Chapter 648: Confusion and horror

[Realm: Álfheimr]

[Location: Dominion of Oz]

[Winkie Country]

Mikoto stared at the enormous crater left behind by the bolt of lightning Electra had called down. The ground had been torn open at the point of impact, leaving behind a wide depression surrounded by broken earth and scattered clumps of soil. The grass had been completely flattened in the immediate area, and several sections of the ground had been scorched by the discharge. A disturbance still lingered in the air, though the worst of the shockwave had already passed.

He regarded the destruction for a few moments, his red eyes moving across the broken ground before eventually returning to Electra.

It was certainly a powerful attack, considering how quickly she had brought it down. However, the damage itself was not especially impressive to him. He had witnessed far more destructive displays of power, and he doubted that a Progenitor would reveal everything she was capable of with a single lightning strike. There was almost certainly more to her Manus Dei than simply producing a storm and directing its lightning towards an opponent.

Still, the attack had given him something to consider.

(“That seemed faster than ordinary lightning. But if her whole schtick is just weather control, then I’m fine.”) Mikoto thought idly.

He did not like the idea of fighting someone who could manipulate the weather around them, but it was hardly an unfamiliar problem. As long as Electra’s abilities were limited to controlling atmospheric phenomena, he could probably find a way to deal with them without having to resort to anything troublesome.

He was still considering that when Electra spoke.

“So, hubris clouds you.”

Her voice came from across the disturbed plain, carrying a note of contempt. Mikoto shifted his gaze towards her, his expression remaining relatively blank.

“Hm?”

“You’re refraining from using your divine power.” Electra regarded him with narrowed eyes. “You have the means to fight me properly, yet you choose to hold back. Is it pride? You believe that your strength alone is enough to deal with me, even without drawing upon the power granted to you?”

She scoffed.

“Hubris is a sin, is it not? Or does your divine nature allow you to indulge in the very things you would condemn in others? You deliberately withhold your power. What could that be but arrogance?”

Mikoto looked at her for a moment.

(“Hm. Must be referring to power that uses divine mana or energy. The leylines probably can’t take that passively.”)

He considered her observation, though not for the reasons she seemed to believe. Electra had noticed that he was not making use of a particular kind of power, and she had apparently interpreted his restraint as an expression of pride. It was an understandable assumption, considering what she knew about Angels, but she was still quite far from the truth.

The power she was referring to was only accessible through Arcane Ascendance. It was not something he could casually draw upon without considering the consequences, particularly with the leylines behaving as they were. The problem was not that he was unwilling to use it, nor was it that he believed himself too powerful to need it. He simply had no intention of creating another problem for himself by allowing an already unstable situation to become worse.

Of course, Electra did not need to know any of that.

“Like I need it to beat some animal.” Mikoto’s rosy lips twisted into a smug smile. He tilted his head slightly, his expression carrying an irritating degree of confidence. “Come on, don’t flatter yourself. You’re not exactly making me feel as though I need to bring out something special. Maybe if you actually manage to cause me some trouble, or even break a nail, I’ll consider giving you a fancy little light show. Until then, I think I can manage.”

His words were dismissive.

Naturally, hubris had very little to do with his restraint.

He simply had no desire to explain the complications surrounding the leylines to someone who had already decided that he was her enemy. There was no reason to give Electra information she could potentially use against him, and certainly no reason to satisfy her curiosity.

Electra’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

“You—”

Her expression tightened, and the hostility that had been simmering beneath her composed demeanor began to surface again. She looked as though she were about to say something considerably less restrained than her earlier remarks. The muscles around her jaw shifted, and her gaze sharpened as she fixed it on Mikoto.

But she never finished.

A voice suddenly entered their minds.

It was not Electra’s.

It was not Mikoto’s, either.

The words seemed to emerge from somewhere beyond the space between them, arriving without warning and pressing directly against their thoughts. The sound was distorted and strangely intimate, as though something had leaned close enough to whisper into their consciousness. Its presence was unmistakable, yet its source remained impossible to identify.

