[CHAPTER 17]

They all watched as the glowing motes of light blossomed into massive fireballs, consuming nearby Antithesis and incinerating them. One of them impacted the warhead streaking through the air before detonating and setting off the warhead.

The world seemed to hold its breath for a moment before suddenly all the heat was yanked from the air. Leo was so focused on the warhead that he was able to watch as a shard of brilliant red crystal exploded into a star before growing exponentially. He watched as the fireball was consumed almost as fast as it was created. Movement on the edge of his view pulled his attention, and he watched as all the crystal growths he caused with his grenades similarly seemed to suck in the flames and explode in growth.

The few patches of Greek Fire he had used to block the Antithesis during his rush around the pillar swirled into nearby crystal growths, feeding the unstoppable growth.

Aegys’ urgent voice broke him out of the trance he was in watching the Solitite grow and he rapidly placed a hard-light wall on the cavern side of the doorway. The moment he did, he noticed a group of Solitite rapidly growing towards the doorway before it pressed against the wall mere inches from Leo's nose with a tink.

The room crackled and the small group heard the tinkling of falling crystal as everything seemed to come to a stop.

“What. The. Fuck. Just happened?” Hawkins whispered.

“Umm, Aegys? Any ideas?” Leo asked

The AI spoke through the comms, “I am not sure. There are no known variants of Antithesis that would be able to launch fireballs like that.”

“Well obviously something happened. Was the hive destroyed in all that?” Kat asked

Aegys managed to sound unsure. “Unknown. I would suggest going back now that the Solitite seems to have stopped growing. Be extremely careful though, many of the crystal growths will have points only a singular molecule thick.”

Leo took a deep breath to settle the adrenaline coursing through him before dropping the hard-light wall and carefully edging past the few points of crystal that had grown towards the doorway. Once past those he got his first full look at what the cavern had become.

What was once a sim cavern thick with green plant life and the smell of damp vegetation had become a crystallized wasteland. Vines had become ropes of glittering red crystals. Digestive pools had grown large crystal structures that looked like explosions frozen in time. In a few spots there were Antithesis that looked like animals stuck in spikey amber. Most impressive of all though, was the central spire.

What had originally looked like the twisted trunk of a massive tree with roots crawling across both the floor and ceiling was now a twisted mass of shimmering red solitite. The light in the room seemed to play across it as if a living flame was trapped inside.

The crunch of crystal beneath boots signaled Hawkins and Burns stepping up behind him while Kat stopped at his side.

“It’s…beautiful.” She breathed. “Absolutely terrifying but…”

No one had anything to add to that. They all stood there for a couple minutes, staring around the cavern in a mixture of awe and fear. Suddenly there was a loud crack that seemed to echo around the area and Leo saw a shower of crystal from around the back of the central pillar.

The sudden sound had all of them dropping into combat stances. As one, they all began stalking around the pillar with weapons trained and ready. They rounded the pillar, passing by an enormous amount of frozen Antithesis, just in time to see a figure burst from a hole in the ground with a shower of Solitite shards flying through the air. Leo managed to get a couple hard-light walls above them to act as umbrellas as they all stared at the person standing in front of them.

The person wore high-heeled boots that went up to their thighs, a black and purple corset that did not look comfortable to fight in, and a flowing cloak in the same colors. They lifted their head, a large witch hat on top, and caught sight of the small group. In her hand was a staff with a glowing orb on top. Leo thought she looked familiar, but he couldn’t quite place her. He was about to say something when she called out with a smile on her face.

"Oh my, I hope you kiddos are alright! I should have guessed that a Samurai weapon would have a catch to it. Do any of you need medical attention?” She asked brightly as she brushed some stray crystals off her hat.

Leo stared for a moment. He never expected someone to bust through the ground into a hive which was already underground, much less someone dressed as a witch. “Umm, I thi–”

Suddenly, her hat spoke, "You can darn well tell they are fine just spooked."

Leo tried to speak up, but the witch continued on over him.

"Yes, but it's polite to ask and I feel it's my responsibility to be the adult here and fix my errors." She scolded.

