Chapter 82: Shedding The Shell

I look towards the body of the zierel we just beat but nothing seems to be happening with it.

Why am I experiencing this feeling if nothing is happening with the body right now? None of this makes any sense to me. Maybe we need to remove the shell…

That will show us what’s underneath all of that flesh. I don’t know if we’ll even find what is causing the pressure but it is better than sitting around doing nothing.

I’d rather take my chances.

I rush over to the body and slam my sword down into its stomach. Flesh begins to tear as I start carving my way through, slowly opening it up.

“Liam what the hell are you doing!?” Zeno shouts with confusion in his voice.

“I think something else is underneath all this damn flesh!” I shout back while keeping my eyes on the opening.

All of this just to find out if aether is really telling me the truth or not. I just don’t want to be stabbed in the back by something that was hiding inside of a body.

“CARVE IT UP!!!”

“RIP OUT ITS INSIDES!!!!

”

An overwhelming amount of pain surges through my head, like a migraine that refuses to go away for days…

Stumble!

I fall back a few steps as I grab my head with my free hand. The pain is just getting worse as my vision starts to get blurry.

WRIGGLE. WRIGGLE.

THUD!!

I fall onto one knee as my arm starts to feel like it is being ripped to pieces… But looking over at it, I can see that nothing is happening with it.

The pain is only getting worse as I continue to hold myself up with my sword.

Celeste isn’t even saying anything to me so I can’t expect her to give me the answers right now. I’ll have to push through this hell somehow.

Even if it hurts… I need to find a way to get back up on my feet.

Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum.

Just breathe Liam, I can handle this. I’ve gone through a lot over the last few months, this is nothing compared to what I went through.

I need to ignore the pressure somehow… Just enough to push forward.

After a few seconds I manage to stand back up while using my sword to balance for a moment. My body feels like it will give out at any moment, yet I won’t let it happen.

My eyes lock back onto the body of the zierel, noticing something small reaching out from its stomach.

Almost like a hand is poking out from the flesh. With that I manage to head back over to the body, a new idea popping into my head at the same time.

Pulling this hand might bring out the hybrid, or there’s a strong chance that it gets me killed. Shedding The shell like this could be the worst possible idea.

I look down at my left arm and then back towards the hand coming out from the stomach.

I’m already suffering with the way this pain is flowing throughout my whole damn body, what will this change?

“Just be careful…” Celeste finally manages to speak, a bit obvious that she’s struggling to talk.

I have confidence that Zeno will cover me if anything tries to attack me from this disgusting abomination of a Zierel. At least that is what I can hope for.

“The pressure might be coming from the hand…” Celeste responds with pain in her voice.

Then you’ve given me even more of a reason to pull out whatever it is.

Grab!!

As my left hand interacts with the mysterious hand, I feel as if everything around me is completely disappearing. But that’s when I start to see flashes of different people.

Pets, kids, mothers, fathers, life, death. Everything flashes through my eyes before the feeling of the hand returns.

Yank!!

Pull!!!

“Come on!!!” I shout while pulling the hand more and more.

Slowly I can feel something starting to come out from the stomach… Then more flashes of life flow through my eyes.

“What will happen to us?” A girl asks with fear in her voice.

“Light will destroy us dear,” An older woman answers.

Standing before me is a younger girl with short white hair, slightly parting to the left side of her face while the rest hangs down normally.

Her blue eyes are hard to miss as she stares at me intently, almost like she is looking into my soul itself. She’s also wearing an all white dress and holding a small teddy bear in her right hand.

“You aren’t a light bearer,” She says with a small grin on her face.

Yank!!

I’m letting these visions distract me from pulling out the body that’s hidden within the flesh of the zierel. It is the one thing I need to focus on more than anything right now.

“Yet you are here trying to do something,” She continues to speak.

I do my best to ignore her while trying to pull out the body. It feels as if the body is being pulled back in by someone or something else.

All while she is right in my face with an even bigger smile then before.

“Infected as well. Maybe you should be shedding that shell of yours as well,” The girl speaks while moving her hand towards my hair.

“I’m not going to shed any shell. I’ll never become a monster,” I respond with a serious tone.

“Hehehe. I do admire your strength,” She says after laughing.

Finally I start to feel the resistance disappearing as the arm starts to show itself more and more. The body is beginning to come out from the stomach… About time.

“Liam!!!!” Zeno shouts, completely taking my focus away from the body.

I slightly turn my head to see why he’s shouting to me this time.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The sound of liquid hitting the ground breaks any other silence that was once here, but what is it? So I turn back to see a claw is in my stomach now.

“Can’t I just have a break?” I say softly.

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