The longer the battle went on, the more trolls emerged from the side caves, making it obvious that we needed to "hold back" their onslaught. Everyone understood this, except for me and Guts. If the swordsman wanted to, he could have cleared the area in a matter of minutes. However, the plan involved his harem retreating, unexpectedly including Isidro. After all, at the moment, the boy was the only "man" around.
In any case, the witch took charge of the strategic retreat, using her magic to cover the people, while Guts remained in the trolls' lair, preventing them from pursuing the fleeing prey.
With no unnecessary witnesses, Guts picked up the pace, but the trolls surged from every crevice like a raging river. With each swing of his sword, the number of corpses increased, and the space was saturated with the energies of dying demons. At first, I didn't understand what was happening, but then it dawned on me. This massacre was now a mass sacrifice. The trolls were the "meat," and Guts played the role of the central altar on which the defenseless victims were slaughtered. The demons would have gladly retreated, but the energy of the Brand of Sacrifice deprived them of their will and forced them to attack, regardless of losses.
Like any ritual, this slaughter had a purpose. Although most of the demons' energy was absorbed by Guts, a portion dissipated into the space, forming... a summoning circle. And once again, I saw how the current situation resembled the night in the Tower of Conviction. Only this time, it wasn't Griffith being summoned, but another apostle. Moreover, this place was not a true material world. And after some time, it became clear that the "vessel" for the summoned demon was also a shoddy construction. But the most important thing was that the apostle was supposed to become our "guide" to the world of spirits. It was thanks to him that I planned to overcome the most difficult part of our journey - the first step.
Finally, the trolls were no more, and a heavy oppressive atmosphere settled in the room. During the battle, the small "crossroads" had transformed into a huge hall, and blood had formed a whole lake on the floor. And in the center of this lake, a woman made of... intestines appeared. Of course, she tried to portray herself as a beauty, hiding behind illusions, but the essence of her nature was evident to me.
Guts was not deceived by her appearance either, but he was shocked for a different reason. He had just felt the arrival of an apostle into this world, whose power surpassed Griffith's. The Brand was screaming, demanding to "devour" the Sacrifice, and this call was heard not only by the demons but also by the swordsman himself. Right now, he could feel someone literally "hammering" thoughts into his brain, telling him to relax, surrender, and allow himself to be devoured.
“It's been a while since I took physical form, and now suddenly troll intestines? You can't imagine a worse body.” - The woman smirked, looking at the helpless Guts. Right now, Vritras' body appeared as a regular human, so the apostle couldn't understand what exactly was in front of her.
Guts lunged forward, but his movements were too slow. As if in a dream, he ran, jumped, swung his sword, and... ended up in the embrace of intestines.
"I missed you, boy" - the harlot whispered, embracing her prey.
"Weakling" - I said, watching the scene. - "You're worse than the worm that dwells in troll intestines. As soon as a real demon appeared, you immediately surrendered and accepted the role of the sacrifice. It seems I overestimated you. You're just food for the demons. Dreaming of surpassing Griffith is as absurd for you as it is for a mole to dream of learning to fly. A creature born to crawl cannot fly."
This entire tirade entered Guts' consciousness and made him shudder with hatred. Hatred towards me, the demons, and, of course, himself.
"Elf?" - the demoness expressed surprise, turning her attention to me. - "You're quite strange..."
And then hundreds of steel needles pierced through the intestines, emerging from Guts' body. The apostle was impaled on these needles, resembling a butterfly caught by a maniac obsessed with piercing his victims with needles.
"Oh, yes! Pierce me!" - the mass of intestines laughed. - "What is this..."
But the apostle didn't have time to finish the sentence because her body was pierced by a sword. Unlike the "pseudo-needles" unleashed by Guts, this weapon could kill spirits. Furthermore, even such a fleeting contact caused the demon unbearable pain. Although only her projection was present in this place, the apostle shuddered in agony.
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The cave filled with the wild beastly roar of the berserker, whose gaze no longer held anything human. Guts once again fell under the influence of his inner demon, though this entire process was completely controlled by me to prevent any surprises.
With a mad roar, Guts pulled the sword out of the apostle's body and struck again. It wasn't particularly strong or fast. From the outside, it might have seemed like a lazy movement. But in reality, at that moment, the swordsman aimed not for the demon's body, but for her soul.
