Amus didn’t usually cultivate in the compound. True to his Path, the knight would leave Ironside’s underground sections and head towards the sun. He’d be back by dusk to hold the fort, allowing other Wayfinders with special requirements to leave themselves. This was why the compound had so many combatants even though they had the strongest Wayfinder- he was only here half the time.
Silas had always been curious what it looked like when he cultivated. An Empyrean cultivating was rather boring, the occasional streak of glowing red through their veins; a Nightweaver even more so, the only sign being a faint shine in their eyes. That’s why he wasn’t expecting the literal fucking sun when Cassandra led him out of the Refinery.
The Dawnseeker sat cross-legged in the middle of the courtyard, dense corrupted fog swirling around his form and sizzling against his armour. A dark golden glow radiated from his entire being, thin swirls of energy swimming through the air across his skin. His black hair and brown eyes too had been assimilated by the sunlight, now a soft red colour like the burning of a star.
He could physically feel the world's energy moving through the air and pouring into Amus with every breath. It was so dense around them that it soaked into Silas’ body just standing there, pouring through his veins and loosening the Fourth Gate. Silas turned to Cassandra with a grave look. “This is just a breakthrough? To what, Physique Establishment?”
Cassandra glanced at him with doubt, shaking her head. “He’s breaking through to the equivalent of your Tenth to Twelfth Gate. Unfortunately, his system doesn’t have anything like the Atlas Gate.”
“.. What?”
“You really don’t know?”
The two were interrupted by a blast of radiant sunlight, briefly dispersing the chaotic fog and for the first time in a month, briefly dispelling it entirely within the compound. Even as more fog tried to roll in from outside, the radiant light simply continued to destroy it. As it did, the energy density continued to rise.
“Who the hell taught you?”
“My old man gave me a book.” Silas growled out, shielding his eyes from the light and taking a few steps back. The residual aches and pains from his injuries practically melted like snow beneath the light. A faint, murky black sludge slowly appeared on many people’s skin as they stood around Amus. Impurities. From just the light? What kind of Pathway was this?
Cassandra sighed as she too received the benefits, then looked towards the gate of the compound. Only then did Silas realise that, while all of the Wayfinders and Guardsmen were present, none of the mundane workers were. Normally around now they’d be moving back and forth during the shift change, and yet they were absent.
He had never seen the entirety of the Compound’s manpower so clearly before. Two unfamiliar Sergeants stood next to the two gatekeepers for a total of four, each somewhere around Six or Seven Gates. Thirty guardsmen stood around them, accounting for a good percent of Ironside’s total. The biggest surprise was the Wayfinders.
After the various moves and attacks, there were thirteen Wayfinders left across six groups. Silas and Lilith bumped that number back up to the original fifteen. Counting Amus, the leader of one of the six groups, a total of ten Wayfinders were present. Each as strong as if not stronger than the Sergeants. And yet none of them looked happy.
Across fifty people, every look was dark. Even as they were baptised in the light, they were all focused on the gate. As if on cue, Cassandra turned to Silas. “We didn’t want to ruin your work ethic, so we didn’t say anything. A Runecarver benefits everyone, after all.”
Fear energy slowly started rising in the surroundings as everyone started looking towards the streets. This time, no screams echoed out. Instead, the horde of grey skinned beasts approached in complete silence. Every few moments, a street lamp was broken and the darkness spread. Several pairs of glowing green eyes split the darkness, weaving between the shambling crowd.
When he used blood energy, Silas could still see the torn remnants of guardsmen uniforms on many, golden insignias reflecting a dim green glow. Whatever guardsmen had been picked off across Ironside, they were here now. One of them even walked with a slight limp at the knee and Silas’ expression fell. That wasn’t good.
“While the breakthrough is good for Amus and us, it also makes him a much greater tonic to the mutants. He is also immobile while he does so. We’re unsure what’ll happen if he’s interrupted.”
“Okay, but why now? How’d they know? This is one hell of a response time, Cassandra!”
“It was likely observing him during his cultivation.”
“Why not just kill him, then?”
In a frustrating turn of events, Cassandra just looked at him like he was an idiot before turning around. Due to her Soul Source Pathway, she ended up being turned into the impromptu commander while Amus was occupied. It didn’t take long for her to divide up the group according to their needs.
“Two Wayfinders and a Sergeant at every side of the fence. Each group takes nine guardsmen.” She pointed at one of the more vigorous Wayfinders. “You only take eight; I'll catch up with you when I’m done. Valmor, Silas, you stay back.”
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“Valmor, you get up on top of the roof. Stay quiet, stay hidden. Don’t be flashy. Only attack when you can kill something of value. Don’t waste your energy on the cannon fodder. Silas-” Cassandra turned back to the Nightweaver, sighing lightly at seeing Silas completely unarmed. “Go pick up your stuff from your room and then come back.”
“When you come back, only use your fear energy to create openings for the others. Do not fight. Understood?”
