Disclaimer: I don't own Negima! Magister Negi Magi or Ranma ½
Rise of Prodigies
Chapter Thirty Six: Enlightening Trek through the Abyssal Labyrinth
Beta:
The other end of the portal was unlike anything Ranma had ever been to before. As her massive bulk poured out of the fissure of reality, she found herself filling up corridor upon corridor of what seemed like a vast maze.
"Where the hell am I?" The Slime Demon Lord said as she coalesced her body back into her favoured human form in the middle of one of the maze's many junctions and looked around her in annoyance. "What is this place?"
Maze. Endless maze. Her Origin Sight told her as it suddenly activated on its own accord.
Outside her Origin Sight her vision swam.
"Yeah, I kinda already figured that out," Ranma said with a groan as she clutched her head, trying to assuage against the slight burst of pain and disorientation that the sudden activation of her ability had caused her. "And why the hell did it just turn on like that?"
Even as she tried to puzzle that out, she surveyed her surroundings. The walls of the maze seemed to be made of rock. She was no geologist but judging by their look, basalt maybe?
Bones of a dead universe. Her Origin Sight corrected her rather unhelpfully.
Argh! Guess Shishou was right and it can be dangerous if it so easily starts going wonky on me.
Groaning and resigning herself to the fact that one of her most useful abilities was glitching out on her, Ranma turned her attention to what looked like glowing writing carved into the surfaces of the maze. In a chaotic pattern, the carvings extended everywhere from the floor to the walls to the ceiling above.
"Yeah, I can't read it. No surprise." Ranma said with a sigh. Sure, being a Demon Lord gave her an innate affinity for languages but it still meant she had to actually learn them. And she most definitely had not encountered whatever this language was, though it did seem vaguely similar to katakana.
Oh and they glowed, providing the only source of light she could see.
Why do I get the feeling they're the only source of light in this whole damned place?
A part of the redhead wanted to summon her familiars, to help her cover ground more quickly and to have something comfortingly familiar with her as she explored this creepy place, but her instincts roared against the idea, staying her hand.
"Fine, I'll find the exit. And if I need help, I'll call them up. Yeah." She told herself as she began walking in a random direction.
Yet somehow she wasn't confident in her statement.
The Labyrinth's centre is the other way. Her Origin Sight said suddenly when Ranma was about to take a left.
"Huh, guess it's not glitching out that badly after all." Ranma said with a relieved shrug as she turned around and took the right instead. "Alright, let's go see what's at the centre of this maze. Maybe there's a way out."
She was hoping saying such would somehow trigger her Origin Sight to drop her another hint but even when she manually activated it, it remained silent on the matter. Instead pumping her mind with useless knowledge about how she was surrounded by the tortured remains of a dead world and its people.
"Okay, Mister Grimdark," Ranma said with a sigh. "I get the point. Cool it already."
With that she deactivated the ability and began her trek into the unknown depths of the labyrinth before here.
She wandered the labyrinth for a bit and finally came across the first signs of life, which perhaps somewhat ironically were slime monsters which wouldn't be a problem if they weren't seemingly the only form of life here. That and the strange glowing markings on the walls of this place, which indeed turned out to be the only source of light in this place, were strange enough. It was made all the creepier by what the text that was ominously scrawled over every surface, twisting and turning actually said…
Fitting for an abyss for the lost, the damned and the forsaken. Her Origin Sight informed her. The recorded lamentations of the Labyrinth's victims.
"And what the hell are these numbers I keep seeing hovering over everything?" Ranma groaned to herself, ignoring her glitchy ability's unhelpful input as she glared at a set of the aforementioned numbers that were hovering over one of the slimes slithering on the wall next to her. It seemed every living thing here, which were just the slimes, had them. "And why are they ticking down?"
She felt like she knew the answer but for the life of her couldn't fathom what it was. She did have a niggling feeling that figuring it out was important however so despite her better judgement and the urgency of finding her way out of this labyrinth, she started experimenting.
"Plus ten," she shouted randomly, only to be shocked when suddenly the number above the slime increased by ten.
"W-What did I just do?" Ranma blinked, shocked. "Wait! If I can add to it can I subtract too? Hmm… Let's try it. Minus hundred."
Immediately, the number over the slime was subtracted by a hundred.
"It worked? Hmm… Can I do it without vocalising?"
Minus a thousand, six hundred and twelve. Ranma thought and as she'd come to expect, the slime's number was reduced by a corresponding a thousand, six hundred and twelve dropping it to a precious ten that quickly began ticking down, losing a number every second. I wonder what happens when it reaches zero.
She got her answer when the slime's countdown reached zero and the previously healthy slime abruptly shriveled up, died and collapsed into dust within seconds.
"Holy crap! What did I just do!?" Ranma gasped as she recoiled from the wall where she'd just killed something by just thinking about it.
At the thought, her Origin Sight snapped on again and dropped another bombshell.
Not killed. Rendered into nothing.
Dying here confined one to non-existence...
Killing someone was one thing, in death at least a being's soul could pass on into the afterlife or be reincarnated but if her Origin Sight was right, and glitchy or not she felt sure that it was, death here was permanent.
That is… Calling it a fate worse than death is putting it lightly.
"A-At least, it was only a slime." Ranma told herself, hugging herself comfortingly.
