Heya everyone!
Here's the sixth chapter, hope you enjoy it!
DISCLAIMER: English is not my first language, so please be patient with me!
Chapter 6 — "A race against time."
The air was sullied with cinders, ashes and soot. The opaque tainted mist encompassed the whole battlefield —or what remained of it. One could hardly see what was in front of him without squinting his eyes. It was uncomfortably hot and dry within, enough to make you long for the sweet release of hydration. The murky fog ominously covered the sky, creating an even dimmer night where only a few strings of moonlights could pierce through the veil of darkness. An acrid and bitter smell —born out of the remnants of sulfur mixed with smoke— assaulted the nostrils.
The devastated ruin of a once tall and proud mansion stood out like a sore thumb in the middle of the estate. With its structural integrity barely holding together, debris and rocks regularly came tumbling down as the weight they supported for decades could be tolerated no longer.
Only one soul remained within this hellish environment. A monster. The more educated individuals would recognize it as a werewolf, or at least something closely related to one. It laid there, inside the ruins and its falling wreckage, unmoving but still breathing, even in this foul environment that dirtied the lungs and made for a coughing fit. The wolven-monstrosity was horrifyingly huge, far more the its cursed lycanthrope brethren. It boasted a length of more than two meters and was wider than the most brawniest and mightiest human to ever be birthed. Its muscles bulging all over its imposing body, distinctly visible even hidden under its thick and sturdy reddish fur. Armed with dark, dangerously sharp and powerful claws, the length of which was akin to a human's hand, the beast could've cut an armored adult male in half with a single swipe.
Finally, after a time, the thing moved. Subtly at first, only a few groans while adjusting and shifting in its uncomfortable posture, partially buried by heavy debris. Then, its eyes opened slightly, revealing slit brown irises within a sea of reddish yellow —gone was the once blood-red maddened glare. Its mind was still fuzzy, but the uncomfortable pain it felt was enough to jolt it awake and sharpen its senses. Memories of what transpired earlier gradually resurging.
Lupusregina had awakened.
She quickly assessed herself and her surrounding, ever-so-slowly rising from the rock she'd assumed had been a comfortable bed.
"[Boosted Magic: Heal] [Regeneration]"
A green light washed over her, faintly enlightening the dark area. The pain that pulsated inside of her disappeared, but this sweet release didn't register within the maid's mind. The only thing at the forefront of her psyche was the two humans that she couldn't find anywhere. They had fled... no, she'd let them escape.
A cold fury grew as realization dawned on her.
Those motherfuckers got me...? Me? With such a simple and stupid... [Delay teleportation]? she assumed, internally.
Embarrassment, shame and humiliation came crashing down on her pride, pummeling it to the ground. She realized that, due to her childish amusement, those two inferior life forms had made her a fool. Played her like a fiddle... and even more so, in her unfathomable stupidity, she'd spit on her Lord's advice to always assume her enemies were stronger than her...
But worse of all, those... those scums, repulsive and vilest trash of them all... had openly insulted her Lord. In front of her, shamelessly and without care. And... she let them ran away with it? Such heresy going unpunished? On her watch?
That same cold anger surged, twisted her guts and exploded into a fiery rage. Lupusregina began to tremble, shaking uncontrollably as her body tensed, trying to contain that impossible disgust within. But she could hold it no longer. The maid of the last Supreme Being screamed, roared her rage to the high heaven, to however unfortunate enough to hear.
THAT MOTHERFUCKER BAITED ME! SPEAKING OF THE SUPREME BEING LIKE HE WAS SOME KIND OF...
No coherent speech left her animalistic mouth, but her intentions were laid bare to the entire world to witness as the pressure around her soared. Her roar shook the very air, creating gusts of wind within this mostly windless night. The mist cleared around her, pushed by the invisible force of her madness manifested into the corporal world. The same uncontrolled frenzy that muddled her mind slowly molding her surrounding.
... KILL, I AM GOING TO KILL THOSE SCUMS! I AM GOING TO RIP YOUR THROATS, COMMIT EVERY TORTURE AND EVERY ATROCITIES I CAN THINK OF. BEAST KING MEKONGAWA, MY CREATOR, WITNESS ME AS I SWEAR TO OFFER THEIR MUTILATED CORPSES TO YOU. I SWEAR TO GIFT YOU THEIR PITIFUL SCREAMS UNTIL THE STARS GROW BORED OF THEM. FOR AN ETERNITY, THEY SHALL NEVER RELENT FROM—
Suddenly, from high up in the sky, two silhouettes appeared, as if responding to her call. They quickly reached the monstrous wolf below, not an instance of hesitation in their hurry.
"Sisters..." uttered Lupusregina, her low growl contrasting heavily with her usual seductively high tone while in human form.
The shortest of the two, Entoma, rushed to her side, hurriedly kneeling down near her enormous sister. Though her mask displayed no emotion, her demeanor exuded both worry and relief at the same time. "Lady Nigredo just contacted us, she said your health had dipped bellow forty-percent. And there was this explosion, and... "
"Lupus, what happened?" asked the tallest one, a concerned expression plastered on her usually stoic face. "Where are the targets? Did they defeat y—"
"Of course they didn't, Narberal! How could I lose against lower life forms?!" the werewolf retorted angrily, her long and sharp fangs menacingly bared at her sister. Though most people would've backed away from the aggression, both Narberal and Entoma didn't flinch nor even acknowledged it. All of them belonged to the same sisterhood after all ; as such, for better or for worst, there was nobody they knew and trusted more than their fellow sister. And it was a known fact that, despite her mostly carefree attitude, Lupusregina was the most prideful of the pack."Those fuckers pulled one on me, stunned me and fled like cowards!"
