Chapter 22: Wings of the Dragonlord (6)

Casval frowned. “You’re saying that only a female kish can control the power within?”

“That’s what the texts say,” Simon lied. “Even then, the scriptures strongly warn against opening the door.”

“I see, I see.” Casval turned to the scalefolk warriors keeping watch over the tunnel. “Leave us, please.”

The creatures obeyed without a word, leaving Casval alone in the tunnel with Simon and Eole. Simon tensed up, his hand stealthily reaching for Lauriane’s escape crystal in his pocket. He hoped it could teleport Eole with him once activated, and while it would ruin his cover, it would at least save her life…

“You see, Simon, my sister never told me what she intended to use that crystal for, only that she alone could wield its power,” Casval said while studying his ally’s expression with unblinking eyes. “Are you implying that my sister lied to me?”

I have to choose my words very, very carefully here. “I’m just translating what the stele says. That’s all.”

Casval didn’t say a word for a moment, then nodded to himself. “You are my friend, Simon. I think we are friends. Friends trust each other, right?”

The way he phrased it only confirmed to Simon that the dragon only had a vague intellectual understanding of the concept, yet he pretended to go along. “Yes, Casval, we’re friends.”

“But my sister is not your friend, only your master.” Casval’s head tilted to the side. “Friendship conquers all, or so I have heard.”

Is he suggesting what I think he is? “What are you implying, Casval?”

“I’m simply saying that I would prefer to have a friend rather than a master.” Casval met his gaze and blinked a few times with both eyes, as if trying to get a point across. “Is it the same for you?”

He’s suggesting we turn the power inside against his sister. Simon guessed that made sense. Vouivre had eaten Casval for the crime of ‘failing’ her in the previous reign, so their relationship had to be abysmal to begin with. Casval only obeyed her because he had no choice. That’s good to know.

“Yes, it is,” Simon replied, when in truth he was pretty certain the miasma crystal would likely attack them all the moment they broke the seal. However, Eole should remain safe so long as Casval believed he could use her for his own ambitions. “But we should check first.”

“Agreed.” Casval smiled at Eole, who struggled to hide her nervousness in his presence. “Will you break the seal?”

Eole turned to Simon. Her unease was palpable. “We will all regret this.”

“I know,” Simon replied in the kish tongue, “But with some luck, it will hurt them more than us.”

Eole bit her lip, then nodded slightly. She knew the die was already cast. The songstress took a deep breath, and then sang a slow, gentle melody that echoed across the icy tunnel. The sapphires on the stele glowed one after another in response until the constellation design glowed like the stars it was based on. It didn’t take long for it to sink into the ice and reveal a new path. The miasma that poured out of the newly opened passageway came in dark waves more potent than anything Simon had ever seen, even more so than his own Dungeon’s heart.

The threshold had opened to reveal a domed chamber roughly a hundred meters wide, all paved with smooth ice of the purest white. It held no decorations, no statues, no walled paintings; only a single floating sapphire crystal bearing the symbol of the Twin-Tailed Fish constellation, shining with the light of its boundless malice. It throbbed and pulsed like a living organ exhaling miasma. Even its shape reminded Simon of a frozen human heart.

It was a miasma crystal, and many times bigger than the one Simon summoned. He could feel its power from here, its will. Duchar mentioned that miasma crystals potentially possessed an intelligence of their own, and Simon was now convinced the necromancer had been right.

This thing was an archdemon’s heart buried in a frozen tomb, and just as dangerous an artifact as it sounded.

“Eole, stay back–” Simon said in kish, only for the songstress to take a step forward into the room. “What are you doing? Did you forget the warning?”

“It feels…” Eole’s brow furrowed in confusion. “It feels familiar to me.”

Familiar? Simon warily walked after her with Casval in tow. The air grew more chill with each step forward, with the frost seeping into their very bones. Only Eole appeared strangely unaffected.

Simon expected a mental attack from the crystal, or monsters to come out of nowhere to defend the Dungeon’s heart from danger… yet the room remained eerily quiet and defenseless. The trio soon gathered around the floating relic.

“Is this it?” Casval’s head tilted to the side. “I expected something more… impressive.”

“Indeed,” Simon replied with unease. Something was wrong. Had the seals neutered the crystal somehow?

And then he heard it, half a song and half a heartbeat.

“I sense you, child.”

A voice, vaguely feminine, echoed inside Simon’s skull. He had enough experience with telepathy to recognize it as mental communication in the ancient kish tongue.

“What is it?” Casval asked upon noticing Simon’s surprise.

“I hear a voice in my head.” It didn’t take Simon long to figure out its likely source. “I think it’s the crystal.”

“An echo of my power you may summon with this stone, but only by merging thy flesh and soul with my spirit shall my true strength be revealed,” the presence said. “Join with me as one, and your desire together we shall fulfill. Our songs we shall wield to free your people from men and wyrms.”

Your people? Did she mean the people of Endymio–

Simon froze in realization that the crystal wasn’t talking to him. He was only overhearing a mental conversation, likely through the Overlord’s Perks.

Simon’s head immediately turned in Eole’s direction. The kish remained silent, the crystal’s glow reflecting in her thoughtful gaze.

“Do you agree to my terms?”

“Eole, don’t!” Simon shouted, far too late. “It’s a trap–”

“Yes,” Eole replied softly, with no hesitation nor regret. “Grant me my wish.”

The crystal shrieked and shattered.

A mighty gust of miasma threw Simon and Casval across the room until their backs hit the ice—a blow that would have likely caused Simon to lose consciousness without his Class’ stat gains. Waves of frost filled the dome, and darkness most foul coalesced around Eole, entering her through her mouth, ears, nose, and eyes. Simon caught a glimpse of a fish-shaped shadow flowing into his ally until she drank it all.

Eole’s slave marking burned on her pristine chest and then vanished, only to be swiftly replaced with a constellation-shaped array of sapphires. Her skin turned pale blue, and her hair into a darker shade of it. Her wings’ feathers shapeshifted into scales and then twisted until they resembled two redfish tails. Her clothes morphed into a black version of the Songstress class outfit, and when she opened her eyes again, her pupils had turned to ice.

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Eole had invited a fiend into her soul, and it had predictably taken over.

Casval immediately let out a roar, wings and tail growing out of his back. The possessed Eole waved a hand at him before he could complete his transformation. Potent magic erupted from her fingers in a flow of white mist that quickly encased Casval in a cocoon of ice. He was soon frozen in time, figuratively and literally.

Eole looked at her hand as if surprised by her own strength, then began to touch her cheeks. Her fingers traveled down her neckline, then fondled her own breasts and stomach. Her eyes closed while she inhaled, her mouth exhaling pure white mist.

The sight disturbed Simon to his core. Those movements were those of a wayward spirit rediscovering how to wear flesh and skin.

“Eole…” Simon said as he rose to his feet, his hand reaching for his morning star. “Eole, you need to fight it.”

“Fight what, Simon?” The voice belonged to Eole, yet her words sounded deeper, older than those of the young songstress. “I’m still here.”

Simon seriously doubted that. “Eole, that thing is controlling you–”

“No one controls me!” Eole snapped back, her face twisted in anger. “I am free again! I am me, and I am her! My mind blurs at the edge, enlightened by the wisdom of ages and the power of the Abyss! Now I can finally free Telluria from its oppressors!”