Chapter 223: Shadow of the Night
Maisie ran on the open fields. She was out of the woods. But she was not yet out of the danger.
The creature had caught up to her. Its appearance was now visible to the sun.
A tall hunchback creature with gray skin. It was skin and bones. Its ribcage was visible under its flesh. Its claw was long and it had long gray hair.
Its face was that of a hollow out skull. It had skin on its face, yes. But the skin was barely covered its skull. And its two eyes popped out of the sockets like they could fall off at any moment.
The creature moved quick. A gray blur in the dawn of day.
The sun had not yet fully risen, covering half of the fields and light while the other half in darkness.
The creature caught up with Maisie and slashed at her. The strike was so heavy and strong that it caused Maisie to roll on the ground for a great distance.
She returned to her human form. Her abdomen was bloody with her organs poured out from within. She's dying. And there was nothing she could do about it.
This thing. Whatever it was. It was too strong and too fast.
Saliva leaked out of the corner of its mouth and dripped onto Maisie as it towered over her body.
Maisie cried silently. Her face froze in fear. This was the end. The sacrifice of her people meant nothing. Now, no man could save them. And no man could save Maisie.
The creature slashed down upon her.
No man. But a demon would save her.
The shadow blocked the creature's claw, stopping it its place.
Maisie widened her eyes. In front of her, a being of pure darkness stood between her and the creature.
"A new type of corrupted being?" There was a deep voice echoing from the shadow.
The creature slashed at the shadow many more time. The shadow was torn away repeatedly. But its body returned to its original state every time.
A white smile appeared on the shadow. It grew bigger. Even bigger than the large gray creature. It became a giant with two goat horns and a face of pure nightmare.
The demon simply slashed at the gray creature, sending it flying back into the woods. The strike was heard accross the land and created a shockwave that terrified Maisie. The ground shook just because of his strike.
Maisie could barely regulate her breath any more. But she knew. This shadow in front of her was something even more dangerous than that creature.
The shadow didn't chase the creature. It returned to its small human size and turned back to Maisie.
"Maisie Farrow..." The shadow said.
"You... You know me?" Maisie mumbled.
"I know everyone of importance, dear."
Many more shadows appeared around Maisie. Their soulless white eyes stared at her.
Maisie trembled. One shadow could already overwhelm the gray creature. This army of shadow would be able to destroy this entire country.
"I am Lucifer. The Prince of Soul. The Light Bringer. The Son of the Dawn. You are dying, Maisie Farrow."
Maisie shared a desperate gaze. "Help me... I can't go yet... People are counting on me."
"Everything had a price, dear. Everyone must pay their debt. What are you ready to trade for your own life?"
"Everything..."
And that was all Carter needed to hear. He was still in the Lanely Ranch at this moment. But he could still control the shadow from afar.
[SATAN EQUIPPED]
Carter switched to Satan so that he could get Synchronization from devouring souls.
At the same time, Maisie's shadow crawled out of her. It fused with the crowd of endless shadow around her. Her soul was no longer her own. She was now a part of Satan and his eternal servant.
"Welcome, my beneficiary."
Maisie's shadow stood up. It received the power of Satan and changed forever. It was now a shadow of his aura.
The shadow jumped back to Maisie, fusing with her and fixed her body. The gaping hole on her stomach disappeared. The organs rearranged themselves back to their position. Maisie's breathless life returned to its stable state.
When she opened her eyes again, no one was there. The sun was fully up. She was perfectly healthy. Only her shirt had a large tear.
She got up slowly, still dazing from what had happened.
The voice of the shadow echoed in the air. "You are now a follower of the Devil Church, my dear."
Maisie took a deep breath. She knelt and placed her head on the grass. "I am forever grateful to you, Master."
[Synchronization +5.0%]
Carter stood up from his bed, watching the sunrise in the far East. The ranch was peaceful, not knowing the pain that Maisie had just gone through.
'She'll probably come here soon.'
Carter's eyes glanced toward the three aspects he still hadn't used.
One aspect from Dracula, again, after he drank Amelia's blood.
One aspect from Frankenstein, again, after the work he did in the morgue.
And one aspect from Ursula Lebeau.
Dracula and Frankenstein were both 10 Star Elite. They would give him 30 Skin Stars each. Ursula was a 6 Star Awaken, equivalent to 16 Skin Stars.
'Last time when I got to Elite level, Awaken stops giving Skin Stars, so I can only get Skin Stars from Elite now. Ursula wouldn't give me Skin Stars but Dracula and Frankenstein would. But will it work?'
Usually when he reached 100% in any skin, it would immediately give him the Skin Stars. It didn't the last three times.
'Every skin required a Champion Seed to become a Champion. I don't have any... Does it still allow me to become a Champion?'
Carter had hoped that he would gain Skin Stars again once he retained an aspect from Dracula and Frankenstein. But the answer was unknown. So he had refrained from finishing up the process. Till now.
'The truth is here. Retain Deep Hypnosis.'
Carter had already acquired two of Dracula's mosr powerful aspects, the Monster Beneath and the Prince of Blood. In all of his remaining powers, Deep Hypnosis was the best as it grew stronger with the amount of Negative Energy he had.
The Monster Beneath produced Negative Energy constantly so it paired well with Deep Hypnosis. Deep Hypnosis was also very useful for literally every scenario.