'Seed of Chaos' System

After coming to the conclusion that Toltura hated her, Alesha made a few quick calculations. Toltura, being a literal Goddess, was far beyond her ability to punish. Rogork, too, was a being she couldn't get back at; not only was it missing, but it didn't have a physical form in the first place. The King, however, and eventually Zorhellian, were both individuals whom she could see herself as being able to repay for their actions against her.

With this in mind, Alesha made a decision. She wanted to take revenge on the King. The scenario for this "Story" was a Hero Summoning, so in order to finish the Story and move onto the next, she'd probably have to kill the Demon King. 

There was nothing saying that she couldn't kill the King first, though.

It was an audacious idea, one that the old Alesha would have never considered. Before experiencing everything she had since acquiring the "'Seed of Chaos' System," she might have found a reason to forgive the King, or at least forget him and move on. Now, however, her anger led her to thirst after vengeance. She couldn't bear the thought of him living happily, unpunished for what he had done to her. It was a simple, primal urge to inflict pain on the object of her hatred. The months of agony, being forced to drink acid in a dark, otherwise unfeeling world haunted her. Even now, she had become a hypocrite in order to escape a similar darkness. The King deserved to be punished -- and she wanted to do it herself.

He would get what he wanted: she would defeat the Demon King.

But first, he would die.

Was it a boring revenge compared to how much and how long he had made her suffer? Perhaps. However, more than her desire to make him experience agony like her own, she just wanted to get this over with. The longer she was away from home, the harder it would be to find out what had happened to her family, and the more likely it was that something had happened to them to begin with. 

Thus, rather than an extended, drawn-out vengeance, she wanted something quick and decisive. She still held onto hope that at least one of her family members was alright. In pursuit of finding them as soon as possible, she would satisfy her thirst for vengeance with efficient, swift brutality. 

At that moment, an octopus-headed monster knocked on the broken door frame, interrupting her thoughts. It held its empty hands palms-forward as it spoke in a wet-sounding voice. "Sentient blade, the Mind wishes to speak with you. She is very curious about you. Are you amenable to the idea?"

Alesha looked at the creature suspiciously. "Why is the Mind curious about me? Actually, how did you know I am the weapon?"

"The Mind says it could sense when your psychic energy invaded the human woman's body. She is very curious as to how that happened and what you are. She will not harm you and will even help you leave our Colony if you agree to speak with her. Are you amenable to this?"

Alesha reflected on the suggestion, realizing that she probably had more to gain than lose from it. "Alright. Where is the Mind? Or do you want me to activate the Hive Mind skill to talk with it?"

"That will not be necessary. I am to lead you to the Mind. Follow me," it replied, turning gracefully on its heel. 

Realizing she was still half-naked, Alesha asked it to wait as she clumsily tried to remove the robes of the deceased Mind Flayer with one hand. When it started helping her and even offered to assist her in donning the robes, she was very surprised, but agreed; the unfamiliar clothes and body were too difficult to deal with on her own. That didn't make it any less embarrassing, but she persevered.

After that, the Mind Flayer wordlessly led her down moist, natural-looking hallways, up rough-hewn stone stairs, and through several larger caverns before coming to a suspiciously modern-looking metal door. It wasn't modern to Alesha, of course, but it was much more advanced than the sturdy wooden doors throughout the rest of the place. The Flayer punched a code into a rectangular number keypad above the handle, and when a small indicator light turned green, it opened the door, gesturing for her to enter. "The Mind is inside, please enjoy your conversation."

Alesha entered the room, which reminded her of a grungy, run-down laboratory of one of those Mad Scientist types. It wasn't really a proper lab, per se, as its contents seemed to be centered around a single occupant -- a large, cylindrical tank in the center of the room, which was hooked up to various pipes and wires. The wires criss-crossed the area in a somewhat haphazard fashion, connecting the central tank to various computers and other tanks throughout the room. Alesha was taken aback by the sheer size of the electronics. Having grown up in the Human Alliance, the computers she was familiar with had long since abandoned such ridiculous dimensions. There, the largest ones were about the size of a human head. These ancient computers, though, were easily larger in volume than a few cows put together.

She forcibly turned her attention away from the ridiculously huge electronics and looked at the central tank. Inside, an oversized, human-looking brain hovered; except instead of a brain stem, it had four long, thin tentacles with wicked-looking dark purple barbs at their tips. Though the appendages moved like tentacles, they lacked suckers, so Alesha wondered if they would more properly be described as tails. The brain creature lacked any visible eyes or mouth. However, its surface looked fuzzy and it had several deep purple spikes along the center of its back.

After the door closed behind her, Alesha heard a resonant, soprano female voice in her mind. 

"Welcome, Sentient Blade," the voice said, its words spoken in a dignified tone. "My children know me as the Mind, but you may call me Kelly."