My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 146: Internal Struggle

Sylvan felt Kace calling for him but he had his hands full right now. He was busy directing his purple energy within Kace's consciousness to aid the others in their defence against the crimson entity. At this moment his purple tendrils clashed against several crimson claws.

Sylvan felt the force of the crashing against each other within his mind. No matter what, he had to prevent the crimson energy from succeeding. A bright white sword came to his aid, severing the crimson energy that connected the claws to its core. Earning him a short respite. Sylvan turned towards the white core and bowed in gratitude.

The pair of them had been holding out for several days now, ever since Kace lost consciousness. Sylvan had been appalled at the state of Kace's mind when the Eljein had forced him to retreat from his possession form. Sylvan turned to look at the now tiny, sickly green sphere. It was on the verge of disappearing entirely.

Sylvan was rightfully worried, he could not care less for this part of Kace. For that matter, he felt exactly the same about the white one. However, as things were now he would be unable to stand against the crimson energy alone. Especially if it became any stronger. It would do exactly the same thing that it had done to the other two and slowly chip away at his strength. Until it could devour him whole.

This was exactly what it was trying to do to the green sphere right now. Without Sylvan's presence in the inner mind, White had been left to prevent Crimson's assault on Green alone. All White was able to accomplish was stalling for time. It could not prevent Crimson from slowly taking Green apart piece by piece. Only slow it down.

"This is getting us nowhere." White's calm and gentle voice said to Sylvan. Distance meant nothing within this space so Sylvan heard it loud and clear.

"Tell me about it." Sylvan sighed dejectedly. "Do you have any ideas?"

"None," White replied matter of factly.

Sylvan felt a headache coming on. At the current rate, it would only be a matter of time before Crimson managed to break past their blockade. 'I never thought that possession would have made this place so vulnerable. It allowed Crimson to grow rapidly.'

None of them were willing to use each other's true names. As there was a chance that this would make Kace more aware of the battle going on within himself. That could cause the scales to tip in any of their favour. It was better to allow Kace to choose for himself. However, Crimson had taken it upon himself to speed up the process.

A pure wave of never-ending hunger emanated from Crimson, making Sylvan shudder. 'We have to find a way to make him back down. Who's to say that he won't just keep targeting either one of us once Green is gone?'

"Should we communicate with it? Maybe we can come to an agreement. Surely it must be getting tired of us thwarting its attempts?" Sylvan asked White, even though he knew it would most likely be a lost cause.

"Hmm, I don't think that will work. We could give it a try though. We have nothing to lose from it." White mused, "Crimson! Halt your attacks! We wish to speak!"

The crimson claws stopped in the void and shivered. Slowly they retreated back into their core. The Crimson sphere pulsed a few times before settling down. A long silence followed. Sylvan and White were waiting to see what kind of response they would receive.

"Very well." A menacing, bestial voice responded. Both of them shuddered, as this was the first time they had heard Crimson speak. "Set it up."

All four of their spheres pulsed as a transparent sphere began to take shape between them. It was rather small but it would be large enough for its purpose. Slowly, each of them projected their own energy into a quarter of it. This would act as a barrier against each other. So that nobody could try anything funny.

Green was the first to arrive as a circular table and four chairs framed in the centre of the new sphere. Green looked like a small and helpless human child. On the verge of crying his eyes out. He turned to look at Sylvan who had just arrived and nodded in gratitude for trying to defend him.

Both of them took their seats as they waited for the next arrival. Of course, it was White. White took the form of a tall man dressed in splendid silver armour, a great sword was strapped to his back as his long blonde hair reached down to his chest. His blue eyes studied each of them one at a time.

Without a word, he removed the great sword from his back and took his own seat. Silence descended amongst them as they waited for the last member to appear. None of them actually wanted to be in his presence but it was not like he would simply disappear.

The whole sphere shook as Crimson crash-landed within his own domain in the sphere. A terrifying aura washed over the other three. 'Fuck! He's stronger than he's been letting on!' All three of them shared this simultaneous thought as Crimson appeared in their vision's.

Crimson had a terrible form, large and muscular with a pair of black horns protruding from his forehead. His ears were pointed like a goblin's and his golden eyes lingered on each of them one at a time. His serpentine tongue licked at his fangs in hunger. His humanoid chest and arms were covered in wolf fur instead of hair. A drop of lava dripped from his mouth and singed his long silver hair.

"Shall we begin?" He asked in his deep bestial voice as his eight spider legs moved to carry him to the table. At that moment, however, Green's energy began to fade, shocking all of them. Crimson could not stop himself from releasing a predatory grin. 'Looks like Humanity's time is up!' He thought gleefully