"They achieved that while you were in your true form?" asked Narberal, perplexed that such a threat had gone unnoticed from their surveillance.
There was a silence. Lupusregina seemed to deflate a little at the question. And then she did, literally, as she shrunk back into her humanoid form. Her face was pouting a little. Her cheeks blushed as she couldn't help but feel the embarrassment of her performance rise to the surface. After a few long seconds quietude, and thanks to her sisters insistent questioning glare, Lupusregina finally relented and confessed.
"...No... I played around too much, and I transformed only when it was too late..." she admitted. Before Narberal could sigh, she continued "But, one was indeed strong! Strong enough to force me into my true form at least. I underestimated the Noveda kid, but it won't work a second time!"
Narberal sighed nonetheless.
"So, you did lose."
"Ugh...If I had the chance to attack in my true form, they wouldn't have stood a chance!"
It was a fact that Lupusregina, of all the battle maids, was the the most disadvantaged by her humanoid form —at least, when compared to her might as a werewolf. She might have the second highest level of their group just after Narberal —their dear little sister noncounting—, but her true powers only shone after transforming.
In actuality, Lupusregina was arguably the most powerful individual of their sisterhood : her overall statistics were the highest among them, and her life-sustaining abilities allowed her to easily outlast any one of them in single combat. Moreso, her creator, Beast King Mekongawa, much like Peroroncino who created Shalltear Bloodfallen, sought to imbue as much power as he could into whatever he created, this included Lupusregina and her synergistic spells. Though, it was mostly theoretical, since she was also prone to be the dumbest of them all at times.
"This isn't an excuse, Lupus," Narberal said, a stern look on her face. Her traits softened as she continued. "But then again, I was the one to tell you to have fun... I'm also to blame. And with this explosion, the humans will be crawling around any minutes now. We need to be quick, or we'll bring even more attention to ourselves."
"Sorry..." apologized Lupusregina.
"Keep those for our Lord. Entoma, contact lady Nigredo. Ask her to find the targets. No need to be subtle anymore."
"Alright. She'll be thrilled! She couldn't stop complaining to me how much of a pain it was to spy on those two without alerting them with all of their anti-divination spells active." Entoma answered as she threw a paper talisman in the air, burning in a fiery blue light. "[Message]"
The two teenagers appeared in a flash of blue light within the dark confine of a rundown wooden shack. Dust floated in the air and faint rays of moonlight pierced through the holes in the roof and the walls. The wind outside howled loudly, some freezing drafts founding their way inside of the cottage. Such a cold air could only be found in the northern region of Eldemar, in the Sarokian Highlands.
Technically, Iasku Mansion shouldn't that far from them. Though, neither of the boys gave it any thought.
Thanks to his paranoiac tendencies, Zorian had identified loads of secured locations just like this one all around the country, all ready to be used as emergency sanctuary if need be. After further warding the area against unwanted attention, the pair let their nerves relax for the first time since their confrontation with the werewolf-shifter... or was she just a werewolf? They weren't sure on that part.
There wasn't any furnitures to lean on, but the ground was good enough at this point. Zach simply decided to lay there, in the middle of the dusty floor, while Zorian sat, his back supported by the wall. He delicately held on his pulverized wrist with his remaining hand. The pain had mostly subsided thanks to a numbing spell he knew, but not entirely. Every small movement was uncomfortable, and some even earned him a groan.
A shared sigh was exhaled in unison.
"So... what do we do now, Zorian?" Zach asked, still recuperating from his mana-depletion syndromes.
"Well, I would appreciate if you tried to heal my wrist when you've recovered enough," Zorian said. "Though, honestly, now that I look at it, I think it's a lost cause. I don't even feel the bone anymore, it might be too damaged to do anything about it..."
"Let me see," Zach said as he stood and approached his friend. The entire wrist had blackened and swollen at least two times its original size. Not a pretty sight to see. A few magical circles sprung to life around Zorian's wrist, a cold sensation invading his crippled appendage. "Shit, she got you good..."
Zach, though he was a better healer than Zorian, was still only familiar with basic to intermediate healing spells. As time loopers, they generally didn't need more than that, as any long-term damages would be erased within a month. "You're right... I don't think I can do anything. If I tried to mend your bone, the result might be even worse. We don't want you to have bone fragments sticking out of your wrist," he said jokingly, a meek smile aimed at his friend.
Zorian returned the smile. "It's alright, we're about to reset anyway. I can deal with a few more minutes of this."
Zach acquiesced, agreeing that this iteration of the world had gone long enough as it is.
"Yes. Let's do a final debrief. One to end them all!" Zach exclaimed with panache, fist in the air.
"Until the next loop," commented a snarkier-than-usual Zorian, probably the result of his state of mind after the biggest battle of his life so far. Once the adrenaline currently flooding his system disappeared, he would return to his usual serious and no-fun-allowed self. Or he might not, he didn't really know how this experience would shape him going forward honestly.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't spoil the mood smart-ass. Anyway, fill me in about the memory packet first."
