Fighting The Entity

As my body pleaded for more, my mind began to understand what was happening. I was keeping a grip on sanity, although loose, and refocused on the fight.

When I battled Illya under the veil of the Goddess of Wrath, I wasn't subtle about it at all. I let the Wrath consume me... but I never fought it like this. I fought the growths on the sides of my head that looked like horns, but even still, they grew at an alarming rate. The claws felt as if they were sharpening on my hands, and I couldn't take my eyes off of Austin now as drool spilled out of my mouth.

I threw the saber to the side, forgetting its purpose entirely, and ran at Austin with my claws yet again. He seemed surprised, and blocked the claws with his blades, trying to plunge something into my stomach.

I pushed my claws into his forearm and tore outwards, getting his flesh and blood into my mouth. I watched as the rippled pattern I left in his hand as I brutally mutilated him formed an enticing glimmer that made me want to eat more of his flesh.

"...ni... cus...!" I heard something shout out. I couldn't focus my mind on the voice and kept running at Austin.

I tripped him with my extended leg and stuck my claw into his chest. This cavity was tougher to rip through, and I had to extensively make sure that I could dig in through his ribs to get to his heart. Once I pushed far enough, I felt a scream, and pressure on the top of my right arm as blood started to trickle down. He stabbed me, but I couldn't feel it... not even a slight bit of pain, all I wanted was to hurt him.

"Oh my, how pathetic," I heard a voice in my head. It echoed, sounding exactly like mine from afar. It was like I was echoing.

I pushed Austin away and focused on the voice instead of him. Curiosity was surpassing my need for my targets innards.

"You can't fight me at all... you're just easily giving in, losing all of your wit and intelligence..."

[SYSTEM CORRUPTION: MAXIMUM +3]

The Eye of Providence ignited again, and I dodged attacks, pushing my gravity toward Austin and then crushing him on the ground.

"Who... is talking..." I muttered through the wet breaths I took. I still couldn't find the time to breathe or swallow my saliva, and I just let it all pour out onto the floor while feeling my head churn in pain.

"It's the person you're stealing all this power from... how about we open up the curtains?" The voice asked me again.

Once it ended its sentence, my tunnel vision was cured, and both of my eyes were illuminated in black color... all I could see was the pattern within the Eye of Providence. Funnily enough, it was what I needed to observe Austin's blades as he was pushing through the ground.

I dodged each and everyone, pushing my right leg further than the left, dodging with a roll in whatever direction I felt necessary, and closing the distance between us. I sharpened my claws again, but as soon as they connected, they shattered under the pressure of Austin's blades.

His blades ran up my arm, pushing the bone out of place and mutilating my body as he got closer and closer to my head. The horn that grew on the right side of my head took the brunt of the hit and I was able to stab Austin in the eye before it snapped off.

Unlike the time before, my horns and claws started to regenerate once more... I wasn't used to this...

"I guess I can use you to awaken... what do you say, Dani Asterio? How would you like this Entity to wake up in your body and handle this fight?" The voice asked me.

The Entity seemed to appear in my vision but was invisible to everybody else. It was an illusion, exclusive to me, and it put Austin and me at a standstill.

I couldn't make sense of anything and didn't want to think about it at all. I wanted The Entity to wait while I killed Austin, and then I would fight it next.

Both Amy and Illya repositioned themselves. Illya went near me, and Amy went near Austin, looking upon us with their arms crossed and chests expanding fast because of the physical exertions of fighting.

"You're losing yourself, aren't you?" Illya asked me. I found myself unable to answer. The pressure from The Entity was overwhelming, and I couldn't open my mouth. Like drowning in a nightmare, I was stuck in place.

"Give me your hand," Illya told me. I wanted to refuse, as she wasn't my target, but she took hold of it, wrapped her fingers so they connected to my knuckles, and put her middle finger on my glistening white stone.

"Alright, we're splitting the possession. I'll take half, you'll take the other half," Illya told me.

As soon as she declared what she planned to do, my body ached and ruptured, as if my heartbeat expanded in volume, and my right claw, right horn, right canine, and right wing all subsided into my body and traveled into Illya's as she started to brace herself.

"What the hell are they doing... and why are we letting them! Let's kill them!" Amy said. She threw another attack, which I easily countered with my propulsion of gravity.

I slowly reclaimed my mind, but Illya seemed to lose herself as the black coloring of the Goddess of Wrath claimed half of her hair. Her teeth grew sharper, her claws got longer, and she was more ready for combat than ever.

The way it spoke to me... it almost seemed like this Entity was familiar with me, even before the first time I used Goddess of Wrath... maybe it was the tone of their voice, but I felt uneasy.