Souls Online: Mythic Ascension-Chapter 264: The Descent

Greg’s one eye fluttered open. A sharp inhale rushed into his lungs as vision returned in waves of light and shadow. His body ached but the fog in his mind began to clear. Shapes formed around him. The ruin of the church. The scorched floor. The mangled corpse of the Demon.

Aria gasped beside him. She blinked rapidly as color flooded back into her vision. Her hands hovered in front of her face as she processed the return of sight. Her expression shifted from relief to dread as her eyes locked onto Luna.

Luna stood above the remains, crouched low. Her back rose and fell with uneven, bestial breaths. Her fingers twitched at her sides, still dripping with dark sludge. Her face was hidden beneath tangled strands of hair but her posture radiated tension.

Then she lifted her head.

Her eyes had once held warmth. Human light.

Now they were blackish crimson, and that glow had become something else. Something wrong. It pulsed too fast, too erratic, like it was alive on its own. The longer Greg stared, the more he felt the pressure behind those eyes, as if they were staring through him instead of at him.

Aria stepped forward.

Luna’s eyes locked onto her instantly.

There was no hesitation.

She launched.

Greg moved without thinking. His battered body screamed in protest as he threw himself between them, arm raised to shield Aria from the oncoming strike.

He never made contact.

A wall of ice burst into existence, blocking Luna a heartbeat before impact.

She crashed against it with a feral shriek. Her claws scraped down the surface, shrill and grating. Cracks webbed through the frost but it held.

Greg stumbled back, breathing hard.

Crystal stood nearby, one hand outstretched, frost still clinging to her skin. Her face was pale, eyes wide with disbelief.

"She was going to tear her apart," Greg said, still staring at the girl on the other side of the wall.

Luna paced behind the ice, low to the ground, teeth bared. Her breath fogged the surface as she exhaled in sharp bursts. Her eyes twitched, still glowing, still wrong.

Still hunting.

Penny’s fingers were numb.

She didn’t know how long she had been pressing down on Adam’s chest. Her arms trembled from the effort and her palms were slick with blood, sweat, and something else. Her surroundings faded into static. She could barely hear Luna’s growls or the shouting from the others.

None of it mattered.

All that mattered was the flutter beneath her hands. The shallow beat of Adam’s heart. It was there. Barely. Slipping.

She couldn’t let it stop.

She wouldn’t.

Her head ached. Her temples throbbed. A single drop of blood fell from her nose. Then another. She wiped it away with her shoulder without thinking and kept going. Her power thinned with every passing second. Her concentration wavered. The blood inside Adam did not want to move anymore. It was sluggish. Stubborn.

Still, she forced it. One push at a time.

Then came the voice.

It was soft. Gentle. A whisper that wrapped around her mind like warm hands on her shoulders.

"You can rest now," Violetta murmured.

Penny blinked. The warmth of that voice hurt more than anything else. It made her want to cry.

You did your best.

Penny shook her head.

"No," she muttered through clenched teeth. "I haven’t done enough. Not yet."

’You have gone farther than anyone else could’ Violetta said. You gave him a chance. You do not have to carry it alone.

"I can carry it," Penny snapped. Her lip trembled. Her nose kept bleeding. She could taste iron in the back of her throat. "I have to. If I stop now he’s gone. And I can’t let that happen."

’Little Rose’ Violetta whispered. ’You are burning yourself to ash.’

"I don’t care."

Her voice cracked. Her whole body felt like it was unraveling. But her hands stayed firm. Her heart stayed locked to Adam’s. If it meant trading herself for him she would. If it meant dragging him back one heartbeat at a time she would.

Because she loved him.

He was family.

Adam’s body jerked.

Once.

Then again, stronger.

Penny’s breath caught in her throat.

The weight that had been lifeless across her back was moving. She had been holding his blood together by force, pushing it inch by inch through ruined veins. It had been barely enough. But now something else stirred within him. Something deeper. Older.

She didn’t understand what was happening.

His chest shifted. Then lifted.

His head, once limp against her shoulder, rose slowly. Mechanically. She wanted to look away, but her body would not obey.

And then his eyes opened.

She gasped.

They weren’t his.

There were eight in total, four in each socket. Crimson. Shimmering. Reflecting the dying light around them. Each one moved independently, twitching and focusing with eerie precision.

But behind the wrongness... there was something else.

A trace.

A flicker.

The faintest warmth.

It was not gone.

He was not gone.

"Adam?" she whispered, too stunned to breathe properly.

The eyes didn’t answer. They only watched her.

Then his mouth opened.

"You have done well Child."

The voice was low and husky but undeniably feminine. Penny stiffened. It didn’t match the body. It didn’t match the man she had fought to bring back. It was calm. Older than sound. Wrapped in velvet and silk and stillness.

"You can rest now," the voice said again.

She shook her head slowly.

"No. No. I’m not done."

Her voice cracked. Her fingers still hovered at his chest. She could feel his blood, and it was moving stronger now. Not because of her.

Because of whoever... whatever... had taken over.

"You gave him back his breath," the voice said. "That was all he needed. I will take care of the rest."

"No," Penny whispered, her lips trembling. "He needs me. I can still help."

Her nose continued to bleed, now freely. Her vision blurred. The world tilted sideways, but she refused to fall.

"Child," the voice said, gentler now. "He had no regrets when these wounds were made to protect you. He will not forgive himself if you continue to hurt yourself to save him. No matter what the cost is, I shall make sure he lives..."

Then Adam’s body shifted.

The gaping burns along his spine began to seal. Torn muscle tightened. Bone reformed. Slabs of pale skin reknit in smooth, unnatural patches. His breathing grew steady. Measured. Not human.

Penny remained frozen against the wall. Her back ached. Her arms shook.

She couldn’t even tell what part of him she had saved. Or if she had saved anything at all.

The figure who had been Adam turned away.

He faced Luna now.

His expression changed.

Not pity. Not anger.

Recognition.

And something else.

A soft smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

"Fear me you Abominations, Arachne has descended."

The words were quiet.

But the weight behind them settled like silk soaked in lead.

And Penny, slumped and shaking, finally let her hands fall from his chest.

Read 𝓁atest chapters at fr(e)ewebnov𝒆l.com Only