September 11th, 626

Since the Fire Stabilizer was gone and the room we investigated was empty of all valuable material short of the report, we decided to camp out within and give ourselves a day of rest. Lord knows I needed it.

The next morning we left the room, fought off some Shades that had filled the void we left from our slaughter, and retreated from the village. We couldn’t extract any of those Fire Crystals but it wasn’t like they hadn’t been here for several decades. They could wait a bit longer.

On our Vipercraft we followed our map toward the northern mountains of the island. They were supposedly snowcapped, and while I believed that was true, we obviously had to take the historical scans with a grain of salt. The scans hadn’t shown the massive hole in the center of the village, nor did it pick up on all the fire mana it constantly radiated. That was a major issue that I’d have to rectify, first by finding out what was causing the discrepancy.

For now, we needed more intel. While I wasn’t planning on finding much in the way of data, just knowing what the northern site did would confirm my suspicions about a few things. After that we could move into the city with better knowledge of what we were getting ourselves into.

Within the day we were able to cross some dead plains and arrive near the bottom of the mountains. They were definitely snowy, rapidly shifting from temperate weather to frigid cold. However, that was far from the only thing we noticed.

When I looked up, I could see a singular, monolithic mountain piercing into the sky, far beyond the rest of the average mountain range. That was definitely not shown on the scans.

On top of that, I noticed gravity increase as we moved closer to that mountain. Our Vipercraft were especially affected, sinking toward the ground and beginning to drag along the dirt and stone.

I gave the command to simply get as close as possible while mounted before speaking to Umara.

“Is that spatial magic, Umara?”

“Negative. It’s definitely Earth magic. Gurns actually had a training device that could increase the gravity like this, but even that used Air Mana. I’m curious as to how this works…”

“Hm.”

I frowned, looking up more and gradually seeing the fog around us get denser as we ascended.

I was surprised when I started seeing trees growing diagonally instead of vertically, perpendicular with the ground as it curved upward with the mountain. The gravity continued to get heavier, but it also started to shift.

After getting high enough and feeling my Vipercraft pushing itself to the limit, I gave the order.

“Let’s disembark.”

I came to a stop, jumping off and whisking the Vipercraft back into storage. Umara muttered.

“The gravity seemed to be messing with the Vipercraft. It’s driving out the Air Mana it functions on, messing with the enchantments.”

“Our enchantment insulation should be preventing that.”

“Well, it’s not. Seems to be penetrating it.”

“Hm. More tech to fix.”

I sighed, everyone now on foot. I had more than enough Vigor temperings to resist the gravity like normal. The Vipercraft should’ve had more than enough strength as well, but obviously our enchantment tech still had a ways to go.

That’s when I looked back. Under normal circumstances, we would be leaning against the slope of the mountain, on an incline since we were getting higher up. But I was standing perfectly straight, feet rooted to the ground.

We were nearly parallel with the ground far below, standing sideways on the mountain’s side. The gravity was actually pulling us toward the mountain instead of toward the ground. I had to look up a bit to see the ground of the island in the distance.

We had also dove deeper into the fog. I wasn’t sure how it got thicker instead of sparser this high up the mountain, but it was making me uneasy.

All around us were trees that would only get denser as we ascended. I waved, everyone beginning to march, the entrance to the next Stabilizer a handful of miles away.

My uneasy feeling grew, but I refrained from deploying my Mind Palace. Umara had demanded such, told me that she, as well as those like Tana, Kwon, Song, and Aki could handle themselves, and only in the worst case should I be protecting everyone else.

Basically, she told me that they wouldn’t be able to learn to cope with it if I protected them all the time. I agreed, but the paranoia that those Shades filled me with was difficult to disregard.

After crossing a couple miles, the forest grew dense but lifeless. Fog filled the area, inhibiting our sight and preventing me from seeing beyond a hundred meters. We were all clustered relatively close together, much closer than my doctrine would dictate was advisable.

But nobody wanted to get separated. I could taste everyone’s fear, including my own. My heart rate was sitting at a hundred and climbing with every step.

“Fuck this shit…”

Blackblood cursed, shaking his head and spinning around, as if begging for an enemy to fight. There was absolutely nothing around us and yet it felt like death itself was watching us.

