An explosion of flavor burst in just one bite; the texture was soft and tender. With each successive mastication, the mellow flavors of egg further blended with the rich and savory worm in ways Kate had never conceived. “I have to hand it to her. If she never came around, we’d never get to eat these.”
As if to make a toast with Triton, who sat across the table with his own, Kate held up one of Mephisto’s World Famous Saint-Egg Omelets. Now, as a local Kate understood that he merely wanted to capitalize on Fount Salt’s new nickname—The Egg of the Saint—but she always got a good laugh when she heard tourists from up the Boreal scrambling to get theirs, forming huge lines every morning.
Triton also got a good laugh out of it, “Those idiots. It’s not like she laid the eggs. What do they think the connection is?”
There were dots which led to Mephisto’s spike in sales, but he let the people connect them on their own. While his new dish was named after the legendary saint, he renamed his legacy ‘Mephisto’s World Famous Saint’s Choice Wormwich’.
“I’m just glad he changed it from the Hidden Wormwich.” Kate’s omelet was no more and she sighed, “We better get everybody some. They said the egg was cold by the time we got back yesterday.”
“That bastard Mephisto was supposed to sell me some eggs to make at home. Guess they got too popular.” A hop, skip, and a few clouds up the Boreal was where the old man had sourced them. Some ‘stromrak’ farm, whatever the hell that is. Triton cleared his throat and got up to do a few stretches, “Well, we better get moving. Big day today.”
“Ugh, don’t tell me about it.” Kate rolled her eyes and found a seat in the spooky skiff the illustrious saint and such had left them.
“Oh, it won’t be too bad. It’s been a while since we saw Lomp.” The Underseer was very busy lately taking over the role of Overseer from Pappy. The Gandeux regulator they sent was evidently unimpressed by their meeting, but when his final report on the ‘Fount Saint’ incident hit Port, the wrinkly descendant was the natural recipient of the blame.
“It’s not Lomp I’m worried about.” Kate shook her head, “Will you just hurry it up? Could have bought me another too, ya know.”
“Sorry, sorry,” Triton stuffed the remainder of his last omelet in his mouth and started ascending. Uru had been brighter since its law was lifted and there seemed to be more money flowing through the city. Some tourists had even made efforts to move there for whatever god-awful reason.
Nymphus saw a small spike as well, but the streets of Uru were already extending out towards the side opposite the Dark Stratum using rust-proof materials under the direct oversight of the Ganduex. It was becoming a lively city and the pirate population slowly dissipated by the day.
Even with the twinkling lights below, the entire chamber was lit from above as the golden sun Cira left behind still burned strong well over a month later—so much so that it was uncomfortably bright inside the plague ward. Rather than the ones she left to burn up the deritium, this one was paid for up front. The Saint, Hidden Witch, and Merlin X could join forces and still have no idea when it would dissipate.
These days, the flocking masses called it Uru of the Eternal Dawn due to no small effort from High Priest Tarrel. Between travelers who witnessed seven days of holy light, Mephisto’s branding, the High Priest’s rhetoric, and whatever logistical wizardry Lomp was managing on the surface, Fount Salt was seeing the most traffic it’s had in centuries. People wanted to live there if you can believe that.
Of course, under the ubiquitous eyes of the Ganduex, conditions steadily improved. This could also be attributed to the influx of capital from a certain man in Uren, but there were no more hungry mouths on the island. Everyone worked with hope in their hearts and renewed vigor for the mines.
Atop Uru was where the exorcists’ estates were carved right into the cliffside. For some reason, Cira left them each an entire manor. That made eight massive homes which loomed over the city—the man named Glasses didn’t make the cut, but Lomp’s remained empty.
Luckily, Cira had the good sense to form a wall around them, because these days there were crowds of tourists that wanted to catch a glimpse of the men and women at the frontline against the plague—deemed by the Gandeux to be ‘Spiritual Warriors’, as the public seemed to like that.
