"Oh, man... This sucks..." Diamanes groaned aloud, startling both Glenn and Decimius who were busy looking for a way out of their jail.
"Huh? Demon!" The orc roared as he jumped back and golden Aura flared up around his fists. Glenn sighed and pressed his forehead against the cold, dark stone wall that was blocking their way to the exit. Or to anywhere else for that matter. He and Decimius were locked in some sort of massive stone box with the only exit locked behind Blumar bars. The red light came from that way too.
"No, not a demon. Just..." Glenn waved his hand dismissively, the orc grunting and instead punching the wall of the prison, making the whole place shake powerfully. There wasn't even a dent in the stone, so a crack? Impossible.
Since Blumar was, evidently, a little too tough to break, they had tried to destroy the walls.
Which didn't work. Somehow, these walls looked tougher than Blumar. Whatever material they were made of wasn't canceling Mana or Aura like Blumar, but its sheer toughness was enough to shake both of their most powerful attacks. Glenn didn't want to believe it, but even after throwing everything he had at the wall, namely a Solar Flare, two combined Blackholes, an Implosion, ten useless attempts at Earthquake, and even a Shooting Star using Pebble, he still couldn't do anything more than a scratch on the wall.
"What the f—Glenn, where the hell are we?" Diamanes blurted out confusedly. Glenn looked at his left, purple hand, and winced.
"Hell if I know. I just know someone with a part of you captured the both of us—" He nodded toward the orc pulling at the Blumar bars while roaring in frustration, "—and we've been trying to escape ever since. I was waiting for you to heal up I could try using Divine Blessing on the orc, so let's get on it."
Decimius heaved and kicked in the bars, before cursing while holding his foot. Diamanes remained unresponsive for a moment. Glenn rubbed his nose patiently, trying to ignore the golden light his right arm was emitting despite his will. Of course, Onnea's detector of creepy Forgotten God stuff had to activate. Whatever place they fell in was a fucking cesspool of horrible stuff. The more Glenn was looking at that crimson light, the more convinced he was that it came from a Heart of Darkness, like the one he fought in the Blessed Grove long ago.
"Wait—no, when did you get a radar for evil stuff from Onnea? And why aren't you ripping that orc in two?" Decidedly, Diamanes' confusion was only worsening. Glenn rattled his throat and moistened his lips.
"Listen, Diamanes, that's two questions I don't feel like answering, one because I'm not even sure, and the other because it's evident. Now, could we get some cooperation from you, pretty please?"
Diamanes grunted in incomprehension. Glenn grinned as he felt getting back access to the library of spells he had taken with Diamanes. He aimed at Decimius with his left hand and used Divine Blessing on him, covering him in a pale, golden divine light. The orc froze and looked at his hands glowing, and roared victoriously. He conjured a greatsword out of his golden Aura and seized it with both hands, before bringing it down on the Blumar bars. The Blumar turned searing white from the power of the attack, sizzling against the Aura. The orc roared as he pushed harder against the Blumar, before faltering and falling back, his Aura and Glenn's Divine Blessing dissipating helplessly.
Glenn sighed, "Shit, already? This thing really sucks the resources out of us."
Diamanes clicked his tongue, "Why don't you use Nelg to cut through? I'm pretty sure he's made for that specific purpose?"
Glenn paused and smiled wryly at his left hand, "Oh, but isn't that a bright idea? I'm sure I could have never come up with it! Let's see, Nelg? Nelg?" He looked in the air with a fake confused look, before smacking his lips dejectedly, "Ah, yeah, he's been taken by your counterpart."
Had Diamanes been able to blink in confusion, he would have undoubtedly done so. Glenn crossed his arms and stood in front of the Blumar bars, looking through to try and find if there was some sort of mechanism or anything to activate them. Maybe a lever, a button, anything...
“RAGHHHH!!! Decimius screamed as he lost his mind and lunged for the Blumar bars, pulling on them once more, his muscles tensing and his blue veins bulging. Glenn would have chuckled, had he not been tempted to do the same thing. He turned away and looked at his left hand with a deep frown.
