Chương 56: One Layer Deeper

As Liesel's blade touched the unusual spot, her mind blanked. The world greyed. The energy inside her body escaped outwards, as if she too had become an unravelled soul. A sharp whistle rang inside her skull. The cranium was burning. It was slow and deliberate. She could feel each neuron inside her mind carrying the pain signals. And then, she was standing on the dusty floor. Where am I? Her surroundings seemed not too dissimilar from the Shelf Graveyard of the Necropolis. Am I outside?

Liesel looked back, hoping to see the stairs leading her back to the first layer, but the lonely passage stretched into a dot on the horizon, unchanging all the way. The sky above her was black, and lightning streaked through it. And when it did, she caught nerves casting shadows over the red sky, like the veins under thin skin. The second time the lightning lit it up, she was sure it was a ceiling of skin, tangible unlike the concept of a sky. Swiping at a random place in the Primordial Domain will get you here.

Liesel turned her gaze ahead. She didn't question her decision. She could consider it stupid, blame herself, but that was not really fair. Her Materiality had never betrayed her, and this time too, she didn't feel her trust had been betrayed. If her materiality wanted her to be here, there must be a reason. At the end of the passage, there was a place—bright and impossible to comprehend.

A luminous glow emitted from it, and it climbed through the root-like structures and entered the sky ceiling, becoming the lightning, a pulse of energy might be a more accurate description. A choice between an unfathomable construct of energy and walking infinitely in the opposite direction, there was not much to consider. She began walking towards it, as it seemed like the only natural goal for her. Why am I here? She was pretty sure she had entered a layer closer to the Primordial Vein.

But why was there such a carving, and why did only she feel it, despite having the lowest perception among the three? Not to mention Auram had a much deeper connection to the Primordial Vein than Liesel did. The mutated Rosharam also knew about it... Is it the doing of the natural dwellers of the cavern before the mutated beast? On her third step, a shadow creeper crawled out from the deep, empty shelf unit. As she reached for her sword, Liesel realized it had not been invited alongside her. That's not good.

Liesel flicked her eye onto her right wrist. The rune jewel was with her. She channeled Materiality into her Soul Vein, and immediately realized something was wrong with her soul. She yanked her focus to the demon in front of her, ignoring that worry for now. The rune manifested over the jewel as the demon began by throwing its Dusk Flare Claws at her. She burned Materiality into her feet and dashed towards it as it landed. She shot the rune first, and it exploded upon contact.

She layered her fingers, clenching them into a fist. Her Control was working worryingly effectively, and she could control it precisely as she imagined. She only layered the portion of the fist that would make contact with the demon. She didn't know what more awaited her here, so keeping the Layering, which might be her only weapon, at a minimum was better than acting recklessly. Enhancing her entire upper arm, Liesel landed the strike on the face of the demon before it even recovered from the Impact Rune's shock.

With a sharp crack, something cracked underneath the shadow. Before Liesel could grab it, the shadow dissolved into tendrils of energy and vanished into thin air like a spectre. She looked at her palm. It was unhurt. Her heart was racing, not just from the short but consuming fight, but also from the feeling of using Materiality before her Soul Veins had begun burning. She had forgotten how easy it used to be. She wanted to close her eyes and reel her focus into her Soul, get an idea of what had happened to her.

But the demon hadn't been an actual being but a shadow of one. It vanished without leaving a Materiality Core. It was a conjuration of the realm itself, or the entity at the end of the passage. As an unwelcome guest, I cannot give up on my senses even for a moment. She would have retreated if that had been an option. At the very least, having a sharp blade by her side would have eased the danger of being close to the demons significantly. Neither of them was a choice, of course.

A few shelves past, another demon crawled out of the catacomb. This one wore a mask. A sinister red grin drawn on it. A Malice Conjuror. An orb had already manifested on its hand as its form fully materialized. How am I supposed to deal with you? Liesel took a step back. If it had the Malice Orb prepared, she didn't think running towards it would end well for her. Her back touched something solid only a half step back. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author.

Report any sightings. C'mon. You were endless just a moment ago. She felt it with her hand as she observed the demon mage. A wall was blocking her path. What's the point of this? The realm could kill her instantly. Liesel had no misgivings about her lack of agency in this place. She couldn't ponder her worries, though. As the Malice Conjuror shot its orb, it was slow, much to her relief. In some manner, both the Shadow Stalker and the Conjuror weren't enchanted by the Tomb's energy. They were standard demons.

Liesel jumped onto the side shelf, grabbed the plank, and climbed up a few rows. As the spell exploded, she jumped forward, using her legs, enhanced with Materiality, to give herself the distance. She landed on her feet and began dashing. Her Soul Veins didn't show any sign of exhaustion from the abusive usage, and neither did her Nebulous Core deplete. The demon conjured another orb as it floated away from Liesel.

Feeling a little bold that her Materiality wouldn't explode, she began layering her entire hand below the wrist. She had the luxury to be a little reckless. Though her Materiality didn't show any sign of depletion, her hand showed the signs of discomfort that Liesel was willing to accept. The demon shot another orb at her. Liesel slapped it to the side and kept dashing towards it, burning the Materiality into her feet. When the orb exploded, she had already run past it and was closer to the demon.