Triton brought them down low and went to land in Chip’s yard where the others had gathered when a frantic young woman’s shouts came from below, “Lomp, please let me bear your children!”
“He’s not even here!” Triton shouted back, waving his fist as they disappeared behind the wall. “Can you believe that?”
Put a little mithril in the man’s pocket and all of a sudden women will crawl for miles through a series of caves just to reach him. Ridiculous. Triton couldn’t help but feel bitter. Lomp didn’t even have time to help them in Last Step these days.
“Ehh, he earned it.” Chip replied as they landed in the yard. “He’s the one that had to follow Cira around the whole time.”
“Oh, she wasn’t that bad…” Rosalie quipped.
And their daughter Delia readily agreed, “She was really nice!”
It didn’t take long for Chip to realize there was no reason he couldn’t move his family down below. They didn’t have to worry about money anymore as Lomp provided all, and he’d even caught wind that there was mithril waiting for him once the plague was eradicated. Combine all that with the hunk Cira gave Rosalie and they hatched plans to move up the Boreal once this was all over to live a comfortable life somewhere far less salty.
“Nice is not the word I would use,” Triton remembered getting punched into oblivion in the queen’s nest, “But I guess she was alright.”
“Hmph. I still don’t like her.” Jules the former sponge maiden didn’t like it when Cira came up, but at least she took her job seriously. “Let’s get a move on already.”
Everyone ravaged the boat for sandwiches and had their fill before loading up for the day to set off for the Last Step. Rosalie waved them all goodbye and promised to have supper ready when they returned.
The pristine tunnels of salt took them along a trickling river that glistened as their light reflected off the metal lining beneath. From their estates it didn’t take long to reach the precipice at the top and they settled to wait for their guests.
“How long are they gonna make us sit around?” Triton complained aloud. “We actually have to keep up with Delilah now.”
Naturally, people lined up in Uru faster than they could put out the cure, but they did finally reach a point where they were bringing in aetherium as fast as three cauldrons could refine it. That said, it was a constant game of staying just far enough ahead to not fall behind.
Chip kicked a rock off the edge and watched it disappear, “I’m sure we’ll be fine with the extra hands we’re getting. I just hope they don’t try to send us a boss.”
Nothing could disrupt their workflow more than sending in someone unrelated from above to assume command. It was bad enough watching everyone they sent try and fail to decipher the relics Cira left. They had no choice but to give up on replacing the exorcists with their own agents.
“That does sound like something they would do…” Triton agreed. “But I’ve had enough of crazy mages from the sky for a while.”
“I just hope they don’t send in another witch!” Kate complained.
“Hey, Nanri was nice. They should have just left her if that was their plan.”
“I’m sure we won’t be seeing her again.” She shook her head, “You know exactly the kind of witch they would want down here.”
The group all quieted down for a moment. They didn’t realize until she left, but Nanri really kept the mood up in the Last Step. It was such dreary, monotonous work now. Nobody watched her leave, but rumor had it the Silver Witch came for her. Everyone shared a similar thought in that moment, sure is a shame they took her.
It was Triton who spoke up first, “I’m sure it’s gonna be another crazy evil old lady like that Astral W—”
“AHEM!” A very upset throat cleared behind them and the exorcists whipped around to see Lomp entering with two people standing behind him with mixed expressions. “Allow me to introduce our newest members. Peugolo the enforcer and the Holiest Witch.”
Everyone’s faces dropped as they looked over their guests. One was a towering hulk of a man with bulging muscles and a bald head. He wore scarce more than silver gauntlets, while the other had on ghastly white robes that shimmered like moonlight.
“The holiest…?” Triton asked as he observed the young woman’s delicate face veiled in hair as white as salt. She wore a genial smile that spread to her eyes after noticing him and it made his skin crawl for some reason.
The enforcer on the other hand was hardly clothed. His shorts, sandals, and gauntlets must have been blessed silver and they all held a faint holy glow. He noticed Triton’s gaze and approached with mountainous steps before holding out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet the Saint’s chosen champions at last.”
