Chapter 145: Heaven sent
Chapter 145: Heaven sent
It’s been the forty-third day of my imprisonment when the mad scientist returned to the ruins of her lab. No, ruins wasn’t the right word. It implied the existence of some remains that you can rebuild.
I ate the lab together with the stone in which it was cut. I ate every specimen and every living creature inside the barrier. I ate every plant, and I began to eat the ground, starting with a burrow in which I spent my nights. But it was daytime when she came, and I was busy trying to break through the barrier.
Her appearance was accompanied by a flash of light and a strange hissing sound, like a rapidly escaping steam, but she herself was as ordinary as any human at a first glance.
A woman, tall and slender, with dark hair put up in a bun that I for some reason associated with teachers, sharp cheekbones, sharp nose, sharp chin and sharp eyes. She was dressed in a blindingly white robe, embroidered with gold and silver, but that was the only opulent part of her appearance.
She didn’t spot me at first, because she was too busy goggling at the empty sight around her. I could almost read the “what the fuck” written on her forehead. But it didn’t last for long, and soon her eyes shifted to me.
I didn’t try to hide. There weren’t any places left to do that, because I ate them. Instead, I just straightened in all my slimy glory. My body regenerated its lost part, so I had all my four arms again. Orichalcum carapace covered me from head to toe—my attempt to weaken the spell that didn’t let me out—and my feet ended with long claws for digging into the ground.
The woman’s eyes scrutinised me like a frog on a dissecting table. “I didn’t make you… Did you wandered in from the outside? How did you bypass a barrier?”
I could tell her I was brought in with an avalanche, which was clearly stronger than a barrier, but she clearly didn’t expect a response. Instead, she fearlessly walked up to me and continued her inspection. I waited and inspected her back. This was when Pest’s voice, shaking and fearful, sounded in my head.
‘Master, that woman… she isn’t just a human. That spell she used to get there—I remembered it just now. It’s a spell that teleports you from Heaven to the mortal realm. She’s an angel! They are dangerous, they are deadly. I… I don’t remember why. Just, just, just don’t die.’
‘An angel?’ I tried to remember what I heard about angels. Bishop gave me a good lecture on established religion of these lands at some point. According to it, angels were the Twelve Bastards’ helpers, elevated to their positions from souls of most virtuous people in Heaven. They were usually depicted in white and surrounded by a shining halo. The woman did wear white, but certainly lacked in visual holiness. ‘She doesn’t look like one.’
‘I tell ya! Don’t want to believe me? Then don’t, but don’t drag me into an early grave with you, alright?! Also, I’d be careful with ordering me to use magic in her presence if you don’t want to end like Willorio. It’s bad enough I have to keep the poison delaying spell on you.’
“Hmm… What a strange combination of characteristics… This monster is certainly isn’t endemic to this area, but the basic outline of its body bears resemblance to the species of Giridia, while these ears are very similar in shape to these of a certain species of cave bats… The creature also spouts an unusual behaviour of not reacting to my presence. Would that change if I showed aggression towards it?”
I tensed inwardly, but outwardly, kept still. If that woman mistook me for a strange monster, that was one thing. But if she knew who I really was, and was an angel… then I was in a real trouble.
Maybe I should’ve attacked her to show what a monster I was, but what if the barrier didn’t dissipate with her death? From what I knew from Pest, many spells could work just nicely without their creator. This one certainly worked with their creator being who-knew-where.
“Wait a second…” The woman made two steps away from me. “An unpredictable attitude, an unusual mix of monstrous attributes, a tendency to consume edible matter in potentially infinite amounts.” The woman glanced again at the empty wasteland around, then turned her piercing gaze at me. “I can’t believe my luck! Could you really be the same Devourer all bosses are so eager to find and destroy?”
Damn. So much for that hope. Now it didn’t even matter if I killed her—she would report to Heaven all the same, just not as an angel, but as a dead angel. In Heaven, there would be no difference. In the mortal realm, there was no way for me to catch her soul before it left the body.
“What if I was some other Devourer?” I asked, flexing my claws.
“It talks! Impressive.” The woman rubbed a bridge of her nose. “But I highly doubt that there could be two Devourers without Heavens being turned upside-down with the news. How lucky I am! The reward for your head, Devourer, is very impressive even for someone like me.”
“You will have to work to get it.”
She waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t waste threats on me. The experiment, which will be our fight, will decide everything. I am eager to find out if you are as terrifying as they describe you… especially after you ate my entire laboratory.”
She frowned, and I decided we had enough talking. It was time to get the initiative. I had about half an hour before the poison in my body kicked in again. More than enough time to win or lose.
I threw a volley of twenty wind blades at her, and a shout, “Then a fight it will be!”