Ch. 143: First Blood
The landlady’s eyes darkened, her pupils vanishing into an abyss of black, and ink-like veins pulsed beneath her skin, snaking outwards like crawling tendrils. She raised her head, flashing a twisted grin. “She paid a lot for the services.”
For a moment, words failed me. My gaze lingered on the inky webs stretching across her face. This was black amber— a poison as old as time itself, known to corrupt minds and bodies alike. But this was different. It was infecting her, yes, yet somehow not killing her.
Could it be, they had somehow found a way to weaponize the poison? Did this mean it had other possibilities?
My senses tingled as I sensed a spike in the energy in the area getting tainted by a darkness.
Around us, the apartment doors creaked open, one by one. Tenants shuffled out into the dim hallway, staggering like marionettes on fraying strings. Their faces bore the same blackened veins and empty eyes, stripped of whatever they once was, and now become an army of soulless shells.
“This… is bad,” I muttered, steeling myself.
“You’re infected with black amber?” I asked, casting a sharp glance at her as she gnashed her teeth, drooling like a rabid beast. “But it’s not killing you?”
She let out a throaty, humorless laugh, her gaze smoldering with hatred. “That’s right. They gave us this power, told us it would change us. We can’t move under sunlight though, and it’s all that brat’s fault! The one who used to live here. The whore.”
The venom in her voice made it clear: Talos had left an impact, and they wanted vengeance for it. I straightened, fixing my gaze on the mass of tenants, male and female, many of them not fully living and seemingly not also dead. Their species varied— there were faint traces of centaur, harpy, even the telltale features of ancient bloodlines. This wasn’t just a group of corrupted beings; this was something far darker.
I nodded slowly. “So, the gift turned into a curse, and now you want revenge?”
The landlady snapped her fingers. With a guttural snarl, the tenants lunged forward, swinging wild, jagged claws at me. Each movement was a blend of rage and desperation, fueled by whatever force was controlling them. Their reflexes sharpened unnaturally, faster and more chaotic.
“Then die quietly,” she spat.
I glanced to the side, dodging effortlessly as the first of them slashed out. In a single motion, I swung my arm, my hand like a blade glinting under the dim light. One by one, heads rolled, black blood splattering the walls in thick, dark streaks, staining everything it touched. It was over in seconds, but the mess was monumental. I paused, counting. Forty… forty of them, felled in the span of a heartbeat.
In the silence that followed, I turned back to the landlady, who trembled at the sight, but still glared defiantly.
She snarled again. “You… you monster.”
A hint of amusement flickered in my chest, but I masked it as I seized her by the hair and sent her flying through Talos’ door shattered it with a strong impact. Her body crashed against the floor, splintering the wood beneath her with a heavy thud. I leaned over her, my voice low and laced with menace as I smashed her head into the ground. “Language, insect,” I warned, tightening my grip as I scanned the room.
Chaos greeted me— papers scattered across the floor, appliances smashed, furniture overturned. It was as if someone had torn through every inch, desperate for something. Or perhaps were they passing on a message? A calling to war?
And then there was the faintest trace of energy in the air, lingering like smoke after a fire. Talos had been here, recently, but now… now, she was gone.
I pulled the landlady’s blood-smeared face up to meet my eyes, her expression flickering between anger and fear. “Where. Is. She?” I asked, each word dripping with intent.
The landlady let out a sputtering cough, blood staining her lips, but she managed a twisted smile. “I don’t know… the woman with the black and white hair, and her friend in red. They paid us well for this. Told us to give you a… warm welcome. To give whoever came here a fitting death. That was many years ago, since we were cursed not to walk in the sunlight. We waited here in silence, how happy we were when you came here. We could at least enact our revenge on you.”
A chill swept through me. Black and white hair— did that mean… Pandora? My hand trembled with suppressed fury, but I forced myself to remain calm. “Is that all?”
She turned away from me and said nothing.
My grip tightened on her hair as my eyes blazed with fury. “I suggest you start talking if you want to live to see another moment.”
Panic flared in her eyes, and her voice shook as she continued. “I- I swear, that’s all I know!”
If Poseidon’s circle had been involved, it meant they were moving quickly. But why would they go after Talos, unless… she had been compromised? My mind raced, piecing fragments together like pieces a jigsaw puzzle, each more troubling than the last.
Suddenly, a piercing sound filled the air.
BEEP! BEEP!
I froze, scanning the room until my eyes landed on a small device embedded within a tangled mess of wires— a bomb. Its countdown flashed, numbers ticking down with unforgiving speed.
Thirty seconds.
My gaze snapped back to the landlady. “They left this for me, didn’t they?” I demanded.
She grinned, her cackle low and chilling. “Just in case we couldn’t keep you here long enough….”
I bit back a curse, weighing my options. There was no time to search the room further, and the landlady was now foaming at the mouth, black ink streaming from her eyes as the corruption overtook her body fully. Whatever control she had left was fading.
With a growl of frustration, I let her go, stepping back as her body convulsed, twitching in grotesque angles as she lost the last shreds of her mind. I wouldn’t get any more answers from her.
“Talos, just what have you gotten yourself into this time?” I muttered under my breath, sweeping my gaze over the destruction one last time.
There were no more clues, no more hints, only the destruction of her belongings— a deliberate attempt to erase any trace of her existence. The world around me dimmed as I felt an uncharacteristic pang of dread. If Poseidon’s allies had gotten to her first, there was no telling what they would do, or how much time she had left.
The countdown ticked closer to zero, a merciless reminder of the destruction to come. I spun on my heel and lunged out of the apartment, moving swiftly down the hall and through the debris-filled stairwell, narrowly dodging collapsed beams and shattered glass. The air was thick with the lingering scent of smoke and metal, and in the distance, I could hear the faint screams of onlookers as they caught sight of the building.
Five… four… three…
The structure exploded behind me in a roar of flames, the blast wave surging forward, rattling the ground beneath me. I kept my footing, stepping further into the sunlight as the building crumbled, the flames licking hungrily at the sky, a silent testament to the chaos that had unfolded within.
People rushed toward the scene, their faces pale with horror as they stared at the inferno. My mind spun with unanswered questions, with a creeping, gnawing feeling of urgency that sank into my bones.
But one thing was clear: war had begun, and I had no choice but to meet it head-on. They had drawn first blood.
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