World Keeper

Chapter 405: Stare Into the Abyss

With a pained hiss, the amalgam pulled the arrow out of his arm, glaring fiercely towards Kaneda. And then, taking a step back, as if a runner preparing to sprint forward he… vanished. I blinked, staring at the place he had been previously staying. There was no shimmer of light that would indicate a teleport, no flash of magic at all. It was just as if he stepped behind a wall…

“So that’s how it is.” Lyra said in an almost playful tone, holding out her right hand. A glittering cloud sprayed forth from her palm, clinging to anything that it passed. As it reached the area where the amalgam had been standing, it began to rise up in a solid line, as if clinging to a wall.

However, the structure appeared to not be very large, just over two meters tall in every direction. Certainly not enough for an entire base, unless it was hidden underground… Though really, given the amalgam’s love of cliches, the odds of an underground base were almost a hundred percent. That or an imposing castle.

Given that the building itself was invisible, and that we did not know whether the door was opened, closed, or if he was just waiting inside to strike, I readied my staff. Placing the base of it on the ground, the mouth aimed at the glittering wall, I focused.

In front of myself, I created a spike of stone that launched forward, towards the invisible wall. We could see the spike passing through, disappearing before our eyes. Then, a half second later, there was the sound of a loud crash. Clearly, the door had been left open.

With the building damaged, the enchantment covering it faded away. What was left standing before us looked to be a small, brick shed with a wide gate at the front. From where I was standing, I could see the hole that my spell had put in the other side, one of its walls collapsed.

Along the floor of the structure was a staircase, which simply extended down into the darkness. The three of us glanced to each other, before we moved to enter. As we walked, Kaneda and I moved to the front, placing Lyra in a position to support us from the rear.

Once we entered the staircase, we could see that there were torches placed along the wall starting from about fifty feet in. Just long enough that the light wouldn’t shine out too conspicuously through the entrance above. Otherwise, the interior was made of worked stone, the hallways fifteen feet across and tall.

At our feet, we could see the occasional droplets of blood guiding us, no doubt left by the amalgam when he came through. Still, we didn’t let our guard down, keeping an eye out for any potential traps or ambushes.

After a couple of minutes, it became quite apparent that this structure was larger than we first anticipated, making seemingly no progress despite walking for so long. Not that we were in some kind of magical loop or anything like that. We had walked far enough that I could no longer see the entrance behind us, and the rooms branching off from the hall had not been in such a perfect pattern that could cause one to feel like they are repeating the same area over and over.

No, this place was simply big. A network of tunnels that may just stretch beneath the entire region. Evidence that this group has been hiding in the shadows to prepare for quite a long time.

Soon enough, the blood seemed to stop, indicating that the amalgam we were chasing had finally managed to treat his wound. This left us deep within the tunnels without any way to guide ourselves.

Immediately, the guard of our group was raised even higher than before. Slowly, we crept forward, peeking our heads into the different rooms that we passed along the way. Most of them were quite similar… long rows of prison cells, iron bars on their doors. Inside each one was a human and a familiar, standing or sitting on the floor like soulless statues.

These must be the people that were abducted. I thought to myself, steeling my resolve. There would be time to free these people later, once the danger had passed. Doing so now would simply consume our mana that we would need for the battle ahead.

It took us… I’d say another half hour before we actually found our target. Or rather, targets. Standing roughly fifty feet ahead of us in a row were five robed figures, with the lizard amalgam standing at the front of them. After tending his wound, it looked like he had gone to gather reinforcements…

Even though he was no longer wearing his robe, he still did his best to look dignified. He was even managing to mask the occasional pained twitches of his eyes, for the most part. “Apologies, warriors, but I’m afraid that this is as far as you will be going.”

“If you are planning to give a grand speech, would you mind warning us first?” Kaneda asked, nocking another arrow on her bow. “It will give me plenty of time to recite an incantation while I wait.”

The amalgam’s brow furrowed in frustration. “Well, you just like to take the fun out of everything, don’t you?” As he said that, he lifted one hand, flicking his wrist forward to signal the others behind him. There bodies moved like ethereal shapes, flying through the air as they swerved around them.

Given the fact that their robes were still on, and pulled heavily over their faces, it was impossible to determine just what kind of amalgams these were. But that didn’t matter for this fight.

“Wall of stone.” I spoke, tapping the ground. Immediately, a stone wall rose, sealing off one end of the hall. Though, what seemed to surprise the lizard amalgam was that the wall was behind him, instead of blocking the advance of the other amalgams.

