New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

1009  Offer accepted, Unexpected Result

The question surprised the harpy, as it wasn't something she was expecting to hear.

She looked down at her wounded body before setting her gaze back on the girl.

"How much more can I even sacrifice?" she asked rhetorically.

Jin-Sil chuckled lightly.

"I understand where you are coming from. But I'm talking about beyond your life. We may not look it, but our party has two people who could use you beyond your mortal limitations. Would you be willing to give yourself up to them for a shot at revenge on whoever did this to you?" Jin-Sil asked, a grin on her lips.

The harpy queen's brows furrowed.

"How so?" she asked.

Jin-Sil turned around, pointing at Alex and David, before turning back to the harpy.

"The first one I pointed can take your soul out of your mortal coil and make it fight beyond the reaches of life and death. As for the second one I pointed to, he can raise your body from the dead and give it a second chance at fighting your killer. Would you be open to that?"

The harpy queen looked at both humans the girl was talking about, her mind racing at the possibility.

'How could humans that look so weak wield powers that so vastly surpass the range of humanity's reach?' she wondered.

"Are you telling the truth, child?" the harpy asked, her eyes narrowing at Jin-Sil.

"Why would I bother lying to you at this point? It's not like I gain anything from tricking you, right?" Jin-Sil replied with a shrug.

Raising her head, the harpy addressed Alex and David, her voice echoing into everyone's heads again.

"The child of the hunt tells me two amongst you wield power over the coils of mortality. Do her words ring true?" she asked, gazing at Alex and David intently.

David didn't bother answering, letting the skeletons of kobolds out of his shadow, as they were too slow to follow the group's pace, so he had stowed them away temporarily.

As for Alex, he called out White Death, the giant wolf suddenly appearing by his side, his spectral body glimmering in the cave's darkness.

White Death glared at the harpy queen, low growling at her as the threat coming from her was still evident in his eyes.

Those actions convinced the harpy queen of the integrity of Jin-Sil's words, and she no longer doubted her. But something still troubled her.

"Can they use their power on anything? Or are they limited to weak creatures like the one they just showed?" she asked Jin-Sil, her voice still for all to hear.

White growled in response, ready to pounce on her at a second's notice.

'Just say the words, master,' White's voice echoed in Alexander's mind.

'Stay put for now,' he replied.

David was the first to answer.

"I can bring back creatures much stronger than these flimsy kobolds. But we don't want to attract the attention of the dungeon's master, do we?" he asked, mocking her slightly as he pointed to her wound.

The harpy queen huffed, eliciting another fit of coughing.

"Same goes for me," Alex said.

"But it is easier if the creatures themselves submit willingly," he added, glaring at the harpy intently.

It was clear to him why she was asking this.

The harpy stopped gazing at them, and her eyes landed on Jin-Sil again.

"Very well, child. I will let your friends do whatever they deem worthwhile with my body once I die. In the meantime, do you accept my gift?" she asked, her voice weakening.

She had no longer than a few minutes left. There was no more time to waste.

Jin-Sil looked at her, wondering what she had to offer, since she had still said nothing about it. But she could tell there wasn't much time left, so she didn't bother pushing for more information.

"Yeah, sure. Like I said earlier, anything that can help will be much appreciated," she answered, smiling at the harpy queen.

"Very well. Then I gift upon you a weapon made from my very essence. Something I can only assume will strike true in your grasp," the harpy queen said, before closing her eyes.

A surge of mana exploded out of her, and Alex quickly reacted, blocking it from leaving the room with his own before they got spotted by every other living thing within proximity.

He glared at the harpy queen, about to jump at her and attack, when he felt her quickly weakening. The next moment, an orb of white and green pulled out of the harpy queen's chest, floating before her momentarily before gliding into Jin-Sil's hands.

"Make good use of it, child of the hunt. May your attacks strike true, and your hunt ever be bountiful…"

And with those last words, her life finally extinguished.

Jin-Sil held the orb in her hands for a moment, feeling into it and trying to discern what it was before the orb suddenly shot into her head and disappeared.

Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, her body starting to convulse, and she dropped to the ground.

"Jin-Sil!" Kary and Alex shouted at the same time.

"No!" Rì-Chū shouted, bolting to her side.

Grabbing her off the ground before anyone else could touch her, Rì-Chū held her shaking body, trying to keep her from hurting herself.

His head snapped toward Cory, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Do something!" he shouted, snapping Cory's mind back to his body.

He rushed to her side, focusing his mind to try to find what was ailing her, but he couldn't discern any physical or mental ailment.

"I… I don't know what's going on with her," he admitted, feeling helpless.

Alex could feel the rage welling inside him, before Kary put her hand on his arm.

"Wait! I know what's happening. I've read about it online before," she said, holding Alexander back from going and cutting the harpy's body to pieces.

Everyone looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to say it would be alright.

"I think she's forming a soul weapon. I read online that some players learned about a type of weapon unique to each person. Apparently, it can only be formed within someone's body with the help of a mighty being. It's supposed to be stronger than even artifact weapons…" she said, unsure of the veracity of those claims.

"And what if that's not the case?" Alex asked, trying to stay hopeful, but still highly doubtful.

"We can only wait and see…" Kary said, clenching her hands tight.

"Only Jin-Sil can pull herself through this now."