John Bishop: I told you, William. I told you this shit would happen. But you don’t listen. You never—
William Yu: My son. The Keter-System is bond to him. He’s the Concept-Breaker. He’s coming for me. And the Inheritors are going after him.
John Bishop: Fuck.
-John Bishop and William Yu, Trespassers
63
Form of the Harvester (II)
As Wei returned to the sanctuary, he saw Rafael making modifications to the cipher array he had laid down earlier. Countless more signs, symbols, and reference circuits now lined the ceiling, creating a constellation formed from complicated scriptures. Wei didn't fully understand all the details, but his Enlightenment resonated within, and his elevated memory began to pick out patterns. He had no difficulty coding previously existing signs from those recently added.
As his Omniscience traced the patterns, he found one glowing in specificity. Brilliant routes ran from a single spherical sign, traveling through an entire network before finally connecting to an active portal beside Wei. A shimmering veil of blue light emanated from the Path of Lust, and as Wei projected his perception into its depths, he found his mind whirling as if the currents of space had been rerouted by a superior force.
Roggi's thunderous steps echoed through the sanctuary as he marched forth, his colossal form like that of a trash and rot-laden owl, his wings festering with tumors and boils, yet still flapping with relative ease. Clasped at the center was an oxymoronic Oathbearer, seeming both clean and filthy at the same time. They said nothing as they regarded the young master, their eyes blood-red and shimmering with determination.
"You're back already? Good. Bones here already got us a path. All we need to do is go through."
Wei gave the Oathbearer a nod before taking out a spatial navigator and handing it to Agnesia.
"Here," Wei said, "I'm trusting you with this."
The girl looked down at the spatially-altering artifact with a puzzled expression. "Why are you giving this to me?"
"Because someone," Wei said, his voice thin with derision, "needs to take those three." He pointed at three elves currently huddled in the corner, shooting him terrified glances. "And make something of themselves. As you are my inner-court disciple, the outer-court disciples are your business, your burden, and your responsibility."
Agnesia's eyes widened with disbelief, a flicker of golden flames leaking from her eyes. "So you're throwing them off to me, like I'm some kind of nursemaid?"
"Don't be ridiculous, girl. You're not qualified to be nursemaid; you’re barely developed as is."
An offended look crossed Agnesia's face, and her cheeks flushed with color as she folded her arms over her chest. “You–”
"Your responsibility is to make something of these three. Your duty is far greater than that of someone trying to wean some mongrel children off a nipple. And take your mother, too. Maybe they'll get some sense from her, and some bravery from you."
Ellena stared on, her jaw slightly open.
Agnesia continued staring at Wei, her glare so intense that he felt a searing sensation build upon the center of his forehead.
"You should take this as an honor, girl. I’ve barely known you a day, and already I'm entrusting you with the future of our sect."
"Our sect?" Agnesia snarled. "Ours? I didn't even agree to be whatever this outer disciple is."
"You are not an outer disciple; you're an inner disciple. Stop demoting yourself. I will not allow it. Also," Wei interrupted her just as she opened her mouth, "you should be glad that you are already an inner-court disciple. Most sect patriarchs demand some display of fealty or offering before they take someone under their tutelage. Luckily for you, I am as powerful as I am magnanimous."
Rafael coughed slightly—somehow. The damn thing didn't even have a throat, so why was it coughing? Roggi snorted, and Ellena pinched her nose for some reason. Was there something that smelled bad?
With everything said, Wei gave the girl a nod and moved on to more important matters. "Rafael, prepare your invisibility field."
Roggi shot the young master a look, and Wei continued. "We don't know the situation or what threat they might be facing. You said they might have encountered a knight. Well, I would prefer to be the one doing the surprising rather than being surprised."
The Oathbearer's eyes darted about for a second before he simply nodded. "Got it. I just sent them another message. Keep our arrival real subtle-like."
"Perfect," Wei said. "Now, let's get your Trine back, shall we?"
