Bonus Chapter at 100 Power Stones!
"Normal Dialogue"
'Inner thoughts'
[Year X788]
~ With Shisui ~
Shisui had finally made his way into the inner sanctum. Purple light filled the chamber, emanating from intricate ritual markings etched into the stone floor. At the center stood Veran the Bonecaller, his arms raised, voice chanting in a language that was unknown to Shisui. But what truly caught Shisui's attention was the object suspended above the ritual circle.
A massive chunk of pulsing, purple flesh hanging from chains, beating with a rhythm that mimicked a heart.
The chains emerged from specific points along the ritual markings, anchoring the grotesque mass in place. Each pulse sent small ripples of energy throughout the chamber. Despite having witnessed countless horrors during his life as a shinobi, something about the suspended flesh made Shisui's instincts scream in warning. This was both dangerous and wrong on a fundamental level.
Veran continued his chant, apparently unaware of Shisui's arrival. The Bonecaller's focus remained entirely on the ritual, his fingers tracing complex patterns in the air that left faint purple trails. His face, visible in profile from Shisui's position, showed an expression of near-ecstatic concentration, the look of a man on the verge of achieving his life's purpose.
Shisui saw his opportunity. With Veran distracted by the ritual, a swift assassination would end this before it could progress further. He gathered chakra, prepared to body flicker directly behind the dark mage, and—
His body slammed into an invisible barrier with enough force to knock the air from his lungs. The impact sent him flying backward, landing hard against the chamber's far wall. The barrier flickered briefly with purple energy at the point of contact before becoming invisible once more.
Veran's chanting stopped. He turned slowly, a smile spreading across his face as he regarded Shisui with amused contempt.
"Did you really think it would be that simple?" The Bonecaller's voice echoed unnaturally in the chamber. "Once the ritual begins, the space becomes sacrosanct. Nothing enters, nothing leaves. Not until completion."
Shisui rose to his feet, eyes narrowed as he reassessed the situation. The barrier posed an unexpected complication. If he couldn't physically reach Veran, he would need to find another approach.
"You're too late, anyway," Veran continued, turning back to the pulsing heart fragment. "The final binding is moments away. All these years of research, all the sacrifices. They culminate now."
He spread his arms wide, addressing the chamber as much as Shisui. "Now, witness the rebirth of a God!"
With the final word of his declaration, Veran completed the incantation. Then, without hesitation, he thrust both hands deep into the suspended flesh.
For several seconds, nothing happened. Veran stood frozen, arms embedded to the elbows in the pulsing mass. The chamber fell utterly silent, even the ambient sounds of the crumbling cathedral above them fading to nothing.
Then, movement. The flesh began to flow like liquid, creeping up Veran's arms toward his shoulders. The Bonecaller's face transformed in ecstasy, his eyes wide with fanatical joy as the substance claimed more of his body.
"Yes!" he exclaimed as the flesh covered his torso, spreading across his chest and back. "I can feel it. The power of Khathros flowing into me! With this, I will reshape this pathetic world! None will stand against me!"
His gaze found Shisui again, eyes burning with triumph. "You should feel honored to witness this moment. The birth of a new era, with me as its God!"
The flesh continued its inexorable progress, enveloping Veran's lower body, then climbing up his neck. Only his head remained uncovered, his expression still locked in triumphant ecstasy.
But then, something changed. The look in Veran's eyes gave way to confusion, then alarm, then absolute terror.
"No—this isn't—" His words cut off as sudden agony contorted his features. "It's not supposed to—AAGH!"
The scream tore from his throat as the flesh began pulsing more rapidly, changing texture. Where it had been smooth and flowing, it now developed ridges and bulges that pushed against Veran's skin from within, as if something was trying to escape.
"Stop! I command you to stop!" Veran's voice had lost all authority, replaced by desperate panic. "I am your master! Your vessel! You need me!"
Shisui watched with narrowed eyes, his suspicions confirmed. The ritual hadn't gone as Veran planned. The Bonecaller had misunderstood the nature of what he was attempting to resurrect. This wasn't a merger of equals or a demon submitting to a new master.
It was a parasite consuming its host.
