Chapter 74

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Chapter 74: For Our Sake

Tasha’s position shot up suddenly, narrowly avoiding the monster’s spew, her wings almost hitting the crystal ceiling. Having just tested it herself, she was sure the crystal coffin here was extremely hard, she would believe it’s diamond.

"They are part of the subspace. If you can’t break the space, you can’t break them," Victor reminded.

"Any suggestions to solve the problem?" Tasha asked, dodging another attack.

A green liquid like bile was sticking to the ceiling next to the crystal coffin, making Tasha feel uneasy. She didn’t want to find out what would happen if it dripped on her.

She decided not to go down for now.

In the area filled with magic, Tasha felt like she was almost floating as there was no energy consumption for flying. It was dangerous to stay on the ground as the monsters attacked with high speed and unpredictability. Tasha had already been attacked by tentacles, sharp claws, and flying projectiles.

She needed to focus all her attention on the creature, constantly looking for signs of an impending attack. Just looking at it made Tasha feel uncomfortable.

Quite tricky…

Despite only brushing against the monster’s tentacle, a patch of skin on her hand had turned black, resembling jellyfish stingers. Tasha wielded two curved blades that could be combined into a two-meter-long sword for defense and attack. However, the monster seemed unaffected by her strikes, healing quickly.

The Crimson Egg embedded in the monster seemed to be the only vulnerable spot.

Physical attacks were ineffective on the monster, and Tasha needed to target the Crimson Egg, avoiding touching other parts to increase the difficulty.

She could only be grateful that the monster was cumbersome and unable to fly…right?

The monster’s body is shaking.

It was already moving constantly, but this time it was like boiling, with a large amount of mucus falling off its body and then slowly coming back together. Tasha flew even further, almost reaching the ceiling of the monster’s diagonal, the farthest point from it in the subspace. She spun her long knife in front of her, forming a blocking shield to prevent the monster from spraying something again.

The swollen body stood up, and every mouth on top was roaring, with high, low, sharp and deep voices, countless uneven voices creating a wave of noise. If you closed your eyes and listened, you might think you were standing at the entrance to hell. The monster seemed to be enduring great pain, its back flesh bulging, and after a series of sticky bubble bursts, it exploded there.

There was no splattering of flesh as imagined, only half of the monster’s spine exploded. In those two deep meat pits, within the cross-section mixed with various indescribable components, a pair of wings unfolded.

One like a bat, one like an insect, a pair of asymmetrical wings. They damply supported the monster’s back, quickly hardening with a few flaps, like newly emerged butterfly wings – but to compare these ugly things to butterfly wings would be too rude to butterflies.

"I didn’t know fairies could grow this big." Victor chuckled twice, trying to lighten the mood.

"What fairy?" Tasha asked, with a bad feeling.

"One dragon wing and one fairy wing." Victor said, "although they are degraded versions."

Nothing embodies the meaning of the word "degraded" more than this, the thing claimed to be a dragon wing is desiccated, broken, filled with pits left by corrosion. Even if it were considered bat wings, it must have undergone hundreds of years of preservation, completely different from the strong and powerful wings behind Tasha. The thing said to be a fairy wing… better left unmentioned, it is like a nightmare for insect phobics, what falls from it is not dust, but flesh and blood fragments.

"You ruined my beautiful fantasy of fairies," Tasha said dryly as she suddenly dove downward.

With a raised hand, the knife fell.

The stench of blood splattered out as deteriorated dragon wings and fairy wings were completely severed, without a chance to flap. The heavy flesh target had no way to dodge, only to scream continuously as several thick tentacles curled up, with Tasha dodging most of them and cutting off the rest. The chopped pieces of flesh fell from the monster’s body, but as Tasha dove up again, she did not hear the sound of flesh hitting the ground.

As she turned at the height, what she caught in the corner of her eye was horrifying.