Y̴̨͇͔̯͕̯͕͗̂̑̀̀̏͛͑̋̅͒͝ơ̷̳̞̝͖̺̫̓͒̅͒͛͆̐̌̃̄̊̊̌͝ͅư̶̤̰͈͎̦̖̊́̑̀̐̍̓̊̌̍̉́̒̔͛͜’̶̧̟̭͈͍̥́͋͌̎̈͗͘͘r̸̢̝̗̲̥̘̃̋̏͑͛̓̓̕͠͝ͅe̸̡̛̛͓̳̻͓̬̳̜̫͖̘͉̹̭̮̰̺̋̏̎̈͌̃̈́̓̊̀́̚̕̕ ̷̛̤̞̺̥͐̂̈́̊͋̋̋̍̐͗̀̕̕͝͝ḇ̶̛̳̻͙̼̯͉̤͕̻͓͗̐͒̈́̉ͅô̸̧̭̯̱͉̗̻̬͍̗͕̤̮̖̰̓̓̓ͅṙ̴̡̧͖͔̘̮͉͉̼͍̹͇̰͙̫͆̐͌̈́̾͜ḯ̵̡̙͍̗̜̟̤̺̫̗͚̘̮̩̦̠͒̋̎̊̒́̄ṇ̷͕̓́̋̑̀͐̀̍̿͌͒̇̾̀͗̂̀͛͂͝g̵̨͇̭͎̜̯̩̫̣̙̯͕̭͇̖̳̭̘̞̋̈́̀̽̈͜,̸̛͎̟̝̖͍͈̪̻̯̘̼̞͉͈̠͛̎͋̂̌̓ͅͅͅ ̸̧͕̥̦̩̭̹̖͌̉͒̍̐̈̈͂͐̑͒̃̉̀̒̉̕͠s̸͉̬͍͖̈́̄͑̆͆̿̎͗̐́̓͘ẅ̵͇̣͇̩͉̼͇͇̹́̓̏͛i̴͖̓̀͆̄̈̔̋̓̂̒͐̉́͐t̴̨̘̦̥̝̊͂̉̉̂͆̈́̌͂͑́̄́̍̂͌͗̓̊c̴̨̧̫͉̝̞͇͚͍̻͇̒̽̆̉̌̋̑̍̏̿̓́͊̇͝ḧ̶̙̬͉̬̅̅̂͆̃ ̵̟̟̘͈̘̠͉̲͂̍̚̚͝͝͝b̶̧̧̢̠̩̹͇͍̹̺̝̓͑ǎ̶̡̢̢̱̫̻̰͖̗̣͖̜̟̘͎͓̞̜̏̓̈́̅͛͂̈́̈̈́̀̏͂͋̈͘͘͜͝ͅç̴̢̢̛̹̯̫̥̖̳͈͕̗͖̑̀̑̎̃̃̓̾͊̊̉̇̚͝͝͠ͅǩ̶̹̆̂̋̑͒͠ ̵̲͔͕̲̦̜̜͈̪̪̌̀̈̒̈́̂̈́͋̎̐̎̿̏̈̚͘͝f̷̡̨̢̛̥̥̼̠͙̹̬̤͍̘̞̟̞̱͎̅̑̅̉̍́͗͋͌͆̿̕͝͝͠ͅͅȏ̴̩̎ŕ̷̞̮͉͙̰̰͎̻̭͙͚̖͖̼͎̪̺͍̅́̃̂̅̓̿̽̈́̊͗̑͑̆̑̕͘ ̴̧̛̯͚̭̟̿̃̾̀͑͊́͛̈́́̇̈̐͛͘̕m̸̱̙͇̞͕͈̦͉̘͖͍̬͖͛̃̓͗̓́̓͑̿̽̋̈͒̃̆̅̀͜ŷ̶̛̘̰͈̺̘͕̈́͑̂̀̌̒̋̂͗̾̅̐̕̕͘͜͝͝͝ ̸̹̪͔̠͎̥̺͔̹̌̈́̅̂̈͆̂͋̅͂̑͊̒͑͐͌̔̚̕d̷̡͍̳̟͎̟̗̅̄̈́́͒̂̀͐̑̌̒́̾͝͝è̷̱̀͘ă̴̢̤͎̐͗͑̿͑͌̉͗̔̄̂̈́̄̽̒͝r̷̼̻̩͔̩̂̌̂̍̈́̃̂͠

Whatever Electra had been about to say was immediately cut off.

Mikoto’s expression changed.

He recognized the voice.

Or, more accurately, he recognized the sensation of it. He had heard it before, when he had first looked beyond the ordinary layers of Electra’s existence and encountered something that should not have been visible to him. It was the same incomprehensible presence, the same strange voice that seemed to bypass his ears entirely and settle directly inside his mind.

There was no mistaking it.

The voice had returned.

And Electra had heard it too.

Mikoto’s red eyes narrowed as he watched the Progenitor. The change in her was immediate, though not particularly dramatic at first. Her posture loosened, and the tension that had been gathering in her shoulders seemed to disappear. She slumped slightly, as though something had suddenly taken the strength out of her body. Her eyelids lowered for a moment before she blinked, and the light in her eyes seemed to dim.

It was a strange reaction.

Mikoto watched her carefully, making no immediate attempt to approach. The voice had interrupted her in the middle of a sentence, and now her entire demeanor appeared to have shifted. He could not tell whether the thing that had spoken was responsible for the change or whether its arrival had simply caused something within her to surface.

Either way, it was worth paying attention to.

