Chapter 196 - Horrors in the dark

In the end, Ivan just couldn't convince the others to agree with his line of thinking in light of Raven's deductions, their abrupt and worrying lack of communication being the straw that broke the camel's back. Thus it was time for him to back down, he saw this and did so reluctantly, something which his bro Aiden pitied him for though he didn't show it. Knowing how their leader was, there wasn't a chance that they'd be escaping with their tails between their legs anyway. Those who did fell in line with him, seeing the group's decision.

To which the conversation then turned into something along the lines of what their game plan was. In this case, the group called for a quick inventory check to review their equipment, and to everyone's relief, it seemed that there were a bunch of Drones in their respective inventories, even Rory's which surprised everyone else when she made a show of pulling it out of her nonexistent chest. None of the males dared say that part to the woman's face though.

In the following hours, the group went and sent out as many Drones as possible into the surrounding areas to get a better idea of the land's layout as well as to scout for any additional enemies and cover more ground. 'More powerful together than they could ever be apart' wasn't usually their MO as Spec Ops Agents due to the high standards, but considering the bigger picture it made sense to stick together now of all times. A Spec-Ops' death is a more significant loss than a platoon of ordinary soldiers, hence why they had to keep their numbers up even if it was against their traditional methods… something which galled at their pride as agents but it wasn't like they could afford to be picky about this.

For now, they simply satisfied themselves with watching the drone footage on their respective electronic devices while staying together as one group. Every horror movie started with the group splitting apart to cover more ground and that usually ended badly for them. There was another reason though, and that was that as Arima died fighting multiple enemies it was possible they would try to divide and conquer, their enemy being likely strong enough to put their asses six feet under. She didn't think things were THAT bad yet but it paid to be paranoid, something Rory tried teasing her with once and nearly got an ice spike for her troubles.

There was more to it though, they rotated between moving throughout the forest for a bit, and then pausing to get an update on the drones scouring the area. They alternated between these two things to maximise their effectiveness and decrease random encounters happening. Any suspicious activity was to be investigated preferably by the Drones but at the same time losing them meant blind spots the enemy could use against them. It wasn't ideal but none of them had good observational skills…

Aside from Katakuri and Raven that is.

She wasn't completely sure what Katakuri was doing, though she could tell he was doing SOMETHING, Raven herself had her body moving on autopilot which let her ignore the surroundings in favour of her more prioritised task. With her body cared for, Raven's consciousness began to elevate itself, for lack of a better word as she saw everything inside the entirety of Lowee from above, like she was using a camera from the skies. From the tiniest cracks to the largest mountains, nothing got overlooked as she gazed down at the continent.

This… this was what people like her could do when their respective seasons touched a vast open space. Everywhere it touched, from the smallest to the biggest geological landscape one could gaze into it through what one could call a third eye. One could use this ability for recon, management, or other purposes such as combat since it gives a full view of the entire continent, and one can zoom in on particular areas. It was quite similar to the CPUs and their links to share energy, they can sense their fluctuations, draw on them for power, as well as locate those who believe in them.

Lucy could do it herself, too, though after she was taught it since unlike most of them she never really had a tutor or someone to show her the ropes.

Probably due to how her predecessor had died long before she was even born.

As good as this ability was, however…

'As I thought, it's not going to be that easy…' the woman thought to herself, trying to observe the space where they currently resided. Unfortunately for her, Raven only saw what looked like some multi-coloured fog surrounding this region of Lowee, or to be more precise the whole landmass was covered in this 'fog' but this section seemed to be covered the most. More so than the capital or other enemy-controlled areas.

It would seem that there was some kind of presence trying to block her sight, and she had a few ideas as to the culprit behind such a thing.

The first was the chaos god Tzeentch though he remained low on the priority scale due to his followers consistently telling her when she interrogated him that their god was a paradox and thus, unknowable with a mischievous and whimsical nature. Meaning that he would do something crazy like sabotage his plans just for the lolz… reminded her of a certain lazy Goddess who liked Pudding so much that if a redhead male wasn't around she'd marry it.

