Filaments. Infinite tentacles that veer from bright red to blue and purple. A monstrous jellyfish with thousands of eyes.

Spectral.

Swell.

Far for miles from the central body to its appendages. Its manifestation is such as to induce silence. All other magic dissolves, the errors disappear, and the sperm whale dissolves, letting me fall.

A bolt of immeasurable power strikes Irferno. The flames, which are extinguished. The sound goes silent. Its body cracks almost to the point of breaking, giving off beams of red light.

The tentacles pierce it, and a smaller part hits the void below.

[Red sprite]

The ultimate ability from the [Will-o'-the-wisp] tree. Along with [Earthquake light].

An area spell incapable of making distinctions. Consume all my [ap].

I feel sorry for Dal, who was hit. If it were not for his buffs, which prevent me from feeling tired, I would probably fall asleep immediately.

Which is happening anyway. Have the buffs dissolved due to the interference? No, they're dissolving. I still have a few moments.

Everything flows so slowly in casting this magic.

Two targets. The tentacles hit two targets.

Is the destructive power sufficient to justify its use?

I swept everything away. The image dissolves, and only the darkness and me falling remain. Buffs disappear. Further, proof that I hit Dal.

My eyes close.

♦

I reopen my eyes.

Darkness. Usual landscape.

It takes me a few moments to realize that I am still falling. How long? As?

Nothing around me. Apart from the movement of air caused by my fall, there are no sounds.

The image of the Eldritch jellyfish is imprinted in my mind. I shake my head to chase it away.

What have I done!?

I hit Dal! I knew very well that that attack would hit him too and…

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

…Gron?

Gron was not hit. There were two targets. The bulk of the hit disabled Irferno. The rest went towards Dal.

I am sure of it since the buffs have been deactivated.

Gron's screams come back to me.

No.

No! It cannot have ended up in one of those holes!

Panic hits me. The anxiety, the fear of having lost it forever.

I shake and hold back tears. It is as if my emotions are demanding the backlash of their suppression.

Gron!

A moment. A moment. It must be upstairs. It must be upstairs. Gron is not undead. Gron is deceased.

Yes. It must have been rained on in the desert, and will now be having a conversation with Y. Yes. That is the case.

Right.

Right?

[Dungeon path]

♦

I emerge in a place I do not recognize. It is not my house. It is not my porch.

Or, I am. They are what remains of my house, which is slowly being reassembled.

“I think, the house will repair in less time than the rest. Aren't you happy?” Y waves her tail. She lets her flip-flops dangle from an abyss over which the veranda slopes.

Landscapes of fire. The typhoon is in the distance.

No membrane or lightning. No twilight on the horizon.

I forgot about this land of the night.

“Gron…” is all I can whisper.

“Eh, I don't understand. If you don't formulate well, what do I do? Rather, where are they—”

“Gron! I asked where Gron is!”

“Ah. I would not know. It left with you, am I wrong?”

Y's face is neither upset nor worried. She does not care. Neither to know where Gron is nor to know how it is.

“It should have rained around here. Irferno sent it to zero hp.”

“It didn't rain. Do you see the membrane? It can't rain without an atmosphere.” Y points the index finger towards the black sky. The vacant air.

“Where is Gron?”

“N, I don't know. It certainly didn't get rained on.”

“But its hp is down to zero! I know!”

Ci-cin.

«Fsss.»

Y stands up. “Stop being so antagonistic. Have you had a chance to see it? Go down to zero. I mean, maybe you got lost. Maybe it and Dal-Dazzer are fighting with Irferno.”

I stomp on the creaking boards.

“It is not possible. I cast a spell that destroyed Irferno. It also hit Dal, but no trace of Gron, and then, first—”

“Uh, it's impossible to defeat Irferno with a spell. You will have jammed it for a few hours if that's OK. Not bad, I reach the core and prepare the trap. Up here, I've been waiting for news for a while and—”

“Why you don't care about Gron!? Damn, it ended up in one of those gaps!”

Y's eyes widen. “Are you talking about the porosity generated by Irferno?”

“Yes, why?”

She comes closer and puts a hand on my shoulder. “I am sorry. But Gron was assimilated.”

“W-what?”

“The excavation portals are how Irferno connects two areas of space. From there, the roots of the cosmic tree creep in, and the fabric of spacetime is welded around it. The cosmic tree is not digestible, but the rest becomes a source of nourishment.”

Panic.

Ache.

Anger.

As? How is it possible?

I look away. Y's not pitying me, but she seems sorry. Its tail envelopes me. Intertwining mine in a hug.

“Soon, I will be able to restore your memories. But now the problem is more serious. We need to reach the remains of the core. You bought time. It's time to play our offense.”

I nod unconvinced. I wriggle out of her grip and almost slip on the sloping boards.

“I'm so angry. Sad. I do not understand!”

“What?”

“Why do you care so much? You and—oh, forget it. It must be a living thing.”

“Hm, maybe it has something to do with memories. After all, that cat talked about friendship and time gone by.”

I nod. It is true. It is about our friendship and our past that Gron has always talked about.

Of my promise, to let it meet Dal.

Beyond the Golden Doors.

Beyond…

Ci-cin!

Ah, the head!

I fall to my knees. I put my hands to my ears. The sounds are muffled. I squeeze my eyelids shut.

Breath.

Goes better. Goes better. It is better.

I grab the hand Y offers me and get back to my feet.

“N, are you okay? Maybe they're remnants of some attack, or—”

“No. Don't worry.”