Yggdrasil Fallen, LitRPG Series
Book 1, Obsidian
Chapter 21: Chaos
Having slipped back into his spot in the attack formation, Andre removed his pack and fumbled around to find one of his headlamps. A chill crawled up his spine as his desperate searching yielded naught, and brief enveloping darkness only seemed to amplify the guttural growling that echoed through the tunnel. What felt like hours but in reality, was only minutes later bright lights began to flare to life around him from the headlamps now donned by everyone in the group but Andre. He felt a nudge from behind him as one of the gunmen handed him one.
“It’s one of my spares, not sure on the battery life but it should get you through this nightmare.”
Fumbling with the band, he got it strapped to his head, and lit up.
“Thanks man, I owe you one.” Andre said.
“Just get us outta here alive and you won’t owe me a damn thing.” He paused briefly, then continued:
“Listen man, I don’t give two fucks what Greg said. You did some impressive work, no one expected you to actually be able to use that nasty lookin thing.” Gesturing to Andre’s “Machete”.
“Just keep doing what you’re doing. What matters most is we all make it out of here alive, and that’s looking all the less likely now.”
Andre emboldened by the kind words nodded, thumbing the weapon on his hip. Something the solider said to him chewing at his mind.
“Who’s Greg?” He asked, assuming the answer but needing verification to his thoughts.
“Greg is the smug know-it-all bastard who cowers behind those of us doing the real fighting. You know, The Architect.”
“You know I can hear everything you’re saying, right?” The deep voice, cold as permafrost cut in.
“I do not remember authorizing the use of my real name in this circumstance. And I hardly think now is the time for the unsanctioned spewing of heavily biased opinion. You are not here for your thoughts, only for your skill with that… thing.” His dangerous words hanging heavy on the reprimanded soldier and those near him.
“Now, if you are quite done insulting me it is time for us to move forwards, just sitting still makes us a nice plated snack.” The Architect finished.
The group began cautiously advancing forwards, headlamps sweeping the walls, ceiling and down the tunnel; searching for anything that may lunge out of the darkness at them. As they moved, the tunnel slowly expanded out, the dense crimson muddy floor shifting to cobblestone, the rock walls smoothing out to roughly polished rockface with large holes gouged out of them.
“What exactly are those…?” Andre murmured quietly to himself. As though to answer, the walls began to shake, kicking up more dust causing rocks to tumble from the ceiling above.
“Oh, ALIAS… I’ve been wondering: Do you know what the hell happened to my basic bitch machete?” Andre thought.
“It appears to be holstered in your sword belt.” Came a curt reply.
“You know what I mean, don’t be such a jackass.”
“I don’t understand your question, please rephrase and ask again.”
“Oh for fuck sakes man, what the hell did I do this time?”
“I don’t understand your question, please rephrase and ask again.”
“…” Andre let his thoughts fall silent as he attempted to understand the unhinged partner he’d been stuck with. The group had proceeded ten or fifteen feet at a snails pace before something occurred to Andre.
“Ok ALIAS, I gotcha. Could you please explain to me what factors caused the drastic change to my weapon?” Andre asked, as politely and well thought out as he could. He was met with a disturbingly long, exasperated groaning sigh.
“If you had taken the time to actually utilize your “Identification” skill on items you own, you would have realized that amongst many of your possessions that machete is of Aspect make. Such items bond to their wielders over time; and through trials steeped in aspected energy can evolve based on how they’re used. In this case you had a weapon that was primed to be infused with aspect energy from the various hikes you used it on. Despite not having unsealed your aspects yet, you still possessed heightened affinity at the time and managed to trigger a bonding process. All this resulted in your weapon being suffused with aspect and life energy from the Shale Stalkers during your last “dive”. The overall transformation occurred in response to the tremendous energies that coursed through you after that boss battle.” ALIAS fell silent after its prolonged, disjointed, confusing explanation. Andre stopped dead in his tracks, reeling from the ramifications of what ALIAS just revealed.
“Wait, are you telling me… my machete was an aspected piece of gear BEFORE I entered that Ritual Chamber… uh… number four?” He asked back, shortly before the soldier behind him prodded him with a gloved hand.
