As the quest leader, Sakura received a pack to make their lives easier. It contained a map, rations, magical torches, unnaturally light rope, and several other devices. The most useful among them were six little clips that attached to the top of everyone’s ear. They fit snugly behind the earlobe. They were communication devices and made swift communication possible and easy. Nil and his companions considered them a luxury in the low-tech setting. Brief experimentation proved that the base function allowed the party to speak to everyone at once or to a person individually. Merchant helped them figure out how to go about the task.

When Selia went ahead on her own, Nil didn’t worry as much. She switched between warning the group of obstacles and observations and a whispered conversation with him. Her little jokes and double entendres kept the mood light and the arduous hike from getting boring.

A tight formation ensured that Sakura could turn around and see all of their wards and the cargo in a single glance. Nil walked shoulder to shoulder with her even though the idea of scouting with Selia appealed to him more. He wasn’t in charge and trusted Sakura’s judgment. She had proven her sound judgment before. Given the gravity of the situation, breaking the chain of command could potentially have dire consequences.

Farah followed close behind the pair, walking and talking with the man everybody called Merchant. She seemed knowledgeable about the Control World caravans and their preferred methods.

“Articles of powerful magic are already too volatile to transport safely,” she had explained to them while they waited for Merchant’s people to get ready. “Spell scrolls, wizardry manuals, powerful spirit beast eggs, and a good deal of artificed goods are the worst of the bunch. All arcane objects have a magical field, you see. It's like they have their own electromagnetic waves. Teleportation and portal magic overload the fields. They interfere with each other before everything goes boom, or the transported objects get shot through the multiverse and are forever lost.

“The only solution is to use the waygates between realms. They’re a pain to find and you have to physically transport shit between them. The Scourge takes advantage of this opening to try to damage the Control Worlds or steal their goodies.”

“Where did the waygates come from?” Nil asked her.

The woman shrugged. “Something about the druids, them being builders and the ones who brought magic to mortals. I don’t know. It's a bunch of hearsay, anecdotal accounts, and whatnot. The Control Worlds aren’t too keen on giving out their secrets to our kind.”

Since Carmen lacked much in the form of combat spells, she moved with Merchant’s employees. The group contained a mixture of men and women. Only a couple of them carried the prized pack. The rest were support staff who had survived the crash. Some had weapons, while the rest looked too young, old, or unfit to use them. According to Merchant, they were mostly other tradesmen or artisans and their families traveling with the envoy.

Finally, Bjorn brought up the rear. Sakura believed in his power to stand his ground and stand up to anything that might sneak up on them. The man had already proven his substantial strength by barreling through a collapse along the path. Once everyone passed through it, Nil did his best to create another blockade. After Sakura briefed them, Selia explored the path Merchant, and his people had troubled before pushing ahead. She saw Cursed Ones, twisted dog beasts, and humans following together. The Scourge was hot on their tail.

The party refused to let their lead make them complacent. Everyone but Carmen had faced the Scourge at one point or another and was familiar with their tactics. The dark, multiversal faction’s champions had powers as diverse as the Summoned. The creatures they commanded also occasionally exhibited stealth abilities, ranged attacks, and magic. It was best to approach with caution. So, if they passed a path that intersected with their path and collapsing it safely proved possible, Nil hung back to do the job.

The first half of the journey went swiftly and without incident. Merchant and the others weren’t combatants, but all were of Iron or Bronze Realm. Apparently, except the dregs of society and newcomers, all ascended out of the Mortal Realm by sixteen. The party’s wards didn’t have the experience or ability to help during combat. However, they had the necessary attributes and resulting physiology to keep pace with their march and not stop every hour. The temperature dropped, and the air got thinner as they ascended, but everyone kept on trucking. Then Selia’s tone got serious, and the calm of the past few hours disappeared.

“Three humans, six crawlers, and a Cursed One,” Selia told them. “It's one of the lizardy ones. Big head. No Horns. Glowy eyes. Six—”

“I know it,” Sakura said, interrupting her. “Come back to us. We’ll take them down together.”

“Not happening. I’m going to follow them and attack from the rear once they initiate.”

“That wasn’t a request, Selia. It’s an order.”

“You think I want to do this alone?” Selia asked. “I should be off training right now, and this place is terrifying as fuck. One of the bastards has pink glowy bits. That’s Mind Magic. It’s possible they’ll detect me if I try to pass them.”

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“Anything else you can tell us about the enemy?”

“No. They’re pretty nondescript.”

“Fine.” Sakura sighed. “Wait until we’ve initiated and you see the light of my blade before making a move. Mind mages are a pain. If possible, take them out first.”

“Got it, boss.”

The party tightened its formation. Bjorn put all the noncombatants between himself and a cavern. Carmen and Farah stood with him. Both prepared spells ready to erect defences or launch long-range attacks when necessary. Meanwhile, Nil and Sakura lay in wait, hiding just off the path.

“They’re almost on you,” Selia whispered. “They’re sending the beasts forward first. The Cursed One is staying behind to protect the Mind Mage. I think the other two humans are close or mid-range fighters. They’re following the beasts.”

“Are you sure you can deal with him alone?” Nil asked. “High Mind and spells hide my presence. As long as I’m good, it should be no problem at all.”

The party got a few minutes to discuss a quick plan until Sakura commanded everyone to be silent. Nil’s heart pounded in his chest, and he fought every fiber of his being, staying still. The sounds of claws on stone approached, and Energy Instinct almost overwhelmed him. The vile gut feeling accompanying a dense population of Cursed entities threatened to suffocate Nil. His body demanded he move and strike them down just so the unease could stop, but he obeyed Sakura’s instructions and let them pass.