This guy might not be so bad… minus the saint thing, Triton thought before shaking the man’s giant hand. “Triton. The pleasure’s all mine. You look like you could rip a ghost in half.”
“HAHAHA, Indeed!” Peugolo’s boisterous laugh nearly startled Triton off the cliff, “It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done it.”
“You have experience fighting spirits then?” Chip chimed in.
“Of course! I used to be a paladin and holy light flows through my veins.” It seemed like an exaggeration, but Triton didn’t get hung up on it as the man proceeded to send a flurry of fists into the air to show off. “It is my duty to act upon the Lost Lamb’s will so that she may one day find her way home.”
Half the exorcists rolled their eyes. This was one of the nicknames they understood the least, but it was a dead giveaway that someone was devoted to the Final Sky. No one present except surely Peugolo had any idea how Cira compared to newborn livestock or the willpower to sit through one of the High Priest’s sermons to find out.
I have a feeling this devotion of his is why he was sent here. That must have been seriously annoying up top.
“So, you used to be with the church, huh?” Despite the morally questionable act of covert sky burials, most of the Final Sky were at least kind. At the core of their teachings was the onus to help your fellow man, and unlike Earth Vein, they didn’t see those without magic as beneath them. There were far too many ‘lessers’ in the church for that to take root. Triton looked over at the witch now, who still had the same friendly smile on. “Are you with them too, Lady Holiest Witch?”
“Oh, no. Not me.” She giggled into her hand.
“But you use holy magic…?” Come to think of it, Cira was pretty adamant that she had no clue what the Final Sky was. I thought she was just crazy, but maybe I’ve been thinking about holy all wrong.
“Vercephus is far more vast and older than anyone can imagine…” She gazed off wistfully with distant eyes and a soft grin. “It has always been, and always will be.”
Something about her words seemed to irk Peugolo, but the man held his tongue. It sounded like riddles to Triton, so he continued, “Vercephus… That’s what they call that cluster of stars up there, right? Sometimes it’s a rabbit, or a man wrestling a snake.”
“Hmm?” The witch looked amused, “Have you never seen it, young Triton? Each set of eyes behold Vercephus in their own way.”
“It’s gotta be too far away or something. I just see a blur.” A lot of sailors along the Boreal ignored all stars but the Pathfinder. Maps were infinitely more important as they travelled up or down the archipelago.
“You will see it one day, if you truly want to.” Her expression remained bright and cheerful, but it just felt suspicious, even if there was no ill intent behind it. That’s just how her smile looked. “The light of Vercephus reaches all, and all are welcome to its grace.”
Jules wasn’t feeling very conversational and tried to move things along, “Can we go now?”
“Almost.” Lomp replied, “We’re expecting another boat. He should be right behind us.” Everyone was curious as the Underseer stepped out into the hallway. “Ah, there he is.”
A couple minutes later a boat not unlike their own entered through the passageway steered by a man with thick spectacles and an even thicker silver chain around his neck. The new boat certainly had enchantments, but they weren’t as complex, and the materials were clearly inferior. I think I’ll stay on my boat, thank you very much, Triton thought.
After another round of introductions for the tardy one, they descended at last. Lomp took over the wheel from Glasses and led the way, with about half the team in his boat to distribute the weight. Peugolo and the Holiest Witch wanted to ride in the saint’s boat, so it was a little uncomfortable all around. Their first stop wasn’t far, though—in fact, Lomp stopped at the very first cave they stumbled across.
“Shouldn’t we go down further?” Triton asked from the helm of the saint’s vessel, “Most of these ones are pretty much cleared out. Only strays that wandered in recently will be here and it will take ages to find them.”
“Well, we should probably start slow, right? At least until they’ve seen the whole process.” Lomp replied rationally as he landed and stepped onto the salt.
