159 (IV)

Greviance [II]

Initially, even with his pillar of Orichalcum piercing the ship, it continued dragging him along. But as it grew more solid, and as Shiv refused to move, the topside of the cathedral began to rip open around it. The ship ground more of itself apart against Shiv, but soon came to an utter halt. A loud electronic cry sounded through the air, followed by klaxons and sirens.

Shiv was where one of the cathedral ship’s larger arches used to be. Now it was mostly a deformed gorge, with hissing steam and leaking hydraulics spilling into the air. But staring along the back of the ship, he could see a series of ports where it fired its missiles from earlier, and each port unleashed a pulse of mana. A few Shiv could recognize: Hydromancy, Pyromancy, and, to his surprise, Biomancy, though that one was the weakest, Adept at most.

“All hands,” the ship bellowed. “We have been boarded. There are enemies in the air. There are intruders on the hull. Prepare for cleansing protocols.” And then came a burst of static, followed by a loud shrieking noise.

“Can Hu! Bonk! Out! Now!” Shiv called out.

The first one out was the orc, slamming his weapon against the top side of the ship. The entire structure began to rattle and shake violently, and he kept his attacks up. With every impact, the resonance built, and the ship began to tear asunder even more. Can Hu, meanwhile, emerged from inside Shiv. But to his surprise, the Penitent didn’t simply emerge by itself.

Instead, a large ball with a series of extended metal flaps jutting out behind it hovered in the air, and from behind a panel of glass, the Penitent piloted a vessel of its own making. At the same time, it channeled streams of physically visible binary from its green optics, and they spilled through the cathedral ship, spreading as if a plague. Soon, the entire expanse of the cathedral ship was drowned in ones and zeros, the numerals sinking deeper, growing brighter and more frequent, until the vessel was utterly bathed.

“Un-un-unable to comply,” the cathedral ship cried out.

“That’s okay, let me help you,” Bonk shouted in response. As the huge orc struck the ship once more, its outsides cracked, and one of its engines exploded before tearing off the rest of the structure. The resonating vibrations were hitting new heights, and the ship wouldn’t be able to take much more of this. And so Bonk stopped hitting the ship, and instead waited. He waited and watched as the hull beneath Shiv’s Pillar of Orichalcum finally split apart, and just then the insides of the ship depressurized. People were sucked out in an instant, but with Shiv’s Pillar of Orichalcum lodged against the ship’s exterior, they were dragged out along the cracks, and they emerged as streams of spraying gore.

Pillar of Orichalcum 213 > 214

Bonk laughed as he drove his club between the gaps and started to lever violently. More of the cathedral ship’s hull broke apart, and a second later Bonk jumped down, dropping inside the ship. Shiv cast himself back in time, skipping the hull weakening process, and then accelerated into the open wound as well.

He slammed down next to Bonk just as Can Hu arrived, and even with the Pillar of Orichalcum dismissed, the cathedral ship didn’t move.

“Can Hu, how’s it going?” Shiv asked. “You got this?”

“This machine is suppressed, but not subdued,” Can Hu replied. “It is trying to fight me for control over its sensors, engines, and core.”

“Can you take control of it?” Shiv asked. He looked around, and he was pretty sure they were inside crew quarters. Several bunk beds lay in shambles nearby. A mess of armor and weapons were scattered on the ground, and messy splatters of offal painted the walls. He felt somewhat sympathetic for the inquisitors here. Whatever his animosity toward them, this was an ugly way to go.

“I will be able to attain full control over its sensory mechanisms in the next minute. Full subversion will likely take time.” Can Hu paused as a brief series of beeps sounded from inside his flying apparatus. “Ten minutes and thirty-four seconds.”

“Hear that, Insul?” The orc chuckled. “Ten minutes and thirty-four seconds. No time at all in a day, but an eternity in a fight. Now, let’s go buy the Penitent some time.”

“I will remain here in this compartment,” Can Hu said. “My current armor should be capable of contending with or at least delaying a High Adept-Tier adversary in combat. I will direct the other orcs through this gap once they arrive.”

Shiv gave Can Hu a nod. “Alright, stay safe, don’t get killed, and if things go south, get out.”

“Understood, Pathbearer. May you experience many violent deaths.”

Shiv grinned and gave Can Hu a thumbs up. As he strode toward the door, he found a wheel lodged to its center rather than any handle. He realized this was more like a vault door than anything else, and he rolled his arms, preparing to use his gravitic field to rip it free.