The monster was still rolling in place, but the severed limbs defied gravity completely, moving towards Tasha in the opposite direction. A pair of wings, three tentacles, some bits of flesh and droplets followed Tasha as if they had a life of their own. She turned, dove down and then rose up again, with them relentlessly chasing her. Tasha suddenly thrust backwards with several strokes of her blade, cutting the coming chunks into even smaller pieces.

The flesh burst into a shower of blood, the bits not changing their flight path at all, but closing the distance between them due to Tasha’s pause. Some blood chunks splattered on Tasha from the impact of the blade, sticking to her skin.

A strange sensation came from there.

If it were any other person, they would probably just think that the blood and flesh were corrosive. Compared to being attacked, the splattering blood almost had no effect. But this body was a vessel for a part of Tasha’s soul, allowing her to completely and thoroughly sense even the slightest changes in every cell. So when a small piece of flesh stuck to her skin, she could clearly feel that it melted and rooted itself immediately, growing on her arm.

In a brief moment, the nail-sized monster flesh fused with Tasha’s skin, connecting to the tiny blood vessels there, entering her bloodstream. Her body would now recognize it as a part of herself, and if it were to be cut off, Tasha would bleed.

Tasha suddenly felt a nerve in her brain tighten.

Strong disgust filled her mind, she hadn’t been this angry in a long time. Anger drove her to take a risky approach towards the monster, almost attacking like a suicide mission. The tongue shot out from the monster’s huge mouth almost breaking Tasha’s neck. She ducked and plunged her long knife into the monster’s forehead, narrowly missing the Crimson Egg. The flesh chasing her from behind collided with Tasha’s side, instantly disintegrating parts of her clothing and spreading over her body. She felt heavier, but the injured limbs had become strong and powerful.

"Wait, this thing seems harmless!" Victor said, "I understand now, this subspace can let the flesh, which is a carrier of magic, flow towards the victor…"

"I know," Tasha said through gritted teeth, "but I don’t want to."

She crashed straight into the spikes on the monster, knocking off extra flesh along with her own skin and flesh. This time, the fallen flesh did not grow back, they dropped down, merging with the monster’s body.

This subspace was just like a cauldron for brewing poison.

Magic creatures trapped inside would kill each other, with the loser’s flesh and magic flowing towards the winner. Eventually, no matter who won, they would all transform into the monster in front of them – all beings entering would be melded into a man-made hybrid, no one would emerge victorious, no one would be spared.

"You can deal with it first, become the victor, and then deal with the rest!" Victor persuaded, "It just looks a bit disgusting."

It wasn’t just the appearance that was disgusting, Tasha absolutely refused to merge with this thing. She was too angry, this blazing anger didn’t fit her character at all. This anger seemed to have been trapped here for centuries, as if being tortured, devoured, betrayed, and deceived, wanting to get out but couldn’t find the way out. How infuriating! The blind fury burned her eyes red, and this was just a momentary, limited fusion that had occurred.

Tasha really didn’t want to mix with this angry pollution.

The flesh and blood rejected by her quickly returned to the monster, filling in the gaps left by the sword wounds. The once weakened monster stood up again, a new pair of wings growing from the wounds.

"Victor," Tasha said.

"Even losing in this dungeon won’t be the end!" Victor quickly replied, sensing the raging anger from Tasha, not wasting any time pretending, "Winning this will only be a bonus, no life or death, according to the contract you can’t tear it apart because of this!"

"Can’t I?" Tasha asked back.

"Devouring a demon’s soul won’t solve everything! Right now, I can’t help either. Do you think that will bring a good result?" Victor said anxiously, "The big demon is not a panacea! I bet that will be worse than merging with this monster…"

The monster lunged forward.

How could this fat pile of flesh fly with those tiny deformed wings? Completely incomprehensible, the existence of this monster itself is incomprehensible. It bounced up, crashing into the ceiling like a smashed tomato lying there. With the force of the impact, the flattened thing rolled over, turning into a huge mouth that stretched out into an abyss. Although it was possible to escape by running away with full force, Tasha moved towards it instead of retreating.