“Everything alright there Andre? Don’t hear anything do you?” He asked.
“Oh, no… sorry, I was lost in thought.” He answered, turning his attention back to ALIAS, who had been in the process of another overtly frustrated groaning sigh.
“That is exactly what I said. It may be prudent for you to think about where it came from… maybe a good place to you know… unload some other stuff you’ve picked up…?” ALIAS answered in an almost mocking tone.
“Huh, if we make it outta here I should pay that shop a little visit.” He thought to himself.
“Be on your guard!” Came a shout from the back stirring Andre from his thoughts as the floors and walls around them began to tremble. Everyone halted their advance dropping into a defensive formation. The rumbling stilled as a massive mossy green and brown scaled head shot out of one of the holes in the wall, followed by another, then another until the hallway was filled with wriggling scaled appendages, the heads turned to face the party. They slowed their wriggling into hypnotic almost seductive writhe. Eyes still focused on the intruders, several of the heads split open. Like grotesque flowers blooming: slimy slats of pulpy, bulbous “petals” unfurled to reveal serpentine tongue-like appendages whipping around. The revealed maws were filled with hundreds of blackened teeth running along the “Petals” until they vanished down their viscous blackened red throats. The closest reared, preparing to snap out at the frontline, when the gunmen opened fire riddling the creature with rounds, exploding with aspected energy.
With a blood curdling shriek more akin to a rusted saw scraping on a metal grate the beast slid back into the hole from which it was protruding, chunks of scaly flesh coated in slimy black blood scraping off and sliding to the floor. With a flicker of light, the shield man to Andre’s left caught the maw of another worm and with an quick strike drove his sword upwards just below where its head blossomed out. In a second fluid slashing motion he swung his blade back down, cleaving the head in two. It flapped around wildly, spraying everything with black viscous goop, the two sides of what was its “head” flailing. The man wielding a great sword swung it down hard, ripping through it it where the shield man had split it; both halves falling to the floor, bouncing around wildly.
The heavy coppery scent of blood spilled through the tunnel, like a thick mist from a coastline in the early morning, bringing with it a dense overwhelming aroma of gore. The well-trained group did not stop, focused gunfire blasting away large chunks from 2 more of the serpentine bodies protruding from the wall, the thick blood condensing the aroma of death to sickening levels. Moments later the axman brought his weapon down, cleaving the final creature in a bloody spray.
“Well done everyone. You two” the architect motioned to the two gunmen in front of him,
“Move ahead, make sure we’re clear so we can begin harvesting.” As the two gunmen moved through the carnage stopping 10 feet ahead of the group, shouting “CLEAR”, the Architect drew a Jambiya from his belt, its smooth shiny silver body inlaid with golden sigils. He advanced to where the first body lay, chanted a few words in a language Andre didn’t recognize as he began carving. Pulling out several palm sized oblong silver coins. He moved to the next, repeating the process this time producing several smaller bronze coins, a ring and what appeared to be a scaled wrist guard. Before he could make it to the third body, the tunnel began trembling again. Two huge heads shot out of the wall where the forward gunmen stood, snatching them around the middle in their gaping drooling maws yanking them back towards the wall. The men screamed as the creatures slammed them several times into the wall, their bodies too big to fit in the holes. The creatures bit down, crushing their bodies with a loud crunching splortch, a grotesque waterfall of blood spilling to the cobblestone floor as what was left of their bodies were yanked back into darkness.
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The rumbling surrounded them, the entire tunnel convulsing with unseen activity. Momentarily stunned by the instantaneous loss of two comrades, chaos exploded amongst the survivors when one man, his voice shrill and strained yelled:
“RUN! We need to get out of range of these fucking things!”
The architect nodding in agreement shot to his feet and began sprinting down the tunnel behind the two shield carrying men; flanked by the great sword and axman, Andre hot on his heals. The rumbling paused momentarily as the two lights behind him vanished to the sounds of bones crunching and blood splattering; not even enough time for a death shriek to confirm their doom.
The remainder of the party rushed down the slowly widening tunnel, their lights flashing off the lightly polished stone, which seemed to bulge and ripple with the movement of the creatures chasing alongside them.
“WHICH WAY?!” One of the shieldsman shouted when they came to a split in the path.
