Chapter183
Despite the formation of the crest upon Ellie's crotch, she didn't immediately undergo a transformation, there was still something holding her back. Unlike when I had Corrupted the others, I now had a sense of how close I was to corrupting someone, though I was still unsure of the exact parameters. In Ellie's case however, I felt that I had a decent idea of what was causing it. For her, I was almost positive that despite my similarities to the Vell she had loved long ago, I wasn't them, even if I had some of their memories. I could only hope that if I spent more time with her that she would stop being so reluctant.
For now though, I still needed her help for dealing with Gabriel and when I talked about what I planned to do, Ellie was shocked at my malicious thoughts, though she agreed that Gabriel was deserving of such a punishment. Having enlisted her for help I also informed Kalista and the three of us met just outside the estate gates. It was obvious that I would need to guide them to the location where Alcrem and Gabriel were held as it was unlikely that anyone would find it without guidance.
Taking the two through the winding alleyways we eventually found ourselves before a set of cellar doors, however, when opened, rather than the sight of a cellar, a narrow and steep winding staircase was present. There was no better place to hide two captives than in the same place that I had been trapped not but a few days ago. However, unlike when it was under the control of the two that were now trapped, the cavern had been transformed into a mess of webs, making escape very difficult if Alcrem or Gabriel somehow managed to free themselves from the barrier I had erected to imprison them, and that wasn't to mention that they would have to get through everything in only a few minutes at most, since Ashara was always aware of their state thanks to several minion spiders she left to watch.
While moving through the area would have proved extremely difficult, if not basically impossible, for anyone besides me or Ashara, all of the webbing here was mine, which meant that I could easily make a pathway for others with thread manipulation as we moved. This was the first time that Ellie or Kalista had seen my work on a large scale and both of them were quite impressed as we walked through the thick weave of white threads before eventually emerging into a clear area. A land bridge that could only comfortably fit a single file line that led to a small circular island, both of which were surrounded by a lake of silvery metal like liquid.
I had been forced to do some excavation and construction work to repair the large crack that had formed so the island was slightly larger than when I had been imprisoned. Despite the fact that I was extremely vexed by the two people I had imprisoned, I had plans for them, so I had also built a small set of facilities that was able to take care of the minimum of their basic needs.
The two prisoners looked at me with obvious contempt in their eyes, but I ignored them as I cleared out an area of webs. Once I had an area I felt was appropriately sized I crossed the land bridge and entered the barrier that was trapping both Alcrem and Gabriel. I didn't bother asking or hesitating as I walked up to Gabriel and forcefully picked her up, adjusting the barrier to allow her to pass through for the moment. She struggled as I brought her back to the area I had cleared out, but was unable to break from my grasp even as I placed her in the center of the area, and caused part of the stone floor to rise and encase her limbs as I nodded at Ellie.
Ellie nodded back as she approached the restrained Gabriel who was glancing around in confusion and contempt. The rather ragged clothing that covered Gabriel was torn off by Ellies hands as she produced a quill and inkwell. My efforts were focused on keeping Gabriel restrained as Ellie began to draw strange patterns all over Gabriel's exposed skin. Once the patterns were finished, Ellie began to chant in a haunting, yet beautiful language that I was unable to understand, her hands making rhythmic movements as they neared Gabriel's body once more.
It didn't take long before the desired effect took place and Ellie's hand grasped the air, her hand barely scraping the skin of Gabriel. As her hand pulled and Ellie stood upright, so too did a stream of what appeared to be black fog, however, not only did I know better, but I could sense that it was actually the soul of Gabriel, her body now an empty husk. Ellie stepped back, the soul clutched in her hands as I stepped towards the body.
Just as Ellie dealt with the soul, I was going to deal with the body. The black ink that Ellie had applied was gone, but it didn't matter for me as I laid one hand upon the neck and the other on the crotch, just above the groin. Unlike when her soul had inhabited the body, Gabriel's body was no longer able to form any resistance as I formed a decidedly one-sided pact with it. Once the blackened choker-like crest appeared denoting enslavement on the neck, along with a pink lust crest on her crotch, Ellie kneeled to my side as the both of us worked to reattach Gabriel's soul into her body. Even though the two were perfectly compatible, it was still a delicate process and not something I would have attempted alone.
It would be different if the soul was willing, such as when I'd replaced the Khetoran beast soul with Steria's, but with someone so antagonistic towards me like Gabriel, it was better to be safe than risk losing her soul, there was important information that I desired from her. Before releasing the restraints, I called Kalista over and transferred the master's rights to her. Gabriel would surely resist with everything she could muster were she to be ordered by me to do anything, but I doubted that such resistance would happen with Kalista at the wheel.
All that was left was for Gabriel to wake, and then we could proceed with the second phase of the operation. Something I imagined Kalista was looking forward to, though probably a bit too much in my opinion. Not that I could really judge seeing as not only had I made a lover out of my stepmother, but also my actual mother as well.