Chapter 144 144: The Nest War IX
They rushed into the cavern, which at this point was brightly lit as opposed to the first time that Cole was here. The lake was a churning mess of darklings of all shapes and sizes and the island at the middle had a massive spheroid Crystal that was the same pockmarked version of black and glowing dark blue that made up the energy like bodies of the darklings. Unlike the last time that he was here Cole had not been able to get a good look at it, but right now he was seeing a massive rock that on closer look was shaped like a skull with holes for eyes and a mouth.
"MY LOVE! OH HOW YOU WOUND ME SO! WE COULD Have been gods."
Booming words seemed to come from the rock that then slowly eased into a smaller time of voice as the female darkling rose up out of the churning lake and began walking towards Cole as if she was not at all worried about the fact that the aspirants were currently going round the lake, taking up positions in order to make sure that they had properly encircled what was most definitely the boss and head hive mind or queen oft his bloody nest. Cole moved forwards the nodded his head at the darkling woman then towards the massive glowing rock the size of a building in the distance.
"So that is what you really look like." He said as she paused, turned around to look at the rock, then turned back at him.
"Yes, that's what I really look like. The Darkling Nest Seed is the true amalgamation of my soul, my heart of you will, my brain, my true body. Everything else that you see is an extension of myself and the thousands or maybe hundreds of thousands of souls that have taken up residence within the network of energy within me. We are one for I am them as they are me, but yes….. that is what I look like… are you disappointed? Do you think I am ugly?" she asked as she stepped closer to Cole and took a deep sniff of his body, Cole chuckled.
"I don't think I am in a position to judge whether you are ugly or not, you are something that's for sure. But you and I are two very different sets of people and I am an alien invading this universe from another. My standard of beauty could be very different from yours. So while to me you might seem like an ugly chunk of rock with homicidal and psychotic tendencies, I'd say there's an equally ugly Pangean motherfucker out there that would think the world of you and say that you are beautiful…. Unfortunately you probably won't see it." Cole said to her with a small smile.
"Hahahahaha! Yeah you're right I probably wouldn't. I know when I'm beat, And perhaps things would not have devolved into this stage if perhaps I hadn't gotten too greedy, or perhaps if I had been quick enough in corrupting the guardian of the first ring then perhaps I would have been able to have all of the power I need to defeat you, but dragons are notoriously hard creatures to bring down, much less convert like I was trying to do. If I had him then you and your glade would have been toast. Ha! I guess this karma then, I went against the rules and tried to subsume what was supposed to be the guardian of the first ring and your glade, and as a spit to the face the system sent you to me, hehehehe…"
"What do you mean by Th"
[MAIN QUEST ALERT[HIDDEN REQUIREMENTS MET]: As you have proven yourself capable of hunting down those who are renegades of the system, beings who would not conform to the right way of doing things and would want to upset the balance of life by aiming for power they can not hope to control, ensuing destruction for them and their corner of the Grand Universe! Your effectiveness has once again landed you the task of excising a corrupted Darkling Nest Seed, that aims to use it's corruptive abilities to take over the soul of a dragon and gain access into the system./Condition: thoroughly destroy the seed and ensure that no remnants of it remain. REWARDS: +2 Levels, +2 Gold Ranked Prisms, +1 Denevrious Orb! 10 Million Gold Coins]
"Well fuck, it seems I have become the systems glorified bounty hunter, it even made sure I ended up right where it wanted me to. Fuck!" these words were said in a whisper, but both Cassandra and the darkling woman were close enough to hear it. Once again Cole was faced with a dilemma, weird things were happening to him ever since he started this event, and while he was grateful and even more thirsty for the power that he had gained, the fact that he was being driven and pushed in such a way that he had no control over left him worried. He was someone who was really big about being in control of his own life….. the fact that he was perhaps unable to be in full control of his own existence made things less good, but in the end Cole didn't think he had a choice or that he could back away.
At this point with all of the power that he has gained, all of the knowledge and money and influence at just 3 floors, when there were still 22 more to go. Cole could not say no, so perhaps he was slowly being turned into a glorified hunting dog, and why it was that he was chosen for such a role left him baffled. But there was no going back, not to power, not at this stage, not with everything at stake. In the end the truth of reality remained the same, we could all say that we had control over ourselves and the direction our lives were taking. But when you sat down and thought about it, you'd realize that you had no control, absolutely nothing at all. The people who had power, the politicians, religious leaders, bosses at your place of work, heck even your own family and society as a whole! It was they who had control and now the system has just been placed at the very top of that list.
"I see that look in your face, it's the same one I got when I realized how utterly smaller and ridiculous I was in the grand scheme of things. The same one I got when I decided that I wanted to matter! I did not want to live my life based on some script, I wanted to be strong, stronger than everyone and everything. Who gave the system right over me! Who says it could govern the rules and laws of reality! Well if it had that power then I wanted it, and I would have had it! If it wasn't for you meddling kids! And your stupid demon!" Cole blanched his face going in-between many different looks as the other aspirants who were able to still hear the darkling woman talking tried to decide if they should laugh or wince.
But kids? Cole took a long hard look at everyone around and noticed that perhaps there wasn't a single person amongst them that had clocked thirty, or maybe there was thirty year old and they just looked younger. Thunderbolt-Jack looked middle-aged but Cole was rapidly beginning to think that it could perhaps be because of his half orc race. Everyone here was younger than he thought which would explain why she had called them kids and their demon being him. But he was not the only demon race here was he? Cole looked again and realized there was decidedly very few members of the demon race or of any demon race, in fact he was the only one. Did this mean something? Perhaps but ultimately it was not something he could understand at the moment.
"you look like you understand, so perhaps this time I can give you an offer that is born out of necessity than selfish desire. I might not be what you want, but I can assure you I've never wanted to possess a person as much as I wanted to do so with you. But you have eyes that can see past all lies if you just learn to use them. I see it, eyes that see lies and bad deeds, you have eyes that can tell you the sins of everyone and everything and now you see the sins of a system that wants everything in a controlled and orderly fashion, even it's conflicts. There is absolutely no chance to live or really grow so join me, let us fight the system! I've consumed many of your aspirants and though many of them now return to the battlefield without even a single hint of memory of the time they spent here, I know your history, the history of your world.
Your people have spent centuries fighting the system, and then it became more than just a single race or skin color fighting it became just about everyone coming together regardless of race to go against that which is wrong. You can see it, you have heard it, you should understand it better than anyone as you too fought the system that raised you in order to be with the one you love. Join me!"
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