Ancestral Bloodline Ritual
Al plummeted over five stories, his chest caved in. Elissa was left alone to deal with the green skinned Dark acolyte. The body grew tougher and stronger after a cultivator stepped passed the Physical Domain of the Mortal Chasm.
Still a fall from that height would fracture his bones and hurt his internal organs. Just before hitting the ground Al used the spell Flash Denial flooding his entire bloody with Stubborn Will only for a split second. He landed without taking any damage as his Stubborn Will accumulated for a flash denying all damage and healing his caved in chest. Al's eyes scanned the deserted streets.
In an unfamiliar chamber, a figure cloaked in darkness grinned a dark cloudy gas entering his nostrils. He was cradling a skull, lifting a single finger with a long nail he gave a delicate tap to the skull. A pulse of vibrations emanated. Instantly, a wave of agonized cries and excited shouting erupted from various rooms of the hotel.
The cloaked figure persisted, each tap deepening the fractures on the skull until it shattered and disintegrated into ash. "I need more time!" he declared, summoning more of the dark miasma from the hexagram beneath him that flowed into his nostrils.
Hearing the reverberating cries, Al sprinted back toward the hotel's entrance. Before he could get near, a colossal black hound with the feet of a chicken and four wings burst through the opening.
It wasted no time, flapping its wings propelling itself towards him, talons slashing with fervor. The grotesque hybrid did little to faze Al. Employing his spell Flash-Denial just before the talons connected, for a brief moment he became near indestructible and shattered them.
With a swift motion, he slashed left with his scimitar and old longsword, cleaving the beast in half. Yet, the monstrous maw of the dog managed to clamp onto his right shoulder, tearing at him Flash-Denial no longer in affect. Al crunched his face enduring the painful bite taken out of him.
Fortunately, almost immediately, the defeated hybrid dissolved into mist, which his ring greedily absorbed. He dropped to his knees, blood pouring onto the floor in torrents. His breath, however, remained steady.
Still drawing from the reservoir of his Stubborn Will, Al swiftly regenerated the wound and entered the hotel. He navigated the first floor; the brick hotel was already in poor condition however now there was scratching, blood, and body parts thrown around the ground. Al knew what had occurred, his anger slowly manifesting and growing. He Raced towards the stairs, the ceiling of the lower level began to tremble ominously, threatening to collapse.
"If every soul in this hotel has succumbed to becoming Hybrids... Without Midnight Abyss, do I even stand a chance?" Al's thoughts raced, the urgency pounding in his chest. However, he knew one thing, he had to reach Elissa as soon as possible.
Ascending the stairs and arriving at the second-floor corridor, the reason for the trembling ceiling became painfully clear. The floor was overrun by different hybrids, each of varying sizes, rampaged through the rooms, shattering doors and walls.
Blood-curdling screams reverberated as the Hybrids mercilessly turned on their own untransformed family members, leaving behind gruesome scenes of carnage. Those without awakened Will's couldn't even comprehend the horrifying malevolence that had befallen them. With a deafening shout Al got the attention of the horde of Hybrids before running to meet them head on.
On the fifth floor, after Al had been thrown off Elissa entered the room where she had forced the green skinned Dark acolyte. Her eyes swept across the chaos, bricks and debris scattered in disarray. A colossal hole in the wall led to the next chamber. "Where did she vanish to?" Elissa asked in a soft voice, heading toward the hole int the wall, a faint grin on her face.
Abobe her the green-skinned woman clung to the ceiling above, observing Elissa's every step, hoping to catch her off guard. Just as the Dark acolyte was prepared to strike, Elissa snapped her formidable whip, aiming for the ceiling.
Caught off guard, the Dark acolyte had no time to evade the powerful blow. She swiftly retracted her limbs, drawing them close to her chest to shield herself. With a resounding bang, she hurtled upwards breaking through the ceiling and exposing the night sky.
Before Elissa could lower her hand, a red frog-like tongue shot out, gripping her wrist and yanking her upward.
Elissa swung through the night sky, her thoughts racing. Crashing into the hotel's rooftop Elissa spat out blood and stood back up on her feet, only to witness her adversary charging at her. "If she's managed to assume such a human-like form, she might be in the Immortal Chasm," she speculated in fractions of a second as she waited for her opponent's attack.
Maintaining her composure, Elissa manifested her Reflexive Will, narrowly dodging a heel kick from the Dark acolyte, her body shifting mere inches away.
"Is that Tense Will?" Elissa inquired before delivering a stomping kick on the Dark acolyte's stomach not even allowing her to answer and sending her tumbling. Observing her opponent, Elissa deduced, "Her arms are broken, so my earlier hit did do some damage," as a red tongue was headed right toward her. Elissa snapped her whip, intercepting the incoming tongue. A painful cry erupted from the Dark acolyte as the whip obliterated the tip of her tongue.
It was evident that Elissa outmatched her opponent in combat. Just as she prepared to finish the battle, a gray hand burst from the ground, extending toward Elissa's right foot. However, she was much faster, and leaped away just in time. A colossal maw emerged from the ground, a nine-foot man his mouth resembling a shark his teeth wide, and razor-sharp.
