Luke Everhart
patreon
Chapter 228 - Welcoming Committee
🕑 Added 2025-03-28 11:35:35 +0000 UTC“On your knees!” someone shouted. “Hands behind your back! Do not use aura! Do not draw your weapons!”
Nar blinked until reality reasserted itself into meaning once more, and he quickly shielded his eyes from the bright white light blinding into his retinas.
His steaming sword had been automatically returned to his inventory by their exiting the dungeon, and he heard some kind of commotion going on from beyond the bright light. Through the gaps in between his fingers, he just about managed to spot a wall of spears and shields, barely five feet away from him, and he took an involuntary step back from the sharp, gleaming white and gold metal.
“On your knees, now!” the same voice commanded, obscured by the light.
“What’s going on here?” Kur asked, even as he raised his hands in a non-threatening manner. “We just managed to escape the dungeon! Everything went wrong in there and we’re hurt!”
Nar glanced to the side and found that he and Cen stood to Kur’s left, with Viy looking up at the bright lights in a daze from Nar’s feet. Jul and Mul stood to Kur’s right, and as for the wounded, Gad, Rel and Tuk, they lay on a heap at Kur’s feat, still completely out of it.
It was a relief to find that they had all escaped the dungeon, though Nar had to stop himself from leaping forward to check on them.
They seem alive though, Nar thought, doing a quick scan of the raw, dark burns on Gad’s forehead and on Tuk’s and Rel’s faces. Hurt. But alive.
And for some reason, his UI was not responding to him, and he couldn't check on their statuses.
“I said get down on your knees, and put your hands behind your back!” the same voice repeated, and one of the spears moved forward, its gleaming tip threateningly close to Kur’s eyes.
What the fuck is going on here? Nar thought, mentally preparing to grab his sword. Who in the Pile are these people?
The bright light had moved somewhat, and he was finally able to take in their assailants. On the slender ledge surrounding the entrance to the dungeon, a contingent of white and gold armored delvers had formed to surround their dungeon entrance. Their shields positively glowed white, with living lines of slowly shifting gold scoring them, and their spears tips gleamed a burnished white and gold in the dwindling light of the Labyrinth as it turned from day into twilight.
Their armor was impressive in its white, thick metal plates, adorned with several symbols and lines in gold, and from somewhere above them, some kind of flying machines zipped around the cluster of dungeons, beaming bright white lights down into the unfolding chaos.
“Do as he says!” Kur said. “Can you at least tell us what's…”
“No talking!” the guy shouted. “You will follow us and you will submit yourselves to…”
A flare of orange shone in the low light, and Nar looked left to see angry flames spreading from Mul’s fists.
Oh, shit…
The golden delvers stepped forward, their spears lowering in a purposeful way.
“Wait!” Kur shouted. “His suppressor is off! It triggered the emergency release!”
“Enough!” the same man said, the one Nar assumed stood at the center of their formation. “Take’em out! And if they resist…”
Reality went dark and cold.
Color and sound was washed away, the bright lights dimming into an existence of faded blacks and whites. Nar gasped for air, his heart whimpering within him at the sudden grip of heavy and deeply cutting claws, the very air running from his gasping, desperate lungs…
Helpless, unable to move, he could only strain his eyes upwards to track the arrival of a new ship that came to a halt directly above their heads. This aethership was completely matt black, and slender, like a very narrow, flat cone. It had a single lift engine sphere which shone colorlessly at its core, and at the back of the ship, a full third of its 100-feet length was dominated by several engines of varying sizes.
Before he could do anything, a new figure stood before them, in between the downed party and their golden foes.
Mul… Nar thought, recognizing the now unconscious brawler under the arm of the newcomer. Whoever it was, their entire figure was clad in black… There were no shadows, no edges, almost no shape even, as though it was a void that stood before them, and not a real being.
Just looking at it made his head pound in protest, and yet, he felt no fear. In fact, he could only, finally, and at long last feel relieved. For he knew that [Presence].
“How do you expect them to not resist, if you haven’t told them anything?” Tys said. “How do you not recognize a brawler whose suppressor has been turned off?”
The man who had spoken previously said nothing, instead falling to its knees, his spear and shield clattering uselessly from its grip.
“Did you read them their rights? Did you tell them what they managed to escape from? Did you give them assurances that everything was going to be alright, or that it was all over, and that the Church was here to help them?” Tys asked, her words so sharp that Nar was sure the man was bleeding within his now pitiful looking white and golden armor. “You didn’t, did you? You saw auramancers and all sapience went flying out the promenade, uh?”