"Indeed, the queen of never wrong admits a mistake, cute." The hat snarked.

"Hush you!" The witch poked at her hat before looking back at Leo.

"Sorry, for him. Anyone hurt? And do you need help clearing up this quite lovely mess?" She asked, looking intently at the party with a smile.

Leo’s brain finally caught up after the whiplash of the conversation. Something about the witch seemed off to him. Her eyes were extremely focused, almost like a mountain lion who spotted its prey. There was something in the way she moved, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Her smile, too, seemed odd in a way that refused description. Human, but also, not.

Leo cleared his throat and shook off his thoughts. “No, none of us are hurt. As for the mess, I’m not sure how I can get rid of it.”

She walked closer, again pinging something in his brain that made him slightly uncomfortable. “Oh, it’s not an issue. I’m sure we can figure out how to get rid of this just as soon as I can scan it and figure out what exactly it is.” She turned towards a nearby group of crystals and stared intently while mumbling to herself.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

Kat apparently got over her own shock and blurted out, “Are you the Witch of the West?”

The Samurai, since she couldn’t be anything else, spun to look at Kat with a brilliant smile, one that didn’t give Leo the shivers. She swept her hat off her head and flourished a bow. “The one and only.”

The hat spoke up with a sigh. “Oh dear, I’ll have to resize the hat again if you keep doing that.”

In response the woman, Witch of the West, simply threw her hat. Leo watched as it flew for a second before discorporating into a black mist which flowed back toward her and reformed on her head.

Leo looked over to Kat to see her almost vibrating with excitement. Apparently, so did Witch, since she smirked as she walked over. “Look at you! You must be a new Samurai. What's your name?”

Kat's eyes got wide as Witch strode up to her. “I-It’s Kat Ma’am.”

Witch’s eyes widened as she gasped. “You really are new! You don’t even have a name yet! Oh! You’re too adorable!” Suddenly, she grabbed Kat and hugged her to her chest. Leo tried not to look too much, but it wasn’t easy. “What do you do? What’s your theme?” She asked the young woman trapped in her arms.

Kat looked like a deer caught in headlights as she answered. “Umm, I do a lot of turrets and static defenses.”

A thoughtful look came over Witch’s face. “Hmm. I got it! How about Redoubt since you set up a defensible position close to the fighting?”

Leo was fairly certain that Kat couldn’t smile any brighter, but somehow she did. “I love it!” She squealed. Leo was sure he could see actual stars shining in Kat’s eyes.

Letting her go, Witch turned towards Leo. “And you must be the one with the eye for crystals. What’s your name?”

He cleared his throat, a little less starstruck than Kat, but still nervous meeting an established Samurai for the first time. “I’m Leo, Miss Witch. But I guess my Samurai name would be Phoenix.”

She pouted slightly. “Darn. Well one name is better than nothing I suppose. Plus, it looks like your AI decided on your theme already.”

“Now, about these crystals. As pretty as they are, I’m assuming the people who own this space don’t want them staying?”

Leo saw a new entry pop up in his team comms channel right as Aegys began speaking. “About that. I am Aegys, Samurai Phoenix’ Vanguard AI. The crystal around us is actually a silicone-based crystal known as Solitite. Solitite reacts quite violently with heat, as you saw, but has a naturally occurring counter known as Inhibis. There is an item called the Solitite Disruption Sphere which will cause the Solitite to stop expanding and, if enough is present, will cause the Solitite to dissolve. Leo, you would need to buy at least five to cover enough to bring the concentration of Solittie below the self-sufficiency level. Eight will completely eradicate the Solitite.”

He nodded. “Let’s get eight then. No reason to leave a possibility it will come back.”

Witch was obviously excited. “New materials? Now this, I have to see.”

New Purchase: Solitite Disruption Sphere

Points reduced to - 6945

A box appeared on a nearby crystal growth. Leo opened it to reveal eight smooth, black orbs that had a mirror finish on them.

‘Thanks’

Eight waypoints, much like ones he had seen in games, appeared in Leo's vision. As he made his way to each spot, Witch of the West followed him.