Second was someone… someone like Mundus. Nico had mentioned that four DPUs were of Mundus level, a man being one of them. The other three were unknown right now, but she had the idea that one might be behind this though she wasn't completely certain.

Finally, the most likely candidate was Arfoire herself. That woman, as bad as she was at fashion, did have a lot of life on her for a human which confused the blackette samurai warrior. But because of that she likely had a few tricks up her sleeve nobody knew of that she'd also use against them, she WAS the one who freed Mundus Raven believed. She must be the one who's been obscuring her special sight.

"You feel it too…?"

Suddenly Raven heard her companion Lucy whisper that to her ear, or rather through both her ear and her mind. She must have done so using a frequency only people like them could interpret to not draw attention to themselves, Raven mused as she returned to reality and glanced at her through the corner of her eye. "This place… my sight is being obscured, I cannot track anything in this area…" she mused, in the same manner, Lucy did. "It also appears that this area's being isolated by some kind of barrier… we might be trapped here…"

Lucy winced, a look of grim seriousness behind those usually slutty eyes of hers. When even the slut of the team was not acting like she should then one knew things were going wrong. "Indeed… I can't 'look' at Leanbox right now either, let alone the fact none of the flora and fauna here are willing to talk to me. It's like there's… no life in this place…"

Now THIS worried the woman more than she could show in front of everyone else. Lucy's powers as a Spring Goddess allowed her to talk to all forms of life, be it through language or another form of communication. Spring is meant to be the season of life, but if there was an area devoid of life… that was not a good sign.

"Halt."

Suddenly Katakuri ordered the party to halt their movement by stating so while holding out his Trident in front of them. Immediately they glanced at the de facto leader of the group and saw his tense posture. Immediately they drew their respective weapons with Aiden taking to the skies to be their air support, having sensed the same thing that the man had seconds after his statement.

The atmosphere had changed yet again, becoming almost unbearably silent… like all sounds had been extinguished, devoured by the great beast's abyssal maws. This was not good at all, and it heightened their awareness of their still surroundings immediately with each agent glancing around their vicinity while putting their backs to one another to limit any chance of being backstabbed.

Good thing they did, because in that same moment, a series of blurs raced out of the wilderness from every direction, bearing down on them with an animalistic frenzy.

Above the forest, far out of the Agent's reach and ability to make out with their eyes and senses, two entities floated in place while watching everything unfold like stars in the night sky. Nothing escaped from their gaze, from just the agents sent here to dispatch the monsters, summoned by that one death seeker, to the unseen happenings.

But that wasn't to say they didn't have their own opinions about this.

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire indeed…" Jules mused under his breath while listening to the sounds of fighting way off into the distance. He had his arms crossed in front of his chest with his main weapon strapped to his back, his eyes gleaming with all manner of analytical emotions like they were two radars or something. "Poor idiots, they seem to have been called in by that suicide junkie… Perhaps it was a good idea to let his signals for help reach those morons."

From his observations, it was made clear to him that these Agents had an idea of what to expect in this makeshift lion's den… at least they thought they did, but the DPU believed otherwise. He had SEEN the thing that lay beneath this web and it was NOT going to be any joke, more than that he doubted that these fools truly grasped the trap they had walked into. Their pride, unfounded at that, would be their downfall just like the kings, queens and all leaders of civilisations lost to history.