Like a bullet through a curtain, when the monster flattened out, there was barely an arm’s length between its front and back. Tasha leaped into the arms of the meat cake, the sword acting like a hook, slicing open the monster’s body from bottom to top. The body contorted in pain, like a broken display screen, revealing a jumble of useful and useless organs on the surface. The bared fangs gripped the sword, but Tasha didn’t bother to snatch it, she let go, abandoning the sword and using her claws.

After Marion’s character card evolved from "Half-Blood Worgen" to "Worgen," the skill "Full Moon – Call of the Wild" also developed in a new way.

"Calling Full Moon": The enhancement of the covenanter heritage makes this skill more harmonious with nature. You can briefly double the strength of your claws, which is linked to your own strength. It still only lasts for three seconds, but it only disables one of your arms, not your whole body.

The claws pierced through the newly healing layer of flesh and burned and gnawed at Tasha’s hand. But before the blackness penetrated inward into the skin, she had already touched the Crimson Egg.

Surprisingly, the eggshell of the stone was as fragile as an eggshell.

Crack.

The artificial core was destroyed, and the crimson liquid gushed out, falling all over Tasha. In addition, something else abruptly entered Tasha’s body. Her vision turned blood-red and then pitch-black—when the stone shattered, a terrifying scream echoed from the monster, but instead of dispersing, it enveloped Tasha at a fearsome speed.

It’s okay, the mission is completed, Tasha thought.

Then she realized that the magic circuit was still running.

Impossible, a magic loop without a core cannot function at all; it must have a suitable conduit. Was there still a real core that nobody noticed or had the chance to destroy? Tasha struggled, attempting to peel back the soft flesh covering her.

Can’t lift.

The monster was completely still, not stopping Tasha, not too heavy on her. But couldn’t come out, was the flesh too sticky, body unable to move, or something else?

Tasha felt a strange heartbeat.

No, more like a pulsating sound, the sound of magic flowing in and being squeezed out again, coming from within Tasha – she found she couldn’t feel the boundaries of her body at all. Very quiet, very calm, even Victor’s voice was nowhere to be heard, only the almost eternal magic fluctuations. The burning sensation from touching the monster just disappeared, her arm that should have been destroyed didn’t hurt at all, she felt a vibration, the monster seemed to stand up again unharmed.

Tasha suddenly understood.

The Crimson Egg isn’t the Magic Core, the stuff inside is. When Tasha destroyed it, the contents inside seeped into her body, spread, assimilated, turning her into a new core of magic.

*

"Hello? Are you there? Answer me!"

"Victor?"

"The Abyss!" Book of Dungeons let out a sigh of relief, "It suddenly stopped responding, I thought… "

"I am the original form," Tasha in the dungeon said, "The soul inside that body suddenly disconnected."

"…"

"Moreover, the contamination is still spreading along with the soul origin. I tried to discard a portion of the soul to isolate it, but it seems not working," Tasha said calmly.

"…"

Victor fell silent for a few seconds, then suddenly erupted, uttering a long string of profanities in the demon language. He said excitedly, "You counted on me having to help you, didn’t you? You assumed I have to help you if I don’t want to die, no matter what I have to pay! Damn it, do you think dealing with a Soul Fragment that used to be a powerful demon is easy? It could be just as deadly a poison!"

"If you can’t do it," Tasha said solemnly, while attempting to separate small pieces of soul to save and trying to block the strange contamination from spreading further into other parts, "then shut up and get ready to die with me."

"You’d better keep winning," Victor said bitterly, "Otherwise, we both will die in quite a spectacular way."

*

Tasha was walking on a dark path.

She couldn’t remember when she got here, or where she was going. But she felt calm, strangely free of fear. Surrounded by darkness, she guessed she was near a marsh. The lake’s coolness was palpable, as the gentle wind rustled the reeds, creating a hushed whispering sound.

