Zephyr got up, knowing the battle wasn't over yet. A shadowy, dark figure loomed before him, in place of the body he had hanged before. The figure had a strong resemblance to a grim reaper, just without the scythe. The black, skeletal, dark-robed figure grabbed a knife from a nearby table with his ghostly hand, slowly approaching Zephyr.
"No- Not yet, Zephyr," the spirit scowled in a dark, raspy voice. "Even if I can't get a host, I can't let you live."
In Zephyr's countless past lives, he had escaped many different types of illusions, but there was only one way these illusions could be placed on the target. No energy or technique could bind somebody into an illusion. The only way was to expose that person to an airborne drug, and then use some type of energy to modify its strength or how that person would perceive the illusion. After the giant refused to answer Zephyr's question, he came to one conclusion: whatever black mist initially came out of the book had to be what had corrupted his mind. And it was particularly strong too, seeing how it even reached parts of his soul.
Inside the illusion, Zephyr had surrounded himself in divine energy, which rejected whatever the dark energy was around him. Zephyr concluded that if his mind was corrupted by whatever black mist had come out of the book, there was a chance that if he overloaded his mind with divine energy, he might be able to escape. And if there was one thing he was good at, it was trial and error, and sheer fucking will to survive.
But the abyssal energy still had one property that puzzled Zephyr. As Zephyr was using his energy, it was being consumed by the Giant in tiny amounts and had an aura to sort of inhibit his other energy's powers. Something was going on with this abyssal energy, but Zephyr just didn't know what.
Zephyr tried to get up from his exhausted state, but couldn't even move a muscle; he had been absolutely drained from being killed so many times.
"Can't move? Then it looks like this will be the end of you now."
The spirit lifted his arms, exposing whatever was under his sleeves. A faint, dark aura appeared, taking the form of a hand, and rushed to choke out Zephyr. In a panic, Zephyr swung his sword, expecting to slice off its arm, but it passed right through instead.
Damn it, I ran out of divine energy after that, and there's no way to absorb anymore in Kyomora.
Zephyr felt a cold, ghastly aura wrap around his throat and started racking his brain for some solution. Anything that could get him out of yet another unfortunate situation.
Think, think!
When Zephyr had initially been inside the illusion, the winds were weaker, the air was warmer, and the domain had been much brighter. After submerging the book in liquid, it seemed that something got released, causing all of these aspects to get exponentially stronger in the domain the second time, suggesting that the spirit might be bound to the skin-textured book.
The spirit, with the knife still floating at the side, mobilized it and sent it flying towards Zephyr's neck.
Welp, I guess it's time for another gamble.
When Zephyr was at the practice range before hunting for the divine energy stone, the abilities he used didn't work, but the ability wasn't immediately sealed. It had lingered for just a second before disappearing.
Lacking any other option, Zephyr channeled as much qi as he could into his feet.
Verdant Step
Wind channeled near Zephyr's feet, and in one breeze, Zephyr narrowly dodged the knife and appeared right at the bucket that housed the skin-textured book behind the spirit. Zephyr collapsed, still experiencing the choking sensation from the spirit, and knocked over the bucket.
Struggling, the grip held Zephyr even tighter. He slashed the cover of the book in the shape of an "X," and dark blood gushed out of the spirit's right and left shoulder. Not willing to give in, the spirit clenched even harder on Zephyr's throat.
Opening his mouth, Zephyr managed to get out the words, "If...you...don't...let...go...". Zephyr let out a cough before continuing, "I'll...cut...the...book...in...half."
Zephyr lifted his blade over the book, coating it in destructive qi, aiming not only to kill the spirit but to destroy it. Zephyr, growing unconscious, started to swing his sword down when the spirit had loosened its grip.
"Stop."
The spirit's barely visible hand retracts, dropping Zephyr to the floor right before the sword comes into contact with the book.
"Ok, fine, Zephyr. You win," The spirit said, sighing, slumping down on one of the chairs.
After dragging himself to his bed, Zephyr rubbed his chin, thinking of a way to control the spirit of death sitting right across from him.
I'm so exhausted, but I need to find a way to deal with him. I could easily kill him right now, but he could be instrumental. For starters, he can somehow hide me from the goddess, and I really want to know how to utilize his powers...
