The Abyssal Scrounger was amused.
It knew that humans could be arrogant. According to the information it got from its creators, it knew how they viewed themselves in high esteem, especially compared to other species. They saw their intelligence as their strongest suit, believing themselves to be superior to most other species.
They believed that even with a physical disadvantage, it was only a matter of time before they created something to bridge the gap and become greater than their opponents.
It was a cute ideology, no matter how naive.
Hence, when Osho had essentially put himself on a platter, the Abyssal Scrounger was, admittedly, surprised, but not shocked.
However, it did still hesitate for a fraction of a second. The pure surety in his eyes was a bit off-putting. It was easy to differentiate between confidence and arrogance, and with the way Osho spoke, it was as though his victory was a foregone conclusion.
But it didn’t take long for the Scrounger to remove its doubt. Sure, Osho was confident. But so what? The Abyssal Scrounger was an entity that excelled at taking control of others.
Sure some may have some innate resistance, and the stronger one became, the more potent their soul would be.
The Scrounger had no confidence in taking over the soul of an entity overly strong. But within the dame rank? It was practically child’s play.
It could already take control of beasts at the Adept rank, talk less of an Apprentice rank human.
Hence, it decided not to look at Osho’s confidence as something to fear and moved forward.
Its tar-like body hit him before seeping into his pores at an alarming rate. It waited for some sort of visceral reaction. But to its surprise, he didn’t even flinch.
’Hmph. I’ll tear down that arrogance of yours.’ It thought as it entered his body.
Black matter moved past tissue and bone as it went deep into him. This would be where most normal beings would he stumped, but the Abyssal Scrounger was anything but normal. Because it could sense something others couldn’t.
It didn’t take long to find. The pulsing white sphere was in the center of his being. Attached to it was a thick white thread that looked more like a small metal cable in terms of thickness.
’His bond with his beast.’ The Scrounger acknowledged before turning its attention to his soul, and he was amazed little surprised.
’Strange. It’s as potent as two individual souls put together. Why is that? Is that why he was so confident?’ It mused. However, it wasn’t worried.
In fact, it was a little disappointed.
’I expected more. Some shield or something.’ If it could, it would have shaken its head.
’Well, in the end, I got what I wanted.’ It moved forward.
Once it reached his soul, it reached forward with its tendrils. Tendrils that only needed to burrow into his soul and take root. Once this was done, it would be under his control.
’To think I sent my main body to accomplish such a mundane task. Truly disappointing.’ It sighed mentally as its tendrils ginally touched the soul, then they drilled into it
However, the expected result did not happen.
Usually, there would be a bit of resistance before the tendrils managed to break in and take root. But the Scrounger felt no such resistance. Instead, it was as though the tendrils were sucked inside.
Before it could ponder on such a phenomenon, it was startled when the pulling force became more potent and then irresistible.
’What is-?!’ It tried to pull away but was unable to as its being was forcefully sucked into the soul that pulsed almost greedily.
When it came to, it was momentarily disoriented.
’Where... am I?’ It thought as it looked around, confused.
Its surroundings were made up of dark sand that stretched on for as far as its senses could detect.
’... Barren. But how is that possible?’ It thought, confused.
Human souls were where their minds resided. Who they were, their personalities, and their memories. The body was the vessel that housed the soul.
Hence, whenever it took over a soul, it became privy to their lives on a fundamental level. Who they were from birth, the things they had done, wanted to do, their desires, main emotions, and so on.
But there was nothing here...
That’s when it had the compulsion to look up.
It did so, and when it did, its entire being trembled.
’... Impossible... this is... impossible...’ it’s thoughts stuttered as it simply couldn’t believe what it was witnessing
It was an entire cosmos.
Stars, colorful nebulae, celestial bodies, they all floated high above within Osho’s soul, all of them seeming to look down at the Abyssal Scrounger with the same indifference they would direct at a person.
At that moment, it felt a single, powerful emotion.
Complete and utter insignificance.
’Is... this why... he was so confident...?’ It thought as a sudden pressure started descending on it. Irresistible and powerful.
It started to get crushed, its mind fracturing, and before it was completely destroyed, it had one more fractured thought.
"BLEGH!!" Osho fell on his knees and retched. A thick black substance escaping him as he heaved.
The others exclaimed and quickly came to his side as he discharged the vile substance.
’Osho! Are you alright?!’ Gale asked through their bond, his worry pouring through it in powerful waves.
’Yeah... just give me a minute.’ He groaned once he’d expelled the remnants of the Abyssal Scrounger from his body and fell on his ass.
