Chapter 68: Glitch vs Dementor - Kai’s Individuality!

Chapter 68: Glitch vs Dementor - Kai’s Individuality! Snaglok’s laugh found Kai’s ears as he turned around to run. "Hahaha! You can’t outrun them. For a thousand years, this legion of Dementors is held here to guard this vault. They are bound to it and they have only lived on the death row criminals the Bank gets from the Azkaban to feed them." Neck craned up, Kai ran for the only opening he could see other than the way he had come from; a long, narrowing fissure in the wall behind the Vault. Above him, the black clouds had turned into a black foul mist. The cold that had made everything miserable returned, gnawing on his flesh and bones. A sudden wave of depression and despair hit Kai’s soul as he slithered into the fissure, slithering from one stone to the other. Kai shivered. Countless rattling breaths entered his mind, trying to pull him down. He could feel it, the hunger within them. On and on, the creatures were chipping away his SP, little by little. Kai looked back, and what he saw left him horrified. At least a dozen Dementors, he couldn’t say, were gliding behind him, their hands outstretched, trying to claw at him, at his soul. It was darkness beyond dark; the darkest creatures had no beginning and no end. Kai slithered, gritting his teeth, burying the overwhelming retching sensation down his throat. Suddenly, Kai wasn’t there anymore. He was again on the floor, holding his mother’s dead body, crying, shrieking, and cursing. Through the hole in her back, he saw her blood and flesh, dripping, disappearing into a red abyss. "NO!" Kai shouted, his face deathly pale. He had fallen in the gap, which kept becoming narrower as he crawled backward, his eyes never leaving the unholy figures advancing towards him. The scenes kept returning to him, making him go in and out of consciousness. Whenever he returned to reality, though, he found them closer than before. A time would come when he wouldn’t return to reality, Kai knew. And that would be something worse than death. "So this was my Blood Prophecy," Kai muttered, his eyes becoming hollow. He had seen this happening, and since then, he had an inkling of what type of things he would have to deal with. He knew little about these creatures, but had read about them as beings to stay away from at any cost. Nor he had thought he would have to face them so soon. But the Blood Prophecy had given him a chance. So Kai had done what he could. The narrow fissure forced the Dementors to come at him one by one. Kai was losing it. His mind was having trouble telling if he was screaming at Brock or in the process of carrying out his plan. Silent was the sound of Dementors gliding towards him, and silent was the sound of tears running down his cheeks. The closest Dementor was almost upon him. The terror of the cold that seeped into him was beyond anything Kai had ever experienced. He had never felt so helpless, so... unworthy. Brock Valeheart, you motherfucker! The sadness suddenly erupted into monstrous hate. 5 meter... 3 meter... 1 meter... ... [ WARNING: Contestant’s SP is below 10% of its max value. SP regeneration rate is reduced by half ] ... Kai had little SP, to begin with. All he had left now was his little plan, unknown to all but him and... her. * * In front of Vault No. 999, No one could take the treasure out of the Vaults other than the owner and the goblins. It was known. Terrible fates awaited those who discarded it as mere rumors. Not to mention, there were charms and jinxes on the individual Item themselves. These were the reasons Kai had not taken out the eggs and stored them in his MRB. He needed Snaglok’s help to do so. That was before the Dementors had chased him to a fissure behind the Vault. Not all Dementors had gone for Kai, though. A few circled the goblin, just far enough to get affected by the silver orb in his hand. The rest were hovering just outside the vault, banging themselves against the silver mist rampaging within. Snaglok didn’t wait. He rushed on his small legs towards the wardrobe. The greed in his eyes as he saw those three beautiful things was unprecedented. One by one, he took out the eggs and stored them in a bag. First, the biggest one. The dragon’s egg he almost threw in as if it was just a stone. Then the egg at the bottom. Snaglok licked his lips in fear and horror as he ran his thick fingers over the stripes on the egg. Then he also threw it into the bag. At last, he took out the golden thumb-sized egg. At this, Snaglok gazed at the most. His pointy nose kept sniffing at it as if the most precious thing he had ever laid his eyes upon. He, though reluctantly, threw it into the bag, too. Then, knowing that the reinforcement could come anytime, the goblin rushed for the cart to kill the cart operator and take