We weren’t alone. All of us could feel it.

But it was completely silent. We could hear nothing aside from the faint disturbance in the wind we caused when we moved.

“SOMEE!!”

We all snapped around when we heard the blood curdling scream. Better judgment barely prevented me from dumping a volley of lead on whatever made that sound.

We were all frozen, ready for battle, waiting for anything to happen.

And it was when we just barely started to calm down that we heard another scream.

“AAAHHHH!!!”

I spun around while feeling the spine tingling sensation of something about to slice open my throat. My eyes found nothing there, my right hand keeping my gun trained while my left felt my neck. It felt like blood was dripping yet my fingers found nothing but my armor.

My instincts were screaming at me to get out of the forest, that I shouldn’t be here. It felt like there were eyes behind every tree, felt like there were thousands of monsters trained on us, just waiting to slaughter us.

“John!!”

“What?!”

I spun again, turning to Umara. She spun around to me, the two of us looking at each other. On her face spelled confusion.

“John?”

“…You screamed.”

“I didn’t.”

“…Let’s just keep moving.”

We started walking, and then jogging as we started hearing sounds coming from beyond our vision. Some screamed at us, some were laughing, some were merely soft footsteps or the occasional rustle of leaves.

Adrenaline was pumping through my body, the gravity suddenly feeling a lot worse even though it hardly grew beyond what we initially felt ascending the mountain. I started getting tired, my eyes darting around at every single tree we passed, seeing glowing pairs of eyes for a split second before they sank back into hiding.

My finger hovered over my trigger. I was ready to let off a round at the first thing that stepped toward us and yet those things never came.

They were just watching us. Waiting for an opportunity.

After what felt like an eternity of jogging, we finally found the entrance to whatever was in these mountains. It was a heavy set of metal doors that led to a tunnel going underground, both doors pried open and ruined from an attack long ago.

“Go through!”

I shouted, Feiden leading his squad through first. I followed them, Umara’s squad taking up the rear.

We entered the tunnel which winded down hundreds of feet before opening into a large room. There were several other doors leading to other places, all of them broken down. Umara armed several traps at the exit behind us as we spread through.

Many of us had labored breathing, myself included. I almost started sweating despite my coat doing everything it could to cool my body off.

I moved over to a wall and leaned against it. It felt like I had been awake for three days straight, that sense of paranoia still stabbing through my brain like a needle.

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Umara walked over. I heard each of her footsteps all too clearly.

“So we’re resting here, I’m guessing?”

“Yeah. Take your squad and search the rooms. Clear everything before we get comfortable. If you find anything interesting, let me know.”

“Mm.”

She nodded and mustered the others, taking her squad through one of the doorways. I pulled myself off the wall and moved with Feiden’s squad.

Several of the rooms seemed to be labs, with metal walls and tables covered in destroyed devices, while others were living and sustainment areas. There were human and Scourge corpses in most places.

We quickly found Shades among them, taking them out as soon as we saw them since all of us were on a hair trigger.

We cleared room after room, but after following what looked like an important series of signs and heavy but destroyed doors, we found ourselves inside a large observation room.

The subject that we found beyond a large glass wall in that room was a huge cavity in the earth, inside of which was a singular massive Earth Mana Crystal.

The cavity was connected to another tunnel, which traveled, like the one at the village, in the direction of the city.

I looked to the side when Umara’s squad came into the room, the avenue they chose also connected to this room. Everyone had their eyes glued to the Crystal, though my eyes still flickered back to the entrances. This place was dark, and though not as bad as the forest outside, it wasn’t safe either.

I disregarded the console, turning to the others.

“We need to completely secure this place. Umara, Tana, Aki, and Katta, you’re with me. The rest of you, stay in this observation room and set up camp. It’s big enough and we’re all tired.”

“Thank God…”

Shadowbane sighed and sat down on a nearby chair behind a broken metal table.

The others came with me as I left to map out and secure the rest of the facility. We went through every single room there was, a full map of the place in my head before long and every Shade we came across killed.

Umara also placed motion and magic sensors in every single room. Like the Vipercraft, the enchantments were dampened and suppressed, but they worked just enough to give us bare minimum data. If anything disturbed it noticeably, our Aerials would get notified.

