Chapter 1.33

Efi felt the disconnection of the pentagram at the top for the second time. She closed her eyes and sank into a state of meditation. She quickly felt the connection with Mike, and just like the last time, he was fine. The connection was stable but weak.

Efi opened her eyes.

"The connection broke again," she said aloud.

Before the break in connection, she had distinctly felt that Mike was very close to the pentagram. Now he was felt thousands of kilometers away.

Efi didn't check the pentagram but decided to wait a little longer. She levitated beside the pentagram for a couple of minutes, slowly circling it. Suddenly the connection with Mike was re-established. Efi stopped and waited. She was sure that the activation of transference would follow, and this time it would be Mike who was transferring.

She was right. A moment later, the pentagram activated. In the incoming transfer, she felt the presence of Mike's magical energy. Efi smiled. She didn't block the transference as she had done the last time. She quickly left the hallway, hiding so she couldn't be seen.

After a couple of seconds, the transfer was complete. All that was left was to remove the protective shield, which Efi immediately did. She wanted to rush to Mike right away but stopped herself in time. There was another man in the hall besides Mike. He was older, a little taller than Mike, and with swarthy skin. The stranger was dressed in a colonel's uniform and had a weapon with him. This surprised her, especially since Mike was unarmed and in plain road clothes. And he looked very messy, as if he had worn the clothes for days and slept in them.

The stranger Efi had never seen in person. But Mike often told her about all his relatives and coworkers. On some of them, he provided quite detailed descriptions. And this stranger fit in one of those descriptions. She realized it was Colonel Tirel de Graaf. Efi decided to wait and see what they would do.

Mike stood up and straightened. He didn't expect the shield to come down so quickly. It must be Efi's work. He looked around quickly but didn't notice her presence.

Standing beside him in a daze was Colonel Tirel de Graaf.

"Amazing," he said. His eyes widened and a smile appeared on his face. "Such a huge hall."

His daze quickly passed and Tirel began to look around chaotically, greedily eyeing every detail.

"So high," he said in admiration, raising his head up and examining the ceiling. And the fact that the hallway had elevations to the second floor only added to the sensation. "How many floors are there?"

Mike ignored Tirel's question, who continued greedily eyeing the place.

"Everything in here is made of metal, both the floor and the ceiling. Why?" Tirel asked after a short time.

Mike ignored his question this time, too. It took a couple of seconds before the colonel finally noticed that there was no response to his question.

"Why aren't you talking? Answer my question."

"I have nothing to answer," Mike said.

"Nothing to answer? Ha ha," laughed Tirel. "Are you so afraid I'm going to take away that precious laboratory of yours?"

Mike didn't say anything back. He really didn't like the current situation, though. But he couldn't see a way out of it yet.

"You don't have to worry. I'm not taking the lab away from you. I just don't have time for that," Tirel said, then looked down. "I sense a powerful energy from below."

Mike looked down, too. Below them, on the lower floor, were the reactor and crystal growth chambers. Mike thought that was probably Tirel's main target.

"And why would you need a functioning reactor?" The Colonel smiled and looked at Mike. "And you also say you don't have crystal growing technology. How many growth chambers are there? And what's the output of the crystals?"

"I've told you repeatedly that I don't have any new and improved crystal-growing technology," Mike said, clenching his fists.

"I'll be the one to judge about that. New technology or not," said the colonel and poked a finger on Mike's shoulder.

"Ha ha," Mike laughed unexpectedly. "You amuse me. I want to see how you're going to determine the technology from the working growing chambers. Or are you dismantling one of them? Well, go ahead! That'll be fun to watch, too."

"Don't take me for a fool!" Tirel poked Mike with a force so that he spun around a little, almost losing his balance. "If I had the time, I'd take this lab apart stone by stone and learn all its secrets. However, you will kindly hand me a finished description of the technology that was used. And in fact, all the information you have."

"Are you threatening me?"

"So far, only asking insistently."

"I'm afraid, Colonel, that you have no idea where you are," Mike said, rubbing his shoulder. The Colonel's poke was rather painful. "You and I are not in the capital at all. And not even close to it."

"What?"

"If you concentrate, you can feel it. There's an infinite abyss outside the lab."

"You think I'm buying this ruse?" Said Tirel. "I want information on the technology, and I'll be gone from here and leave you alone. I'm even willing to generously share the profits from the sale of this technology with you. How about two hundred thousand gold?"

"You think I believe you? You won't get out of here without me. This lab is, in fact, one big trap. And I'm the only one who can get you back up there…"

"Oh, is that so? I have forced people like you before," Tirel interrupted him. "Or have you forgotten that I used to interrogate foreign agents?"

