“A worthless scum. Not even worth turning into a bramble beast. I’ll let The Matron feast on his flesh to regain some of her power.”
Gou Hui watched as his sphere of bloodthorne roots trapped the cockroach and twisted it inwards. He took great pleasure in feeling the weakening attempts at getting out through his connection to the roots. An effort that would be rewarded with death.
“That will show them I’m worthy of The Matron’s blessings. They finally have to acknowledge me now.”
A malevolent look passed over Gou Hui’s slit-like eyes as he watched droplets of blood seep from between the roots.
“And if they don’t…” A vicious look filled Gou Hui’s eyes as thoughts of him leading the Bloodthorne Sect clouded his mind. He didn’t even notice the subtle burning sensations that littered his skin. Not until his eyes picked up the irregular movements of red particles.
The red particles twinkled in the air, speeding up their swaying movement and disappearing altogether. When Gou Hui finally noticed it, it was too late.
The violet mist was already here.
More importantly, the violet mist was here in droves, to the point that Gou Hui could see it amalgamating into shapes. An urgent sense of danger overwhelmed Gou Hui as the violet mist formed a spiralling point that dug down like a falling stalactite. The roots too slow to escape the attack, were pierced, immediately starting to rot as the violet mist attack hit through to the ground.
“…KILL…” From afar, The Matron’s voice urged Gou Hui to finish killing the violet earth warrior. Gou Hui’s eyes twisted to the root sphere, and with a squeeze of his hand, the roots compressed even further, causing a sickening crunch to echo out.
However, the violet mist didn’t stop.
Falling spirals of violet mist littered the earth around the root dome, piercing into the roots and causing them to rot to dust that littered the ground. Further, the soil the violet mist struck afterwards began to take on a violet hue.
Tremor.
The cockroach was no longer his name. Gou Hui realized that from this point on, the cockroach was now a violet earth warrior.
“NO! This won’t happen again!” Gou Hui shouted as he willed the remaining roots to twist further inwards. Unfortunately, despite desperately commanding the binding roots, they didn’t move. Gou Hui's connection to the Bloodthorne Dome faltered, then disconnected.
The tremoring of the ground grew as the violet mist in the area seeped into the ground, beginning to raise the earth up to the one who called it here. The being who wielded the sword that commanded this place.
The tremoring battled against Gou Hui’s shivering as a past memory surfaced from The Matron’s memory.
The memory of a warrior emerging with eyes that cut down those who stood against him.
The sword tip poked out from the sphere of bloodthorne roots as the pieces holding it together fell to the ground as rotting dust. Slowly, the decaying roots revealed the hilt and, finally, the hand that never stopped gripping it.
Ambient violet mist flooded to the hand, healing the cuts, bruises, and crumpled bones. And as the roots fell away, the form of a crunched body was revealed, intensifying the shivering on Gou Hui’s body.
“Those eyes…” Gou Hui muttered as eyes with a will of stone slowly opened. They looked at him like the eyes of his brothers. Like the eyes of the being from The Matron's memory
Condescending. Powerful. The eyes of those who have faced death and come back from it stronger than before.
Those eyes looked at him like he wasn’t worth the air he breathed.
“…DON’T LOOK AT ME WITH THOSE EYES!” Gou Hui yelled and unleashed a flood of attacking roots from his fingertips.
The willful eyes didn’t blink as the violet mist in the area drilled apart the roots, stopping them from existing near the young man gripping the Mountain Sealing Sword.
Tremor!
The ground shook as the earth beneath Gou Hui lifted and cut his connection to the roots lying dormant in the area around him. Suddenly, the land crumpled apart, condensing inwards and forming smaller rocky particles that flooded towards the violet earth warrior.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
Bones snapping back into place sounded out as the flood of rocks circled the violet earth warrior, layering onto each other and shielding their master from the bloody roots that extended from Gou Hui. With a harmless thud, the roots rebounded and vibrated with a strength that tore them apart.
“YOU ARE A WORTHLESS COCKROACH!” Gou Hui screamed. This time, a response came from the reformed lips of the violet earth warrior.
“I was.” The voice croaked out.
The rocky particles finished forming the protection of their master. The result was a faintly glowing earthen armour that shrouded all but the deep brown eyes of the violet earth warrior. But now, those eyes held a hint of violet near the inner irises.
The violet earth warrior took a single step, propelling past the roots blocking his way with unstoppable momentum and stopping just short of Gou Hui.
A single swing of the sword caused the tremoring in the area to silence and launched a defending Gou Hui back. With a violent impact, Gou Hui crashed against boulders and twisted trees and stopped just short of the pit around the cobblestone monuments.