He had a point. If they encountered a group and anything unexpected happened, they could lose out on precious aetherium. “Hey, how are these guys supposed to help if they don’t have any of the, er, saint’s relics?”
“These guys?” Triton heard a soft, velvety voice and spun around nervously to notice the witch staring at him with a playful smile.
“We’re here for support.” Peugolo answered with a wink, “You just keep carrying out her will in your own way, friend.”
“And observation.” The witch added with another wink, “but please don’t pay it any mind.”
“Right…” Triton was at a loss. “I’ll try not to.”
They spent a good twenty minutes hiking through the sparkling white caves until Lant at the front held up a hand, buckler attached and all. “I think there’s something up ahead… Everyone get ready.”
They all took on battle stances with Lomp and Triton behind him holding their spears followed by Chip and the goons. Jules and Kate got ready to attack from a distance while their guests stood in the back to watch.
They were fully stacked up and ready to take on a wraith or a horde of specters. Suspense loomed over the group as they crept down the hall and even the enforcer and witch seemed nervous to venture into the unknown. Footsteps and bated breath were all that could be heard as they used their relics to get closer to the spirit. It was moving toward them as well, so they stopped right before rounding a corner.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Lomp looked over everyone and nodded to assure them, “Alright guys, here we go.”
A few seconds later a transparent miner with no arms plodded into the hall from afar. Each step was heavy and took a few seconds at a time. They could almost feel the centuries of phantom pain from its tormented groans as it clambered ever closer.
A trigger clicked and the rustling of wind from Kate’s boomerang sounded the start of battle. Lant lunged forward with his buckler to stab with its spike and the two spearman both pounced as well.
“HYAHHH!” The others all raised their weapons and let out a battle cry as they charged it.
The crossbow bolt was first, but then the boomerang sliced through its neck. All at the same time, three punctures from the spear and bident riddled its chest while a silver hammer came down from above. The spirit shrieked for the smallest perceivable fraction of a second before exploding into a cloud of blue dust.
“Was… that it?” The witch asked.
“Hoho! I see you are truly seasoned warriors.” Peugolo slapped Kate on the shoulder and she nearly fell over.
“It’s just the relics.” Triton countered, “Not us.”
“Nonsense.” He disagreed, “It’s clear you work well as a team. You could take on far more powerful spirits, or even heretics.”
“Well, here’s hoping we don’t have to.” Let’s just ignore that last part… A few of them held out their aethereum pouches and it all floated into the air before being neatly stored away.
“Marvelous…” Triton yelped in surprised as the Holiest Witch’s golden eyes were right over his shoulder, scrutinizing the pouch in his hand. “Is that void gazelle?”
“Um… I think she said something like that.” There were stars in her eyes that urged him to continue, but he found himself trying to shrink away, “Er, maybe she said her dad hunted it? The Hidden Witch, I mean.”
“My, my… You don’t suppose I could inspect it, do you?”
“Yeah, I really couldn’t tell you.” Triton held it out, “Some people can’t touch our stuff because of some weird spell.”
“I’ve heard about the curses…” She tried to grab it and it slipped right out of her fingers, “How fascinating… I can’t even imagine it in my hand. I should very much like to meet this Hidden Witch.”
“Well, they don’t call her hidden for no reason.” Triton quipped, but hearing the witch giggle at his joke was unexpectedly discomforting.
Unfortunately, they had a lot of time to talk as it took twice as long to find the next spirit. Another lackluster battle ensued, and it was clear to their guests now the level of difficulty they should expect. Peugolo tried to convince Lomp to let him hold the next one down, but he wasn’t having it. They continued in the same formation and by the two-hour mark, they had only encountered three more.
“Is it always like this?” The witch asked as she let pale blue dust fall through the cracks in her fingers.
“No…” Triton gave Lomp a pointed stare, “We’re taking it slow.”
“W-well we had to show them how we do things around here.” He rebutted. “I didn’t think it would be this bad.
“I tried to tell you. You haven’t been down here in weeks.”