"There's one last thing I could try, but..." Glenn scowled, "...I'm not exactly sure if it'll work. Alright, let's try thermal-shocking this wall..."
"...Is thermal-shocking a real word?" Diamanes muttered.
Glenn shrugged as Mana twirled around both of his hands, "I'm sure it is. Let's try this now."
He shot a destructive Nitrogen Lance at the wall, effectively freezing it completely but not doing anything else in terms of damage. Without wasting a second, he then shot a Solar Flare at the frozen area, rapidly heating it as much as he could. As soon as that was done, he shot yet another Nitrogen Lance, repeating that process again and again. Decimius was done raging against the Blumar bars and was simply watching Glenn empty his Mana by throwing spells at the dark wall. Eventually, Glenn's seemingly infinite Mana reserves bottomed out, and he stopped casting spells to conserve enough Mana to not lose consciousness.
The dust/steam cloud that had been created by the process dissipated, revealing that the dark wall was now only a little darker, without any rifts or any other structural damage. Glenn blinked at the sigh and groaned in disappointment. He collapsed on his back and sighed deeply.
"This is fucking useless...Ah, damn it, I'll just wait for the other asshole and beat his ass..." Glenn muttered while the Orc conjured his Golden Aura, shaping it into a thick yet short spear and a big hammer.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"Don't bother, it's no use..." Glenn groaned as he forced himself up. The orc didn't reply, and undeterred, stabbed his spear in the wall. It didn't even pierce through it, the tip stuck against the dark stone. Nonetheless, Decimius then smashed his hammer against the bottom of the Aura spear, using it like a carving tool, driving a wedge in the stone. At first, the dark wall resisted, but slowly and surely, the spear pierced through the stone while creating small apparent rifts on the surface.
Glenn held his breath, before hurriedly using Divine Blessing on the orc. Driven by even more power, the orc roared and drove the spear deeper, his hammer creating a shockwave with each hit. The stone creaked suddenly, before crumbling helplessly, the exit opening in front of their triumphant eyes. The orc roared as he raised his fists to the sky while Glenn laughed widely.
"Hell yeah, Orc!" Glenn chuckled as he patted Decimius back, who crossed his arms proudly. He took a step back and tapped his muscles, before flexing them. Glenn nodded and even clapped a little, before suddenly shaking his head and concentrating back on the problem at hand. The orc also flinched while looking at his hands in confusion.
"...Cur id facerem?" He muttered, unsure. Glenn jumped through the crack and conjured a small Lux to illuminate their surroundings. That crimson, certainly evil light was nice, but it wasn't enough. They were still in a building of some sort, with a massive wall behind them. The floor, walls, and even ceiling, all were made of that same dark stone material. Whatever it was, it certainly didn't look precious to whoever built this place, even though it was practically indestructible if it wasn't for its weakness to thermal shocks.
The long hallway was reaching for both ends, but the crimson light seemed to come from the right side. Glenn and Decimius exchanged a glance before heading for the right side, their fists clenched and their hearts readied to fight. Suddenly, the ground shook under their feet and red lines appeared on every surface, glowing ominously. A loud, yet dull creak echoed in the distance, followed by an indescribable roar. Glenn shivered, his face pale as he felt like he had just heard the cry of a giant beast, something so large he couldn't even fathom it. The orc similarly took a step back, his hands trembling.
It was the natural reaction of a predator meeting a bigger predator. Whatever made that roar would eat them.
That was a certainty.
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Javier and Sahro dragged their feet in the black sand, the red hue in the distance seemingly never getting closer.
"...By the gods, this place is stupidly large!" Sahro blurted out, frustrated. How long had it been since they started walking? Half a day? A whole day? More than that? He couldn't tell. He had tried to check his Recorder's map, knowing it was supposed to reset by 5 a.m., but the screen only showed "Disconnected".