Mike took a couple of steps away from Tirel and stepped outside the pentagram. The colonel watched his actions carefully and slowly stepped outside the pentagram's perimeter as well, keeping his eyes on him.

"Don't make any sudden moves," Tirel warned him.

"Or what?"

"No one can help you here. You are inferior to me in rank. You don't even have a weapon."

The colonel slowly drew his sword from its sheath and lowered it into an attack stance. He moved his free hand slightly to the side, preparing to use his spells.

"You say no one will help?" Smiled Mike. Behind the colonel's back near the far wall of the hall, he noticed the Efi figure.

"Don't be silly, kid," the colonel said in a threatening tone. "Give me the information and I'll spare you."

Instead of answering, Mike looked in Efi's direction. Their gazes met. At that moment, it was as if something possessed him. Uncertainty and fear were gone. Everything he had felt before was gone. Their place was taken by a thirst for satiation that was foreign to him. It was a thirst for devouring. At the same time, a predatory grin appeared on Efi's face. And waves ran through her ghostly body.

"Efi!" shouted Mike in a low voice. "His soul is yours now!" For a moment he thought he was sacrificing a still-living being to a god.

"What?" stunned Tirel by surprise.

He noticed that Mike was looking somewhere behind him. And the unnatural expression on his face sent a chill down his spine. The colonel, sensing something wrong, decided to turn around and look. But suddenly, he felt someone's cold fingers on his neck. Their coldness caused every muscle in his body to cramp. He couldn't move. Even with all his willpower, Tirel only managed to turn his head slightly. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something that shook him to the core.

Above his shoulder was the head of a demon. It resembled a human head, but at the same time, its thick facial bones made it look rougher. From its forehead grew two thick black horns that diverged upward and backward. Dark red scales were visible at the lower part of the head. Black eyes with a red vertical pupil looked directly into Tirel's eyes.

The head opened its mouth, and the colonel saw two rows of sharp teeth. And among them, four elongated fangs stood out in particular. Horror seized him, and a cold sweat covered his body. The demon's mouth closed over his shoulder, splashing scarlet blood.

"What a shame, I forgot I don't have a physical body," Efi said, pulling away from Tirel's shoulder.

Mike couldn't take his eyes off her. For a second, he thought he tasted blood in his mouth, and then a slight disappointment followed as if he couldn't get what he wanted.

"Okay, but you're still mine."

Efi pulled away from Tirel a little. Then she squeezed his neck harder and lifted his body above the floor. The colonel's face turned purple.

"I hope I haven't forgotten how to do this."

With her free hand, Efi touched Tirel's head with her palm. The next moment, Mike felt a surge of energy. Efi's palm lit up with a faint greenish-white glow. She began to slowly move her palm away from Tirel's head. Then, a short distance away, a translucent outline emerged from Tirel's head, as if his head were split in two. The farther Efi took her palm away, the smaller the translucent head became, slowly transforming into a shapeless blob.

When the blob was fully formed and no small part of Tirel could be pulled out of it anymore, Efi suddenly looked straight into Mike's eyes.

"The nice part is next."

There was a satisfied smile on her face. Mike, too, felt satisfaction mixed with anticipation. And a pleased smile involuntarily appeared on his face as well.

Tirel's sword fell out of his hand and tinkled to the floor. But Mike didn't pay the slightest attention to it. Ephie brought the blob to her mouth and sucked it out in a swift motion, then tossed the colonel's soulless body aside like a rag doll.

Nothing happened for a couple of seconds, but then Mike felt a slight burning sensation on the back of his head. The burning quickly went down his spine until his whole body was on fire.

The ripples went through Efi's ghostly body like ripples in water. And Mike experienced an incredible wave of pleasure from the satiation. His body struggled to keep its balance. Efi's pupils went from vertical to round and shrunk to little dots. She closed her eyes and a translucent veil enveloped her. In a second her body began to glow with a pale greenish glow.

Slowly her body began to change: her scales became lighter, giving way in some places to pale pink skin; two sets of new horns began to grow on her head, forming a kind of crown; and a bright red dot-shaped like a tear appeared on her forehead.

Watching her transformation, Mike felt it all: his bones ached, his skin burned, even the growth of his horns. The pleasure was slowly replaced by pain.

It went on like that for several minutes. Then Efi opened her eyes and flew over to him and touched his cheek with her hand.

"Now you're definitely mine," heard Mike's melodious voice.