Lomp groaned before deferring right back to him for advice, “Okay then, where should we go?” Everyone now looked to Triton for answers.
“Uh, I don’t know… down further? We’ve had pretty good luck with caves in the middle layer, we just don’t go too far in.” He looked around and his peers either nodded or shrugged.
“We can’t go to the middle layer. Remember?” Lomp tapped on his forehead.
The witch was curious though, “Whyever is that?”
“The, uh… Saint told us not to.” Triton explained, “Wouldn’t say why though.”
Peugolo joined in now, “We should heed her words.”
“So long as we stay on the Last Step side, I think we’re in the clear.” We should be safe enough, right? It’s not like we’ve run into any of the crazier ghosts she summoned yet.
After a bit of deliberation among cranky exorcists, it was decided they would go down a layer and play it by ear. Nobody wanted to experience more danger than their daily routine typically called for, but running out of aethereum was a very real possibility now.
“How close are we to having five thousand doses for the surface?” Lomp asked the others. It would cover the bulk of Uren and get them started, but they would need at least triple that to distribute the cure among everyone, including the new city of Silver Lake.
“It wouldn’t kill you to come look sometime.” Kate replied with moderate snark, “If our pace doesn’t slow down, Delilah says we should have the first shipment ready within two weeks.”
“I would love to see this cure.” The witch said, “I take it you’ve already begun distributing it down here?”
“Just started last week.” Chip added “Probably should have waited a little, though. Captain Renit in the plague ward is practically our doorman now. Everyone under the spring is lining up.”
“You should see all the people trying to leave the surface to rush Uru.” Lomp chided, “You’re welcome for stopping them, by the way.”
When they returned to the Last Step it was eerily quiet. This was not far from the norm—it was just a passively spooky place to be. Peugolo felt no fear though and was ready to see some action. His muscles were bursting with anticipation.
Contrary to his excitement, the witch enjoyed the scenery, “It must have taken a great deal of time to carve out this staircase.”
“Ehh, maybe an hour?” Triton off-handedly replied, “She kind of half-assed it. A few caves are completely blocked by stairs now.”
“Just an hour?” There was surprise on her face, but she looked more amused than anything, “So it’s true she’s proficient in many schools of witchcraft.”
“That’s one way to put it, uh, Lady Holiest Witch.” Her title made it awkward to address her formally, but it only made her laugh.
“Please, no need to be so stiff,” She chuckled and gave him a playful nudge, “My friends call me Kryzelagog-Zazelgoth.”
“Um. Right…” Did I hear her correctly, “Kris… something?”
“That will do.” Triton withered under her genial gaze. Outwardly this witch was as friendly as Nanri, but something about her made his blood run cold. What scared him most was that he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
“Guys…” Jules’ voice cut in as they descended the salty chasm, “I think we’ve got a hit.”
The other exorcists followed her line of sight and the glyphs on their hats started to glow as they all nodded in understanding. It was a strange sight to outsiders, but the aethereal traces led them to a small opening and they pulled the boats up next to it.
“It should be fine,” Lomp said as he tried to peer down the passageway, “We’re still in the upper layer.”
Triton saw what everyone else was seeing too. It wasn’t uncommon to find signs of multiple spirits, but a group of them this close to the Last Step was cause for concern. Normally this only means one thing. “I say we check it out.” But if I mention it, Lomp will turn us around. Gotta get that aetherium.
“Well, of course we’re going.” Kate likely knew the answer too because she was in the Last Step every day. Lomp had actually only spent two or three days working with them after becoming the Underseer, so he had no way of knowing that groups of spirits almost never wandered into the stairwell unless they had come straight from the Dark Stratum’s central layer.
“I’ll lead the way this time.” Peugolo nearly capsized them as he jumped out and the witch was slowly launched into the air on the boat’s upswing. She landed very gracefully next to the holy pugilist and adjusted her robes.
