Chapter 740 The Monster Inside

It was cold when Lee Seng's eyes opened. He was lying in a fetal position, staring straight up through the canopies of the forest. It was nighttime and a dying campfire popped. Lee Seng slowly sat up, noticing something move around him. A tendril snaked back into his body, reassuming his normal form, again. He lifted his hands up, moving them and noticing a sticky substance on him.

'What's going on?' Lee Seng thought. There was no audible answer.

[A Fragment of the Broodmother has been slain. The truth unravels…]

'That's right… She died.' Lee Seng recalled. The text hung in front of him, looming like it was an omen. 'None of that was a dream… It was all real.' His arms landed on his lap as the forest slept. There were nocturnal creatures lurking about, creating a small amount of noise in the distance while Lee Seng rummaged through everything that had happened. A couple bodies moved in the distance. They were lying near the smoldering campfire. It must've been his friends.

Lee Seng slowly pushed himself up onto his feet and quietly sneaked over to the fire for a closer look. He could see Ritsuka and Lily sleeping peacefully while a third bed was empty.

'Who else is here?' Lee Seng turned and headed deeper into the forest. He stopped to relieve himself and moved a bit longer until he popped out of the thick forest. There was a lake! 'I can wash all this stuff off me.' He peeled his sticky shirt off and made his way towards the body of water.

There were no signs of life anywhere. Even the nocturnal creatures steered far away for fear of being the first to be caught. Lee Seng pulled his clothes off and set them near the water. He would have to wash them but wanted to wash himself first.

Lee Seng went far enough out to be mostly covered by the water. He plunged himself into the water and held himself underneath the calm lake. Bubbles fluttered around him, and he took a moment to clear his mind before going back up. He scrubbed his face and his hair before he scrubbed his body. The sticky substance was hard to get off, but Lee Seng eventually scrubbed himself clean and made his way out of the water to grab his sticky clothes.

With some elbow grease and much scrubbing, Lee Seng managed to push all the water off him and his clothes and slip them back on. He made his way back into the forest, wandering without much of a direction. He had forgotten to pay attention to his surroundings and now he was stuck wandering the forest.

'I think it was this way…' Lee Seng thought. The tendrils moved around him again. He stopped and looked down. 'Why are they doing that? I didn't tell them to do that.' He spun, trying to look behind him and caught nothing. There were no tendrils on him, yet he felt like they were moving. He spun back around and noticed something different – floating Dark Matter. The Dark Matter formed words and Lee Seng watched as the letters quickly became full sentences.

[The Truth Unravels to those who wish it so. The Truth Unravels to those who don't wish it so. The Truth shall always be the truth…]

Lee Seng swiped at the liquid, feeling the cold Dark Matter run through his fingers. The liquid moved together, spelling out more sentences.

[The Broodmother knows her Spawn is alive… It's only a matter of time before he knows… Ready yourself, Spawn, for the truth shall be unraveled!]

A stabbing pain burned through Lee Seng's chest. He clutched his chest as his legs gave out. He collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air as the Dark Matter liquid fell into the ground. The liquid raised up from the forest floor and continued with its sentences.

[Little one, little one… O, Little one… If you're seeing this, you broke my only defense against your father… I fear that means there's little time. If you wish to understand what you saw, you must find me! Find me before it's too late! Before your father… Before the Creator opens Pandora's box.]

Lee Seng's body jerked backwards, flipping him onto his back. He screamed in pain as his blood began to boil. His eyes grew blurry from all the tears as his body moved in unnatural ways. Bones popped, blood spilled and everything grew darker.

'W-what's happening to – Ahhh – me?!?' Lee Seng thought.

​ No answer.

Lee Seng's screams echoed through the forest, as his body rose in the air. His broken limbs moved on their own while something in his head unlocked.

"it's happening, Father." Rox'su's voice called out. The darkness gave way and golden light hands appeared around Lee Seng. "What do we do? It might take over him. Is it really right to leave Fate up to him?"