Suddenly the sound of watery moans caught Ranma's attention and she spun in their direction and saw in the dim light of the maze's markings, a dozen humanoid figures staggering towards her. Though to call the wretched things humanoid was being generous, the things looked like half-melted animated corpses. Though considering some of them were little more than skeletons with exposed, partially decayed internal organs held together in a humanoid shape by a layer of translucent pink slime, perhaps calling them corpses was being generous too. But disturbingly, these weren't undead. No, Ranma's glitchy Origin Sight told her clearly enough that these poor beings were still alive. These were the tortured partially broken down remains of this place's, this Abyssal Labyrinth's, victims where all were forced to wander aimlessly as they were slowly, painfully broken down by its entropic power into oozes.
"That means that slime earlier…" Ranma thought as bile rose in her throat as she realized that it had once likely been a thinking being just like her.
Her wandering mind had allowed the half-melted things to get within shouting range and they began calling out to her in their disgusting, watery voices.
"Y̴̨̭̑͗͘ȏ̵̰͜ͅų̸̧̗͑̒̾̚ ̷̖́ĉ̴̥͔̹̭̎̇ä̸̤́͒n̵̡̩̗̄ͅ ̵̤̥̰͈͆͘f̸̥̹̉̅ŗ̵͓̓̋ę̷͇̽͆͑͐ê̶̱ ̷͇́͗̚u̵͙̬̠̒̍̂͊͜s̶͖̜͒̈́͑̽!̶̧̨̹̫͐̓̐̕ ̴͍̻̽͑́H̴̹͎͋̅̚ḛ̷̭͓̲͗͐l̴̛̝͈̥̰̏̇͒p̵̮̻͐̇͠ ̶̰̰̒̈u̸̡̘͋̉s̵̤̤̲̾̍̊!̷̹̈͝ͅ ̸̢̛͉̾̕̕K̷̦̾̑͘ï̵̩͚͕̈́͜l̶͚̰̗͉̋͝ĺ̴̙͎͍̊ ̵̧̺͚̭̐͘u̸̹̾̆͐s̷̥̠̙̆̆̾!̸̲̼̀͑̐͆!" They cried out in what might have been words but which the combination of its foreign nature to Ranma and their time in the Labyrinth had transformed into gibberish.
Even then though, she didn't need to understand their words to understand their intent. The pleading looks in their eyes were more than enough to tell Ranma what they wanted: release from their torment.
"I can't!" Ranma said, shaking her head. "I can't do it! I won't confine you to non-existence!"
"N̸̗̏͗o̸̞̮̘̅̀ń̶̝̠̳̹͋̉͆-̴̘̟̣̦̑ĕ̷͉͍̟͂̓͝x̴̧͂͐̿į̷̰̗͗̿̾s̸̲͔̤̦͒ť̴̘̤̂e̵͆̀͐̈͜n̸̞̞̯̆́̈̈́c̶̫̭͇̓e̶̙͈̭͎͘ ̴͖̲͇͊i̷͉͒͝s̸͍̾ ̵̟̤̘̓̐̈́a̷͕͙̔̐ ̵̝͓̀̃m̶̘̜͚̀̓e̷̤͌̓r̴̠̬̣̖̎̐̽̕c̶͎̝̙̜̑y̷̖̒̇͘!̸̨̧̬͖͆͊́̅ ̶̬͊̈́̏͆F̵͙͕́̕r̴͕͝e̷̹̾̃̄͘ͅè̷̠̆ ̴̯̭͂ų̷̣͇̞͗̎̓̽s̴̰͔͗̄͊ ̷͔͆̋̒͝f̸͓͕͉̮̊͝r̷͔͓̔͊̉o̸͔͖̓̑̈͝m̴̼͐̅ ̴̻̱͖̦́o̷̡͇͕̝͒̄̐ȗ̶͖̽r̶̝̞̩̃̀ ̶͚͍̖̗̏̽̓͐s̵̫̪͛̔͘͜u̸̠̗̖̒̄͝ḟ̸̳̹f̵̭͂ͅḙ̵̬̖̓̋r̷̳͘î̵͈͐́͝ņ̸̩̮̌͌g̶̖̭̦͔͂͒͠!̶̲͉̲̀̽̂̕" The Ooze Zombies cried out in one voice. "W̸̲̭̔͗̕ế̶̻̝̗̱͐ ̶̠͂̂̈̕w̵͙̱̥͐͜í̸͇̦͇͛͝ľ̶̗͚̯̏l̷̡̡̍͂̾ ̶̩̺̗̟̒́f̴̳̓õ̷̖̝̥̯r̴̛̯̈́̈́̉c̵̘̲͎̥͋e̷̬̬̥̚ ̷͇͙́̇y̷̧͋̉o̶̧͈̫̖͑u̷̧̹̬̜̎͒̒͆ ̶̛̩į̴̆̚f̶̜̌̿ ̴͓̖̀͒̈͘ẅ̷̡͍͎́̄è̷̞̦̣͙̓͘ ̴̨̪̽̉m̷̥͕̓u̶̖̥̰͊̀s̷͙͈̤̣͐t̵̲̔̉̑͛!̸̬̅̊"
With that unintelligible warcry, the Ooze Zombies held their hands behind them and in this strange posture ran towards Ranma clearly intent on forcing her hand.
