The cannibals left the defenders well alone.

There was enough to distract them in the middle of that massive room, and the occasional scream still reached Nar.

The thought of being out there, surrounded by cannibals, with no hope of escape… He gripped his sword tighter. There would definitely be no hesitation in his sword.

The enemy’s numbers continued to swell.

Nar shifted his weight to his other leg, and wiped his eyes yet again.

He pressed them closed and opened them, but the relief was brief. They stung and itched from his over wiping.

His hair was slick with sweat, and other things he didn’t want to dwell on, and his shirt was dark with wetness.

At his side, Viy burned against him, pressing against his left arm.

He readjusted his sword, which he rested against the floor, and the movement unglued him from Viy and the worker to his left.

His restlessness sent a ripple through the packed defenders that eventually made its way back to him, and the two of them, Viy and worker, stuck to him once more.

The woman behind him placed a hand on his back to steady herself, and her breath seared his neck. He flinched and her hand was gone. It would be back soon.

He growled and wiped his eyes again.

Why were the cannibals taking so long?

The screams of their victims had long fallen silent. So what were they waiting for? Or had the Climber’s and workers’ combined show of force been enough to dissuade them from attacking?

A loud, guttural yowl pierced the cannibal's hubbub.

Nar lifted his sword in fright.

Similar calls rang out over the purple lit masses, and the cannibals began to move, slowly facing towards the defenders.

Guess we don’t look scary enough, Nar thought, blowing sweat from the tip of his nose.

Silence descended over their multitudes.

Nar’s heart hammered in his chest.

Purple eyes shone in the dim light, hungry in the expectation of the feast to come.

Nar tried and failed to keep his sword arm from shaking. Either out of fear, revulsion, or anger, he couldn’t tell.

“Hold the line!” Kur’s voice sounded again. “The Crystal is with us today!”

A few people shouted encouragements alongside Kur, but it was a failure compared to their earlier rally.

Nar was not amongst those who shouted. Before that mass of purple hunger, he didn’t find the voice to do so.

“The Crystal is with us,” the woman whispered behind him. “The Crystal is with us…”

The Crystal opened these damned Doors! Nar thought.

How could one pray to the very same Crystal that had doomed them?

Before that assembled mass of cannibals, fear of blasphemy or not, Nar was finding it hard to reach out for the Crystal’s aid.

He doubted It was even listening.

A clump of something dripped down his face. It must have been stuck to his hair and he hadn't noticed it.

He flinched at the sticky, clumpy thought of it, and a stray memory hit him, resurrected from the depths of his past.

Hot. Searing. Blinding.

He bared his teeth in a snarl and pushed against the memory.

But his burning eyes and wet face made it impossible.

He remembered how he had gotten covered in it.

He and his dad had left that house, and never returned to it…

His sword now shook for a different reason.

Yes. How could he pray?

How had he been praying all this time? How could he have begged and praised?

After all that had happened? How could he forget? How could he forgive?

A wet series of growls and groans dragged him back to the current nightmare.

They rang out sharp and brief and the masses screamed and yipped.

They beat their chests and threw their hands up.

The sounds of their unholy celebration drawled over to the defenders.

It felt like a wet, slimy tongue licking his ears, and Nar flinched. He scratched his ears on his shoulders, growling in disgust and hatred.

Opposite him, laughter and hollering burst out amongst the cannibals.

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Nar’s sword went deadly still.

Something spread from the center of his chest. Not quite painful. More like an itch.

It spread down his legs. Down his arms. Up his neck, reaching for his mind…

It reached for the hand that held the sword, and firmed his grip around it

Nar’s heart slowed.

Vision darkened at the edges.

A pressure settled over his chest, and he found it hard to breathe.

His palms itched, and his feet shifted over pinpricks.

His heart beat faster and faster, his sight coming in and out of focus at the ungodliness before him.

His chest hurt, like something was trying to claw its way out of him.

His sight darkened and darkened at all that death and suffering.

Those had been people. Climbers like him, fleeing for the O-Nex with hopes and dreams, and asking nothing more than to be treated like people. To be accepted like the Crystal’s other children. To live freely in the light and the color and the abundance of the Infinite Nexus.

Instead, this had been their gruesome end.

Nar clenched his jaw so hard, he felt something crack.

They all need to…

Something hit him across the head

The world exploded back into noise and purple light.

“Come on, Viy!” Tuk said. “It’s me, Tuk!”

Nar looked to his left, still dazed at the sudden return to reality, the side of his face throbbing with pain.

Viy was slapped her ears with heavy and desperate blows.

“I didn’t want it!” she shouted. “I didn’t know!”

“What the fuck is wrong with her?” Mul said, from the other side. His voice was low with fear, rather than anger.

“I don’t know!” Tuk shouted back.

The trugger tried to grab her arms but Viy pushed him away with her superior [Strength]. She lashed out at him and Nar dodged out of the way to avoid her stray elbow.

“I didn’t do it!” she said. “I didn’t want it! Why won’t you listen to me?”

The absurdity of the moment left him blank.

On one side, thousands of cannibals celebrated, viewing to devour them all. On the other, Viy was having some kind of mental breakdown right by his side.

You hate me, don’t You? Nar thought.

“What’s going on there?” Kur asked.

“I don’t know!” Tuk shouted. “She’s going crazy! Grab her spear!”

Mul picked up Viy’s weapon and wrenched it from her.

