Chapter 70 – Calamitous Reunion

The surging water drowned out everything. We were pulled under and banged along the walls of the storm-sewer. For some reason, the Calamity stopped chasing almost immediately. Being caught in the floodwaters was dangerous enough without something actively trying to kill us.

I wasn’t sure how long we were pulled along before I finally managed to get us above the surface. I took a gasp of air, and pulled Jayce up alongside me. The kid immediately broke into a coughing fit—only to swallow more water as the tunnel dropped in elevation and we went under once more.

“Hold on!” I pulled him against me, and barely managed to keep him from banging into the side of the wall. It was insanely difficult to fight the tide, and that difficulty only increased as more and more passages dumped water onto us.

I pushed off the ground, and curled around him just in time to protect him from slamming head first into a drain jutting up out of the wall. The heavy impact jarred me, and we were tossed back into the subterranean river.

We finally came to a stop when my fingers latched onto a metal rung sticking out of the wall. I slammed back first into it with enough force to feel my everything ache. Still holding Jayce with my other arm, I pulled the two of us up out of the rushing water.

The rung lifted to an elevated service platform mostly free of the rushing tide. Moss and debris cluttered the place. Even at a glance, it was obvious that this place had long been abandoned beneath the city. I hauled Jayce out of the water like a soaked kitten, and plopped him onto the platform.

Jayce coughed up water while I patted him on the back. His bear cub ears were lowered, and he stared up at me with a mix of confusion and suspicion. “W-why did you save me?”

”Your father would be pissed if I let you die.” The mechanical, uncaring voice of Barghest broke through my helmet. “Hush now.”

My ears perked up toward the distance. Water thundered and slammed into something far away just down the tunnel. I tried to work out where we were in my head. I studied the storm sewers extensively in the kennel. At least something useful was coming out of all of that. 

After a moment, I locked down where we were. There should be… a central cistern that way? If we continued to be swept away by the water… well, I’d live. I’d probably feel like dying, though.

The overwhelming rush of water wasn’t the only noise, though. In the opposite direction, the sounds of a clash echoed down the tunnel. Someone was fighting the Calamity. I had no idea who they were, but I couldn’t just leave them to fight that thing alone. 

“Stay here.” I pushed the kid into the abandoned service room. “Assuming you want to still be alive, ‘course.”

”I…I will.” He shiftily looked to the side, and dropped his hand onto a bulge in his pocket. Did he seriously manage to keep hold of his pistol the entire way?

He looked like he was still going to run even with my warnings. I sighed, and pointed down the tunnel we were in. “Unless you want to have every bone in your body shattered by the drop, don’t go that way. The water plummets into a cistern.”

It finally seemed to get through his thick skull that I wasn’t trying to kill him. Jayce slowly nodded, and huddled back into the service room. “I-I’ll stay here.”

”Good.” I didn’t believe him for a second, but there was nothing to be done about it. I’d just hunt him back down once the Calamity was dealt with.

I shook out my tail, and jumped back down into the water. My axe slammed into the side of the sewer. It crammed between two bricks to stabilize me so I could force my way back up the storm sewer.

Just as I managed to get up back toward the fight, a massive shape came tumbling down toward me. For the first time, I got my first real look at the Calamity. It looked like a bear-sized rat with two additional arms sticking up out of its shoulders. Said arms were tipped in the deadly bone scythes that I saw earlier. 

CE-1243–a Reaprat. Its information popped into my head as I flung myself to the side to dodge its sweeping scythe. Extremely dangerous, though that mostly had to do with the lethal poison secreted along its bone scythes. I wasn’t as familiar with the Reaprat as I was its poison. 

A horrible crunching sound came from just behind me as the scythes dug into the sides of the storm sewer where I was just at. I darted forward and slammed my axe into the rat’s matted fur. It was a dense mesh of hair and rot that was surprisingly hard to cut through. The axe barely cut down into the rat.

”On yourleft, old chap!” A voice called out from my side. A shadow appeared on the roof, and a familiar figure dropped through it with a rapier outstretched. The thin blade glowed golden, and stabbed down toward the rat’s head.

Thwack!

The Reaprat’s tail slashed up at the man. The bladed tip of the tail barely missed cutting Vesper in half, but the long whip still caught him in the side. He was thrown back toward me, though vanished into a shadow just before he could hit me.

I dropped my axe to my side, and swapped tactics. If I couldn’t cut through its fur very well, then I’d just stab through it. Rend activated with a thought, and nanites poured out of my body to form deadly claws. Instead of their usual silver color, they came out as totally black thanks to the Universal Chroma.

The rat lunged at me with its rancid mouth stretched wide. I moved forward to meet it, and punched forward at its jaw. My claws paused on the Calamity’s jaw for a beat, and then punched through the dense mesh of fur. 