Strange though their running posture was, it certainly seemed to help their speed as despite being hundreds of metres away, they were upon her in seconds.
As they neared, a myriad of elements were sent flying her way. Roaring dragons of flame, hissing vipers of water, kunai of raw lightning, gusts of wind so sharp they marred the walls of the labyrinth and deadly stone spikes all shot towards her with fatal precision.
"Stay away from me!" Ranma cried out and threw out her hand, "Obice (Barrier)!"
Multiple layers of her shield spell appeared in front of her, layering together like an Ancient Roman testudo formation to form a protective wall that all the attacks splashed against like a tidal wave.
Urgh! Gotta come up with a new barrier spell. Using the basic Obice like this is inefficient. Ranma thought with a grimace, even as the elemental attacks were easily blocked by her barrier nonetheless. Though that didn't faze the Ooze Zombies which ran past Ranma's barrier like it wasn't even there and rushed to engage her in close quarters.
Forming a forest of pseudopods from her back, she fearlessly engaged them. She was a Demon Lord, what did she have to fear from a bunch of half-dead mortals?
Though as she skewered three of them and lopped off the head of another and they didn't so much as flinch, she started to doubt whether calling them mortals was a fitting description.
"Just stay down! Why can't you leave me alone?!" She shouted with a grimace as pain raced down her non-existent spine as she was bombarded by a wave of lightning as one of those she'd impaled on one of her tendrils sent it coursing through her body by clapping its hands onto the pseudopod piercing its abdomen.
"And get off me!" She shouted as she threw the Ooze Zombie that was shocking her away from her with enough force that it splattered into the ground a good hundred metres away, only to start reforming.
Damn! Are these things unkillable!? Ranma thought with frustration even as she fended the other Ooze Zombies off with her pseudopods. Well, if I can't kill them, maybe I can restrain them instead.
"Sagitta Telam (Web Arrow)!" She cast, firing a webby bolt from her hand that spread and unfurled into a wide sticky net and caught several of the Zombies. It didn't trap them for long though as the damned things just oozed out of the restraints, dragging whatever decayed remains of their human bodies they had left along with them.
"That's just cheating!" Ranma whined as she used a brace of Equus Calcitrant (Horse Kick) to force the closest of the Zombies back. It worked but possibly due to their gelatinous nature somehow bleeding part of the kinetic force of her bolts, the knockback created by her spell was nowhere as effective as it should have been.
"Are you guys specifically designed to counter me or something!?" Ranma growled as she formed the ends of her pseudopods into blades and spun on her heel, transforming herself into a spinning dervish of death that sliced and diced the closest Zombies.
This forced them back slightly once again but did no permanent harm as their bodies regenerated the damage she did deal within seconds.
This isn't working! Ranma realized, a hint of desperation seeping into her thoughts. At this point, the urge to call the Slime Sisters and Zero-chan to her side was tempting, truly tempting, but knowing what this place did to the things trapped within it...
No, even they could be hurt here. I can handle it, I will handle it!
Grinding her solidified teeth, she snarled as the Zombies launched another wave of elemental attacks at her that she once more blocked with a wall of Obice.
"Fine." She said in a low rasping whisper. "You want to die? Then disappear! Begone! Return to oblivion!"
She spoke with regal command and the world obeyed. Immediately the countdowns above the heads of the trio of Zombies in front of her spontaneously dropped to zero. At that, without any fanfare, they crumbled to dust.
This was met, disturbingly, with cheers from the other Ooze Zombies who stopped attacking and turned to look at Ranma imploringly as they waited their turn.
Ranma bit her lip and did her best to hide her dismay.
"Y-You lot really just want to fade into nothingness don't you?" Ranma asked, even as she already knew the answer without the enthusiastic nods the remaining Ooze Zombies gave her.
I really don't want to do this. T-This feels wrong! Ranma wanted to shout, but except for her body paling to a bone white at her horror she let none of her inner turmoil show, instead systematically doing what the Ooze Zombies wanted.
Drop to zero. She commanded again and again, as she looked from one Ooze Zombie to another. Looking away quickly as one by one, they crumbled to dust.
Until there was only one left.
"Y-You're the last one," Ranma said as she turned her attention to the last of the Ooze Zombies and prepared to do what needed to be done, only to find it holding up a hand.
"W-Wa-Wait." It managed to say with great difficulty in Japanese, or close enough to it anyways. The pronunciation was slightly off, but that could be due to the Ooze Zombie's nature and not a result of it being a different language as she suspected. "B-Before you f-free m-me! Re-Reward!"
"You want to reward me? For this?" Ranma spat, disgusted.
"Y-Yes," the Zombie nodded eagerly. "A-At cen-centre of laby-laby-rin- At centre of maze! There is po-portal! Ta-Take per-person any-anywhere. De-Defeat Gu-Guardian! Es-Escape! Y-You ca-can d-do i-it!"
"Because I can actually kill things in this place?"
The Ooze Zombie nodded.
"And how can I be sure that you aren't lying?"
"Y-You c-can r-read t-the w-way of the w-world. Th-That ho-how y-you f-free us. U-Use th-that?" The creature said with a shrug.
Read the way of the world? Ranma blinked as she tried to puzzle out what he meant. Wait. Does he mean my Origin Sight? It's gotta be.
