Chapter 20: The Flame Of Frenzy
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***
[Observe]
(Character Sheet
Shabriri, Frenzied Sculptor
[Not applicable])
Before him stood Shabriri, the Frenzied Sculptor—a vile man with a voice slick with false concern as if each word dripped from a festering wound.
"Oh my, why the long face?" Shabriri crooned, his voice both serpentine and oily. The words slithered through the air, leaving an acrid taste behind. "We finally meet—gah!"
There was no hesitation. Godrick's spear sliced through the air, impaling Shabriri's wretched mouth. The force drove the point through bone and sinew until it embedded itself in the door behind him. The hollow, burning light in Shabriri's eyes guttered and died, his body collapsing into a heap of lifeless flesh.
The soldiers flanking Godrick recoiled, their surprise evident. It was not often that their Lord dispatched someone so swiftly, yet even they had been unsettled by the man. His aura had been wrong—foul, twisted, something far beyond mere madness.
Meanwhile, Godrick's frown did not drop. He did not receive a kill notification.
The corpse twitched, and a small ember of orange-yellow escaped the hollow eye sockets.
[Observe]
(Character Sheet
Shabriri, Scion of the Frenzied Flame
[Stats not applicable]
Skills:
[Frenzied Soul (Passive): Shabriri does not exist. He is Frenzy, and Frenzy is he. Can possess any who die with sufficient despair.]
[Frenzied Persuasion (Active/Situational): The Frenzied Flame is inevitable. All things lead to Chaos, and so do your words. Burn a part of your Frenzied Soul to incite Frenzy in another, but be warned, for even the Three Fingers cannot restore a wounded soul.]
Incantations:
[Howl of Shabriri: ???]
[Inescapable Frenzy: ???]
[Unendurable Frenzy: ???]
[The Flame of Frenzy: ???])
It warped and danced, unbothered by Godrick's gilded spear.
"Retreat. Now!" Godrick's command was sharp. His men and the Demi-Humans began to withdraw, their movements stiff with dread. And then, a sound—a low, maddening chuckle—seeped into the air, wrapping around them like smoke.
"I fear that this vessel has lost its use. Well, that is most unfortunate, for he had accomplished much, having his eyes gouged by the two-bodied god themselves," Shabriri spoke, disembodied, each syllable burrowing into the mind, kindling the flame of madness. The voice was everywhere and nowhere. "As for his flesh, he gave it to me, Shabriri."
Godrick stared impassively at the ember. Without unalloyed gold, he had no means to end the cursed existence that lingered before him.
"I wished to enlighten you, yet you scorn me," Shabriri spoke, sounding genuinely sad. "You were to burn the Erdtree to the ground and incinerate all that divides and distinguishes. A Demigod of the Frenzied would be invaluable—too good to pass up. But fret not, you shall join me still, despite the pain and despair it shall cause me."
Godrick's heart dropped to his stomach as a feeling of dread came over his forces.
"Yet isn't despair the kindling to my flame?"
"RUN!" he boomed as he jumped as far back as he could, but it was in vain. He felt it—the creeping inevitability of what was to come. His men were distant enough, but he was not.
"Ah! May Chaos Take The World!"
And then, the world was swallowed by orange and gold.
***
The Frenzied Flame was not something that could be merely touched. It was not an element, nor a force of nature, but a vile curse—a twisted manifestation of pure chaos that gnawed at both mind and flesh. To be inflicted with it was to fall into an abyss far darker and more treacherous than any mortal could fathom.
A faint warmth nestled deep within a man's chest, like the first spark of a dying ember. It was almost comforting, in a perverse way. But then it grew. The warmth turned into a searing heat, spreading like wildfire through veins and sinew, burning with a rage that could not be contained. It clawed at the heart, squeezed the lungs, and sent waves of nausea crashing over his body.
What was he? Who was he?
