In a liquid world, vast and dark with only a singular light source, Lucien sank deeper and deeper. He was weak and unable to move, but his eyes were partially open, facing the light source at the top as he sank further away from it.
"I can breathe here," he thought, gathering the last bit of strength he had in him to forge a thought.
He tilted his head to its side, and the water flowed past his body as though he was a sea creature.
He could swim, but he was too weak to do so.
Suddenly, thoughts of the real world rushed in. His face immediately turned pale as he stared lifelessly at what seemed like the top of the boundless sea.
He saw Wrath controlling his body, losing the fight against Vaelion. He wasn’t scared of what Wrath would do. He was scared of how weak he was compared to a Division Captain.
He closed his eyes, only one thought filling his mind. "He’s already after me and he looks young too. Who knows how powerful the others are," he muttered as bubbles filled his face.
"I’ll die sooner or later if I remain this weak." He spread his palms and extended them towards the light source as though he was trying to reach and grab it.
’Wrath! Don’t get us killed... please.’ His thoughts grew louder with each action Wrath took. ’No, don’t do that,’ he thought, seeing various flaws in Wrath’s moves.
"Let me do it! I don’t think it’s time to die just yet," Lucien spoke, his body already deeper into the waters than he had ever imagined.
[Very well, I may permit you to fight this opponent since you seem like a suitable match. I may be anger itself, but I’m not dumb]
Everywhere turned pitch-black, the waters disappeared, and naturally, the light source did as well.
Lucien hovered in the space that he was familiar with; pitch-black, silence, and a weird chill that almost felt intoxicating.
Before him, dark energy gathered. It’s something absurd—seeing dark energy while in a pitch-black area wasn’t something natural.
Lucien didn’t literally see it; he felt it form and take shape.
Wrath emerged from the gathered Mana, and his hands extended towards Lucien. This time, he didn’t say a word. All that Lucien could hear was an unusual silence and the rumbling of Wrath’s hand.
"What a weird feeling," Lucien whispered as his head felt the strong grip of both of Wrath’s dark palms. Energy with a deep red color flowed around his arms like a turbulent sea, and his hand itself was so dark that there was almost no distinction between them and the abyss around him.
"I feel stronger," Lucien stated, looking up at Wrath. The two floated in the abyss for a while longer, staring deeply at each other without exchanging any words.
Wrath’s eyes were cold, devoid of the condescension he always exhibited. Perhaps Wrath had understood that he could easily be exterminated in his current state.
[Stop staring at me, boy. I can only influence time for so long]
His words broke the silence, but it was essential for Lucien’s growth.
[Once you assimilate my essence and we become a singular being, I shall emerge as the stronger being, so don’t think of this as friendship]
Lucien was transitioning back into reality, and hence couldn’t hear Wrath’s words. He felt his hands twitch, and then he regained his vision.
"So what I was seeing wasn’t my imagination, huh," he stated as the large beanstalk towering into the sky caught his attention.
"Woah, I’m high up too." He turned back to Vaelion, who was in the same position as Lucien remembered, steadily approaching him. ’I wonder how Wrath managed to stop time during our encounter,’ he thought, calling on Wrath for his power.
The cloak appeared around Lucien, and a strange dark glove covered his hands. The intimidating aura around him had transformed into something much more refined, flowing like a soothing wave and covering every inch of his body.
An upgrade? Lucien was unsure, but that was the only reason for the sudden change that could come to mind.
"Oh? You’re a bit too resilient for a demon," Vaelion taunted, appearing before Lucien in an instant.
Lucien lifted his hands just before Vaelion’s sword could cut through him. ’How do I use that powerful beam that Wrath used?’ Lucien thought with only a split-second time window available to use the ability.
’Ahh, I’ll just try concentrating his Mana and hope it works.’
An explosion followed, and chunks of the beanstalk got suspended in the air. The light from the explosion faded, and Lucien flew back, gripping his side as blood slowly danced down.
"At least it worked, but I’m sure this guy used that ability he used before, and turned my explosion into something else," Lucien muttered, his eyes focused on his surroundings.
"Wow, you’re definitely smarter now. If I was any dumber, I would’ve thought that you weren’t a demon." Vaelion shot through a large portion of his beanstalk that shielded him from Lucien’s vision and approached Lucien in an instant with his sword wound up behind him.
He swung his heavy sword, and with a few clanks of its hilt, its blade was about to cut through Lucien’s body. Lucien quickly raised his hand, firing a second beam at it.
Vaelion’s eyes widened, and the beam turned into a red ball, leaving an opening for Vaelion to land a fatal punch on Lucien. Lucien retreated, managing to evade Vaelion’s blow, but his retreat proved to be useless.
Just before Lucien was able to retreat, Vaelion turned his sword, grazing Lucien’s face and causing a small cut. ’I’m getting absolutely destroyed here. The safest choice will be to retreat,’ Lucien thought as he tripped on his own feet from Vaelion’s ferocious attacks.
’Hey, Wrath. Increase your Mana output to its max. That should most likely be enough to break us from the control of his weird spell.’
Lucien kept trying to parry Vaelion’s blows while Wrath steadily increased his energy output.
[That’s my max at our current state. It should be enough.]
Wrath’s voice rang in his head. Lucien then blasted at the body of the beanstalk, causing more of its chunks to fly in the air, creating a diversion in the process.
He jumped down from the beanstalk, and fortunately, he didn’t return to the tree’s branches. Then, he channelled every bit of Mana he could manage into his bare feet and blasted himself far away, hoping to escape.