*Aiyla*

MASTER!

Immediately upon Master being knocked unconscious by the wench, I took control. Although I relinquished full control over himself after the severing, I still retained the previous control network laid throughout his body. Its decayed a bit since I was unable to maintain the fragile construct but it should do.

Damn her, if I had known she would use her will to suppress Master to such a degree, I would have prepared. My naivety exists even to now, the same that led countless Masters to their deaths…. Master is the first to be aligned with chaos so I believe that may not be for long…… Always being trustful of others, even such vile beings as Astoria has become tiresome. My creator may have been even more naive than myself. I only need to make sure Master survives long enough to help me.

Master is truly wonderful…. Out of the countless warriors I have fought beside, he is the first to understand my loneliness and pain. Despite his short life, he has overcome what many would call impossible. Sometimes even I regret having access to his memories…. Those are things better left to rot with time.

This means I cannot fail him! If I am unable to protect Master from a measly Scourge, then I do not have the right to be called the mightiest spear! Although that name is rather embarrassing, I wish sword hadn’t spread that around…. Enough reminiscing! I must focus….

Controlling Mark, Aiyla took a stance different than what his spear mastery would normally recommend…

While his feet were planted firmly in a near squatting position, Mark was holding Aiyla directly above his head facing sideways towards Astoria. His current form seemed highly impractical for several reasons, however not much time was given to think on them as Mark lunged for the possessive girl.

While normally he may have been fast, now he was like lightning. Even with his stats, Mark shouldn’t have been able to move that fast. Little did Astoria know, Aiyla was fueling Mark’s entire body with her very being, using her own soul as fuel. For any other weapon, this would have been impossible, but even with a suppressed soul, Aiyla still had a significant amount of power. Not only that, but unlike other weapons, she had a true soul. Not some simple core given a personality, an actual soul. If anyone knew that a pantheon had nurtured a weapon with an actual soul, they would have been hunted to extinction. Fortunately for them, they were all already dead.

Aiyla’s spear head quickly descended upon the unsuspecting girl before being reflected by a pitch black shield. It had an interlocking hexagonal pattern that seemed to constant move to cover her blind spots, even when Aiyla’s tip penetrated one of the hexagons, another had simple moved in to fill the gap.

“*Chuckle* Do you really think you can last controlling his body you wretched thing. And the poor boy thought you were so innocent. It's adorable how naive a supposed Scourge can be…. Don’t worry, when I get my hands on him….”

A lecherous smile covered the girls face… all previous traces of the innocent silver eyed girl faded away as her sclera turned pitch black, and those same silver disks began shining with an unholy light….

“It will be so fun, I have never had a toy that wasn’t afraid of me…. Maybe I can finally have that husband I had always wanted! Although he may protest, I’m sure he will come around after a few centuries in my dungeon.”

That same lecherous smile reflected in the lanterns that had become Astoria’s eyes before she leaped for Mark. Despite his struggles, Astoria was simple too powerful. She had not lied when she claimed to be the first Scourge of her Universe. A being of immense power, born at the beginning of the gift. Normally they would be put down by the higher forces of the system, but for one to live as long as she had… Something was wrong.

They clashed several more times, with each time that same pitch black shield blocking every swing. Astoria simply had to walk forward as Aiyla feverishly worked the Mark puppet to its limits.

I… I can’t keep up… What in all the realms is she…. Why hasn’t this thing been exterminated yet. If her doll was this powerful, then her true body must be unfathomable….

Even realizing the impossible opponent she was forced to fight in her masters sted, Aiyla fought on.

She continued to burn what little soul she had to try and keep Mark from Astoria… Lunge, strike, reset. Lunge, Strike, reset. Whatever constituted her mind had begun to dwindle along with her fading soul, however those three words continued to be repeated over and over again.

Lunge, Strike, Reset.

The plated hexagons began to falter, even their mighty capabilities could not withstand the onslaught from even the weakened form of Aiyla.

“*Tisk* Do you not know when to give up toothpick? You may struggle, but know in the end that boy will be mine.”

Astoria finally began to take them seriously, in order to avoid her doll being destroyed. As powerful as she may be, having to make another would be annoying.

The Mark puppet had just reset, and started to lunge forward when he was hit, square in the chest by a bolt of pure darkness…. The bolt ate through all of his clothing before turning his skin an unhealthy shade of purple and passing straight through him. Even without being conscious blood poured from his mouth as some of his internal organs were partially liquified…..

“I hope you can understand me little toothpick, I do not wish for your host’s death. Relinquish control over him and I may yet allow you to live your meager little life as the leech you truly are.”

Seeing Mark once again line up for another strike despite his obviously grievous wound, Astoria grit her teeth in annoyance before charging up another bolt. This one, was many times larger than the previous. While the other couldn’t have been more than an inch in diameter… this one was at least a foot…. Maybe more…. If that hit Mark, he would undoubtedly die.

“Fine, if you wish for his death I shall grant it. It's not like I can’t simply revive his corpse after all…”

Astoria’s grim smile combined with her eyes could only belong to those who have gone mad. No one would make such a face otherwise. At that moment…. She launched the bolt…

Time slowed down for Aiyla…. She drew upon one of her Masters inner sanctums, one even Mark had yet to find… This Sanctum revolved around the hatred he felt for others… Especially humans who in every single one of his memories as a child, had tormented them. This was known as his Sanctum of Sanguineness.

I am sorry master! I do not wish to drain you, I must keep you alive…. And to do so I will do whatever it takes!

She slowly watched the bolt close the distance between them before she made up her mind.

Master… Cannot block that himself…. He will die if he tries… Not even my current power could block that… But… I would rather he live than be tormented in death!

Firming her resolve…. When the bolt was mere inches from striking Mark’s head…. Aiyla moved her main body…. The crystal like green sphere embedded into the spear that constituted her very being… And blocked it….

An ear wrenching screech echoed across the entire world as the former Almighty Weapon had her remaining soul shredded to pieces. The pain she felt in those moments could not be described with words. Had anyone tried, they would attest to the sheer impossibility of any being surviving the pain, let alone the attack that caused it. Briefly, Aiyla the spear shone a bright white light…. Before shattering into pieces. The only thing that remained was a solitary green orb that seemed to resist even on the doors of death…. Before it too shattered, and with it the roughly 500 souls encased within it escaped.

Those same souls only had one mission at that moment, to find a vessel… And what better one would serve their purpose than the one currently unable to resist them?

Unbeknownst to Astoria, hidden in the sea of souls, a single soul glowed a deep green before being washed away, along with the rest of the tide, into Mark.

*Mark*

What… what is happening….

Rousing from his slumber, the sleeping beauty takes a moment to look around before being assaulted by pain similar to which Aiyla had been forced to endure moments before her own destruction.

WARNING! Your soul is being forcibly expanded to house others. Know that their power will become yours should you survive the procedure!

WARNING! User is currently trying to absorb more souls than their soul can handle.

..

....

Rectifying-- Adaptation altering....

....

...

User is Authorized to proceed.

Something deep inside me seemed to fight every breath I tried to take. A phantom pain constantly echoed throughout my body, even though I couldn’t see any visible wounds….

After overcoming the initial shock of the pain, Mark mostly shrugs it off. Although it was excruciating, he was used to being uncomfortable and enduring long operations without anesthesia. So although this pain felt on another level compared to those previous experiences, Mark was able to ignore it for the time being. Instead, he was more worried about what currently encircled his wrists and ankles…

*Clink* *Clink*

“Why the hell am I chained to a bed?”