Soul's Requiem: B1 - 21. Isngneal’s End (Patreon)

1:  Clover Emberfield

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Questions should have been rolling through Clover’s turbulent mind, but the hole in her chest was a numbing tide; ever since she’d united with her Soul-Spirit, the thirst to devour more Desire Force seemed to be getting worse.

Fighting past the gravity seeking to pull her brain into a spiral, her focus darted to Laurence’s tightening lips; the Commander’s attention moved from another screen back to her.  “How do you feel?”

His query grated against Clover’s chest, but she suppressed a snarky comment.  “Annoyed and soaked,” she admitted, jumping over a partially destroyed boundary wall to exit the town; she spotted the hillside road leading to the dam in the distance and redoubled her efforts.

The rain became meaningless as her growing aura seemed to push it out of the way; most of the structure and winding river that bordered the town was obscured by the purple-tinted storm.  “Why do you ask?”

Laurence took her snarl with a short pause, puffing on his cigar while looking between screens.  “Hmm…”

As he thought about how to respond, Clover’s sharpening vision drifted between the packs of Transevil making their way to the south; they appeared to be leaving Hollow Veil to cross the river into the wilderness.

The sounds of laser weapons carried with the rolling thunder and collapsing heavens; the SPU personnel gathered in mass to handle the fodder.  Although considering the weapons the SPU used, it was a bit strange hearing a high-caliber rifle to the west, near the ruined Sunset City, veiled by the lilac curtain.

It wasn’t even twenty-four hours since she’d exited the Great Void, and, at first, she’d reveled in the slaughter of Class-0 and Class-1 Transevil, yet now, even Class-2 weren’t enough to satisfy her hunger.

Purple bolts split the sky again as she ran through the partially decayed road, grass creeping over the pavement, and the howl from a colossal beast vibrated the air, making her skin tingle.  That’s it…

Cigar falling from Laurence’s teeth, he worked around his jaw, centering on her.  “Clover, your Spirit Force wasn’t strong enough to be detected by our advanced satellites before rescuing Melissa, but when you entered the Hysteria State, our satellites were able to target you.”

“Yes?”  Clover questioned, gaze narrowing; he was distracting her from the fight to come.

Laurence’s words and the emotion in her breast finally clicked in her brain.  Hysteria … It didn’t feel that way when I was in the fight, but … If I’m not in a fight, does it change?

The Commander cleared his throat and straightened in his chair.  “Melissa recently mentioned in her report that you exhibited the power of Hysteria but not the effects; I’m currently seeing something like that, but unlike the purple Melissa saw, hmm … You’re surrounded by a bluish aura.”

He let the information sink in a second before continuing.  “What our satellites are currently showing—that second energy source within you that damaged the Steel Box Bastion—it seems to be growing in conjunction with your Spirit Force.”

Clover’s jaw locked, trying to fight the current rushing through her veins.  So my Spirit Force and Void Force are connected?  One is calming, and one is maddening … No, what if they’re exhibiting the other’s characteristics, or my VF requires more Desire Force to catch up to my SF?

It was hard to push against the gravity driving her to forget everything and jump into battle.  It’s not the same feeling as before … Maybe my Void Force absorbed the Hysteria effects, and now it's being released in a slow burn, or I only feel like this because I’m out of balance?  It doesn’t matter right now!

Whatever it was, she’d have to consider the possibilities later.  “Keep observing it and tell me what you find … I need to focus on the Class-3 ahead of me.”

“I understand,” Laurence muttered, “but just so you know, your eye color has been fluctuating the entire time we’ve been talking; it’s normally a shade between green and blue, but the variance is much sharper right now, and they’re glowing.”

Agitation cracking her composure, Clover hissed.  “I get it; compile the results!”

“Hmm … The Medical Core’s Offensive Brigade is deployed across town, and Erin is leading the Spirit Users in rounding up the Transevil still in Hollow Veil.  You took care of the strong Class-1 pack and Class-2s, so the only threat we can’t handle is Isngneal … Rosa be with you.”  Laurence ended the transmission.

A strained smile lifted Clover’s dry full lips; liquid still clung to her, yet most were repelled, and still, her mouth was practically a dessert.  She could almost taste Isngneal’s energy crackling through the dense air from the specks of Desire Force that he sent into the sky, worsening the already bad storm.

Reaching the top of the hill, she got her first complete glimpse of the river and concrete structure; six vehicles’ lights were left on by the facility, but she could already smell the blood on the sharp wind; there wouldn’t be any survivors—she was sure.

Only fourteen Transevil were showing from the satellite, yet Clover doubted the information based on the volume of scents assaulting her nose; none of them were powerful, yet most seemed to be hidden.

