[Leon]: "What do you want to know? I saw Prince use many abilities throughout the time we were together. The ones he's given you are probably the weakest of them all... I'm surprised he even chose to give you any at all. Prince is a very greedy, selfish person... he must have been in a real bind..."
Artemis let out a chortle. Of course, Lark is a person like this... that's quite funny.
This was a fantastic opportunity. He had been wondering about so many things that only Lark would have been able to answer. Now, he had stumbled upon a way to communicate with the one person that would have been accompanying him for so long.
The only gamble was whether or not what she knew was true or not, or even if she had an answer at all.
[Artemis]: "Can you tell me about the runes I see whenever I use [Eyes of Discernment]? What are they exactly?"
There were definitely more pressing matters he could have asked about. He could have asked about the Shadow and its Creator, or the origin of the Daemon, Lark, who had given him the boon in the first place. He could have asked about why he was here, or even about Leon herself, why she had been subjugated by Lark.
But he desperately wanted to know about [Eyes of Discernment]. This was for a key reason. There were just far too many mysteries surrounding it, about its uses, and of course, the people he had used it on.
Why was he able to discern Leon, a figure only a step away from becoming a true Deity, and yet Cia remained completely unknown? Of course, there was a large possibility that there was nothing wrong with his ability, but with Cia herself, but this was merely a way to determine if that was really the case. If there was some sort of application of [Eyes of Discernment] he was missing, or if Cia was a true oddity that couldn't be adequately described by the power of a Daemon.
He heard a sigh ring out through the Cognitive Tether. His head perked up, his train of thoughts dissipating as he payed greater attention to the crimson serpent.
[Leon]: "The runes aren't specific to you, I think. They're pulled from a larger subset of runes that are used as an operative basis for many of the abilities that others tend to use... Aspects, Cultivating Methodology, Alchemical Runes, even Spirit Contracts... have you yet wondered why your natural Essence and the Essence from Prince's Lineage are very similar in their makeup? I think they, everything, derive themselves from this set of runes, and you've simply been given the ability to witness them."
Artemis eyed her out of the corner of his eye, raising an eyebrow.
[Artemis]: "You're unsure?"
[Leon]: "It's not a matter of certainty, I wasn't privy to secrets of this magnitude. This is the very makeup of magic and mysticism, I believe... but my Master told me of something similar to this once, I've only cultivated my own theories since then."
[Artemis]: "What did he tell you?"
[Leon]: "You're missing far too much context for a simple answer to make sense. I thought you would ask a very basic question. Don't you have little time?"
"Sh-t, you're right." He said aloud, forgetting to use the Cognitive Tether.
Another minute had passed without him realising.
This wasn't the way he would usually operate. He had often made it a point to be punctual. Only recently, when he had become obsessed with his desire to defeat his brother in a duel had he started forgetting more and more of what was truly important in the moment.
He scanned the area where he had been trapped by the shadowy figure. It was barren of anything but ash.
[Artemis]: "How am I supposed to get out of here?"
His eyes suddenly widened.
[Artemis]: "Ah, I completely forgot the whole point of summoning you!"
[Leon]: "It wasn't to say hello?"
His expression paled, glancing away nervously.
[Artemis]: "I was... hoping you would be able to use your serpentine sense of smell to locate Cia..."
Many moments of silence filled the air before she responded. His heart felt like it would melt.
[Leon]: "You... assumed I would be able to help you... because I am a serpent?"
[Artemis]: "Yes..."
Another sigh echoed through his head.
[Leon]: "If it were before we formed the Cognitive Tether, I wouldn't have been able to assist you. Yes, I have the improved senses of a serpent. But how would I have communicated with you? Did you even think this part through? I had grown quite used to how Prince would plan out every aspect of his existence... everything always seemed to work out in the end. But you are like... his polar opposite."
[Artemis]: "You're quite rude."
[Leon]: "I only tell truths, Bastard Prince."
[Artemis]: "Isn't calling me a bastard a perfect example of a lie? My father isn't really my father, I am a dog of the Crown."
[Leon]: "A Cognitive Tether isn't just about connecting our thoughts. We share everything. Memories, feelings, emotions, they can all be intentionally cast through the threads connecting us. I can see every minute aspect of your life, your memories. They're fairly innate to the makeup of your Mind Core, which I thoroughly examined when creating the Cognitive Tether..."
[Artemis]: "So you should definitely know that it's a lie!"
[Leon]: "No."
He let out an audible 'tsk'.
[Artemis]: "So what are you saying here? I doubt you reminded me of the brutal task at hand just to continue to insult me. How do I get to Cia?"
[Leon]: "This is partially to say that there's a way out of here through this. You have forgotten that your senses have also improved. You just aren't learned in their use... but I am. I can direct you to where you need to go. But breaking through this wall... climbing it, passing through it, this is all up to you."
[Artemis]: "What, I should break through this wall?"
[Leon]: "What's stopping you from trying? You have Prince's traits..."
He lowered his gaze, rubbing his chin as he tried to collect his thoughts. It was indeed true that he had inherited Lark's Daemonic traits. And if it was true that this mysterious Prince of Serpents was capable of defeating and capturing Leon, who was nearly a Deity, then hadn't he become quite strong himself?
What was the harm in attempting it?
He glanced up at the shadowy figure standing high above them. It peered down violently over the landscape.