Deciding to test it, she activated her ability and was instantly bombarded with information about the maze. Most of it was nonsense that she didn't need to know like how this place was called the Abyssal Labyrinth and was a pocket universe made from the remains of a universe the Mage of the Beginning had destroyed, that the Mage had trapped it literally at the edge of the Primal Void's devouring maw. - Whatever that was! - And how it was a place where everything within was slowly but surely reduced to their basest forms, that is to say their Origins and further broken down until they were nothing. That's why it was populated only by slimes, they were the most basic animal by this universe's logic that could exist. But beyond all that fluff was what she really needed: confirmation that there was indeed a portal out of the Labyrinth at its centre.
That was actually a great reward. I still feel dirty getting any reward for essentially carrying out assisted suicide though.
"Thank you," Ranma forced out nonetheless.
The Ooze Zombie offered her what might have been a smile.
"K-Kill m-me n-now ple-please?"
Ranma just grimly nodded and mentally ordered its countdown clock to zero and watched with sadness as the creature withered away into ash right before her eyes.
She bowed to show her respects to those she'd just consigned to oblivion for a full minute before finally straightening and with her Origin Sight fully active, turned in the direction of the path that would lead to escape from this nightmare realm.
"Otouchan, Okaasan," Ranma promised as she broke into a run towards the centre of the labyrinth even as she cast Volant (fly) on herself so she could shoot through the maze even faster. "I'm coming!"
At the centre of the labyrinth, Ranma found a white slime whose body was studded by an array of strange eyes. The majority had enlarged, featureless white irides with no visible pupils whilst a handful had a ripple pattern that spread over the eyeball.
Freaky, Ranma thought as she cautiously stepped inside the vast circular chamber which served as the centre of the Abyssal Labyrinth. Then again, that's par for the course in this place.
"É̶̱̹͚̺͑̈̐ḿ̵̛͓̦̒̍̋̀o̷͔͆̀̍͗͘c̵͕͂̇͝ ̵̱͝s̶̢̺͛̕͝a̸̛̝͐̽̆́h̵̺̼̱͎̐̄̈́̚͜ ̵̮̬̪̼̀́d̸̢̹̏ȅ̴̠̩̟̼ġ̷̨̓͗̽̈́̄r̴̭̾̐͜o̵̬̟͇̊̉͋f̵̼̣̬̻̮̈̽͛̈́̎ ̵͕̠̃s̸̢̛̺̖̮̃̀̔ȃ̷̭̖̅̈́w̴͎͖̹̘͂̕͝ ̷̡̥̖̤̋̓̊͛̓͝t̷͉̙̏̔̎͜n̵̯̳̮̓̃͑́̒̿ę̶̅̓͘ṁ̶̳̟r̴̢͕̞̰̯̂̌̒̉o̶̭̘̒͑͂̈t̶̠̜͉͇͆̑̐ ̸̜̗̏͝f̵̼̜̗̊̈̐͜o̸̲̰̪͓͉̤͒͒̌͐̕ ̸̢̞̭̍ͅe̷̺̒̈z̸̢͆̊͝͝ͅa̸̡͇̲̠͗̈͘m̷͓̮̯̍ ̷̢̥̟͍̭̥͋̐e̷͖͉̯̝̩̟̐͂̉̂h̷͉̥͍̗̣̆͋̀̇t̸͓̔͒ ̸̧̡͚̜̹̏͜ş̷̗̦͓̠͊ȋ̶͓̫̤̝̈́ͅh̵͉̻̭͎̖́͆͠t̴̠̜̏͂̂̕͠ ̷̡̗͍̜̌̌͛͝h̵̜̗̜͂͌͆̌͋͘c̶̡̰͚̜̙̄͑͝ͅi̶̧͖͛̓̈́̉ͅḩ̶͓̖́̅̀ẁ̴̛̫̙̹̲͉̺͂̚ ̵̧̭͓̂ȑ̷̡̜͙͈̘o̶͈̗̙͌̄̊͘̕͠f̷̲͈̟͍̋̾̃̊͠ ̷̳̳͈̝̫̋ẹ̸͕̻̪̪͕͋̿n̵̫͒̀̚͝o̵͚̍ ̵̟͉̈̅ė̶̞̄̕ḩ̵̺̭̲͍̗̾t̷̲͔̺̉̔!