Whispers sounded in the wind, and something cold crawled over her foot.

It was nice here, but Tasha couldn’t stay. She felt as if she had just walked through a muddy pond, feeling sticky all over. The strong sense of filth was unbearable, she needed a bath urgently.

Someone was approaching from behind.

On any other night, Tasha would have been on high alert, but not this time. She instinctively felt that the person was very familiar and trustworthy, so she didn’t need to be on guard. The person walked up behind her and let out a deep sigh.

"Marsh?" he said, "What are you thinking about?"

His voice reminded her of velvet, hot cocoa, or a cello. The gentle ending to his sentences made Tasha sense that the person might have a forked tongue. But that was not her concern, she had things to do.

Tasha’s wrist was grabbed.

One hand grabbed her left wrist, another hand grabbed her right wrist, forehead against her hairline. She could feel the breath by her ear, exhaling cold like mist. Tasha felt strange, because she was still moving forward. If someone was close enough to press their chest against her back, how did they keep their feet from bumping into Tasha’s?

Come to think of it, there had been no sound of footsteps.

"For our good, may you always win." The man behind her smiled bitterly, "Don’t lose to me."

Sharp teeth sank into Tasha’s neck from behind.

In an instant, a massive amount of information flowed in, shattering the dark domain. Countless yellow eyes filled the sea of divine sense, as if reflected in shattered stained glass, engaging with it like a kaleidoscope. Tasha suddenly remembered everything, more than her own memories. Information, knowledge, power, soul… they swept through Tasha’s soul, like a high-pressure water jet hitting her head, the pain and the exhilaration of purging dirt coming together.

In the overlapping subspace with the underground palace, the recovering monster suddenly stopped. The flesh on its chest began to wriggle, faster and faster, as if the hot water in a boiler was about to boil.

The woman inside the monster’s body kept her eyes tightly closed.

This was the demon’s second gift, a torrent of memories rushing through, showcasing knowledge about souls and magic. However, this time, Tasha did not possess Victor’s memories. The memories were "empty", lacking their owner, leaving Tasha without a vessel to cling to, like a sudden outsider. The shifting of time and space felt confusing.

Why am I standing in this prison cell? Why does the priest in front of me look terrified? Where is the demon who should be at this moment in time?

A pair of hands holding her hand.

A pair of hands holding her hand, whispering swirling around her ears. The master of memories still stood behind her, teaching her hand in hand how to dissect a soul. This was a hands-on anatomy class, a tango in the dark. Tasha saw (and tried out for herself) countless tortures that could be inflicted on a soul over hundreds of years in the blink of an eye. She learned how to delicately peel off the exquisite and beautiful souls of different races, like the best taxidermist.

Victor did have a way to deal with soul pollution, but it couldn’t be taught out of thin air.

Because for a great demon, dealing with that was purely instinctual.

Without experiencing the arrogance of holding the essence of all souls in the palm of your hand, it was impossible to understand. Without feeling the sincere desire for souls, it was impossible to understand. Without having the self-awareness of being a superior being, one could not learn. She ran in the long corridor of time, a moment stretching infinitely and then shrinking infinitely. She didn’t know when the teacher was no longer standing behind her, but she knew he was still with her. His instinct became hers, his power became hers, his desire was her desire. The souls of all things were so sweet, the pleasure of dissecting and devouring them was unparalleled; life and death were just that, the world was just her playground, she felt… joyful.

– Maybe this time she was possessed by a demon.

It’s okay, what’s wrong with being a demon.

The crystal coffin in the sub-space started to shake, the monster leaped up, running and crashing madly in space. The huge mountain of flesh smashed against the crystal walls time and time again, the impact smashing every organ and every bone inside it to pieces, not to mention anyone possibly inside. Countless screaming mouths split open between the flesh, reaching the peak of frenzy. Each magical creature’s organs ejected from the fleshy mountain, as if trying to escape on their own, none of them could escape.