Kaneda closed her eyes for a brief moment. When she opened them again, they had turned pitch black, as if staring into an abyss. The torches in the hall behind us seemed to flicker out one by one, consuming the hall in total darkness.

Before the last of the lights went out, I even saw a few of the flying figures pause in hesitation, before I lost sight of them. Now, the only sources of light that could be seen were the spheres of crystallized mana attached to Lyra’s draconic armor, and even that seemed to be more dim than usual.

“All is darkness.” Kaneda’s voice echoed from within the hall, her location suddenly impossible to determine. However, what was clear was the scream that followed, a pained cry and the sound of something splashing.

I felt the strange sensation that I had been moved, and yet my position in relation to Lyra was unchanged. “Lyra, do you have anything that…”

“Nope.” She spoke in a surprisingly flat voice. “Big sis seems mad… so let’s just let her have this one, okay?”

“Agreed.” I nodded my head. Under these circumstances, it would be incredibly reckless for me to fire off spells when I can’t even determine the position of either Kaneda or any of the targets.

As Lyra and I were speaking, I could hear metal clashing against metal, and see a few sparks fly from a brief clash up… much farther ahead than I believed that it should have been. From that clash, I was able to see a robed figure wielding what seemed to be a scimitar, and a black… something. The image faded too quickly for me to get a proper look, but it definitely did not look like Kaneda.

Soon, another scream echoed thunderously in the halls, this one like the shout of a mighty beast. “You fools, ignore her! Get the other two!” The lizard amalgam’s voice called out, and I felt the sensation of being moved again. This time, there was a distinct difference in the direction that the sounds of conflict came from. Specifically, it now sounded like it was coming from behind me, though somehow muffled.

“We’re on the other side of the wall now, aren’t we?” I muttered quietly.

“Yup.” Lyra confirmed, and I could see the lights of her mana spheres shifting as she turned around. “She’s really mad.”

Maybe we should stop after this encounter… I thought to myself. Originally, this had been planned to be a relaxing adventure with myself and Kane–no, with Irena. But, it seemed as though something within the scenario had set her off.

“Oh lord of the infinite abyss.” Kaneda’s voice echoed darkly in the shadows. “Spirits of fear and death, feast upon this offering. Drag these souls to the depths, and consume them.”

After Kaneda’s chant, there was the rapid sound of metal clinking together. Not blades clashing as they had before, but more like… chains? Following that, a startled gasp, and a series of horrified cries came from the other side of the wall.

Finally, after the last of the screams died down, light returned to the hall. The orbs on Lyra’s armor once more gained their full glow, and the torches lit up as if they had never been extinguished.

With a deep breath, I looked at the wall of stone standing in front of us. “Well… let’s go greet her, shall we?” I asked, taking a step forward and tapping my staff against the ground. Just as quickly as the wall had appeared, it vanished, leaving naught but a few cracked stones along the floor.

What awaited us on the other side was a surprisingly gruesome sight. Two of the enemies had clearly been killed by blades, their bodies cleaved in two. One had blue feathers along the exposed skin of his arms, while the other had short, brown fur.

However, it was the other four figures that were startling. On either side of Kaneda, two figures had been chained to each wall, thick hooks digging into their arms and legs to support them there. Their mouths and eyes were open in a silent scream, but it was clear that they had no life left to them.

“Terra, I think that’s enough for now.” I spoke up, moving over to stand next to… Irena. The image of Kaneda, the bow in her hands, melted away like water as Irena returned to her normal appearance, as did myself and Aurivy.

I could tell from Irena’s twitching wings, and her furrowed brow that she was troubled. However, there was someone else that managed to speak up before me. “Are you alright, Irena?” Terra’s voice asked softly from the side, the red-haired catgirl appearing and looking towards Irena with a concerned expression.

Irena took a deep breath, pulling her wings in and nodding her head. “I am… no, I cannot say that I am. I apologize, to all of you.” She gave a brief bow after saying that.

“What’s wrong?” I spoke up, placing a hand gently on her arm to comfort her. An action that earned a small, appreciative smile.

“It was… a number of things. The damaging of Lyra’s soul, the kidnappings, and the forced transformations… they brought up some rather unpleasant memories from some of my previous incarnations. I suppose I allowed those emotions to get to my head a bit.”

“Oh, no, it’s fine.” Terra shook her head hastily, trying her best to reassure Irena. “The scenario was generated by the system, so I couldn’t modify things outside of what had been set. I really didn’t mean to trouble you like that.”

Irena, however, just let out a hollow chuckle. “I suppose this means that the date is over?” She asked, looking towards me.

Yet, I shook my head, reaching down to grab her hand. “It doesn’t have to be, right?”