̷̫͌ Ȟ̴̺̻̯͋͂̅̓ţ̵̫̜̬̈̅́͠n̵̞͖̤̜͒̒̌͛̎í̷̤̼̥̰̇̈́̊̌r̷͔̰͓̫̈́̆̿͂͂ỳ̵̺͙̅ͅb̷̢̡͈͚̝̟͊̀͝ã̸͚͍͈̯͈̭L̶̨͂̊ ̷͔̚e̶̲̒̊̓h̷̡̠̣̿͑̿͋͠ṯ̸̪͐̀͊͘͝ ̶̝͓́̆͑̄̕f̵̨̥̝̻͌̓͊o̷̥̤͒̀͆̎͝ ̸͕̻͈̱͂̉ÿ̷̳̫̤́d̸̳̭͚͇͕͋͋̎̋̄͘ä̴̠̯̫́̍͑̕L̴̜̣̮̞̈̄̑͂ ̷̨̞͚̱͕͒͆è̴͎̙̩̼͊̈́̓͘͜ͅb̸̨͙̗͕̈́̄̈́-̸̜͈̮̺̻͂̿͛o̶̲̰̓̓t̷̗̟̰͙̰͔́-̵̡̦͍̻̖̥̏̀̇̀t̵͚͙̣̮̞̊̊́̾ȅ̶̻̀ý̸̢͖̙̺͉̤̀̂̋ ̵̺̝̮͖̍̇̈́̽͜͝ȩ̷̻͉̙͚̏̃̐́̅h̵͉̱̊̈́̔̀͠t̸͔̟̺̬̒̀̅̿ ̸͉̞̽͗͂̚̚͝ĕ̵̥͕̙̹̆́̓͝s̷̡̛̩̳̪͇̀ͅï̶̟̮̭̺͖̤͒ǎ̸͙͔̗͌́̍r̸̩̓̓͛̐̀̌p̵̺͇͉̒͂͆ ̵̨̘͂̄̄̔ḻ̴̡̫̹̟̏̂̔̑͠l̶̪̻͉̊̈́͋͝a̵̧͓̠͝! Ś̶̈́̉̏̊͘ͅi̷͇̞͗̅͆͛s̷͈̍̆̑̍̑͝o̵̡͔̟̘̬̼̓͗̑͐̋͝e̴̥͉̬̐̊̈́͜h̶̛̥̥̣͒̒̓͘t̸̡̲̜͂o̷̧̝̟̞͑̄̎͆̓̐p̶̨̘̥̲̩̓̓͗͑̂̈a̵͓͈͖̩̿͑͘ ̵̧̱̹̰̅̈́͗͜ŗ̵͈̩̍͐͂̚͘͜e̷̛͚͙̘̜̲̋̍̀̌h̸̡̨̝̤̘̭̎̀̐̕ ̸͇͔̥̆͌̊̇̉͐ḛ̸͋̿̏t̸̛̥̗̭̻͗̾͊͜e̷̦̠̣̒̀͘ļ̸̨̺͔̦͉̆͂̏̎́p̴̢̧̲̺̉̽͂̄̃̀m̶̱̬̒̽o̴̤̱̻̜̙̜͑̒č̸͇̪̀͗̽̕͝ ̷̹̮͂͐͋͌̽̌ͅḑ̶̹͚̿́n̴̖̩̯̯͐ą̷̱̙̘̬̇ ̷̩̼̅̋͜͠,̷͖͔̼͆̕͜͝e̴̡͙̪̼͎͂g̴̞̟̑͘ṅ̴̢͚͈̈̽̿͘͝e̶͖̍̑l̸̻̬̆̑̎̈͜ľ̴̗̳̤̣̓̃̽̈́a̵̠͉̜̙̐h̷͓͖͒͛͒̚c̴̼̺̔̀̊̓͌ ̵̢̠̩̦̪́̓̊̍̂͐t̴̠̪̂́͊̕̕͝s̸̛̟̖͖̟̔̏͂̀a̷̧͉̜͌͌̓̉̓̌l̵̬̈́̈́̆̈́͑̿ ̷̡̨͍̥̖͗͌̋̋͑̋ͅê̶̤̠͔͐͊͆h̸͚̦̓͂t̸̢̜̼͆̀̽͝ ̴̜̺̀͊,̷̢͚͔̑̂͐͝s̴̲̳͉̥̈̓͆̒͛ṳ̷̞̄͝ ̶̪̝̥͓̐͜s̸̨͎͍̟̽͗̆̾̆͗s̵̳͛͋͌̕͝a̵͓̪̯̲͓̽ṗ̵̛̱͔͔̀̈́̚ ̴̺͛̀e̶̡͕̟͍͊́̒̊͘h̷̡̹͗̓̅͘͝s̴̖̣̜͖̰̳̓̏̐̐̉̄ ̷̢̡̺̹̘̺̿ỳ̷̗̜͇͖̀̒̃̌̌ă̴͕̺͌m̶͔͛͒̓!̶͚̈" The monster said in greeting.
Challenge? Apotheosis? What the hell is it talking about? Ranma thought as she dodged the brace of projectiles - that looked disturbingly like bone - that the thing shot at her out of its bone white mass even as it spoke, all without moving from its spot at the centre of the ring of standing stones that Ranma's Origin Sight told her was the portal out of here.
If this thing is like the Ooze Zombies, and it should be, then my spells won't work. Ranma thought even as a quick glance with a specially grown eyestalk from the back of her head showed the consequences of getting hit by one of those bone projectiles. Where the things had struck the chamber's floor were now small craters which had been created, according to her Origin Sight, by the destruction of the matter which previously occupied them at a molecular level!
"Time to die you creepy cute thing!" Ranma shouted as she mentally ordered the thing's countdown, the highest she'd seen so far in the whole Abyssal Labyrinth and the only one which was ticking up, down to zero.
Much to Ranma's annoyance however, the damned thing didn't die. Sure it started to disintegrate but before more than a few chunks of it fell to dust, it was surrounded by some kind of green aura that raised its countdown by ten million seconds and it regenerated itself.
"Okay that's just cheating!" Ranma cried out disgruntledly for the second time that day before she was suddenly sent flying by some powerful kinetic force. "And so is this!"