Zorian proceeded to share with him Spear of Resolve's findings. About the secret time research facility beneath Cyoria, and how the chances of it containing the exit of the loop were high. How Red Robe's absence might indicate that he'd already found said exit and left the time loop altogether a long time ago.
When pushed about it, Zach came to the same conclusions as Zorian. He thought it was weird of Red Robe to leave like that. Sure, he might've believed that an army of time travelers was after him —the araneas of Cyoria—, but he knew the mechanism of this whole ordeal better than them. Far better even. So how did he not figure out that it had only been a ploy by Zorian? Did he not even try to investigate it? Why did he chose to retreat into the real world, when doing so would put him in such a disadvantageous position once the finale timeline began?
"We're still missing something, obviously. Red Robe is smart enough to puppeteer the entire Ibasan's invasion, smart enough to actually somewhat control Quatach-Ichl to some extent." commented Zach, which were, again, the exact same conclusions that Zorian had drawn. "Its unthinkable he would've left without a good reason. I guess we know what our next destination is then. Or do you want to search for this name again, huh Zorian?" a mocking smile aimed at his friend was plastered on his punchable pretty-boy face.
Zorian nervously laughed at the mere mention of such folly. He very lightly jiggled his destroyed wrist in front of him, accentuating the idiocy of the proposition as he answered.
"Yeah, no. I don't know for you, but that thing was the strongest being I've ever actively fought against... and its an experience I'd rather not replicate. For all I know, she might even give Quatach-Ichl a run for his money."
Zach pondered for a bit.
"Hmm... Well, we didn't get to see everything this Lupusregina had in store for us... but I think the skeleton is stronger. But its a very different kind of strong, you know? A very different kind of fight too. He might not be superior in term raw power, but he's annoyingly versatile. To an unfair degree. Coupled with that his endless mana-reserve, and you get yourself an unbeatable foe. Seriously, no matter what scenarios I've came up with over the years, he always either overpowered me outright or found a workaround."
It was Zorian's turn to consider his friend's words, after which he made his own contribution to the discussion.
"Actually Zach, even if you were to destroy Quatach-Ichl's body, his soul would just retreat to his phylactery, which is possibly so far and so well hidden away that it makes him practically unkillable to begin with. There's a reason why he survived every conflict in history for a millennia."
"Yeah, there's that too. But I never really thought about it since I've never even gotten close to that point yet," Zach said while he scratched his head in embarrassment.
Don't be embarrassed to not be able to beat an immortal arch-mage, idiot... Zorian lamented internally as he used his remaining hand to massage his eyes. He decided not to voice his rumination though.
The duo continued their exchange back and forth for a few minutes. It might've been an unspoken agreement that both of them wanted out of this loop as soon as possible, hence why they skimmed rapidly over most of the informations, even the important parts. They would have a more proper conversation in the next loop. This discussion was only to make one person aware of the other's discoveries.
When it finally came time to end it, they spoke their final words of goodbye.
"Well... let's go. I'm ready," Zach said nonchalantly, as if the world wasn't going to be destroyed and recreated anew in the blink of an eye. "You'll have to teach me how to activate the reset at some point too, it would be safer if both of us could use it."
"I wholeheartedly agree. Though, you'll need to dive into soul training. If you thought that our debriefings were boring, you'll discover a new kind of hell, I tell you... And that's coming from me, of all people."
Zach gulped, reconsidering his words. There was a reason why, of all fields of magic, soul was the only one the unassuming arch-mage had never dared to study. Pure. Insufferable. Unending. Boredom.
"Well, goodbye Zach. See you in a few days." Zorian smiled.
"Yeah, see you. I'll try not to punch you this time around. No promises though."
Zorian let out a snort. I'll need to bring Kirielle with me, we both can play this game.
Zorian focused on his soul. He dived deeper into the meanders of his being until he finally felt the marker, the one thing that connected his very existence with this whole time loop shenanigan. It had multiple metaphorical switches attached to it, most of which were either broken —as a result of being an accidental byproduct— or whose effect he didn't know. But the most important of them all, the kill-switch, was intact.
Letting one final sigh escape his lips, he relished in the fact that his mangled wrist would soon be fixed.
He activated the reset.
And everything turned—
.
.
.
.
.
Huh... ?
Zorian opened his eyes again. Nothing had happened. He and Zach were still in that same dusty rundown shack. He tried again. Nothing. His stomach dropped at the horrifying prospect slowly revealing itself in front of him.
No... no... no...
He activated the kill-switch again and again and again, over and over with the same despairing result each time: disheartening nothingness.
NO! NOT IN THIS LOOP! NOT THIS ONE! I IMPLORE YOU, GOD! Zorian implored within his soul, as he maniacally repeated the process in vain.
His eyes widened in horror and despair at the realization. Goosebumps exploded all over his body. A cold-sweat ran down his back. His stomach swirled and twisted, cramping painfully.
"Zorian?" inquired Zach, titling his head slightly.
"T—the reset..." Zorian tried to speak, stumbling over his own words, his mind restlessly trying to make sense of what was happening. He gulped loudly. "The reset doesn't work," he finally let out, staring right at Zach.
"Huh?!"
An ominous silence settled between them. Each of the two time travelers remained motionless, mouth slightly agape as they realized and contemplated on the precarious circumstances of their situation.
