Aether Nexus: Curse of Love & Hatred

“DAMN!” The man spun around and unleashed a fist-sized fireball from his Fire Affinity at where he heard the voice from—only to hit nothing but the ceiling.

“You may have the visage of Captain Titopan, but that speech just now, alongside the explosion upstairs with soulura residue and the fact Justin has mysteriously disappeared... Director Stewart was right when he suspected an infiltrator. It was just a matter of finding them, luckily, he had me~!”

“You got me… I take it you're Henzo, the one in the walls—It's your Soulful Technique.”

“Keh-hehehe-ha!” Henzo cackled, his laugh seemed to emanate from every surface and crevice in the hallway. “Quite perceptive! Though, that’s not all I can do!”

Behind the now revealed impostor, the corridor was sealed shut with a slab of earth rising from the ground, with the same thing happening in front of him simultaneously. Amidst Henzo's echoing laughter, a distinct clap could be heard, of which numerous spikes, one by one, jetted out from both walls and riddled the hallway, making their way towards the mysterious man.

"Guspane!" The man called out with urgency as he dashed back. After making some weird noises, the worm would show that it was regurgitating something the entire time: A long spear with an intricate medieval design. Grasping the metal shaft just beneath the spearhead, he armed himself and with a single powerful swing, he cleaved a way through the advancing spikes, creating a path forward.

While whispering something to Guspane, the man was taken by surprise as another spike shot out from behind him, damaging part of his mantle and cutting his right ear, resulting in blood dripping from the wound. The shock seemingly caused Guspane to fall as it licked the blood off the floor.

“Esoteric Art: Sensori La Darshita!” He yelled with an unbridled determination, slamming the head of the spear into the ground, shattering it with ease.

Sensori La Darshita is an advanced technique only known to a few with great control over their own soulura: The aura their own soul constantly produces and emits. By sending ripples of their own soulura into a defined structure, they can use those waves as sonar vision to make out whatever resides inside.

“Last time, I only used my hand, but with Jukill in hand, my control should be refined enough to sense where Henzo is—THERE! I can sense him, but he's too far away, like I predicted—I'm counting on you Guspane!”

Within the safety of the fortress’ walls, swimming throughout the solid stone as if a mere liquid, a middle-aged man of average build and dark brown hair continuously cackled. “My my! Look at that foolish intruder go! He's putting on a great show with all that dodging, but for how long, I wonder, kehahaha!”

Henzo's Soulful Technique—Surface Diver—allows him to meld into any building and manipulate it to his will. By proxy, he also has complete awareness of everyone and everything inside. Once one of the guards, Justin, mysteriously disappeared, Henzo had already suspected something.

On the third floor, everyone else within the fortress had already come to inspect the scene of the explosion. It had completely engulfed the kitchen in a blaze, charring the three chefs inside to a crisp.

“My God…”

“Captain Hosok… Director Stewart… What do we…”

“All I know is that this explosion was man-made...” Responded a man with a tall, muscular build, the Director, Soudin Stewart. He stared into the small blazing inferno before him, which roared out crackling embers that singed his dark skin and darkened his black robes even more. “There’s no doubt about it—We have an intruder on our hands.” Director Stewart put his hands in prayer for the fallen, the prayer beads around his neck and arms chimed in unison as they swayed and rubbed up against each other.

"Intruder you say?" Hosok shrugged and smirked, "More like a dead man!"

As the rest contemplated what happened, a familiar voice would sound as if it came from every direction in the room—Henzo's voice. “Director Stewart! Everyone! I found the little rat! He's in the basement, dancing like a monkey in heat as we speak! It's quite amus—!" Henzo's voice would suddenly stop, confusing his comrades.

After waiting a few seconds, Captain Hosok would demand him to continue his report. “What the hell is wrong Sergeant Henzo? Aren't you going to make a hole for us to ambush him!?”

“What the… There's—There’s something in the walls with me. But who could it be? Anyways, watch your footing everyone!” Henzo replied. With another distinct clap echoing from the walls, a giant hole, leading to the basement, opened up from beneath the rest of the fortress’ crewmen, swallowing them as quickly as it closed itself up, like the fortress was some living creature.