As soon as they stepped through the portal, Wei found himself drowned in a world of glorious splendor. Colors so vivid that his eyes hurt to behold them flashed in his vision. Scents and fragrances, sublime and divine, assailed his nostrils. Angelic chimes and heavenly melodies echoed through the expanse, the progressing notes massaging his temples. Compared to the Moongraves of Wrath, Pride, or Envy, Lust was a place someone wanted to be. Lust was a place someone could crave, rather than a space being a broken battlefield or some fog-ridden swamp filled with optical illusions and invisible demons.
This place was beyond idyllic. The scenery before him unfolded: a soft river running with limpid amber liquids tickled his nostrils. What flowed wasn't water, but a sweet nectar infused with the taste of alcohol. Sprawling gardens thick with every kind of flower welcomed them, but the vegetation was not wild. Instead, they were manicured, ordered, pleasing to the sight in arrangement and symmetry. Well-paved paths shining bright with gleaming gold greeted them, and tassels trailed down overhead as if banners set up for arriving guests.
Looking up, Wei regarded the obsidian pylon hovering just overhead and discovered the point of their entry to be that of a Specialization Rift. His Omniscience stretched almost a full kilometer, but his mind was drowned by sensations and movements. The sheer flood of sensory detail made his head ache. Once more, he triggered his Lesser Hollow Mind and tuned out most of the information, rendering his thoughts a dull haze. It also granted him a deep focus. They weren't here to take in the scenery. They were here to rescue Roggi's friends and potentially expand the sect while they were at it.
It was then that Wei started taking stock of the local demons. The weakest of their number weren't like the collectors—wretched corpses piled by red, gripping veins—or even the golden-ambered knights that protected the Moongrave of Pride. Now, things here were beautiful but also quite degenerate. Large, suggestive serpents shaped like genitalia slithered around, their faces androgynous, their limbs bare, as were their torsos. There were also questionable openings on their belly buttons, hands, and chests.
It was at this moment that Wei decided to think even less about the reasons behind their design. Melodic giggles sounded from one of these creatures, its voice vivacious. Yet, thanks to his omniscience, Wei could perceive far more keenly than any other. He gazed within the creature as well and noticed the many rows of razor-sharp teeth hiding behind those soft, supple lips. A place of lust and glamour though this was, these were still demons. And demons made prey of all humankind.
Most of them were content to frolic in the shrubbery and also… lick each other in ways Wei found a bit too invasive. There were downsides to having Omniscience. Especially when you could perceive from within a demon as well.
One of them slithered through the grass, its porcelain skin glistening under the bright blue skies above. Guarded by Rafael's invisibility field, the demon of lust didn't notice Wei, Roggi, or the lich. But still, it sauntered next to the river and marveled at its own appearance, giggling as if a child beholding something incredible.
"Why's it got all those holes on it?" Roggi asked.
"I could tell you, my friend," Rafael began, "but I fear Wei here might be a little bit too young to hear such an answer."
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The young master eyed the lich, whose jocular tone faltered into a series of coughs. "Of course, if you're interested—"
"I am not interested," Wei said, cutting him off. He paused. "But I still take offense to the assumption."
"Yes, of course. It's just, you are powerful and wise and very skilled in many ways. But you are also quite young."
"I'm young, I'm not—" Wei paused, gesturing downwards. "I am aware of women, how they are, how they exist."
"Right," Rafael said. "I don't mean to insinuate doubt in any way."
"But you have," Wei finished.
"If I did, I apologize," Rafael said. The lich then looked away, his invisible field oscillating just beyond, shrouding each of them like a blanket.
The young master spent a few seconds more staring at the vexxingTrespasser before he summoned his Eidolon and traced a cut through the air. A sudden gale of sharpened wind manifested along the Demon of Lust's midsection. What should have been a little more than a breeze sliced the demon deep and through. Its innards spilled out, and even their gore was aromatic in flavor. Wei regarded the demon disdainfully and felt only a slight trickle build up within his class.
The rest immediately stopped their disgusting licking and fled from him in an instant.
He killed the creature out of annoyance, but also out of burgeoning curiosity. He wanted to see just how much his power could grow by killing feeble low-level creatures. The answer, unsurprisingly, was not much. Not much at all. After his Class Divergence, he no longer had Arrogance as a critical resource. In its place existed Scorn.