Zach reciprocated the dumbfounded stare, slowly digesting the information. Thanks to his more advanced age —and also because it was in his nature to be inherently more self-composed and relaxed than his friend in time of emergency—, he was able process the revelation in a far more calmer manner than Zorian's inner turmoil.
"Okay... okay, let's not panic, Zorian." Zach started, his tone as reassuring and gentle as he could. "First and foremost, we ought to stay calm. Panicking right now won't help. Has this ever happened to you before?"
Zorian used his remaining hand to reposition his glasses, the gesture somewhat bringing an ounce of tranquility and focus to his mind as he did so.
"You're right, sorry," he said apologetically. "And no, it never happened before... But I've only used the switch once in the past, during our very last loop like I told you. So I'm not an expert in the slightest..."
"It's alright. Do you think there might be some kind of conditions to activate it? Maybe it works only at specific dates, times or locations? Or a combination of those?"
"It's not impossible, but I don't think so," continued Zorian, pondering deeply as he spoke. "I'm pretty sure we're already past the point of when I triggered it last time. Regarding the location, I was in Cyoria at the time, but I don't see how or why that would be a factor honestly."
"Right. We'll lose nothing by trying. If we go back to Cyoria, we'll try there." Zach said. "Anything else?"
Zorian continued to think thoroughly and without rest, working his neurons like never before in his life.
"Well... Again, I don't see how its relevant to the marker, but the Primordial had broken free from its prison when I activated it..." said the boy, before something slowly dawned on him. He continued. "Actually, something odd happened back then now that I am remembering it. When the Primordial broke free, the marker tried to initiate the reset by itself...but..."
Zorian turned silent for a few seconds, quietly processing and following the thought process he had embarked on. Then, he slightly widened his eyes as a theory unfolded in his mind.
"... But it didn't! Something blocked it off! I was the one to forcibly activate it. It was me!" Zorian recalled. "Maybe what is happening right now is the same phenomenon, but on a grander scale? The thing that was preventing an automatic reset might also stop me directly?"
Zach took a few seconds to consider Zorian's words, and what it would entail for their situation.
"So you're saying its the result of someone's conscious effort to go against the system..." Zach commented as he began to pace back and forth. "That's worrying. If this conclusion is correct, Zorian, that means someone else —other than us and Red Robe— knows about the time loop and how it operates. Worse, that someone actually knows how to manipulate it to some extent."
The unassuming arch-mage let out of sigh as he finished his train of thoughts. "And right now, it's not hard to guess who's the likeliest culprit. And it's the worst of them all..."
If whatever being behind the name is aware of the time loop, then even ending this iteration of the world wouldn't help their case at all. It was, in all likelihood, the absolute worst case scenario. One they couldn't come back from.
"You mean our pursuers?" asked Zorian, to which Zach simply nodded. "Hmm... No, I doubt it. Your logic is sound, Zach, but I don't think its directly linked to the name."
Though he didn't know why Zorian had refuted his point yet, Zach couldn't help but feel a weigh being lifted off his shoulder as the worst case scenario he just thought of was rejected right away by his friend.
"How so?" he asked.
"Well, I'm not saying its completely out of the question, but rather it's implausible. I didn't dabble with anything related to the name last time. Hell, I don't even think thirty seconds passed by between the moment I learned about it and when I triggered the kill-switch," Zorian answered.
After a second of deliberation with himself, Zorian came up with his own thoughts and expressed them out loud for Zach.
"Perhaps, it's the presence of higher beings in our world that upsets the whole mechanism of the loop? Back when the Primordial freed himself into the world, the contingency plan of my marker —the automatic reset— failed to activate properly. And now, a presumably even higher being trifle with us directly... maybe this more direct approach created an even stronger wave of dysfunctions within the system?"
Though it was only an hypothesis —an optimistic one—, such a scenario wouldn't involve the active knowledge of the loop by these beings for it to make sense. Rather, it was only their presence or involvement that might upset the balance of this fabricated world enough to create disturbances that the system didn't account for, which then generated those malfunctions of the marker.
It was a reassuring thought, but they didn't let this possible explanation raise their hopes too much. Firstly, all was only speculations at this point —worse, speculations based on assumptions— and secondly, this knowledge wouldn't necessarily be relevant for the conundrum they were currently in: how to end this loop.
"If your switch doesn't work, we might still be able trigger the reset with my death," Zach proposed.
"No... This is too dangerous. We can't do that, Zach. There is no telling that your death still activate the end of the loop at this point. And if it doesn't, you would only leave me behind with your vulnerable corpse still holding on to your soul..."
Zorian didn't need to explain further to get his point across. Zorian, for all his knowledge and bright thinking, could hardly fend for himself. Even during a normal reset, he would avoid any kind of confrontation like the plague, preferring to work from the shadows in safety. So now, in this unprecedented perilous situation, and with the duty to protect the soul of his comrade from any postmortem damages while running from an army of master-diviner he knew nothing about? It was simply too much for him. It would be even for Zach.
The duo continued to ponder on their dire position. They studied it through every angle they could think of, mused over all the little details they might've forgotten about, reviewed every propositions, even the more unreasonable ones. And there was a lot:
Zach thought about aiding the cult to break the Primordial out of its prison. The goal was to overload the system with multiple source of termination's requests. If the Primordial's release activated the automatic reset, as Zorian initiated it manually through his marker and finally Zach died, maybe it would happen. But it was far too unattainable in practice. First of all, the presumption that triggering multiple sources of resets would result in anything different was shaky at best. Secondly, the whole aiding liberating a monster among monster —aside from being absolutely immoral, even in the confine of the time loop— was just too long of a project. They didn't have days at their disposal, maybe not even hours...
