Chapter 122: Becoming one with the Speedforce
In the dead of night, Lea was awoken by a sudden rumble. She sank into her shadow in an instant, heading straight for the command bridge.
"What's going on?!", she looked at the constructs keeping guard of the bridge, two of them, the rest went to do their own things.
The two shrugged, clearly not understanding what was going on. She then turned to the sphere floating idly by.
"Knight, can you tell me what is going on?!"
Knight turned to her, "[The battle for the fate of the world has begun. Novala's followers had used their ultimate weapon to strike the Fog Wall, and the Church of Sacrifice had entered as well.]"
"What...?", she widens her eyes.
It was shocking news. Lea's heart began to beat faster. She can't do anything, nor does she know what to do with this revelation. Should she just weather the storm out? Or go straight for the Divine Domain? Lea doesn't know what will happen as a result of the battle...
But staring out at the calm sea, she shook her head. She cannot back down now, especially when the nature of the world is one big Trial; to run away means surrendering herself to this cruel world.
Lea stared at the controls again, remembering the ship's various settings.
She got the operation manual again, flipping to the last page...
There are several modes this ship could enter. A combat mode where all the hidden guns of this ship activate, or a mode to transform this into an aircraft. But it also has some strange modes like 'Japan Twin Suns 2: Electric Boogaloo', 'Sodom Vacation', 'Ripper'.
"Knight, what can help me get to Australia the fastest?", she asked the only person in the room that know how this worked.
"[Her Majesty told me not to help you, directly that is.]", it replied calmly, "[Please look for the mode titled 'Becoming one with the speedforce', that will help you.]"
That's... a dumb name, becoming one with the speedforce? Lea wondered; her eyes widened as she opened the manual again. While checking through it, her mind wandered to another thought.
"Uh, Knight... who is Novala, exactly?", she asked as she flipped through the manual.
From her own understanding, Novala has followers like Knight just said, powerful enough to send shockwaves across the world. A hidden god capable of stirring up the North must—
"[Novala is the name of the being you called Sacred Flame.]"
"Huh?", she stopped.
The God of Fire and Justice was the culprit. Lea stared at the sphere for a moment, then her mind clicked.
So that is how it is... she thought. Novala is Charlotte's ally, but he attacked the Fog Wall.
That means... Charlotte— no, she and those with her are on the next step.
Her hand pressed down on the pages... this is way bigger than she originally thought. Well, the fate of the world is in the balance, but still, the cosmic forces are jumping in.
"Here it is...", she finally found it.
Lea found the page, her finger tracing over the manual's instructions for 'Becoming one with the speedforce', and the description was terrifyingly vague.
'Activates experimental propulsion system utilizing dimensional friction reduction and temporal acceleration fields.
WARNING: Extreme velocity may cause spatial distortions. Not recommended for inexperienced operators. The collision avoidance system will attempt to compensate, but cannot guarantee obstacle detection at maximum speed.'
"That doesn't sound safe at all.", she muttered.
"[It is not.]", Knight confirmed.
Lea looked at the two ghost-constructs manning the bridge. They tilted their heads questioningly.
"Get everyone to their stations, we're about to go very, very fast.", she ordered.
The constructs saluted and scattered to summon the others. Within minutes, all twenty familiars were positioned throughout the ship, strapped into seats or holding onto railings.
Lea sat in the captain's chair and began following the manual's instructions.
The air around the ship shimmered visibly through the viewport. It looked like heat waves, but wrong, as if space itself was being compressed. Lea's hand hovered over the final switch, hesitating for a moment.
"Everyone hold on!!", she shouted through the ship's internal communication system, one of the few features she'd figured out how to use properly.
She flipped the switch, and the ship roared a deafening unholy scream.
The AMS Sargon launched forward with impossible acceleration. Lea was thrown back into her chair despite the restraints. The ocean outside became a blur of blue and white.
Then the blue turned to streaks. Then to lines.
They were moving so fast that the water couldn't even register as individual waves anymore, just abstract patterns of color rushing past.
"This is insane!", she laughed despite the g-forces pressing against her chest, "We're actually—"
Boom!!
The Sargon's bow slammed into something solid.
A wooden merchant vessel that had been peacefully sailing along suddenly found itself in the path of a hypersonic metal projectile.
The impact was catastrophic.
The merchant ship's bow exploded into splinters, sending bodies through the air. Pirates, from the look of their mismatched armor and weapons. Several landed directly on the Sargon's deck, skidding across the smooth metal.
Lea had exactly one second to process this before the emergency systems kicked in.
EMERGENCY BRAKE ACTIVATED
COLLISION DETECTED
COMPENSATING
The Sargon's engines reversed thrust with enough force to tear a normal ship apart. The sudden deceleration sent everything not secured flying forward. Lea slammed against her restraints hard enough to bruise.
But the ship was still moving too fast. The reversed thrust combined with the water resistance sent the Sargon into a spin. The entire vessel lifted out of the water, airborne, rotating through the air like a thrown knife.
Lea watched the ocean, then sky, then ocean again flash past the viewport in rapid succession.
Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck—
SPLASH!!
The Sargon hit the water belly-first with a thunderous impact. But the ship held together. It floated up from the depths, rocking violently, but intact.