The two recruits couldn’t be more different but they both laughed while the exorcists in the first boat shouted and hung onto the edges for dear life. To his credit, Peugolo at least offered one tree-trunk of an arm out to steady them.
“Now hang on a minute, big guy.” Triton clawed his way up to the ledge and helped Lomp up, “We found a few shades the other day not far from here. You need to be careful.”
“Pah! To think a shadow could ever bring me harm.” He slapped one of his biceps and laughed, “Have I not mentioned that holy light flows through my veins?”
“Oh, will you stop saying that?” It seemed the big man was the only thing that didn’t amuse Kris, “That doesn’t even make sense.”
“Ahem!” Jules loudly cleared her throat, tip-toeing the line of directly telling a witch to shut up, “They must be close now.”
When she readied her crossbow, the others followed suit and Peugolo once again found himself at the front of the line.
“What do you plan to do?” Chip asked, “You guys can’t harvest aetherium, can you?”
In response, Kris suppressed another laugh, “Of course not. Do you understand how ridiculous that question is?”
“I really don’t.” He admitted.
“The very notion of forcing a spirit into corporealization is absurd. I had only seen a single sample from an ancient spirit that had long since crystallized and turned to dust. To think you’re producing it so lavishly down here.
Triton shared Chip’s sentiment on this one, “I don’t think any of us had even heard of the stuff until I had to fight that demon.” He shook his head and shuddered, “Man, what the f—”
“A demon?” The witch’s ears couldn’t help but perk up. “This is the first I’ve heard of a demon appearing on Fount Salt… What in the world was that blasted Hale doing here anyway?”
Hale had extensively questioned them about the horde of tiny demons trying to take over people’s bodies, but after an excruciating trip up and down the island he realized they were referring to pathogens. Disgruntled as he was, there was no more reference to demons past that point.
“Hey watch yourself, Earth Vein.” Peugolo’s cold eyes peered right over the whole group to reach the witch. “The Council weren’t the ones letting deritium get smuggled out from under their noses.”
They still never found a trace of deritum—except a single shipment sold by one Captain Don of the Black Scourge on its way up the Boreal. I bet he’s having the time of his life up there. Triton almost envied anyone who didn’t have to sit in the middle of a stare down like this though.
Kris’s face somehow reached new levels of friendliness, yet the glint in her eyes looked like her next trick was to make Peugolo disappear. Why is no one saying anything? Come on Lomp, you coward! This shouldn’t fall on me!
“Heyyyyy, we’re all friends here, right?” Triton nervously glanced between the two who thankfully seemed to relax.
Peugolo slapped him on the shoulder, “Aha, of course! Of course we are. We are all friends in the New Dawn’s light.” He gave a pointed glance to the witch who rolled her eyes. With the smile plastered on her face it was actually an adorable expression if it weren’t for the seething disdain behind her gaze.
Is it a difference of beliefs? Why are they so at odds?
“Hey, I have a question.” The usually quiet Frank asked. He was the dopey second goon who wielded a debatably holy hammer. Great job, Frank! We need something to break up the tension. “What happened to Nanri? She was really nice.”
Lomp practically choked on his tongue and the others spun around to look at Frank aghast. Everyone wanted to know, but actually asking the next witch they saw about it was not in the plans. One never knew how a witch would react to, well, anything.
“Ah, the Titan Witch.” Her expression didn’t waver, but her distant look seemed almost like she was reminiscing. “No need to worry about her. She’s been recalled by none other than the high coven. I’m sure she will have many great prospects in the future.”
“Oh, that’s good.” Frank was satisfied with that answer.
“A friend of the Saint’s is a friend of mine.” Peugolo boldly stated. “I wish her well.”
Meanwhile, the spicy sponge maiden was about to blow a fuse. “Is it going to be like this every day?!”
“Shh!” Kate interrupted as she readied her boomerang. “They’re here.”
