Chapter 220 - (220) Control (Part 3)

The feeling of craving and hunger that filled the room briefly scattered, only to be replaced by something else. During that moment, their connections took hold. 

'Run!'

Zolis could clearly hear his voice. Sindri had fallen in front of him and seemed to be hesitating instead of heeding his advice.

Not that Zolis planned on running either. Geth's voice was clear this time, but even before that, she could hear the muffled sounds of him fighting through their Resonance. 

It was faint, and she could only hear it for a second at a time, but it was there.

'He's fighting against something, but what? Is it the Boss of this place?'

She didn't feel that was right. Whatever Geth was fighting, it seemed familiar.

The aura reminded her heavily of the times he would drop his mask, but there was one significant disparity. 

Geth would generally give off an air of indifference that caused most people to stay away from him. He would show genuine emotion only if she or the kids were involved, and it let her know that he wasn't hollow.

Recently, Sindri was added to the small list of people he felt something for. Seeing her broken and crying before him caused Zolis to feel the difference in his presence. 

Whatever he was emitting now was full of emptiness. Zolis could feel it even more due to the connection that they shared.

She felt terrible.

How could anyone feel this lonely and empty? It was like his body was nothing more than a shell.

'Is this what he's always been hiding?'

She let her introspections be and turned to the problem at hand. That empty feeling had once again been replaced with hunger, and he was reaching toward Sindri.

After many months of analyzing and learning to control her body, she found that she could utilize Strength for more than just causing damage.

Zolis planted both feet on the ground and focused all of her Strength into her legs. Her muscles flexed, and her toes dug into the ground as she propelled herself forward.

The earth shattered beneath her causing dust to fly into the air. The sudden burst of speed was more than even Filthy could contend with.

She arrived before Geth in an instant. Her fist met with his gut, causing his body to fold before launching backward and caving in a nearby wall.

Zolis picked up Sindri and quickly moved her away while Geth tried to push his way out of the small crater. 

She leaned Sindri up against the pillar in the middle of the room and glanced around. 

Jack was unconscious, Peter wasn't moving, Sindri's arms were broken, and Felix was still dealing with the backlash of running out of Mana.

Swole wouldn't be much help. Filthy's skillset was focused on killing. Rift and Blaze's spells would just damage everyone in the vicinity. 

'Well. I'll see what I can do.'

She wasn't sure what Geth needed, but she could tell that she could sense him more every time his body was injured. Could Geth take control if she could keep the creature from absorbing more Mana?

She didn't know, but she would find out.

His body had just broken free from the wall and was sprinting toward her. She met him head-on, her hammer slamming heavily onto his fist.

To her surprise, she was the one who lost the exchange. Her arms felt numb, and she was forced to take a step back.

Geth didn't waste time letting her regain her balance. He lashed out, just barely missing a direct strike to her temple.

Zolis jumped backward and swung her hammer again, catching his right shoulder and causing his arm to go limp. The two continued their back and forth for several seconds.

Each strike she managed to land caused her connection with him to stabilize. Each strike the creature landed would drain some of her life force and keep them from communicating. 

She was on the losing end. Her stamina was quickly running out while Geth's body continually became stronger.

When an opportunity arose, Swole joined in. He may not have been fast, but each hit he managed to land was devastating.

'Zolis. -- to ge- - off the ground. I won't be -- --- st-- it --ess its Mana abs--- --wer than mi--.' 

She managed to pick up a broken message from him, which she couldn't quite make out.

'Off the ground, huh?'

That part was clear enough. She allowed the creature to step in close.

Her hammer was ineffective for an attack at this range, but... 

Zolis took a direct hit to her chest and used the force to spin with her hammer. The creature tripped over the shaft, falling back first onto the end.

She used the weapon like a spatula, lifting the end and launching Geth's body into the air. 

*****

As its feet left the ground, the creature began to spaz out. Geth could feel a mixture of fear and anger coming from the once empty aura.

The creation of the purple energy slowed to a crawl, allowing Geth to gain the upper hand. He pushed his Mana forward like a spear and charged toward the black mental sphere.

He managed to cut into the long tunnel, vaporizing the purple energy as he went. Geth didn't have much time, his body was already halfway to the ground, and Zolis was too beat up to make it happen again.

He continued pushing into the tunnel, determined to crush this black sphere so that something like this wouldn't happen again. The tunnel was long, and Geth had only made it a little past halfway when his body hit the ground.

'Fuck!'

He realized that something was wrong. The creature wasn't even trying to absorb Mana anymore. It was angry.

A sense of foreboding filled him, and he rushed to cover the last stretch of tunnel before him.

The creature kicked off once more, launching itself toward Zolis. Geth stopped holding back and used every ounce of his Mana to push himself into the tunnel.

'Almost...'

He could see the door just in front of him. Broken chains wrapped around the black sphere, the door before him was slightly cracked open.

Geth knew that all he had to do was close the door, but purple energy was pouring out of it, trying to hold him back.

....

That's when he felt it.

His heart and mind suddenly felt like they were about to burst. There was a violent disturbance in his mental sphere.

His senses spread out, finding that Zolis' Mana Resonance was beginning to crumble.

'What..?'

He was suddenly able to see through his own eyes clearly, though he still wasn't in control.

A sick, sticky feeling drenched his hand. Blood dripped heavily onto his shoulder. 

Zolis' body hung limply from his arm.