Then, it was Zorian's turn to submit a plan: enlisting the help of Quatach-Ichl. As the mightiest being they knew of, he could at least protect them long enough for them to find another way out of the loop. But the main problem lied with their lack of knowledge about the lich. The information they had on him was solely based on their confrontations with him and the legends around him. They had no idea on how to even contact him, let alone how he could be convinced. Zach and Zorian knew the undead arch-mage led the invasion against Cyoria, but even if they volunteered to help to gain his trust, the old and paranoid immortal mage might simply find them too suspicious and destroy their souls altogether... or subjugate them to read their minds, where he would found out about the time loop. No, it was just not a sound plan of action when everything around it was thoroughly considered.
Finally, they both talked about running to the Eldemar government for help. But it was the fastest idea to be abandoned. Shot down nearly immediately. While it might've worked under different circumstances, right now the whole regime was all up in arms after what happened to the academy —and other things, but the boys weren't aware of the specifics. They were in search of culprits... any culprits... even indirect accomplices. All those special investigators snooping around were proof enough, not even mentioning the soon-to-be-established martial law over Cyoria. If the two time travelers were to fall into their hands, they were sure to be thoroughly interrogated by the best and brightest human mind-mage the Secret Services had at their disposal. Maybe even tortured at this point, it wasn't atypical from their administration, everyone knew that much. At this point, it might be less dangerous to go to Quatach-Ichl himself rather then their own government. That was a sad state of affair.
"We're going nowhere with this... Dammit! What do we do, what do we do!" Zorian uncharacteristically cursed, the building anger and frustration finally overflowing a little. The pain in his pulverized wrist not even fazing him anymore. "Its like a rope is tightening around our necks... and we can do nothing against it!"
The main and primary frustrating issue they found themselves crashing into, time and time again, was their utter lack of knowledge and understanding of their enemy and its capabilities regarding the time loop. If it'd been only Red Robe and the government on their tails, they knew they could've hidden for an entire month. It wouldn't have been easy per se, but it was at least quite feasible. But now? Against whatever send that maid against them? It's not that they could or could not... it was simply that they didn't even know. And it was the most frustrating element of their situation: complete uncertainty.
Did they have other strong combatants? Probably, but also unlikely at the same time. Their instincts assured them that there were other like Lupusregina waiting for them. But their minds couldn't fathom that such a militaristic force existed.
Did they have a strong divination network? Probably, but also unlikely again. The maid did know a lot about them. But the boys had sensed absolutely zero invasion from their innumerable anti-divination protections since the start of the loop.
And the list continued on and on.
Zorian let himself slumped down the floor, mumbling under his breath. Then, after a awkwardly long silence, Zach spoke up again.
"Hmm... I have another proposition, but you won't like it."
Zorian nodded weakly, daring him to shoot whatever he had in mind. At this point, even unreasonable plans seemed sound in his mind.
"You said Spear Of Resolve found the exit of the loop? Why not try to go there? Like... Immediately?"
Like he'd warned, Zorian definitely didn't like the sound of this plan. Not one bit. It was yet another idea based on assumptions. More precisely, the base premise for it to work was that the matriarch was right—though, Zorian had to admit that she'd rarely been wrong.
Actually, the more he thought about it, the more it started to seem appealing. It could be reasoned that the plan did hold some merits: Of all of their suggestions so far, it might be the most substantiated. It was a fact that Red Robe probably had already left the loops. If it was proven correct, then this Sovereign Gate discovered by Spear of Resolve was definitely the exit point they were searching for.
Now, the question was would the exit work for them? Probably, since Red Robe presumably used it… but that would mean leaving forever this world of In-Between and go back to the real timeline. Even with Zach's unimaginable might, they were still far from ready to tackle Red Robe and all of his machinations running in the background, some they still weren't even aware of. It wasn't a contest of strength after all, but of preparation.
If fate smiled upon them, Zorian thought, maybe this exit wasn't just that. It was largely wishful thinking from Zorian's part, but it wasn't unfounded either. The marker in his soul did have all kinds of buttons aside from the kill-switch in itself ; it wasn't that far of a stretch to assume the exit would also contain other such controls. If they could go there and forcefully trigger a reset, one that could overcome whatever was stopping Zorian at the moment, it was definitely worth a shot.
Also, even in the event that there was nothing there... they still could go about trying another plan. They wouldn't be locked in place like with the other ideas they had. Additionally, it was the fastest option right now —aside from outright ending Zach's life.
After finishing going over the idea in his head, Zorian spoke.
"Actually, it's not a bad idea... I think it's worth a shot."
"Really? I didn't think you would agree so rapidly," Zach said.
"Right now it's the best we have I reckon. And we cannot stay here doing nothing, we're wasting too much precious time. We should prepare and head there right now—"
Suddenly, a disembodied voice echoed around them. An eerie and disgusting aura invaded the shack instantly.
{ Found you, humans, } it said, a noticeable tint of glee in its tone, barely holding a laughter
[A few minutes ago]
Finally, finally! Nigredo thought as she could hardly contain the excitement. The grotesque girl bounced in place as she prepared to perform the request she just received from dearest Entoma.