"Pattern Eighteen!"
Its booming, incredulously incorporeal voice echoed through the Cradle. In the distance, the rumbling shift of the labyrinth continued on. However, it didn't seem to have much of an impact on Artemis's surroundings.
Is he no longer focusing on me? Does he think it futile, wishing to simply trap me here?
Why is this figure messing with us? Why won't he just kill us outright? Wouldn't it be a matter of simply crushing us with these walls?
Or is it the case that he's playing with us one by one...?
Is he now messing with Cia!?
Damn it!
He flourished his blade, holding it above his head in a horizontal fashion as he thrust it forward. It cut cleanly into the wall of ash, causing fragments of it to chip off and disintegrate back into the pearline dust.
He took a step back, preparing to strike it again, but was horrified as the wall began to twitch.
In the crack he had created in the wall, ash instantly spilled over its surface, coalescing until it was immediately healed. Sweat ran down his brow. He grimaced. He couldn't let himself get discouraged, but he knew that this was going to be an annoying endeavour... a timewasting endeavour. Now that he had collected his thoughts, focusing specifically on Cia, he felt the gravity of the situation hit him all at once. It was as if a haze had been cleared.
There was no time! Four minutes had already passed! How many times could her body have been ripped apart in that span!? That poor, frail girl...
He struck again at the wall. This time, it bounced clean off of the surface, as if it were made of unpiercable steel.
Sensing Artemis's sudden desperation, Leon let out a third exasperated sigh.
[Leon]: "Focus on that single thrust. If you had a second hand, you could pivot its position and thrust once more in quick succession before the wall healed itself. But you'll never be able to get through in time, you need to get through in a single blow. And... strike three meters to the left. If you had cut through that portion of the wall, you would have entered a completely different chamber from that girl..."
Sh-t!
He dashed to his left, standing before the wall as he closed his eyes.
How exactly could he burst through the thick wall in a single strike? He had already been using the
His eyebrows suddenly flew up.
[Artemis]: "Leon, does [Cyclic Gluttony] grant me the use of an opponent's ability if you eat it yourself, or only if I take your form and do so?"
A faint chuckle arose from within him, reverberating off of the black strands.
[Leon]: "That's... something I hadn't even considered. Good thinking, Bastard Prince. Let me check..."
Artemis immediately activated [Eyes of Discernment].
He watched as a little mote of light gradually coalesced in the Daemon's Core. It produced a string of bright-red runes.
[Leon]: "It seems... that it was the case. You were right."
The mote blossomed in the depths of the reddish-black core, a faint dot of white pulsating from within.
[Light-Bound Shadow]
Light-Bound Shadow will allow one to hide within a shadow. Hiding in the shadows will allow you enhanced forward momentum when jumping out into the light.
[Artemis]: "Good enough."
This was one of the abilities of the shadow assassin. But how had he used it at the time? He had disappeared into thin air, but that hadn't really been the case. He had sunken into shadow...
He glanced down. There wasn't a whole lot of light underneath the sky of fog, which meant that nearly everything had been cloaked in darkness.
Taking a deep breath, Artemis consoled his raging heart and willed the ability to activate. In a split second, he sunk downwards into the shadow. It felt like falling into water, but rather than continue sinking, he felt his feet almost immediately hit a hard surface-- the ground.
While he could percieve his body still, he had acquired a new feeling-- the feeling of just how flat and thin he had become against the surface of the ground. And while he could not see very easily from this perspective, [Eyes of Discernment] allowed him to keep his clarity.
In the shadows, Artemis raised his blade and dashed forward. He felt his entire body surge out of the cold liquid shadow, hurtling towards the ashen wall at an incredible speed.
And with a single thrust of his sword, he collapsed through the wall. It pierced deftly into the stone, each layer of the wall cracking as he continued cleanly through.
His eyes burnt with an inconsolable fury.
Finally through...!
Artemis didn't waste a single moment. He could feel the black strands vibrating, accessing his mind Core. He instinctively inhaled deeply, a mixture of intermingling scents flooding his senses.
[Artemis]: "Leon, her location!"
[Leon]: "She's straight ahead..."
"Perfect!"
He quickly dashed forward, slashing through several lanky shadows blocking his way. Blood coated his blade, death became cries in the air.
Past the broken wall, there was a large expanse surrounded by towering barricades. It stretched endlessly in the distance, showcasing the brilliant scale of the figure's labyrinth. This expanse featured thousands of terrifying shadows, all trudging brutally towards the center of the rolling hills.
In the center of the pearl hillside, a single silhouette stood silently, watching the horde of monsters that tried to crawl over a mountain of corpses, a sea of blood slowly intermingling with ash.
It held a small silver dagger in its right hand, which looked like it had been used beyond any decent sort of repair. Its edge was chipped and blunt, ceaselessly dripping ruby liquid onto the ground below.
The figure's eyes were a different sort of dark. It wasn't malice or hatred, violence or agony that had seeped into its eyes.
Artemis couldn't quite discern this emotion he witnessed... ironically.
As he approached the figure, his fingers grasping tightly around his blade, ready to fight, it turned towards him. A head of black-and-red hair flew outwards with its motion as it met the gentle breeze, and Artemis witnessed the first tears he had seen since he had parted ways with his brother, August.
His face paled.
"Cia...?"