Chapter 214: Spawnhood III
The instant they crossed the threshold, the air turned heavier, thicker, as if the very atmosphere sought to suffocate them.
A crushing wave of corruption surged over the group, oppressive and relentless.
"COUGH!!... w-What is this?"
Ophelia said, coughing and holding her head in pain.
"Aghh... this is... Lucy said.
Given that this was the second time she felt this horrific feeling, the first time was the very first time she came to the Primix dimension itself.
It was not long before the expected happened to them.
Both the girls had their bodies convulsed violently, breath hitching in their throats. As a result, Lucy let out a strangled gasp, her legs buckling, before she collapsed to the cold, cracked ground.
Ophelia followed suit, a pained whimper escaping her lips before unconsciousness claimed her. Their bodies twitched sporadically, as if unseen forces gnawed at them from within.
Ana's eyes widened in shock."Wha... Master! What just happened?!"
Merciless remained still, his towering, monstrous form radiating an eerie calm. His glowing blue eyes drifted to the two crumpled figures.
"Expected."
He said flatly.
Ana's gaze went to him, trusting the process as she asked.
"Expected?!... Agh, can you elaborate? They look like they are in pain."
Merciless slowly turned to her, his expression unreadable.
And replied back with a simple answer that was right to the point, as he said as such.
"This region's corruption is thirty-nine times denser than what they experienced in the exam construct. Their bodies aren't prepared for this level of saturation. Their natural defenses collapsed the moment we crossed."
Looking back down at them, after that reply, she then replied and asked.
"I see... they will be ok though?!"
"They won't die."
Merciless interrupted, his voice steady.
"But they'll be unconscious for at least nine days... Maybe longer... Their bodies need time to adjust; they aren't built like me and you."
Ana looked back at Lucy and Ophelia—their faces pale, bodies unnaturally still. The air around them seemed to shimmer with malignant energy, warping subtly like a heat haze but far more sinister.
"Nine days... that is a long time."
"Yeah, don't beat yourselves over it, though... that robot, though, is watching us; that thing is strong... so we can't harm them even if we wanted to, That aside, I will begin building a base here; I can already tell we will be spending quite some time here."
"We also should keep moving on; we don't want to be left in one place for too long, and there's also much to investigate as well."
With those words said, Merciless looks back forward, not wasting any more time.
He halted, his piercing blue eyes narrowing as he surveyed the decaying landscape. The suffocating corruption coiled around his form, thick and heavy, yet he seemed unaffected. Slowly, he extended a clawed hand, fingers slicing through the dense air.
The corruption responded.
It writhed toward him as if recognizing its master. Thick, tar-like tendrils slithered up from the cracked earth beneath his feet and around him in the atmosphere and the space he occupied, spiraling and twisting in the air like serpents at the epicenter of his being.
The corruption obeyed to his silent will.
The ground trembled as the mass of corruption twisted and convulsed, growing, stretching, and solidifying. Bones of blackened stone erupted from the soil, fusing with sinew-like strands of shadow.
Limbs formed massive, gnarled, and powerful. A hulking frame began to take shape, hunched and monstrous.
First, its head rose... it was wolf-like in structure but far more menacing.
Jagged horns curved backward from its skull, branching like eldritch antlers; it pulsed faintly with crimson veins in its interior. Its maw split unnaturally wide, revealing layers upon layers of serrated teeth, each one glowing like obsidian knives.
Six glowing red eyes burned with a beast-like hunger; they were arranged unevenly across its skull, scanning its surroundings with feral intent.
Massive wings tore free from its back, formed from sinew and bone, the membranes ragged but vast, stretching wide enough to blot out the aurora sky above if they were under its span.
Its back arched as bone-like spines jutted out along its spine, and from its rear, a cluster of sharp, armored tails lashed, each ending in a barbed, spear-like tip.
Upon its broad back, a saddle of hardened, dark metal fused seamlessly with its hide. Behind the saddle, a detailed holder took shape, designed to carry six passengers comfortably, with compartments crafted from darkened bone and flesh to store supplies and weapons.