his place. But before taking the left turn, something flashed in the corner of Snaglok’s eyes. Something of the color and shine of gold. The goblin stopped and brought forward the orb towards the abyss. Then he saw a triangular piece of rock jutting out from the cliff’s face just inches below the edge. And at the tip of the rock, was a gold coin. Gold. Wonderful gold. Snaglok looked left and right. The Dementors had followed him here, but they wouldn’t follow him after the turn. He had been hiding there in a little fissure when those four had come. So, before the backup would come, he could easily take the coin. Yes. It was a logical choice. A most reasonable one. The goblin put down the bag and crouched down, one hand clutching the orb, and the other reaching out for the coin. No. It was too far. He must step down on the rock. So he did. Though it was only a couple of inches down from the edge, the fear of falling made Snaglok tremble. Only the glow of gold gave him the courage to crawl towards the coin. One big stretch and he had it. YES. Snaglok laughed, his eyes shining, looking at the gold coin in his hand. He turned around to climb up the edge. "Do you need a hand?" a familiar voice rumbled in Snaglok’s ears. The goblin looked up and saw him then. Black formal suit and pants, a bowler hat over his head, and a dark, runic black book held tight in his left hand. Snaglok had met him before. "We meet again," the stranger said, as a Dementor brushed past him. The goblin shuddered, seeing that it did not affect this man. "You..." the goblin stammered. "I..." the man answered. "I am Petyr Baelish." Then Petyr kicked. And Snaglok was screaming, falling, down and down to the deepest hell of the abyss where he had already doomed himself to fall ages ago. The single gold coin was still clutched tightly between his fat fingers. * * The 10 ft tall Dementor towered over Kai like a vast blanket. A dozen more were cramping the narrow space, trying to have a peace of him, too. All the happiness Kai had ever known had left him. Only hate remained. Boundless, depthless, meaningless, and thoughtless hate. Kai grinned. His skin became red, giving out steam so hot like it had never been. His pupils became slits, and for the first time, in this madness, Kai spoke the word that he could never in the normal circumstances. Not with this clarity. -Soul Chill- the hiss escaped his mouth as the highest command. This was no intention. It was words, no doubt. Kai only had one thought after his Blood Prophecy that whatever was chasing him was harming his soul, sucking it out. For some time he had debated over the measure he would take in this case with himself, but the answer came in the face of a serpent. The moment he had seen the Ability, Soul Chill, Kai knew he would have a chance. The serpent would freeze his soul, but the thing from the Blood Prophecy, harming his soul, would keep sucking it out, resulting into an equilibrium, and giving him time to do what he wanted to do. The Ghost Serpent trembled inside him but obeyed the command, nonetheless. It hissed in return and burst with all the strength it could within Kai. His entire body became chilled-blue, frosty breath escaping his mouth. His eyes lost all the life within them, and his soul froze, becoming nothing but a frozen wisp of something that was neither alive nor dead. The Dementor approached Kai’s face and took a rattling breath. And life returned. The gamble had paid, and now was the time to reap the reward. Kai’s bluish right hand lifted and grabbed the foul creature’s neck. "Get... over... here." It had no eyes, and for a mouth, it had only a gaping hole. As the thing felt Kai’s hand tightening around its neck, it took deeper rattling breaths, which did nothing but free Kai’s soul from the frozen prison even more. Kai’s grip now was like five thin iron hooks. The Dementor flailed its hand and grabbed Kai’s forearm. As the magical creature’s decayed fingers scarred him for life, Kai pulled the beast closer, almost pressing its hooded face against his chest. The thing within him was already roaring cries, maddened from the lost prey it could have. Blood Devour! This time, Kai did see its true wrath. A blob of red and the blackest blood he had ever seen came out of his chest, churning unto itself. Millions of thin tendrils burst out of it, entering the Dementor in Kai’s grip in all possible ways. The other Dementors, sensing something fouler and something viler than them, flew away. As Kai saw the Dementor in his hand breaking down as if it was but black snowflakes, he realized what it was within his chest. The Blackest, the foulest, and the vilest thing that ever escaped the bounds of an imagination full of madness, into the pits of reality. That was his Glitch, his Individuality. That was him, Kai Stormborn.