She happily hummed the tune of one of the many nursery rhymes she knew of, merrily rocking left and right her grotesque face partially hidden by her long and filthy dark hair. The bundle of unkempt black threads swayed behind her back, following her movement.
If it wasn't for her unfortunate appearance, one might've judged the monster to be an innocent girl excited at the prospect of finally doing what she's been waiting for for so long! And it was right on point.
Nigredo, the eldest of the three sisters, had been bestowed her position by their Lord. She was responsible for nearly all the long-distance information gathering. As such, her competency within the realm of divination magic was equaled by none. She was proud to be a specialist among specialist within their group. Nigredo was, and had always been, the peak of her field. Nothing, not even a tiny stain, could impeach her impeccable track record that she'd worked hard on for many years... until a week of so ago...
After someone dared to try to spy on her master, blowing off a whole mountain as they activated his counter-measures in the process, her Lord had tasked her and her sister to find whoever was behind this. But stealth and discretion was to be of the highest order. No one in this world was to discover of their existence.
For the most part, it wasn't a difficult task at all. The humans of this country were weak, pathetic and uncivilized. Even with the added difficulty of accounting for the divergence between their magic system and her own, Nigredo had no problem spying on the majority of them without raising as much as an ounce of suspicion. In front of her mastery of divination magic, they were like ants under a magnifying glass, skittering around as she naughtily watched and learned their deepest secrets... except...
...except for those two pain in the ass, good for nothing mongrels! She cursed as the thought of the two teenagers found its way back into her mind. Damn them! How can two kids be this paranoid?!
Nigredo didn't loath humanity as much as she was simply indifferent to it for the most part —with the exception of their infants below the age of two, whom she adored. In her eyes, humans were no more than sacks of meat, but she truly did not held any kind of inherent ill-will toward any of them per se, as long as they didn't disrespect her Lord or go against him. In fact, despite her frightful appearance, she was actually one of the most moderate person in their group regarding the fate of humanity —which contrasted dramatically with her sister, one of the spearhead of human subjugation. Hence, the current feeling swirling inside of her was quite uncommon to say the least.
Those two, Zorian Kazinski and Zach Noveda, were one of a very few humans that actually managed to anger Nigredo. So far, it hadn't reached the point of total hatred, more like an extreme annoyance in front of a nuisance she'd rather get rid off.
Damn them! She continued to rant inside her head.
The human teenagers, for whatever reason, were always within layers upon layers of anti-divination magic. If it was just one or two spells, she could've navigated around them easily enough, but it wasn't! That Noveda kid had nearly a dozen passive protections... and the Kazinski kid —Nigredo's curses doubled by just thinking of him— had well over a dozen. What kind of sick joke was that, she thought. Of course, it wasn't something she couldn't easily overcome... but so many? Without raising even a single suspicion from this paranoid duo? Impossible.
And if this insanity wasn't enough, they also erected anti-divination perimeters everywhere they went, always hiding in the confines of those magical barriers at all hours of the day and the night. Nigredo could count on one hand the number of time the two remained in an unprotected location for more than twenty minutes... the answer was four! In nearly two weeks! 'What the hell!' was something she grew accustomed to shouting over the weeks.
With no other solution at her disposal, she had been stuck for a while. Unable to carry out the orders of her Lord, she came to a breaking point and relented, asking for help. She requested for an on the ground investigation to be conducted, and even then it wasn't much aside from confirming their location. Most of the information they learned about them came from what Lupusregina and Sebas had brought back with them a few days ago, someone called Zenomir Olgai if she recalled right.
Oh! The humiliation! Oh! What a disgrace she was! A shame, an unforgivable embarrassment it had been! How could she even show herself in front of her Lord now that those two pesky humans had laughed in her face! Laughed at her specialty, her area of expertise! To force her to stoop so low as to ask for help and still fail! What horrible individuals! How unkind! She even felt like her dear children, the baby-dolls, had grown ashamed of her, their own mother!
As the days of unfruitful surveillance continued without end, Nigredo had grown more and more delusional, despite the fact that she already was plenty to begin with. In her folly, in front of her first ever defeat —at least, what she considered a defeat—, this battle of cat and mouse they played had become personal. It was a matter of pride for the master diviner.
But... it would soon end! Yes!
This state of affair would be tolerated no longer.
A minute ago, Entoma had contacted her through [Message], asking her to urgently locate them, with no regard for subtleties anymore. Exhilaration overflowed as she continued to prepare.
Yes! Screw discretion! She thought as she laughed out loud maniacally in the quietness of the room she occupied with her infant dolls. Yes! You thought you were better than me, huh? Better than my magic? I'll show you, pesky humans! I'll show you!
Her spells finally sprang to life.
The first thing the boys felt was the a shift in the air. Color danced and blended together rapidly, as if reality started going haywire, breaking down under the stress of something pushing on it, molding it to its convenience. It was unlike anything they've ever experienced.
The anti-divination ward stopped working altogether as the whole system they so meticulously erected shattered night instantly. Their own protective spells also vanished as if they never existed, blown out forcefully by unknown magic.
In less than a second, the duo of time traveler had been robbed of their safety-net, the most crucial part of their protection, what had kept them hidden from their many enemies. They were, for the first time since a long, long time, completely open and vulnerable to whoever would want to spy on them. And spied on they were.