“Left!” The Architect bellowed.
The desperate flee for their lives continued, heavy gasping pants for air groaned from the men around him. As they rounded another corner the wall ahead of them exploded in a shower of stone and sand, one of the heads staring them down. In a quick movement the axman brought his weapon down, severing the head as they sprinted past.
They pushed harder and faster moving down the tunnel, a desperate bid to put distance between themselves and their pursuers. In the blink of an eye, the great-swordsman just in front of Andre vanished into a large hole that had opened in the hole, a fountain of blood spewing upwards in the wake of his disappearance, showering Andre with his hot sticky blood.
“There’s light ahead!” The Architect shouted, staring down the tunnel,
“It looks like metal in the room ahead, we should be safe from them after that!”
As the words escaped his lips another serpentine head shot out of the ceiling, snatching up the shieldsman to Andre’s right, a crunch followed by his legs and a cascade of blood rained down on Andre, tripping him.
“Hell of a way to fall, inadvertently tripped by a dead guy.” The grim reality of his words did not truly reach him as he fell. Midair, he twisted his torso into a forward shoulder roll and Andre found himself back on his feet continuing his sprint, behind the very few survivors.
With the light growing ever closer, Andre picked up his pace unsheathing his machete, the warm electric pulse rippling down his arm and into the blade. Time slowed as another head began its path out of the wall. Andre slashed, electricity sparking across the surface of the creature as his blade cleaved through it. He pushed himself harder, sprinting to the front of the group. His blade flashing in instinctual arcs, energy pulsing through every head that emerged. Floor, Ceiling, Walls the creatures came faster desperately reaching for the snack almost outside their reach only to be met by electrified metal.
The small group burst across a metal girder deeply rooted into the floor onto the platform suspended from it. Several of them slamming into the protective railing at the very edge, overlooking a deep pit. They hung there, as their raspy, ragged gasping breaths fought to bring in the desperately needed air. Andre’s head throbbed painfully as he slid the weapon back into its loop, the crackling energy dissipating as it passed through. Gripping his head with both hands Andre turned to view the carnage behind them, his head now a splitting migraine.
“Alert: Aqua Aspected energy reserves completely consumed, terminating “Like a River” ability.”
“Holy shit was all this a result of my skill advancing?! I advanced that shit just in the Knick of time, damn.” The number of enemies that laid slain behind him far exceeded what he had expected. Andre did not remember cutting through so many, their thickening black blood congealing in a river pooling near, and dripping over the girder that separated the tunnel from the platform on which they stood. His stomach clenched, everything that had just transpired catching up to him. He fell to his knees, retching hard vomit spewing through the grated floor. Greg the Architect stood over him, paled and visibly shaken by their recent experience.
“I guess that’s two we owe you now.” The axman he’d saved earlier rumbled out, between gasping breaths. The remaining shieldman nodded his head, which was hung between his knees as he crouched, trembling in fear.
“What now, Mr. Architect Man?” he continued, obviously mocking the now paled man, struggling to regain his breath. Andre attempted to activate his Blissful Rain ability, to hopefully ease the migraine that as more akin to an axe in his skull. While he was expecting the familiar cooling raindrops, he was instead met with a feeling like a vice pressing the axe deeper. Andre fell to his knees screaming, everyone around him stepping back in shock.
“Dumbass. I’d recommend you eat one of your aspect tokens. Just be sure to trickle some aqua energy into it before you do.” ALIAS grumbled at him. With his head still painfully pounding, Andre dug into the front pocket of his pack and retrieved one of the little brass-colored buttons. Holding it between his fingers Andre attempted to focus on it, but his vision was blurring from the throbbing waves of agony. Through it all Andre felt the coin gently thrumming in his fingers, almost calling out to the energy in him. In a small flash he felt what little Aqua energy that remained in him rush into the coin, changing it from a shiny brass color to a faintly glowing Aquamarine gem. It flashed, then crumbled to dust in his fingers as a rush of cool energy flowed up his arm to his head and throughout his body, easing his migraine. He wasn’t surprised when a box popped up:
“Alert: You have consumed an Aqua infused aspect token of sufficient power in relation to the correlated aspects level, Aqua Mana Pool has been fully replenished. One hour remaining until another token can be used to restore “Aqua Mana”.” Andre breathed a sigh of relief, before triggering:
“Ability: “Blissful Rain” Activated”
The familiar cool, misty rain surrounded them, mixing with and washing away the blood that had been drying on their armor. While it did nothing to refresh their fatigue, the cool water washing over them was invigorating, and did help to recover any minor injuries they’d sustained in their haste.