Her blade whipped out as she ran, the Class-1 Transevil tearing into the vehicles blew apart in her passing, and she came to a stop at the edge.  Looking across the deep drop to the dam’s bottom, staring up at her through the downpour, was the red-furred and yellow-eyed wolf.

Violet lightning bridged around his body, thick sparks leaving black marks across the thick cement wall, but he wasn’t focused on the structure; a booming, deep voice carried through the thunder and rain, surprising her.  “He-he-he … In his suffering, he said the Voidling would come if I brought my pack to this site; you will not escape me this time!”

Clover wanted to question him—to get the answers she so desperately wanted—yet instead, her illuminated green irises drifted to the left.  Dozens of Class-1 Transevil crept out from within the structures; the SPU satellite finally pinned them as they neared the surface.  Over a hundred came out of the river on all sides and crept out of the facility’s basement levels where they’d been in wait.

A smirk lifted the corner of Clover’s lips as the fodder let go of a unifying howl before closing in; she’d been led into a trap, but this was perfect.

She was sinking into a black hole; unlike the heat of relishing the experience, her heart pounded with the need to fill her stomach.  A teal and purple effulgence swirled around her body; Clover’s own personal storm suppressing the natural one.  She was so close to something new; it was a similar sensation to when she’d unlocked Gleaning Asp, and, reaching into the darkness to grasp something she’d lost, it was pulled out of the deep.

The wolves pounced, and just as several came into striking distance, an explosion of violet and teal light enclosed a five-meter area—Basilisk’s Tempo—time slowed to a crawl for the beasts; it was a weaker version of whatever her Soul-Spirit used to save them from Isngneal when they’d made their flight.

Twirling her weapon into a slow, chain-like dance, she twisted and lashed out as the closest pack struggled to inch a centimeter; to them, she was moving at supersonic speeds, but in reality, anyone who saw the creatures enveloped by her aura would see their suspended bodies in space, slowly falling to the ground as her blade split them apart.

It only lasted ten seconds, which was more than enough time for her to calm her thumping chest in the fluid, singular motion.  Finished, she launched into a sprint; twenty-four of the closest Transevil were cleaved into several pieces, but not a single one of the hundreds surrounding her hesitated to give chase—it didn’t matter—Isngneal was all she wanted.

Dashing across the concrete dam, she bypassed the weaklings to leap into open space.  “You wanted me; here I am!”  she laughed.

Her chain weapon lashed out at the beast as she neared, only for Isngneal to grunt, “Fool.”

Clover’s segmented blades slid into his fur, sparks of purple electricity scarring the air; her eyes widened with her twisting stomach—the attack passed right through the beast—a rumble sounded through her, streaks of light shooting to the dam wall where Isngneal was now standing.

He moved in an instant … Was he this fast before?

“I am the pinnacle!”  Isngneal laughed, a smile in his shimmering yellow eyes.  “And you—you are weaker than I thought!”

He converted into a mass of lightning, launching at her.

“Really?”  Clover asked, creating a platform and kicking to meet the beast, phasing through the attack, and landing in the spot Isngneal left.

She leveled a smirk up at him to see the wolf soaring over the river.  “I missed … Impossible…”

Drawing back her sword, Clover sent a ghostly serpent to freeze the monster in his fall, frosting over the rain in its passing, yet Gelid Adder’s fangs only sank a quarter into the beast’s tail.

Isngneal swept the gathering ice away with a single beat of his tail, electricity bolting from his fur to strike her.  “I will annihilate you for making a fool of me!”

Momentum gone, Clover did a partial front flip in her fall; creating a platform, she kicked off to reach the flat ground above the dam’s riverway, and the lightning followed her escape, breaking massive chunks off the wall.

Escaping the damage, she touched down on the concrete parking area to look up to find Isngneal floating in the air, an aura of energy ionizing the air.  His chuckling laughter was toward the dam, though.  “If you will not stand still, I will destroy this whole miserable place!”

Realizing his goal, Clover sprinted back to the wall, using her momentum to run up the side as the ball of electrified mass bolted for the structure.  I don’t think so!

Basilisk’s Tempo activated as she came between the wolf and dam, slowing his progress before she leaped above and used Culling Furor’s vortex to alter his trajectory.

The sharp change in direction and biting energy flashed past her, causing water and steam to erupt against her skin.  Her gnawing whirlwind of energy stripped a part of his shield in the attempt, making the breast grunt while bouncing off the wall’s halfway point; a small section was turned to powder and chunks by the impact, but it remained more than stable.