Beams of energy that felt awfully close to Brutal Battery’s contents shot from Farah. The beasts danced around them, continuing their approach. Sakura and Nil lay in wait until the human pair following them passed their hiding place. She moved first.

The woman waited until the last second before activating Cutting Light. A blade of blinding gold burst from her soul weapon, and the spheres that floated on either side of her shoulder glowed with a similar light. She took out the first of the human foes with a single slash, cleaving him from his left shoulder to his right waist. By the time the woman with him reacted, the man was already dead and in two halves.

“Selia, take the Mind Mage,” Sakura commanded as she faced her new opponent. The woman came at him, her arms growing large and beast-like. The ability seemed similar Adrian ‘Wildshape’ Wilson’s, but instead of lizard scales or gorilla arms, her limbs resembled that of a Cursed One. The monstrous claws glowed orange and dripped noxious fluid like the heart of the monster Nil killed during his last arena fight. “Nil. I believe you can take the big one.”

The Scourge Champion screamed as the luminous blade extending from Sakura’s soul weapon bounced off her enlarged forelimbs. The woman’s shoulders also grew more prominent, ripping through her robes. The exposed skin gradually turned grey and leathery. Tentacles burst from the exposed shoulder blades and shot at Sakura almost faster than Nil’s eyes could follow. The spheres floating above her shoulders flashed, blocking one and eviscerating the other. Another scream burst from the woman.

Nil didn’t stick around to watch the fight. He had more important things to do. Catching falling rocks and protecting Merchants’ people from collapses helped keep Brutal Battery’s stores topped up. So when it came to burning his stores, Nil didn’t hesitate. He supercharged speed and used Expend, propelling himself forward faster and harder than ever before.

A sudden pressure on the sides of Nil’s head left him clenching his teeth, and tears suddenly filled his eyes. Thanks to his training with Katherine, he had no trouble discovering the source of the discomfort. It was Mind Magic. The third human in the enemy party had spotted Nil and was trying to stop him, but he refused to slow down. He had discovered that pain was an excellent tool for overcoming the magic’s debilitating effects. So, he released energy through his feet, blowing the soles of his soft shoes and propelling himself forward harder and faster.

The ache remained, but the voices in his suggesting he stop lost its clarity. The shadows squirmed, and arms reached for Nil, but he ignored them all. Then he saw the beast and skidded to a halt. The Cursed One reminded him of the entity from his first-ever quest but lacked antlers. When its eyes met his, the snout suddenly elongated, and its eyes turned into mouths. Screams rang all around Nil and inside of his head.

Then, everything abruptly stopped. The ache, squirming darkness, screams, and his opponent’s transformations abruptly ended. The Cursed One resembled a truck-sized iguana with a very human torso and arms.

“The Mind Mage is down,” Selia said, sounding out of breath.

Despite the psychic assault, Nil hadn’t lost his momentum. He threw it all into a punch, supercharging strength just before making contact. The creature staggered backward and into a nearby wall but swiftly regained its balance, proving itself far more durable than entities he had faced before. Jagged fangs cracked and broke, but the monster didn’t seem to have suffered any other damage.

Physical attacks won’t do.

Nil followed with a three-finger-blade, spinning and swinging it at the monster’s face. It moved shockingly fast, moving with him. A monstrous clawed hand struck Nil, flinging him off his feet. He caught the blow on his left shoulder and gauntlet. It was almost as if the limb had popped out of its socket for a moment before the muscles and tendons pulled them back in. His ears rang, and he was sure the contents of his skull had just suffered a severe shake.

Absorb activated just in time to catch the following blow. The Cursed One didn’t stop there and attempted to crush Nil. He retaliated by pressing both hands against the monster’s palm and using Expend. Nil trickled energy through the Source Gauntlets, melting through the monster’s armored hide and flesh, reaching bone and disintegrating it. The Cursed One roared, retreating, and Nil pressed onward. His shoulder begged him to stop. It needed a moment to rest or recover. He was sure muscle or tendon damage awaited him.

The party had a healer. If she failed, the Fountain of Pyrene would fix the damage, so Nil didn’t hold back. His next three-finger-blade cleaved through the creature’s lizard snout. He sensed a Cursed Energy signature coming from behind him and released Meatball from his core. She sped toward her target without instruction.

The cavern kept Nil from getting on top or under the monster. As a result, he had no easy way to its heart. So he continued to hack at its giant head, taking chunks out of its eyes and snout. Some wounds bubbled as the Cursed One’s innate regeneration kicked in, but Nil didn’t stop. He needed to create an opening to reach the heart and that meant being relentless. Nil let the creature land a strike or two whenever his energy levels got dangerously low.

When Nil got a big enough opening, he took a moment to use the same move that killed Klocky Kennit. The sphere that formed in his hand was no bigger than a ping-pong ball and was better defined than the last time he used it outside of practice. Nil waited until the monster roared before releasing the orb from his control. It started to diffuse straight away but much slower than the previous version.

Nil didn’t see the damage, but the narrowing eyes and strained muscles gave away the creature’s pain and struggle. It staggered into a wall, and rocks rained on and around it. He pushed on, relying on Absorb to protect him. He squeezed into the narrow space between the monster’s top and the tunnel’s roof and crawled along it until he was directly between its shoulder blades.

Energy blasts helped him disintegrate his way through, and then he manifested twin three-finger blades that worked his way to the heart. Nil suffered scrapes and bruises as the monster’s thrashing caused exposed skin to scrape against the ceiling. The vile orange slag splashing on his torso and thighs didn’t help either, but Nil only stopped after the Cursed One had fallen. The battle lasted a handful of minutes but felt like it had gone for hours.