The man now lay flat against the floor, his arms and legs unnaturally bent backward as though he was falling in place from a great weight.
“Peace, please, in the name of the Most Merciful,” a new voice said.
A golden, pearlescent radiance shone in the stark white and black of Tys’ [Presence], and a bowed, old man slowly climbed up the last steps to join them. He walked with the aid of a short-staff made from gleaming gold, and his white robe shone with a pure, shimmering pearlescence. Above his head, Nar could see the encroaching colors of twilight through Tys’ [Presence] once more.
Multicolor for aether, golden for holiness, Nar remembered, as his eyes lay on the priest’s doctrinareus. But what does the white, black and purple mean?
Not only that, but rather than a simple rectangle of color, stretching from the priest’s left collarbone and down to his chest, his doctrinareus reached lower, towards his stomach, and its end narrowed until it became five, intertwined strings of color that tied around a crystal that glimmered brightly. It was that crystal that seemed to be the source of the sphere of light that encased him safely from the Tys’ dominating [Presence].
The COO stepped forward, towards the frail looking priest, and reached out a hand to help him climb the last couple of steps.
“Thank you, my child,” the man said, smiling beatifically at her. “Now, would you please release your [Presence]? I guarantee you, in the name of the Most Merciful, that your apprentices will be treated fairly under the Laws of the Holy Crystal, oh Ascending One.”
“But of course, bishop,” Tys said.
There was no slow retreat of black and white, not even a blink in between it being there and being gone. Suddenly, existence was once more filled with color and chaotic noise, and Nar stumbled in the sudden absence of her [Presence], his senses suddenly overwhelmed by the transition, shouts, screams and the moans of the wounded, and of engines and machinery rushing back in to fill the void.
At his side, Cen dropped to her knees, breathing hard, and Viy and Kur burst out into a fit of coughing.
“B-Bishop!” the man shouted, struggling to stand back up. “I…”
“Silence, sergeant. You have shamed the Most Merciful enough today,” the bishop said, his tone neutral. “Return to the ship. You and your squad’s fate will be decided later.”
“I…” the man hung his head. “Yes, bishop, I understand. Back to the ship! Now!”
“As for your apprentices, under the Laws of Corruption pertaining to auramancers, you may examine them in your own ship,” the bishop said, smiling once more at Tys, who now looked perfectly normal in her black and brown Scimitar uniform. “I trust that you will be truthful, and that you understand the consequences of allowing corruption to spread… And reach the Nexus.”
The COO inclined her head in a short bow. “Of course, bishop. The Nexus is our home, and we hold the responsibility of safeguarding all our other apprentices as well. So never fear, we know what must be done.”
The words settled heavily on Nar’s stomach, and he felt the barest of touches from Tys’ [Presence] as she spoke.
“Good,” the bishop said. “Now, might I trouble you for your help in walking back down, Ascendant? These are some troubling stairs for my old legs, I’m afraid..”
“Of course!” Tys said, smiling down at the hunched man. “It will be my pleasure.”
She glanced back at them then, and Nar noticed she once more wore the silver pin of the Crystal on her chest, just as she had done when he had first met her at the end of the Ceremony.
She motioned for Kur to step forward and to take Mul from her.
“Stay here. Help is on the way,” she told him. “I’ll explain everything when I get back, okay? But for now, just do as you’re told.”
“Yes, COO,” Kur said, holding Mul against his chest. “And… Thank you.”
Tys shook her head. “We’ll speak later, alright?”
And with that, she offered her arm to the priest, the bishop, whatever that title meant, and the two of them headed back down, making small conversation.
What in the Pile is going on? Nar thought, his heartbeat hammering as he stepped towards the edge. What‘s a bishop? And what’s an Ascending One? Didn’t they call her that, back in the O-Nex?
However, his questions quickly faded from his mind as below, the ledge where the beetles had landed on was now a frenzy of activity.
A massive aethership was now just visible beyond the ledge, gleaming in the twilight in its white and golden magnificence. Nar couldn’t tell its full shape nor size, but it's lines were elegant and slender, and beams of pure white light traced from it, illuminating the entire dungeon cluster and scanning the airspace all around them.
“What in the Pile is going on?” Kur asked, joining him at the ledge, and a glance back told Nar that he had left Mul in Cen’s care.