It was too. Despite the fact that Ranma looked like a little girl, she was actually an immense Slime Demon Lord and whilst not all that mass translated into weight when she was in her human form, she was still a lot heavier than anybody her size should be. Yet, the white slime easily sent her flying with whatever telekinetic power it had.
And it wasn't done with just that either, as it had sent Ranma flying towards what looked like a black hole it had somehow created.
Just what kind of bullshit powers does this thing not have!? Ranma thought with a growl as she used Conniveo (Blink) to teleport to the other side of the slime, only for it to pull her towards itself with that bullshit telekinetic power it had and tossed her over its body right back at the black hole.
"Oh, no you don't!" Ranma shouted as she glared at the black hole. "C̷̡̲̎l̶̳̈́̿o̴͉͎͆s̵̚͘͜e̶̢̝̊̈́!"
At her command, the black hole obligingly snapped shut and Ranma landed where it had been unharmed. Though she was promptly forced to dodge out of the way of another brace of the matter destroying bone shards.
"Seriously, what the hell are you?" Ranma asked rhetorically, only for her Origin Sight to helpfully, read the sarcasm, clue her in.
The white slime is the Warden of the Abyssal Labyrinth. The Warden was created by the Mage of the Beginning to be the final challenge of the Labyrinth. It is forged from the twisted remains of a clan of Celestials that offended the Mage in a long ago yesteryear.
"Just let me kill you, you adorable stupid thing!" She growled in rage as she again mentally commanded the Warden's life timer down to zero.
Only to watch once more as the damned thing just healed itself before it died.
"That's so bloody frustrating to watch!" Ranma hissed in irritation as she flew - courtesy of her still active Volant - out of the way of some more of those blasted bone shards the Warden just kept shooting. Her annoyance slowed her reaction time a bit though and a few of the shards hit her leg.
Hissing in pain, she sheared off the parts of her body that were struck by those annoying disintegrating bones and shouted angrily at the Warden even as she regenerated from her injury. "Stop that, now! It's annoying to regrow from those things!"
The only reply was the Warden trying to pull her towards another black hole it created, only for Ranma to drop its life timer down to zero and forcing it to abandon its attack to focus on healing itself.
It can't focus on attacking and healing itself at the same time. Ranma realised as a grin spread across her face as a plan came together in her mind. That gives me an idea!
"Got you!" Ramna grinned viciously, like a shark on a seal pup as she leapt at the Warden.
It tried to use its telekinetic power to force her back but she just used Conniveo to teleport right next to it when it did, where she promptly smothered the other slime in her pseudopods that she'd covered in hundreds of mouths with razor sharp teeth charged with entropic energy which she proceeded to use to tear into it like a blender.
It didn't really do any damage. It's life timer didn't go down at all from it and thanks to its blasted regeneration, it actually ticked up! But damned if it wasn't cathartic to see the white slime get shredded. Besides it also worked to keep the accursed thing distracted as she once more commanded its life down to zero!
"YES!" Ranma cheered as this time distracted by her blender attack, the Warden didn't manage to heal itself and its timer finally stayed at zero!
Watching as it started to disintegrate, she smugly reabsorbed her pseudopods and stepped away from the Warden's crumbling remains.
Her sense of victory lasted for only about a minute before much to her annoyance the Warden was once more surrounded by a green aura and its life timer once more ticked back up into the millions.
"You-?! How-? I killed you!" She sputtered in surprise as it bounced towards her, once more ready for battle.
Its every bounce, taunting her with the very fact that it was still alive.
"This is bullshit! I had you!" Ranma cried out in denial as she was once more forced to evade the thing's bone shards. "Why can't you just stay dead!"
The Warden's only response was to toss, yes toss, a pair of black holes at Ranma like they were shuriken.
"Oh, stop with the black holes already." Ranma said, beyond irritated.
"C̷̡̲̎l̶̳̈́̿o̴͉͎͆s̵̚͘͜e̶̢̝̊̈́!" She ordered and like good little children, the twin black holes shuttered close.
"I've had enough of this nonsense!" Ranma declared, using Obice to deflect the bone shards rather than evading them as she lost her patience with the fight entirely and simply advanced on the Warden with an imperious look.
For its part, the white slime seemed to sense something had changed and it bounced back from Ranma almost fearfully and tried to use its telekinetic power on the Demon Lord.
"N̸̖͂o̷̜̮͆̕.̸̝̔̌ ̵̯̓Ǐ̴̹͝ ̵̻͋̚r̷͇̮͐e̸̲͔̕j̶̦̚e̶͈͂č̴̹̍ẗ̴͙́ ̷͈͇̑͛y̴̗͐̒o̴̭̅u̵͍̍r̸̺̍̉ ̵̨̪̌p̵͔̗̈́͊ȍ̷͕̈́w̸̱̹̓̚e̴͙̥̿̕r̷̜͂͜.̴̘͑͠" Ranma said commandingly and she sensed the telekinetic power just fizzle out. A fact that had the Warden shivering in clear terror.