The beast released a monstrous growl, its breath like a furnace, steaming against the cold air. Its claws, thick and jagged, raked the ground as it lowered itself, the saddle perfectly positioned.
*GRROHHHHHHHLLLLL!!!*
Ana stared in wide-eyed shock.
"What… what is that?"
Merciless glanced at her, his expression unreadable.
"Our ride."
The beast huffed, its six eyes locking onto Ana with unsettling intelligence.
Merciless placed Lucy gently into one of the holder's compartments, then gestured for Ana to load Ophelia.
"We need to keep a constant move. Eregore might be abandoned, but it is still a very dangerous place; we shouldn't casually stay at one spot, even while we rest."
Ana hesitated for only a second before nodding, carefully placing Ophelia beside Lucy, and Avrora simply went where Lucy went; as such, she stayed guard to her existence without saying or doing anything.
On the other hand, Merciless mounted the creature with ease.
"Get on."
Ana climbed up, gripping the dark leather reins stitched into the beast's flesh. The monster shifted beneath them, its wings flexing.
Of course, Merciless helped pull her up as Ana sat behind Merciless, grabbing hold of him from behind.
"You alright, Space Girl?"
"...Hmmm, yeah, I am good, even better since I holding on to master."
Merciless look back; he was not showing any expression; his calmness was not allowing for too much of anything to be showing, to be honest.
In Valkos, that is just how he is.
But he turned around and replied back to her as such.
"Whatever makes you comfortable, Space Girl."
Merciless murmured, his voice steady.
"Just hold on tight and keep watch. My senses are sharp, but your ability to see through the Aether covers where mine fall short."
Ana simply nodded, shifting closer without a word. She nestled against him, and without thinking, Merciless let two of his thick, armor-like tails coil around her. They pulled her in gently, their texture unexpectedly soft—though that was intentional.
He had shaped them that way, giving them just enough warmth and softness to act as a makeshift pillow, ensuring her comfort.Of course, he would never admit it.
For his pride would never allow him to brag.
He spoke through action and action alone.
But Ana didn't seem to mind.
She relaxed immediately, resting her head against him with a quiet sigh, already finding comfort in the subtle gesture.
"Ahhhhhh... how nice; I can easily fall asleep like this."
Said Ana, her armor helmet mechanism undoing itself, causing her silky black hair to flow in the corrupt wind.
She naturally closes her eyes, of course, just enjoying the mood and the service.
Merciless leaned forward, whispering a single word.
"Run."
The beast lunged forward, its powerful limbs tearing into the corrupted ground as it sprinted into the dead city, its wings casting shadows over the ruins.
Eventually, they expanded outwards, flapping as they went along till eventually the beast took off, flying in the air.
And as it flew, it got good air, and the city became clear from high above.
They were at least 1800 meters up in the sky.
And the city below stretched out before them, a jagged, oppressive skyline of black skyscrapers that reached impossibly high into the sky. The buildings were huge, towering over everything, and their surfaces were made from something unfamiliar, some kind of metal or stone that neither Ana nor Merciless had ever seen.
It was dark and smooth in some places, but rough and uneven in others, like the structures had been pieced together from scraps of something alien.
Each building was different, but they all shared a harsh, angular look. Some had sleek, sharp edges that tapered toward the sky, while others were more chaotic, faceted, and uneven as if they'd been built in haste or by something that didn't care about symmetry.
The materials seemed to shimmer in the dim light of the Formless one.
There were no windows, no doors, no familiar shapes to make sense of. The buildings didn't look like they were meant for people, and they certainly didn't look like they had ever been designed with human comfort in mind. Instead, they seemed to be made for something else—something that didn't follow the same rules as human construction.
And yet this oddity was uniform; everything looked the same or kept the concept of the city expression as simple, but this uniform look just made this all the more creepy.
Ana, of course, just looks down and comments.
"This place gives me the creeps."
"...You and me both."
Merciless said.
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