“I don’t know,” Nar said. “But look at all those people...”
Besides the massive aethership, there were several smaller, white and golden ships landed on the ledge, surrounding the beetles they had flown in, as well as several other ships of various sizes, shapes and colors. Amongst them, it was the black ship Nar assumed Tys had just arrived on.
“And what are they doing?” Kur asked. “Are they blocking off the dungeons?”
Nar searched for one of the dungeon entrance cubes and saw that Kur was right. People wearing white and golden uniforms of various styles and shapes were carrying what seemed like an infinite number of boxes up the stairs, and everywhere he looked, myriads of unknown equipment were being assembled and set up. The most prominent of these, were two golden poles, hoisted together at the entrance of each dungeon, and beaming a curtain of faded golden, pink and rainbow light in between them, seemingly blocking access to the dungeons.
Or is it to keep things from coming out? Nar wondered.
The question was nonsensical. What in the pile would even come out of a dungeon other than delvers? And yet, recalling that pulsing crystal, and the Radiants-aware undead monsters they had just managed to take down, he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that he might be right, especially as each uniformed crew was accompanied by squads of differently equipped, but evidently combat oriented delvers who seemed to be making ready to enter the dungeons.
“Someone’s coming,” Kur said, and stepped towards the stairs.
Nar followed after him, and found a trio of Scimitar healers heading their way, followed closely by a squad of armored delvers, their armors of browns and blacks brightly displaying Tsurmirel’s logo with an intensity he had never seen before.
Scimitar delvers, Nar realized with relief. However, the fact that they had been sent what was effectively an armed escort gave him pause
“You kids alright?” the doctor asked them. “Well, I guess not, but you made it through that, and that’s what matters… Alright, let’s get some stretchers going.”
“Thank you,” Kur said, as the other two healers, likely apprentice-healers, and four of the armed delvers began setting up simple looking, floating beds. “But what is…”
The healer raised a finger to his lips. “Not here. Everything will be explained soon enough. And please, no aura. These things are flimsy as it is.”
Kur looked taken aback, but he nodded slowly.
“Can we help?” he asked instead.
The healer smiled and patted his back.
“You’ve done plenty by just getting out of there,” he said, and glanced down towards the frenzy of activity. “Doubt all parties will be as lucky… Only we had elite apprentices here, and I don’t want to think of the damage done to the normal kids that went in there… Helenorea have mercy!”
“Did it happen to the other dungeons too?” Nar asked, growing pale.
“We don’t know yet,” the man said. “But let’s talk about this later, alright? For now, let me have a look at your party.”
Nar let Kur and the healer go check up on the injured, and stared back down at the frenzy that had taken the cluster of dungeons.
And what is that now? He wondered, as below, several buildings were being set up, connected in between them by some kind of tubes. The whole thing shone a sterile white through its translucent nature, but he couldn’t see what was going on inside besides the odd glimpses of moving shadows within.
Will someone just tell us what in the Pile is going on?
It was clear that whatever had happened to them in the dungeon was far more severe than a guide being wrong or the dungeon not behaving as intended. Considering the entire apparatus and frenzy unfolding before him, something incredibly wrong must have occurred.
And not everyone’s getting out alive… Nar thought, realizing the implications of the healer’s words. Though it seemed that the Tsurmirel apprentices, by their nature as elite apprentices, at least stood a chance.
“Hey, let me have a look at you,” a voice called, interrupting his worried train of thought.
Nar turned around and found one of the healer apprentices, a guy not much older than him, aiming one of those triage machines at him.
“Uh, you’re not too bad… Just a lot of ice burns, inside and outside,” the guy said. “You can walk on your own, yeah?”
Nar nodded quickly.
“Alright. Give us a shout if you don’t feel up to it, though!” he said, moving on towards someone who needed more attention than he did.
Nar glanced back down, at the beetles they had flown in. Their ships were now surrounded by a cordon of Scimitar combat delvers, perhaps the HOUNDs that his master had talked about, but other than that, he had no idea what was going on inside them, or what had happened to the other apprentices.
I hope they got out alright… he thought, clenching his jaw as the memory of the illatrian, surrounded by dark and purple icy aether clutched at his insides. That had been close… Way too close.
In the end, had it not been for Mul’s suppressor shutting itself off, and the incredible brawler standing up once more to defy the illatrian despite his grievous wounds, Nar didn’t know how he would have managed to hit the monster...