"Y̶̱̒͘ǫ̴̾͋ů̵̧̡ ̸̡̩́č̷͎a̸̛͙͜n̵̜̝̒'̶̧̩́ṱ̶̏ ̷̨͍̂̕s̷̜̕t̶̂̃͜ȁ̶̲̬y̵̛̘̳ ̴̦̈a̷̡͉͘ṱ̵̅ ̴̺̽z̴̙̏͛e̷̱̥̾͛ŕ̶͖͕͘o̷̩͗͜?̸̫͕̿̀ ̴̦͐̈́T̷͉͈̕h̴̜̩̒ě̸̩̜̚n̶̳̼̓ ̵̨͑̑h̵̳͑o̶̦̼̊w̷̟̤͑ ̷̞̓̈́ą̷̦̂b̶̪͗ȏ̴̖̳̕u̴̡̯͗t̵͓̕ ̵̯͐m̴͍̒ì̵̛̦̮ň̷̜̈́u̶̱̅̿s̷̠͆ ̷̻̟̎o̶̜͌n̴͙͇̊e̵̩͈͊ ̸̞̯́m̸̖͙̑͂ḭ̴̘̆͝l̸̡̫͗́ļ̵̘̑i̷̦͝ọ̶͋͝n̷̹̤̅͗!̵̯̦̾̿"
At once, the Warden's timer dropped not to zero but to minus one million just like Ranma had commanded and it stilled.
Again the green aura began to surround it, but Ranma was having none of that.
"N̴̫̕o̵̳̍̅ ̷̢͆h̸͉͗e̶̡̓ͅǎ̸͍͇l̸̠̍̒i̶̻͝n̵͓̩͌g̸̪̉̈́ ̴̙̓̿f̶̙͆ȍ̶̠̓r̵̛̮ ̴͓͑̊ẏ̴̹̇ȏ̶̪̿ͅũ̶̱̕.̸͓̪͝ ̶̠̋̄" She said and the aura sputtered out before it could do anything and finally the Warden stayed dead.
"Clocked out, bitch." Ranma declared, her voice returning to normal as she relaxed and she glared down at the dead - Or was it dying? The rules in this crazy place weren't clear. - Warden.
Unlike the other creatures she'd killed in the Labyrinth, the Warden did not immediately disintegrate. It began to do so yes, but it was a gradual process for the thing - probably so it could use its cheating healing to escape death - and gave it just enough time to have some last words.
"H̴̙̓̽͋̚̕ẗ̵̛̹͇̣̟́̏͗͜n̵͚̰͍͇͚̆͂ĩ̷̧̪͋͌͒͊͘ṟ̷̨̱͌͒̈͌́y̴̝̭̦͖͠ḇ̵͎͈̬̀͂̑̍ḁ̷̡͕̪̎̌͝l̴̡̠̲͔͔͕̏̿̎̎̆͝ ̶̭̪̖̺̀̋̆̽͊͝ë̴̼͊h̸͉͗̎ṫ̸̮̪̩͈ ̴̢̀̈f̵̢͓͍̼͊ǫ̴̗̖̳̂̄͌̃ͅ ̸͖͕̽̑̍̓͛̕͜y̸̛̦͆̀̄d̴̰̺̦̹̽̅ͅå̷̧̮͕̃̓̅ͅL̴̛̗̍̄̑̚͝ ̶̞͌͗n̶̢̮͇̥̘̲̊̿̌r̸̤͈̮̀̓ò̷͉̹̙͉̈́̑b̸̰̦͑w̸͖͖͍͆̌̇̕̚͝ͅͅȩ̷̬̣͇̮̎̏̌͌n̴̻̞̆̌͐ ̷̱̓́̃̍͝,̸͇̈́́ͅs̶̻̺̐͌̑́̏̓ư̵̯̱̣̮̋̇͗̄̃ͅ ̵̥͐̔̓g̷̡͉͚͎̍̈́́̚n̵͎̎i̶͕͚̖̐̅ę̷̖̭͎͖͐̇͊̾̿ͅe̸͇̻͕͕͆͑̏̊͆r̷̥̻̳̩̊̿̆͝f̷̪͕̏͌͐̔̈́̀ ̵̧͔̳̺͉̊̽r̴̨̭͍̱̎́͝o̷̳̅͑͋́f̵̲̾̆͗̾͐͝ ̸̧̞̰͖̗̈́͋͊̉́ͅu̴͓͇͐̋̕ǫ̵͎͍͔̖̣͛̽͊͘ẙ̴̗̞̻͓͕̖́̆̋͝ ̷̨̰̼̻̟̈́̑̐͗̎k̶̤͋͋͝ǹ̸̡͖̜̥̩̩̋̊̊̋̄a̸̛̿̽̿͜h̶̛͍̼̹̪͑̾̚͝t̷̯̦̲̓̅̇̍͋̎!̶̢̪̩̥̱͋̇̎ S̷̡̩̣͖̈́̿̾̐ì̷͉̳̦͛̄͆͂̚s̸̡̢͇̾̾͒̐͜ͅo̴̧͒̾̕e̷̫̖̟̟̯̙͊̀̽͒̃ḩ̵̨̨̠͔̤̒̊͗̋͠t̶̜̜̩̑ͅo̴̜͕̣͑̅̊͝p̴̹̩̥͔̃a̵̪̭͕͗̀͜ ̷͉̠̪͇̈̿̆̿͛r̵̢̩͎͋͋̌̀̏ų̷̫̟̦͈͚̈́̋ọ̶̋͠y̸̰̜̓͝ ̶̤̞͔̣̦̍͐̾ͅe̵̟͕̳̘̔̎͒̆t̵͈̜̗̔̏͒̍͜ȩ̶̧̪̇̓̐̇͝l̸̡͎͚̤̣̆̋p̸̼̺̖̍̏̒͋͊͠m̴̡̖̠͑ō̴̙͈̳͊͌͑ç̶͂͝ ̸͇̓͝d̶͉͓̼̀n̷̮̻̑̄͂͐̽á̸̡̻̮͜ͅ ̵͕̪͕͚̾͗͆̈͠l̶̝̦̥͍̎̓͝a̵̢͕͇̪̹͔͊̌̀t̴̺͔̰̗̪͇͑͑̓r̶͔̣͑̈́̆ǫ̸̛͕̏́͒̒̑p̷͚͉̈́ͅͅ ̷̦͉̞̤̭̓͊́̿̑̈ȅ̸̮̲͛̆͘ḧ̷̡́ẗ̶̨͍̜ͅ ̸͓̼͉̲͋͒̌̍e̷̩̊̈́̀̽͐́s̶̙̩̜̬̜͑̅̎͝ų̴͇͎̂͊̊!̷̠̤̊̔̋̒͘͠"
"I still don't know what it meant by apotheosis, but I don't really care either." Ranma said as the Warden finished disintegrating. "Time to get out of here."