His Scorn rested at ten percent and slowly built with everything he killed, everything he broke. Apparently, even that was determined by how much damage he inflicted or how severe the death. For this demon, it offered him barely a half percent, hardly enough to empower him at all.
Wei also felt a strange pang emanate from within his System. Turning his attention inward, he noted that his Concept Core of the Harvest echoed with a sense of hunger demanding more investiture. Memories and experiences of taking something from another, taking one's life, seemed to affect the concept core somewhat. But merely killing and destroying was not enough. It seemed that the Harvest demanded something more fundamental to fuel its experiences.
"Roggi, do you have a specific location for where they are in the Moongrave?" Wei asked.
He kept his Omniscience wide to scout for other demons, but after the first one was split apart, the others went silent, no longer singing, all huddling upon the soft, rich, and black soil.
"Yeah," Roggi said. "Agrave said they were holed up in an old building somewhere. One of them got injured earlier. Not sure what hit them, but it should be right near one of the Essence Rifts here."
"One of the Essence Rifts," Wei said. Truly, he did so love locational accuracy. "I suppose we best begin looking, then."
"Ah, but I have a solution to that," Rafael said, cutting Wei off.
"Oh?" the young master replied. "Do you now, lich?"
"Yes," Rafael said. He traced a few symbols in the air and then connected them with each other. With the final prick of his platonic scalpel, the symbols flew upwards, layering over the sky before expanding outwards. The lines traced across the vastness of distance, his awareness pierced through the dim haze brought on by his Lesser Hollow Mind.
For the second time, he regarded the blue skies dotted with soft, white clouds above him and realized there was another difference in this moon grave. No lightning, no ugly haze. Everything was as close to paradise as possible. Hell had many faces. One of them had to look good.
Of the three lines Rafael cast out, two dissolved as if oats in a current, while one thickened, turning into a directional tether before fading altogether. "That one," Rafael said.
"How do you know?" Wei asked, at once curious and suspicious of the lich's capabilities.
"Oh, it's a simple working, Master Wei. It's something I can teach you very easily. It simply detects the fluctuations of essence within the local atmosphere."
"Truly," Wei said. "How exciting. You will show me this technique when we are finished here."
They progressed on through a grove lined with golden trees, Wei's Omniscience detected strange demons that resembled something between apes and parrots sitting in the branches above. Their wings were dotted with viridescent blades. Most of them were content to whistle to each other, trading upbeat and rapid tunes. The young master got the impression that these were ambush predators, prepared to dive or flick their sharpened quills to pierce unwary walkers beneath. Thankfully, their perception seemed to be lacking.
The trio progressed slowly, emerging from the rustic little forest to arrive in elysian fields of flowing gold. There, far in the distance, a black pillar hovered. Beneath it churned a swirling rift. But that wasn't all. Nearby, there seemed to be a set of aesthetic ancient ruins, with collapsed walls trailing around a dilapidated but dignified temple. Marble walls shimmered in the light. A grand doorway already battered down allowed wind to flow through.
It was then that the outer edge of Wei's Omniscience detected the Oathbearers and the Trine they guarded. One of them was grievously injured, missing most of their lower body. The other two had propped him against the doorway while they took a defensive posture. Hundreds of demonic corpses littered the ground, carpeting the path leading into the ruins in swaths of trailing gore.
Most of the dead were those snake-like demons with far too many questionable holes. However, there were also a few large and mutilated forms, seeming as if someone had taken chunks out of their flesh. They were so misshapen that Wei couldn't fully conceive of how they looked before their demise.
Yet something felt wrong. The way the Oathbearers were standing, not speaking to each other. The flat expression on the trine's face. Each of the faebloods showing no hint of fear. There was something off here. The only problem was Wei couldn't quite tell what.
"I found them," Wei said, speaking softly to his fellows. "One of your brothers is badly injured, Roggi."
The Oathbearer's response was muted and controlled. "Is he dead? Which one is it?"
Wei focused his omniscience and found that the Oathbearer was missing a helmet. He did note that they had a strange blonde ponytail. He conferred these details to Roggi, and the Oathbearer snorted. "Stalag. Yeah, he always complained about his legs. He's not gonna miss them."