But we did it, he thought.
Against all odds, the party had triumphed once again, and adrenaline now poured out from him in great rivulets, his deactivated gear soaked in sweat, and cuts and bruises now clamored for his attention.
He dropped down to one knee at the edge of their ledge, and glanced at his status. The final count stood at 64 HP, 41 stamina, and barely 101 points of aura.
So close… he realized, breathing hard. He had given everything he had in him to that fight, and he had made it. He had saved his party, opening the way forward once more for their dreams and happiness in the outside reality, but Crystal, he was ready for a boiling hot shower and the embrace of his bed.
“Nar?” Cen asked, placing a small hand on his back. “Are you okay?”
Nar nodded, the floor spinning slightly under him.
“Yeah… Just tired,” Nar said, managing a smile for her.
“I bet!” she said, rubbing his back. “That was your [Aura Blade] back there, wasn’t it?”
Nar nodded, smiling despite the exhaustion taking hold of him.
“That was amazing,” the caster said, her neon yellow eyes opened very wide. “I-I think everything went black and white when you used it… Didn’t it?”
“It did…”
Cen nodded slowly, sweat glistening upon her brow and bald head. “I thought so! But it was so fast I wasn't sure I hadn’t just imagined it… That I-I hadn’t just blinked!”
Nar chuckled. “It was something wasn’t it?”
“It was…” she breathed.
“But so was your new skill!” Nar said, patting her foot. “By the Crystal Cen, you wiped out all of the new monsters and the wargs that the boss summoned! Now that was insane!”
A shadow of something flickered past her eyes, but then she smiled widely. “It was, wasn’t it?”
“How did you even do that?” Nar asked, awed. “It was so hard for me to control my [Aura Blade] and the aura was still inside my sword! And you! You just… You just held it in your hands like it was nothing!”
Cen scratched at the back of her head. “I’m not sure yet, to be honest… I kind of just did it?”
Nar shook his head.
“Pure genius, Cen… As always!” he said with a grin. “And us, dumb idiots, needing to slowly crawl our way forward…”
“Hey! No! It’s not like that!”
Nar chuckled at her, shaking his head.
“And how’s Mul? How are the others?” he asked.
“Ah, he’ll be fine!” Cen said, with a dismissive wave towards the stretchers. “I think those Church people were just pissing him off.”
Nar grimaced. “They were! Fucking pieces of shit… They could’ve just told us what was going on!”
“Yeah… Looks like auramancers really have it rough out here,” Cen said, her tone low and strained. “But Mul’s fine, don't worry. The COO just knocked him out, and they say she already reset his suppressor too… As for the others, Tuk and Rel have a lot of burns on them, though, but the healer says they’ll be alright.”
“And Gad?” Nar asked, frowning.
“She’s… I’m not going to lie, she’s hurt bad,” Cen said. “The healer did what he could to keep her stable, but that last blow… It-it broke a lot of things.”
“Damn it…”
“Don’t blame yourself!” Cen said, squeezing his shoulder. “You made the right call by focusing on your skill. If not for that, none of us would be here now.”
“I… Yeah,” Nar said.
It was the truth, but it was not exactly a pretty one to swallow.
“Alright, everyone’s loaded up, let’s head back down!” the healer said.
Finally, Nar thought, pushing himself to stand. Let’s get out of here before something else happens.
Comments
Lucas Onderwater
Sorry!! I promise it was the scheduling. It just worked out like that! 😔
Drew Dalton
Not bad, but no answers at all on a Friday, questionable at best 🤔. Looking forward to answers.
Lucas Onderwater
Hahaha! Sure! But this divine offer is one use only, or this poor mortal and his schedule are going to be in real trouble! 😅
Lucas Onderwater
Yep, it was bound to show up at some point... 😔 They gotta be strong enough to be able to just smash through it, like Tys did!
Lucas Onderwater
Thanks for reading! And yes, I can totally see that 😅 (I'm doing my best to avoid that syndrome though, I promise!)
CentaureHeart
It's better that it wasn't just done to them but the whole cluster of dungeons. It really felt like MC syndrome for a while in there. Thanks for the chapter! :)
Uroš
Wow, discrimination at its finest :)
whiskey
Divine offer: author gets Monday off, explaino chapter miraculously posts Saturday! 😅 I started out confused by this dungeon but I really like how it ended up going!
Lucas Onderwater
Happy Friday everyone!!
