Chapter 377

TAP TAP TAP TAP

A pair of the twisted mutations leaped off the upper walls of the labyrinth, their spear-like arms glimmering in the odd, sourceless light that seemed to bounce off of everything. The first let out a shriek, its maw opening as lamprey teeth flexed in its bloated gums. Wild eyes gleamed before an angular streak of light cleaved through its midsection and gold flame rushed across its body. The second kicked off its comrade to get away only for another streak to segment its head from its body. It collapsed with a gurgle as gold flame consumed it. 

She kept running.

Multicolored hair fluttered around Crusader’s face as her boots pounded against the ground, her eyes swiveling in her head. Movement to her left. Tsk. She darted to the right and away from the incoming spear strike before kicking off the wall and coming back around with a horizontal cut. She skidded but didn’t stop moving; she couldn’t lose momentum. She snatched one of the fallen monster’s arms off the ground and threw it as she ran, her muscles expanding in her arm before contracting with the sudden explosion of force. The long, pointed limb hurtled through the air towards another pair charging her way down the hall.

She bolted after it, the first one squealing like a stuck pig when it was impaled. The second  hopping over its fallen comrade and lunging at her. She adjusted her grip and leaped, cutting it diagonally across its misshapen chest. She landed behind it and resumed her sprint, glancing up at the mottled, churning sky. Her ear twitched, and she heard a whistle that echoed to her left. She whipped her head that way and spotted a bend part way down the endless obsidian hall she was trekking through. She slid and kept running, glancing up again as the churning above grew worse. The mana here is out of control. This is bad. Is it going to rank-up again? He’s insane!

She leaped over a pair of smaller, mite-like creatures made out of the twisted glass and bits of flesh on their backs. They shrieked as they tried to lunge after her but a tuft of gold flame from her boot sent them scuttling away. He’s here somewhere. I won’t let you get to the anchor beast, you bastard! She growled as her grip tightened on her sword. I won’t let you hurt any more people. You’ve shown your true self, and now I’m going to put you down! The sword in her hand seemed to hum in agreement as she picked up the pace. As the strange, blocky black walls around her rushed past her, she spotted an open area up ahead. Another monster room.

She narrowed her eyes and drew her weapon up into a ready position horizontal with the ground as she burst into the room. They came all at once, whipping tongues, lamprey teeth, and long, pointed limbs. Their agonized shrieks pierced her ears. She planted a foot and turned upward with an uppercut towards one. She stepped and turned to cut down the second across its waist. The third landed a distance away and crossed its limbs before lunging. She brought her weapon down and smashed the crystalline limbs before whipping out with a rotating kick that drove it back as she turned her weapon down and pierced it through the chest.

Crusader hopped off and turned her head towards the next, lunging at it and stabbing through its waist. She pulled her sword up with a grunt, and it collapsed. She took another step, her pulse pumping in her veins. They were all pathetically weak as Uncommons, but there seemed to be no ending to them. A flicker of something gold caught her eye to the left, and she pivoted, raising her weapon just in time for a golden sword to clash with her own. A pair of glowing blue eyes met hers accompanied by a disdainfully smug smile. “Otis!” She snarled as she slid back across the ground, her muscles straining against the force of his impact.

He sneered as his eyes widened, his pupils shrinking while his arms flexed. She felt the floor beneath her give way a bit as she was forced further and further back. His tongue flicked out of his mouth just once, a tell. Arrogant piece of shit! She stepped forward and to the right and angled her weapon, letting him slip past. His eyes widened for a moment, and he turned, hopping back as she came at him with a two-handed swing that cracked the air and carved portions of the wall near them without even touching it. Part of his shirt tore open as he landed and touched his chest.

He looked up at her with a snarl. “You.”

