Chapter 184 34.X Interlude: Melded

Deep within the bowels of the Withermoon Manor, [Taenia] writhed and undulated as it saw the world through the eyes of the young Somatic in front of it. Its tentacles permeated the woman from head to toe, its very being keeping in touch with this human princess's psyche and mental processes. Even now, it knew that the human's companions were making their way to it despite its best attempts to dissuade them, its powers of [Compulsion] not being enough to somehow overpower the other... anomaly...

Through the eyes of the princess, the Eldritch saw what it should not, numbers, letters, and patterns that it had no business seeing being made clear to it and its numerous processes. The human's memories told of fantastical tales, ones that one as old and learned as it knew had no basis on the realities of the world it lived in.

[COME THEN....]

Relaying its thoughts through its current host, the princess's mouth opened, shouting out its challenge in their own garbled language. [Taenia] knew that it would be inviting something that could very much wipe it from the world of the living, but it had to know. There was simply no way for it to see what the truth was, even with the experience and memories of Withermoon at its beck and call. Despite perusing the body of knowledge that its previous captors had, there was no explanation as to what it was seeing from the princess's eyes.

The creature rumbled against the walls of the Withermoon manor's basement, the bodies of those who once occupied the manor sticking out of its undulating flesh as they seemingly cried out for an answer. [Taenia]'s one eye flashed red and green, the Numbers going through its vision clouding its judgment.

This Guidance... The anomalous human that could somehow divine these patterns...

[A PATTERN... GUIDANCE... HELP...]

Flexing its powers over [Compulsion,] the Eldritch let the human princess's voice echo out into the only hallway connecting its main body to the rest of the manor. Seeing the group of humans nearing, it exerted more of its power, forcefully gripping the one it needed by the very head as the princess below it shed a tear...

Remorse... Regret... Anger... Hatred... They didn't matter in the slightest. What did the numbers mean?

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Shizu was in a haze. Even as she opened her mouth to let out a call for help, she knew that it was all within [Taenia]'s plans.

The creature had shown its very nature to her the moment it invaded her very heart and soul. Even now, she could feel the creature's tentacles permeating her mind, its slimy appendages violating her sanctity and mind as it wrought out as much knowledge as it could from her.

She couldn't help but grind her metaphorical teeth, the black and green world around her never going away no matter how much she tried to will it. The creature forcibly wanted her to look into the world, to see what the numbers meant despite her already pleading that it was too much. No... [Taenia] would have its answers no matter how much she tried to fight it.

'Why did I even follow its call...'

For the life of her, she didn't know what came over her mere hours ago. Hearing its call, the very numbers around the island seemed to fluctuate despite Guidance having no hand in changing the world around them. And somehow, this creature used it to its advantage to make her think like it wanted to help...

'So stupid...'

Seeing her friends make their way to her location, Shizu's hope never wavered. Even if the creature somehow managed to pull Guidance to its side, Moriya was still there to see things through. A single tear escaped her black and green eyes, her anger smoldering into a simmering boil of rage and hatred, both at herself and at the creature that bound her to serve as its meat puppet.

'No... There's got to be a way out of this...'

Even if she had no control over her body... Even if she was trapped inside a prison in her own mind, her [Code Watcher] still showed her the way. Even if [Taenia] saw what she had in mind, there was no avoiding it if it was inevitable.

'You want memories? I'll give you memories...'

Tapping into her will, Shizu thanked the Eld Goddess as she recalled her worst experiences with the very fabric of reality itself.

[STOP THIS...]

'I won't, you overgrown Vermes...'

Black and green... An overload of numbers and static flooded her senses as she shoved the memory of her getting the [Code Watcher] for the very first time onto the blasted being. It made her mind spin, but if she could at least make this thing suffer, then it was all the more-

[ENOUGH]

"AAARRAAGHHGH!!!!"

The sound of her own voice registered in Shizu's head as it felt [Taenia]'s tentacles manipulate her very mind. Her head felt like it was about to explode, the Eldritch's minute strands seemingly rearranging the insides of her head to its needs.

[WE WILL FIND OUR ANSWER TOGETHER]

Shizu fought her best, her heart hammering with defiant rage as she forced her personality onto the creature. Unfortunately, it would prove futile as the Eldritch being reasserted control, her body stilling back into its serene pose as it hovered suspended in front of the thing's main body through the very tentacles it was using to control her.

[YOU WILL OBEY]

"Yes..."

Her mouth spoke one thing, but her heart yelled out another. Despite her very thoughts being invaded, Shizu knew that it was only a matter of time before she escaped. Her [Code Watcher] might be showing this thing the secrets to the very fabric of reality, but she was the only one that had control.

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Floating in front of [Taenia]'s main body, Shizu's body blinked, her right eye shining its original golden hue even as her left one madly shifted and twitched all throughout the room. The golden orb shone with fervent rage, her lips twitching into a feral smirk as she finally saw her friends approach.

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