184 (II)

Rhetorical [I]

He'd taken an Animated Skill Infusion from Kura earlier, and he recalled how her skill worked. Her temporal clones could be directed in battle, and she could seemingly spawn a near countless number of them. More importantly, she could swap her positions with one of them, and where Shiv was compromised, his golem might not be. Even so, it took a substantial amount of vitality to create, and with him already down a fourth due to his use of Non-Sequitur, he needed to be very strategic.

There's no fighting the Ascendants and Avatars, Shiv thought to himself. He decided against giving the golem any skills beyond Shapeless Tides and the Animated Skill Infusion. After that, he whispered a command to the golem, one he could barely recall himself afterward due to an overwhelming surge of pain that passed through his body.

That done, the golem flared with Chronomancy mana, and it parted into two, then three, then four, and then many, many more. The sudden appearance of the golem caught Veronica off guard. Behind her, the other Avatars were watching as if an audience to a play. They also responded to the manifestation of the golems, but most of them acted too late to stop their first action.

Shiv flinched as one of the golems smashed through his material body. He couldn't remember if he told it to do that, and he grimaced as a puff of red-white mist filled the air.

Veronica was about to say something, but a lull of confusion came over her as Shiv's Vitae Anchor was destroyed. Shiv's state reverted to that of being outside context. Veronica forgot who she was fighting. And that was the opening Shiv was looking for.

At once, he pulled his cape off and threw it over one of the golem's necks. He flung himself inside the cape right after, and as he landed on the ground of the alloy forest contained within, Shiv arced his back and let out an agonized howl. He returned to context in the same instant, unable to sustain the vitality bleed any longer. His howl reached a new octave as Adam was launched inward, slamming against his body and sending them both tumbling into an iron tree. With that collision, Shiv remembered the commands he gave his golems. They were to gather all his present companions and throw them inside his cape. Once that was done, they were to flee as far and fast as they could, dividing over and over again to stay ahead of Veronica.

Hammering bursts of Chronomancy washed over Shiv. Every impact made him cry out while Adam moaned nearby, both of them all but incapacitated. Soon, Five and Bonk joined in, but the orc ended up making a gagging noise as if he was choking on his own tongue, and the wolf-man was basically catatonic.

"Hurts… Hurts… Bad…" another voice rasped. Candles was somewhere beyond Shiv's sight, and the Pyromancer let out gasping hisses of misery.

And then a loud voice bellowed in Shiv's mind. It was too much for the Deathless to bear at first, but as he managed to fight through his debilitating suffering, he realized he'd clutched the core that Cripple gave him earlier.

"Shiv? Shiv, are you still there?" the Ascendant called out.

Shiv coughed, sending blood splattering over the cold, metal dirt. "Barely," he managed. He regretted speaking immediately thereafter, as an intense sensation of burning torment flowed through his very veins.

Before anything else could be exchanged between Shiv and the Ascendant, something burst through the dimensional portal leading into the forest of alloy. Gone appeared, and she dragged a legless Kura behind her. Rebis remained absent. Seeping shadows flickered in their protective dimension, and Shiv felt his heart plunge as he realized Harlock was back once more.

His heart promptly fell through the floorboards when he also remembered the fact that he didn't give his golems any Vitality Drain. They wouldn't be able to sustain themselves for long.

There came another burst of golden mana, and suddenly the darkness dissipated. His golem had temporally shifted once more, swapping places with one of its golden shadows. To where? Shiv didn't know. He was on the inside, but he knew this was unsustainable.

But Kura was back…

He projected a few strands of Vitae toward the wounded elf and seeped into her body once more. He needed another Skill Infusion. And he needed her to carry on when his golems were used up. He stole her wounds with his Aegis, and her legs suddenly returned into existence. Gone, who was trying to apply a tourniquet to Kura's right leg, blinked in surprise as she looked toward Shiv.

Aegis of Assimilation > [Error]

"Shiv, listen to me," Cripple continued. "I know you are badly wounded right now, but you must keep moving. The other Ascendants will be upon you soon. You're not supposed to be in this place. In fact, no one in this prison is supposed to know of the fusion reactor's existence, but that can be used to our advantage. Do you know where the cube's nuclear reactor core is?"

"What?" Shiv cried out. "No, not even a little. The hell is a nuclear reactor core?"