The world around him began to change. What was once familiar became distorted and grotesque. Colors melted into one another, smearing like wet paint on a canvas. The ground beneath his feet felt unsteady, as though the earth itself was rebelling against his presence. Shadows crept along the edges of his vision, whispering maddening thoughts that echoed within his skull.
"Burn... Burn it all away. What was borrowed must be returned. Melt it all away, with the yellow chaos flame. Until all is One again."
And then, the pain began.
It was not the sharp, clean pain of a blade, nor the dull ache of a broken bone. This pain was a living thing, writhing beneath the skin, gnawing at muscle and bone, burrowing deep into his core. It twisted and contorted his body, forcing limbs to bend in unnatural ways. His skin crackled and hissed as it blackened, the Frenzied Flame searing through flesh and leaving charred scars in its wake.
(HP 200/200 -> 123/200)
The flash of gold was a much-needed reprieve, but it was smothered by bloody orange and disembodied voices.
What was that? Who am I?
The voices started as whispers—soft, insidious. But they grew louder, more demanding, until they became a cacophony of screams, each one pulling him in a different direction. But he refused, clinging to the flash of gold as a lifeline.
What is the Frenzied Flame?
Amidst the agony and madness, there was a strange, terrible allure. The Frenzied Flame whispered and persuaded. It promised an end to suffering, to the endless cycle of life and death, by melting everything away into a single, undifferentiated whole. Life, it claimed, was despair, and only through the flame could that despair be ended.
(HP 123/200 -> 80/200)
The flash of gold pulled him out once more.
Gold... Gold... Why was that so familiar?
"Give salvation to those who despair. Become their lord. Take their torment, their pain..." the voices screamed. "Their affliction. Every sin, every curse. And melt it all away. As the Lord of Chaos."
He ignored them, latching on to the periodic flashes of gold slowly bringing back his sanity.
What is the Frenzied Flame?
He latched onto that question, forcing himself to focus, to think despite the overwhelming pain. The Frenzied Flame was not just a curse—it was a force, an idea, and as he truly delved deeper into madness, he began to comprehend it from within.
(HP 80/200 -> 60/200)
The Frenzied Flame was no saviour—no messiah for the pained nor closure for the wronged. It was no righteous purpose that fanned its flames nor fundamental truth that it abided by.
(HP 60/200 -> 40/200)
It was a weak flame, a parasite, wiggling in and hiding behind a truth to kindle itself. It did not wish to correct a mistake made by the Greater Will, nor did it wish to deliver justice to those who believed that life was despair.
All it wished for was to burn.
To burn everything all away.
To let Chaos Take The World.
Chaos.
A calmness settled over him as this realization took hold. He stopped resisting the flames, stopped fighting against the pain. Instead, he accepted it.
(HP 40/200 -> 20/200)
His eyes burned with a fiery light, the irises stained with the yellow glow of the Frenzied Flame. He could see the madness in them, reflected in every surface. The voices kicked up into a frenzy, begging and pleading for him to become their Lord, but it fell on deaf ears.
He was Frenzied, not maddened.
(HP 20/200 -> 1/200)
([Gained Frenzied Comprehension (Passive): O Conqueror of the Frenzied Flame, no longer shall wielding the Chaos Flame madden you, for you have comprehended madness itself. Using Frenzied Flame Incantations no longer maddens you while its strength scales with faith. +10 Faith]
Faith: 32 -> 52)
The brightest flash of gold yet snapped his mind back to reality, while his body went through the familiar feeling of being hollowed out akin to pasta dough. He jerked awake, too weak to even take a breath, yet his mind was clearer than ever.
Gold... Gold... Who was he?
Everything came rushing back to him, and he finally remembered.
He was Godrick the Golden, Slayer of the Night Cavalry and Conqueror of the Frenzied Flame.
(EXP 1670/5000 -> Gained 1 stat point and 1 skill point.)
(HP 1/200 -> 200/200)
***
POWERSTONES!!! AHHH! MAY POWERSTONES TAKE WEBNOVEL!!!!