The Inner Odyssey-Chapter 180: Succumbed

The terrible poison-coated blade… the dagger that Eidolon had commissioned for practically an arm and a leg… had failed to reach its target.

He couldn't believe it!

The Keeper was supposed to be on the verge of death.

How was she still so strong?

Eidolon would have never accepted this mission if he knew she still had this much strength left in her. He shivered, a sense of primal fear overwhelming him.

It was so extreme, so severe… that the spectral wraith unconsciously relinquished control over his Magic Class, returning to his tangible form.

"You'll have to do better than that."

The Keeper smiled, flinging away his dagger with just a thought.

Somehow, that only made Eidolon even more afraid.

Abruptly, the old woman's aura flared, bearing down on him like a mountain. His bones groaned. Suddenly, Eidolon felt like he had been transported to an entirely separate space.

His pupils constricted.

'…Domain.'

An icy claw gripped his heart, paralysing him, his fear and dread rising with every breath that passed. Now that the Keeper had unleashed her Domain, any chance of him escaping plummeted.

Eidolon found himself in an endless darkness. The darkness was so profound, so inexplicably harrowing that his mind quaked, on the verge of crumbling just from receiving a glimpse of it.

The assassin screamed.

A slightly viscous liquid flowed from his eyes.

In the next moment, the darkness seemed to glow with a faint, crimson light.

Eidolon was unsure if it was his blood that had caused that or another phenomenon, but immediately after, archaic whispers flooded his mind.

The assassin dropped to his knees. Blood leaked from every orifice.

Eidolon gasped, struggling to breathe.

Suddenly, the wraith disgorged a frightening waterfall of blood.

The darkness around him disappeared.

However, Eidolon's vision was already too damaged, so he did not really notice - only his mana sense alerted him that he was back in the Keeper's Donjon. Another violent cough racked his body, followed by another river of blood.

What a fool he'd been. He should have never attempted to kill the Keeper of the End!

He had let his arrogance and pride blind him, making him believe that a mere Quasi-Master like himself was enough to dispatch one of the strongest beings in the entire world.

As Eidolon drowned in regret, he sensed rather than heard the Keeper sigh.

Less than a moment later, her voice rumbled imposingly within his mind.

"I'm shocked they sent someone so weak."

Eidolon clawed at the ground, desperately trying to stand up.

"Don't bother. At the rate you're losing blood, you only have another minute left to live, two at most."

The wraith gritted his teeth.

…Blood continued to leak from his eyes.

"I admit, you had a unique power. However, at the bare minimum, you should have formed your Law Seed before trying to get rid of me. Really, I have no idea what Magnus and Maeve were thinking. Do they believe I have become senile in my old, accelerated age?"

Eidolon flinched.

"Seems like you know something."

The Keeper smile's grew.

It was the same terrifying smile which chilled the wraith to the very bone.

Eidolon's entire body trembled.

He tried to speak, but only succeeded in spluttering instead.

"Relax, I already know."

He froze.

"Very well. Allow me to regale you of this before you die. Consider it a parting gift and an acknowledgment of your misguided foolishness, you poor, unfortunate soul."

Incensed, the assassin suddenly renewed his attempts to stand up. However, an abrupt dizzy spell wracked him, destroying his balance. Eidolon slumped to the ground, the pool of blood beneath him growing bigger with every precious, passing breath.

The former spectral wraith didn't even question how the Keeper knew his name. He wanted to escape. At the very least, he wished to die a quick death; the agony of slowly bleeding out and choking on your own blood was not for the faint of heart.

"Where should I start?"

The Keeper mused.

"I suppose I should explain how I know it's them. You see, Eidolon, it's not very well known, but my Magic Class is a prophetic one. It grants me the abilities of a seer in exchange for my sapping away at my lifespan."

"My prophetic visions aside, it was relatively simple to deduce. I invited the heads of the Four Clans to a meeting before the invasion, and only two of them showed up. Not only that, but they even had the audacity to mess with the Barrier right in front of my eyes, assuming I'd be too busy tending to one of them."

Eilodon shivered.

It was cold. Yet, that paled in comparison to the squall of ice-cold terror that arose in his heart.

"Yes. I knew, and I still let them destroy the Barrier."

The dying wraith trembled.

The Keeper… she was not in her right mind.

She couldn't be!

Eidolon was not a saint by any means, but even he had scruples when it came to taking or affecting innocent lives. Meanwhile, the old crone sitting a short distance away from him seemed to have none.

As if gaining a glimpse of his thoughts, the Keeper's tone turned cold.

"I did what I had to do. The natural Providence must flow."

A moment later, the tension bled from her voice.

"It… it has been tampered with too many times already. Though, I wouldn't expect someone weak like you to know."

Slowly, Eidolon's awareness began to turn faint.

"However, what I do expect, Eidolon, is that you should already be aware that the five of us have succumbed. We are all mad. It was the price we had to pay in order to transcend."

The last thing the wraith sensed was the Keeper's soft, strangely wistful whisper:

"Farewell, Eidolon. May you find what you seek in Death."

And that was how the most feared assassin from the back-alleys met his demise… and, at the same time, that was how the most powerful individual in the Sanctuary dealt with the latest threat.

Suddenly, a thin line of blood escaped from Morrigan's lips.