“You must have killed a lot of Antithesis to be able to afford something like this.” She gestured at the crystal surrounding them. “Are you also new?” She asked as they walked.

He nodded. “Me and Kat were initialized at around the same time. We were part of the Samurai Rush gaming tournament.”

“Interesting. I might have to look into that.”

“It’s a pretty fun game. But as for killing Antithesis, I haven’t actually killed all that many before we got to the hive. Why wouldn’t I be able to afford it?”

She looked thoughtful. “From what I understand, most gear is priced based on a few factors. How advanced the technology is compared to Earth, How complicated it is, and the damage potential both immediately and in the future. For something like this which can become self-sufficient and take over an area, I would imagine it would have a steep price.”

Her hat spoke up. “I can answer that for you. I’m Merlin, Witch of the West’s AI. I was speaking with Aegys about Solitite. The concentration needed to become self-sufficient here on Earth would have been almost impossible for Phoenix to reach on his own without planning to do exactly that. What happened here was basically a perfect storm of coincidences. Phoenix had thrown multiple crystal grenades, which cause bursts of Solitite growths that usually only last a few minutes, all around the area. When he launched the Hive Buster, which contained a condensed Solitite crystal, you launched your fireballs causing the Solitite to absorb the heat and rapidly replicate, quickly reaching the singularity needed to become self-sufficient.”

Leo set down the fourth orb and they continued on. “Well, at least I got a shield up in time. We almost had our entrance blocked off.”

Witch waved her hand. “You would have been fine. I put up a shield before launching the fireballs just in case y’all got hit by shrapnel. Can’t be too careful.”

They walked in silence as Leo placed the final few orbs. When they reached the rest of Leo’s party, Witch spoke up. “Alright then! Let’s get these things activated and make sure this hive is dead. I need a shower.”

“Let’s get through the doorway first. I don’t exactly want to dissolve a crystal into the top of our heads.” Leo pointed up at some of the hanging crystals.

The motley crew of people trooped carefully across the field of sharp, glittering crystal. Hawkins and Burns looked every which way to make sure everything was dead, Kat stared awestruck at Witch of the West, who in turn pocketed a few chunks of Solitite, and Leo led them all to the doorway.

Once they were all through Leo placed a hard-light shield in front of the doorway. “We should be good to activate the orbs, right Aegys?”

“Whenever you’re ready.”

He glanced back and got nods. “Go for it.”

They all peered through the doorway as the orbs they could see burst into clouds of black glitter. The glitter stuck to the Solitite before eating away at it.

Hawkins sucked in a breath. “I would not want to be caught in that. Looks dangerous.”

Aegys spoke up. “Actually, you would be fine. The biggest danger to being in that room right now is–”

Suddenly a large crash sounded as a piece of crystal that was on the ceiling came crashing down.

“–That. The Inihibis actually breaks off into rounded shards so there is no worry of lacerations.”

Hawkins only gave a non-committal “Huh.” in response.

Around ten minutes after it started, Aegys told them the Solitite was gone and they could go back in. The group waded through the gray dust and saw that the center of the room held a large, cylindrical pillar.

“So that’s what the hive was covering. Any idea what it is?” Kat asked.

Merlin spoke up from his place atop Witch’s head. “It is a power generator for the building. It looks like it’s in a sort of sleep mode due to overheating. When fully active though, it would let off lots of electro-magnetic radiation. Probably the reason for the hive's abnormal ECM shielding.”

Witch nodded. “Makes sense. In other news, I’m not picking up any signs of Antithesis. Looks like they were all crystallized.”

Leo just slumped a little. “Finally. I never imagined being an actual Samurai could be so tiring”

Witch patted him on the back. “Poor kid. Let’s get you somewhere with food and a bed.”

As they turned to leave, Hawkins said, “At least we don’t have to sweep all that. I feel bad for the janitorial crew.”

Witch stopped. “Good point!” With a wave of her hand, a cloud of black left her cloak and began sweeping around the room. Everywhere it passed was clean of any dust. The rest of the team gave her a look. “What? It’s good silicon, I can use it to make stuff.”

They collectively shook their heads as they headed back to the main level.