Chapter 72: Fight and Flight

"And now you've done it, system, what kind of crap is this, it feels like someone is making this up on the spot, really quite shameless I say."

"Do I look like a king-killer to you, I probably couldn't even scratch one of the guard's armor, also, where the hell did such a random quest come from anyways, the world better not be burning already." snarled Imogen as she sliced off the head of a skeleton that was heading towards the barely visible Clarence a few meters down.

*System Response: I told you, it was for motivation, a goal to aim for in the distant future, were you not listening at all!

"I was a bit distracted is all, no need to be such a dick about... oh wait, you weren't actually being that mean, darn you system!"

*System Inquiry: I don't get it, do you want me to be a jackass, or not a jackass, I'm getting mixed signals here

"Whatever trips your trigger, to be honest, it wouldn't be... oh god is that a hand!"

*System Smirk: What? You've seen hands before... is the size a bit intimidating?

"You fricking think!" "It's three times as big as a horse, what the hell is it!"

*System Laughter: Oh... you know, only the hand of a Lesser Great One, no big deal

"Crap!" "It got Clarence... I'm not saving him, I think he's dead already actually; no point."

*System Quest: Save Clarence before he bites the dust at the hand of a Great One, which means eternal sufferance in the pits of Heldom - Rewards - A special little secret - Penalties - death of Clarence, death of Auden, death of Emril... you get the picture

"Who's Emril... wait, no time for questions, time to punch a Great One in the face... as a tick, I use my human form way too much." Sighed Imogen while scuttling across the walls and biting into the Great One's massive hand.

*Greater Blood Type Assimilated: Great One - Certain bloodlines can be assimilated if they're pure enough, with enough blood consumed, one can actually mimic a fraction of the bloodline's granted powers, further boosted by consuming the core of the creature (Tiers 4 and up)

"Oh, another thing you just so happened to not mention before, system... not that it's of importance to me... yet."

*System Excuse: One such as I only meant the creatures blood had to be tier 4 and pure, it was not tailored to one such as you... although one would also find such a fact to be quite true

"Thanks for the false hope system-." and then Imogen was slammed into a wall, the air knocked completely out of her.

The Great One then grabbed Imogen and dropped Clarence, pulling her out of the caverns almost immediately, bringing her closer to it's grotesque face, almost entirely made up of melted flesh. The Great One opened its mouth wide and dangled Imogen over top, her visage paling in comparison to the enormous chasm below.

When the titanous beast finally released Imogen from its grasp, she had barely enough time to switch to her human form and grab onto The Great One's sagging lip.

With impressive abandon, Imogen pulled herself up and onto the colossal creature's face, immediately switching back to her tick form and latching onto it's lower cheek.

"Ah, this brings me back to the good ole days when everything dwarfed me this much in comparison... Now I wonder if dwarves actually exist in this world." pondered Imogen while watching The Great One pick up Clarence again and put it's thumb against his neck.

*System Excitement: Where's the popcorn, I know I left it somewhere in here, I also predict someone is about to die, will it be you, or Clarence, Imogen?

"No one is going to die, not me, not Clarence, that is a promise... but who knew this fat lump of flesh would have intelligence, like seriously!" Exclaimed Imogen while firing a Dryad's Thorn at The Great One's saggy hand and frowning when the thorn bounced off.

Imogen, with poor reaction time, then tried to cast Vine Wrap, though the skill didn't seem to manifest due to her extreme lack of power. With not many options left, Imogen prepared to use Plea To The Vines, her body almost swarming with power already.

Imogen somewhat seemed ready to take on a faint sheen of green, but before she could, in almost a fraction of a second, she saw Clarence scream in agony and then explode into a shower of blood, some of it landing upon her face and sliding down her neck.

Imogen watched The Great One point down to Auden as if to say "He's next". Imogen was too surprised to feel anger yet and watched with blank eyes as the last of Clarence's blood slowly hit the ground.

Her vision seemed to get blurry for a second and the world seemed to fade, she couldn't tell if this was real, or not anymore. The powerful ward the system had cast on her seemed to break almost instantly, the one in place to ensure insanity does not occur by any means necessary, the one tasked with keeping Imogen from realizing what a hell this world was and all the personalities it created to keep her safe shattered with it.

Clarence, even though one could not see it, even though Imogen could not see it, was the closest thing Imogen had to family again; when he died, every last suppressed emotion, pented up for two years, almost surged to the surface like magma in a volcano. Suddenly, Imogen was Imogen again, but that didn't last long as Clarence's death struck her heart like a dagger.

The wall preventing access to the heart, only forming false fits of sadness to maintain secrecy, was gone and the refugees outside spared no time in ravaging the city for two years worth of supplies.

The bright beating heart that had never faltered this far, felt real pain for the first time in two years, pain that could kill a man if it came all at once. Imogen couldn't handle it, she felt her conscious waver, the system had forcefully shut down her body to prevent any more damage to the mind.

All she could see was Auden getting crushed as her eyes shut, this was life, she had been spared from it for so long, now it was time she woke up.

~~~

"I've failed someone... how could this have happened, I've failed a mortal!"

"I've failed to spare her the world, blocking out all the blood and death, pain and suffering, showing only glimpses of a truth that would only last so long."

"I knew this of course, but the transition was supposed to be slow, slowly the false gaps would stop showing and her mind would see all the death around her."

"She never quite noticed the gaps, things that seemed quite unrealistic, things made up on the spot to make the world seem more light hearted, like how she never noticed that the slave camp she was taken was taken to was filled with people being tortured in the most gruesome of ways possible, no one ever came to talk to her... she never noticed."

"Now she'll die, the pain, she can't handle it, no one could, as she slowly sees the world in its entirety."

"How could I have failed? I took precautions for every possible future, she was said to live in all of them, I've never been wrong before... So how?"

~~~

"Can you believe it, it's winter already, the first snow has already arrived." Smiled a bartender as he placed down a mug in front of an old friend.

"It always snows here, why does it even matter if it's winter, or not, there's no difference." Suspired a man while sipping from the mug and then slamming it onto the counter.

"I'm sick and tired of it, Ygisal day, snow, Hytoli celebration, snow, even fucking Polivais festival is covered in snow!" Exclaimed the while abruptly standing up and then suddenly getting knocked down by a young boy as he ran by.

"Listen Bertold, you can move whenever you like, hell, head east to The Magma Trenches for all I care, just stop scaring away my customers-."

There was a flash of light, it seemed as though it illuminated the entire world for a second and then it was gone, snuffed out in an instant, all that was left in its place was a searing crater that held an egg shaped rock in the center

~~~

"...Snow"