Chapter 2695: A Castle Built on Fog |
A grotesque laughter surrounded Nephis as she flew above the lake, illuminating its turbulent surface with her radiance. She had long assumed the form of the spirit of flame, wielding the Blessing to battle the Madness of Kanakht.
The ancient Nightmare Creature was like a vast cloud of smoke and black dust that constantly changed and shifted, obscuring hundreds of twisted forms that seemed to be hidden in its dark depths. It had no claws, no fangs, and no hands to wield deadly weapons... however, it had no blood to be spilled, no heart to be pierced, and no head to be severed either.
Its form was whatever madness consumed its enemies, and its power was whatever obsession made them weak.
The delusions given form by the black dust wielded monstrous strength, capable of shattering mountains and ripping titans apart. What truly made the Madness of Kanakht frightening, however, was the terrifying onslaught of insidious mental attacks it unleashed upon its victim.
Nephis could feel it as she invoked the name of Destruction and channeled her flames through the Blessing, summoning a fierce firestorm — a malevolent presence invading her mind to infest it with a ghastly delirium.
Tormented by unbearable pain and dazed by the encroaching delusion, she chillingly commanded the storm of flames to swallow the billowing expanse of black smoke.
The Madness of Kanakht laughed louder as it burned.
"More... burn me more, hurt me more, more... more!"
The vast cloud was incinerated, turning into a maelstrom of ash.
That was the worst of it. No matter how many times Nephis destroyed the Madness of Kanakht, it never seemed to die.
"Did you know, nephilim?"
An avalanche of devastating blows rained on her from all sides, forcing Nephis to dance in the air with her sword to defend herself. "I've never met anyone as mad as you..." Nephis cut the world with her Will, creating arift in the boundless expanse of the Madness of Kanakht. She escaped its dark vastness and spun to deliver another strike. A torrent of white flame spanning hundreds of meters fell from above, severing the black cloud in two. As soon as it touched the water, a deafening explosion rang, and everything became enveloped in steam.
"I draw power from madness, and your mind... ah, what a delicacy... what a feast..." A moment later, the Madness of Kanakht was already mended and rushed forward to push her closer to the shore.
Nephis suppressed a groan, disoriented by the blinding pain of her Flaw. She was usually better at enduring it, but her mind was weakened by the constant assault of the vile delirium.
‘Ah...'
They had assumed that the delirium consuming her mind was strictly an attack meant to infect and debilitate her, but as it turned out, its main purpose was the opposite — it used her own mind to strengthen the Madness of Kanakht.
Nephis knew that she was not the most normal person. Her desires had always bordered on obsession, and her resolve had always been far more extreme than that of most people... all people, really, as far as she could tell. On top of that, she was Supreme, and all Supremes had to be a little mad to sustain the heavy weight of their unreasonable defiance.
So, if the Madness of Kanakht drew power from the derangement of its victims, it could gain quite a lot from her.
But Nephis had invoked the Name of Passion at the start of their battle, adding fuel to her already scathing desires. That was a way to strengthen her Will, but it had also inadvertently granted her enemy a far greater boon.
No wonder the fiend was so dreadfully strong.
"It is strange, though..."
The Madness of Kanakht descended upon her like a swarm of horrors, making the lake boil.
"There is so much of you missing. Your mind is a ruin already, through no effort of my own... who maimed you that way?"
Nephis measured the remaining distance to the Palace Island and frowned. How was she going to win this battle?
"What do you mean?"
Despite her torment and mental anguish, her voice remained even.
A sinister growl resounded from within the harrowing black cloud, washing over her like a wave:
“There are holes everywhere here. There are things missing. It is as if someone tore out half of your heart and replaced it with fog. How can a castle stand on fog? Ah... I've never seen such a strange creature before..." Nephis hesitated for a split second.
Was he talking about the gaps left in her memory after the Tomb of Ariel? How did it know? And what did it know?
No... what had that thing said? It had seemed important...
That split second of hesitation was enough for a crushing blow to land on her radiant body, infecting the white flames with swirls of darkness.
She let out a scream, which drowned in the grotesque laughter of the Madness of Kanakht.
“You and I are not that different, are we?" Burning the infection out of herself, Nephis allowed the pain to cleanse her mind and unfolded her wings. The black dust around her melted, and the smoke was immolated. Air itself combusted, causing a destructive chain reaction and creating a bubble of cold vacuum.
Embraced by the deadly cold, Nephis raised the Blessing.
At this point, the wisest choice was to release the Name of Passion and rob her enemy of some of its power...
Her radiant figure blazed with merciless light as the air, the smoke, and the black dust rushed into the vacuum.
“You feed on madness?"
She smiled.
"Let's see how much you can eat, then..." With that, she invoked the Names.
The Name of Hatred, the Name of Love, the Name of Despair, the Name of Courage, the Name of Wrath...
She called upon every passion and its every shade, drowning herself in unbearable, overwhelming emotions.
She let herself be consumed by madness. ..The Madness of Kanakht reeled.
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