A piercing cry of agony echoed through the cave's vaults. The apostle tried to break free, but it turned out that the piercing needles that had impaled her body had transformed into hooks, digging into her very soul, greedily devouring both her life force and demonic energy.
This time, panic filled the demoness' consciousness, and she desperately tried to escape from her Sacrifice, fleeing into the depths of the spirit world. It was an instinctive reaction. Just like Griffith had done in the past. However, Guts was now bound to the apostle by 'spiritual bonds' in the form of his tentacles, so this 'lunge' completely pulled him out of the material world and transported him to the plane of spiritual existence. And I was transported here along with Guts. While Guts was just a limp body, I was in full control of the process, studying the incomprehensible laws of this world.
Externally, nothing had changed after our 'translocation.' We were still in the cave, surrounded by mountains of troll corpses. However, the paths we had taken to get here now ended in dead ends. On the other hand, the passages in front of us, which had previously been shallow niches, now had an unfathomable depth. This place now reminded me even more of the world of dreams. But at the same time, it wasn't that world, but rather some other 'dimension.'
The apostle shed her intestines and rushed away into the darkest of the passages, with Guts following closely behind, sword in hand. I didn't lag behind my guide even by a meter because in this world, the fabric of reality was unstable. By taking the same path, one could end up in different places. Only the Sacrifice could find the correct path through the intricate folds of space, so if I 'lost' Guts, I wouldn't be able to find him again.
The demoness turned out to be remarkably elusive, and even with all of Vritras' physical abilities, Guts had to chase after her for half an hour, while simultaneously annihilating unimaginable monsters that she tried to use as protection. Finally, a successful sword strike pierced the apostle's head, splitting it in half, and the creature died.
Catching his breath after the feverish pursuit, Guts looked around and found himself in an unimaginable labyrinth, where the passages existed not only in all three dimensions but in twelve, making the geometry of this place barely three-dimensional. Just by turning his head, he could see that the 'landscape' around him had changed. It was reminiscent of a state of delirious dreaming on one hand, and a manifestation of multidimensional physics on the other.
"Guts, use your brand to find Griffith" - I instructed, sitting on the head of my transport. I didn't risk fly even a couple of meters away anymore.
Strangely enough, my advice helped, and the swordsman confidently headed to incomprehensible paths, choosing a path in the infinite labyrinth of transitions. Even if he was walking blindly, I could feel how Fate itself guided his choice. With each step, we were getting closer to the goal of our journey, and for now, that suited me.
The spirit world was densely populated, and every time Guts passed by, the demons immediately went mad and lunged at him in an attempt to bite. At first, they were creatures comparable in strength to trolls. Then 'fat guys' like ogres started to appear. And following them were even stronger and more powerful creatures that even Vritras had a hard time dealing with.
I was surprised to discover that in this world, magic and psionics gradually weakened, while the energy of the demons grew stronger. I could counteract this effect by using psionics to manipulate Chaos, but overall, the trend was not very good. However, this problem mostly concerned me. On the other hand, with each monster Guts killed, he absorbed more and more demonic energy, and soon the effects that I had anticipated but couldn't precisely predict became noticeable.
I used Eldars’ psionics to create Vritras' body and crystal instead of magic. Unlike magic, psionics worked not only through mathematics but also through 'overcoming'. It was enough to simply wish for something, and reality would 'bend' under the mage's will. Now Guts was absorbing the energy of the demons, and it was mixing with the psionic energy in his body and soul. As a result, his own psionics began to change, acquiring unexpected properties. Meanwhile, I carefully observed this process, analyzing all the changes with the help of the most powerful computers in my body.
In addition to changes in psionics, I noted changes in Guts' consciousness. The further we went, the more he rejected his 'humanity'. No, he hadn't turned into a monster yet, but his 'harpoon shots' gradually transformed into 'tentacle shots' which now also shot out not from his hand but from his shoulder, back, or abdomen. And if necessary, his hands could temporarily turn into clawed paws, tearing enemies apart. In short, the process was ongoing, and I wasn't sure what my guide would turn into by the time he reached Azathoth.
Finally, after hours of aimless wandering, Guts stopped, looked around, and said, "He's somewhere here."