Chapter 84
Chapter 84
Max flew through the air, laughing slightly to himself as he occasionally stopped, opening his dimensional space and letting the pair of centaurs poke their head out again.
You know that would be a real punishment for someone back home. Making them clean out that place after Aeacilles did what he did.
I’m certain he feels bad enough. And besides, I’m not sure there’s anyone back home I dislike that much.
Max chuckled, the wind carrying his amusement away, still racing in the direction Talanos had directed him.
The sun was almost down, casting a red and orange hue over the sky as the section of land that was his target came into view.
Instead of the brown and earthy color of baked soil and no foliage, there was instead a section of land appearing that had black lines that radiated outward into the soil. From above it looked almost like a drop of paint had been splattered onto canvas.
So this is more than just a simple drought… what is that?
A curse of some kind… something Jazzjak said might be in place.
Which means this was an attack by someone. The question is who or what… and the problem comes down to finding out who directed this path. You seem to be making enemies faster than usual, Max. Tell me, what is this secret you are keeping from me? Did you acquire another black skill without telling me while I was imprisoned?
Even with the threat of what lay before him, Max laughed, knowing Bob was trying to lighten the mood of this moment.
It’s a skill… and I’m most likely a god at it.
They both stopped talking as Max got closer and descended toward the center of the area that was infecting the land. A four-mile-wide circle of darkness, almost like a shadow, took over the entire space.
Coming to a stop while still a good half mile above the center of this area, Max could sense the taint of something sickening even at this distance.
His dimensional space appeared next to him and the door swung open, revealing a pair of centaurs who seemed to be suffering from shaky legs.
“Don’t come out too far, but is this the right spot?” Max asked. “Something has appeared here and I’m not sure what.”
Both men glanced out over the edge and neither could hide the grimace that came upon seeing what lay below.
“What… is that?” Talanos asked, his voice almost breaking. “I can feel… death from it.”
“I think someone cursed this area,” Max replied. “I was warned this might be what caused such a rapid spreading of the problem that is afflicting this world.”
“Why would someone curse us like this?” Aeacilles asked.
“I don’t know,” Max stated. “Part of me would say it could be because I am the god of this world, but I have no way of proving that. The other truth is I’m new to this and what I know and can share is limited. Know that I’ll keep my promise and will do everything I can to resolve this issue. But for now, take a step back so I can descend and see if I can’t find what I’m looking for.”
Both centaurs moved backward immediately; neither seemed like they wanted to continue staring at the darkness below.
When his dimensional space vanished, Max equipped his armor and weapons.
We taking bets on if there’s something down there we’ll have to fight?
I’m not a demon who likes to risk stuff but I also have no idea what might be below. A part of me can sense something familiar… like I’ve tasted it before in a previous life… yet for now I cannot recall anything about it.
Max let himself descend into the area below. As the sun set and darkness blotted out the sun, the space beneath him eagerly devoured the light that touched it.
A hundred yards above the ground, Max could sense tendrils of magic reaching upward, like tentacles of sea monsters, seeking him out.
One touched him and immediately splintered into nothingness. All the others that had been coming toward him quickly retracted.
[ Consume has Resisted - Curse - Drain Lifeforce ]
Huh… I wasn’t expecting that.
I’m not sure if that’s a good sign or a bad one. It wasn’t very strong but it was also a small fragment of power. What lies below is much denser and potentially dangerous.
A fireball illuminated his shape as Bob summoned the magic, pouring mana into it until it was a few feet wide and cast it downward at the ground. It impacted with the darkness and was smothered, its light and power gone in a moment.
Yeah… that doesn’t look good at all.
Ice, lightning, and earth projectiles were all formed and launched as fireballs, and each had the same effect. The earth one took a little longer before the darkness seemed to devour it completely.
It would appear that the stone is not as easily defeated. I have a thought on how we can use that if you’re up for becoming a golem.
That would seem like a good solution. What’s our strategy?
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Max could sense Bob working through the problem as he considered their options.
If it’s only at the surface, we could try and move through the ground, pushing past it and into the earth. That would give us some protection and we could aim for where we believe the spot we seek would be.
Perhaps. We won’t know until we attempt it. Whenever you’re ready, I am ready.
Max nodded and felt Bob pulling stone from his dimensional storage, creating a barrier around him. Then he sensed the Personal Barrier spell activating.
His vision vanished and yet Max could still sense things around himself for about half the normal distance.
