Chapter 272 – Floor 60: Part 2

  Once Kael was gone from sight, a rush of blue mist shot into the air like a geyser. It rushed toward Mathew, and the moment it touched his skin, the world recoiled. A deafening silence fell as if the entire forest behind him was holding its breath.

  The silver glow of the moon above the clearing flickered, then vanished entirely. It left the land in an abyssal darkness that was only relieved by the blue glow of Aether surrounding Mathew.

  The trees surrounding the clearing trembled, and their leaves shrivelled. The bark that covered their trunks split open like dry, ancient bones. They collapsed into lifeless husks, drained of all essence in mere moments.

  Aether surged into Mathew with a violent, primal force that tore through him. His veins bulged and blackened; his flesh withered as if something beneath his skin was struggling to escape. His fingers stretched into claws, and his limbs contorted. Muscles expanded, and bones shifted with sickening cracks. His teeth lengthened into jagged fangs, and his breath turned ragged, harsh and inhuman.

  Mathew’s back arched, and a monstrous howl erupted from his throat. His eyes glowed with a yellow light, and his pupils split and elongated like a cat. The air thickened around him with an oppressive force, and the ground trembled beneath him as waves of raw, untamed mana rippled out from him.

  But as quickly as it overtook him, the transformation began to recede. His monstrous form convulsed again as his claws retracted, his fangs dulled, and his muscles shrank back to their human shape. The corrupted veins faded, and his breathing steadied.

  Mathew collapsed to his knees, trembling from exertion and drenched in sweat. The aftershocks of the Aether were still coursing through him like dying embers of a fire.

  The world around him was broken and dark, and Mathew’s harsh breath was the only sound.

  It took him a long time to regain his feet. When he had recovered enough, Mathew didn’t linger in the dead world that had once belonged to Kael. He could feel a connection between himself and this plane, just like the previous one, but he didn’t feel it was right to change anything.

  Passing through the now dead and silent forest, Mathew reached the barrier that separated Kael’s demigod plane from Serana, The Unrestrained and the last of the Primogenitors.

  The barrier stood like a wound in reality. It was a shimmering expanse of darkened bronze that pulsed with malignant energy. It wasn’t solid, nor was it truly liquid. The barrier shifted, wavered and rippled like living metal.

  Its surface was marred by veins of crimson light that seemed to have spread its way across it like a virus. The air around it was heavy and charged with a crushing influence. Without even entering it, Mathew could hear whispers from the other side that gnawed at his mind.

  Each voice was different; some pleaded, some mocked, and others laughed hysterically. The sound rose and fell in waves, with each cycle replacing the old voices with new ones.

  Beyond the barrier lay the realm of the last remaining demigod Progenitor, and Mathew could catch glimpses of it. It seemed to be a land abandoned by light and life. The ground was cracked and scorched, its soil blackened and hard.

  Rivers of coagulated blood carved their way through the desolation, and Mathew could imagine the smell of iron and rot that they exuded. Towering spires of bone touched the sky, their surfaces jagged and uneven. Some were from skeletons of massive, untameably large beasts, while others were clearly human.

  The sky churned with thick, roiling clouds that stretched endlessly and swallowed all light. Flickers of sickly green lightning slashed through the gloom, illuminating the white bones that covered the ground. Geysers of flame shot skyward, and greasy smoke obscured the distance.

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  Touching the barrier, Mathew found that it was the same as the last. It was permeable and didn’t resist him. Taking a breath, Mathew stepped through it and found that it was like plunging into frigid water. It was thick and cloying, and he thought he could feel unseen hands grabbing at him.

  He almost stumbled when the barrier released him from its grip, and he breathed in the hot, dry air. Now that he was through, he could see Serana’s demigod plane in vivid detail.

  Mathew trudged forward, each step crunching against the brittle remains of the long-dead. The ground was hard and cracked beneath his boots, and the heat rose in shimmering waves that distorted the horizon.

