Everything was in chaos.
Elyndra watched as scores of Fractured Howlers poured out from the shadows of the rocks like a macabre tide of madness, their shrieks renting through the canyon walls as their advance made the ground quake beneath them.
Rocks shattered into bits under their warped feet, chunks of stone and sand thrown into the air by the force of their maddening momentum.
There was dust—so much dust everywhere.
Elyndra gritted her teeth, fighting the urge to use the slip as she turned a worried gaze to Elias, still lying unconscious.
"Just a little more…"
Two of the horde broke away from the rest, their disgusting faces twisting into even more disgusting grins as they ran along the canyon walls like it was solid ground, maddened eyes locked onto Elias.
As if they couldn't wait to feast on him.
The entire canyon had been swallowed in a symphony of madness as they sang, shrieked, and screamed. If a mundane was unlucky enough to find themselves in the middle of such a mental assault, the only outcome would be becoming an idiot in less than a second.
Elyndra clenched her fists harder, her voice tightening as she bit her lower lip.
Damn it, this wasn't how it was supposed to go. Wake up, dummy!
"A second more…"
But then—
Her voice caught in her throat.
The ground beside Elias shifted, as if something beneath it was pushing outward.
A warped, disgusting hand burst through first, followed by the rest of an Echoform covered in black sand, its eyes gleaming with twisted glee.
Elyndra let out a quiet breath, raising the legendary lament as she prepared to use it.
"Guess I got my hopes up for nothing."
The Echoform lunged, its jagged, distorted hands reaching for his neck just as Elyndra began to activate the slip—
But then she stopped.
It happened so fast even she didn't process it at first.
The Echoform was suddenly in the air, shrieking in its warped voice as it was held by the neck—
By the boy who had been lying unconscious just moments ago.
Elyndra's eyes widened.
Elias.
His eyes spun like spiraling orbs, dragging at anyone who looked into them, giving the sickening sensation of being swallowed whole. The ripples around him made it worse, pulling inward toward him in dizzying waves of power.
The Fractured Howler tried to flicker out of his grip, terror flashing through its disturbingly intelligent eyes as it sang broken songs from its vile throat, its voice sharp with fear.
But Elias held it firm.
Even as it flickered, his hand matched it perfectly—frequency for frequency.
Its song didn't reach him.
Strangely, it only seemed to fade the closer it got to him… as if it was being devoured by silence itself.
A grin curled across his lips.
Then—crack.
He snapped its neck and let it drop like a broken twig.
A slow sigh escaped him as a blue fragment shot straight into his chest, the corpse dissolving into embers of blue light.
Then he turned.
His gaze fell on the rest of the Fractured Howlers—still advancing, still shrieking in glee, even as one of their own had just died.
They were closer now.
Too close.
The nearest wouldn't take five seconds to reach him.
And yet—
Elias only smiled.
He tilted his head back, arms stretching out to his sides, and Elyndra felt his voice brush against her mind—clear as day, even though his lips never moved.
'I am so… HUNGRY!'
***
[You have slain an Echoform
30 Mission Points awarded]
Elias had felt happiness before. He had felt alive before.
But none of it—none of it—came close to this.
Power throbbed through his veins, wild and electric. It surged with every heartbeat, every breath, making him feel like he could do anything… everything.
It was intoxicating.
No—
It was ecstasy.
But even then, Elias knew better than to lose himself to it.
This strength?
It was nothing.
Yes, he was stronger than others at his stage—but that didn't mean much. Not yet.
He still had a long way to go before he could stand against someone at the Apprentice Stage (E Rank).
He was still far beneath monsters like Avon, Sera… and the little Saintess of the Harmonic Choir.
Hell—this might not even be enough to stand as an opponent before the Miss of the Vangrova Family.
But…
His gaze lifted to the incoming Echoforms, their snarls and broken songs shaking the canyon as boulders crumbled beneath their charge.
Step by step.
Fragment by fragment.
He would get stronger.
Strong enough that no one would ever dictate his life or trample on his dignity.
Strong enough to give his parents a life where they could finally breathe—live freely, on their own terms.
Strong enough that no monster, no human… would ever take his loved ones away from him again.
Ever.
He didn't care what it would cost.
Didn't care if he had to become a monster to get there.
Didn't even care if millions had to die along the way.
As long as he reached that point—
The rest of the world could burn in hell.
Elias reached out just as the first Echoform lunged at him. It latched onto his arm instantly, its jaws stretching wide as it tried to force its song straight into his face.
Elias only smiled.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he focused—not on the creature, but on something deeper.
There.
The string.
Since merging with the core, the monsters had changed in his sight. Their songs weren't just sounds anymore—they were something tangible.
Visible.
A dark, distorted string protruded from the creature's mouth as it sang, frayed and uneven, like something broken and crudely forced back together.
And it vibrated.
That ringing—that was the song.
The thing that twisted minds.
The thing that drove mundanes mad.
Elias's smile widened.
So this… was the source.
Without hesitation, he shoved his hand straight into the creature's open mouth.
Then—
He ripped.
The string tore free, unraveling into black, moth-like fragments of light that scattered and vanished.
The Fractured Howler choked.
A wet, broken sound clawed out of its throat as its body spasmed violently. It collapsed to the ground, jerking once—twice—
Then went still.
A fragment formed.
It shot into Elias's chest.
And once again, the system's voice rang in his ears.
[You have slain an Echoform…]
The rest of the maddened horde finally reached him.