She didn’t even give him the satisfaction of being arrogant about it; she charged. “What are you running from, Otis?” She demanded as she struck again, this time it was his turn to block. He put his hands behind his weapon as the horizontal blow came, and he was lifted off his feet with a gasp, skipping a few steps across the ground before landing again. She pointed her weapon at him as she took slow steps to the left around him while he resumed his stance. “I thought you were immortal! If you’ll just come back from death, why not throw everything you’ve got at me?” She demanded before tilting her head forward. “Or is something wrong with your power? A time limit? Does it take a moment to resurrect?” she asks. “A daily limitation?” she pressed as his eye twitched even as he stood up and flipped his hair, his smug smile returning.

“Maybe I just like messing with you,” he said lazily and narrowed his eyes at her, that blue glow intensifying. “Speaking of…”

She nearly stumbled, her head starting to feel cloudy as something began eating at her very perception of him. Of him? Of who- 

HNMMMMM!

The weapon in her hand practically sang against her palm as it vibrated, the steel letting out a steady chime that pierced her ears. She winced and took another step back as the clouds parted from her head. She shook her head and blinked, looking up to see Otis’ momentarily shocked face. He looked down at the sword in her hand and finally showed his teeth in envious fury. “It protects from mental effects…” he snarled and turned, darting away in a flash of speed, the backdraft whipping her hair.

She nearly froze, eyes wide, only training keeping her feet moving to maintain her steps as she looked down at the sword in her hand. She swallowed once and then really examined the black and gold handled blade, its silver edge humming quietly as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She looked up towards where he’d headed and started walking again. He tried to erase himself from my mind. That’s what he did with the footage, isn’t it? That’s what he’s been doing. What else has he erased? What else has he done that no one remembers? She broke into a run. “HOW MANY CRIMES ARE YOU GUILTY OF, OTIS?!” She roared as she followed him down the hall. “ALPHONSE! FIND HIM AGAIN!”

A gilded cry of assent rang out over the maze as she burst into the next hallway in full pursuit. She would not let him get away. For Val. For her Teacher. For every person he had hurt, for every person he planned to hurt. Whatever he was planning, she’d show the immortal man just how damn mortal he was.

–

Otis clutched at his abdomen as he ran, the ground was starting to shake again. The Dungeon would go through another rank-up in just a few moments. Why is she so strong? It’s Excalibur, isn’t it? Damn thing stopped Anonymous from working, how?! He snarled as he pulled his palm away from the tear in his shirt and eyed the dark red blood on his palm. He clicked his tongue and glanced towards his cheats, pulling up the menu and pulling Anonymous off the list with a grunt, quickly pulling Perfect Health out and activating it. The wound closed in a rapid hiss of repairing tissue. He whipped Perfect Health off. He had Max Attack and Max Speed active. He glanced over his shoulder as a pair of the warped dungeon monsters were tossed bodily from around a corner behind him.

Bitch! He pulled Passwall from his cheats and ran straight towards the wall ahead of him, passing through it and landing on the other side. A single mutant barely turned before he smashed it against the wall with the flat of his blade, its midsection crumpling like a soda can. He switched Passwall out quickly and pulled out Edit NPC. His fingers glimmered as he broke into another run. Behind him, the shrieks and snarls of monsters rose as one boom after another heralded the approach of Crusader. 

“SO YOU GO THROUGH WALLS TOO?” She shouted after him. His eye twitched, and he looked up to see a glimmer of gold soaring overhead. 

Damn bird! he swore and turned to the monster he’d just slain, grabbing its spear-like arm and tearing it off with a grunt. He spun and hurled the implement up towards the annoying pigeon. The black spear struck only for the bird to explode into a cascade of golden fire that reasserted itself a moment later. Damn it!

“SIEGE BLOW!” 

The surge of power was his only alert as he broke into a max-speed sprint and turned, bringing his weapon to block as a wave of gold flame, raw force, and debris exploded from the wall he’d passed through. He clenched his teeth as he was forced to hold his own stance this time before being hurled back down the hall and hitting a wall with a pained grunt, a shock going straight up his spine. His eyes snapped open in time to see a pair of golden eyes racing towards him. He whirled out of the way, and she collided with the wall, already moving to pursue. A shriek of a monster behind him made his eye twitch, and he leaped up and off the ground away from another swing from her, landing on the back of the mutant and clapping his hand atop its lamprey-like head. It howled as he made a few quick modifications, Crusader already charging towards him with that determined frown on her annoying face.

