"Elegy, come in." Prylos' voice called him out from the walkie-talkie in his pocket, "Elegy!"
"Answer us this instant, this is important!" Selzion too.
"That's not gonna work, you two." Elegy chuckled to himself, refusing to press the button and reply to them, "These talkies sure are noisy, though. Isn't there a way to lower the volume?"
Just then, Sab hopped on the line, "Whoa, what's the problem, you Two?"
"Yeh. Ye' be inna panic n' wotnot's makin' os ankshis." Nerys added.
"Ah right, that's right, I can't lower the volume." Elegy realized, "Because I still need a way to talk to those guys."
The easiest solution would have been to just outright destroy his device, but that would disable communications with the rest of the active team. Hats, Migu, Energy and Sheep still weren't picking up when he tried to call them, so he assumed that's what the cherubim told them to do.
"Darned wench, she made things ten times more difficult!" He cussed her out angrily under his breath, "Ah, should I be calling her that? I mean, given her appearance and all... Meh, a wench is a wench. Doesn't matter what kind of face she's making."
"Elegy, pick up the line or else...!" Selz threatened.
"Seriously, what the Hell did he do?" Sab asked outright.
"An' wotcha' gun' doo iffie dozint ansarr?" Nerys wondered as well.
"These guys really are a blessing, aren't they?" Elegy turned in a random direction that happened to be the angle we're looking from, "See that, folks? That's called working smart, not hard! I'll just chillax while Sab and Nerys extract all the necessary information for me!"
Indeed, it's quite convenient to have friends, Elegy. Ah, but do try to refrain from actively breaking the fourth wall from now on...
"Shut up!" Selzion's voice piped up suddenly, "You don't need to poke your nose into our affairs! Our dealings are with Elegy and Elegy alone!"
"Yeah!" Pry, too, was furious, "And Elegy, if you're hearing this, you really ought to answer soon! Otherwise, we'll come to you! ...Just as soon as we get out of this hole."
"Ack!" Selz noticed.
"Oho~?" The edges of Elegy's lips raised, "So they've dug themselves into a literal hole? Ain't that thematic? But at least now I know that..."
"You imbecile!" Selz yelling at Pry could be heard loudly from the microphone, "Now he knows we're still stuck in the hole! Eugh, whose idea even was it to dig this deep!?"
Sab jockeyed on the chance to laugh at their idiocy, "Bahahahaha! You're actually stuck down there!?"
"Ye' dug a hole without en' egsit?!" Nerys mocked as well, "Wotwer ye' thinkin', yew dolts!?"
Of course as humans, they lacked the foresight to predict that Elegy would go against their ways like he did, so they had fully expected that their group would never run into the cherubim without them. In other words, they had dug as deep as they could without a care in the world with the express belief that Sheep would come back eventually to bring them out. This miscalculation has put them in a very bad spot.
"So they can't get out of the hole anytime soon..." Elegy calculated, "In that case, they're as good as dead already without me even having to do a thing. The holes dug on Heaven 2.0's surface regenerate, so they'll suffocate regardless. Ah, well, that would be the case if they wouldn't dig a separate tunnel back up faster than they dug this one."
In other words, it was a race against the clock for them, and Elegy figured they definitely didn't stand a chance against it. Still, his goal wasn't to kill the Gods, merely to fool around with them for a bit.
"I ought to go check up on 'em, hm?" He glanced at Vastoria's sleeping face, "What do you say?"
Despite how often he addressed her, she nonetheless remained motionless and comatose.
"Hmm, no response still... No matter, you'll be awake after I'm done on my end!" He shrugged it off, "Though, I can't exactly run to the Gods with you weighing me down..."
Before anything, he needed to recruit Hats, Sheep, Energy and Migu back into their party again. After the cherubim destroyed their wills to continue fighting for the cause, he fretted they might never see Eye to Eye again, but that's all the more reason why Elegy should do his best to win them back.
He calmly pulled out his walkie-talkie, finally pressing the button to activate the microphone, "Sab, Nerys, come in. Where are you?"
"Eleg-!" The Gods yelled.
"You Two stay in the hole." He interrupted them, "Don't worry, I'll come to you."
"Matey, dafuq's goin' on?" Nerys worriedly asked, "Tha' otha' three ain' answerin' eitharr, so's we be werri'd."
"What's going on, dude?" Sab asked as well.
"Answer the question, where are you?"
Before anything, he had to drop Vastoria off with them. Regardless of what would happen between Elegy and the Gods, he wanted to make sure that the story could at least continue with Sab and Nerys.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
"...Okay, listen well." Sab understood from his dire tone.
The pieces were set, and the game was afoot. The Gods would wait impatiently for Elegy to reach them for a chat, but before that, he had to stop by Nerys and Sab to relinquish care of Vastoria. By now, he had reached the Gods' Abode of district A and entered it. Counting a couple of seconds before he left at the perfect moment, he exited at exactly district G. Right where Nerys and Sab were.
"You guys are fast." Elegy smirked.
"We weren't that far from where you were." Sab shook his head, "But never mind that, why are you here in the first place?"
"An' wot's goin' on wid' er'wun?" Nerys added.
"Long story." Elegy winked, "Thankfully the readers don't have to read through the hefty explanation!"
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"O-Oh..." Sab looked shocked beyond belief after Elegy finished his explanation of the past events.
"That be..." Nerys gulped, "Unsavry."
