[Pyschokinetic] Eyeball Pulling - Chapter 224 (Patreon)

“So this is the Internal Engine…”

It was strange. The power granted by the newly formed Internal engine was better than she could have ever imagined. Normally, it would have formed another room in her container. But for Astrid, the other room was in her right eye.

Like a connection from one eye to the other, it went straight to her mind.

Astrid flexed the mana being created by her internal energy. It churned within the engine, boiling into a strange strength that Astrid just had to test out.

Connecting to the matter in the far distance. Away from any life. Astrid Crashed it. The air split, sending crackling booms echoing against the trees. If Astrid had to guess, then her strength had increased by an entire fifty percent. It was huge.

She laughed, turning to the lord.. “You see that, Lord Darian? I succeeded!”

However, Lord Darian was rooted to the spot. He was looking at her as if she was a little devil in human flesh. He blinked, coughing.

“You did,” he said. “Is it okay if I take a look at your container? I just need to make sure everything is in order.”

Astrid nodded. She trusted him.

Lord Darian approached. He sent the familiar energy just beyond her eyes, where her Internal Engine had formed. Then in the next moment, he stopped his probing.

“Why did you cut so deep?” He asked.

“I’m not sure,” Astrid said. “At first I intended to do it the way you instructed. As I did with the dirt. But I just followed my instinct, you know?”

“No. I don’t know.” Lord Darian stared in shock. “No one has ever cut so deep before to form their Seals. It was theorised that if you cut as much as you did with yours, then your entire container would crumble. It would implode. The fact that your container has endured the shock from the Seals so well, is a testament to how powerful it is. In fact, I’ve never seen anything like it before. Your container is incredibly vast. High quality, too.”

“Well, I am pretty special, you know?” Astrid chuckled.

“It seems so…”

Astrid was taken out of reality when she noticed her System had undergone a small change. It wasn’t big, but there was an additional line of text underneath her Titles.

Name: Astrid Sinwen
Title: Corruption Destroyer
Title: King Slayer

Core: Internal Engine [ Slayer ]

Slayer?

Astrid thought it strange, so she decided to focus on it. Much to her relief, a description formed.

Internal Engine [ Slayer ]: You have formed your core. The Internal Engine is capable of churning mana automatically. Like a forge of eternity, it forms your mana into a great energy source that is unique to the individual. You have Slayer Energy. The Slayer Internal Engine increases the effectiveness of all attacking Skills, while improving your healing factor. The healing factor is dependent on how much Slayer Energy you have in your Engine. If you expend all of the energy, you will not heal. Restores wounds faster by devouring the energy of anything you defeat in battle. This is the art of Slaying.

Astrid whistled. It was much greater than she had expected. Not only did it grant her a never ending power source that created mana faster for her to use. It empowered it, while also letting her heal. She had to test it.

Creating a blade of voidbent, Astrid pressed it against her arm.

“What are you doing?” Lord Darian asked. Concerned.

But Astrid ignored him. She sliced the blade into her arm. Blood seeped from the wound. Then it slowly began healing. Lord Darian frowned. As it healed, Astrid felt the Slayer Energy in her engine dissipate. Once it was fully healed in just a few seconds, the energy was restored a few seconds longer.

Incredible.

“Lord Darian, what Internal Engine do you have? What is it called?”

Lord Darian looked confused. “Called? It isn’t called anything.” He took a step forward, eyes shining. “Is yours different?”

“Yep. It says I have created a Slayer Internal Engine. It lets me restore my wounds, while increasing the power of my attacking skills.”

“Incredible!” Lord Darian pinched his chin. “Maybe my great-grandfather was wrong. Perhaps there is a way to improve it. No-one has ever deviated from the original path in fear of destroying their container. No-one has ever been as reckless as you–”

“Hey, I’m not reckless!” Astrid pouted. “I just go with the flow–”

Astrid was interrupted by a booming explosion far in the distance. It was located where the islands were. It wasn’t good. An enormous amount of grey-green fog billowed into the air like a vortex. Then as if it was a volcano erupting, the fog mushroomed into the distance.

It was moving toward them.

“What is that?” Astrid snapped her head back to Lord Darian for an answer. He clenched his hands into fists. Skin pulled taut, his tanned complexion turned white.

“Death Fog,” He mumbled. “What has he done, the damned fool.”

Astrid frowned as she placed her attention back toward the island. The fog was becoming increasingly more green by the second. Not only that, but she could see flickering images within the cloud. Images of people. Or ghosts. She didn’t know what they were.

Without moving her vision, Astrid said, “Is it bad?”

“It’s terrible. He has condemned us all.” Lord Darian turned on his heels and approached his castle in a blaze.

He barked out orders, commanding everyone to head behind the walls. He disappeared for a moment, before returning. Donned in a dark purple armour from head-to-toe, he was incredibly imposing. The air around him compressed with wrath and gloom.

His eyes turned black underneath the visor's helmet. Not even the whites of his sclera showed. He also had brought out a new sword. It was a heavy two-handed sword in the same royal purple as his armour. Astrid could tell how sharp it was just from a quick glance.

He spoke. His words were deeper than usual. He was expecting a war.

