The Cy crammed themselves into the hall, breaking and crushing the stone under its weight, forcing itself in. “Little fox, tell me how we are back here? Was it your doing? Right after you assaulted me?”
“It remembers?!” Mia took a step back, blasting it with a ray of frost in a futile attempt to slow it down.
[Oh, that is not good.]
“Not good?! Ami! How does it remember?!” Mia continued to blast it, watching as it wormed its way into the hall, its body taking up every inch of space.
[I suggest loading, just to make sure.]
“Right!” Mia loaded again, right back into the hallway with everyone back in place. “Ok…Ami how did it re-“
Without wasting anytime, Cy burst through the wall “So it was you!” Cy had not discarded the obese woman’s face this time around, nor the clothes, both becoming tattered and mangled as they were forced through the wall with the beast.
[OK, run!]
Mia sprinted down the hall towards the exit, leaving a trail of ice behind her that froze in the creature’s way “Ami! How does it know!” she shouted over the rumbling sound of Cy forcing her way through the hall towards her.
[Complicated, just focus on running while I weigh the options. Suggest putting more poi-]
“How can it be complicated! I loaded, I didn’t touch her and do what you did to that one lady or to my aunt, how does she remember!” She shouted, looking back for a brief glance, seeing Cy borrowing through solid stone and ice towards her, and continue to run “and already pointing Dex and int as fast as I can!”
“Little fox! You cannot escape from me! That skill of yours… I want it!” Cy shouted, suddenly dashing forward at breakneck speeds she attempted to clamp down on Mia with her mandibles, but Mia slowed time to avoid it “Oh! You can even slow the flow of time! Brilliant! It would be a waste to make you into a simple doll!”
“She can even tell when I- Ami! Explain! Now!”
[…Fine… In simple terms, some higher beings of great power can resist Time, with varying degrees of resistance ranging from being fully aware to partially aware. Cy’bogbi appears to be one such higher being that is able to resist Time to some degree, keeping their memories of a few minutes ago.]
Mia threw up a solid wall, blocking the sticky thread that was launched at her “So… I can’t load and get out of this?”
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
[That is what I am considering. We do not know the extent she can resist. Worst case scenario she will remember even if you were to load slot 1.]
“Oh.” Mia slowed time again, ducking under Cy’s mandibles and using ice to block more webs , she then had to recast it immediately as multiple claws swiped at her. She managed to gain a bit of distance once they reached the vines “So what do I do! I can’t keep away from her!” Her mana, while having a large quantity, was not bottomless, and could not keep up with the high demand slowing time required.
[Thinking.]
Ducking into the grand hall Mia tried for the exit, but Cy burst through the hallway and now with more room she her assault grew more aggressive, Mia was having to constantly keep recasting slow, her mana rapidly draining “Ami!”
[Thinking.]
“C-can’t I just throw her into the void, like you did?” Mia asked, panic in her voice as she saw her mana finally reach the hundreds, unable to get out of the grand hall as Cy had blocked the entrance.
[Dragging something that large could have ill effects on the world, even if you managed to get her all in there. Additionally, I have not seen an end point to her body yet, true size is unknown, extremely unlikely and probably impossible.]
She reached zero, unable to slow time Cy easily caught her, multiple tiny claws gripped onto her. Mia struggled, but she was firmly held in place.
“There we are little fox, now there is much to discuss.” Cy started reversing her long chitinous body bag into the hallway, taking Mia with her.
Mia went limp, giving up “Forget it.” And loaded her other slot.
[Wait! We don’t know-]
“I am not going to be another person’s plaything again!” she shouted.
“…plaything? It just dress.”
She jumped, looking over to the swamp thing in the suit “Sorry.” She shook her head, then took off running. She was back before she even went inside that stupid castle and had no intention of going back inside. She was going to leave, drowning be damned.
She ran past the submerged stone floor and pillars, managing to make it back to the swamp lands. She turned around, looking back towards the faint castle in the distance “…did she remember?”
[It does not appear she did.]
She sighed in relief, kneeling down to look into the deep water “So… higher beings?”
[What about them?]
“They can all remember? How many are there?”
[Well, most can remember a battle length of time, mere minutes. It is uncommon for a creature or person to remember longer than that without your interference.] Ami explained [As for how many… unknown, finding one here was… very unlucky.]
“uh-huh…” unlucky, Mia laughed in self pity ‘I have 1 luck, after all. Can’t even point it.’ She shrugged, bringing her attention back to the water, finally making out the stone hallway. “Ok, it’s just a small dive…it’s nothing compared to that monster, just hold your breath and-“
An explosion.
An explosion that rocked the entire swamp followed by a loud encompassing roar.
“…No, please no…” Mia begged, but when she turned around it was for not. She saw Cy, in all her unholy glory stretched out from her castle, bursting forth from a cloud of smoke and stretching high into the sky.
[That is at least 1km tall and I still do not see an end to it. Dragging that into the void is impossible.]
The wrym swayed in the air, spinning in place before suddenly stopping. Staring directly at Mia.
Mia took a deep breath and dove into the water without another word.