Back with the witch on a mission, he continued to maneuver and dodge throughout the living death trap he found himself in. He understood that one mistake was all it took to make the living death trap into his personal grave.

Using Jukill to break past a moving wall of earth that threatened to squish him, he thought to himself what his next steps would be. “Dammit! These spikes and pillars of earth won't stop! Not to mention I can't run away, it's as if this basement has become a maze. Hallways constantly twist, turn, and their exits get blocked. I can't attack Henzo directly either, he seems to have become the soul of this entire fortress and is keeping me busy until the others can arrive… Guspane, please, hurry up!”

Yet another spike would burst out from the wall in front of him. Raising his spear to defend, the spike would suddenly stop in its tracks.

“You did well, intruder… To think you'd last five whole minutes constantly at death's door, but I'm afraid your fate has been sealed with no escape!” Henzo's voice sounded once again, clapping his hands in a fake applause.

Lowering his guard, the man stared at the ceiling, smirking beneath his mantle. “My fate's been sealed, huh? And why is that, you coward?”

Henzo simply responded with an unconcerned laugh. Ending his mockery of an applause with a real clap, filled with not only soulura, but also a sadistic satisfaction to it, he brought down the wall facing the intruder.

“So he's the one who's been causing such a ruckus…” Captain Hosok sadistically glared from the shadows hiding not only him, but eight others, all of varying sizes and weapons in hand.

What laid before the now caught intruder was a squadron of nine, all ready to defend both their fortress, and avenge the five comrades they lost due to the impostor.

“Only one guy? An embarrassment to let him have done this amount of damage…” One guard behind Director Stewart commented.

Kueo cracked his knuckles. “Let's see where you put those documents you stole!”

Further behind everyone else stood the two guards from the second floor, cowering in fear. The first guard leaned towards the other one. (“Psst, dude, I can't believe this! We have to fight the dude who killed not only Justin, but also Captain Titopan? It's like this specific fortress is cursed!”)

(“I know, right? I'm not set out for this, both of us aren't, we have no powers!”)

(“I just say we make a run for it as soon as the battle starts.”)

As they stepped back in preparation to book it, they would forget one crucial detail: Henzo was there—and always listening.

“Do you two never learn! To plan on running away and leaving your comrades behind…! Insubordination of this magnitude elicits severe consequences!!!”

Before they could move or even explain themselves, Henzo launched two pillars of solid stone from each side, violently colliding into both guards’ heads, and shortly thereafter, squishing both their heads together in a grotesque show of sadism as the two pillars met in the middle.

Floating within the confines of the walls, witnessing such a spectacle of gore from his own hands, Henzo could not help but laugh maniacally. His sinister laughter seeped into the halls like a chilling symphony and with each malicious chuckle, the air grew heavier as tension rose.

Suddenly, a faint rustling hit Henzo's ears, drawing his attention away from his cruel mirth. “Eh?” He uttered in complete confusion as the rustling got louder and closer. It sounded like something was being scraped at a rhythm.

Unfortunately for him, due to how his ability works, he couldn't see what was around him in the walls, he could only see what was inside the structure he has melded with. Maybe it was for the best, as Guspane had already made it to him after eating his way through the wall, transforming into a hideous creature, ready to devour its next meal to protect the one bonded with him.

For the ones down in the basement, Henzo's maniacal laughter would slowly trail off in a confusing tone, only for them to be replaced entirely with horrific screaming and cries for help. Hauntingly, those same screams would be silenced as well in only a matter of seconds.

Something would soon drop from the ceiling behind both the intruder, and the squadron, of which turned around to see a grisly sight. Bones bounced and clattered off the ground, blood dripped from numerous crevices and cracks above, and a lone, disembodied eye hit the floor with a wet splat, rolling over to face the men in black.

In the middle of all that carnage was a grotesque, slimy worm-like creature with nothing but a single mouth, full to the brim with sharp teeth. The blood around its lips and teeth was indicative of Henzo's murder.

Relieved and with renewed resolve, the mysterious man capitalized on such an opportunity, adopting a fighting stance and unleashing a massive amount of pressure.

“Soulful Technique: Hollow Illusionary!”

-

Next: (Chatper 14) Conflict on a Doomed Island: Part 2