First, Zephyr examined the book. The crevices where Zephyr had cut were overflowing with dark goo. Zephyr curiously (and stupidly) touched the black goo, finding nothing out of the ordinary except for when the spirit winced in pain in the corner of his eye.
I could use this to get some answers, Zephyr thought sinisterly.
This black goo, the strange illusion, and the black mud all reminded Zephyr of one thing. The void. Zephyr had already suspected, but still had to make sure he was correct. Zephyr dug his thumb into one of the wounds and started to interrogate the spirit.
"Are you from the Voidscar Abyss?"
The spirit stared blankly at Zephyr, his hatred for Zephyr deepening.
Zephyr dug further into the wound.
"Answer."
The spirit nodded his head.
During Zephyr's past lives in Mystharow, he had a master who was obsessed with the Voidscar Abyss, passing around rumors of past adventurers and legends that might've gone lost to time if not for Zephyr's master. Zephyr reconciled, recalling one of the memories that Zephyr had with this master.
-------------------
Atop a lush green hill, a man in his mid-30's stood tall, shining with silver armor, standing proud looking into the sunset. Behind him was Zephyr sitting down right beside this man.
"Darian, wanna hear more nonsense on the Voidscar Abyss?" the master asked smuggly.
"When are you not spouting nonsense about that place, Master Darius?" Zephyr replied smiling.
The next day would be the start of the war with the Angels so this would be the last time Zephyr would be able to enjoy such a peaceful day with Darius.
"Hahaha," Darius chuckled at the question and continued, "I heard that the abyss holds a certain power, a power stronger than all four energies, they call it the 'Abyssal's Dominion'."
"Huh, what a nefarious sounding name."
"In fact, when gathering the four energies they all gather in a clockwise direction. However, the abyssal's power gather's energy in a counterclockwise direction. That's why it's impossible to absorb such a power. Such a disruption in the direction of energies could kill a person."
"Interesting," Zephyr replied, not knowing what else to reply with, "I'll keep that in mind."
Darian paused as if contemplating if he should say what he said next, but continued anyway, "This power... its rumored to be the origin of all four energies."
A silence esnued, and Darian backpeddled replying, "Ahh, but its probably a rumor anyway don't mind my rambling, haha."
They both laughed, thinking the rumor to be too outlandish to be true. I mean, the four energies were always granted to them by the gods themsleves right?
-------------------
Zephyr then thought back to what the giant had said. Even after using the best cloaking technique in the history of Umbraxis, the giant could detect the "darkness" within him.
What does that mean? Am I able to contain the Abyssal's Dominion, or whatever it's called?
As Zephyr analyzed the black goo on the book, he thought it was somewhat... moving towards him? After taking a glance around the room he looked back at the goo. He took a finger full of the substance and licked his finger clean. Right after he swallowed it his heart began to pound, faster and faster as if his channels were going haywire.
Shit, the energy isn't being absorbed, its taking over my body.
Zephyr closed his eyes and focused on the energy going through his body. Moving the energy going through his channels a counterclockwise direction, Zephyr felt the energy being absorbed into every fiber of his being. Usually energy would gather in one type of place like a water filling up a tank. But Zephyr's body was not only a tank for this energy but something much more similar to a sponge, soaking up every ounce of power the black goo held. Not wasting a single second, Zephyr put the book near his mouth drinking every drop of the goo not leaving a single trace.
After he was done absorbing the power he felt the mysterious power all over his body. After absorbing the power Zephyr started connecting the dots. If the spirit was bound to the book and Zephyr just absorbed the power contained inside of the book, is the spirit bound to him?
Testing the theory, Zephyr unsheathed the sword and approached the Spirit.
"Hey, ready for round two?", Zephyr beckoned.
"You really want to do this? I already told you I won't be hostile to you anymore, there's nothing for me to benefit by killing you. And if you thought that you could control that energy for even a second, you'd be sorely mistaken. That's not a power you should be playing around with."
"Well, if you're so scared to face me again, then so be it," Zephyr replied, turning away smiling. He knew that the spirit wouldn't let him go so easily.
"Alright, if you want it so badly, then know you're place!", the spirit exclaimed extending his ghastly hand to choke out Zephyr.
Zephyr, noticing that the hand was much darker than before, dodged to the side, but it was too late. The hand had twisted itself towards Zephyr's neck and was now choking Zephyr out yet again.
Feel the pain as well, goddamn it!