The Veteran's Possession
"What... in the world is this..."
Claudette couldn't close her mouth, dumbfounded by the absurd spectacle unfolding before her eyes. She approached cautiously and poked the cocoon lying on the floor with her finger. The surface was cold and hard, yet she could distinctly feel the faint, rhythmic pulsing of a living creature from within.
"This isn't right."
A wave of goosebumps rippled down Claudette’s spine from an unpleasant, ominous feeling. Whatever was about to burst out of that cocoon was clearly no longer human—it had to be a tentacle-covered monster or a beast crazed by slaughter. In the ghost stories whispered by bards at night, the birth stories of monsters or corrupted beings were all too common.
It was the wiser choice to cut ties now and find a way to survive on her own rather than get involved and end up bleeding for nothing.
"Well... I’ll be heading out now. I cut your ropes and saved your life, so I think I’ve done as much as I can. Good luck."
It was the moment Claudette forced a smile, stepped back, and tried to slip toward the basement stairs, that it happened.
CRACK-!
Spiderweb-like cracks began to form on the surface of the cocoon, and in an instant, it shattered into pieces with a bizarre, tearing sound.
Claudette hurriedly raised her dagger, taking a defensive stance. But what revealed itself from the remains of the broken cocoon was not a hideous monster.
It was a silver-haired woman, kneeling with her head bowed and eyes closed quietly. She was the exact image of the Saintess Aria from just moments ago.
"Huh? She looks... surprisingly fine?" Claudette muttered, her tension easing as she felt puzzled.
However, there was a strangely alien atmosphere about her. The pure, delicate, or fragile nature typical of the Saintess—who had been wailing like a madwoman covered in dust and blood—was nowhere to be found.
Her noble posture, with her chin slightly lifted, and the coldly settled atmosphere exuded a strange, seductive charm that overwhelmed those around her.
The most bizarre thing was that her two hands, which had been charred black from burns, were perfectly healed, and she was holding a pitch-black rod in them.
"Hey... Saintess? Are you okay?" Just as Claudette lowered her dagger and reached out toward Aria’s shoulder, Aria snapped her eyes open.
"Gasp!"
Claudette reflexively sucked in a breath. Aria’s pupils were no longer a clear, limpid blue... but a cold, bizarre, and hauntingly beautiful violet radiance, as if they held a deep abyss, filled her irises.
"Uhh... can you hear me? You really are the Saintess, right?" Claudette asked, swallowing a dry lump in her throat.
But Aria, with her violet eyes, did not answer. She scanned Claudette up and down once with an expressionless face and then silently flicked her fingers. It was an arrogant and natural gesture, as if telling her to follow.
"Are you unable to speak?"
At Claudette’s question, Aria nodded lightly and, without hesitation, turned her body and dashed quickly toward the basement stairs.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Claudette, not knowing what was going on, reluctantly gripped her dagger and chased after Aria, sprinting up the stairs.
As they exited the basement, the dark orchard landscape, reeking of rot, unfolded once again. Aria stood in the open space and pointed her chin and finger toward a massive wooden waterwheel dimly visible beyond the bushes in the distance.
"You want me to turn that?" Claudette snorted in disbelief. "I told you before, I only care about my own survival! If I turn that thing and it makes a metallic screech, it’ll just draw aggro from that predator monster. If you want to live, you go turn..."
Claudette’s words didn't even finish.
Click! Click! Click!
Aria pressed the center of the black rod she was holding three times lightly.
Flash! Flash!
A powerful white light, strong enough to blind, erupted from the tip of the rod, striking Claudette’s vision three times in rapid succession, aimed precisely at her face.
It was a fast, rhythmic flashing of light, as if giving a tactical signal.
"My eyes! You crazy...! What are you doing right now..."
As she covered her eyes, trying to vent her annoyance, a flash of realization crossed Claudette’s mind. 'No way.'
Ignoring Claudette’s reaction, Aria whipped her body around and held the flashlight high toward the ashen sky of the darkening orchard. Then, she pressed the button firmly.
WHOOOOSH-!
An overwhelming pillar of light erupted from the flashlight, soaring straight toward the sky like a giant lighthouse. That brilliant pillar of light, piercing through the thick fog and darkness of the Sacrificial Festival, was a perfect, suicidal provocation that would instantly draw the gaze of the most dangerous apex predator in the orchard, no matter where it was.
"You crazy bitch, turn it off! Are you trying to say 'Welcome~' to that thing?!" Claudette screamed in horror. Then, as if realizing something, her expression stiffened. "Don't tell me... you’re going to lure the killer out in the open with that light rod and draw all the aggro, so you want me to safely turn the waterwheel?"
To Claudette’s frantic questioning, Aria nodded expressionlessly.