{ Found you, humans, } a disembodied voice said with glee, it was vaguely feminine.
The voice came from nowhere in particular, its origin most likely magical. An aura of filth and disgust rushed over them, as something materialized directly above them.
A single giant eyeball broke the sky apart. Its sclera was bloodshot and yellowish, indicating a rather poor health. It moved frantically left and right, crazed with zealotry and obsession. It looked over the area before settling on them. As it did, that same repulsive aura intensified.
"What the h—" cried out Zach before being interrupted by a booming voice that shook the air.
{ HAHAHAHA, WHO'S THE LAUGHING STOCK NOW, HUMANS? } the voice asked. { YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE TOUGH WITH ALL YOUR ANTI-DIVINATION SPELLS? DID YOU REALLY BELIEVED YOU COULD HIDE FROM ME?! HOW SAD! HOW PATHETIC! YOU WERE NEVER EVEN CLOSE, TRASH! YES, YOU'RE TRASH! OH THE EMBARRASSMENT YOU MUST BE FEELING RIGHT NOW, IT'S EXQUISITE! ARE YOU FEELING IT NOW? THE DIFFERENCE IN POWER?! HUH, TRASH?! ARE YOU LISTENING?! }
"Who are you?! What are you talking about?!" shouted Zorian in the air. To say he was confused by what he was seeing and hearing would be an understatement. What had they done? Seriously, what? Explain at least!
Though shaken by confusion, it didn't distract him from what he needed to do. He discretely prepared a teleportation spell with his remaining hand.
{ HAHA, YOU'RE TRASH! } she continued to curse at them for a time, until she lost steam, gasping in the air contently as she was finally over with venting her incomprehensible frustration. Then, she continued, but without screaming. { Whoa, that felt nice! }
The duo of time traveler remained stuck in place, puzzled and unsure how to compute what just happened. The eyeball in the sky stopped moving so erratically as the nerves of their guest had finally calmed down.
"Who are you?" said Zorian once again, even though he had a firm idea of who she was, or at least for who she worked for.
{ We'll see each other soon enough, Zorian Kazinski. Don't make it harder on yourselves and wait for us to come take you... trash.}
"Shit! Zach, we need to go! We're doing it right now!" ordered Zorian, quite shocked to hear his name being uttered by the disembodied voice. His partner only acquiesced, making physical contact with him to let the teleportation transport them both.
{ Don't. Now that I'm on to you, you cannot escape from us. No matter where you try to hide. Let's have a discussion. I've waited for this moment for so— }
But the boys disappeared, ignoring her words completely.
{ FUCKERS! [MESSAGE] }
[. . .]
Zach and Zorian appeared near the Hole in Cyoria. The night was slowly coming to an end, though, from their rough estimation, dawn was still at least an hour away. In the distance, they could see the remnants of Zach's spell, a mist of smoke and ashes obscuring the skylights.
Zorian sighted. Now that their position had been compromised, maybe for good if that weirdo behind the eyeball told the truth, they had no choice but to gamble everything they had on Spear of Resolve's finding and rush to this Sovereign Gate at the bottom of the abyss. They quickly re-casted their divination protection, a precaution just in case the eye lied about being able to find them anywhere. Though, they didn't doubt her in the slightest. As crazy and unhinged as she seemed, she did wield powerful esoteric magic that they couldn't even begin to fathom, completely out of their understanding.
"We're going straight down," said Zorian, to which Zach only nodded as they started heading toward the chasm.
Then, like promised, they were found out instantly. The sky crackled and the same giant eye appeared high in the air, in all of its dreadful glory. It was probably visible by everyone within Cyoria. As it focused on them, they could see how its iris frantically shook with a crazed frenzy. The voice hadn't spoken yet, not did she start rambling or screaming at them.
"Whoa, they truly don't care anymore. You can be sure the army is about to roll up any minute now after this," commented Zach as the eye kept looking at them with disdain and a mute anger.
"Well, better not linger here any longer then," said Zorian as they picked up the pace. "You wouldn't have something to help us going down? Its pretty far."
"I do, but I haven't fully recovered yet. If I conjure it now, I probably won't be able to do much once we reach the exit."
Zorian pondered. They weren't sure of what waited for them down there. The government had surely rigged up the place with defenses and protective wards of the highest order. Also, it would be guarded with competent mages, that was a given. Could they afford to go there with a weakened Zach? He might recover his mana rapidly in the Hole with how abundant in mana it was —they would literally swim in ambient-mana— but their body could only absorb so much at a given time without risking damaging their health.
Suddenly, in the corner of Zorian's eyes, he saw three individuals appearing right in the middle between them and the Hole, a fair distance away.
Zach and Zorian's hearts skipped a beat as they both recognized one of them. They gasped.
"Prepare whatever you have, right now... and fast..." Zorian let out with a barely audible whisper, completely throwing caution out of the window.
"You've gotta be shitting me..." breathed out Zach as his eyes widened.
Lupusregina Beta was there. Pristine clean without a trace of any harm or injury. Not even a stain on her squeaky clean uniform. She was exactly like how she had been before their battle.
A twin? Thought Zorian, but the reasoning was shot down as soon as he caught the deathly glare she gave them. Yes, it was definitely her. And she was pissed off. Especially at him. Zorian shivered.
