The powers surged against each other, and though the hooded man couldn’t see them directly, he knew he had to get out of there. The door was just a few steps away, so he made a run for it. But before he could reach it, a sudden wave of joy washed over him. The room felt so overwhelmingly happy — why would he need to leave?
He halted for a mont, glancing back at Reeva, whose body was shaking uncontrollably. The battle between the two mystic circles was tearing Reeva apart from within. His body flickered with strange energy as the hooded man beca ensnared by the conflicting forces.
Reeva could only hold on through sheer willpower. The energies clashed inside him like waves crashing against a stone, wild and unyielding. He tried desperately to calm both powers, but it was no use. He could only use the coldness inside him to protect a small corner of his mind from being completely overtaken — from becoming a demon of both happiness and void at once.
The mystic forces refused to relent, attacking each other, each vying for dominance. It was clear there would be no end to this battle. The energies continued to generate, throwing themselves into the fray, and dispersing into the air.
Reeva’s sight was filled with flashes of yellow and white, bouncing off each other and vanishing into the ether. With each strike, the two mystic forces seed to draw more and more power from their surroundings. Reeva could see that Dilan and the hooded man were on the verge of collapse, their bodies trembling under the imnse pressure.
If he didn’t stop the fight now, soone might die. And then, Reeva would have to deal with the aftermath — the consequences of killing two people, and possibly fleeing from both the church and the cult at the sa ti.
With the last of his willpower, he gathered all his coldness and directed it toward the white mystic power, trying to encircle and trap it. But it was like trying to stop an ocean wave with his bare hands. The force was too great for his mind to contain, sweeping away everything in its path.
He switched back to a defensive stance, no longer caring about controlling the energies. He had already done everything he could. If two people died here, it was a better fate than allowing his own body to spiral out of control and endanger the entire city.
The mystic powers continued to drain everything from their surroundings, consuming the very beliefs of those nearby. The people’s minds began to falter, their thoughts were stripped away, leaving only emptiness behind.
Dilan’s eyes turned white, his mind swallowed by darkness. His body collapsed to the floor in a graceless heap. The hooded figure lasted a little longer but, ultimately, his hands clutched his head, and he fell in a similar manner.
As the battle neared its end, both mystic circles had shrunk in size, reduced to no larger than a heart. Reeva felt his control returning with each passing second. A strange smile crept onto his face as he regained his senses.
The battle ended in a draw, both sides diminished but not defeated. The white circle could have won easily if Reeva had given it the intent, allowing it to consu his happiness and overpower the yellow circle.
But Reeva had managed to guard his mind just in ti, preventing a complete disaster. His eyes darted around the room, assessing the state of the people from whom he had drained mystic force.
Not good...
Thoughts raced through his mind. Explaining to the other cult mbers that he had accidentally hollowed a man out was not an ideal situation. And the fact that he had reduced two mbers to that state doubled the trouble he was in.
His only solution was to run. He didn’t know how much the cult knew about his involvent, but he guessed that his actions would reach soone higher up. Reeva would beco an enemy, but at least by escaping now, he wouldn’t have to face the entire cult.
He could always bring help later.
With a decision in mind, he quickly made his move, dashing for the door, desperate to leave this place behind. In an hour, the trace of the white mystic power would be gone from his body, and he’d be a free man.
However, just as he was about to reach the door, sothing happened. His world remained in black and white, the lingering effect of the void’s touch. In this painful, colorless reality, Reeva felt sothing moving inside.
He instinctively turned and saw that the picture of darkness had started to shift. A hand extended beyond the two-dinsional surface of the painting, reaching toward Reeva. Its speed was instant, the mont Reeva noticed it, the hand had already grabbed hold of his body.
"M...ystic..."
A sound erged from the endless void, echoing through the room like a command. A chill ran down his spine the mont he heard it. He felt it in every part of his body — even his soul.
The hunger.
It was hungry for sothing, and its attention was locked onto him... and the hooded figure. Reeva’s eyes widened in shock as he looked at the hooded man, who was now rising, seemingly unhard from the earlier drain. Surprise flooded Reeva’s mind. How is it possible? The man had been emptied of his belief, yet here he stood.
The hand started to pull on Reeva’s body, dragging him closer to the void. His attention snapped back to the mystic hand. He tried to infuse his body with his power to resist the pull, but he knew that at any mont, the white mystic force would attack and try to take over his body again. He’d rather beco a demon of happiness than a demon of everything.
He needed to find a way to use the white belief to his advantage. At that moont the hooded man rose.
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