It was all so sudden.
As Alex held onto Emily’s unmoving body with his palm on her bulging stomach, he stared at the crack created in Eternal Night with a calm expression on his visage.
"What is that?" His voice held no fear, merely curiosity, and incredible disgust at the pungent aura and baleful cries coming from beyond the crack.
Then, he heard the tumultuous cries of the ghost babies all around him.
Despite being mostly destroyed, those that remained had their arms stretched toward the sky, almost like they were beckoning toward whatever was beyond the crack.
Alex noticed this anomaly and couldn’t help but ponder.
’Are they perhaps calling a greater figure to help them?’
He could tell that something was trying to enter and if not for Eternal Night, it would have long since unleashed its might on Townsend.
Closing his eyes, he quickly reached out to Douglas only to find the latter being pummeled by Melinda.
"... Really?" He was disappointed for a moment before realizing the state Douglas was in.
He was completely terrified, most likely as a result of the crack in the sky.
Alex had sensed the aura as well but apart from it being sickening, it hadn’t affected him too much.
He somewhat understood the scope and since it was far lesser than Nyx, he didn’t feel the need to panic.
Unfortunately, Douglas didn’t have his luck and so was suffering under whatever pressure the pungent aura had.
Taking a moment to figure out the best way to help, Alex used his authority to help Douglas escape the fear he felt.
By the time he was done, however, Douglas was riddled with scars and injuries of different degrees.
Thankfully, he was still alive.
Alex attempted to do more to help only to sense something close by causing him to break the connection.
Glancing at Emily’s stomach, he watched it move and writhe about like it was looking for a means to escape its confines.
Emily’s expression was distorted despite her being unconscious.
Alex could take it no more but found himself unable to do anything.
None of the Abilities he had comprehended so far could help him deal with the situation effectively.
"What to do?" Alex pursed his lips.
Then he felt a sharp pain in his pneuma causing him to glance up again.
At this point, the tumultuous cries of the ghost babies were at an all-time high, causing a crescendo that threatened to burst open Alex’s eardrums.
"Enough!" His expression distorted in annoyance as he crushed all of them without mercy, finally allowing the village to grow silent.
Hardly had he saved his ears from bleeding, he felt a palm grab his neck.
Looking down he found Emily awake...or at least it seemed that way but Alex quickly deduced what was happening.
The ghost baby in her was trying to play games.
It knew he couldn’t destroy it since it was safely nestled in Emily’s stomach so it dared to act brazenly.
Alex gritted his teeth as he pulled her hand from his throat only to feel a sharp pain in his pneuma again causing him to glance at the sky.
The crack widened until it was large enough to see what was on the other side.
An enormous body made of human hands piled on top of one another with a glowing yellow eye at the center.
The creature had a most repulsive aura as Alex made eye contact with it.
It didn’t take long however before he was forced to avert his eyes as the pain grew much worse.
Alex felt like his head was being split apart with an ax as he groaned, inadvertently, tightening his grip on Emily’s stomach.
Realizing what he was doing, Alex immediately tried to back away to not harm her but he soon regretted doing so as he watched Emily slowly levitate.
Not just her, but every single villager that was still alive in Townsend began to levitate, slowly gravitating toward the crack in the sky, toward the mass of hands staring down from above.
Alex didn’t understand what was happening but knew he had to do something to prevent them from leaving.
Unfortunately, it was hard enough keeping his concentration as his vision blurred and his Pneuma ached uncontrollably.
He dropped to his knees and while trying to get some sort of reprieve, watched Eternal Night slowly disappear as he could no longer maintain it.
Then the creature came into view, its full size still hidden within a crack that was connected to the Abyss.
Enormous hands reached out to grab the villagers as they came closer.
However, just as they came close enough, they stopped moving.
The eye flickered momentarily before looking toward a certain direction.
Alex stood with half of his body coated in thick darkness.
Several dark tendrils had shot out and were holding onto the ankles of each villager, ensuring they remained in place.
A tug of war quickly began between the Mother of Lost Souls and Alex.
It didn’t take long for the former to lose her patience as a mouth appeared underneath the eye and opened up slowly.
A terrible sonic wave rushed down and completely disrupted Alex’s pneuma, causing him to blank out for a brief moment.
However, the tendrils remained for they were never his, to begin with.
Zheztitl was shocked to see that Alex was still standing.
Her eyes flickered with uncertainty toward the strange man.
Little did she know that at this point, it was no longer Alex in control but a most fearsome domain that called itself Nyx, responding to Alex’s desire to save Emily to ensure his promise to ’Alex’ was kept.
Perhaps, out of convenience, the shadows kept protected the villagers as well but regardless, it would seem none were to be left behind.
Alex’s shadow began to grow and expand until it was large enough to cover the entirety of Townsend, then several hands made from darkness charged out and wrapped around the villagers before pulling them down.
Zheztitl watched in utter disbelief as her prey was taken away from her.
Has she ever suffered so badly?
Her powers directly countered Mystics since they needed their pneuma to do anything and she was able to affect their pneuma as she pleased yet at this point...
Once the villagers were back on the ground, Alex remained standing but that was only out of sheer will.
He had long since lost consciousness and was as vulnerable as could be.
You... come... with... me
The Mother of Lost Souls gained an interest in the strange specimen that managed to resist her.
As she attempted to make a move, daring to create a larger hole in space to descend, a repulsive force erupted from the Will of the World, forcing her back into the hole before proceeding to close it.
Zheztitl had no choice but to watch as the crack was closed.
Moments passed before a lady wearing a black dress and accompanied by a black cat appeared using a Spirit Gate, her expression rather thoughtful as she stared down at Alex’s unconscious figure.