At her side, there was two other maids that Zorian recognized from their first encounter in the back alley near Imaya's place earlier in the night. The aranean-maid was the same as back then, so was the other. But now that he could observe the tall dark-haired girl more clearly, he could see how elegant she was despite the hateful disdain in her eyes.
The snow-white skinned lady flaunted a beauty only matched by her red-headed companion. Her black pony-tail swayed in the calm wind of the night. Her maid's attire was more traditional than the other two —if you could get past the armored sections. It consisted of a long skirt that let room for the imagination and a white bonnet. Aside from her face, every inch of her body was covered. In her right hand, a menacing gold and silver staff was held straight. Even though it must've weighted a significant amount —especially considering her seemingly meek stature— she held it leisurely and without any sign of discomfort, as if it was but a wooden stick.
"Hello again, mister Kazinski," said the aranean-maid who stood in the middle of the trio as she took a step forward. Her voice as youthful and high pitched as he remembered.
Zorian recalled her name being Entoma Vasilissa Zeta. Compared to the other two, she didn't seem to convey any kind of aggression. Neither her posture nor her tone indicated that she would pounce on them the moment they let their guards down. But it might just be because she was more adept at concealing her inner thoughts. For the sake of gaining what little time he could to let Zach prepare, Zorian indulged her.
"Good evening, miss Zeta. I would've liked to meet you again under different circumstances," he said as he also took a step forward, facing her. "I hope we can exchange a few words before you try to attack us yet again."
"I fear it would be complicated after what you said about our Lord. I heard from my sister that you've been quite disrespectful toward him," she answered after a polite giggle. An unmistakable aura of malice seeped through her words, confirming to Zorian that her inner feelings weren't far from the other two.
Sister? Noted internally Zorian. A werewolf and an aranean-shifter? How does that works? Or are they just not blood related? Zorian shook the thought out of his head as he spoke.
"Your sister attacked us unprovoked. We did what we needed to do in order to flee from her." he retorted, gesticulating with his remaining hand in front of him. "You can understand how what I said wasn't the result of my inner beliefs, only a spur of the moment in order to divert her attention. We do not know of your Lord, and you've consistently obfuscated to answer us about him. Why is that?" he asked.
"His great name ought not be uttered or even known by the likes of you humans. If find it hard to believe you. You claim to have no knowledge of us, yet you tried to spy on him? How did you found out about 'Ain Ol Gon'? You went as far as confide with Zenomir Olgai about it, so of course you knew there was something to be found there." she asked, tilting her head sideways, almost inhumanly.
Zorian struggled to prevent his eyes from widening. He gulped silently with some difficulty as the mention of the old linguistic threw his mind astray for a few seconds. At least, now they had their confirmation that it was them responsible for the academy's incident. And Zenomir had truly been the target all along.
"We were studying the possible origin of a god. We didn't expect our research to lead us to something so... extreme." Zorian admitted. Acting oblivious right now wouldn't bring them any benefits. On the off chance that his honesty might gain him an ounce of sympathy from them, it may lead to the difference between life and death. After a second of deliberation with himself, Zorian steeled his will and asked the million dollar question. "Is you Lord a god?"
Her response, oddly enough, arrived far more swiftly than what he anticipated. He'd barely finished his inquiry when the aranean-maid answered.
"He's not, and he isn't too fond of people assuming he is. After all, he stand far above the rest, far above those puny beings that you humans seem to adore," she said, more enthusiastic than usual, practically bouncing on her toes. Obviously, Zorian noted, she liked singing the praises of her Lord very much.
"But... there is nothing greater than a god," said Zorian, genuinely perplexed about her words. After all, the silent gods created their world. How can someone stand above the creation of existence itself?
There was a silence. The maids looked at each other, exchanging glances. Under different circumstances, they might've bursted out laughing ; laughing their hearts out at the idiocy of the human in front of them. Unfortunately for them, their current annoyance prevented them from enjoying his blissful ignorance. Rather, all that was left was a mixture of pity and disgust for his cluelessness.
"Of course a bug like you would think that way with your limited knowledge," intervened the dark-haired lady with a frown of contempt. "Characteristic of your disgusting race, a lower life-form through and through. Enough of this charade. Lady Nigredo, is everything ready?" she asked, looking at the giant eyeball in the sky.
{ Yes. Teleportation has been barred from this entire area, as well as any further communication. This place has effectively been hidden from the rest of the world. Go wild and make them suffer, my dears! }
Shit...
Lupusregina was the first to move on them, a dangerous and madly grin plastered all across her face. "Finally, time for a rematch, scum!"
Voila!
Sorry to keep you on such a cliffhanger. Since I'll be quite busy the rest of the week, I've decided to update now rather than later, so you wouldn't have to wait too long for another chapter! Though, if I'm efficient with my time, I hope to get the next one out this weekend.
Hope you liked it nevertheless! A bit of downtime before the big guns arrive!
MFDT: Thank for the resource, I didn't know it existed. Though, I very much like to take some liberties with characters who weren't fully fleshed out in the LN (as long as it isn't too unbelievable). Also, there are some differences in characters tied to how and why Nazarick found itself inside MoL's world. You won't have to wait too long to find out. Anyway, I'll definitely take a look at Mass of the Dead to stay close to canon regarding spells, etc.
Well, it's all for tonight! See you next time!