Free Web NovelChapter 418: Avatar of Libra
As she floated above the water, her body barely supported by a weak current, Eleanor let her thoughts darken even further. She gazed at the murky reflections dancing on the surface, then simply told herself: "It would be better if I disappeared." This idea, as grim as it was, brought her a form of bitter peace. She thought that she would no longer have to fight, no longer have to endure betrayals, no longer have to relive those painful memories that haunted her every night. Just nothingness. Nothing else.
Yet, at that precise moment, something changed in the water around her. A demonic mana began to seep through her pores, then into her veins. This icy energy spread slowly, as if it were seeking every corner of her weakened body to take control. Eleanor felt this foreign force trying to consume her from within. She wanted to fight back, but her muscles no longer responded. "Just let it happen," she thought with resignation. She no longer even had the strength to reject the invader.
Suddenly, a gigantic monster emerged from the liquid darkness. It measured at least twenty meters long and its silhouette evoked that of a leviathan. Its scaly skin glowed faintly, as if covered in phosphorescent slime. It advanced toward her silently, slicing through the water with a disconcerting grace for such a massive creature. Then it opened its immense maw, revealing several rows of sharp teeth, and prepared to swallow her whole.
Just as Eleanor believed everything was about to end, a clear voice rang out directly in her head.
[Do you want to take the path of the avatar of the balance?]
[This path will allow you to maintain the balance of this corrupted world. It will also give you the power to prevent the birth of the avatar of the thirteenth constellation.]
Eleanor narrowed her eyes underwater, which sent a slight sting into her eye sockets. "What the hell is this bullshit?" she breathed to herself. A spark of annoyance crossed her despair. She had asked for nothing, she just wanted to disappear. Why did they have to come and offer her yet another burden at the very last moment?
Despite her irritation, she sketched a derisive smile. After all, she had absolutely nothing left to lose. Her body was already floating between life and death. So why refuse? Why not accept this proposal that came from nowhere, if only to see what would happen?
"I accept your proposal," she murmured in the water, her voice barely perceptible, drowned out by the lapping of the small waves.
No sooner had she spoken these words than a silent explosion occurred at the center of her chest. A mana of a nature she had never encountered - both mystical and arcane - burst out of her body with incredible violence. This power radiated in all directions, sweeping away everything in its path. The rocks protruding from the bottom were pulverized. The water currents were pushed back like mere mist. Even the water surrounding her evaporated or was projected onto the walls of the crevasse.
In a few seconds, a large perimeter was completely dried up. Eleanor found herself lying on a rocky and damp ground, where moments before she had still been floating. A strange void settled at the bottom of this crevasse. However, those who were at the top of the chasm could observe nothing of this display of power. The wall was too deep, and the surrounding darkness masked what was happening below.
A filament of pure light then emerged from the cloud of energy enveloping Eleanor. This filament unfolded with lightning speed. In the same movement, it headed toward the leviathan and cleanly sliced through its massive neck. The monster’s head tilted backward, then crashed heavily onto the dried ground with a dull thud. Its gigantic body remained standing for a moment, twitching reflexively, before collapsing in a final spasm that made the rock beneath Eleanor tremble.
She remained lying down for a long moment, contemplating the motionless carcass, while the white light continued to envelop her gently.
Eleanor felt a new strength circulating within her. Her body, though broken by the fall, began to heal gradually. The fractured bones knit themselves back together, and the pain diminished until it became bearable. She stood up with difficulty, her soaked clothes clinging to her skin. Her eyes, darkened moments earlier, now shone with a strange and unknown gleam.
She contemplated the chaos she had just caused. Gravel littered the ground, and cracks ran along the rocky walls. "What is happening to me?" she murmured. Her voice echoed in the unusual silence that had followed the clamor of the struggle. She placed a hand on her chest and sensed the arcane mana beating like a second heart, steady and powerful.
She took a few steps on the now completely dry ground. Her boots left behind damp traces that evaporated slowly. The leviathan’s body lay nearby, its flesh still twitching with nervous spasms. Eleanor approached and placed a hand on one of its scales. "Even the monsters of the depths can no longer reach me now," she said in a low voice, as if to convince herself.
Exhausted, she sat for a moment against a rocky wall, closed her eyes and caught her breath. The mysterious voice that had spoken to her earlier in her head had not manifested again. Yet Eleanor understood that this path, which she had accepted without truly choosing it, was going to change everything. The balance of the world, the thirteenth constellation... these notions swirled in her mind without her yet grasping their meaning. Despite this confusion, a new determination grew within her.
"Well... why worry about all that? For now, let’s just find a way out of this place," she thought.
She stood up fully. Her slender body stood straight despite the accumulated fatigue. She had a graceful silhouette, and her fine features revealed both her youth and an inner strength that nothing seemed able to break. A slight smile appeared on her lips. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
She then began to advance through the underground galleries, scrutinizing every corner in search of an exit. Each step strengthened her resolve. The demonic mana and the arcane mana now coexisted within her, forming a precarious but undeniably powerful balance.
Meanwhile, on the surface, the other members of the group went about their activities, completely unaware of the transformation that had just occurred in the depths.
If Kaiser had been present on the scene, he would no doubt have noticed unusual signs. For even if he knew that Eleanor had just received a system, he might have been able to make a connection between this system and one of the constellations...