Unfortunately, everything else was suppressed as well. Weapons, gear, even our spatial rings. Thankfully those were more than powerful enough to continue operation, but other things were moving mana with diminished effect.

After getting back to the observation room, we settled with the others. There was a full alarm field filling the room, tracking everything that went in and out. Overly cautious under normal circumstances but we were well past the point of scrutinizing excess paranoia.

I got my tent set up for Umara and I, food already being prepared. I tried to take a seat near one of the consoles and start working on it, but I kept looking over my shoulder at the entrances.

I was still being watched.

I shook my head. I did everything to disregard it. Even after deploying my Mind Palace and locking myself within, I felt only minimally safer.

From my internal command center I looked beyond the walls, seeing dense fog and darkness. It was enveloping me, going so far as to breach the walls and seep through the fortress itself.

The darkness was encroaching on my mind. I frowned and tried to drive it out with my Psyka, with anything that could affect it, but it was like pointing a box fan at a duststorm.

I searched my Mind Palace and found the darkness and fog everywhere. In every room, from the command center itself to the fabrication plant to the data center. It didn’t feel like it was doing anything. Just lingering, simply letting me know that I wasn’t safe.

Food was finished, and we all ate before Umara set up watch, letting others retire.

I sat near the console, telling myself to start working and distract myself as well as figure out a way to get the shit out of my Mind Palace.

“John?”

“What?”

My head snapped around when I heard the voice. I could still feel the stinging in my brain, my sense of danger dialed to eleven, yet my body already figuring out how to cope with it.

Umara looked at me worriedly. She sat down in another chair beside me.

“You don’t look so good.”

“I’m handling it.”

“I didn’t say you weren’t. But I’m thinking you should get some sleep. The others knocked out as soon as they climbed into their tents. This stuff is taking its toll, and I know you’re paying the highest one.”

I didn’t respond, still checking the entrances for whatever was still watching me.

It was waiting for me to lower my guard. It knew when I would be most vulnerable.

“John, you can’t even look at me.”

Umara pulled my chin, my head jerking back as my gaze was taken away from the doorway.

I stood and raised my rifle, checking the doorways in case anything moved in with that split second gap.

I didn’t see anything but who knew if it had snuck in.

“Don’t do that Umara.”

“…John, something’s going on.”

“Yeah, we’ve crossed the threshold of fucking hell. This place doesn’t want us here.”

“That’s obvious, but…”

She narrowed her eyes, looking around as I kept watch. After backing up a few steps for a better view, I hit the console.

“…Take out Totenstahl.”

“Not optimal for this environment.”

“Just do it, John. I can handle anything that will jump at you while you swap weapons. Or have you lost that much trust for me?”

I glanced at her for a split second before returning my gaze to the entrances, sending away the Honey Badger and taking out Totenstahl.

The machine gun appeared in my hands, the feed chute going over my shoulder to the pack that dropped on my back. I barely registered that the entire barrel of the gun was dripping molten metal and overflowing with hatred before I felt a searing pain in my mind.

“Motherfucker! Can I stop getting stabbed in the FUCKING BRAIN!”

I sent Totenstahl back to the armory of my Mind Palace, feeling the hot knife that was its hatred disappearing.

My breath shuddered as things went back to normal, the pain disappearing. Umara just stood there, but I couldn’t spare the time to glance at her.

I had to make sure nothing had gotten in while I was distracted.

“Umara.”

I heard a voice, my eyes snapping over to see Kwon and Song standing a distance away. They were calling Umara.

“Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“…Sure.”

She looked at me one more time before walking over to them. I frowned, thinking that she had no reason to speak to them in this situation. They should be sleeping. They should all be sleeping. The sooner they went to sleep, the sooner I could go and kill whatever was stalking me.

Umara left, and I watched, waiting.

I wouldn’t allow myself to be one sidedly hunted.

……

…

Umara cautiously left John’s side, approaching Kwon, who looked like he was watching John carefully.

“Can you create a sound field?”

“Sure.”

Umara readily agreed, isolating their conversation with some light magic. Since they didn’t have telepathy and couldn’t speak over comms since John could hear everything, they would have to resort to this.