“No, no,” Bonk said, stopping him with an outstretched hand. “We don’t want to compromise the internal structure anymore. It’s already very unstable.” Just then, the Orc placed a palm on Shiv’s chest. The Deathless blinked, but then the Orc started vibrating, and so did Shiv. Before he could ask Bonk what he was doing, Bonk took a step toward the door and then started phasing through it.

Shiv’s eyes widened, and Bonk tightened his grip on Shiv’s torso. With a pull, both of them were through, and Shiv slipped past solid matter in an instant. He couldn’t breathe. Everything felt tight around him, like the air was heavy. Shiv wasn’t particularly claustrophobic, but even so, the sensation wasn’t what he called pleasing.

They were inside a narrow set of corridors now, and Shiv noticed a spider-like automaton crawling along the walls. Its single, glowing eye noticed them, and it reared back, preparing to act, only for a bone drill to shoot out from Shiv’s cape and punch clean through its head.

Marksmanship 13 > 14

As it crashed down, sparks flew out from its open wound, and Shiv waited for more enemies to arrive. But when none did, he let out a breath and looked at Bonk. “What the hells was that?”

“A Master-Tier skill,” Bonk answered, grinning.

“And what kind?” Shiv asked.

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Bonk pressed his lips together. The Deathless shook his head and snorted. “Fine, keep your secrets, I’ll beat ’em out of you one day.”

“One day soon,” the orc replied. “We haven’t gotten the chance to properly spar, have we?”

“Get to that after I reach Legendary-Tier.”

“Huh, taking advantage of my kindness.” But then the orc laughed. “Finally, what a very orc-like thing for you to do.”

Shiv ignored him, and they continued down the halls. As they came to a splitting path, Bonk tapped Shiv on the shoulder and gestured for him to follow.

The Deathless blinked at the orc. “How do you know where to go?”

“Because the entire place is vibrating,” Bonk said, “and that means I have a very clear spatial visual map of every quarter and every person within this vessel.” And slowly he turned into one direction in particular. “Including the City Lord you want to talk to.”

And just then, Bonk swung out his club and utterly obliterated an invisible Pathbearer right beside them that Shiv hadn’t even noticed. A splash of red painted the walls, and a mangled bag of meat, clad within a compromised suit of armor, impacted the far wall.

“Let’s keep going,” Bonk said, ignoring the man he’d just killed.

They descended through the insides of the ship, but with every passing second, screams sounded from the bulkheads, from within rooms. Screams and orcish laughter. How the other orcs were infiltrating the ship, Shiv didn’t know, but there were many skills available to a Pathbearer, and if they were like Bonk in any way, they might just be able to phase into the ship, rather than ripping it asunder, a la Shiv.

The Deathless frowned slightly to himself as he crushed the head of an opponent who suddenly shot in through a hallway to the right. Adam had compared him to the orcs several times, stating that he was brutal and rough like them, but increasingly, Shiv didn’t quite think so. He was more brutal than the orcs; he was rawer than the orcs.

The orcs were only brutal because they found it to be amusing. Shiv was brutal because he had no other options.

When this is done and I have a Legendary skill, I’m going to tell the System to go fuck itself, and I’m going to spend some actual time getting all my schooling and supplementary skills improved. This is bullshit. I don’t want to be sloppier than an orc.

After a few minutes of on and off fighting, they arrived before a large set of doors.

“Alright,” Bonk said, beginning to vibrate again. “Time for us to…”

And then the light above the door flashed green as it suddenly came open. Just then, a crackle sounded through the halls. “Pathbearer Shiv, Bonk, I am within. I have penetrated the ship’s communication network. In another minute, I will have full control. I am granting you access to the missile loading bay now.”

“Damn. Good job, Can Hu,” Shiv replied. The Penitent was getting stronger, and Shiv loved to see it, especially since he was one of the reasons for Can Hu’s recovery.

As soon as they entered the room, Bonk held out a hand, and Shiv halted behind him. The orc leaned in close and pointed down the large chamber before them. A series of shifting belts moved in the air along the ceiling, and they carried with them large, tube-like arrows enchanted with magic.

They were being loaded into long cylinders by a mess of metallic hands. In the background, large gears spun, and steam filled the room with a misty ambiance. “Four rows of cylinders down, third run horizontal. Our friend is inside one of those alone. I think he’s trying to launch himself out and flee.” The orc laughed. “How delightful.”