The casualness of the Oathbearer's response brought a smile to Wei's face. He wasn't sure if it was the absurdity of how Roggi faced horror, but mocking death and grievous injury was one of the few powers anyone could possess in defiance of the heavens. This was a good trait to have.
"Most of the surrounding demons seemed to have been slaughtered already," Wei said. "Some of them were killed by your brothers, this I'm sure. Their forms are pulverized. But some… some look eaten."
"Eaten?" Rafael asked. "Like someone took a bite out of them?"
"Yes," Wei said. "Mangled pieces of flesh with entire sections chewed away."
"Ugh, that sounds like Talo's gotten a bit peckish," Roggi replied, giving a snort. "Gonna make fun of that fat bastard once I see him. Come on, let's—"
"I have a suggestion," Rafael interrupted.
Both the young master and the Oathbearer regarded the lich with a shared stare. "You should go out and meet them," Rafael began. "Wei and I will trail close and offer our continued support."
"Don't tell me you're getting scared again, bony," Roggi said, with only a slight hint of derision.
"Not at all," Rafael replied, holding no such obsequiousness to the Oathbearer. "However, I am concerned that we might be dealing with a hidden threat."
"And you're using me as bait," Roggi replied.
"Yes," Rafael said without hesitation. "If we are all revealed, then we're all made vulnerable."
Roggi gave a casual grunt. "Fine, whatever the case, I'll go speak to them first. You two just be ready to cover my arse. Already lost my arm, my hammer, most of my dignity, and my good looks."
"They weren't that good," Wei replied.
"Losing something that wasn't much is still losing it, isn't it?" Roggi shot back with annoyance.
Wei considered that for a moment. "Fair enough. Do not worry, I will be here, even if our trespasser friend has a sudden onrush of calculated cowardice."
"Yes, Wei's—" Rafael's voice trailed off as he suddenly realized what the young master said.
With that, Roggi left the veil and rose upward with a flap of his wings, a spray of filth pulsating from tumors splattered downward. Wei spun his broken crescent and formed a protective barrier of wind, barricading himself from any of the stains. The same couldn't be said for Rafael, who was promptly drenched in a bit of filth.
"You could have expanded that," Rafael said.
"It slipped my mind," Wei replied casually.
They watched as the Oathbearer sailed through the air, his form large and bulbous, his wings too small and wretched to be carrying him onward so quickly. They followed close thereafter, Wei grasping them with a rushing whirlwind to keep pace with Roggi. Wei's expanded omniscience allowed him to peek upon the scene ahead as Roggi landed just beyond the archway where his comrades were nested. His colossal, bulbous form splattered the demons beneath his boots as he slowly began to saunter toward the other Oathbearers.
"Agate? Stalag? What are you doing there? Why are you holding near the door? Have you all gone deaf from killing demons? That doesn't look like a good position. What's wrong with you? And the Trine? Why aren't they... why aren't they singing?"
Suddenly the same question came to Wei's mind. The Trine always possessed a song in their souls. He couldn't hear it right now.
And suddenly, a Dilation Echo manifested. A blow was coming. Something would grip Roggi. Something unseen would tear him asunder, pull him apart. Wei witnessed the Oathbearer’s forthcoming death—he would be pried apart limb from limb. And then something would devour his torso before he ever had the chance to fight back.
Wei responded in an instant. In a blast of motion, he emerged from Rafael's invisible veil. In the same moment Roggi was supposed to be taken, he cut out with his crescent and flung the Oathbearer aside. The walls lining the front door burst apart as if a tidal wave of force had erupted behind them. Rocks and debris shot out everywhere as Roggi was cast aside, spared certain death.
Wei suddenly realized the other Oathbearers were moving, their bodies dangling in midair, and the trine along with them. They seemed to be floating. Floating. A sharp spike of pain passed through the young master's mind. His Omniscience was perceiving something, but he just couldn't focus long enough to notice it. Or perhaps he just couldn't remember.
Aspect of (Enlightenment) has failed to resist [Object Impermanence].