Shadow Slave: Immortal Ice

Bulldog's eyes went wide in shock as his hands shot up, desperately trying to stop the blood pouring from his throat. He choked and gurgled something painfully before collapsing onto the floor.

Immediately, more Essence flooded into Eirwen, bringing him slightly over half full.

[You have slain an Awakened human]

[You have consumed a Soul]

[You have obtained some of the Soul's possessions]

[Devour the Flesh for more]

Snake roared, tapping into some strange ability that absorbed the force of his pull into the chains, stopping both Snake and Eirwen from moving any further. His wide, teal eyes froze for a moment as he felt something sharp stab into him from behind.

It was the short sword.

"Useless," Eirwen said, this time with his own, normal voice. He was getting better at controlling himself even with everything going on in his head. The fact that he was fighting also helped him push back the storm of voices and weird information.

Snake did something strange again. His chain flared with a blue light, and the spear shot back into his hand with incredible speed.

Eirwen stumbled forward from the force, while Dmitri the Bastard Sword, drove his short sword deeper into the massive demon before him, forcing him down onto the ground in the process.

Trying to turn around, Eirwen groaned in frustration, but with no leverage in mid-air, he had no choice but to crash face down to the ground with a deafening thud.

Dmitri's last remaining ally wasted no time. He charged forward, spear in hand, closing the distance with swift steps.

"Faster!" Dmitri roared, his strength still bearing down with monstrous pressure against Eirwen's back.

Somehow, despite his new form, Eirwen found himself unable to move. 'It's the sword!' The voices inside him exploded in furious impatience. Eirwen felt his brain stretch and rupture within his skull, the pain nearly overwhelming. Pain was also something that the new body created by Kraken's Grasp helped him with while also inflicting it onto him.

Leviathan's fury merged with his own, and Eirwen roared, his voice raw and drowned again.

Snake appeared in the blink of an eye, thrusting his spear into Eirwen's nape with lethal precision and force, driving it through his flesh and deep into the ground.

Eirwen's ears rang with shouts and cheers from every corner of the arena as his body exploded with pain. 'They're cheering for these two bastards, not for me!' he cursed inwardly, his body tirelessly regenerating, each moment draining more and more of his Essence.

He calculated every move, his glowing teal eyes wide and focused, locked onto the moment.

Twisting the spear, Snake drove it deeper into the ground, securing the demon firmly in place. Eirwen growled and groaned in agony, his hands pressing desperately against the cold stone floor.

The commentator meanwhile spat something about the fight coming to an end and Puppeteer.

'Coming to an end, my ass,' Eirwen groaned, summoning every last scrap of his strength. With a violent twist, his arms contorted at an unnatural angle, his shoulders snapped and cracked as he shot them back and seized Dmitri's wrists.

"Bind him!" Dmitri screamed, struggling with every ounce of effort to keep his grip on the sword. His face was pale, slick with sweat, likely from the fact that he was using his own Essence to feed the swords Enchantment that held Eirwen in place.

Snake moved swiftly, his chain shooting through the air, wrapping tightly around Eirwen's thick, grey hands.

But it was already too late.

Eirwen's teal eye flared, glowing like a star, and in an instant, Dmitri's wrists imploded. The flesh gave way, leaving nothing but two grotesque stubs, connecting his hands to his forearms like meaty straws.

Dmitri screamed in agony as he lost his grip. The sword remained in Eirwen's back, its blade still stuck deep, but without the flow of Essence feeding its Enchantment, it was now useless, unable to restrain him any longer.

Meanwhile, Snake clenched his jaw and strained all of his body to try and hold Eirwen on his own. In no success.

At this point it was too late for him to even try though, yet he still didn't give up. What did he have to lose?

The Awakened's face drained of color as he desperately tried to summon another Memory, but Eirwen didn't give him the chance to.

In a swift motion, he shifted his knees beneath his body and rose to his feet. His webbed and dark hands gripped the shaft as he effortlessly slid his neck up the full length of the spear, a sickening wet snap and gurgling echoing through the air.

Snake stood frozen, his body trembling with disbelief. He gulped hard, stepping back as if trying to distance himself from the demon in front of him.

