Chapter 450 – Listen
[You have created your domain.]
These words echoed all around the dungeon. Even so, the sound felt like a paused one, as if it was spreading in a space where there was no motion — only absolute stillness.
The dungeon had now beco a frozen landscape with jagged spirals jutted from the ground, rising upwards. There were four of them. Each of these spirals was unique, either made of ice, water, snow, fog. They encircled each other in a wide circle.
At last, there was a fifth one standing in the middle of the four made of black frost.
Nothing moved inside.
Nothing except the owner of the domain, who was sitting leisurely on the top of the Spiral of Black Frost, her eyes looking down on Third Ancestor like a goddess to an ant.
Despite the stillness, ris’s hair was still shifting from elent to elent, and her silver eyes now had a taint of blackness inside.
Third Ancestor at that point had her head completely kissing the ground, refusing even to lift her head and peek at her Lady.
She couldn’t help but see in ris the image of her father, whose coldness could warm yet freeze until you were nothing but ice.
’The daughter of a Pri...oh, my Lady. What a magnificent birthright!’
ris, anwhile, was not truly focused on Third Ancestor. Her flat silver eyes were transfixed on the words forming in front of her:
[You have obtained the Seed of Frost.]
[Your affinity with Frost has reached the highest level possible.]
[You have obtained a new unique ability: Permafrost Fire.]
[Grow the Seed into a Tree, and obtain the full rewards.]
The Will halted — ris reading as if she was an unmoving sculpture — then continued, and this ti with even more eagerness despite its cold and chanical tone.
[You have awakened a domain without the use of an Evolution Stone and without the help of an Evolution Quest.]
[Phenonal! You have achieved sothing few have ever done in the whole history of Fokay and Darklore.]
[Hidden Conditions have been t.]
[You have received a new Title: Self Evolver.]
The next panel was blue with an ice the.
[With the title in application, ris Elamin Frost has gained the right to step into the next rank.]
Another curt pause, and finally:
[Brace yourself, Princess of Frost, you are ascending to the next rank!]
All of these happened in less than a minute, ris watched with detached eyes, feeling nothing inside of her except absolute stillness.
Even her feelings seed to have stopped, making her observe closely the process of her ascension, the pain nothing but a numb one in the back of her head.
At that ti, ris Elamin realized a chilling truth.
She realized her body was not reacting to any feelings, her heart was not beating, her face was frozen, unable to show anything else.
And that realization led to one single conclusion:
’I have failed.’
And the worst of all these...
’I...don’t care?’
At that thought, ris Elamin imdiately lost consciousness. Her domain disappeared into molten light as she fell inside the hands of the Third Ancestor.
Her ascension was still ongoing. And the City of Cats was ready to welco their ruler.
...
anwhile, at that exact ti when ris reached enlightennt and received the Seed of Frost; a man opened his silver eyes in a world of black storm of frost.
He lifted his head upward. His face completely shrouded by frost except his eyes, yet it was enough to give anyone a hollow dread.
"So the ti has co." The Primordial of Frost whispered, his words strangely warm and peaceful despite the coldness he was born from.
"Nothing like I hoped. Nothing like I predicted. Nothing like we wanted to."
Now he was regretting his decision of choosing Frost over Lightning. All he wanted was his only child to bear his power.
He was excited back then, managing to achieve a thing none of his brothers and sisters did — having an offspring.
He beca arrogant and reckless, wanting to claim her.
Now Frost knew he could have chosen another way. However, the ti for regret had passed.
Only actions and decisiveness remained.
’If I have felt her awakening, then the others will.’
He frowned even deeper, thinking particularly of one of his sisters.
’I don’t know about others. But Stella...Stella will definitely act on her.’
He clicked his lips in distaste, thinking about the Primordial of Fire.
After a mont, he closed back his eyes, returning into his ever stillness. His mind had already been made the mont his daughter was born.
’If they act against my daughter...’
The world of frost churned.
’...then I will act against them.’
And in that sa breath, it was ti to settle so old griefs between brothers and sisters.
...
’Where am I?’
Inara couldn’t answer that question, in the sa way she couldn’t if one was to ask how much ti had passed.
Her mind was muddled, feeling so slow and so dragging that she needed to exert a considerable amount of effort only to think the simplest of things.
Her eyes were closed tightly shut, and for so unknown reasons, Inara knew that she shouldn’t open them.
Yet even if her sight was crippled, her sense of touch and hearing were very much intact. And what they were feeding her was worthy of the fear gnawing at her soul like the jaw of a starved wolf.
Her body felt like it was inside a sea of worms, with them crawling all over her, covering every inch until nothing of her could be seen.
That was what Inara thought, but it was no worms — it was tentacles.
Tentacles that entered her nose, mouth and even ears and other orifices. They didn’t leave anything of her untouched, making her externally and internally completely rotten with tentacles.
And these tentacles ca with sothing Inara was struggling against. They ca with overwhelming whispers that tore open her skull, making her open her mouth in soundless cries muffled by the tentacles.
The pain was heart-shaking.
’The child—!’
’Hohohho, a Warren, the Warren of Madness is now—!’
’How many of them? Ah, cursed Vaelgrim, how many—!’
Inara began to weep and roll on herself, the pain too atrocious to even be described. Her skull felt like it was being split open more and more.
’Curse—! Desdomona! Desdom—!’
’Light of rcy! Queen of Dreams! His children are—!’
"Sublimation!"
GASP—!
Inara suddenly gasped, hearing amidst the chorus of whispers the monstrous, but warm voice of Echidna.
Her word forcefully summoned back the mories of her current situation. Thus, she realized what she ought to do since the beginning.
’S-Sublimation...’ the heiress of monsters brokenly thought, ’I need to find sublimation in the darkness.’
For that, Echidna had told her to learn how to listen taphorically, and not literally. She didn’t understand back then. And now, even still.
Inara was still lost. And coupled with the whispers, the situation got even worse.
However, she also realized that there was no other option; and she didn’t have the mind to think too much of a way. Her mind was fracturing.
She needed to succeed, or she would finish by dying miserably, not even managing to achieve sothing worthy in her life.
She would die, and would let her mother and Kaden worry about her state. That was sothing she could no longer accept, for her old self had done enough of that.
That was why,
’Listen.’ Inara thought, clenching her jaw filled with tentacles, ’I just need to listen.’
At that, Inara consciously let go of all barriers, letting herself hear in the purest way, shutting down all her other senses.
By doing that, she gave free passage to the whispers directly into the deepest part of her.
And that, even inside her heart itself. For the ears were that one organ that was directly connected to the heart.
The sensation that subrged her was otherworldly, and the whispers that embraced her heart...
’Threnovar, sha on you! OmbreNuit, curse you!’
’Voice has spoken! The King of Kings has spoken! The Throne has spoken! The Master of All Masters has SPOKEN!’
Inara felt her body breaking under the passionate whispers. But then everything went quiet before finally...
’And now, Lass, can you listen? Did you listen? Are you listening? Will you listen?’
’Oh listen well, lass. Listen to the rhythm of the world.’
BADUM—! BADUM—! BADUM—!
’Yes,’
The whispers laughed.
’Listen to the heartbeat of the King of Kings, and tell us—’
Inara was in a trance.
’—what do you hear?’
BADUM—!
—End of Chapter 450—
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