Chapter 454: A Group of Monsters

Chapter 454: Chapter 454: A Group of Monsters

Chapter 454 – A Group of Monsters

The clouds of worms suddenly froze in the air, held by some kind of divine force that made Cassius frown.

The next thing he saw was all the worms, green, slimy and with fragmented bodies, swarming and mixing together, slowly taking the shape of a human.

Of a woman.

Black skin polished like the finest material that had never known light, and long hair twisted into locs with a tinge of green.

She fell flat on the ground, and her impact coincided — or was it really a coincidence? — with the sky suddenly brightening, the darkness sweeping away like dust before a gust of wind.

Huff... Huff... Huff...

Meadow breathed heavily, her chest heaving erratically. Her mind and senses returned to her slowly, limping back, making her realize she was back in her own meadows.

Her back lay against the grassy ground, her body cold yet burning, or rather, crawling with something she knew but was afraid to name.

Yet she did.

Worms.

Her whole insides were rotten with worms, and she could feel them so clearly that her stomach churned in protest.

’Oh, Queen... what have I become?!’

Meadow could already hear, in the background, the worried voices of Cassius, Isolde and Sarah shouting something at her. But she was unable to pay them any mind at that precise moment.

Mainly because of the succession of system panels flickering in front of her.

DING!

[A resounding achievement! You are the first mortal ever to swallow a piece of a dead god. You are no longer mortal. But you are not divine either. You are something in between.]

[You are Halfmortal.]

[You have received the Unique Title: Halfmortal.]

[As you are the first of your kind, it falls to you to show us what you truly are, Meadow Wealth, Scion of Truth and Worms.]

[Your Aspect is on the verge of self-evolution.]

Meadow read these words attentively, realizing more and more how much she had changed in just one meeting.

She lifted her right hand and placed it awkwardly over her right eye, feeling the eyepatch tightly wrapped there.

Behind the eyepatch, her monster eye moved erratically, the eyeball twitching in every direction, and soon a voice boomed inside her mind, feminine and childish.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! Here Oeil is! Awake from the deepest slumber! Who is her esteemed host?" the talking eye said. "You? Tell your name to Oeil, dear host. Tell her who is you, as Oeil is a grateful monster who say thank you!"

’Your Host?’ Meadow groaned as she pushed herself up. ’I am not your Host, monster. I am your master.’

"Blasphemy!" Oeil shrieked. "Oeil has no master! No more!"

’We shall see about that. Now stay silent.’

"We shan’t! She is not—!"

’Silence!’ Meadow, already short-tempered after recent events, snapped at her own eye. The monster suddenly fell silent, forced by a power Meadow now held over it.

It was at that moment that the now Halfmortal lifted her head and took in the sight of her friends’ worried faces.

"Queen’s skirt," Cassius was the first to break the silence, looking at Meadow’s eyepatch. "Are you copying my old style now, Meadow?"

"I wish," she replied dryly.

"Let me guess," he continued. "You also got some kind of eye as a Characteristic?"

Meadow smiled humorlessly. "More than an eye, Cass. I’ve got a monster. A pretty loud one, too."

’Loud? Oeil is a monster of the highest order with blessed power!’

The young tycoon ignored the voice. Instead, she gathered her locs and began to tie them behind her back.

"A monster, you said?" Isolde muttered. "Dangerous?"

"Not to me. At least, for now."

There was a short silence then. One in which Sarah gently took Meadow’s left hand in her own, noticing the woman was trembling slightly.

They didn’t know yet what Meadow had gone through, but a talking monster as her eye?

It was certainly not something easy to accept.

"I think you have some things to tell us," Cassius said after a moment, holding out his right hand to her. "But first, are you alright?"

Meadow looked at his hand for a heartbeat. She reached out and grasped it, and Cassius pulled her up.

Then she answered, her voice low, her heart full of uncertainty and fear. "I have seen a Dead God, Cassius." She looked at them. "I even took a piece of her. I have become something, I have no idea what, something that is certainly not human, and that makes me feel... less than alright."

