my soul.
I cannot tell where this pressure is coming from, or how it's managing to collide with my psyche from all sides.
It's like a trillion colonies of ants crawling all over the inside of my mind and soul, each one carrying intricate, hypnotic spinning fractals and patterns I can't look away from.
I lose the concept of the passage of time, causing all of my movements, thoughts, and energy pathways to freeze. I'm able to understand that I'm in this state, but have no way of interacting with my own body or the void around me to react.
Maria appears to be completely frozen too, as her blade is piercing the Demon's chest right beside mine, but neither of us can move forward any further.
As my limited awareness in this state moves upward, I look into this silver-cored Demon's eyes that now seem full of life. He blinks once, and a smile slowly creeps onto his face while everything else stays motionless in the void.
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Author's Note:
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