Javier, as usual, was silent as he strode in the darkness, completely unperturbed at the lack of brightness or the long, almost endless walk. For once, Sahro wished he would have been with Glenn instead of the silent hunter. At least, he could have made up some joke or had some sort of discussion. The two girls would have been fine too.
But no.
He was stuck with the damned, creepy yet likable mute.
"Sigh..." Sahro looked up, failing to peek through the darkness that made their surroundings.
"I would even take a fight with some monster at this point..." He muttered out of boredom when the ground suddenly shook. The sand trembled as red lines appeared in the distance, very, very far away, be it on the sides or in the sky. These red lines were all connected to form some sort of network and were revealing the walls they were built onto. Sahro paled as a roar exploded nearby, the roar of an ancient beast that would probably devour him alive without caring for his puny attacks. Javier also froze, his expression indecipherable. The sand suddenly began to sink and bury the two in.
Javier glanced at Sahro, before disappearing in the shadows without hesitation, running off by himself.
The Black Heir choked at Javier's shamelessness and jumped above the black sand, watching in horror as it fell into some sort of dark, bottomless hole.
"Yeah, fuck this shit," he blurted out before activating his powers and shooting off in a crimson streak of thunder, in the direction of the red light's source. Hopefully, he would be able to find the others and an exit once reaching that point. Behind him, the sand kept on falling, swallowed by that bottomless abyss.
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"...I think I'm starting to enjoy this mode of transportation," joked Milena, her arms tightly wrapped around Liara's waist. The two ladies were standing on top of Liara's sword and flying above the black sand.
Liara smiled dejectedly, "Sorry, but it looks like we're almost there."
Milena pouted in disappointment, "Aww."
The two jumped off as they stood in front of a massive wall made out of dark stone, with an opening carved into it. The mysterious red light was coming from that place. The black sand had left the place to that same dark stone for the floor at some point. There were no indications of a possible exit, only that single opening that led to the source of the red light.
Milena dusted her hands off and looked back at the stretch of black sand worriedly, "I hope the others weren't lost in that place too."
Liara shrugged, "If they were, that only means they will soon join us here. Perhaps we should wait for them in this place?" She glanced at the surroundings, "...It doesn't look dangerous."
Milena pondered for an instant and shook her head, "No, let's go explore that place out. We have no guarantee that they didn't already go through that place, and knowing their temperaments, they are not the kind to wait for others."
Liara chuckled, "It's funny how true that is. Just..." She frowned and walked past Milena, back in the black sand's direction, "...I'm wondering what this does?"
Milena looked back confusedly, "...What does what?"
Liara pointed at a small pedestal with a button in its center, practically buried under the sand, "That."
Milena blinked, "Huh. How did you see that?"
The Black Heiress smiled silently while Milena groaned, "Ah, yeah, of course. Let's just not press that—"
Liara paused, her finger already pressing the button with a sheepish grin, "...Isn't a button meant to be pressed?"
Milena almost let out a curse but a distant roar interrupted her. That roar was...otherworldly, something that could not belong to this world. Something so ancient and evil, that it seemed like it only wanted one thing.
To devour. Liara paled and hurriedly stepped away from the pedestal, as did Milena. Their eyes widened as they watched the black sand sink into a bottomless hole that just appeared. Red lines of light appeared on the pedestal, lighting up more lines on the floor which then proceeded to lit up the entirety of this place. The dark stone walls were covered in that network of red lines, leaving them yet unable to guess accurately how big this place was. The ceiling was far, very far up above, and the same was for the walls that were reaching infinitely high.
"Wait, Milena!" Liara called out, her eyes stuck on the falling black sand. A different, crimson streak of light was shooting above the sand, above the abyss-like hole, and was headed in their direction.
Milena's paleness disappeared slightly and she smiled, "...Actually, let's wait a little before heading in."
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In the Ink Dunes, the middle of nowhere.
A Recorder was lying in the black sand, pulsing with a warning.
"THE OMNISCIENT'S ARRIVAL: ETA 34 MINUTES. BRACE FOR IMPACT"