Chapter 232 – Old Friends

Deirdee - Day 55 - 71 Days Remain

I should have known better, but in my mind, I saw buying a boat as a simple task. Like… go to a fishing village, buy one and leave. Turns out… they didn't really have that many, or any for that matter, boats for sale. Well... there was one, but it was too small to fit all ten of us.

Of course, that village was a bit of a long shot; we only went there in the hope they wouldn't fleece us as much as people in Kalaade, the second largest town in Serrezht.

Ultimately, we somehow lucked out once we actually got there, as there was a keelboat for sale, and while, judging by the coughing fit Ren got, the initial asking price was north of highway robbery, our party diplomat managed to haggle it down to a more reasonable level.

Rennie did remark that there was no way in hell we would be leaving that boat behind, which told me we still overpaid, though I could understand it, as the man was apparently retiring because he couldn't compete with larger transport companies.

The boat, named Senya’s Tits, was large enough for a crew of fifteen and cargo, meaning we would have plenty of room, so after choosing bunks for ourselves, we immediately went to start arranging supplies for our trip.

Needless to say, our money reserves took a massive hit, and while we weren't broke just quite yet, we would need to cut back on things like “renting rooms,” though we could still eat hot meals in taverns, within reason, of course.

‘Reminds me of the old times, ‘ Anika mused while drinking a cup of ale. ‘All those “shore” leaves on various space stations.’

‘Oh, right,’ Sav chuckled. ‘I still remember the time we had to drag you back to the Myrmidon after you got wasted in that bar. Took the autocleaner forever to get puke out of my clothes.’

‘Still not as memorable as the time we got kicked out because you and Paul got caught snogging in a bathroom stall.’

As much as I loved listening to the stories from the other worlds, particularly about those things called movies and video games, my attention was instead drawn towards a raspy voice negotiating room prices.

Judging by her expression, Ren heard it too. In sync, we both turned towards the bar and saw a very familiar lizard face there.

Tee.

Savri, Anika and Kart followed our gaze.

‘Is that the walking handbag?’ Savri mouthed.

We nodded and, slowly, the five of us got up and started walking towards the bar.

The inn got deadly quiet. With trepidation, Taros turned towards us and, trying to keep vaer best card face, said:

‘Dee! Rennie! Long time no see!’

Phosi - Day 55 - 71 Days Remain

The gate to the base was rusted shut. Lilyth was surprised it was still standing after five hundred years, but given how the entire compound was in remarkably good shape despite its age, magic was likely involved.

Do we have a dungeon on our hands?

If so, just like we surmised with the bunker, between Aki and Persephone, any plant monster would quickly be promoted to a pile of ash.

Our royal furball crouched by the wall next to the gate and pulled out the metal sheet she was using as the [Scrying Mirror]. Moments later, the image flickered to life on it, and we began to watch as Lilyth's [Remote Eye] began to rise above the gate and slowly fly into the base.

During the past few weeks of our travel, Her Furry Highness has managed to greatly improve the control she had over the spell as well as its range. Persephone also helped her figure out how to directly link it to the [Scrying Mirror] spell so that we would be able to get real-time transmission from the [Remote Eye]. This was, as I understood, the penultimate step of actually being able to make drones like Strickland and his “friends” had. I hated how he still evaded my grasp, but the anticipation only made the reward better.

Anyhow, we all gathered around Lilyth to watch the feed from the spell, and I wasn't sure I liked what I was seeing.

The once familiar buildings were dead and empty. The grounds were almost devoid of vegetation and strewn with bones of animals and mortals of different races.

I wonder. Did I know any of them? Could one of them really be… be me?

That didn't feel right, however. As scrambled as my memories were, I was almost certain my visit to the bunker took place after my stay here.

The worst thing about the base, however, was the deadly silence there, which went beyond this place being a Sakhrart. Once again, we were standing on the precipice of a mass grave and were about to disturb its peace.

Lilyth - Day 55 - 71 Days Remain

Not for the first I had wondered if there was more to Phosi becoming a Sconryoll than the circumstances of her death. While I promised Ere not to look into the mechanics, there was more than one way to skin a ca… do… Kisamzo. If I couldn't focus on how, maybe I could figure out why. There must have been more to it than just heartbreak-related suicide.

But what?Was RMAI involved?

In general, the organisation was starting to look sketch as fuck to me and suspicions that food production was just their side gig began to blossom in my mind.

‘Wait!’ Aki suddenly shouted. ‘What was that?’

‘What was what?’ I asked, as I zoned out for a moment.

‘I thought I saw something move in that building the spell just passed by.’

I looked at the others, but they just shrugged, so I turned the spell around and began to look for the source of the disturbance.

The overgrown building looked to once have been officer or scientist quarters, as there were multiple “individual” bedrooms there. All the furniture there, while broken and covered in vines, was in a shockingly good condition, likely due to the magic permeating the area. However, as the place provided plenty of hiding spots, I was not able to locate the source of the disturbance.

We will need to thoroughly search all the buildings, I realised. We can’t have unknown assailants behind us.

‘Body… weak…’ I heard someone whisper. ‘Can’t… protect…’

‘Huh?’ I asked my friends. ‘Did someone say something?’

The others looked at me, confused.

I wanted to dismiss it as me just hearing things, but then realised that, well… magic, so I told them what exactly happened.

‘Aki seeing things, you hearing them…’ Persephone mused. ‘Fuck… We might be having another Harvester plant on our hands, one very much alive and active.’

I remembered the powerful psychic presence the dead one in the bunker had and shuddered.