How are you doing that?
I adjusted the stone's density so we could still use Sonar through it. Combined with some magical energy and your Barrier we should be safe to move through whatever curse that is. I just wouldn’t linger forever.
Without waiting, Max descended until his stone foot touched the ground and as soon as it did, the darkness swarmed him. Magical energy seemed to strike like a wave of water, trying to wash away his barrier and the stone Bob had surrounded them with.
He didn’t wait, moving along the ground, letting his footsteps and the vibrations that came from them direct his path. In absolute darkness, Max moved, Bob handling the magical side of their defenses, while Max searched for the stairs that were supposed to be somewhere around here, and descended under the earth.
Seconds passed and soon a minute, the concern that Bob had not spoken of growing within his mind. Their mana pools had already been drained about 10% and Max knew they were going to need to be ready to either pull back and recover or find what they were looking for soon.
I can’t sense it. We’ve walked a specific path, making sure to loop backward and forward at the right spaces.
We can try the alternative of going beneath the soil, but I can sense this curse lies beneath us as well.
Max stopped walking.
Can you sense how deep it goes?
Immediately Bob chuckled and knew his thought.
I can. That is a brilliant idea.
Earth began to shift and they descended downward, surrounded by soil and the curse that continued to try and swallow them.
Almost three hundred yards had passed before the curse seemed to lessen in the earth.
It’s that way, isn’t it?
Yes. You can sense it now like I can. It would appear that what we’re seeking is probably where this curse originates.
Bob shifted the soil around them as they moved back towards the tainted section, following the curse, sensing the growing dread and filthiness that came with it.
After almost a quarter of a mile, they shifted slightly downward and the earth gave way, revealing a stone section before them.
We’ve found the hall or a path that leads to it.
Time to see what lies beyond this.
Bob moved the stones and a wave of magical energy assaulted them.
Max wasn’t sure if he would have staggered from the power that came if the earth hadn’t surrounded him; they were moving through. The intensity of it was multiple times greater than it had been on the surface.
You need to hurry.
Moving forward, Max pushed through the magical assault and turned to the right, sensing that they were in a large hallway. It was easily thirty feet wide and as tall. As he moved toward the heart of this curse, he sensed more than just the magic around him, but also shapes began to appear.
What are–
His weapons materialized in both hands, each one a sword that swung through the oppressive spell. Something that had been moving toward him was cut with one, a pained cry echoing through the cavern as the other shapes that had been drawing close pulled back.
Hurry!
Max sensed the buildup of something behind him from the way they had come. Even though whatever had been moving through the darkness had scattered, it was like an avalanche of power racing toward him from behind.
[ Haste ]
Without wanting to waste a second, Max ran through the hallway, his stone armor slowly falling off, unable to resist both the magic eating at it and the vibrations of his movements.
Each step revealed more through his sonar and Max could sense hundreds of shapes within the darkness, each of them spiraling toward him as he dashed past them.
And then the hallway he had been traveling through ended, a large wall and door set before him.
[ Armored Warrior ]
[ Bulwark ]
Unsure what might protect a room like he expected to be behind this, Max charged into the metal door. He heard the sound of the hinges bending and popping as they broke, the twenty-foot-tall doors crashing to the side as he entered the room behind them.
There, surrounding the table where the panel Jazzjak had described, was the shape of something evil.
It was utter darkness, void of all light and yet when Max entered the room, a pair of eyes, somehow darker than its body focused on him.
“How? How did–”
Max didn’t stop to have a discussion. Whatever this thing before him was, it was easily twenty feet tall. Worse was it was coiled like a snake, a long body with a strange head that felt flat and yet somehow not to his sonar.
Bob unleashed blades of wind, summoning a tornado that pushed all the magical darkness he could from around them.
Its shape stayed the same, resisting the attempt to steal its form, and all of the wind blades seemed to bend when they struck, sliding off its body.
Max stored Sunderer and transformed his artifact into a massive two-handed sword.
Without hesitating, he swung, slicing through the being's body completely. Multiple strikes took place in a moment and each one cut clean through, yet wherever he had damaged it, the wound was gone almost as fast as it had appeared.
A sound like laughter came from the being as it rose, strands of its body shrugging off his sword as it cut through it.
“Foolish one… I am not–”
Max sensed what Bob was thinking, knowing what would be attempted next.
Gritting his teeth, he prepared himself for what was about to come.
I really hate this…
[ Wildfire ]