The other three sect members looked at each other before focusing on Meadow.

"If it’s about being something that isn’t human," Isolde whispered, "then I believe you are not alone in that alien feeling, Meadow."

The Soundless Slayer smirked then. "After all, standing in front of you is a Soulblade in flesh and bone."

Meadow’s and Sarah’s eyes widened, and Cassius smiled, knowing what Isolde was trying to do.

"Exactly," he said. "In the end, only Sarah and I are normal humans right now. Sigh, we must strive together, Sarah, to keep this sect from becoming something... monstrous!"

"What are you talking about?" Sarah muttered, looking at Cassius with raised eyebrows. "You were no longer entirely human before any of us became something else. Have you forgotten your left eye? Your dragon eye?"

"And mind you," Isolde added with a faint smile, "that’s barely the half of it. This husband of mine has the eyes of spirits, and the eyes of the most handsome man who ever existed. And his body was recreated by a Concept after total destruction."

Now all three women stared at Cassius, who just stood there, lips twitching. "Still, I am the most human. Look at Meadow with a literal monster eye! Monster, mind you! Queen’s blessing! That’s so sick, by the way."

Sarah shook her head, pointing at herself. "I am the only pure human here now. I feel... I don’t know how to feel about that. Praise the Queen..."

Cassius, Isolde and Meadow laughed, and Meadow suddenly felt better.

Realizing that almost none of her friends were as human as she had thought gave her the sense that she was not the only one, that she actually belonged there.

The apprehension was still there. The fear was still crawling inside her. And the alien feeling of having her own eye speak so arrogantly hadn’t disappeared.

But she was not alone.

That was the whole point, the very essence of all of this.

’I am not alone,’ Meadow thought again, and smiled. In a burst of emotion, she lunged and suddenly pulled all three of her friends into a big, wide hug, her speed and strength greater than they were used to.

"You guys are the best," Meadow whispered, her voice full of gratitude and love. "I am so grateful to know all of you. And I am certainly also happy I am not the only one who’s no entirely human, hahah."

"Honestly, you should be grateful. I am too great," Cassius said with a grin, gently hugging her back. "At this point, I deserve to be the Best Man at your Wedding."

"Cass, that’s not how things work," Isolde rebuked him. "Isn’t Omm the one who’s supposed to choose?"

"Meadow, just force him! I must be the one!"

"Talking about weddings makes me depressed. Let’s change the subject," Sarah suddenly muttered, and the others had to exercise some real self-control to keep from laughing.

They didn’t want to be rude.

But Sarah saw them holding back their laughter, and her right eye twitched. "I suffered a lot, you know. And I still do. It’s not fun."

"Do you see me laughing?" Cassius said with an innocent face.

"He definitely was. But I am not, Sarah. I have always been on your side," Isolde added.

"That’s your sister, by the way," Cassius said. "If you have to blame someone, just blame Isolde."

"As if I told her to love the Prince." Isolde rolled her eyes.

"If she even loves him," Sarah added bitterly, only to realize what she had just said.

The others were looking at her, Meadow staring at Sarah with the most earnest look possible, saying nothing.

"Great question," Cassius said with a smile. "Does she?"

Sarah shook her head and said, "I am done with love anyway. I shall wholeheartedly devote myself to the Queen. Praise the Queen!"

[This is why I love her so much.] Ananke whispered, in a voice only Cassius could hear.

The Last Born ignored her.

"And besides," Meadow sighed, suddenly sad, "who said I will marry Omm? I have so many... rivals."

"Just kill them," Isolde said instantly, making a gesture of slicing off a head.

"Yeah. Explode them," Sarah added, beginning to love exploding things. A true terrorist.

Cassius chose to remain silent, only listening. It was at times like these that he truly believed he needed another man in the Sect.

He felt so alone surrounded by women.

And because of that thought, he cut into these women’s discussion of romance, drama and gossip.

"Let’s talk about what you saw, Meadow," he said. "Then let’s talk about our potential recruits."

—End of Chapter 454—