Killed Me? Now I Have Your Power
Chapter 89: Weakness Is A Sin [END]

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: Weakness Is A Sin [END]

Chapter 89 – Weakness Is A Sin [END]

"...Indeed. A worthy heir," Echidna said with a small, disturbing smile.

A smile that made Inara want to turn and run away from this abomination of a being.

Because that’s exactly what she felt, this woman... was an abomination. Something unnatural. Something that should not exist.

She didn’t know how or why those feelings surged so violently inside her but they did.

And yet, Inara pushed them down.

Right now, it didn’t matter if this woman was an anomaly, a danger, or a mistake in the natural order.

If Echidna could give her the power she needed, power to protect, power to change her fate, without endangering herself or the ones she loved...

Then Inara didn’t give a single damn about anything else.

But deep down...

She knew.

It’s never that easy.

You don’t get the power to command the most unholy monsters in existence by smiling politely and asking nicely.

And Echidna, as if reading her thoughts, finally spoke.

"Your thoughts have been correct, little one," she began, her voice soft, almost serene, yet echoing across the entire realm like the whisper of a mother speaking from inside a nightmare.

"I do need you for something. Something I cannot do myself. That is why I sought a heir. One to pass on my legacy... another me."

She paused, then smiled again.

A smile filled with affection.

A mother’s smile.

But it was still so so wrong.

"Another me, one that can control monsters, and bring all creation to its knees... with only our children."

She tilted her head.

"Can you imagine that kind of power, little one?"

But it wasn’t a question. Not truly.

"No... you cannot. But let me teach you something, you ignorant child..."

Echidna’s voice dropped as her golden eyes locked onto Inara, who could feel her nerves unraveling the longer the monster spoke.

"There is no power in this cursed life that comes without risk."

"There is no power you can gain without endangering yourself."

"There is no power you can obtain without putting everyone and everything you love on the altar of sacrifice."

"Do you understand me, little one?"

"That... is the price of power."

"That is the price we all pay."

Then Echidna raised her arms ever so slightly, as if bestowing a choice upon her.

"There are two paths before you," she said softly, like a lullaby from hell.

"Would you like to hear them?"

Inara nodded, a slow, nervous nod. She had lost all control of the moment.

The momentum was no longer hers, if it ever had been.

Because as she stood there, feeling cornered and overwhelmed, a bitter realization slipped into her mind,

’I never had the advantage to begin with.’

Echidna had allowed her to speak first. That was mercy and a test. Nothing more.

She didn’t know the full extent of Echidna’s power, but she knew it was far beyond her comprehension.

And Inara knew her limits.

And how would she not?

She had faced them all her life, every damn day since she’d awakened his weak origin.

She took a breath.

This was it.

A moment that would define her future forever.

"Yes," she said clearly. "I want to hear them."

Echidna didn’t keep her waiting.

"The first option," she said, her voice calm and clear, "is to accept the power I will give you... and with it, accept its burden."

"You will inherit my enemies. You will inherit all of me."

"And without a doubt you will create enemies of your own."

"And those enemies... will not only affect you."

"They can, and will, reach the people you love."

"That is the first path."

She paused.

Then came the second.

"The second option," Echidna said, smiling wide so wide that her teeth began to show.

And that’s when Inara saw them.

Eyes.

Dozens, no hundreds, of eyes, looking at her from inside Echidna. Eyes that stared not with curiosity, but with hunger.

The sight made Inara stagger back, her entire body trembling uncontrollably.

It was... horror.

Raw, unknowable horror.

Even remembering that glimpse made the hair on her body rise in sheer terror.

Then Echidna spoke again but this time, it was no longer her voice.

It was many voices. A symphony of dissonance. A sound that tore through reality itself. A sound so vile, so wrong, it made Inara’s ears bleed as she collapsed to her knees.

And then, only then, did the words register.

"Then you will become one of me, little one. You will be my child."

Inara immediately coughed out black blood. Her body convulsed in horror.

Her spirit trembled. Her instincts screamed.

This wasn’t just fear. This wasn’t panic.

This was existential dread.

This was the realization that you are nothing in front of something that could erase your soul with a breath.

She felt small.

She felt powerless.

She felt worthless.

She felt—

’LIKE FUCKING SHIT!’ Inara raged inwardly, her voice echoing inside her soul.

Anger flared.

Not at Echidna. Not at fate. Not even at the trial.

But at herself.

’Why... why was I so stupid as to ask for power that comes without a price?’

Power doesn’t come freely.

Not in this world.

Not in any world.

And Inara, more than anyone, knew that.

To gain power, one must sacrifice.

Sometimes even the greatest sacrifices are not enough.

Sometimes... you must become something else entirely.

So if she had the chance, no matter how terrifying, no matter how high the cost, if there was a way to obtain the power to control monsters, to become something more...

Then she would bear it.

She would shoulder it.

She would not run.

She would not cower.

She would not fail her mother.

She would not fail the man who saved her worthless life.

She would not... she could not.

Her choice was clear now.

No hesitation. No fear.

Only cold, burning resolve.

"I accept," Inara whispered, coughing blood, her voice rising with each word. "I accept the burdens of your legacy."

"I will shoulder them all. So give me your power."

"Give me the strength... the ability to control monsters."

"Burn away my weak, worthless self and let me be reborn as..."

"...as a monster."

Her slitted green eyes glowed with eerie, bright and obsessed flow.

And Echidna smiled.

Because this was what she had been waiting for.

She didn’t just want potential.

She wanted obsession.

And Inara had it.

Echidna stood, and the moment she took a step forward, space distorted and collapsed around her warping reality as she appeared before Inara in an instant.

Inara flinched.

But she did not break.

She stood there, trembling, but still looking her in the eyes.

And Echidna, smiling wider, slowly raised a slender finger... and pressed it against Inara’s forehead.

Then softly

"I accept you as my heir, Inara Serpentine."

"From this moment forward, you are no longer who you were."

"You are no longer weak."

"You are..."

"The Heir of Echidna, the Monster of Monsters."

She smiled one final time, unsettling and maternal all at once.

"So live up to this title... my heir."

Inara smiled back.

That same eerie smile.

That same terrifying, beautiful smile.

Then—

"I will."

Instantly, the blood, bones, and rotting corpses of the realm surged into motion, swirling and lifting as they surrounded her.

This... was the final transformation.

The final rite.

The last evolution.

The moment Inara Serpentine became what she was always meant to be.

And in that moment,

She ascended.

She evolved.

She changed.

That day...

Inara... was no longer weak.

—End of Chapter 89—