Kwon nodded and spoke.

“In the latest phase of the war when the Mantle was all but assuredly destroyed, we would return to ruined and destroyed cities to extract precious items. It was during those missions that we learned to fight Shades, but well before then we had learned to resist the darkness of Despair. Laying eyes upon that horrible monster could only be done once, and it would either kill you or make you stronger.”

“Right. We did the same with Anarchy.”

“Indeed. We could sense that in you. But there’s a reason the Mantle fell so readily. Although Summoners are the greatest weapon against the forces of Despair, if they have so much as a single crack in their armor, a momentary gap in their psyche, the darkness will take advantage. That’s why the vast majority of them fell to the darkness. Song and I frequently fought against armies of corrupted summoners. We’ve known summoners, friends and allies, that had their minds infiltrated and turned against them. Their vast intelligence, the complexity of their psyches, were turned against them.”

Kwon turned back to John, Umara following his gaze.

“And the descent into madness looked a lot like that.”

“Are you saying that they’ve gotten into John’s mind?”

“Yes. John Cooper practices an incredible Call. Even as he is now he’s one of the most powerful summoners we’ve ever seen. But they’ve set their sights on him. You’ve noticed too, how you’re no longer afraid of the darkness.”

“…I suppose.”

She nodded, watching John’s eyes scan every dark corner for an enemy that wasn’t there. She couldn’t feel the extreme sense of danger anymore. It had faded over time after their discovery at the village. She barely noticed its absence. She was feeling relatively normal, if not a bit on edge.

“But who is ‘they’?”

“The darkness. The fog. We’ve only seen it twice in our lives. We weren’t sure what it was at first either. But if our guess is correct, it could be the collective magic of every Shrike in the area. We just didn’t think we’d see them here.”

“And why didn’t you tell us about these Shrikes before?”

“Because they’re only supposed to travel with Death Shrines, and those things aren’t supposed to be here. But since there is one, John is going to be far more susceptible. His body is trying to fight it, which is why he’s feeling so much fear, but if he doesn’t leave or if we don’t kill the Death Shrine, he’s going to break.”

“Trust me, he won’t break that easily. But you need to tell me what both of those things are first, so we can get out there and kill them.”

“…”

Kwon was silent, turning away from Umara and staring at where John was.

Umara was confused by his silence until she, too, turned.

Finding nothing but an empty chair.

“…When did he leave?”

“How did he escape my senses…”

“Everybody get the fuck up!”

Umara yelled, waking everyone with a rush of Aura. They all scrambled out of their tents, a shockwave suddenly tearing through the building.

Umara looked up. Despite them being underground, she could feel the Psyka billowing off John.

She grit her teeth.

“Gear up and get the fuck outside! We’ve got a new enemy! You two, with me!”

Umara pointed at Kwon and Song before surfing out on the wind, slamming through ruined doors and rushing up the entrance.

Before long she reached the outdoors, freezing at the sight all around her.

It was a sea of fire and Psyka, the dense forest around her screaming in pain as tens of thousands of Psykic runes and formations bloomed around the man in the depths of it all.

John, surrounded by the fire, held a creature in his hands. It was slightly humanoid, with four long and skinny limbs that bent the wrong way and stained red fingers. John held its neck as it thrashed against him, too weak to hurt him.

It screamed and cried, reminiscent of what they had heard while running through the forest. Its head was nothing more than a mouth and an open skull, exposing a brain pulsing with a shell of poisonous Psyka.

John activated the SEER Knife in his other hand, dripping with energized Psyka, and slowly pushed it into the brain of the creature. It screamed so loud that despite muting the sound, Umara could hear it in her mind. It was pure pain and agony, Umara swearing she could feel some of it.

She reinforced herself with Mana before the screams suddenly went quiet. She looked up, the creature in John’s grasp limp, not a single wound marring its body. It’s mind directly snuffed out.

John turned to face the burning forest, a wall of darkness flush against the fire trying to protect whatever was in the depths. In his hands appeared another flamethrower.

Umara could hear the sadistic glee in his voice, his gaze aimed at something she couldn’t see.

“I’ve found you.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep