Chapter 82: The Mold Attacks

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Hm?

Where am I?

I suddenly wake up in… my dreams?

This place… it is familiar…

I haven't gotten in here for some time now…

A sudden chill takes hold of my entire being, as I sense that my heart is beating faster.

This feeling of dread… of desperation…

This eternal darkness where I am…

This place is… nowhere else than that place…

The Abyssal Cage were… the Mold once caged me inside.

I glance around and I only find eternal and twisting darkness.

I begin to tremble as I feel like I am bout to become completely paralyzed.

No matter how much I try, I can't help it… I begin to tremble again and again.

I feel weak…

"Miranda…"

A sudden voice speaks to me… I know who you are…

This voice is… my own, but different.

I slowly move to my back, as I see a mass of black ooze bubbling around, moving like a slug towards me.

"Miiiiii… raaaaannn… daaaaaa….!"

The cracking, ear-piercing voice of the creature in front of me makes me instinctively fear for my entire being, I fall over my butt as I begin to grit my teeth, the pain I am feeling is so well known, and traumas of my past quickly take over my mind…

No…

I thought you were dead!

Why? Why are you coming back?

I can't let… these traumas take over me anymore!

But… Ungh…! I am scarred…

I am so… scared…!

It keeps moving… crawling to me and gibbering, pulsating grotesquely… it groans as if it had a million voices.

"Miiiiii… raaaaannn… daaaaaa….!"

Why…?! Why are you back?

Let me go! Go away!

"You can't… escape from meeeeee…!" it groans, as its entire body expands like black tentacles, rushing towards me!

No…! NO!

The tentacles quickly entangle my defenseless body, crushing me with the strength of a monster.

It hurts so much…

Make it stop…

Please, MAKE IT STOP!

"Hehe… Hehehehe… Miraaaaanndddaaaaa…!"

"You can't…"

"Escape…"

"From me!"

STOP! AAAAAGGHH!

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[Day 64]

The last three days we have been sparring with Benladann like there's no tomorrow, while also enhancing our physical strength through exercises of all kinds and also our Mana and Magic through Group Cultivation with the Wolf Pack, some of the oldest wolves had actually Ranked Up, and became strong Middle Stage wolves, while Frost is closer to Peak Stage.

Yesterday we ended up staying with the wolves, as Benladann was resting over several of them, their warm fur and soft, scale-less bodies are way better than mine, that's for sure.

She's sleeping peacefully so- Eh?

Wait, she's not.

"Stop… Sto… Stop…! I don't… I don't want to… AGH…! AAAAAAAGGH!"

Suddenly, Benladann begins to scream as if they were torturing her!

What is going on?!

I rush towards her as I try to wake her up, the other wolves notice her screams as they become alert.

"WOOF! WOOF!"

Frost suddenly begins to bark! What is going on?

It seems that he's sensing something with a strong bloodthirst from within Benladann… Because I can clearly sense it too!

And then, as I try to wake her up by throwing her water over her face, which seems to not be working, her status suddenly changes into [Possessed]!

Even worst, her Name acquires the [Miranda] name in brackets! What?!

Don't tell me… this is the "bad girl" she talks about?!

But if it is just the mold… why is it coming back out of a sudden?

Wasn't she immune?

I check her stats as the Parasite Immunity Ability is still there!

This is some kind of mental or soul possession, not physical through mold!

So the Mold really has a consciousness.

Well, the only thing I can do is obvious.

Scream at her!

"BENLADANN! WAKE UP! FIGHT BACK!"

Of course, I can't scream with words, so what comes out are just very loud roars, while I use my mind overcharged with Mana to scream these words inside of her mind!

"Nnngguuhh…! NNNGGH…! AGH!"

Benladann struggles a bit more as she begins to grit her teeth.

"WAKE UP!" I scream once more, as I can suddenly see the waves of my Mana entering her body through my telepathic messages.

"Unngh…! D-Dra… Drake…! AAAGGHH…!"

No, no, no, no! Benladann!

I have to… right! The blood!

I quickly slash a wound into my limb with one of my claws and spray my red blood over Benladann's body, and a bit over her mouth, which she drinks desperately.

"Please, Benladann, wake up!" I scream, as my telepathic messages reach her mind like a wave of mana.

"Unngngghh…! AAAGRRRGGH…!"

Benladann, however, keeps fighting… and struggling! My blood is taking no effect at all!

Fuck! What do I do then?

Suddenly, I realize that every time I screamed through telepathy, waves of mana reached Benladann.

Maybe I should be able to do the same… but with my whole Mana?

She's probably fighting against her alter ego through some kind of mindscape, her very mind.

The black space she once told me she was caged in…

If she's fighting some kind of mental battle, I have to infuse… my very will into her body through my Mana and Telepathy, and help her out!

I charge my Mana into my body, all of it!

It emerges like an enormous aura of bluish colors, and then I activate the Telepathy Skill once more, but I concentrate all of this Mana and shot it into Benladann's chest, as the overflowing amount of energy is infused into her entire body, naturally reaching her head and mind!

And through it, I charge my very will through my consciousness, and it seems that it is somehow working, as Telepathy is pretty much a way for your consciousness to enter other people's minds and communicate words!

Can't I simply do this but overcharged until it works?

It was worth a try, and it is actually working!

"NNGGH…! AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGHH…! STOP…! AAAGH…!"

Benladann screams as I can't help but feel even more resolve to help her out.

I infuse my mind into the task, as suddenly, I feel a bit strange.

It is as if I was… separating myself from my own body?

I suddenly see myself as some kind of phantom, as I see my own body closing its eyes in front of Benladann!

This is it! I don't have any idea how this works, but it worked!

Could the mind and the soul be connected as one? Then, it means that the more I train my mind, the more I can move my soul…

So by overusing my ridiculous amounts of Mana with Telepathy and concentrating it into generating this "will", it suddenly popped out of my very soul as some kind of phantom form that I can use to have an out-of-body-experience!

I quickly use this form to dive into Benladann's mind!

SPLASH!

Sudden darkness greets my sight.

In fact, it is pure darkness! Abyssal and deep darkness, pure shadows of the void, this is… Benladann's Abyssal Cage, the one she told me that entity caged her for so long!

I expand my senses around, as I quickly notice the strong presence on my back!

There it is!

An enormous and ever-growing mass of black mold twisting around, capturing Benladann within it!

"Hahahaha! Miranda! You can't escape from meeeeeeeee!"

"Unnghh…! Stop! Stooop! I am… not your propertyyy!"

"Halt!" I roar, as I fly towards the two with an immense speed that not even I realized I had!

FLASH!

"Eh?!"

Suddenly, the mold glares at me with its dozens of crimson eyes, it's shocked!

"Youuuu…!"

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