“Fucking Crystal, why can’t I catch a break!” he shouted. He held the weapon against his chest, and looked wide eyed at Viy.

“Calm her down!” Gad shouted.

“What do you think I’m trying to do?” Tuk snapped.

The cannibals suddenly shouted as one, drawing all eyes back to the front.

Then, they charged the defenders in a chaotic mass.

“Fuck!” Mul said, scrambling with the spear. “Shit! What do we do?”

Viy answered for him.

She snapped her weapon back from the brawler, and lowered into position, her deadly weapon pointing forwards.

Mul, Tuk and Nar exchanged looks.

Mul opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it and closed it again.

By silent agreement, the three of them decided to just let her be, and not say anything that could trigger her again, hoping she would be if not fine, at least in fighting shape.

When Nar looked forward again, a screaming cannibal was almost on top of him.

He backed in panic, but those behind him kept him in place.

With a split-second to do something, Nar mimicked Viy and extended his sword forward, lifting it with both hands.

The man didn’t even stop.

Sword and flesh met, and joined.

The cannibal crashed against him, their heads meeting with a sickening thud, and the Nexus exploded in pain.

Dimly, Nar felt another impact and his sword grew heavier.

Blinded by the pain on his nose and by rising fear, he twisted his blade down and up, then sideways, trying to get it free. Too late did he realize his mistake. He didn’t have a spear. He had a sword, and now he couldn’t swing it.

Hands reached from behind the dead cannibals and scratched at his face and neck.

His sight was still blurry from the impact, and all he could do was free one of his hands to swat at them. But they were insistent, and a finger made it into his shirt, under his jaw.

He was yanked forward.

More hands grabbed onto him, and he fought to keep from being lifted up into that hungry mass.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light and Nar was blasted back against the worker behind him.

Dazed, he worked his sword back and forward and finally managed to get it back.

Gasping for air, he looked up.

Cen’s [Aura Projectile] had cleared a 30-feet hole in the frenzied mass of cannibals, and Tuk was doing his best to keep it from closing again.

The trugger looked grim, but his rings flew without hesitation. Long, graceful arcs of glistening purple trailed behind his lethal weapons, and for a moment, he held the gap.

That moment was all that Nar needed. He found that his nose was still intact, though bloodied, and his sword was now freed and ready.

We’re good. We’re good! he thought, and spat out a glob of blood.

He raised his sword, using both hands again, and held it above his head.

Cut down. We gotta cut them down, he told himself, his thoughts running wild with adrenaline. We can do this. Cut! Cut!

The cannibals surged through once more. Tuk still downed them by the score, but the sheer numbers spilled through, barely even slowed down.

Nar stepped forwards into the tide and brought his arms down.

The first cannibal wend down, but Nar had already turned his attention to the one howling behind it.

Cut.

Cut.

Cut.

He cut three times more before the bodies pressed on him again, and crushed him against the lines once more.

He shouted against the press of bodies and thrust his sword forward, ramming through Crystal knows how many.

He didn’t wait for it to get stuck again, and pulled his sword back out immediately. He stabbed it back and forth, already forgetting all about his decision to not use his weapon like a spear in the press of bodies.

However, his mad thrusts gained him some breathing room, and the worker’s hands on his back managed to push him forward again.

Hardly knowing what he was doing or what was happening, he slashed his sword sideways, feeling it cut through and smash bone with ease.

More than once he felt the sword slipping out of his grip, so slick it was. But he never stopped.

He was alone, with just the beating of his heart for company in this world of screams, snarling faces and grasping hands.

A long time later, someone crashed into him from the side.

“Let go of me!”

“Viy, it's just me!”

Viy swung her spear wildly with one hand, and with the other she wrestled with Tuk.

“What’s happening?” Nar asked, in a hoarse voice.

“She’s fucking lost it again!” Mul said.

He had stepped out a bit further to cover for Tuk and Viy both, and Gad was trying to hold both hers and the brawler's spot.

Behind her, Kur was shouting in her ear, and Cen held the staff up. It glowed, ready with the promise of more devastation.

“I have nothing to give you!” Viy shouted at Tuk. “Leave me alone!”

She swiped her spear in his direction and he ducked under the weapon.

That was enough for Viy to finally wrench her arm free.

She turned, and walked into the cannibals.

Nar watched her go, stunned stupid, and rooted in place.

She scythed through the crowd, as easily as if they weren’t there, pressing deeper and deeper.

“Stop her!” Kur shouted. “She’s going to get herself killed!”

“How?” Mul asked. He had his hands full with a large altei that was trying to force him down.

Tuk grabbed Nar’s arm and pulled him close.

“You need to go!” he shouted in his ear. “You have to get her back!”

Nar stared at him.

Had he lost his mind?

The trugger wanted him to go into that?

“Please, Nar! I can’t do it!” Tuk begged him. “Has to be you!”

Nar looked back at Viy.

She was getting farther and farther from the frontline, and the path behind her was starting to close again.

“Nar!” Tuk shouted, shaking him.

“Nar, get her back!” Kur shouted.

This is… I can’t… I…

The path was closing. Soon she would be lost.

But… My dad! I can’t… Not for a Clean… Not for…

The cannibals closed the way behind Viy.

Her gleaming spear rose and fell one last time, and disappeared in the mess of hungry faces.

I can’t. I can’t do it! I can’ just risk everything for a… Oh! Crystal damn it!

Growling, Nar leaped forward after her. Into the madness.