The Inner Odyssey-Chapter 192: Primal Fear

’Blast it. Blast it all.’

Celeste’s entire body trembled.

An enormous weight pressed down on her chest.

Why did they have to sacrifice themselves for her?

Why?!

She wasn’t anyone special - she was just another normal human being.

Why did Oakia have to entrust her with the sapling? Why did her Sponsor choose her?

Full of sadness and bitter indignation, Celeste’s frame shook.

She clenched her trembling fists, tears streaming fully down her face.

In the distance, as if they could smell the enticing presence of human flesh, a litany of snarls, growls and roars drowned the forest. The sound was akin to a gigantic wave, snapping Celeste out of her mournful daze.

She bit her trembling lips.

Gestella was right.

The least Celeste could do was survive. She had to... in order to honour Oakia and everyone else who had sacrificed their lives. As Celeste’s determination grew, so too did her resolve.

There would be time to mourn and reflect later, if she survived.

With barely a heartbeat to spare, the Chosen of the Divine Sovereign swept her mind through her Dimensional Bracelet, downing numerous potions and ingesting several pills.

The result was a flood of energy which her body devoured with gluttonous glee.

Celeste’s mind cleared and she no longer felt as sore. Inwardly, she knew this was just a stopgap measure, but she did not care. All that mattered to her was her survival, consequences be damned.

Bursting into action, Celeste ran, absorbing the ambient mana in the air at the same time. As she did, a small vortex of invisible energy surrounded her figure, revolving around it as if she were the centre of an invisible typhoon.

Rushing through the forest, Celeste sensed the ground beneath her feet tremble and a deafening fullisade of abominable roars, growls and snarls stream into her ears, louder and abruptly more intense. Then, the occassional dull boom and throes of dying abominations rang out, informing Celeste that Gestella, Clara and the others were still alive.

For how much longer they could keep that up, though...

She did not know.

Gritting her teeth, Celeste activated her best movement skill, [Overdrive]. Her feet skipped over roots and detritus alike, like a nimble predator on the hunt. Only, she was not a predator, but rather an anxious prey, instead.

An invisible wind seemed to blow through Nature’s Grove. Trees rustled and leaves fluttered, yet there was a distinct lack of other noise, as if all life in the area had fled to avoid the calamity that was the enormous Defiled swarm.

Digging deep into her mental and physical reserves, Celeste continued her frantic and solitary escape. She lunged into bushes and bramble, uncaring for their thorns. She trampled over beautiful meadows and serene glades, leaving a trail of dried blood, dirt and destruction in her wake.

Celeste felt very dirty - as if she were an abomination herself. Certainly, caked in dried, fetid black blood and the remnants of the green, slimy poison... almost fit her perfectly.

The sight did not befit a lady of her standing.

...Any lady, really.

The young healer tried her best to keep the negative whispers away. However, that task was only made harder by the sudden lack of noise behind her. At some point, it had grown deathly silent.

The haunting, deafening silence seemed to stretch towards her like the icy fingers of a cold, vengeful ghost.

Cece shivered.

A sudden gust of wind blew through the glade she was in, frightening her.

Celeste swallowed, her heartbeat rising.

Inhaling a deep breath, the Chosen of the Divine Sovereign shifted her gaze towards the cerulean sky... or what was once a clear blue sky. Now, as if to foreshadow her gruesome fate, grey and black clouds shrouded the firmament.

It appeared to be entirely artificial and different from a natural storm - there were no flashes of lightning or the deep, furious rumble of thunder or even the dampness in the air which preceded any rainfall.

A grave sense of alarm washed over Celeste, the sense of peril and crisis she felt rising in tandem. If there was a being capable of affecting the world to such an extent residing within the swarm, then Celeste stood absolutely no chance... not that she stood much of a chance, in the first place.

But the presence of the ominous clouds told her that an especially strong abomination was in the swarm’s midst. Perhaps even a Defiled General or the cataclysmic existence of a Colossus.

To Celeste, the dark clouds seemed like a sign of the being’s anger. If fury was involved, then the intensity of the swarm’s efforts was bound to increase.

She shuddered at the horrible thought.

Pushing herself further and further, Celeste’s speed began to lag.

At first, it was gradual.

But then, all of a sudden, her body collapsed. She stumbled to the ground, every single muscle in her frame twitching and spasming. Holding in a pained cry, the young healer rode the debilitating wave, her skin glowing intermittently to ease the pain.

Struggling furiously again to her feet, the Chosen of the Divine Sovereign looked behind her, her ears straining to decipher anything from the lack of noise. Holding her breath, Celeste relaxed slightly once she heard nothing.

However, in the next moment, a deafening roar swept through Nature’s Grove.

The swarm had caught onto her scent. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

’Blasted Asterons!’

As Celeste staggered forward, she focused her attention on the wooden trunk within her Dimensional Bracelet. Her mind recalled the time when she had stumbled across the Seven-Leaf Lily before the invasion.

Of the sensation of extremely pure vitality coursing through her.

Maybe...

Just maybe.

With every breath that passed, the enormous swarm continued to approach. Helplessly, Celeste sensed them draw near, unable to increase the distance between her and them.

She fell to the ground again, her body as heavy as a mountain and her awareness flickering faintly like a candle. With the last reserves of her energy, the young healer summoned the wooden trunk.

It fell out of her hand, landing on the moss-covered earth below.

That jolt caused the trunk to open and the aura of boundless vitality from the sapling to spread out. Instantly, the dark clouds overhead seethed and boiled. Meanwhile, Nature’s Grove itself seemed to grow restless, a violent, anxious rustle sweeping through its expanse.

Celeste was oblivious to all that, though.

Reaching for the sapling precious enough for a powerhouse like Oakia to lay down her life in order to protect, resolve shone like a brilliant jewel in her eyes.

If the swarm would stop at nothing to retrieve the beautiful sapling, Celeste would much rather ingest it than risk it falling in their grasp. Even if it resulted in her death, the young healer would rather die than allow it fall into the wrong hands.

Celeste opened her mouth.

Then, without any hesitation, she swallowed the sapling.

Vitality of an endless scale immediately flooded Celeste’s body. She barely had a chance to react, before her vision turned white and her entire awareness became consumed by pain, relief and the sensation of the purest life energy washing over her.

In that brief instant between consciousness and unconsciousness, Celeste suddenly sensed a vast, unfathomable, indescribable gaze observe her from afar.

A cold shudder ran through the Chosen of the Divine Sovereign.

The last thing Cece felt before she surrendered to her blissful hell was a spike of primal fear and the sensation of two hands softly wrapping themselves around her figure and lifting her up.

...Then, she was no more.