’Thank goodness that worked.’ He thought as his chest rose and fell. It was a gamble, but it had paid off.
When he was sure that the Abyssal Scrounger truly functioned by taking control of souls, he made a play at its abilities. After all, control should be what it excelled at, so it shouldn’t take a human openly questioning its ability to do just that lightly.
’It was young. Overly confident. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so careless.’ He thought as he started to stabilize his condition.
Their plan hadn’t exactly been simple, but it was certainly effective.
First was the bait aspect.
Gale—with his absurd perception—noticed Han Jiwon approach from a distance. He relayed to Osho how he seemed to reek of corruption, and Osho had put two and two together, realizing that he had somehow come into contact with and started serving the Abyssal Scrounger.
So with some quick thinking, he came up with a plan.
The ’fight’ they had was Gale inflicting non-lethal injuries on the others and doing a lot of intentional collateral damage to make it look like they had gone all out.
After that, Ellie used her crystals to ’bind’ the two of them.
Gale then retracted his domain to simply keep it around his body, using Mana cloaking to hide that he still jad a lot of Mana left. That way, it’d seem like it was an active skill that lost effect after he ’lost consciousness’. Which was why the others were exposed to the Corrupt Mana, to really sell the story.
After that, it was a matter of acting.
When Han Jiwon arrived, they had to play the part of reluctantly agreeing to Han Jiwon’s offer due to desperately wanting to survive.
He would then lead them to the Abyssal Scrounger for the confrontation.
The plan was far from perfect. If the Scrounger had used its Mana sense—if it even had one—it would have been able to notice the Mana within Osho.
Han Jiwon was also too relaxed. Had he been paying attention, he wouldn’t have turned his back to Osho, allowing himself to get beheaded so cleanly.
Osho flinched when a palm streaked across his face, creating a resounding slap.
His cheek immediately turned red from the impact, and he looked at Ellie with wide eyes, clearly not expecting the sudden action.
Nicolas and the triplets seemed equally startled, but to his surprise, Kurt, Sam, and Irene looked vindicated by Ellie’s action.
"What...?" Osho trailed off, genuinely perplexed.
"Don’t play dumb! You knew exactly how risky that was and you did it anyway!" Ellie grabbed him by his collar and pulled his face close to hers, and that’s when Osho’s eyes widened.
"Why can’t you at least tell me what you’re gonna do before you do it?! What would I have done if you failed and that thing took over your body?! I was helpless! I could only watch! What if I lost you again?!?" She screamed at him while shaking him, and Osho swallowed, his eyes darting around.
"I... I didn’t think..." He stammered, looking genuinely distraught.
"You’re right! You didn’t THINK! You always do this! You get an idea and act on it without even considering how it can affect those around you! Don’t you trust us? Don’t you trust ME?!" She pressed her head into his shoulder, her body skating as it was cracked by sobs.
’... I am such an idiot.’ He groaned inwardly as the implications of his actions finally hit him.
It was like she said. The moment he thought about doing something, he did it without thinking about how it affected others. He didn’t even bother to tell them why he was so sure his plan would work, he just did it.
"Dude," Kurt said, his voice uncharacteristically serious. "We aren’t saying you can’t do what you want, but as cringey as it sounds, we are a team, if you wanna do something. Especially something that’s dangerous, you should at least give us a heads-up first. You managed to make that thing reveal that it controls people by their souls, and then you literally invite it into yours. How are we supposed to feel?" Kurt said with a huff.
"Not cool man. You’re basically saying you don’t trust us to explain your plans. If you intend to just act out on your whims without telling us, then why are we even in a group?" Sam voiced her distaste as well.
Irene said nothing, but her glare spoke volumes.
Osho closed his eyes and took a breath, allowing their words to wash over him. Then he pulled back from Ellie a bit so he could see her face. It was flushed with tears streaming down it, making her look nothing like the confident girl she always seemed to be.
"I’m sorry." He said quietly.
"I’m not gonna make excuses. Everything you said is true. I should have at least informed you guys of what I wanted to do. Instead, I just did what I wanted and made you worry, and that’s on me." He leaned forward and kissed her on her forehead.
"... You idiot." She mumbled quietly, still sniffling.
The triplets and Nicolas looked quite awkward, but they didn’t try to interrupt.
After a while, Osho spoke.
"With the thing dead, this dome is gonna pop earlier than usual," He started, getting everyone’s attention. "I know I said we can’t really do anything about it but make it pop early to minimize the damage, but there is still something I wanted to try." He smiled wryly.
"Do you guys trust me?"