'Leo!' Nyx called out the moment she joined his side. 'I thought London was in that direction,' she pointed with her tail to the left. 'What's going on? You didn't tell me about any change in plans.'
The feline had the right to worry as Leo changed his path almost as soon as Eden was out of sight. He hadn’t planned any detours before, but as he was wondering about all the stuff he was leaving behind, a certain thought occurred to him.
He forgot about the Void Gate, which was quite sad and concerning. After all, it was a monument that could bring over things from the Void or other planets in this universe. If that wasn’t a good reason to delay his journey to London by a few minutes, he didn’t know what was.
'Leo? I could use an explanation right about now. We're wasting daylight,' Nyx grumbled over their connection as they sped past the same neighborhood where he had the memorable encounter with the mad woman.
Good times... To think it was barely two weeks ago...
He shook his head; this was no time for reminiscing. "Don't worry. I just need to check on something. Won't even take an hour. It's close."
Feeling the feline's question coming, Leo quickly sent an image, or rather a short memory, over their link. Nyx's query died before it could come, and he smirked lightly.
'Oh,' she tsked. 'I see why you would want to check it. It's been a while.'
Yeah...
Without another word shared between them, the duo left the ruined neighborhood behind and stepped onto the old farmlands. While before the Second Cataclysm, those fields were empty, now all kinds of small flora filled the space. Red, purple, and black represented the majority of colors, though here and there, other hues also slipped in, making the sight even more exotic.
Some of the plants were even Identify-able, but just like with Bloody Vein, they didn't seem useful to someone like him. Maybe in the future, once other survivors gained more experience in their jobs, collecting items like that could be worth the time.
Not that Leo had much of it to ponder about that. Soon, they crossed the nearby road and passed by the remnants of the gas station where he had obtained his first Install item. With all that behind them, it didn't even take a minute for their new destination to appear in their sight.
A true Void Gate. Not those little things inside a nest...
The giant monument didn't move an inch from its old position. Its black-as-night material still consumed most of the light around it. Only the dark violet veins flowing through the gate, stopped it from being overcome by darkness.
Yet, upon closer look, Leo quickly discovered this wasn't the case any longer. Somehow, despite the gate not being active, a tiny amalgamation of swirling energy formed in the middle of the construct. It gleamed with the Void's usual colors, lightly illuminating the area.
"This can't be good," he muttered, pausing a step before the gate's platform. "There should still be over two weeks left."
'Yes... should...'
Planetary Gateway of the Void:
Or simply called a Void Gate by the population of the Void and survivors. Planetary Gateways are used to travel between the planets of the same Universe. In contrast, Dimensional Gateways can be used to journey into one of the almost infinite dimensions inside the Void.
During every Outbreak, hundreds of Gateways grow on every planet. They are made out of living material from the Void and cannot be destroyed by anything weaker than an A-ranked User. Upon destruction, a Gateway will attempt to grow back in another place.
Current Status:
This Gateway is still charging and will not activate for another 9 days, 16 hours, and 2 minutes.
"Either I'm missing a few days of my life, or this countdown somehow sped up," Leo frowned, using Identify again to ensure it didn't make a mistake. "Honestly, I have no idea which option is more disturbing..."
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'I think both are as bad,' Nyx mused, her tails poking the dark platform. 'Although, this time, the Second Cataclysm might be responsible. The whole planet changed back then, so why not the gates?'
"True," he sighed, dismissing the description. "Still, this is bad, very bad. People are barely handling the Voidlings as it is. We don't need more from outer space and different dimensions... Fuck, and that's without even considering all the other shit that might come out from those gates."
'Timeframes might not be the same for every Void Gate, Leo,' the feline tried to placate, nudging him with her muzzle. 'We just need to find another one to confirm that. There's no need to panic over this. Not like we can do much here.'
Leo perked up at that, his eyes narrowing as they took in the gate. Even if it didn't work last time, he was stronger now. Much stronger.
'Leo, please no.'
He rolled his eyes, stepping on the platform. "Who is panicking now? Calm down, I'm just gonna check. If anything happens, pull me out."
Nyx growled as she followed him. 'Sometimes I really hate you.'
"No, you don't. Now, focus," Leo ordered, placing his hand a bit away from the gate's pillar. "Okay... Last time, it almost overwhelmed me within a second. Let's see if anything has changed."
With a single move, his hand touched the gate's surface, the wild, powerful Essence within instantly surging out. However, unlike the last time, it didn't try to force itself into his body. Instead, it started to pull, trying to drain him dry before he could do anything.
No thank you. He scoffed, snapping his hand away as, at the same time, Nyx's tails dragged him away. "I'm fine. It barely took anything."
'Are you sure? Even I felt that.'
"Yeah, all's good," Leo patted Nyx's head. "But you're right, that was something else. Devour is nothing next to what the gate can do. Hell, Ruthless Efficiency almost activated the moment I touched this bloody thing."
'I told you it was a bad idea.'
He withheld the urge to sigh again. As much as he appreciated Nyx's concern, sometimes she worried too much. They had everything under control, and thanks to his little test, they gained some valuable info.
"Let's agree to disagree," he shrugged and stepped off the platform. "Come on. I got what I wanted."
The feline nodded, and they bounded toward a new destination. Yet, even as he ran, Leo couldn’t stop thinking that he was still forgetting about something.
Hopefully, he would remember before it was too late.
----------------------------------------
A good hour had passed ever since they stepped on the road leading straight to the capital of the UK. Like any other place on the current Earth, the path was far from perfect. Vetilim and the surrounding flora already claimed part of the asphalt while destroyed cars and some Voidlings tried to block anyone from passing.
Despite the monsters' surprisingly high levels, they didn't stand a chance against creatures much stronger than them. Not that Leo and Nyx even tried to fight them. For the most part, they just used shadow arrows or spears to kill as many as possible when they passed by.
Not each part of the journey was that dull though.
Already, they had spotted a few new beasts. One of them was a Steelhorn Stag Leo had the pleasure of meeting during the first days of the Outbreak. The mutated deer only spared them a glance before escaping into the forest as if a devil was on its heels.
Another new Voidling they had encountered was an evolved version of a Seeker, called Spitfire. The beast wasn't much different from its predecessor. Sure, it grew to be almost twice as large as before, and its tail now possessed a blade at the tip, but apart from that, only one other thing changed.
Its offensive capabilities manifested in a jet of Essence that Spitfires could shoot from their tail. The small projectiles barely made small holes in the asphalt, but at least they could travel quite far. This was the only reason why those Voidlings survived against Leo and Nyx.
They just couldn't hit them, and their shadow constructs faded into nothingness before reaching the target. As such, they let the Spitfires live and went onward, which brought them to this moment.
Not gonna lie; I didn't expect to find something like this in the middle of nowhere. Leo snorted as he and Nyx hid behind one of the broken cars, observing the road ahead.
'Me too...'
Wargon (Voidling) | Rank: E- | LVL: 18 | Type: Surface, Might, Ground, Armor
After Cursed Juggernaut, this was probably the largest Voidling he had seen outside of Nests. The giant boar matched the size of the biggest hippos before the Outbreak. And if that wasn't enough, the beast's furless skin was covered in spikes and armor plates made of stone. Truly, just as its name implied, the creature was made for war.
I just wish it was level twenty... Leo grumbled, his gaze darting to the dozen or so Duskboars that feasted on the Voidlings killed by the Wargon.
'We can still kill it. It's free experien...' Nyx tried to reason, only to be cut off when a series of shouts and gunshots came from afar.
Looking at the feline, he quirked an eyebrow. Maybe later. I want to check that out.
She huffed. 'No detours, my ass.'