Black blood sprayed out, and it tried to jerk away from me. Its motions only caused my claws to do even more damage as I was pulled off my feet toward it. I kicked off the wall behind me, and drove my other fist into its eye. The soft organ squelched as the claws dug deep.

”SKREEE!” The rat shook its massive head, and its two bone-scythes slammed down toward me. I twisted to dodge one. Its eyes were plucked out alongside my motion. The other slammed right into my side. It glanced off the plating, and sliced through the thin underlayer around my ribs. Intense burning instantly started to spread through me.

”Hold it still!” Vesper shouted. He appeared once more above the Calamity. With the Reaprat so focused on me, it couldn’t do anything as Vesper’s rapier found its mark. The radiant blade slammed down through its other eye.

The Calamity thrashed, and slammed me against the stone wall of the storm sewer. The breath was totally knocked out of my lungs, and the rushing water started to drag me away once more. My claws dug into the stone to stabilize myself. 

Vesper held his position, and dug his rapier even further. He stayed on top of the Reaprat like it was the world’s worst rodeo with his feet planted into the creature’s neck. “Persistent little bastard, isn’t he?”

”B-behind!” I coughed out around a mouthful of rancid water. The burning sensation reached every part of my body now. It didn’t feel like a tier-3. It spread too quickly for that. Even as it wreaked havoc, my regeneration was already starting to mend back the damage.

With my warning, Vesper sunk into the shadows just in time to avoid being skewered by the Reaprat’s tail. I forced myself back to my feet, and tried to ignore the fire spreading through my veins. Just a little poison wouldn’t kill me. 

Unfortunately, the noise drew the monster rat’s attention. The Calamity staggered around, and set its bloody, gouged-out eyes on me. Somehow, the ruined sockets managed to find me despite its blindness.

It charged without warning. Its heavy legs splashed, stirring the water around it. A bone scythe snapped forward—only to get caught on the wall since it misjudged the distance. Its charge was thrown off, and it body slammed the wall just in front of me. Dust spilled down from above, and pebbles dinked off my helmet.

That was the opening I needed. With it caught, I darted up close and personal to the massive rat. My claws slashed forward onto its elbow, and dug deep into the monster’s outstretched limb. My arms barely answered my efforts. The poison was already eating through me.

A low growl ripped out of my throat, and I threw all my strength into pulling down. Rend dug deeper and deeper while the monster tried to jerk its arm out of the wall. With a wet squelch, the limb popped off in a spray of tainted blood. The poisoned liquid hissed where it met water.

”SKREE!” The Reaprat flinched away from me and its tail swung around to catch me while I was recovering from the attack. A shadow condensed just in front of me, and Vesper appeared with a golden shield.

”Got it!” The tail slammed into the shield, and stopped entirely. A low tong echoed out of the shield like a gentle bell ringing rather than a brutal attack.

My muscled burned inside of my body. I limped toward the creature as my legs momentarily faltered. It was a tier 4. It had to be. I knew that burn from back in the kennel. The familiar sensation of my entire body heating up like I was stuffed into an incinerator made that clear.

I pushed off from behind Vesper, and lashed down through the tail. The bladed tip dropped. Just before it could hit the water, I kicked it up with my armored foot and drove it forward into the bloody stump of its limb.

Vesper’s hand dipped into a shadow. The shield was instantly swapped out for a massive golden greatsword held over his head. It was so big and heavy that he couldn’t even swing it. Not that he needed to with gravity coming in for the assist. 

The greatsword whistled through the damp air. The glowing blade turned blinding, and it smoothly cut through the Reaprat’s other arm. Just before he could finish it off, the Calamity snapped forward with its gnarled teeth. Vesper vanished into the shadows just before it could connect. 

With most of its weapons gone, and my muscles actively liquifying, I saw my chance to end the fight before it could do any more damage. I weakly jumped, kicked off the wall, and flipped onto the monster’s back. My claws dug down into the creature to hold me steady as it once more started to thrash.

Its prehensile tail slammed into my side, though did no true damage without the poisoned blade that used to be at its end. I shifted on the monster’s back, and drove my claws down into a different section.

Where the hell is this thing’s heart? My head felt foggy as I tried to remember the Reaprat’s anatomy. Everything was turning foggy, actually. ”Operator, your vitals are plummeting.”

”Be fine.” I coughed up blood inside my helmet, and felt it splash across my face. The visor was half covered by the stuff. 

“Mind your head, old chap!” Vesper appeared just above me with his rapier once more. He plunged down with his full weight, and slammed the sharp point up through its screaming mouth. He pulled back just before it could clamp down on him.

My foggy memory cleared for a split second, and the Calamity anatomy lessons from Silverport Academy finally came back to me. I adjusted my claws, and drove both sets deep into the monster. “Give me your heart!”