“Wait… didn’t you say I had to eat those things to get the benefit from them?” He shot to ALIAS, only to be met by an almost manic laughter.
“We move on, there is nothing we can do about the dead. Returning and attempting to break through the wall to escape doesn’t seem possible anymore. Hopefully we can find another way out of here.” The Architect spoke as the rain settled.
Andre stood and looked around taking in their new surroundings for the first time since they had broken through. They were in what appeared to be a missile silo: steel grated staircases spiraling out of site above and below them with a platform every 20 steps, the walls clad in dense metal. With a start, He looked closer: mounted to the wall at each landing was a familiar lamp; emitting a pale white light. This lamp was of the exact design he had dreamed of several nights before. The slow gears turning, pumping pistons that pushed a thick fluid around a glowing white stone, augmenting the light they emitted. He nodded in agreement with the Architects words.
“Now, the question is up or down?” Andre asked almost sarcastically, breaking the silence that had fallen amongst them which had been punctuated by the steady clicks of the lamps working away to produce their light. It was the Axman who spoke up:
“I say we go down, I’m too damn tired to go up. Also, aren’t the Alphas usually found in the deepest part of the dungeon?” A shrieking hissing laugh emanated from the floors below them.
“I guess that’s a yes. Let’s get this done, alive or dead we can’t stay here forever.” The Architect replied. They all nodded in agreement and began their downward climb.
It wasn’t a treacherous descent, the stairs were sturdy, the platforms firmly bolted to heavy metal girders inset in the walls. The lack of any monsters approaching was unnerving after their experience in the tunnel. Each of them wrestled with their experience, questioning their luck. Greg marched along beside them in a humbled silence, seeming to shake in his leather hood. Thirty minutes down, the Shieldsman spoke out:
“Kind of an odd setup, I’ve never seen anything like this in the dungeons I’ve explored.”
“You are correct, every dungeon I’ve delved was composed of naturally occurring elements, albeit oftentimes used in very… interesting… manners.” Greg answered, his uncertain voice choked to a light squeak.
“This room on the other hand is quite the dichotomy to the stone tunnel, the industrial complex structure of it is far too “man-made” for me to be able to determine the exact nature of what we are facing.” The Architect answered.
“WARNING, it appears there has been an incursion from a corrupted, fallen world.” ALIAS whispered.
They continued their spiraling climb downwards in silence for another 30 minutes, finally reaching the bottom. Steel plates covering the bottom of the shaft, a set of oversized double steel doors built into the wall opposite where the staircase ended.
“Oh, look! My vomit made it all the way down!” Andre jested, in a drive to break the tension which had reached its apex since they laid eyes on the doors. The silence that followed left him feeling ashamed of the joke.
The doors cracked as they cautiously approached them, slowly swinging open in a creaking screech; revealing a shadowy darkness not even their headlights could penetrate beyond. Thick tendrils of smoke poured out, filling the landing, and shooting up the shaft they had just descended. As the air cleared, the room ahead of them was laid bare. 10 of the serpentine scaled creatures lay in a pile, their heads split open in the grotesque fanged blossoms facing the door, 4 of the huge hounds sat by obediently near a slender woman holding a whip. Each of their three black eyes focused in the direction of the bedraggled party. The woman rose, cracking her whip in the air, it was at this moment Andre realized she had the body of a snake from the waist down. The four hounds rose to their feet, hackles raised heavy growls roaring from their throats. The mass of snakes writhed, untangling and rising between them and the woman. A shrill, cackling laughter emitted from the chamber, now alight with similar lamps they had found on each platform, rimming the chamber.
“Well fuck, this is going to be fun.” With his machete crackling with electricity in hand, Andre strode past his stunned party and took his first step into the chamber ahead.