Chapter 947: A choice between Meek and Mighty(2)
=Well…the absolute worst case scenario would be the return of the [Six Dragons of Permanence]. Remember the last time that happened?=
=Yup.=
=But the more realistic worst case scenario would be…another “Grub” situation I guess.=
______Now back to the other guy…_________
“No volunteers? Really?,” Buzza asked as he saw that nobody in his group of chosen appeared to have the moxie to step forward and partake in his little gifts.
Did they not want the chance to change their lives forever, or did they just think it was incredibly fucking creepy to take an offer being provided by a 6 to 7 ft tall demonic wasp man?
It was either or, really.
But then…
“Okay then, if none of you wish to volunteer, then I guess I’ll have to-”
“I’ll do it.”
“Oh?”
“What?”
“Huh? What’s going on?”
“As befitting for a slave…”
The first to volunteer from the group was not the prince with a chip on his shoulder, nor the old man who’s ambition died with age, nor the two disciples of the Fallen who had yet to prove themselves.
Instead, the first to volunteer for this madness was the slave girl known as Sophita.
…
‘Is…is this truly my chance?,’ Sophita asked herself.
The slave girl stepped towards Buzza with as much determination as her soft frame could muster.
‘Is this how I become free?’
Ever since she had been enslaved, Sophita had been subjected to all manner of injustices and abuses just from the simple fact that she was considered a touch prettier than most other slaves. A sentiment that had gotten worse once her ownership had been swapped from the nobility of Umbral Spider to the fallen clans of Roaring Tide.
It wasn’t so bad, she had told herself over and over and over again, because those who used her had a tendency to leave things like better tasting rations or small trinkets. That said though, there were days where the pain was too much, the people were too rough and her emotions were on the verge of simply breaking.
‘Is this my chance to see him again?’
On those days, those wretched days, Sophita would simply…remember.
She would remember a time when the sun would shine on her face and she’d get burned.
She would remember a time when food wasn’t as plentiful, but was at least good.
She remembered a time when the beds were softer and significantly more still.
Above all that though, she would remember…a face.
The face of a young man who always she called her beloved, the face of a man who was always so close yet so very far away.
…
“What a brave girl you are,” Buzza said with obvious buzzing pleasure. “I have just the [|=¥✓] for you.”
…
Now this man, wasn’t just anybody, but a prince.
A proper prince from the Kingdom of Owlpillar, one of the Seventy-two great kingdoms of Umbral Spider.
But alas, her love for him was never meant to be.
After all, aside from the obvious issue of her being a peasant while he was royalty there was…just one other thing.
…
“Yes…this one will work just nicely.”
From the depths of the darkened chest, Buzza retrieved a pink glowing object that looked like a crystal but pulsated like a heart.
“Now hold still. This next part is going to get…uncomfortable.”
…
The king of Owlpillar was a man of integrity, honor and devotion. He married his queen out of love, and not just for diplomatic reasons.
However, everybody has that moment of weakness in their life. That moment of weakness that can dire consequences for everyone else around them.
It was in one of these moments of weakness that the king of Owlpillar found himself in a red light district and in the arms of a woman who was most definitively not his wife.
That woman would go on to have a daughter, a bastard of the magnanimous king of Owlpillar himself.
Funnily enough, this was the exact same time that the queen had given birth to the crown prince.
For years, these two unknowing siblings live and grew up in different circumstances, unaware that the other even existed.
Until one day, the girl became a castle maid.
Until one day, the prince made an advance on her.
Until one day, they learned the truth.
Now the prince was, understandably, disgusted with what had happened between himself and her, since they shared blood.
The maid, however…couldn’t help but to think it was destiny.
A love that was predestined since their conception, what was stronger than literal blood bonds after all?
But alas, things were not meant to be.
At some point, their relationship was exposed to the royal family, but not the wider world, the courts or the siblings themselves.
It was then that tragedy occurred.
In the dead of night, when Sophita and the prince were separate from one another, the former was spirited away, but not killed.
Whether this was due to an outsider looking to blackmail the royal family, the doing of the prince being sentimental or another member of the royal family showing their own form of mercy, it didn’t matter to Sophita in the slightest.
All she knew for certain was that she was being taken away from the man she loved.
What followed of course was tragedy at its finest.
Enslaved, bought, sold, bought, stolen and used and abused in manners that most people would consider a violation of human rights.
It had gotten to the point that, prior to being given this chance, she was all to ready to end herself.
But now, with the choice between remaining this meek and mild slave maiden, Sophita now had a chance to become mighty.
Mighty enough to take back everything.
…
After warning Sophita about what was going to happen, the girl proceeded to take a deep breath before closing her eyes for a moment to steel her mind.
“Alright, I’m -”
Splat!
“AH!”
“Shhh, careful now, this so delicate procedure.”
Unfortunately, her mental preparations weren’t enough.
In the blink of an eye, and with the pulsating crystal in hand, Buzza coated his arm with a strange feeling energy moments before jamming it deep into Sophita’s chest.
However, no blood nor viscera were released as the moment of the plunge.
Instead, a strange black correct manifested over her chest, allowing Buzza to maneuver inside her for a bit before extracting his arm.
The crystal was no longer in his hands.
Instead, it was thoroughly embedded in Sophita’s heart.
“Ha…ha…”
Sophita did her best to steady her breathing as she felt the new organ(Core) beat alongside her original heart. She had initially assumed that her heart was going to be replaced with that weird pulsing crystal(Core of Maniacal Love).
Having both beat in her chest was much worse(SO MUCH BETTER)!
“Now keep your mind focused on your [Desire], or that [Core] will break from the rampant [Chaos].”
“[Core]? [Desire]? What’s…[Chaos]?!”
“Oh…”[Looks like we got a prodigy].
“What are you-”
Thump! Thump!
“AAAAAAHHHHH!”
Before Sophita could ask, her chest started beating in staccato as energy surged throughout her body.
As it did, she could feel her skin starting to harden and become more…polished.
…
“AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!”
“…”
“What the fuck?”
“W-what is this energy?”
“Huh? Why is my hair standing on end?”
The others could only watch in disbelief as this slave girl started releasing an energy that set off every instinct inside them to flee like rabbits from a rabid dog.
However, they couldn’t move a muscle.
Whether it was fear or curiosity didn’t matter, what mattered was that they couldn’t help but to stare as Sophita underwent a most unsettling transformation.
Sophita was pretty, for a slave girl.
She had soft skin,a round face, black short hair, blue eyes and a pleasing figure. The only rough point were the knees, but that could be attributed to simply the wear and tear of manual labor.
But all of that was gone now, or rather…they were being replaced.
Her soft skin began to turn crystal clear, because it was turning into her crystal.
Her soft face had become much more angular like a freshly cut diamond.
Her hair, black and short, began to solidify and condense into looking more and more like a helmet of blackened, polished stone.
As for her eyes, the soft blues gave away to a harsher hue as they became literal sapphires.
Surprisingly though, the transformation did not tear apart her clothes. Instead, they became infused with the same energy and began to transform into impossible crystalline pieces of armor that accentuated and protected her now gem-like body.
Throughout the whole process, “Sophita” was screaming, but now…
“AAAAAAHHHHH”-[HAHAHAHAHAH!]
She was laughing like a lunatic.
