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Chapter 50 - In Blight and Blindness
🕑 Added 2023-09-09 17:53:48 +0000 UTCChapter 50
In Blight and Blindness
An array of golden light flew forward at blinding speeds, illuminating the dark-thatched forest around it. The barks of the trees shimmered in a faint sheen of aurelian, exposing the worm-like veins pulsating just beneath their obsidian barks. It was a forest full of life, the abandoned, unwanted, unholy kind.
However, just as the array of light illuminated the world, it collided with an ethereal something and was dissipated in the blink of an eye. Darkness returned to the world, if only for a moment, before the cluster of spells, once again, ignited the world. There was fire and there was ice, bolts and balls alike, and there were pulses of lighting–as golden as the gilded manes of the Dragons–all coming from outside the forest, all heralded by men and women clad in shimmering armours.
They weren’t a uniform force, but a company of the strongest from the human Kingdoms. Their line seemed firm and unmoving, and the barrage was persistent to the point that it seemed the dark forest would kindle into a blaze any moment now. But… it never did. Hours passed and the barrage slowed down as the men and women began running out of Mana. It was eerie–the invisible barrier that encompassed the forest seemed impenetrable. It ought to have been impossible–after all, the firepower present here was enough to level an entire Kingdom into ash and dust–but, against all reason, their eyes were witnessing that impossible.
As the orders came to halt the barrage and temporarily retreat, a flicker of darkness appeared in the forest. It flourished ever for a moment and began shining in the aurelian brightness, outlining a humanoid–yet not a human–figure. Spryae–it was evident, immediately. It was a creature that stood eight feet tall, broad-shouldered, with muscular and hairy breasts. Its ears were slightly hairy and pointy, and the pair of eyes each had three irises, all differently coloured.
A rune of fire expanded across the creature’s body–perfectly symmetrical–glowing ever so minutely in gold. It wore knee-long leather leggings and was barefoot, its arms fastened to its sides.
“Is this your doing, you Unholy Thing?!!” a voice bellowed from the human ranks. Spryae, in the legends, were spoken of as the Noble Things–but the Spryae of today, to humans, were ugly, desolate, forsaken things. They were nomads with no homes, they held no Gods and no Rituals, and they feared nothing, Holy or Unholy. They slept with wild animals and they partook in ceremonies where they drank the opioid plants’ excretions, and they had no books of laws or regulations. They were wild, wild, untamed things. “How dare you kidnap and enslave members of Human Kingdoms?!”
“... enslave?” Eerily, the creature spoke the common tongue, silencing the ranks of men and women in front of it. It seemed unperturbed, untouched by the army in front of it–as though it wasn’t even there. “You think I would enslave you, lesser things? Do not make a mockery of my people, filthy humans.”
"How dare you?!!" the same voice bellowed out once more as a surge of Mana began to bend the laws of nature to its will. "Not even death will be enough of a punishment for your sins! Men, fire!"
“... Silence." It spoke a word, but it spoke it in a tongue they couldn't understand. It did not matter–for they did not care. However, as they tried to summon the spells and fire them at the creature, they found themselves unable. Mana refused to listen. It wouldn't obey. In fact, for the few who persisted and tried to aggressively pull it, it backfired and caused them to fall into Mana Implosion, effectively frying their minds on the spot. "Nature does not confer with thieves. Now, pay the price. The price for threading upon the fields of Noble Lands, where you do not belong.”
The creature raised its right arm and just as it seemed it was an empty gesture, the ground below began to shake. Suddenly, over a thousand earthen spikes were yanked from the ground below, shaped into speartips, and started hovering above the creature. It was a sight like no other–the kind that stopped the hearts and froze the blood in the veins. There was no living human who could do something so grand so quickly and effortlessly.
There were no more words exchanged–the earthen speartips rained down like the Writs of Death upon the ranks of men and women. They, bereft of magic, were unable to defend–the speartips pierced through their armours and through their flesh and, one by one, they began to die. Wails of agony, horror, and unwillingness sang the symphony of confusion. How? They begged the Gods. How could a filthy thing be so strong? They asked, though no voice replied.
Soon, over two thousand lay dead–some whole and some in pieces–nourishing the ground below that began to swallow them whole. Red and black vines appeared from beneath the layer of dirt and thrust themselves into the flesh before dragging it down into the eternal grave. It was a chilling sight, yet one that A'stul enjoyed, perversely so. It was theirs, at last, the right to the Dimension. Now, he could house it with his own people–and welcome the filth of humanity from an entirely different dimension… and end it there, too, just as he planned on ending it here, for now, and forever.
**
Michael listened keenly and carefully to every word the young boy spoke. He was still certain that the boy was simply reciting the man’s gospel, but soon enough… doubt began to swell in his heart.
Elijah recounted how, after the man took him to their ‘home’--and he explicitly called it home–he met more people there, namely two college-aged kids who were also 'kidnapped' by the man. That was, also, where Elijah's story almost stopped mentioning the man himself, largely focusing on the two kids and the general life he lived, in addition to his Awakening to a supportive Class.
The story was… boring, truth be told. No, rather than boring, Michael’s expectations were simply wholly different. He didn’t care about some kids who treated Elijah nicely, and though the talk of the Awakening was interesting, Michael would much rather learn about the man who 'took' them all. Ever since he first watched that footage of the mart, his interest was piqued. In part, because a man like that left alone was extremely dangerous–after all, he didn't have to kill those four men in the mart. He didn’t have to burn it down. He clearly showed enough expertise to thieve supplies without being seen. And yet, he did those things nonetheless. He was willing to do those things.