“Shit, a fight? What a pain.”

The words came from Electra, but the tone was completely different.

She sounded irritated rather than hostile, almost as though she had just become aware of an unpleasant obligation that she had no desire to fulfil. Her expression had lost much of its earlier severity, and she scratched the side of her head with a scaled hand, looking at Mikoto with an altogether different kind of interest.

“And an Angel, huh?” she continued, looking him over. “My aunt used to think all you guys were small, with little wings and harps. You know, the sort of thing you’d see in a painting. But you don’t really look like that. You’re more like some moody girl.”

Mikoto stared at her.

The shift was so abrupt that he needed a moment to process it. Only a few seconds earlier, she had been speaking to him with open contempt, seemingly ready to tear him apart for the simple fact that he was an Angel. Now she was scratching her head and commenting on his appearance as though they had just met under entirely different circumstances.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Mikoto asked flatly.

He did not bother disguising his confusion. The change from hostility to whatever this was had been far too sudden to ignore. It was not merely a change in attitude, either. Her mannerisms, the way she spoke, and even the expression she wore seemed different. It was as though someone had taken the person he had been fighting and replaced her with another entirely.

(“An alternate personality, maybe? Or something simpler.”)

Mikoto studied her, keeping his guard up despite the sudden change. He had no intention of assuming that the creature standing before him was harmless simply because she seemed less interested in killing him.

“You’ll have to forgive me for being so angry earlier.” Electra continued, seemingly unconcerned by his suspicion. “Her emotions tend to flare up from time to time. It happens more often than I’d like, honestly. One moment I’m perfectly fine, and the next I’m dealing with all that anger and resentment. It can be rather exhausting.”

She spoke as though the matter were an ordinary inconvenience, something she had grown accustomed to dealing with over a very long period of time.

Mikoto continued watching her.

A mental illness could have been another explanation, but he doubted that ancient monsters were necessarily subjected to such things in the same way ordinary people were. Besides, the way she had described the change suggested something more complicated than a simple shift in mood.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

“A merged entity? Is that your deal?”

It was a guess, but a reasonable one given what he had witnessed. The presence he had sensed within Electra had already struck him as unusual, and the voice that had interrupted them was clearly connected to something beyond the Progenitor’s ordinary personality. If two separate beings had somehow been brought together, it would explain at least part of the strange behavior.

“Something like that.” Electra shrugged.

She placed one scaled hand against her hip, apparently finding the subject considerably less uncomfortable than her previous self might have.

“Merging into one entity is supposed to bear something new, isn’t it? Two different existences brought together, becoming something that neither of them was before. That’s how it’s meant to work, at least.” She glanced down at herself briefly before looking back towards Mikoto. “But it didn’t quite turn out that way with us. My personality became the dominant one, while hers still manages to pierce through from time to time. Her thoughts, her feelings, her memories… they’re all there, even when I don’t want them to be.”

Mikoto listened without interrupting.

There was something unusual about the way she explained it. She did not seem to regard the other personality as a separate intruder, nor did she speak as though she had any intention of removing her.

Two beings, merged into one.

Yet neither had entirely disappeared.

“Her being the one who seems to hate Angels?” Mikoto asked, his expression remaining unimpressed. “You don’t exactly seem to share her raging hate boner. Unless you’re just better at hiding it.”

“No, I doubt it.” Electra replied, giving a small shrug. “I don’t think I feel quite the same way she does, at least not to that extent. But that hardly changes the current situation, does it? We’re still the same person, and whatever she feels doesn’t simply disappear because I’m the one speaking.”

She glanced towards him, her expression becoming slightly more thoughtful.

“Especially since that thing seems so fond of you. Maybe you’d like to take it off my hands.”

The remark was delivered casually, as though she were suggesting that he take an unwanted possession off her hands. Yet there was something distinctly strange about the way she said it. Mikoto could understand most of what she had explained, but that particular statement raised more questions than it answered.

(“That thing. The voice?”)

The presence he had encountered when looking deeper into her existence?

And what exactly did she mean by it being fond of him?

Mikoto stared at her for a moment, then scoffed.

“You’re not much smarter than the other one, huh?”

He had no idea what she was talking about, and he was not interested in accepting some mysterious entity simply because she apparently found it troublesome.

Electra did not appear especially offended.

“We’re the same person, so I feel her hatred and grief.” She raised a scaled arm slightly, her fingers turning upwards as though she were trying to demonstrate something that was difficult to put into words. “It’s not as though I can simply separate myself from those feelings whenever she isn’t the one in control. They’re still mine, in a way. I can feel them even when I don’t agree with them, and sometimes they’re so strong that it’s difficult to think about anything else.”

Her hand remained raised for a moment before she let it fall slightly.

“It’s really not pleasant, you know.”