Chapter 25 - F...ck...Yo..u...
The moment Levi heard his response, he felt a sudden electrifying chill course through his entire body, paralyzing him completely. He fell on his back and lay there, feeling like his body no longer belonged to him.
'It's happening...it's finally happening.'
Levi had read too many books and dreamed of this moment for so long to not know what was happening...The Awakening of a Daywalker!
With a heart full of anticipation and a bit of unease, Levi focused his senses inward, desiring to feel the entire process and cherish it, knowing that it could happen only once in a lifetime.
He wasn't scared of pain or such as he knew that the Shadowlife seeds had a will of their own and when presented with a new host, they ensured that the integration process went as smoothly as possible.
That was the reason the process began with sedating the entire nervous system.
'Boy, it's best that you forget everything that you used to know about Daywalkers when dealing with me.' Ash'Kral advised with an impish chuckle.
'Huh? What do you mean?' Levi felt his heart skip a beat, having a bad feeling about this.
'Brace for impact, the first wave will hit you like a truck.'
Just as Levi was about to double down on his confusion, a sudden shocking tide of agony washed across his entire body, from his toes straight to his scalp!
AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!
His question turned into an agonizing screech as he started twitching on the ground with white foam spilling out of his mouth. He was paralyzed, yet he felt every ounce of torment like his pain receptors were being pricked by needles.
He couldn't even form a single thought, his mind was fueled with nothing but a never-ending wail.
After a few seconds, which felt like years to Levi, the pain lessened until it completely went away. Levi was left lying on the ground with a puddle of sweat already formed underneath him.
'Ash'Kral...You asshole...Are you screwing with me?' Levi cussed with great difficulty.
He refused to believe that what he went through was normal as the pain was nothing he had ever felt in his life. He had read hundreds of Daywalkers' awakenings and not a single one of them reported any type of pain.
'Don't relax now, two more waves are still to come.' Ash'Kral grinned.
Levi's heart sunk to the bottom of his stomach in dread at the sound of that.
'Please tell me you are lyi...AAAAAAAAAA!!!!'
Before Levi could react, a similar wave of hellish agony smacked him out of nowhere, leaving him vibrating akin to someone going into a seizer.
As much as Levi tried his best to resist the urge, the pain was simply too much, forcing his bladder to give in.
A warm stream of piss flowed down Levi's pants, but he didn't even feel it. All that was in his mind was for the torment to end already.
'Pissing on the second wave, not bad, at least he didn't shit himself like Aetherius.'
Ash'Kral seemed to enjoy the show as this was one of his favorite moments every time he established a contract with a new partner.
'Pl...ea...se...I...B..eg...Yo..u...No..More...'
When the pain subsided, Levi was left beseeching Ash'Kral to stop whatever was happening to him. He didn't even care if Ash'Kral was responsible for this or not, he just wanted it to end.
'Kekeke, I have watched you dream and prepare for this moment your entire childhood, I thought you would be cherishing and enjoying every moment of it.' Ash'Kral laughed, uncaring about Levi's pleads.
While he was absolutely merciless monster, he really had nothing to do with the pain as it was related to his unique seed.
'Don't give up so soon, there is only one more wave left.' Ash'Kral cheered playfully.
'F...ck...Yo..u...'
Those were the last words Levi uttered before his entire nervous system got struck by a thunderbolt of anguish, leaving him gasping for air.
A few seconds later, his consciousness bailed on him at last, realizing that if he remained conscious any longer, his entire nervous system would be fried.
'Surviving until the last bit of the third wave, I see a promise.' Ash'Kral nodded in satisfaction, 'He might eventually get used to it as I did.'
Unbeknownst to Levi, Ash'Kral had shared the same intensity of the pain with him as his unique seed didn't discriminate during their merger.
However, he had gone through the agony so many times he lost count.
Since the moment their souls were stamped, he was forced to give up on all of his previous powers and evolutions, becoming a mere Tier 1 Nightcrawler, the pain he felt was no different from Levi's.
He just grew numb to it after so many failures to achieve his goal.
As he gazed at Levi's foamy mouth and wet pants, a sight unbefitting of anyone, Ash'Kral could only murmur to himself:
"Don't disappoint me, child. I have fallen way behind...You are my last hope."
***
A few minutes earlier, on the other side of the Harrowing Forest...
Danny, Malak, and the rest of their squad could be seen riding on top of their mounts, rushing in a straight line with panicky expressions.
They turned around to look behind them every so often and then sighed in relief when they saw that nothing was behind them.
"Thank god we listened to Malak, and we didn't reseal our mounts."
Matthew wiped his sweaty forehead while glancing at Malak, who was hugging Danny tightly on top of his armored camel. Unlike the rest of the squads, they remained on their mounts, following the advice of Malak to head further into the forest to ensure a peaceful search for the dimensional natural treasures.
While they were extremely far away from the way they entered the forest, this move helped them avoid the slow spiders and head straight to another exit.
"I can see the edge! We are getting close!" Danny exclaimed in excitement as he eyed the emerging wide spaces between the oak trees.
"We have to immediately report this matter to the authorities." Matthew uttered with a solemn tone, "I believe we have lost more than 50% of our forces. Such a hit is too massive to our region, considering that many young talents were involved."
"Let's get out of here first, and then we can worry about..."
Whoosh!
Before Matthew could finish his sentence, his pupils widened in horror at the abrupt appearence of a massive thick sticky web attached between the trees in front of them.
"HAAAAALT!!"
Alas, no matter how hard he shouted or pulled his mount's hair, they were simply moving too fast and the web appeared only after it entered their ten-meter illumination zone.
Before anyone could react, the mounts ended up diving deep within the giant sticky web, stopping only after reaching a couple of meters of depth.
"No, no, no, no, this isn't happening, this isn't happening..." Danny immediately started panicking, moving all over the place to free himself.
Alas, the web was stronger than it seemed as it could hold down even a Tier 3 Nightcrawler. The fact they went to its depths made it even worse.
"Don't panic! The spiders are still too far, we can free ourselves before they arrive."
Matthew tried to calm everyone down with a stern tone, but inwardly, he was also filled with unfiltered amount of dread.
"Try to summon your weapons or reach out to your backpacks for Assault totems."
When Danny and the others heard his order, their agitation died down a bit, realizing that they had what it took to burn down the web...They just needed to hold them and utter the incantation.
Unfortunately, everyone's backpacks were either on their waist or back, making it nearly impossible to get hold of them. The sticky web completely sealed their movements akin to being thrown into a basin of glue.
Just when Danny started to panic again, he sensed Malak's presence behind him. His eyes immediately lit up in hope as he requested agitatedly, "Malak! Try to open my backpack with your mouth! You're our only hope!"
Matthew and the others couldn't turn their heads to see what Danny was talking about, but it didn't stop them from having their hopes reignited.
Sadly, the expected sweet fearful reply was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a hideous cracked voice resounded in their ears akin to a death decree...
"Now, why would I do that after spending this much effort getting you in my trap?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
An eerie silence settled over the area; no one could even muster a breath. Only the heavy thud of panicked heartbeats echoed through the web.