A hand put an end to the madness of the monster.

The dark claws reached out from within and easily tore open the monster’s belly, leaving the torn area withering.

Inside the Crimson Egg lay the monster’s soul, a twisted soul forcibly fused together from countless magical creatures. This deformed soul was the true magical core and a deadly contaminant. The purer and stronger the soul, the more it resisted, yet was also more likely to be contaminated and devoured. But, there was also its nemesis.

Want to taint demons with evil and chaos?

It’s like staining a swamp with dust.

Tasha, temporarily in tune with the Greater Demon, devoured the invading soul as her nourishment.

The subspace began to shake, and the corpse inside the crystal coffin began to decay. The magical circulation gradually became chaotic, as Tasha unceremoniously consumed any magical flow that mistook her for the core. Magical circuits dried up and withered as they were engulfed, the carefully crafted balance by mages trembled in the unbridled feasting, and the subspace shattered with a thunderous roar. The decaying flesh of the monster and Tasha were thrown out, with the latter showing no sign of stopping.

She felt hungry.

It was as if a starving person had been thrown into a candy house, no, a candy world. Magic filled the air, composed the structures, and above this underground palace, there were flowers, trees, and a bustling human settlement. The world was her playground, the Primary Material Plane so abundant, the Abyss granting her the power and duty to devour, why should she hold back?

Tasha’s soul opened a huge mouth.

The magic around her rushed into her mouth uncontrollably, drawing too fiercely, causing greater loss and destruction than in the past few centuries. The Magic Stone on the ceiling and Dungeon Core were fading in and out during extraction, like malfunctioning lights.

The dungeon began to shake slightly, with chunks of Magic Stone evaporating from the ceiling, the enormous underground space supported by a magic circle started to become unstable. Some areas collapsed, but Tasha, unaware, only glanced at the fist-sized Dungeon Core, swallowing nervously.

Suddenly, everything sped up, the dungeon collapsed, the capital city was destroyed, and people ran around crying out as their souls were taken. The empire fell apart, and the world suffered. She opened a passage to the abyss, her long tongue sliding across her lips, her forked tongue quivering in the air, capturing the taste of magic and souls. She opened her mouth, a crack forming from the corner of her lips to her cheek.

"Interesting, isn’t it?"

Someone stood beside her.

How did someone manage to sneak up so close before she noticed? Tasha furrowed her brow, licking her itchy teeth. She couldn’t see the person clearly, just a blurry shadow that she could tell was a tall man in lavish attire. Though she couldn’t see his face, Tasha knew he was smiling.

"Quite intriguing," he said, "this is how demons feel in the Primary Material Plane, where the world is a hunting ground of the abyss."

He turned around.

He exposed his back and neck to Tasha, which was unforgivable, a blatant provocation – if you show your back to a predator, you should be prepared to be attacked, right? Tasha wanted to nod, to attack, to bathe in his blood and consume his soul, reveling in devouring and killing. But a voice emerged from Tasha’s throat, saying, "How pitiful."

Whose voice is this?

A bright light flashed through Tasha’s hazy sea of divine sense at this moment, like a cool breeze on a hot summer day, bringing clarity.

Is devouring or killing really what I desire?

Poor thing, this voice was like a wake-up call for Tasha, who was immersed in icy desire. Does she desire power? Yes. Is she willing to sacrifice her soul for power? Absolutely not. Tasha is the master of power, not a slave. Even if she truly gained the world one day, she wouldn’t treat it as a boring cafeteria.

Tasha’s self-awareness returned slightly, determined not to let anyone dominate her soul. Yes, she doesn’t envy demons at all, enduring hunger and emptiness, dressed up but still a pitiful beast with an insatiable appetite.

The shadow turned back, seemingly surprised by this response.

"Now I can answer you," Tasha said, holding onto her crumbling sanity. "Yes, I won’t lose to you."

She reached out her hand, claws digging out her own heart.

The illusion shattered.