Mornn
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Chapter 616 - Pestle
🕑 Added 2025-02-04 17:00:14 +0000 UTCSofia, in fact, had more than one plan, preparing a whole series of tests and possibilities as to how to get rid of the stalker on the roof, only to end up going for the very first one she had thought of. She had sent the fairy through a chimney vent to scout the outside. Using all of her stealth passives, the midenicite fairy was extremely hard to notice. If not for being able to sense the bones themselves with [Bone Dominus], and where all of Bookie’s skeletons were at all times, Sofia would hardly be able to tell if the fairy was really there half the time. The midenicite bones made her transparent even to her mana senses.
The question was whether the stalker would notice the invisible fairy. It turned out that it did not. The fairy still did not get too close to the creature, as Sofia did not want to risk losing it to the deep, but thanks to this outing, she could help Sofia draw a map of the surroundings and place the main landmarks of the city.
Since it did not react to the fairy, the plan was to safely try luring the creature away.
Under Sofia’s orders, the fairy flew to another rooftop, that of one of the houses halfway through the normal and light world, and dropped pebbles on the roof to make some noise. The creature turned but stayed where it was.
So even with the constant singing it still reacts to noise.
Sofia silently giggled, she found it amusing that she was testing a monster for its hearing with Alith again, just like that time with the phageid larvae, except this time the monster stood on the rooftop instead of them.
And just like the phageid back then a single hit could spell our death.
Usually I would wonder if I’m cautious for nothing but if even gods have died here…
The fairy awaited its next order.
Pick up a roof tile and lightly throw it at the thing then come back. If it notices you, unsummon instead.
With a crashing sound, a fired clay roof tile hit the creature squarely, upon which the stalker disappeared from Sofia’s senses.
I lost it?!
Sofia felt the fairy rushing back in through the chimney, and her mana senses finally picked up where the hole created by the creature was now, it was on the other roof, crawling around the spot with the missing tile. It moved so fast it was like teleporting, leaving a blur of mana-less zones in Sofia’s senses.
Sofia gasped out loud.
“What is it?!” Alith worriedly asked in a whisper.
“It’s gone,” Sofia answered.
“The stalker?!”
“Yes. There was… In the house. It’s only halfway through the light world… Something was hiding from my senses by staying in the real world. All I felt was a long hole, either a long arm or a tentacle… It shot out from the real world, through the two floors and the hole in the roof. It pierced or grabbed the stalker, I don’t really know, then it retracted back to the real world.”
“Crap. So the light world here is not safe from the things outside like it was from the giant stalker…”
“That all happened in an instant too. I don’t think I would have been able to react in time…”
“And it was silent!” Bookie added, “I didn’t hear anything.”
Sofia nodded, “Even knowing it was happening I heard nothing. The good thing is we should be able to see what did that while staying in the light world since the two worlds are mixed up in this city. It’s just my mana sense that doesn't work. Fairy, did you see what hides in that house while you were out?”
The fairy stayed invisible and gave no form of answer, which Sofia deduced to mean no.
“Well, at least we’re rid of the stalker. Now we need you to go check the house we’re going to move to. Look through the windows first, see what’s inside. If it’s only dark-skin beasts you can kill, deep creatures or a mix of both you come back.”
The fairy departed yet again. Sofia counted the seconds.
Ten. Eleven. Twelve…
A handful of Physikstones were dropped at Sofia’s feet.
“Already?” Alith remarked.
… I need to summon her more often. Maybe she needs a name.
Extending her mana senses, Sofia confirmed that the other building was now empty. “We just need to clear the way here, the fairy will open the door for us in the other house. When we’re ready we only have to wait until a good moment to cross the street.”
It took more than half an hour for Sofia to find the opportune moment. Stalkers and other creatures roamed the roofs and streets, and after a careful analysis of their movement pattern, Sofia was confident.
Now!
Pareth opened the funeral house’s door and rushed out, leading the way. The street was only about five meters wide and the group was only moving to the second closest house on the opposite side, it would literally take less than a second with their speed, but Sofia could still feel her useless heart beat furiously.
The fairy closed the door behind the skeletal caretaker who entered last.
I think nothing spotted us!
Sofia barely had gotten time to get a glimpse of the outside as she dashed from one building to the other. It was the same as it seemed from a distance: two versions of the city were inextricably mashed together, one pristine and one in ruins, both teeming with shimmering creatures. Now she stood with the rest of the group in an abandoned house. The curtains were drawn but the building was not barricaded. The floor and walls were littered with huge flakes of dead skin and bits of shredded dark flesh. The fairy had once again utterly massacred the creatures, leaving no corpses to speak of.
It’s like the house was a mortar, they’ve been crushed and ground to bits, all in a few seconds, by one singular tiny fairy... Sofia thought as she glanced in the direction of the invisible miniature lady hovering near the door.
“Pestle,” she mumbled, “that’s going to be your new name.”
Pestle led the way through the houses free of deeplings, Sofia’s new name encompassing any and all shimmering-colors-creature, with brutal efficiency. Although the group’s progress through the city was still extremely slow due to their many precautions to avoid attracting the notice of the deeplings, they reached the building that was the source of the voice and music in under a day.