"Well, that explains why the Gods were so pissed off at you, at least." Sab continued, "But wow, you guys actually jumped the gun and found the cherubim without their help."
"For better or for worse." Elegy nodded, "Those four were charmed and swayed by the cherubim, who made them quit this entire cause altogether."
"So what now? It's just down to us to save Vastoria?" Sab worried.
Their group was miniscule, but not hopeless. Elegy still wagered there was a way to bring everything back to normal.
"I'll go talk to those Two." He cracked his knuckles, "Besides saving them from getting crushed by the very hole they dug out, I need to destroy their walkie talkies so that we can use our own without them hearing our conversations."
"Ack, ye' roight." Nerys realized, "We cannae tolk ovah tha' tolkie widdout dem hearin' git."
"For the time being, please refrain from using them." Elegy warned.
"But what about Vastoria?" Sab glanced at her.
With an impish grin, Elegy shoved her over to them, "Until I'm done on my end, you take care of her!"
The two were reasonably outraged.
"Eh!?" Nerys jolted, "We ain't ye' nannies, ya' nonce!"
"Yeah, whatever the Hell that means... nonce!" Sab fussed right next to her, "What do you expect us to do with an unconscious girl's body!? She's heavy!"
"Tsk tsk, don't you know it's rude to say that about a girl?" Elegy wagged his finger at him.
He shot back immediately, "So what!? I call Nerys heavy all the time, and she doesn't mind!"
This backhanded compliment was met with a stern slap from the woman he apparently so often shamelessly shames. Turns out Nerys only tolerated his harsh comments, believing them to be a joke. To think he was serious all this time...
"In any case, please take care of her." Elegy sighed, "If I don't make it back, I want you to find the others yourselves and save Vastoria."
"Huh?" They immediately got serious, "You mean there's a chance you... won't?"
"Oh, absolutely..." Elegy looked down, "Not! Haha, the only way I could die from those Two idiots would be if I took them down with me, and if that happened, you'd have way bigger issues than my death to worry about!"
"We'd rather not have that happen..." Sab winced.
"Then do as I told you and wish me luck." Elegy finished it off, "The Gods are a nuisance, but killing them while they're human is out of the question. Who knows what that might cause."
"Ye', bot destroyin' they thingamajigs will giv' as' a steppop from 'em!" Nerys added.
"In five hours time." Elegy put his hand out, "If I don't come back in five hours, continue on without me."
"You sure you won't need more time?" Sab asked.
"Positive. Heck, I'm giving myself some leeway here to account for the travel time to the hole." Elegy guffawed, "In reality, three will be more than enough."
"In that case, we'll leave after three hours."
"N-No wait, please don't..."
After waving both of them off, the trio diverged once more, with Elegy splitting off to go find the Gods. Selzion and Prylos eagerly sat inside the hole they had dug out, with only a few minor worries to their name.
"Gah, we're gonna have to die, aren't we?" Pry groaned, "Is that right? I'm pretty sure humans can't survive when immersed in a solid."
"You're correct. They have no air to breathe, and the pressure crushes their bodies, so they die." Selz explained calmly.
"Yeah, knew it had something to do with air..." He nodded, "So, how long until we revive after that?"
"Come again?"
"Revive, y'know? You die and your consciousness returns to the nearest safe spot alive and well."
"No, I know what revival means, fool." Selz shook his head, "I'm trying to understand why you think we'll revive after death."
"Uhh, because we do that?"
"Not when we're humans we don't."
The topic was as heavy as their tone was light. They seemed rather nonchalant about their possible untimely demise in spite of the stakes at play. As it stood, they were too tired and out of breath to dig out of the hole before it closed up, meaning there was no way out. To conserve their strength for the eventual conflict with Elegy, they figured taking a breather would be the most optimal play to make.
"Remind me again, when was the last time one of the Five died for real?" Pry asked.
"Believe it or not, this is actually the first Universe Cycle in which it occurred." Selz frowned, "We're usually smarter than this."
"You." Pry gave him a deadpanned stare, "You're usually smarter than this. Don't forget, you're the one who turned us into humans yourself..."
"I profusely apologize for that..."
Just then, the slightest ray of Sunlight had died out.
"It seems the hole has started regenerating." Selz closed his Eyes, "Elegy was late..."
"Selz?" Pry nudged him, "You got it all wrong, look!"
From the skies, the object that shaded them was not the ground closing up, but the very angel they were waiting to come for them. Falling the entire way down until he slammed into the ground before them, Elegy stood back up without a single injury.
"Oof, you Two sure these Heavenly Bodies are indestructible? I still feel the ringing in my knees..." Elegy shivered as he dusted himself off.
"Let's hope you've enough strength to dig us out of here." Selz smirked, happy to find out his life will continue.
"Urk, not even gonna give me a moment of reprieve..." Elegy grinned, Eyeing the Two down as he put his hand out expectantly, "Fine, so be it. Then, before anything, hand over your walkie-talkies."
Silence. Confusion. Bafflement. All of these emotions strewn together around the Gods as they questioned what exactly he was plotting.
"You... You couldn't have..." Pry was heartbroken, "There's no way you came all the way here just to break our way of communicating with you."
"Regardless, now that he's down here, he'll 'have' to dig us out with him if he wants to survive." Selz grunted, "Even he isn't that dumb to perform a suicide mission..."
"Don't you worry about a thing. I plan on making sure we all live through this encounter." Elegy bared his teeth, "So just hand over the talkies. I'm not asking."