Read Novel Full Chapter 451: Ascension in Madness
Chapter 451: Chapter 451: Ascension in Madness
Chapter 451 – Ascension in Madness
BADUM—!
Inara was in a complete trance, her mind flooded by the strange but now familiar whispers.
There was this unsettling feeling that crept into her heart at the whispered words; words that opened her heart, making it ready to listen and feel something she never thought she ever could.
Slowly, the Heiress of Monsters began to grasp why Echidna said that this place was her beginning... that this place... was the root of her darkness.
’Madness, lass, Madness.’
The whispers continued, and even grew louder. At the beginning it felt like multiple beings talking at the same time, their voices overlapping each other in a strange chorus that made her existence shiver. Now, Inara could distinguish more than the voices.
She could feel their intents. And those intents were filled with madness, madness that entered deep within her.
She began to struggle, her mouth letting out gurgling, suffocating sounds, her very existence unable to contain such pure and ancient intents.
’There is solace in madness, lass. And there is darkness in madness, as much as there is light in madness. Do you listen, lass? What do you hear then?’
Heartbeats. Inara wished to answer, but found herself unable to. Everything in her was in a paused state except her mind.
She was hearing heartbeats — ones louder than her own, and in such a strange rhythm it felt like someone was speaking to her through them.
The rhythm... oh, they felt like a dance.
A dance of Madness.
At that, Inara’s mind expanded, light and darkness pouring down inside her like water filling a parched hole.
Her body glowed, shining green and murky black, causing the tentacles to cackle with sinister excitement. They began to continuously twist, writhe, swirl upon themselves in strange fashion.
Looking at them from above, one could notice that they were moving in a pattern that closely resembled a snake biting its own tail.
’Continuity, self-preservation, infinity, boundless hunger. You have them. You are her daughter, after all. You are our
daughter. Oh lass, oh lass, are you listening? Tell me, oh tell us then, what do you hear?’Voices. Rhythms. Breathing.
Again, Inara wished to answer. Voices and such were all she was hearing; voices different from the whispers opening her heart. The breaths of those voices caressed her soul, and she shivered with delight and horror.
She realized soon after that the voices were the voices of the world, the voice of the King of Kings.
With that...
Something began to sprout from her mind, nurtured by the light and darkness.
Light was the first to sprout a seed, glowing a green ray on the parched soil that was Inara’s mind. Yet, it was soon swallowed up by the dark murky seed of Darkness. However, the absorption was erratic, volatile in a way that everything became forever altered.
When Light and Darkness refused to meld with each other seamlessly — to be one and only — the only thing that could be born out of such stubborn individuality in a world of duality was...
’Oh, Lass, MADNESS! The Warren! Oh, the Warren is indeed—!’
Madness sprouted from the mind of Inara. The light cloaking her body shifted, becoming one of crimson-black. The tentacles began to scream — screams of joy and fear and dread.
They immediately fled her body in haste. Some of them were late enough, earning the fate of being burned alive by the light.
Smoke rose like the breathing of a sleeping giant, screams intensified, and Inara’s body was now visible for all to admire.
The crimson-black light was strange, made of hands, hugging Inara on all sides. Especially her head.
Her head was completely covered, nothing could be seen except her eyes — and they were monstrous even though they were closed.
The light’s glow intensified, reaching a level so high it looked like the world was bleeding. But with that light, the seed of madness inside Inara grew more and more until it reached the level of a sapling.
And right at that point, when madness was high enough, when light and darkness were swallowed until nothing but pure void remained...
Sublimation blessed the mind and existence of Inara.
Her eyes were still shut, yet crimson-black blood dripped from them.
Each inch of that blood seemed to hold thousands of blinking eyes and grinning sharp-toothed mouths.
’Ah... so it was it.’ The Heiress of Monsters croaked, then cracked into uncontrollable laughter, feeling her body bathed in a comforting light.
Something had been permanently changed in her Self. Her senses were now so sharp Inara was seeing and listening to things her mind could hardly fathom.
Old voices — ancient and utterly terrifying — boomed, each of their words like a touch of madness and decadence.
She realized only then that she was in the middle of them, lying there, observed with eerie focus and curiosity but also with greed and envy.
Inara suppressed a shiver. At least, she tried.
’Open your eyes, Lass, and let everything be complete.’
The whispers came back, but Inara instinctively refused to obey this time. However, the choice was no longer hers.
Inara’s eyes snapped wide open, taking in the sight of everything around her in one glance.
Her mouth stretched wide... and screamed.
Her madness reached then such a level that...
[You have attained Sublimation through Warren of Madness.]
The Will sang.
[Fantastic! You have obtained the right to take your own Evolution—!]
The Will paused, seeing with the scream of Inara a burst of monsters out of her body and a change in the whole space.
Taking a second more, The Will continued,
[You have created your domain.]
[You have obtained the title: Scion of Madness.]
[Brace yourself, Inara Ouroboros Serpentine, you are ascending to the next rank!]
All of that was happening while Inara was billowing with madness, her mind still not mended after seeing those sights.
Those sights that the origins of those whispers mercifully erased from her mind, for...
’Not ready! Not ready! The Warren not ready!’
’But soon... ah... soon!’
...
At the same time, Echidna was still in her graveyard, her head lifted upward with a wide smile smearing her monstrous face.
’She has succeeded.’ Echidna laughed with terrible horror. ’SHE HAS DONE IT!’
Her knees kissed the ground, her face suddenly began to weep — tears of joy and fear all knotted together in a twisted way.
Inara had succeeded in attaining Sublimation through Madness. That was something none had ever achieved without losing themselves afterward.
Would Inara succeed?
Echidna didn’t know, for she had never expected her chosen one to ever succeed. But she should have known better. Oh, she damned well should!
’Oh, Medusa! Medusa! She is indeed your daughter! Oh, how jealous I am! She should have been mine! Mine!’
She wept more and more, rolling herself on the ground rotten with blood and corpses restlessly, crying so much her face was soaked.
’I see now your goal, Medusa, my dear sister! I see now your goal!’
She hated her, had always done so, and always would.
But now, at that time, Echidna decided to do something she never thought she would.
[You have succeeded, Echidna Serpentine, Mother of Monsters. You have succeeded in the Gambit, in Death without Death.]
[The Warrens are trembling, the gods are watching, They are watching.]
[The Navel is listening. So tell us, Mother of Monsters...]
[What is your Pathway?]
Echidna’s tear-streaked face was buried in her two hands, her wide eyes slipping through the cracks of her fingers.
This was the day she had prepared for since the moment she had chosen Inara as her Heiress.
Her action was never for the child to fight her betrayers... oh no, never. It was only for her to achieve godhood — all to ascend.
Now she had done it. Yet she was about to do something contrary to what she had been dreaming about.
Laughing like one touched by madness, Echidna finally answered:
"I relinquish — surrender — myself to my niece, Inara Ouroboros Serpentine."
Oh, Medusa, my dear sister, I hate you.
But I love you.
[Unbelievable!]
—End of Chapter 451—