The voice never stopped singing or playing the lyre during all that time.
The singer, it turned out, was in a very large building, which was almost unaffected by the mixing of the two worlds, standing almost entirely in the light world, except from the general area inside from which the voice came from. It was also not very far from the building housing a dead god Sofia had seen in her visions, which they were going to go toward next.
After needing to circle around the singer’s building for a good while to find a way in, because its roof was swarming with stalkers, the group finally entered through a side window. They arrived in a dark room with racks and racks of dusty, washed-out clothes.
After double checking that the room was safe, Sofia grabbed one of the garish robes hung on the racks, its colors had lost their lustre but it was still an over-the-top piece of clothing that she could hardly imagine anyone wearing.
“This must be a playhouse,” Alith explained, “the nobles come to these places to watch plays. That’s how it was in my world, at least. My grandpa used to perform in theatres sometimes, though I’ve never gone myself, but the most prominent ones would have costumes like these for performers.”
“Not a coincidence that the singer is here, then…”
“Can you still not feel anything?” Alith asked.
“No, the central part of the building where the sound is from is entirely in the dark world…”
“Any monsters otherwise?”
“A few. There’s a parasite in one of the rooms I think, we have to avoid getting close to that one in particular. But nothing near us right n-” Sofia started to say before stopping herself, a hand on her mouth.
Alith and the others immediately understood.
The group had closed the curtains of the room right after barging in through the window, and now they could see rays of multicolored glittering light starting to seep through the gaps. Something big and luminous had just stopped right outside of the room. Sofia’s mana senses when she tried to peer outside were nothing but a giant void.
Alith gave silent signs, and the group started to slowly retreat toward the far door of the room, silently putting more distance between themselves and the outside, hiding behind the racks of old clothes as they retreated.
Sofia was on high alert, her senses monitoring everything she could, and ready to cancel any magic thrown her way with [Heat Death]. Whatever the creature outside was, its simple presence unnerved Sofia like no other. For a reason she couldn’t explain, it reminded her of Ormoncleth’s envoy on its spire. The incomprehensible thing that had killed her skeleton dog.
The fairy opened the door without a noise, and Bookie was the first out, followed by Alith and the caretaker skeleton, leaving only Pareth and Sofia still in the room about to exit. Sofia went first.
The singer stopped.
A sudden, heavy silence engulfed the moon city. Sofia and Pareth stopped dead in their tracks. Without the singer’s voice to cover the sound of their movements and footsteps, they could not afford to move, even without the creature outside the window, just the stalkers on the roof would be dangerous if they heard them.
Time seemed to stretch as Sofia stood immobile, one foot through the door, with Pareth right behind her.
And finally the voice started to sing again, it was sharper, slightly tense, singing at a higher, wilder tempo. With it, out of nowhere, came the blanketing sounds of wind and rain as the weather suddenly changed outside. It was more than enough to cover the noise of mere footsteps, yet both Pareth and Sofia were still immobile, in shock.
The music sharpened their senses, allowing Sofia’s mana vision to spread much further and be a lot clearer so much so that she could perceive the city all the way to the doors of the palace.
They knew that melody all too well.
Remia’s sixth symphony, second movement… A Tense mystery of Autumn.
Comments
Tejing
So it's Remia after all? Or someone else with her blessing or something, anyway. Cool.
E
I don't think we know which God. Could always be something completely out of left field like maybe it's the previous God of Music and the current singer is the new God who spawned from their body.
Emily Gurnavage
Maybe they can do a duet and do somethin wild with the music.
Emily Gurnavage
So a God died there *and* a Goddess has been trapped there? Or do we think Remia is some sort of ghost or imbued memory and she is also the one who died maybe? I forget - do we know exactly which God died here?
Mornn
Damn readers reading my mind! It's the book you're supposed to be reading, not me (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ ... Well played :p
E
I like how the God of Music noticed Sofia, was startled, and then immediately buffed her. That has to be a good sign of friendliness. Strolling up to the God of Music while blasting their own music at them (sunglasses on and a shoulder-mounted boom box) has to be worth at least a few essences. Soul damage from "A Vengeful tyranny of Winter" might be the reason this deity has survived. Maybe soul damage is the secret.
E
You nailed it. Would've never thought of it being Remia otherwise.
Ceasar Salas
Thanks for the chapter! I am so glad I got it right with Remia being related. The only questions left are: A) friendly? B) Can Sofia finally hear what happens when all 4 season melodies play at the same time? (Impossible before due to mana cost)
Tom Asciola
Remia herself, perhaps?
Rad
She made that one weird skill called sixth symphony iirc where Sofia can withhold her max mana for certain effects. If I remember right it was based off some god of music or something similar.
Cyclone001
Looking like a commentor's theory about the god of music being wrapped up in all this is on point. Wonder if Sofia will learn any new tunes from this.
Wolfknap
Oh that’s right thanks
Robinn57
Very cool finding another connection to her skills. Not the worst cliffhanger to hang off on. Enjoy your small little break
ArtTheGreat
An entirely separate skill called 6th Melody
Wolfknap
I’m trying to remember the song is it from the crown or from the skull Chior
Quentin Cozzi
Thanks for the chapter!
Wensber
Thanks for the chapter!