As it began to cast the misty spell, Liesel jumped on its body, digging at the mask with one hand. She grabbed the mask with the other hand and crushed it. The demon vanished again before Liesel had the chance to kill it. She exhaled. Her skin was red and burning like it had been bitten by hundreds of ants when she dropped her Layering. As she took one more step, the world around her dissolved.

The shelves and the luminous construct in the distance became a silhouette that was slowly becoming unclear and painful to observe. Liesel rubbed her eye, trying to shake off the discomfort. When her vision became clear again, she found herself standing in the dome-shaped arena where Liesel had killed the mindeater. There was a puddle of black blood where the demon lost its life. Her sword was sitting at the centre, stabbing the ground. It's a trap.

Her sword looked very different now than it did when she had killed the Mindeater. It shouldn't look like that, and it shouldn't be in a puddle of Mindeater's blood. Of course, she could consider everything just a part of the presentation, and this was where she would have the sword to fight whatever awaited her. But it couldn't be that simple. If she had access to unlimited Materiality as it appeared for now, then having a sword to fight earlier or not shouldn't matter at all.

Why wouldn't she have brought her weapon along when she was holding it in her hand? Liesel looked around the place, and she couldn't see a way out. She still decided to check the entrance. It was sealed. Walking over to it must've taken over five minutes. And another five minutes to walk back to the puddle. It was the point of interest, even if she refused to interact with it. Why am I here? She was frowning. She refused to accept a replication of her sword from the past.

Exhaling, Liesel settled a little distance from it. Since there was nothing to do, she decided to observe her soul. She tried to keep her ears perked up as she drew all her Materiality Sense into her body, focusing on her Soul Form. Yes, as she had felt, the withering had stopped. She could see the fragments of her Soul from the puncture still frozen, liketime had stopped flowing for them. That was also true for the Unravelled Soul and her Nebulous Core. Her Soul Veins seemed to be healing for a reason.

Their form was not completely smooth, but something had significantly reduced their inflammation. She drew Materiality into them, and it flowed out from her Materiality Core, but that didn't reduce the core's total energy, which sat at half. She prodded her Soul Form, and it reacted in the same way as it would in the normal world. If it was not frozen or immune to external influence, then how did the withering stop? I don't understand...

As Liesel shook her head, huffing in frustration, she noticed the blood on the floor was creeping into her sword. Slowly, accumulating over the surface. She hadn't been able to observe her sword being tainted the first time. But she had watched it play out dozens of times, each time she killed a demon with it. And it was the same, almost like a replica of her memories. Liesel was confident that the taint from the Mindeater hadn't been as dramatic. The Mindeater was there, appearing in between a blink of an eye.

He picked up her sword. A grin stretched on his face. The fact that it hadn't tried to consume her mind already implied it was not a real thing but an imagination of the Primordial Vein... It can't be that. It has to be a person... someone who sees value in doing all of this to me. The Primordial Vein would have deemed me an intruder and killed me instantly. Then, who? She wanted to believe it was the Custodian, but it had been pretty direct about its intention the entire time. Why would it change now?

"Feed me," the Mindeater said, "Serve us generously." It took a step in her direction. Liesel decided not to stand. A Mindeater would always use its Memory Magic to consume her mind. Her physical body had little role to play here, and if it was going to attack her. She didn't see herself matching a Mindeater's physical powers. It stopped in front of her, extending the blade.

"You are our host. Be our Mother. Feed us blood of flesh, so we may once again consume the mind to seek the divine truth." Liesel didn't react. Was it a confirmation that the blood her sword absorbed ceaselessly without showing any sign of growth was for the Mindeater? Perhaps. Liesel wouldn't hold onto that thought. At least, the Blacksmith should've felt something regarding that. Maybe a consultation was in order whenever she managed to escape the Necropolis.

"Take it, accept the burden of your evil," its voice had changed.

"Reaper?" Liesel said.

"Reaper?" It was not that bastard, at least.

"Who are you?" Liesel asked.

"None that you shall care. Accept the blade, for it would be necessary in your journey forth."

"So you say, but I refuse to accept anything from a stranger," Liesel replied. If she could have a sword, she would have had her sword, instead of a fake recreation. Now that it had taken the Mindeater's form, perhaps Liesel should feel slightly compelled that the sword remained behind because it was not hers, but something else within.

"Take it. You will need it." The world around her changed again. She was standing now. Her hand was empty. And so was the passage to the strange thing from which the energy pulsed into the entire realm. Liesel began walking, expecting the spider they had killed to appear next, or the Sand Centipede. Do you regret your decision? The voice came just as the metallic spider demon began crawling down the shelf, one whose core was bleeding black and gravely injured Sarkot. I don't. Liesel answered mentally.

What am I if I accept your weapon to fight the beast that you create? A powerless pawn dancing on the string of another like a trapped animal. I would rather die as a human with dignity. Dignity? Is there a death that can be dignified? It only ever has regrets, doesn't it? Somewhere deep in your heart, you must regret refusing my help. Accept it, and we might give it to you, out of pity. Liesel shook her head. She was channeling Materiality into her body again.

Even with healed Soul Veins and endless Materiality, she lacked the means to kill the demon with an indestructible shell. What can I do?