Shiv did a double-take. “The… City Lord’s hiding inside one of the cylinders?”

Bonk said with a slight chuckle, “He ran inside earlier. I think he was shouting something about firing himself out. He used quite a bit of profanity.”

Shiv stared at the orc. “You could hear all that?”

“More like feel the vibrations, but yes.”

“Why does everyone have a better Awareness skill than I do?”

“Because you should learn to use more than your eyes.”

“I did,” Shiv grumbled.

“Without your enchantments.”

The Deathless ground his teeth. “Alright,” he said, “I’m going to go say hi to the City Lord.”

The orc shouldered his club and stared at Shiv with one eye. “Alone?”

“Yeah,” Shiv said as he prepared to shift out of context. “This way, he won’t see me coming. And also, if shit goes wrong, hit the bastard over the back of the head.”

And then he did something Bonk couldn’t do. He vanished into his Vitae and stopped time.

He rushed to the cylinder Bonk indicated, and he reached up, ripping it open with a snarl. Inside, he indeed found the City Lord. The man was fully armored, and bolts of arcing electricity danced along the copper wiring lining the exterior of Stormhalt’s plates. Shiv scoffed in disgust. “Running and leaving your forces to fend for themselves. Don’t you feel pathetic?” He struck the City Lord in the gut once, and a detonation of white and red spread through the missile loading bay.

A loud grunt sounded from Stormhalt as time resumed, and he tumbled over, coughing violently, and Shiv caught him by the throat. He lifted the man up and ripped his helmet from his face. Lightning spilled out from the City Lord’s eyes as his expression twisted in a fierce scowl. Before he could unleash any of his Aeromancy, Shiv briefly slapped him across the left ear.

The man let out a shout and stumbled. Shiv wrapped his Aegis of Assimilation around the man and began to squeeze against his Magical Resistance. His armor flared with radiant mana, but slowly, it began to crack.

“Pretty good resistances,” Shiv grunted. “Hells, pretty good armor in general, I didn’t even manage to dent it. What is that, Heroic?”

The City-Lord muttered something under his breath. Shib frowned. “What was that? Couldn’t quite catch that.”

Stormhalt coughed a few more times, but slowly he straightened himself. Shiv kept his Biomancy tied around the City Lord’s body, and he kept the man’s throat in a lock as well.

“I said,” the City Lord wheezed, “Lady Kathereine, the Songbringer, I invoke your power.”

“Huh?” Shiv said, not fully understanding Havel’s words.

An airy whisper danced across Shiv’s ears, and he heard a lyrical, soft, and ultimately alluring female voice come from behind him thereafter.

“And you have my promised aid, oh Stormhalt. Mine, and my husband’s as well.”

And just then, Stormhalt sneered at Shiv. At the same time, his Psycho-Cartography skill screamed in terror, demanding that he cover the City Lord’s mouth. But before he could so much as move a muscle, a thunderous presence settled beside Shiv. Slowly, the Deathless chanced to glance to his right, where he found a towering, glowing figure in the shape of a man looming over him.

He looked faint and ethereal, yet his presence was undeniable. His flowing mane and beard were composed of twisting storms, and his eyes flashed with bolts of rageful lightning. His powerful body was shrouded in a dense robe of stormstuff, and in his right arm was a spear, while in the left was a shield made from slabs of stone.

Draped around the giant’s back was a feminine figure. Shiv could only see half her face, but her features were among the most beautiful he’d ever witnessed. Her hair was well-styled, curled at the ends, and her lips were red, while her skin was white as snow.

Just then, the City Lord clamped his hand around Shiv’s wrist, and he began to pull. Shiv felt his grasp be wrenched open, and then a blast of lightning struck him in the chest. The Deathless was blasted against and through a missile cylinder just behind him, and before he hit the room’s wall, the City Lord’s fingers were wrapped around his throat.

A billowing cape of storms expanded from Stormhalt’s back. The lightning rippling off him grew denser and darker—far more than meager Aeromancy—and Shiv felt stray bolts tear through his flesh.

“I wasn’t trying to escape,” the City Lord said calmly, with only a hint of an annoyed snarl behind his lips as quaking thunder underlined each of his syllables. “I was trying to fire myself into battle, and to carry my gods into the fray. I am no coward, you damned foolish child. I am an Avatar of the Ascendants, and on this day, I have come for one reason, and one reason alone: to break Roland Arrow and take back what he has stolen.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep