The thing that looked like Vanessa easily snapped the cuffs on her hand before rising in the air. Her long black hair suddenly seemed to ripple, changing into a deep pink, her skin darkened into a smooth stone-like grey.
Her green eyes were now pink slits tinted with red inside. It was like Vanessa was wearing Euphoria and not the other way around. Yet, it was both pretty and creepy at the same time.
Her lips twisted into a cold, joyless smile.
"You...are really annoying, Asshole." Her eyes then narrowed as she looked down at his still-smiling face. "Yet, fascinating."
"Aww, thanks." He smiled as a thin crack spread out from behind him. "Though, I guess this is the end for our little meet-and-greet. I'd like you to leave now."
"Presumptuous of you to think you have a chance at escaping me. But none the less, I still have many questions for you." She said succinctly, her smile not fading in the slightest, yet only becoming sharper as tendrils of red mist unfurled from her form, weaving into a crimson cloak before spreading to engulf the cracking mindscape.
"You managed to sense the fact that you were in an illusion and even break out of it. That alone makes you worthy of my time."
Rael's eye twitched as he began to feel a foreign presence creep against the edges of his mind, making it feel strangely sluggish.
They stared at each other for a moment before he sighed.
"Okay whatever, I'll answer your questions. Only three though, I don't have time to waste." He raised three fingers.
"You really think you are in a position to negotiate? I could very well erase you this instant if I so wished."
She snapped her fingers, causing the red mist to churn violently, engulfing the space around him and causing him to wince as the pressure on his mind spiked. His form seemed to blur a bit for a second, nearly becoming one with the red mist.
Still, he managed to keep a defiant smile as he simply shrugged.
"Well, there's that. But hey, humour me. What do you have to lose?"
He waited tensely to see if she'd still attack whole maintaining a casual, nonchalant smile. Outwardly, he seemed calm, even confident but he was panicking severely inside. He had to stall for a way to get out of this place.
He might have acted like he had a chance but even he knew that he was in grave danger.
He exhaled internally in relief as the mist receded a bit, not totally gone but still giving him enough space to think. Still the oppressive presence radiated by the ethereal tendrils still prickles at his senses.
Her eyes bore into his as she spoke.
"First of all. What are you?"
"I'm just an extremely delusional writer."
Rael replied instantly with a straight face.
He saw her brow twitch just the slightest as the pressure returned, this time even more than before.
'Yep, she's definitely pissed now.' he thought as he tried not to bow under the weight.
"Do you really intend to keep up this foolish charade much longer?"
"Is that your second question?" He smiled grimly as the storm seems to pause before slamming into him, forcing him to his knees, yet he didn't stop smiling, despite feeling whatever made up his form begin to nearly crack open under the immense pressure of her aura.
She didn't speak, instead watched with a smile that didn't reach her eyes as the fog engulfed the entirety of Rael's mind.
"You know, when I realized that I was going to have a trial, I expected to find a real challenge." He gritted through his teeth, black blood dripping out the edges, yet his eyes never left her, staring at her spitefully.
"...not a flat-chested woman playing dress up."
For a second, it seemed as if she would explode in rage and attack blindly, yet she simply laughed lightly as the mist around her morphed into sickle-edged tendrils, slowly moving towards her.
Then her smile turned cold.
"Your resistance is futile. Die and become nourishment."
The tendrils whipped out, cleaving into his form and latching onto him. A stifled groan escaped his mouth as he tried to destroy the tendrils, yet they simply remained clamped on his body, wrapping around his body like a vice.
Suddenly, he felt a strange weakness as the tendrils suddenly pulsed with a dark light. Faint wisps of black ink seeped out of his form, dissipating into the mist.
Rael started to finally feel danger as he felt something deep inside him being sucked away. His consciousness started to wane as more tendrils stabbed into him, sucking that black ink out of him. Red veins snaked across his skin, causing him to spam uncontrollably as unthinkable, blinding pain thrashed his soul from within.
'This is...bad.'
Hahaha.
'I m..ght actually die he...'
This is funny.
'Ah, I guess this is it.'
Is this really going to kill me?
'Ah, I messed up.'
Suddenly, right before his consciousness faded completely, a memory of a silver haired girl appeared in his mind.
'Yeah...what would sis do in this sit...tion?'
He chuckled darkly, black blood spilling out of his mouth, already knowing the answer.
Using all of his mental strength to turn his face towards her, her looked her in the eye and managed to flick a middle finger despite his upper arm riddled with holes.
"Y...h, she would t.ll me..."
End it.
No matter the cost.
Even if you have to do some crazy shit to get it done.
It's not that hard.
Just kill whoever's in the way.
What do you have to lose?
'Ah... that's right. I got it from her after all.'
"Hahaha."
Euphoria's eyes narrowed as she noticed his shoulders shaking.
"You delusional prick, you've finally lost your mind. Have you accepted your fate?" She smiled before her face froze as she hurriedly tried to back away from him.
This...
A single pulse echoed through the soulscape as Rael's eyes turned bright red, black blood spilling down the sides like tears.
The tendrils surrounding him suddenly darkened as a palpable black tide of essence surged out of his form like an ocean.
Euphoria lept back as the tide drowned out the space, swallowing the light and the mist alike.
But the crimson fog didn't fall that easily, Euphoria clicked her tongue and stretched her hands apart, a violent surge of crimson mist erupting to engulf the space around her.
"Shit." She cursed as she realised what was happening.All around her, the black rippled and churned against the wall of fog, slowly collapsing it.
"Just...what are you?" She said through gritted teeth as the darkness broke through the barrier, enveloping her.
[Delusional technique: Shikkoku no Keiyaku]