“You should leave. Back to wherever you came from. This isn’t a fight you want to take part in.”

Astrid turned silent. She gazed beyond the thick walls of his castle. Beyond it lay his people. It wasn’t just warriors. Men and women, boys and girls, both young, and old. They looked out, their feared expressions being cut off from the closing gates of the impenetrable walls.

She was a warrior of Sinwen. She would sink with the ship. But she wouldn’t die here. Not when her family needed her.

Astrid punched Lord Darian’s metal chest. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

Humour returned to his cold voice. He nodded. “Alright, Astrid. When the fog appears, so will the corrupted. They will be humans, beasts, or monsters, all stronger than they used to be. Behind them are the wreaths responsible for the corruption. You’ll know it's a wraith when it looks you dead in the eye. Run. Don’t look back. If it takes control of your body, you will become a great weapon. I can’t have you turning, risking the lives of my people, so I will need to kill you.”

“Luckily I have experience with corruption,” Astrid said, keeping Lord Darian’s words to heart. If she had to run, then she would.

Despite the distance, the fog arrived in just a few hours. It billowed toward them, filtering around the trees like a river around stones. It was like an apocalyptic blanket bringing only death. Ghosts screamed and wailed, begging for an end to their misery. Astrid shivered. Then the corrupted arrived.

Sprinting through the fog was a familiar beast. It was a large feline she had spotted before in the jungle. But it was changed. Its eyes were green. Thick veins bulged out from under its dense, tough fur.

There was no other thought besides attack. It wanted to devour them piece-by-piece, strip their flesh until nothing was left. Astrid could feel the obsessive need for slaughter radiate from the beast's pores. The corruption had taken hold of its mind.

Behind it, were others monsters of all different kinds belonging to the jungle. Then it happened. From the depths of the fog, a human man appeared. She was wearing coarse clothes made of hand-sewn material. Obviously she had arrived from a nearby settlement.

Were they brought here because of their mana? Astrid instantly made the connection. How else would they have found them so fast? If it wasn’t that, then they had an incredible sense of life. Whatever it was, they didn’t come in peace.

Even the human was overcome by ferocity. She snarled, displaying her bloodied teeth. Hunched over, she practically ran as if she was a beast herself.

Just what did the Death Fog do?!

Astrid prepared herself. Her Internal Engine roared with life as she activated her mana. She had never felt so powerful before. And with it, the feverish desire to fight burned within. But she calmed it down.

Just like the corruption of Rebirth, maybe it was something she could cure? She had to at least try. Astrid was about to tell Lord Darian to help her secure the woman. To tell him there was no need to kill her. If she could just take the time to identify what the problem was, she could find something. Anything to help her.

But it wasn’t meant to be.

The world transformed. And before Astrid knew it, she was back in front of the towering Eye-Queen.

Astrid stomped. One moment she was expecting a fight. To save that woman. Then the next, she was ripped away from reality. Anxiousness grabbed hold of her heart.

“Take me back!” Astrid shouted. “I wasn’t finished. I could do more to help. A war is coming!”

Thousands of eyes spiralled around the being above. They were like stars orbiting the universe. The Eye-Queen looked down at Astrid. All of her humour was gone. There was no grin.

“It’s not a war you are to meddle in,” The Eye-Queen said.

“But I can help them!”

Astrid knew she was talking to a pre-recorded image. But she couldn’t help herself.

“Until the next trial, my other half.”

“Wait!”

In an instant, Astrid returned to her own world. Daniel, Brett, Rachelle, Losef, Rob, Leena, Calum, Bellona. They all watched Astrid as she shot up from the ground she had been sitting on.

“Shit!” Astrid spat. “Stupid Eye-Queen and her damned stupid trials! Send me back this instance!”

“Wow there lass, what’s got you in a tether?” Daniel approached from the wall. He was holding his blade. Fresh blood dripped from the dark metal. Along with the wounds marred on his face and arms, he had seen some fighting.

The sight brought Astrid back to reality. Back to her original mission. She took a deep breath and calmed down.

Astrid slumped back down onto the grassy area she had been sitting in for goddess knows how long. Was everything that had happened in the past, or was it something created by the Eye-Queen herself? Was everyone in that world fake? An illusion created by a universal-level existence?

Despite her knowing that that was the most likely choice, the Eye-Queens final words stuck with her.

It’s not a war you are to meddle in. Astrid mumbled.

“You’ve been sitting there for hours. Are you okay, my lady?” Leena gently touched her arm.

Astrid shook her head. For now, she couldn’t worry about it.

“I’ve been away for hours?” Astrid asked.

“Well I wouldn’t say away, but yeah, you’ve been away,” Brett said. “Honestly you psychic’s are a bunch of weirdos. You spend more time in your mind than out. Must be great having a nice little retreat from the land of living. I have to spend it in the cold of the shadows. Let me tell you missy, it ain’t rainbows, and sunshine in there–”

A cataclysmic explosion caused all the warriors in the camp to snap to attention. In the distance, something big was happening.

Astrid could feel it as the aura of death wafted over. Instinctively she knew. Lord Sinwen had returned.