Chapter 71: An unexpected outcome

Looking at the black substance that substituted as blood, Aiden thought back to the illusion. The quest he received from the system said that he had to banish and cleanse the Nightmare, this unknown entity that corrupted their host's minds. 

Every time he banished one, and as their hosts overcame their clouded thoughts, feelings, or died in the case of the terrorists, a similar substance evaporated into the air. It was only for a fragment of a moment, but Aiden still managed to catch the sight several times. 

While not completely the same, the feeling he got from looking at the oozing thick black substance was the same.

'So, he is also affected by the Nightmare… Their influence on him is probably higher than in the previous cases. Hmm…' Aiden was thinking to himself.

The old man was looking at him with those black emotionless eyes of his tirelessly gazing in his direction. Slowly he lifted his right arm and held his palm in the air. A black whirlpool formed in front of it, and from it, a black energy-formed tentacle, similar to before shot out, flying towards Aiden, ready to impale him.

However, before it could reach halfway, a light green energy projectile crashed into it. As the sound faded away and the dust settled, both the tentacle and the arrow was gone for good. Lily's giggle could be heard from behind.

"Ehehehe, are you tired, do you want me to take over brother? We have merely scratched him!"

Scratching the back of his head, Aiden laughed as he replied.

"Haha, I was only catching my breath sis! Let's go in again!"

As he finished, he already vanished from his spot only to appear before the old man again with both of his fists swinging at the side of his head from left and right. A moment later another arrow enchanted with Nature's power was zipping through the air aimed at the middle of the Old Man's forehead. 

She aimed deliberately there hoping he can't possibly defend against all 3 attacks. And even if he did, she already had the next arrow set. 

Aiden's arms transformed midway, the golden scales grew out from his skin, his fingers became thicker and the terrifying thick black claws appeared at the tips. He knew that the old man could most likely defend against their normal hits, so by combining his now enhanced but temporary state and his [Dragon's Wrath] innate he might just gain enough to push through. 

The downside was that the energy consumption spiked to dangerous levels, rapidly draining his reserves. New notifications rang in his ear, but even without checking them, she could also hear Enya's voice berating him.

[What are you doing Aiden?! You can't sustain both forms!! Your reserves are tanked, the drain shot up, and the system's previous estimation of 10 minutes is now out of the window! You only have about a minute left before all of your reserves are drained empty!]

Instead of answering, Aiden grit his teeth, as he pulled even more strength into his arms. With his inhumane speed, the old man raised both of his arms to block both of Aiden's attacks, while not really caring about the arrow for some reason. His arms created several afterimages in the air at the speed he raised them.

Seeing this, Aiden's eye glowed brightly in its golden luster, and with a thundering voice, he bellowed.

"HOW DARE YOU SQUIRM AGAINST ME YOU LOWLY MAGGOT?! KNOW YOUR PLACE!"

As he said that, both his lizard-like draconic tail and his scaled wings appeared on his back. The air around him suddenly became thicker, and the remaining golden lightning bolts that still sparked all around his skin gathered into his arm. 

It all happened in the split of a second, and Aiden only felt a sudden surge of power. Not questioning it at the moment, he pulled everything into his arms as it crashed against the insurmountable wall that the Old Man's arms represented.

Unlike in the previous cases, this time, however, the claws managed to dig deep into the steel-like flesh of the old man, ripping skin, meat, and bones in the process as it completely destroyed the living obstacle.

Although the pain most likely has been inhumane, not a shred of emotion could be seen on the Old Man's face as both of his arms became a mess of lingering flesh in a second. 

Passing the defenses, while Aiden's fists lost some of its initial momentum, they still carried a tremendous amount of power. The cracking of bones could be heard from both sides as the fists crashed into the old man's head from both sides. At the same time, Lily's light green beam of the enchanted arrow also crashed into his forehead. 

Most likely passing a certain threshold, the Old Man opened his mouth and a blood-curling shout escaped from his throat. The power the shout carried was enough to create a push and force Aiden to take a step back and it also destroyed Lily's arrow.

Black thick blood-like substance dripping from both sides of his head and also from his forehead, the Old Man finally smiled genuinely. The damage he received would have been enough to even kill a minotaur, a half-bull half-humanoid freak of nature, but he still stood still as if he only received a simple slap on the face.

"Not bad kids, not bad. While I am forced to congratulate you as you have passed the last trial, I cannot help but want more! However, sadly this host is already spent… but…" He looked at Aiden, as his cruel smile appeared on his face once again. "I found a much better body to use in the future!" 

As the black substance continued to drip out of his body, instead of falling to the ground it started to swirl around the Old Man. Suddenly new tears started to appear on his flesh all over his body opening new wounds, new paths for the blood to escape the already spent body.

The blood changed, turning into a black thick cloud that continued to surround the old man. The black has faded from his eye, revealing the sclera and the already greyish pupils, revealing the sad fate he already suffered. 

The old man, the previous host of this Nightmarish fleshless monster had died. He could have been dead for a while, or he may have died due to the injury he just suffered, Aiden and Lily didn't know. What they did know that with this monster now free, there's no telling what might happen.

As the swirling tornado of the black cloud continued to increase in pace, soon turning into a miniature tornado that surrounded the now-deceased flesh of the Old Man, the body soon crumbled into pieces and disappeared as it was grounded in the air. 

Turning it into energy, so the last bits of the previous host could provide a small sort of refreshment, a fate worse than death. Nobody deserves such a fate, no matter what life he lived, and under what circumstances he became the host of this monster, and the guardian of this strange world…

Strange, unrecognizable voice echoed from the cloud as it spoke. Sadly, even with the help of the system, Aiden couldn't understand a word of it.

"FL IENB ZEG AL, FEO!" the cloud echoed the words of an ancient language as it shot towards Aiden.

However, after it flew in the air for a few meters, it crashed into an invisible layer of energy. Although it couldn't be understood his tone carried a hint of worry.

"JE, JE, JE NH SMJ'H FL RMWWLJNJV! JEH JE!" 

A familiar mature female voice came from above, echoing all over the landscape. It was as if this world's ruling goddess had graced them with her attention. 

"Oh yes, you are out of time. We have warned you before, and I did it again later, to not harm these two kids. Yet, you dare to defy, and go against our words?! Looks you grew arrogant during the millennia you stayed here as this world's guardian. Refreshment is in order!"

From the scarlet starless sky, a bolt of scarlet lightning struck down and hit the black cloud. Fading, non-decipherable gibberish could be heard echoing, but soon that faded away with the last speck of dust that just a moment ago was the terrifyingly powerful foe.

The familiar voice once again resounded this time carrying a gentleness in its tone.

"Kids, both me and Granny are very proud of you. You have passed all trials and thus completed your training. I know you both have many questions about everything that happened, but first, come back and rest up, you earned it!"

As Number 3's voice died down, the 2 familiar black gates formed in the air in front of Lily and Aiden separately, ready to take them home.

Looking at each other, they smiled and silently nodded at each other before stepping in the whirlpool of the void. With blood, sweat, and tears, they have finally completed all of the trials and can take their well-deserved rest as a reward.

Just as Lily was about to step in, she saw the light fade away from Aiden's eye as his eyelids suddenly closed. His wings and tail disappeared along with the changes on his arms, as he unconsciously fell through and vanished in the portal...