The instant the claws connected with the Reaprat’s heart, a surge of warmth flooded my limbs. Unlike the liquifying burn of its poison slowly being expunged from my body, the warmth was a comforting surge that made everything else fade away. A sharp pang from my stomach faded, and I leaned down into monster even further.

The Reaprat flinched, and staggered toward the side of the storm sewer. The claws of its four legs screeched against the stone like it was trying to dig in and get away from me. I stayed stuck to its back while Rend greedily drank down its heart.

++ 10 Vitae absorbed ++

The last of it strength faded, and the Reaprat flopped to the ground. Rend’s claws vanished, and I rolled off its back. Water filled my helmet as I hit the water, and the blood covering my visor was half-washed away. ‘Course, I was also starting to drown, but that was a minor thign.

A hand grabbed my arm, and struggled to haul me up out of the storm sewer’s current before it could drag me away. “I have you. Pyre, old chap. Terribly rude creature, that. No sense of personal space.“

”P-poison—“ A rough retch cut me off. I slumped against him, and the two of us nearly fell over. “S’okay. M’okay.”

“Poison?” He supported me as we walked a bit further from the Calamity. “Ah, yes. That does rather explain all the blood, doesn’t it?”

“Just need a bit.” My leg gave out below me, and we nearly stumbled into the water. My legs uselessly sloshed underneath me for a moment before my regeneration gave me that little kick once more.

”I don’t quite believe you.” He pushed me up against the wall. “Bloody good timing, if I do say. Was worried for a tick.”

”Wh—what’re you doing here?” I scratched at my armor. I could already feel my Regeneration starting to mend through the worst of the poison. I’d probably be weakened for the next several days, but I probably wouldn’t die. I once lived through a tier 5 Reaprat variant. ‘Course, I was catatonic then. This was much better by comparison.

Vesper reached into the shadows, and pulled out a syringe filled with shimmering fluid. Even in the darkness of the storm sewer, it glowed with an internal light. “Abysno. Should help with your whole… melting body.”

I shakily grabbed the syringe from him, and stabbed it through the underarmor. I was familiar with the medicine. The moment the solution entered my blood stream, part of the burning started to fade. I still felt extremely weak. “Thanks.”

”Least I can do. I don’t suppose you’d be terribly attached to the corpse?” He waved to the downed Reaprat. “Leaving it in the sewer would be rather poor form, you know.”

”S’fine.” I lifted my helmet slightly, and spat a glob of blood to the side. “I get the Calamity Core.”

”Naturally. You landed the final blow.” He laughed haughtily, and pulled out a glowing knife. “This is a minor embarrassment, , but I haven’t the foggiest idea where the core is.”

”Above the heart.” I shook my head, and pushed off the wall. See? I was already feeling better. I jerked a thumb toward the corpse. “Right there.”

“Ah, I see, I see. I must say, you do know your Calamities, Barghest.” The hooded man got to work digging the Calamity Core out. After a few moments, he extracted a glowing green sphere and tossed it to me.

I barely managed to catch the sphere. It was slick with blood. Hunger ate at me, and I nearly drew my claws out to absorb the core right then and there. Instead, I barely managed to suppress my instincts and stashed it in my pocket. I had an audience, after all.

I coughed up one more glob to the side, and then turned back to face the man. He was busy trying to swallow the massive monster with his shadow ability. “Feeling better?”

”A bit…” I weakly moved toward him. “So? Why is one of the cathedral’s paladins here, in the storm sewers of Silverport? And working with an Anarch at that.” 

The man’s shoulders tensed up, and he froze. After a moment, a laugh broke out from behind the shadows obscuring his face. “Caught me, have you? I’d hoped the mysterious rogue routine had another few weeks in it.”

”Are you kidding? Not just anyone would have that many radiant weapons.” Almost everything he pulled out of that shadow ability was radiant in one way or another.

It wasn’t that hard to figure out. He had way too many radiant weapons, he needed a tracker, and a ton of relics were stolen from the Absolom cathedral reliquary. Heh, I’d be an idiot not to put it together. Especially after hearing from Sister Neriyov that there were paladins already in Silverport.

“Hmm… I admit, it was a bit of oversight on my part.” His shadow finally swallowed the Reaprat, and the thing disappeared. The water rushing around it settled down slightly as it washed past my legs. “Tempting as your interrogation is, I fear our runaway cub takes precedence.”

”Heh, right.” I shook my head. What was I thinking? Now definitely wasn’t the time to deal with this. Seek snapped onto the kid, and I turned down the tunnel. Predictably, he hadn’t stayed where I left him. “Follow me.”

”Right behind you.” The man rested his hands behind his head, and casually followed after me. Once more, I started to hunt down Jayce. This time, much slower as my body barely held itself together.

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Thank you for reading!