  Scattered bones jutted from the scorched earth, half-buried and fragile with age. Some were small, from tiny creatures or humans, while others belonged to creatures long lost to history. The air was thick with the smell of blood and dust, and it clung to his throat like ash.

  As he weaved through the remains, Mathew saw a structure in the distance, semi-obscured by the smoke and dust.

  The palace of Serana, The Unrestrained.

  As he approached it, the terrain grew more treacherous. The earth sloped unevenly, and fissures split the ground open to reveal dark hollows beneath. It was as if the land itself was rotting from within. His boots skidded over the smooth surface of exposed ribs, some large enough to arch over his head like twisted bridges.

  The palace loomed like the skeletal remains of some long-dead god. Its towering walls were formed from fused bones that had been twisted and shaped into something grotesquely architectural. The path to the entrance was lined with skulls, and Mathew felt as though their hollow eye sockets were staring at him.

  The entrance was a vast, gaping maw that was a parody of a mouth lined with columns of vertebrae that curved inward like fangs. Some of the bones still had the remnants of flesh and sinew, dried and stretched taut across their surface.

  Massive femurs and jointed spines wove together to form archways and supports, while overhead, twisted stalactites of sharpened bone jutted downward. Some dripped a thick, dark liquid that sizzled as it hit the ground, leaving behind scorched pits in the earth.

  The closer Mathew came to the palace, the more unsettling the details became. Intricate designs had been carved into the bones. Spirals and overlapping symbols were etched deep into the surface, and each radiated a primal, menacing presence.

  The entire palace was both a fortress and graveyard, a monument to something ancient and utterly devoid of mercy.

  Passing through the palace, Mathew came upon the ‘throne room,’ and there, as expected, was Serana. She appeared just as she had in the book the grey-suited young woman had shown him prior to coming to this Floor.

  Serana stood like something born from a nightmare and sculpted by madness. Her bright red hair cascaded in wild, tangled waves that framed a face that was both hauntingly beautiful and utterly inhuman.

  Her features were sharp, almost predatory, with high cheekbones and eyes that burned a reddish-orange like embers. Her mouth was too wide for a human face, and her lips curved into a smile that was neither warm nor kind. It revealed rows of needle-like teeth.

  Serana’s skin was pale and stretched too tightly in some places while it rippled unnaturally in others. Her body was a masterpiece in flesh-sculpting, created by her own twisted will. Her arms were elongated, the fingers tapered into claw-like appendages. There were places where flesh and bone merged, and patches of her skin were as smooth as porcelain, while others were exposed muscles and sinew.

  She was tall, much taller than Mathew, and her legs were bent at an unnatural angle. The joints were all wrong, as if she had adapted them from some creature to give herself better movement.

  It was clear to Mathew that everything she had done had been an attempt to be no longer bound by the limitations of humanity. She had become something else entirely, something unrestrained and monstrous.

  But, unlike Kael, Serana seemed to thrive in her new form. Her burning eyes studied Mathew with amusement and hunger. When she finally spoke, her voice was surprisingly rich and sultry.

  “Incredible. My wretched siblings are finally dead. A pity that I could not have seen it, but the barrier impedes us. Yet, here you stand, draped in their ruin. How delicious!” Serana said, licking her lips as she stared at him.

  “And He sent you here. Of course He did. Tell me, little mortal. Did you think that walking into my home would be the same as slaughtering the others? Sweet Sister Eryn, blessed with beauty but burdened by weakness. Poor, miserable Kael, the strongest of us all but lacking in the will to live. Pathetic.”

  Serana scoffed as she tilted her head at an unnatural angle. The bones in her neck shifted audibly.

  “And now you stand before me, expecting what? Another broken god to put to rest? Another sacrifice to lay at the altar of your master? He will find that I am no easy prey!” She lifted her hand, and the very air around them shuddered. The bones of the palace groaned in protest.

  Her grin widened, and her too-sharp teeth glistened in the light.

  Mathew was silent as he let Serana rant. Slowly, he reached his hand forward and gripped the hilt of the Godslaying Blade of Wrath from his inventory and drew it forth.

  Without saying a word, he charged forward.