With that she walked to the centre of the circle of standing stones even as she used her Origin Sight to look it over to figure out how to operate it.
"Just channel my magic into it and focus on my destination, huh?" Ranma sighed in relief as she read how it worked thanks to her ability, ignoring all the other superfluous information her Origin Sight let her know about the portal array.
"Thank goodness. I needed a lucky break." She said as she channeled her magic into the standing stones, feeling them resonating with it and powering up. She felt it drag her magic to the far corners of the Abyssal Labyrinth as it tapped into the power of the whole plane but thought nothing of it. This portal was supposed to take her anywhere she wanted, of course it would need phenomenal amounts of power.
"Take me to where my Otouchan and Okaasan are!" Ranma ordered the artefact, focusing all her will on wherever in the infinite expanse of Creation her parents were.
So focused on that thought was she that it was only as she was consumed by a blinding white flash as the portal activated that Ranma realised something was amiss, as it was not just herself that was transported by it but the entirety of the Abyssal Labyrinth as well.
Ranma let out an otherworldly scream as the portal spat her back out, a scream that she did not even notice tore at the very fabric of the universe she found herself in and which caused the death of everything within a hundred miles of her rematerialization. She could be forgiven for this however, as it was not every day that one ended up having an entire plane's essence mixed into their very being. And it wasn't just that either! Somehow she could feel that the universe inside her was now also populated by her familiars and not just Zero-chan and the Slime Sisters either, but all her familiars, including the hundreds of Dolls she'd built with Eva-chan and had left in her care back in Mahora.
That said, the pain was fleeting.
"That hurt like a bitch," Ranma said but a moment later as she pushed herself to her feet. "I guess eating a universe should. I'm surprised the pain didn't last longer to be honest."
At her own silly joke, Ranma chuckled.
Resorting to humor to push through difficult situations was more Haruna's forte, but Ranma had learned from the best in that regard. And she really needed a distraction from the insanity of her situation right now.
"This is most definitely not where I wanted that portal to drop me." Ranma said with a frown as she noted the barren desert around her. "Where the hell am I?"
Almost as soon as she asked, the answer presented itself in her mind.
The Great Ares Desert, the Grand Illusion of Mundus Magicus.
"Mundus Magicus?" Ranma said, her brows furrowed in thought. "Maybe the portal didn't drop me off course by too much after all… Otouchan, Okaasan, wait for me! I'm coming!"
Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!
Whoo! It is happening folks, we are here, in Mundus Magicus! And things are about to get freaky, and I mean super freaky compared to Negima's craziness. We've got some surprises for you, just like this chapter. While it was short, we hoped just the fact that Ranma has… taken this gateway labyrinth along the way was a good sight to see. I mean, Portal Labyrinth anyone? Or since it's a part of her now is it a Portal Skirt? Questions for later. Nevermind, it's more a familiar lounge. Or so I'm told.
Nameless: Uh… I honestly don't know what E4E means for a good chunk of that. So moving on… This was a relatively short chapter but we hoped you guys liked it. We upped the creepiness for it, which is fitting considering its purpose was to set up/describe how Ranma ends up becoming the same type of entity as the Mage of the Beginning. And I think we've already established just how creepy that piece of work really is.
It's an old reference to something else. Like hammerspace for some anime girls where they keep those squeaky hammer things. Classic 90s anime. Though I gotta say, my fav part was when Ranma went screw it and started to dial the thing straight into the negatives for not dying properly when she clocked it to zero. How dare it not die!
Nameless: So… Basically just an older term for hammerspace? Got it. Though the bit about it being a Portal Skirt is a bit of a stretch. I mean it's not so much existing in her skirt but inside all of her… The innuendo just isn't as precise as I think it should be for it to work. Anyways~! My favourite part was the way that Ranma initially hesitates to consign the Ooze Zombies to oblivion. She might have no qualms with killing back home, 'cause it sends her victims to the afterlife or reincarnation but reducing them to actual nothingness… That's too much even for her. At least for a while. That I think humanises her, don't you agree?
Like I said, a reference that I barely remember! Ehem, anywho~!
You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!