“On a bigger scale, I still am.” The violet earth warrior caught up with a single leap and spoke as he slashed Gou Hui into the air. Then, with a thunderous crash, the violet earth warrior slammed the hilt into Gou Hui’s stomach.
Thud!
Gou Hui briefly lifted from the cobblestones as he impacted, and before he could mount any form of resistance, the last strike sailed into him.
Stab!
The violet sword sunk into Gou Hui’s heart with a single, overpowering stab. As Gou Hui looked up in shock, he saw the unwavering stare of the violet earth warrior.
“But at least I’m not a frog in a well. I won’t stop until I accomplish what I need to do.”
*****
I couldn’t falter here.
I couldn’t give up.
I had things I had to do.
The violet earth core beat within me, and the Earthen Heart Vibration rippled into Gou Hui’s body, tearing roots from his skin. Screams escaped his mouth as the thorns and roots trapped in his skin were forcefully purified by me. Soon, The Matron’s influence on Gou Hui disappeared into bits and pieces that the ambient violet mist tore apart, leaving me a powerless Gou Hui in return.
Cough, cough!
Blood poured from Gou Hui’s mouth as The Matron’s strength left his body. He was nothing but a vessel for a force greater than him, resulting in his body entering a feeble state afterwards. It likely wouldn’t be long before his body stopped functioning by itself.
Stabbing him in the heart accelerated that process.
I drew closer to Gou Hui, watching as the realization of his imminent death filtered into his eyes. I loomed in close to his ears.
“When is the full moon?” I asked Gou Hui, but the question bounced off his ears. That was fine; I had a multitude of questions I needed answered.
“Where is The Matron?” That question caught Gou Hui’s dying attention as his fading gaze approached the cobblestone dome. In his dying breaths, a hysteric voice pleaded towards the odd seed inside.
“Please, Matron! I’ve failed you, but please. Bless me this one last time. I beg of you!”
Cough, cough.
I pushed the sword deeper into Gou Hui’s heart and turned him back to face me. My brows locked together as the pained expression on Gou Hui’s face slowly eased.
“Don’t leave me.” He spoke out into the distance, and his eyes blanked without strength. I nearly thought he had died.
Hum.
Suddenly, a devilish smile graced Gou Hui’s face. I thought his insanity was finally catching up to him until he spoke words that made my skin crawl.
“Thank you, Matron.”
A flicker of strength sailed through Gou Hui as the tattoo of a root-infested skull shone on his chest. It faintly glowed as the blood leaving Gou Hui gave it the power to activate.
A hysteric laughter escaped Gou Hui as he screamed out.
“Twist them, Matron! Turn them all into bramble beasts! Rip apart their skin! Send them into the depths of despair—”
My fist cracked into Gou Hui’s jaw, knocking it off its hinges and causing a pained, guttural grunt to escape him. I seemed calm on the surface, but I was everything but calm on the inside.
What was The Matron doing?
What did he mean by turning them all into bramble beasts?!
Who was turning?
WHO!?
My worst nightmare came to life in my mind, and I plucked the Mountain Sealing Sword from Gou Hui’s body. I heaved it high, ready to slash it down to stop whatever plan Gou Hui had concocted, when Gou Jing’s voice echoed out. Perhaps it was due to the amount of violet mist I controlled using the Mountain Sealing Sword, but Gou Jing’s voice was clear and coherent.
“Stop, you idiot! Don’t kill him yet! Not unless you want all your friends to die!”
My mouth twisted with impatience, but Gou Jing’s words paused my actions long enough for her to explain with a deeper sadness in them.
“He bears one of The Matron’s crests! Upon his death, it turns those weak and infected with roots into bramble beasts. Trust me, I recognize the crest.”
My expression coiled further into anger as I imagined Abby, Arden, and more twisting into bramble dogs. The grip on the Mountain Sealing Sword tightened as I yelled out, watching as Gou Hui’s sadistic eyes curled in pleasure at my struggle.
“How do I stop it!?”
Gou Jing’s voice whispered, revealing a light of salvation in my time of dire need. I wouldn’t forget an action like that.
“Cut your problems by the root.”
My eyes left Gou Hui and travelled towards the open cobblestone dome doors.
My feet shifted, and the violet mist moved with me as I heard guttural cries come from behind me. But Gou Hui couldn’t stop me anymore.
The Mountain Sealing Sword left sparks as it travelled against the floor, inching closer to the pulsating root with me.
Before long, I was face-to-face with the root once more. But this time, I was stronger. I wouldn’t be leaving here, having only left a punch. This time, I was slicing open this root. Anger clouded my face.
“This is for daring to touch those I protect.”
I raised the Mountain Sealing Sword in the air and watched as the root below me twisted in response.
Then, I lowered my sword like an executioner.