Keeping in the air as her time aura passed, she kicked off a platform, arctic aura following her blurred lunge against the dazed Transevil; Serpent Strike sank into the monster’s eye, causing it to ice from the inside out.

A vicious roar exploded from the wolf that hit Clover like a physical blow; she winced as gravity pushed her to the ground.  Using her platforms, she slowed her descent by ping-ponging from side to side until her heels skidded across the ice her ambiance generated.

Goosebumps cascaded down her neck, arms, and spine; Clover hadn’t even stopped, and the one-eyed wolf’s colossal fangs were closing around her entire body.

A forced grin lifted her mouth as Clover tucked into a ball, maneuvering into the beast’s jaws, angling her weapon as a brace; Isngneal’s jaws halted, his hot tongue sliding against Clover’s covered thigh.

They came to a stop as the monster’s tongue writhed, attempting to find purchase to remove the blade; luckily, he didn’t think of opening his mouth to shift her leverage.  Purple electricity stung her skin, but it wasn’t enough to break her own Super Armor, and Gleaning Asp, her only SF move she could currently use, activated.

Spiked chains penetrated the wolf’s vulnerable tongue, throat, gums, and lower jaw, making him whimper at the surprise counterattack.  Trying to open his mouth to expel her as the cancerous barbs sank into his soft flesh, Clover used the opportunity to dive out of the small gap that appeared.

“Ha-ha-ha!”  Clover felt more alive than ever, calling her sword and leaving the SF imprint in Isngneal’s maw.  “This is what I’ve wanted!  What was it you said, fool?”  she taunted.

“Grargh … H-Human filth!”  he snarled, using his paws to force out the chains, but a soft clapping filtered to her ears past the heavy morning storm.

“Excellent!  Most entertaining, My Love!”

Clover’s gut churned; she hadn’t sensed anyone else in the area.  Looking for the voice, she found the entire dam site littered with Transevil corpses and sitting one knee to his chin, the other dangling off a short wall, was a masked clown.

Her focus went into overdrive, fixating on the figure; mind flashing back to the Class-5 Rassi the SPU’s Spirit Master supposedly took care of—everyone seemed assured he was gone—yet if they knew of this, their terror would reignite; those haunting neon blue eyes inside that black mask couldn’t be human.

“Castro?”  Clover questioned, but the scent that carried to her was a human male.

She winced as a vicious roar hit her ears, Isngneal’s nose twitching with agitation while scanning the zone.  “Filthy human, wait your turn!  What … Where did you come from?”  he growled, head shifting with Clover’s to view the impossible scene—hundreds upon hundreds of Class-1 Transevil laid dead around the site—every neck cleanly severed.

The clown’s sapphire-ended joker cap jingled as his head tilted, thick shoulder-length silver hair seemingly untouched by the storm.  “Are you so sure?”  he asked, ignoring the wolf.

Clover’s grip tightened around her hilt as blue flames enveloped the figure, and in his place was a grinning black-haired man wearing gear that read MASS on it.  “Who can tell … I might be!”  he chuckled.

“You … Human, I turned you to ash!”  Isngneal whispered, clearly confused as he licked his jowls, Clover’s attacks slowly healing.

Instinct told her this creature was dangerous—the shapeshifter—his scent was indistinguishable from a human, and his entertained, smirking eyes drifted to the Transevil, blue flames returning him to the joker’s appearance.  “I’m bored with you now; you can leave.”

“I will not be mocked!”

Lightning erupted across Isngneal’s red fur as he bolted at the clown—in the next second, Clover was darting back, the creature’s smiling neon blue eyes only a foot from her face as he bent down to study her—she barely sensed the flickering movement.

Keeping her guard up, she was in partial shock upon seeing the Class-3 Transevil’s electrified body plow into the earth, sending dirt falling with the rain as silence took the field—Isngneal’s head wasn’t attached to his body—and a heavy thud sounded ten feet to her right.

The monster’s stunned, one-eyed expression came into Clover’s focus as the thunder and cascading water returned to the foreground; his Super Armor and natural resilience instantly cleaved through.

“The weak are ever so boring,” the clown contemplated; his neon irises mirrored his mask’s wide, black-painted smile as liquid fell across the covering.

He straightened, one hand behind his back before bowing to her, “My lovely heroine, it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance; allow me to welcome you to the stage!”

The clown’s head lifted in his lowered position, still leveled with her vision, and his elated voice carried a chilling note.  “I look forward to your performance!”  He vanished in a rush of smoke.

Clover scanned the veil of water, but the only thing he left was the graveyard of Transevil and not a trace for her to follow.  Her eyes narrowed, a chill running down her spine as she let out her held breath; he had taken her prey.  Isngneal was dead.

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