Chapter 318: I Decided To Have A New Bond
I raised my hand and pointed at the panther. Essence swirled around its body, lifting it effortlessly into the air. My Psynapse thrummed with renewed power, and I saw the world with new clarity.
As the panther reached me, I pressed my palm over the its head and whispered.
"Submit."
My Essence responded—not with fury, but with force of will. A command, not a request.
From deep within me, the Null Heart answered.
The core in my chest flared to life, spinning faster and faster, a brilliant white engine of purpose. I felt it hum through my bones, through every fiber of my being.
Then, just like before, it stopped.
Everything froze.
The air. My heartbeat. Even thought itself paused, as if the world was waiting.
The silence was absolute.
And then the world fell away.
Darkness swallowed me whole, the real fading like a distant dream. I stood again on the cracked stone pathway suspended in a vast, suffocating void. The stars did not shine here. There was only black, and the cold that accompanied it.
Ahead stood the colossal door. Unchanged. Unopened for anyone else.
Dust coated its surface. Runes flickered faintly like dying embers. And again, I felt like this wasn’t just a gate to some random place.
Pain flared in my chest.
A chain burst from my sternum—brilliant, thick, and glowing blue. It didn’t drag or fall. It floated, pulsing with ancient power, each link carrying purpose. It didn’t hesitate—it flew straight toward the massive door.
Clang.
The door trembled.
Dust scattered. Webs collapsed. The ancient hinges groaned.
A sliver opened.
From that gap, the sphere emerged, deep crimson and humming with restrained force. Inside floated the soul of the Onca Panther. Its body was curled in sleep, preserved, untouched by the corruption that plagued its real form. Heavy chains bound its limbs, neck, and tail, its power contained.
The chain connected with the sphere.
Then pulled.
Hard.
The sphere didn’t resist. It flew toward me, a bullet of light through the void. It struck my chest but there was no impact. It phased through me, merging with the Null Heart.
A new core formed beside the white one.
Red.
Smaller, but just as dense. Inside, I saw the panther’s soul suspended in stillness, bound and silent. The link between us shone clear.
A final pulse echoed through my chest.
The void shattered.
I gasped back into reality, standing in the same place. My hand was still on its skull.
The Onca Panther’s body began to disintegrate. First its horn cracked and splintered into red shards. Then the claws peeled away like dust in the wind. The black fur dissolved into strands of light, floating upward.
Then the entire form shimmered.
And surged.
A rush of red light burst forward.
It struck my forehead and passed inward.
The world vanished.
And another took its place.
*****
I found myself in a dark jungle. Instantly, I understood I was watching the panther’s vision.
The panther crouched low, each of its breaths deep and steady. Around it, the jungle brimmed with life—chirps, rustles, the distant roar of a waterfall. Moonlight filtered through thick foliage in scattered shafts. It moved like a shadow. Its paws barely disturbed the fallen leaves.
But it wasn’t hunting.
It was exploring.
The creature moved with a sense of quiet curiosity. It padded through the jungle not for prey, but purpose.
Its eyes flicked from branch to bush, its tail twitching subtly at each subtle bend of the terrain. The world around it wasn’t just visual, it was spatial. Its senses weren’t limited to smell or sound. It felt distances. Measured them in instinct.
To it, the world was angles and tension, flow and position. Every tree stood in perfect relation to another. It would pause mid-stride if the balance of its surroundings felt wrong, then adjust as if correcting a puzzle only it could perceive.
At one point, it leapt across a ravine, not because it had to, but because it knew it could. The jump wasn’t strength or speed. It was certainty. As if space itself had leaned inward to make room for its leap.
It hadn’t learned space from books. It had grown beside it. Sensed it. Lived in harmony with its invisible grids.
That harmony didn’t last.
The change came one quiet afternoon, without warning.
A ripple cracked the jungle sky. No thunder. No light. Just distortion—like the world had hiccupped.
Birds scattered in frantic bursts. Insects vanished into bark. The panther froze mid-step, muscles tight, ears twitching as it stared upward.
And then... it came.
A streak of darkness tore through the air, barely visible—like a smear of shadow across existence. It moved with unnatural speed and precision, aimed straight for the panther.
Before it could react, the streak hit.
The soul slammed into the panther’s skull like a spear of corrupted will.
The beast reeled, claws gouging the earth, a growl rising in its throat but it wasn’t pain it reacted to. It was intrusion. A second consciousness clawed its way into the panther’s mind, fraying the edges of thought and memory.
A demon soul.
Ancient. Bitter. And corrupted by the Eternals.
It screamed. It didn’t seek coexistence. It didn’t offer reason. It simply wanted....to survive, to take, to dominate.
And the panther?
It fought.
With will . With the bone-deep instinct of something that had never once surrendered in its life.
Its limbs trembled. Blood leaked from its nose. The jungle trembled from the pressure of the psychic battle playing out in silence.
I watched as the demon’s Essence scorched the panther’s spine. The muscles along its back bulged. Its body convulsed. The ground beneath it cratered. But it kept fighting. Every second, every heartbeat—it fought.
And then finally the souls merged and a new Abomination was born.
The demon’s knowledge twisted the panther’s instincts, corrupting them. Its understanding of space turned jagged, unrefined. Instead of sensing flow, the panther now ripped space. Instead of gliding between gaps, it punched through them.
Its claws began phasing wrong. Its steps snapped the terrain. Tentacles formed from shadowed wounds along its ribs. Its eyes glowed dark, but deep beneath... the golden spark remained.
Even corrupted, it never gave in.
The vision flickered, faded.
*****
I opened my eyes slowly and let out a quiet exhale.
The memories were still fresh, echoes of the panther’s life now etched into my mind. I had felt its pride, its hunger, its unyielding spirit. And I had felt the agony too—the raw, soul-piercing pain when the demon forced its way in and tried to take everything.
I tilted my head back and stared at the sky above.
I liked what I saw in that vision. The kind of creature the panther had been—curious, relentless, almost cheeky in how it moved through its world.
And in our battles?
It had been the same. No matter how many attacks I absorbed, no matter how easily I dodged or countered, it never backed down. It kept coming. Again and again. That stubborn will had never wavered.
A faint smile touched my lips.
Yeah. I liked it.
"Let’s have a look at you," I murmured.
And with that, I reached out and summoned my new bond.
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