Lea sat in the captain's chair, breathing hard, her knuckles white from gripping the armrests.
"Did... did we just...?"
"[You survived.]", Knight confirmed, "[Though your piloting skills require significant improvement.]"
"Thanks.", Lea said flatly.
Then the alarms changed tone.
INTRUDER ALERT
DECK BREACH DETECTED
MULTIPLE HOSTILES
"What?", Lea pulled up the security display, another feature she'd barely figured out how to use.
The screen showed the deck. Eight figures sprawled across it, groaning, slowly getting to their feet. Pirates, definitely. Scarred faces, mismatched armor, weapons scattered around them.
They'd been on the ship they'd hit. The collision had thrown them onto the Sargon.
And now they were inside her territory.
Lea stood, her Cursed Constructs already forming armor around her body, "Through our Contract, I call upon you. Time to clear the deck."
The twenty ghost-constructs assembled on the main deck, their grotesque humanoid forms moving with eerie coordination.
Lea emerged from below, the Faceless Twilight in full regalia, letting darkness embrace her.
The pirates had recovered enough to stand. They looked around at the metal ship with confusion and growing fear.
"What the fuck kind of ship is this?", one of them, a massive man with a scar across his face, demanded, "Where's the wood? The sails?"
"Who cares!", another pirate snarled, drawing a curved blade, "There's treasure here somewhere! Kill anyone who resists!"
The eight pirates charged forward, weapons raised. They made it three steps before the constructs moved.
The familiars were silent but brutally efficient. They'd learned combat from somewhere Lea didn't know, and while they couldn't match her skill, they made up for it with numbers and coordination.
Plus, the bodies made from Cursed Constructs curse every time they touch the pirates, inflicting several Hexes.
The first pirate swung his sword at a construct's head. The construct ducked, grabbed his arm with too many joints bending wrong, and twisted. The pirate screamed as his elbow shattered.
Another pirate tried to stab a construct through the chest. The blade sank in, but the construct didn't react because it was just animated Cursed Constructs with no vital organs.
It grabbed the pirate's face with both hands and squeezed, shattering his skull.
The massive scarred leader swung a war axe at three constructs simultaneously. Two dodged. One took the hit, losing an arm, but two more constructs grabbed him from behind, dragging him down.
With a single touch, it was already over.
"What are these things?!" a pirate screamed as his face became paler.
Lea watched from the bridge entrance, arms crossed. She didn't need to intervene; her familiars were handling it well.
One pirate made a run for the edge of the deck, trying to dive overboard. A construct sprouted black tendrils from its back and caught him mid-jump, slamming him back onto the deck.
Another, a Pathstrider this time, tried using some kind of Third Step enhancement, muscles bulging as his skin turned red. He managed to overpower one construct, tearing it apart. She speculates it could be Bloom.
Then five more constructs dogpiled him, overwhelming him with sheer numbers and repeated stacks of curses.
Within three minutes, all eight pirates were subdued. Some unconscious. Some groaning in pain. Some screaming as construct-hands held them down with impossible strength.
The massive leader was the last standing, bleeding from multiple wounds, backed against the ship's railing.
"Mercy!", he gasped, "We surrender! Please!"
Lea walked forward slowly, her shroud billowing despite the lack of wind. She stopped a few meters away, tilting her masked head.
"You boarded my ship.", she said coldly, "Threatened to kill me and take my treasure."
"We didn't know! We thought—"
"You thought wrong."
Lea raised one hand. Her Cursed Constructs rose from the ground beneath her, hardening as they lunged at the pirates.
"Wait! Wait!", the pirate held up his hands desperately, "We can pay! We have gold! Supplies! Anything you want!"
Lea paused, "Where's your ship?"
"S-sinking.", he admitted, "You... you hit us pretty hard. Most of the crew probably drowned."
More deaths on my hands... Lea thought distantly... Accidental this time, but still.
She didn't feel guilty. Just... tired.
"Then you're useless to me.", Lea's blade rose.
"We know these waters!", the pirate blurted out desperately, "The shipping lanes! Where are the naval patrols? We can navigate! Guide you!"
Lea stopped again.
Navigation is indeed useful, but staring at these lowlifes on the sea, she didn't feel anything. Behind the black mask, her expression was still neutral, emotionless even.
"Dream Eater."
In an instant, she robbed them of their subconscious, rendering them brain-dead. And at the same time, she got what she needed from the fragments of memories.
The waters around here are safe, but a few more nautical miles, whatever that is, she would be entering the zone controlled by the Church of the Blood God and the Adventurer's Guild.
For now, she would survey the water. Returning to the bridge after commanding her familiars to throw the corpses overboard, she turned to Knight.
"Is there a way for me to know the Divine Domain of Unconscious is? You know, since Charlotte apparently knows where it is."
"[I am glad you asked.]", Knight stated, commanding the map to open up.
Then it tilted 90 degrees, turning into a 3D map... Lea noted that Knight has full control of the ship.
Two dots showed up, one being the ship, and the other... the location of the Labyrinth of the Mind...
"[This is merely the expected location, everything is up to you.]"
So for the upcoming trial... for all of this help, Lea would face something unimaginable.