In part, however, because if a man like that could be even remotely reasoned with, especially in times like these, he could become a remarkable asset. However, Michael’s intuition told him that the man in question could not be controlled.
Just as Michael was about to interrupt the boy and try and steer the story back to the man, the boy said something that sent shockwaves through Michael's soul–their group went inside one of those portals. Michael's ears perked up–in some ways, the portals were the most mysterious part of everything as everyone who entered them, thus far, never left. Until now. That was if Elijah's words were to be believed.
The boy, however, didn’t go into detail about what the ‘inside’ of the portal was like. If anything, he was even more vague than ever before, simply stating that they had to ‘survive’ and kill ‘monsters’ and eventually the ‘boss’ that was like a key to leaving the place. During the fight, one of the college-aged kids–the girl–died, but they defeated the boss and left.
Michael still didn’t quite understand why the boy was here. He wasn’t here because the man wanted the military's help with something. He wasn’t here because the man wanted to establish some sort of a relationship with the military, either. So, Michael asked.
“Elijah,” he interrupted the boy abruptly. “Why are you here?”
"... to offer you help." The boy's words surprised him. Michael frowned–though it was true that they seemed to lag behind the man's group in terms of adapting to the world, Michael never considered he needed help. He needed more soldiers, of course, but his suspicion was that the man, and in extension, Elijah, weren't talking about enlisting into the military.
“What kind of help?” Michael asked patiently.
“One of the rewards for defeating that boss,” Elijah said carefully and sternly. “Was a piece of knowledge. It… it said that, in a couple of months… a Tunnel–that is how this ‘system’ calls them–would appear in the city’s heart.” Michael nodded along, though naturally didn’t outright believe the boy’s words. “In addition to that, we also learned a piece of information… which is the actual reason I’m here.” Michael’s eyes widened ever so slightly as he paid more attention to the boy’s words. “The reason I… insisted on coming is because the man didn’t care for it. Like I said… he’s, he’s not a good person. The recent disappearances,” Michael’s eyes immediately turned into slits. “I… we, we know who is behind them.”
“Who?” Michael went from being an amicable old man to who he truly was–the army’s General. A man with so much power it dwarfed most people’s imaginations.
“Uh, s-sorry, not, not who,” Elijah recoiled at the sudden change, fidgeting. “We, we just… learned the monster’s identity. It’s, uh, it’s a… kind, kind of creature that… that can take a human shape.”
“...” Silence roared as loudly as the monster’s bellow. Michael’s expression was dark and weary, as voices battled inside his head. This piece of information was monumental. In fact, in some ways, it explained… everything. It made sense of the security footage that just didn’t make any sense. The disappearances were a tightly kept secret–there were only seven people in the entire city who were actually aware of them. As such, there was no way for the man to have learned about them through those channels–which meant that the information they gleaned inside the 'Tunnel' was far greater than what Elijah was letting on. Simply knowing that there was a monster in the city that 'could take the shape of a human' wasn't nearly enough to surmise that strange disappearances were happening.
In the end, Elijah was just a boy, still. Even if he was coached by the man, it was not the man himself talking–but the boy in front of him. The two clearly had different motives for this approach. Elijah’s was a genuine want to help–that much was evident even on the surface of things–but as for what the man’s motive was… Michael still wasn’t certain. For now, though, he decided to play along and not question the holes in the boy’s story.
“You’re not lying to me, Elijah, are you?”
“N-no, of course not! I swear!” the boy said quickly.
“... alright. Say that I believe you. Say that there are some random disappearances that we can’t quite explain. And say that this monster is the one behind them. Are you suggesting you have means of finding it?”
“Yes,” the boy replied a bit too excitedly, quickly pulling it back down. Michael’s mind spun, but he still elected to play along.
“... what does he want?” In the end, it wasn’t up to the boy. The key wasn’t Elijah–it was clear that it wasn’t the boy who knew how to find this supposed monster. The boy was just a messenger who was convinced all of this was his own choice. Dangerous, Michael concluded. More dangerous than I thought…
“Access… access to the cameras in the city…” Elijah replied somewhat embarrassingly.
“You mean security footage?”
“N-no…”
“... access to live feed?”
“...” Michael wanted to scream ‘You think I’m a fucking moron?’ at the boy, but managed to hold back. It wasn’t in his character to simply let loose a barrage of curses. In terms of request… even if Michael had the individual power to give the man what he wanted, he wouldn’t do it. In fact, he wouldn’t have even given the security footage over. One thing was beyond clear–the man didn’t care for this supposed monster. That wasn’t his goal. Meaning that he wanted the live feed of cameras for something else entirely. As for what? Michael had no idea. However, it wasn’t for the good of mankind, or the city, or especially the military. It felt as though the man sent him a bomb and then asked him nicely to press the big, red ‘Detonate’ button. And yet, in some strange way, it only made Michael even more excited to meet the man. “H-he said… if… if the person doesn’t immediately throw a fit and lock me up… to, to give them a number…” Michael’s lips curled up into the faintest of smiles as he glanced down at the boy. Testing me? That bastard was testing me? Even he, for a moment, felt flabbergasted. Confused by the sheer nerve–or, perhaps, just absurd confidence. Whichever it was, Michael was more keen now than ever before to learn.