They had been walking for ten minutes or so, but time sure flies by when you’re bickering instead of working. The tunnels down here winded back and forth, so it was difficult to tell if they faced towards the Last Step or the Dark Stratum at this point. The light from their hats glistened off the surrounding salt crystals and somehow their new recruits just passively glowed.
Like this, they waited for the approaching spirits. Their ghostly groans echoed down the hall now and if it weren’t just another Tuesday, they may have been severely rattled by the sounds. This only meant they were regular strays approaching them.
“You’re up, big guy.” Triton spoke quietly, “Let’s see what you can do.”
“Gaze upon these blessed muscles and you will see the light.” Peugolo deemed to leave him with another riddle and took up a sprinter’s stance with one hand on the ground, ready to launch.
Wait, he never said what he was gonna do—
When the first spirit poked its head around the corner, Triton was blinded as the cavern was briefly bathed in golden light. It caused him to recoil instinctively and when he looked forward again the salt where Peugolo stood had shattered. Triton’s eyes shot open as the dust cleared to reveal him on the other side of the hall with two strays in a bear hug.
“Wha—” How did he get behind them?! In his shock, Triton forgot for a moment that they had no physical form, but regardless it was an incredible feat. Wait, then how is he grabbing them?
“Quickly!” Peugolo roared, muscles glistening with holy light as he spun rapidly. At the apex of his twirl, the man released both stray spirits and they flew down the hallway more like stray arrows. “I’ve got more comin’ up!”
“Hey, what the hell?!” Chip shouted, but Kate’s blade already spun over his head on a straight path home. Peugolo’s throw had the spirits barreling in with a slight rotation and the Banshee Beheading Boomerang chopped through them like a windmill. The entire group was sandblasted with aetherium and caught completely off guard.
“My eyes!” The leader of the pack fell to the ground. It was Lomp. “Dammit, Peugolo!”
“Hey, cut it out—” Triton tried to shout.
“Another!” He must not have heard their pleas and launched another two spirits down the hall.
Jules scrambled to hit one, completely blowing her first shot and nearly missing her second. Lant hid behind his shields on the last wave, but this time he was ready as both bucklers pulsed with mana and burst with jagged rocks. Stone cracked as it grew from each shield toward the ground until it formed an earthen barricade to save everyone’s eyes.
After the aetherium from Jules’ kill pelted the shield like a fleeting sandstorm, Triton popped out from it and went to spear the second spirit, only to see it held in place within a bubble of holy light. His stomach dropped when he found Peugolo in a similar bubble.
“Huh?!” He looked at the Holiest Witch and she held a glowing scepter aloft with a satisfied grin on her face.
“Are you impressed?” Her smile broadened, “That large dullard is reckless, and the stars know none of you can stop him.”
The exorcists were stock still and stared at her in disbelief.
“Wow, look at that!” Charlie the first goon picked his time to speak up, “You’re almost as cool as the Captain!”
“Let me down you damn witch!” There was a conflicted expression that ended in anger as Peugolo floated through the air enveloped in holy mana, “You would dare assault an enforcer?!”
“You may as well have been assaulting our dear Underseer.” She quipped, “You really should be more careful.”
Lomp was still coughing on the ground with his hands over his eyes as he moaned like the ghosts they hunted. Seeing this, Peugolo’s expression tightened up, “Mr. Underseer! What happened?!”
He was released from the witch’s holy clutches and surprisingly helpless in the face of the exorcists’ complaints. They were all finely dusted in blue powder from head to toe and more than a little irate. The man somehow shrunk under the pressure of one furious sponge maiden a fraction of his size.
“I’ll be more careful!” He bowed forgiveness to the most affected man whose eyes were red and bleeding. “I swear it on the Saint!”
“Here. This will help.” Kris held out a scepter of holy light and a healing spell flowed out before spreading over the group. Their wounds healed up perfectly like nothing had happened at all and they each took out their aetherium pouches to pull it out of their clothing and off their skin.