Veran's final scream was cut short as the flesh flowed over his face, covering his eyes, nose, and finally his mouth. For a moment, the chamber held only a roughly humanoid shape composed entirely of the pulsing purple substance, suspended in the center of the ritual circle.
Then it began to change.
The form expanded, growing taller and broader. Crystalline structures erupted from its surface—first small spikes, then larger protrusions that formed a kind of armor across its torso and limbs. The roughly human shape warped, the proportions shifting into something that only approximated humanity—longer arms, a hunched posture, a head that was more geometric than organic.
Where Veran had stood now loomed a creature at least eight feet tall, covered in crystalline armor with purple flesh visible in the gaps between plates. No trace of the dark mage remained visible. He had been completely consumed, his body and likely his consciousness overwritten by the entity he'd foolishly attempted to control.
For several heartbeats, the creature stood motionless. Then its head turned toward Shisui, revealing a face that was little more than a crystalline mask with a jagged opening where a mouth would be.
The shriek that erupted from that opening hit Shisui like a wind style ninjutsu.
Even with chakra automatically reinforcing his body, he felt the sound waves attempting to tear through him, vibrating his organs and threatening to shatter his bones. Had he been an ordinary person, that single vocalization would have liquefied his insides.
As the shriek ended, Shisui noticed a purple glow building within the creature, starting in its abdomen and traveling upward through channels in its crystalline structure. The energy reached its mouth, gathering intensity until it became blindingly bright.
Shisui didn't wait to see what would happen next. He body flickered away just as the creature released its attack. A concentrated beam of sonic energy tore through the space that he'd occupied a split second before.
When he turned to look at the aftermath, his eyes widened in shock. The beam had obliterated not just the chamber wall but continued through it, destroying a significant portion of the cathedral's eastern section.
Beyond that, a path of devastation stretched for nearly a hundred meters, the ground and everything on it reduced to something resembling molten glass that was already beginning to solidify. The demonstration of power was clear.
Khathros had returned, and it was every bit as destructive as Warrod had warned.
'Dangerous. I can't let this thing near the town.' The thought flashed through Shisui's mind as he assessed the devastating attack's aftermath.
The creature's sonic beam had obliterated everything in its path, and the remaining walls of the cathedral were beginning to crumble from structural damage. If Khathros reached the mining town, the slaughter would be absolute. With no time to second-guess his approach, Shisui body flickered into the open area outside what remained of the cathedral.
The creature tilted its crystalline head, tracking Shisui's movement with unsettling ease, as if it could detect Shisui's movement even though it could not see. It took a lumbering step forward, crystal spikes scraping against stone as it moved toward the opening Shisui had chosen—directly away from the town's location.
Shisui maintained his position just long enough to ensure the creature would unknowingly walk into position. Then he formed a hand sign, channeling chakra to activate the network of explosive seals he'd placed throughout the cathedral earlier. The timing needed to be perfect. Too soon, and the creature might change direction. Too late, and it might escape the blast entirely.
The creature took another step toward him, and Shisui triggered the seals.
The explosion wasn't particularly loud, but the force it generated shook the ground beneath them that stretched for miles. The remaining structure of the cathedral collapsed inward, burying the creature under tons of stone and timber. Dust puffed outward, temporarily obscuring the area where Khathros had stood.
Shisui didn't allow himself to hope the collapse had permanently neutralized the threat. The information he had gathered had suggested that this entity was far more resilient than ordinary enemies. He maintained his position, watching the rubble pile intently, waiting for the inevitable.
Several moments passed in complete silence. Then, a tremor ran through the debris. Small stones falling down the pile, followed by larger chunks of debris. The movement intensified until suddenly, the entire mass of rubble erupted outward as if propelled by an explosive force from within.
What emerged made Shisui's eyes widen in genuine shock. The creature had grown to nearly ten times its previous size. Where before it had stood roughly eight feet tall, it now towered at a height that dwarfed the trees at the edge of the clearing. Its crystalline armor had thickened and expanded, covering more of its form and developing more complex patterns.
The transformed Khathros threw its massive head back and unleashed another shriek. Louder, deeper, and vastly more powerful than before. The sound cut through the night, echoing across the valley with such intensity that Shisui had no doubt it would reach the town despite the distance.
~ End of Chapter 29 ~
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