"You’re insane! I clearly told you... my surviv..."
Just as Claudette was about to make her selfish excuses again, SMACK! Aria’s palm cut through the air and struck Claudette’s back like a thunderbolt.
"Eek!" Claudette shrieked, nearly falling forward. It was a heavy, destructive impact that was impossible to believe came from the strength of a frail saintess. "Has this crazy bitch lost her mind! Are you trying to fight me..." A furious Claudette raised her dagger and glared at Aria.
But Claudette couldn't swing the dagger; she froze in place.
Aria’s violet eyes, looking down at her. There was no anger or fear in that gaze. There was only the contempt and annoyance of a seasoned veteran looking at an ignorant fool who knew nothing.
Claudette realized it in an instant. The one moving that body was no longer the weak and narrow-minded Saintess Aria. She was now merely a puppet and an empty shell, perfectly controlled by something unknown.
'Did she get possessed by a spirit...'
Overwhelmed by an intense sense of alienation and terror, Claudette broke into a cold sweat and nodded subconsciously. "O-okay. I get it. I’ll turn it. I’ll go over there right now and turn the waterwheel quietly."
Claudette backed away and hurriedly hid her body toward the bushes as if fleeing.
"Crazy... insane! Did that Lumen bastard return? Or did some other vicious Outer God possess her!" Claudette’s mind was pure chaos as she disappeared into the darkness.
Meanwhile, left alone in the empty clearing, Aria... or rather, the thing possessing Aria’s body, curled the corners of its lips into a sinister smirk and turned around leisurely, still holding the flashlight.
From far beyond the thick fog, the violent footsteps of the transparent entity, enraged by the pillar of light, and the trajectory of swaying tree branches were being perfectly captured in a third-person perspective.
The main screen of the [Outer Gods Gallery] had transformed into something like a popular game streaming platform.
In the center of the screen, a massive video window broadcasting the situation of the Sacrificial Festival in real-time was open, and next to it, the giggling comments of the Outer Gods poured out like a waterfall.
Currently, the streaming camera was locked onto the perspective of the killer, Jong-gu-ru.
On the screen, Jong-gu-ru was approaching with stealthy yet furious speed, piercing through the thick fog. The target was a Beastman sitting hunched over in the corner of a dilapidated brick wall, out of proportion to his size, turning a massive wooden waterwheel with a creaking sound.
He was fumbling around, completely unaware of the presence of Jong-gu-ru, who was in a state of perfect invisibility, even though he had approached within a foot of his back.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
Jong-gu-ru struck a skull bell three times from behind and deactivated his invisibility. Only after hearing that chilling metallic sound did the Beastman jump in surprise, his fur standing on end like an animal, and turn around.
"W-wha!"
THWACK-!
Before the Beastman could even react with a scream, Jong-gu-ru’s spiked bone club ruthlessly struck the Beastman’s thick back.
"MOOOOO!" With his back covered in blood, the Beastman began to scramble away into the fog, darkness, and trees with sluggish, heavy footsteps.
Watching the start of that cruel hunt, the gallery’s comment section went wild.
"Sigh, the character of these guys." I clicked my tongue while looking at the comment section.
Of course, to them, the mortals of Eden were nothing more than game characters on a monitor or disposable toys being torn apart.
I continued to click through the multi-view tabs that showed various parts of the map like CCTV instead of the main camera of the streaming screen to check the situation. Unlike the forest where the slaughter was taking place, a small screen in the corner showing the old basement made my gaze stop.
There, the Dark Elf Claudette appeared secretly, untied Aria’s ropes, and after a sharp argument, they were finally seen sitting hunched over in front of old chests, struggling in real-time.
The other Outer Gods seemed to have no interest in the basement situation, as they were busy watching Jong-gu-ru’s exciting clubbing show and the Beastman’s escape. Only one of them was having a seizure while watching the basement CCTV screen.
I just snorted at the Seven Calamities’ angry, spam-filled comments.
And finally, while Claudette was boasting after acquiring the old key first, Aria finally broke the lock on the chest with her dagger and threw the lid wide open.
FLASH-!
"Huh?" I thought it was just a game effect on the other side of the monitor. But as the chest opened, the brilliant white light of the holy relic that tore through the darkness of the basement pierced right through the monitor’s LCD and swallowed my entire room. "Argh! Fuck, my eyes!"
I let out a scream, reflexively squeezing my eyes shut and raising both arms to cover my face.
But it was useless. Even though I closed my eyes and covered them with my arms, the overwhelming wave of light cruelly dug deep into my retinas, as if it intended to pierce through every shell in the world.
Beyond my closed eyelids, I saw a terrible sight. The skin and muscles of my arms covering my face became transparent, and my white bones were exposed so vividly, as if I were looking at an X-ray.