Peugolo was pretty mad at her for imprisoning him in his own element, but he was clearly at fault here and had no recourse. “I’ll just bring them to you next time…”
“Speaking of…” Kate drew everyone’s attention back down the hallways and there were five more strays floating before them in shimmering golden bubbles.
They made short work of these spirits and quickly collected the dust before moving on. That wasn’t a bad yield, but it was time to carry on. Not even Kate could discount the convenience of having the witch around, so nobody had complaints about the path they chose.
There were more strays over the next hour, but they came in pairs at most. Some were listless and offered very little to their stores, so they kept pressing on through the same tunnel. Eventually the passage opened up and they reached a chamber large enough that they couldn’t see the other side with just their passive light. Beyond that it was pure black.
“I don’t like this…” Triton said.
Kris replied with a smile, “Here are those shades you mentioned.”
“Wh-what?! Where?!” He spun around frantically trying to find them, “Do you see them?”
“Of course. Shall I capture them for you again?”
“No need.” Peugolo strode toward the shadows and shined progressively brighter with each step, “I will collect them.”
They started hissing somewhere Triton couldn’t see and he figured the holy light was burning them away. There was a short scream then he saw Peugolo launch again. The sound of stone cracking came from the other side of the room and then he returned. Triton just stood there blinking at the spectacle. How is he that fast? That can’t just be muscle, can it?”
Peugolo had a shade in each hand and they each shriveled up in the light like a dark and ghostly worm of sorts. It was a sad sight, but the exorcists sent their souls on to the next life in short order. Peugolo repeated this process a few more times, launching to and fro at the island’s expense and leaving cracks scattered across the room.
“Is that all of them?” Jules asked after point-blank executing the last one with her crossbow.
“Seems so.” Peugolo nodded. There were wisps of golden light floating around wherever he had landed, so the whole chamber was rather well lit now.
“All the shades, at least.” Kris added with a playful chuckle.
Triton looked at her nervously, “Wh-what do you mean…?” What’s with this chick? I really can’t figure her out. “What are you picking up on?”
He looked around, as did the others, and there were only the faintest aethereal traces left. Nothing pointed to there being another spirit nearby.
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out…” She scanned the room ponderously, clearly having fun from the look in her eyes. “It should arrive… from that passageway.”
The one she pointed to very clearly led below and looked like an abandoned waterway. Even Lomp was privy to what was happening now—there was no mistaking that they were dangerously close to the layer which shan’t be spelunked. But everyone was on edge as the witch claimed a threat no one else could notice was approaching.
“Maybe we… should go?” Triton asked aloud and Lomp readily agreed with him before the witch cut him off.
“Too late,” She mused, “It is already here.”
They all gasped as the temperature in the room dropped before a small white spirit appeared from the hall. It was bulbous and floated along like a bloated nymph—in place of a shroud of prima salt, however, it seemed to exude the essence of death. Pure, white mana that ran a chill down Triton’s spine—nearly giving him flashbacks. Spectral combat…? He was frozen in place.
“I see…” Kris said, “None of you get close that thing or you will die—”
As if to mock her, Peugolo took it upon himself to get this threat under control and launched off with increased vigor and a battle cry as the salt beneath him shattered. He was gone in a flash, but this time the ground kept cracking. Soon a fissure ran clear through the entire floor and when they heard the sound of Peugolo landing on the other side, it split apart from the impact.
“Y-you bastard!” Triton slipped as the ground beneath him became uneven and he watched his fellow exorcists meet a similar fate. The cracks continued to grow outward from the spot their pugilist stood just moments ago and started to cave in.
The goons started saying their prayers, fully resigned to death, and everyone else cried in panic as the salt at their feet swallowed them up. As tough as Jules tried to be, even she was reduced to screaming in terror as the salt fell apart and she plummeted into the increasingly dark chasm.
“Whyyyyy—” Triton couldn’t help but curse his ill fortune for having to work with such a powerful idiot, and he too resigned to his fate. The abyss came swiftly from below and there was no option left but to accept it.