Into the World of Twisted Wonderland

🐙The Merchant from the Depths🐙 Chapter 37

Angel lays on the floor, clutching her body as tremendous pain courses through her. She tries to comfort herself by hugging herself, hoping that the pain would lessen, but it proved to be useless, as even a touch burns her skin, making her scream out in pain. The pain was unbearable, as if something was possessing her, and it's reminding her that she's alive, but she wishes she was dead, at least it would make her not experience the pain. She could only scream out in agony, seeing that her arms were starting to turn pitch black, fear starting to course through her as she looks on in horror, not expecting it to happen. She could only reach out, hoping to grasp something in her clutches that could help her, but she couldn't touch anything, her arm falling to the ground as she continues to scream. She only looks up, seeing the familiar person in front of her, as they look at her behind the mask, not knowing what expression they are expressing as they look at her. She holds her hand out, grabbing the bottom of their robe, almost as if trying to get their attention, but they only stare at her, and she just falls over, screaming at the impact. Mentor only looks at her and silently bends over, taking Angel in their arms, in which she only screamed loudly at the touch, almost as if their touch made it worse, and started walking, letting her scream at the pain. She tried to squirm away from the hold, but the pain only made it worse as she continues, only being left a screaming mess as the blackness only spreads throughout her body. Mentor only ignores her, continue walking, as if they had a set goal in mind of what to do with her. Angel could only clutch their robe, trying to subside the pain but it doesn't, leaving her to basically give up and accept her impending fate, leaving Mentor to do what their doing. Mentor continues walking while Angel stops screaming, but that didn't mean the pain has subsided, it was more of the fact that it felt useless to scream, it's not like anything was going to help her. How was she supposed to process what's going on? She felt exhausted of everything, maybe it would be fine if she gave up. Maybe...it would be good if she just let it happen. With that thought, she slowly started to close her eye.

"Do not close your eyes, little one," Mentor speaks, shocking Angel, waking her up. "I know you're exhausted, but this is imperative," they said, leaving her confused. What's so important for her to lose rest over for? Mentor suddenly stops, making Angel look at them confused as they stare down at her, but they weren't staring at her, more like below her, and Angel followed their line of sight. Below her, was the pond she saw before, in which she remembered that when she first saw it, she tried to reach out for it, only for Mentor to say she wasn't ready for it yet, but the question arose: why was she here? "You're still not ready for it, little one," Mentor says as they lower her into the pond, and Angel only looked at it in fear, wondering if she has to exhaust more energy into swimming. "But we don't have much as a choice as you're corrupting at an alarming rate." Angel's eyes widen at the statement as Mentor slowly eased her into the water, feeling a slight sense of relief throughout her body as she slowly sinks into the water. "I did not expect this to happen, but you were secretly corrupted without my knowing." Angel only looked at them, feeling herself sink in the water as they only look at her. "You went through 3 purifications within 3 months," they explain while Angel only floats in the pond, the cool feeling of the water giving her relief as she relaxes in the pond, her body slowly becoming normal. "Normally, purifiers cannot handle this number of purifications within a short time. The blot would exceed their magical capacity and perish, but you have no magic." They become silent, trying to figure out the next words to say. Angel tries to listen to them, but the relaxing feeling of the water only starts to make her start to close her eyes, feeling comfortable as she floats. Mentor only look at her lidded eyes and sigh at her, knowing that what she was feeling was impossible to avoid. "This pond will help you maintain your status as a Purifier. It will help you understand the responsibilities of what we do, and it might give you some new insight about yourself," they explain, only to see that Angel has started to slowly sink into the pond, not hearing their words. "If possible, it might help you awaken to a power that could help you in the future."