"Two Dark Acolytes probably both are in the Spirit Domain of the Mortal Chasm. Someone is definitely giving them orders. Their leader will probably be in the Immortal Chasm. I need to use my Reflexive Will efficiently," Elissa strategized, poised for her opponent's next move.
"She cultivates Reflexive Will. Try and avoid her whip," the frog woman Dark acolyte slurring her words advised her newly arrived partner, to which the Dark acolyte responded with a wicked grin, "This should be fun!"
While they spoke, Elissa focused her breath, channeling it into Reflexive Will with unwavering determination. There was not a second, she allowed to go to waste, she stood in complete stillness, transmuting her breath into Will.
Observing her concentration, the gray-skinned man sprinted towards her with full force. Beneath Elissa's calmness there was an intensity she had to dispatch her two opponents before another could join in.
She snapped her whip with all her might. The man's once rough-textured, gray skin cracked and splintered under the force of the whip, but he remained undeterred. Elissa tapped on her whip after it made contact, she summoned her spell Redux allowing for an instant follow-up strike.
Her two strikes happened in the blink of an eye the two hits merging into a single, thunderous clap. The fractures on the man's side exploded revealing his vulnerable flesh beneath. Ignoring the assault, he closed the distance, arms poised to seize Elissa, his intention clear - he aimed to sink his teeth into her head.
With a fraction of a second's advantage, Elissa met him, flooding her right arm with Reflexive Will. She thrust her hand into his exposed flesh with explosive speed, the force driving her hand deep.
The Dark acolyte winced in pain, but his determination surged. He pressed on, attempting to encircle Elissa with his arms. However, she swiftly used another of her spells, 'Extension,' which spread her Reflexive Will to a living thing she was touching causing specific muscles to contract. She forced the Dark acolyte's arms to spread wide.
Recognizing the rebellion of his arms, the Dark acolyte bent over with its gaping maw, lined with razor-sharp teeth, descended toward the crown of Elissa's head.
"Found it!" Elissa murmured, summoning every ounce of her strength. She squeezed a warm beating organ that ruptured like a water balloon. With a crushing force, she exploded the Dark acolyte's heart. The man inches away from Elissa's head disintegrated into a swirling gray mist, readily absorbed by her whip.
"How is that even possible? His Stone Will counters your Reflexive Will!" the woman Dark acolyte exclaimed, her words tangled in confusion.
"Cultivators often underestimate the importance of their Etheric shell," Elissa responded, her gaze proud as it rested on her whip. It was because of it that she was able to break through his stone skin.
"The God Leafs hold no true enmity towards your kind. If you tell me what I want to know and flee, I will spare your life. But if your boss who works with the Rakh-ahtan appears and you choose to stay, you will not survive this night," Elissa warned the woman Dark acolyte, leaving no room for misunderstanding.
Watching through the Dark acolyte's eyes, the hooded figure witnessed Elissa's ruthless dispatch of one of his subordinates. He intensified his consumption of the dark miasma, a grim determination settling in.
Back on the second floor, Al's robe hung in tatters, stained with his own blood. Cuts marred his face, no longer healing. He held both of his blades defensively. The scimitar in his grasp glowed red-hot, while the old longsword lay shattered, pushed beyond its limits after Al's Stubborn Will reached its peak. In its place gleamed the longsword Elissa had gifted him. His breath grew heavier, yet he maintained a steady, composed rhythm.
His Heat Will had caught some of the debris around him on fire. Behind him stood the old woman who had first hurled rocks at him. She shielded the surviving children and women. In front of Al, his final opponent was staring at him, a long, red serpent with menacing horns, green venom oozing from its fangs. One strike from that venom, and Al would be finished. Without the aid of his Stubborn Will and lacking Midnight Abyss, death would be inevitable.
The Hybrid had witnessed Al kill Hybrid after Hybrid and had grown to dread the blazing scimitar in his hand. Just as their duel neared its conclusion, the old lady behind Al hurled a rock with impeccable accuracy, causing the serpent to move out of the way and creating a vital opening for Al to strike.
In an instant, Al decapitated the deadly Hybrid, turning it into a gray mist. He turned to the old woman with a shocked expression.
"You could see them this entire time?" Al inquired, his voice filled with disbelief. The old lady's expression remained unyielding as she let out a deep exhale, nodding her head in affirmation.
She had witnessed her own people undergo the horrific transformation and subsequently kill and devour each other, only for Al to kill them.
Al, unsure of what words could offer solace, simply gestured for her to lead the women and children outside, fearful that the building might be consumed by the flames and collapse.
He then turned and continued, racing up the stairs to the third floor. However, midway through his ascent, the entire structure began to tremble under his feet causing him to stop and brace himself. The trembling was accompanied with a nauseating sensation that churned deep in the pit of his stomach.
Moments before the trembling, in the room with the enigmatic hooded figure, a transformation had begun. A shadowy specter, resembling a lizard-man, emerged from the figure, gradually molding its form into that of a middle-aged man sporting a long mustache and goatee. As the specter merged back with the body, the entire building commenced to shake.