“What if someone needs help?”
Cassandra shook her head slowly. After a few wasted moments of valuable time, Silas just walked away without a response to grab his gear. Only the Noble Eye remained on him, he needed to grab both Glass’ Revolver and the Black Iron Blade.
The silence finally broke as Silas picked up his saber, bestial roars clashing with savage cries. Gunshots rang out soon after. He even heard the oddly soft sound of an arrow piercing through the air. The violence was immediate and brutal, sources of fear energy suddenly blinking out of existence all around him.
Silas hastily threw on his coat for the meagre defence it offered and rushed back to the armoury. He grabbed the biggest box of ammo he could find, carrying it underarm as he ran back to the front, giving a short glance at the glowing Amus as he ran by him. With barely a thought, Silas tossed the wolfdog’s bloodstone at the Dawnseekers feet and left.
He much rather give up the bloodstone in exchange for more lives saved by the end. The sooner Amus finished, the better. If he lived through this, he could just go find the Blood Cleansing Pills instead. Silas darted through the various tents and eventually found himself in the middle of the yard, just barely able to see all four battlegrounds at once.
Fire soared through the air as a Wayfinder weaved hand signs, summoning the world energy and twisting it into flames. Another summoned puppets of Ice, their bodies standing at the front and holding giant tower shields. A Sergeant carried one of the fence posts ripped from the ground, using the concrete still attached to it as a hammerhead and crushing skulls with ease.
Silas watched the air shimmer in a line from the rooftop and a Voiceless’ head suddenly exploded as it was about to dig its claws into another Wayfinder. The Wayfinder then stomped the ground hard with one foot, the street shattering beneath a huge section of the horde and sending them stumbling.
A man wielded water like a whip and split a dozen mutant heads from their bodies in one sweep. Lilith then ran through the crowd, her flaming fists leaving trails of fire in their wake with every strike. Grey hands landed on a guardsman’s shoulders, the owner’s green eyes staring through him as they ripped the guardsman’s arms from his body and bashed his head in with the bones.
Cassandra and a Green Eyed Mutant both stood completely still mere feet away from each other, fighters on both sides seemingly unaware of their presence. The mutant’s eyes were vacant yet tinged with annoyance.
In the southern battlefield, a transparent bell suddenly appeared in the air above one of the battlefields and dozens of mutants began to bleed thick black blood from their ears. With another chime their bodies began to sway, and with a third they fell dead. Silas could see Hector hidden behind his Sergeant, bronze green lines around his eyes.
Powers he could never imagine gathered together. When the Vital Pathways began to feel overwhelmed, the Magic Pathways quickly cleared the space. When the Magic Pathways found themselves at the end of their rope, the Vital Pathways found themselves in front of the danger instead. Only Cassandra and her Soul Pathway found herself alone.
But not fully.
She was being left alone but surrounded. If he killed the mutant and ended whatever was happening, she’d be torn to shreds. He had to leave it be.
The Nightmare Seed spun within his mind amidst flashes of purple and blue, ceaselessly taking in fear energy and refining it. Black liquid, fear energy, pooled beneath its floating shape ready for use. His eyes gleamed with the same purple light.
She told him to stand there and wait. Create openings. It didn’t matter for who. Obviously he should focus on the green eyed mutants still wandering about freely. The four of them were barely being restrained by a Wayfinder and Sergeant pair, leaving only Three Wayfinders to deal with the cannon fodder. He just needed to find the proper moment.
And yet with every moment that passed by, Silas watched the mutants tear into someone. Hardly even a couple minutes had passed by and the frontline was littered in injuries. Body after body slammed into them, sharp claws and bone spurs ripping through flesh before their host died, only to be replaced by the next one in line.
In such a fight he was weak. His Nightweaver Pathway gave him the capability to fight single targets, but in such a berserk battle, it was meagre. Silas took a deep breath, dropping the box of ammunition at his feet and kicking the lid off of it. He caught a glimpse of the Lotus Tattoo on his right hand. He drew both guns from his waist and took a deep breath, carefully checking each chamber and every bullet. Not a detail escaped his sight.
With a flick, the cylinders slammed back into place and Silas looked up. Fear energy surged through his mind like electricity. It all felt so clear. He could see every body that fell to the ground and every drop of blood that his people shed.
Valmor’s job was similar to his. Wait and find opportunities. Valmor used a bow, his arrows charged with energy. It wouldn’t be long before he was exhausted. Guns didn’t have that drawback, and ammunition was plentiful.
‘Hey, Lotus?”
[Yes?]
‘What are the Wayfinders for?’
[A Wayfinder is unrestrained by ideals, morality, power or thought. They are diverse, independent and talented individuals. Each one starkly different yet incredibly similar. In short, they cut a new path forward. Without hesitation]
As a crack spread across the Nightmare Seed, it released a burst of violet blue energy. A single serpentine eye appeared, staring through the crack. Silas raised his guns high and pulled the trigger.