‘Time to retreat then,’ Aki said. ‘Sorry, Phos, but I don’t think we can handle that.’

Surprisingly, the sconryoll simply nodded.

‘Agreed. While I am probably immune to its influence, I am unwilling to test that. We will need to take care of it at some point, but I don’t think the four of you will survive getting near to it without becoming its prey.’

‘Well…’ Persephone interjected. ‘I mean… I can burn it down from the air.’

‘You okay with that, Phos?’ I asked.

‘Yes,’ she rasped. ‘Killing that thing is more important than any scraps of my past we can find here. It may be months or years before we are strong enough or have time to come back here, and by that time, the nearby villages may become the plant’s food.’

We all looked at the sconryoll surprised.

‘Who are you and what have you done with Phosi?’ I asked.

‘I don’t know,’ she answered. ‘I think this is Phosi the scientist whispering to me.’

She seemed somewhat ashamed of it. I wasn’t sure why. Wasn’t Phosi regaining her humanity a good thing?

Persephone - Day 55 - 71 Days Remain

I turned into my Hellborn form and flew into the air, doing my best to maintain as much distance from the building as possible.

How to best handle this?

My initial thought was to first cause a [Gravitiational Collapse] and then have it go [Nova], but the chance of it bringing down the whole building and smothering the spell, or worse, turning it into shrapnel, was too high.

Will need to reach for the knowledge I got from Her Royal Furriness then.

After the events in Denyr, I spent hours discussing various Terran weapons with Lilyth, Savri and Anika, both to avoid causing similar disasters in the future and figure out how to better use my spells.

As Phosi mentioned that the building had several underground levels, the thing that sounded useful in this situation was those “bunker buster” bombs. I knew of Earth Arcana spells that could be used to mimic them directly, but alas, I never learned those.

Still… Where there is a will, there is a way…

So, I decided to fly over the building and start blasting my way through its levels with [Rock Burst] and [Fireballs]. Once I got to the bottom, I would go the [Nova] route.

That was the plan, at least. Alas, the Harvester plant had other ideas. A massive vine shot out of the ground with an alarming alacrity, wrapped itself around my waist and slammed me against the ground.

Through the haze of intense pain, I felt its grip loosen, replaced by a sensation that felt like insects crawling up my body. I twisted my head to the side and saw rivulets of dark metal quickly crawling up my body, slowly encasing me.

No! No!

It couldn't be happening again.

I wouldn't let it happen again.

I tried to rise to my feet, but I must have been too slow, as my limbs refused to move from under the liquid metal.

I began to scream for help, but that only caused the substance to flow down my throat, silencing me.

Caeileera - Day 55 - 71 Days Remain

‘Persephone!’ we shouted in unison as we saw the sorceress just fall to the ground as if some strings controlling her were cut.

We didn't wait long. Lilyth blew the gate off its hinges with a [Fist of Wind], and we began sprinting towards the sorceress.

Halfway there, my friends stopped and turned towards me.

‘Why are you stopping?’ I asked.

‘You just want to drink her blood, don't you?’ Lilyth asked in an accusatory tone. ‘I know how you have been looking at her.’

What?

‘Yes,’ Aki agreed. ‘Then you will come for the rest of us. That's the reason why you have been with us, haven't you? Lure us into a false sense of security and then murder us in our sleep…’

Aki - Day 55 - 71 Days Remain

‘Caei?’ Lilyth asked when we realised that our alabaster beauty wasn't following us.

Then she fell to her knees and began tearfully denying wanting to kill us and that she really loved us. Instinctively, I reached out to her, but a vine emerged from the foliage and wrapped itself around my wrist. I began reaching for my sword, but another vine stopped. More wrapped around my ankles, completely immobilising me.

‘Lilyth!’ I yelled.

No response.

‘Lilyth?’

The only sound was my breathing. Even Caei and Persephone were now silent. No… they… disappeared.

No...

‘Guys?’ Where are you?’

There was no one around me. I was alone. And trapped. Again.

‘No… please don't leave me…’

Lilyth - Day 55 - 71 Days Remain

What the fuck is happening?! I thought in panic, seeing Aki reduced to a weeping wreck.

I didn't have much time to ponder that question as a hammer hit my chest and I began to feel woozy.

No! Not now…

I looked towards Phosi for assistance, but the Sconryoll was gone.

‘I told you,’ I heard the whisper again. ‘You are too weak.’

A presence appeared behind me.

‘You will die,’ the entity continued, whispering into my ear. ‘And then your friends will die, eaten by the monster dwelling beneath the building. Your daughter will have to grow up without you.’

Leathery fingers caressed my cheek, and the entity began walking around, soon entering my vision.

It was me.

An emaciated, naked version of me.

‘Surprise,’ she laughed maliciously. ‘Meet one of your potential fates. Perhaps, one that still can be.’

The… the curse.

‘Ding! Ding! Ding! I must say the bloody ashplamath did an admirable job locking me away, but I am nothing if not patient.’

He… he had Ah-Akh’ret’s help. You cannot be real.

The figure pointed at my chest, and another hammer of pain struck it, driving the breath out of me.

I fell to my knees, my vision slowly growing dark.

‘That says otherwise, sweetie,’ the Wither smiled. ‘ Jillyead is only a mortal after all, while I? Why? I was created by a god. There have been some imperfections in the spell, and I have been slowly burrowing through them. And now…’

She leaned towards me and planted a kiss on my brow.

‘...it is finally time for you to die.’

Darkness claimed me before I could feel my heart give out.