Kafka groaned as he heard his companion's words, falling backwards and floating in a horizontal position with arms tied behind his back. Out of the two, he wasn't the most patient one, yet he was the more vocal about his current condition. He would rather go and fight against their kin than do this crap, the only reason he was doing this was so his mentor wouldn't erase him from existence. He let out a tired and bored sigh, his instincts screaming at him to just join the fighting if only to lift the boredom atop his shoulders. "Man, I'm bored Jules!" he whined like a petulant manchild. "Can't I go and kill some of them? It doesn't matter to HER whether they're dead or alive…"

"Every animal has its pride, brat," Jules stated, pocketing his hands inside his coat while his eyes sported a vague, dim glow. He eyed the various forest sections… especially the denser areas. "If we were to interfere with HER and HER Children, I doubt lord Mundus or SHE would be very pleased. We are meant to largely be spectators, nothing more…" Memories of the plan flooded his mind, a plan he didn't initially put much stock in considering it involved races that weren't DPUs. He shared many of Mundus' traits after all, one of them being his distaste for those not of his kind. He would rather, instead of killing them, however, ensure they could be useful which he supposed was what was happening here.

The thought of THAT happening sent shudders down his spine… whether they be of excitement or dread he wasn't sure, but that time would soon come whether he wanted it to or not.

Nonetheless, he hoped that SHE appreciated everything they had done thus far. She had been given ample time to 'prepare' for the 'test' thanks to both the Youma serving as a distraction for those hairy apes, and the FOOD that had been provided for her nourishment. If one were to ask him, Jules believed that she could stand to hurry the fuck up, she didn't have much longer before those eyes of the human rebels on this barren rock found her home, and then laid siege to it. Sure those bumbling apes would probably argue like banshees for a bit but there were those among them who would favour action over words and would ignore their petty squabbling. The proof lay below… which was why he hoped they all met their end at least, would make their plans easier.

Not something Kafka agreed with, naturally, he liked the extra challenge, especially two certain Agents down there. "Still baffles me why the fuck our mentor's helping with this bonkers plan anyways. He's never liked that pervy pedo fuckwit who calls himself a scientist anyhow, bastard was wacko then and he will still be wacko now."

Initially wanting to call Kafka out on his unintentional rhyming, Jules instead closed his eyes as he unpocketed his hands to put them behind his back. His long hair flowed almost gracefully in the wind like a flag atop a fortress. "Well, It's probably-" he started, before stopping abruptly and looking ahead, his senses having spiked which only meant one thing. His eyes, briefly shooting open in surprise, slowly returned to normal with a smile spreading across his lips. "Looks like we got another player on the board…"

Deep inside an unknown area, darkness reigned supreme. So much so that it didn't seem like the area had ever seen light before, making it possible that no creature within this place had ever adapted to the outside world. This darkness, as thick as it was, had a severely suffocating effect like it were the ruler of this domain. Rocks and stone formed a vast network of caverns, chambers and walkways with an eerie layer of smoke rolling across the ground, adding this nigh otherworldly feel to this place.

But all was not silent in this network of caves, the only conclusion as to this area's true name. Deep within the darkest chambers, hiding from all who tried prying into things that should remain unseen, a series of crunching noises filled the atmosphere. If anyone were to be here right now, if they weren't victimized and sent to the other side just for being here, would turn to stone from the cold shudders these crunching sounds would invoke in them.

These crunching sounds, with tearing ones accompanying them… their source remained unseen yet a series of eyes opened within the darkness like burning flames, ripping through the darkness like a knife through a person's heart. The owner of these infernal hell pits that seemed to seek the constant influx of unwary and unfortunate souls to drag to the depths of the abyss, looked out towards the sole entrance to this chamber.

Something… something was out there.

It could smell it.

There was a change in the atmosphere, something dark and dangerous. This presence then abruptly changed its task back to making more of those crunching sounds, seemingly losing interest in whatever that change had been. It no longer cared, the many children it had fostered over these many weeks would make sure that whatever threat had arisen would be completely disposed of, it had every confidence in its kind as it was the apex of its creation… or rather, its latest child would be that.

A god was going to be born in the future… and it would not stop until it did so.

Chapter end!

Bit of a short chapter (for me at least) but I'm trying to stick to shorter chapters for a bit. Sorry for the wait, been busy with other stuff such as other stories and ones on another website. Writing for fanfiction and AO3 now. Hope you guys can check both out. Anyways hope u like and look forward to the next.

PEACE OUT!