Eirwen's neck oozed dark, watery blood, but within moments, the gaping wound began to heal, the flesh knitting together with unsettling speed.

Dmitri could do nothing but watch in sheer horror, his body frozen as the monstrous, scaly grey figure loomed over his friend. The demon, resembling something that had crawled from the very depths of the ocean, towered above Snake like an embodiment of horror.

Bastard Sword locked eyes with his friend, the desperation clear in Snake's gaze, just before Eirwen's monstrous hand shot through his chest. His fingers were glued together akin to a blade, piercing his heart and forcing him down onto his knees.

In Eirwen's mind, the spell drowned out every thought and voice as it announced his kill. Torrents of Essence flooded back into him.

[You have slain an Awakened human]

[You have consumed a Soul]

[You have obtained some of the Soul's possessions]

[Devour the Flesh for more]

"One left," he gurgled, his webbed hand and sharp nails slick with blood. He dramatically shot his hand sideways, forcing the blood to fly cleanly off him.

Eirwen turned on his heel and stepped forward. As he moved, his grey skin began to melt away, slowly revealing his original form. With each stride, his hair and eyes shifted back to their bright golden colour, while his skin lost its grey hue and scales, turning pale and human once more. His body grew shorter as well, back to its original height while his muscles also decreased in volume.

Eirwen was now clad in nothing but his beige trousers, his shoes got destroyed. For some reason, his hair also had grown longer once again, now cascading down over his shoulders like a waterfall and enhancing his already feminine look.

"Wait, wait!" Dmitri begged, his hands trembling, the meaty stumps that had once been his wrists struggling to move.

Eirwen didn't respond. He continued walking until he stood right in front of the Bastard Sword.

"Please let me li—!" Dmitri tried to scream, but a clean cut across his throat silenced him instantly. His eyes widened in shock as he tried to clutch onto his neck, but even that wasn't possible.

With a hateful curse, Eirwen raised his leg and kicked Dmitri square in the face, caving most of his face in before stomping onto it a couple more times for good measure.

[You have slain an Awakened human]

[You have consumed a Soul]

[You have obtained some of the Soul's possessions]

[Devour the Flesh for more]

His cores were full of Essence once more.

'Can't wait to see the new Memories,' Eirwen grinned devilishly behind the mask as he huffed.

His mind was no longer clouded by the roaring voices and infernal knowledge. A slight headache lingered, but his Flaw was already working on getting rid of it.

[The Deal has been completed!]

Eirwen looked down at his hands and noticed the sharp nails were still there. Focusing on his Soul, he willed them to disappear. And, as if answering his command, the dark metallic liquid retreated back into his skin, absorbed by his pale flesh.

Now that the adrenaline of battle had faded and the voices finally stopped bombarding his mind, Eirwen could hear the chaotic cheers and chants from the crowd above. They were shouting his alias, their voices blending together in an excited frenzy. The music only intensified, and the lights flickered with different shades of red and violet.

Eirwen tilted his head slightly, pretending not to care as he surveyed the sea of faces. But behind the mask, his true expression betrayed him, a wide grin that stretched across his pale face and showed his sharp canines. The rush of victory and admiration of the crowd filled him with ecstasy.

But that didn't last.

Thud

Suddenly something landed into the pit followed by five more bodies. The six of them send dust and rubble up.

The one standing at the forefront caught Eirwen's immediate attention -a short, attractive young man with light pink hair that shimmered like cotton candy under the arena lights. His expression was calm, almost serene, and a light smile adorned his lips. It wasn't a smile of arrogance or pity, but something far more unnerving. It was genuine amusement.

"I am Puppeteer, Wrath," he greeted with a calm and amused tone. Puppeteer -Merlin and Gale's peculiar friend- stood poised, wearing a flowing white kimono-style top paired with loose and casual white pants.

"And you," he continued, "are an unauthorized Saint. One we have no need for here." As he spoke, silky threads shimmered into existence, weaving themselves around his long, puppet like hands.

Eirwen raised his brow, "I'm not a Saint wait! I am Gal-!?"

Before he could finish though, the six figures already blurred forward at a speed that Eirwen could only describe as instantaneous.