He kicked off of it, sending it stumbling towards her. She swung to bat it away, but its modified skin took the hit. Her eyes widened, and Otis grinned. There we go. He landed and pivoted, racing away as she engaged it.

Overhead, the storm continued to churn, the dungeon beginning to rumble. Mana was pouring in with a deluge now. He laughed. “Almost time for another jump in difficulty, Crusader! What are you going to do?” As he swapped out Edit NPC, batting away a pair of mutants with a contemptuous swipe and moving down the hallway as the booms of her attempting to pierce the monster’s maxed-out defense rang out behind her.

He pulled out Edit Dungeon and checked the map. Halfway there.

–

Evergreen pressed her finger against the portal again and pulled away from the spark that deterred her. Sirens were blaring around her, and she could only let out a sigh and step away from it as she shook out her hand. What on earth is going on in there? She pulled up the tablet in her free hand and checked the feed again. Still no signal. She exhaled as the dungeon flickered and groaned, the columns on either side of the portal had grown briefly after Otis and Crusader had gone inside. Now they were growing again. She checked the Carter Radar report and exhaled through her nostrils. It was like she was standing in the middle of a hurricane - the entire region had turned into a whirlpool of moving mana, pulling so fast that monsters couldn’t even form.

She shook her head and reached for her comm, keying it on to check it as well. The mana-based signal just hissed and popped in her ears with her proximity to the growing storm. She shoved it in her pocket. Reinforcements should be here soon. I wonder what’s taking Molly so long? She thought as she turned away from the portal and made for the door. Oh dear me, might as well make sure there aren’t any monster formations that the radar is missing. There was no point in standing around and staring at a portal she couldn’t enter. Whatever was happening, it was up to Crusader to deal with it. She was a seasoned Mythic of numerous battles; she could handle herself.

The guildmaster smiled a little as she opened the door and stepped out. The sky was calm overhead but it was tinged with eerie colors as the density of mana in the air increased. It shifted from green to blue to red to purple before back to blue again. The clouds moved visibly, and the trees whipped here and there. She concentrated for a moment, trying to sense her surroundings a little bit. She’d been practicing that trick that Mythics like her were able to pull off, feeling for danger. Wish there was some snow here, that would make this so much easier, she thought as her mind focused. Too much mana in the air, I can’t feel a damn thing. It’s like trying to look through soup.

She ran her fingers through her hair. “There’s a radio in our gear,” she muttered and turned towards the Committee-constructed outpost set up near the containment building.

KRRK!

Evergreen froze. A can?

She turned slowly around and saw a man with blonde hair and the build of a fighter standing in a tight-fitted t-shirt and denim jeans. He was holding a can of coffee in one hand with her face on it. He raised it to his lips and took a long sip before lowering it and looking at the can for a moment. Then he looked up at her and raised his eyebrow. “Not a bad drink. Good endorsement, hero.”

She stood up straighter as her hands fell to her sides, a phantom pain lancing through her right arm where it had been reattached since that day. A memory of Liberty and Seattle. Her head tilted forward and she held his gaze. “Graff.”

Graff crushed the can in his hand and tossed it over his shoulder with a flick. He shoved his hands into his pockets as he leaned forward and tilted his head. “You know me?” He pursed his lips and glanced around. “Makes this easier I guess. Not a whole lot of snow here, Evergreen,” he said with a small smirk, a bit of teeth showing. “This is when you should be running, I think.”

She whipped her hand towards the door to the containment building, and a wall of dense ice formed over it. He only glanced towards it and then back at her. He let out a condescending chuckle. “Really?” He scoffed.

She reached up and unzipped her winter coat, tossing it aside, as ripples of aurora danced around her fingertips. She met his gaze, and he straightened up a bit, glancing down at her hands and then up at her face. He popped his neck, rolled his eyes, and struck.