"Father! We can't sit by and—" Vox'su's voice twitched at the end as Lee Seng continued to cry out. Silver light hands appeared, filling the space the golden light couldn't. The forest burned brightly like day had come while the moon stood high and proud for all to see.

"Father, if we want this to succeed we must—"

"No interfering!" God King shouted. "Do not interfere with his Fate! You will cause unspeakable things to happen!"

"Please!" Lee Seng cried. "I'll do anything! Please!"

Dark Matter flew around him, forming more sentences.

[The Spawn will do her bidding. Stop father.]

Lee Seng's skin grew dark gray as his ruby and sapphire eyes started to fade.

"Please…" Lee Seng quietly begged. "Our promise… Stop… my… father… I…" The light faded and the golden and silver light vanished. Lee Seng's body hit the floor as tendrils began to shoot out of Lee Seng's body creating a humanoid shape. A toothy grin formed as laughter came out of its mouth.

"We're truly free!" The tendril creature chuckled. "We're truly—"

"I don't care if we're breaking Realm rules! He's our only chance! You chose him for a good reason!" Rox'su's golden hand shot out and grabbed Lee Seng's lifeless body. The light filled his body, lifting and spinning him into the air.

"Tz jam er ol fa crea ti ho la!" Vox'su released a blast of silver energy at the tendrils. The tendrils shrieked as Vox'su pulled the creature towards him. "We're really going against his wishes, brother?"

"What choice do we have? His fate will always lead to death." Rox'su answered.

"So we're interfering with their wishes?" Vox'su turned and clumped the tendrils into a tiny ball. The silver haired twin looked at his brother. Rox'su nodded and Vox'su let out a sigh. The two youngest gods looked up. The sky cracked with lightning.

"We don't have much time!" Rox'su shouted. He pulled Lee Seng's body towards him and his brother, only to watch lightning strike. Rox'su and Vox'su shrieked as they pushed Lee Seng away. A tree ignited into a golden flame as another lightning bolt cracked down on Lee Seng.

"What do we do, brother? Father is going to kill him at this point!" Vox'su shouted. Rox'su's hands began to move and Vox'su's eyes widened. "No! You can't! Father said we mustn't do that to anyone! Especially one from Earth!" Rox'su's hands weaved as Lee Seng's body pulled back towards them. The space around them grew bright as Vox'su attempted to stop his brother. Rox'su's eyes looked at Vox'su and it was enough to scare Vox'su.

"Vox'su, we are the light! We are the Guides of Fate! These humans, these humanoid beings that were created follow Fate, but yet have the chance to change their Fates! Why can't we, the Guides, change their Fates?" Rox'su asked. Vox'su gulped as he pulled away from his brother. "Trust me, Vox'su. Trust me with all of your heart! I will not abandon you for the World, ever, again. The Realms will collapse if we let that human do whatever he wants! He's on the verge of doing something dark and we have to stop him!"

"But—" Vox'su stopped. The tendrils pulsed, shooting out of the silver ball. Vox'su gasped as the tendril wrapped itself around his body.

"Vox'su!" Rox'su began to turn when Vox'su shook his head.

"No, you'll break the incantation and really disappear!" Vox'su shouted. He groaned as the tendrils grew around him. Laughter echoed all around them as lightning bolts fired down at them. Vox'su lifted his free hand into the air and shouted with all his might. "TOGETHER!"

"Father, you'll have to forgive us for this…" Rox'su prayed, quietly. He hovered his palms parallel together close to his chest. Rox'su and Vox'su's forms ignited into pure beams of light. The night time lit up into a bright day. "I, Rox'su, expel any evil Fate that shall come to my Blessed champion, Lee Seng Chang of Earth! I, Rox'su, imbue my own magical energy into this vessel to expel any evil from destroying the Realms! I call upon you, Lee Seng Chang of Earth to uphold your duty as my first Holy Realm Protector! Gi des Su prai!"