"I think I do," Adam croaked out beside Shiv. The Deathless blinked. He looked at Adam and did a double-take as he found the Gate Lord kneeling. He was on his hands and knees, and a faintness of flickering blue popped and flickered just above his burn-scarred head.

"Adam, no, just stay down, you're—"

"Oh, shut up," Adam wheezed. "If I'm going to die, I'm going to die standing."

And with that declaration, his Righteous Dawn flared to life once more. It wasn't nearly as bright as it was before, but it still packed that righteous glow, that soul-mending balm. Adam's radiance infused Shiv with just enough strength that his shaking stilled. And it wasn't just Shiv who received Adam's aid. Shiv saw Bonk getting up in the corner of his vision, rising from a web of silvery veins that grew along the ground, akin to vines. Five was still crying out with pleas for someone to end his misery, but it sounded like he had more breath in his lungs now as well.

"I know where the reactor core is," Adam growled. "I met the Owl there. But why? Why are we heading in that direction? Harlock and Daughter attacked me there. He assumed Shiv's guise and tore through the Ravens to get at me."

"Because if you increase the core's activity to its maximum level, it will suppress all magic in the area, ambient or not, and that might just give you a chance to escape," Cripple summarized.

Another wave of Chronomancy slammed into Shiv. The Deathless nearly doubled over just as he began forcing himself back on his feet. Adam helped him stay upright, but both of them cried out in pain as their burn wounds collided.

"Yeah," Shiv said, "if I'm going to fall over, just let me fall."

"Sorry," Adam coughed out hoarsely.

"Insul? Insul?" Bonk called out. Shiv looked at the orc and winced as he realized that Bonk's eyes were melted shut. "Might not be able to see very good right now, but did I happen to hear a plan in motion? Is there something I could hit?"

"I think we're going to find out in a couple of seconds," Adam said before calling out to the only healthy members of their group—relatively healthy, anyway. "Chronomancer!"

"Give me a felling moment," Kura groaned in reply.

"No, there's no moment!" Adam said. "We're going to need to rely on you. You too, Gone. Most of us are in no condition to fight."

"Do I look like I'm in any condition to move?" the elf called back sarcastically. She wiggled her toes. "I just got these back."

"More than us," Adam snarled. "Shiv is going to run out of vitality soon…" His words slurred, and he began blinking rapidly. Shiv snapped his fingers in front of Adam's face, and the Gate Lord managed to stop himself from passing out. "Ah, wait! His golems are going to run out of vitality soon. The Chronomancy is going to run out. It's not going to be able to last. We're going to move this cape onto one of your shadows. We need to... You need to start making clones right now. We need to make the transition fast."

"Got it," the goblin said. "I'll make sure you all get across." Her words left her lips like crossbow bolts, and in a burst of speed, she vanished.

"Alright," Adam called aloud. He waved a hand as he slumped toward the exit. "Everyone out! Prepare to transition! Shiv, get the wolf up! He can whimper later!"

The Deathless grumbled as he followed Adam's orders. He reached down and plucked Five off the ground. The burned wolf-man let out a shriek, and Shiv empathized with his pain. "Alright," he slurred, "you're gonna be fine, I think. I hope."

"I don't feel very fine," Five moaned, barely managing to retain his dignity. Sparking wires and pieces of complex machinery stuck out from the cyborg's open wounds, and Shiv doubted he could heal the wolf-man, even if his wounds weren't soul-deep.

Something drifted past Shiv. He caught sight of a golden shadow passing through the dimensional portal, then another, then another, and soon a small army of golden shadows slipped out ahead of Adam. Just then, he felt something flutter by. Before he could react, something slammed into him, dragged him out into the open, out into the humid tunnels once more. The world blurred around Shiv as he let out a pained growl. In the next moment, he found himself tumbling, and he landed on the ground, only to discover he was back within the forest of alloy.

Stolen story; please report.

Gone leaned over him. There was a deep gash running along the left side of her chin. A droplet of blood splashed against Shiv's nose. She held something up for him to see, and Shiv blinked as he realized he was looking at a severed arm. Shiv looked down at where his right forearm should be and found it missing. Blood spurted out from his stump, and his bone flickered between a red-gold hue and the plain white of a Pathless's skeleton.

"Sorry," Gone said, apologizing tersely. "Managed to rip this off while pulling you through. Your Toughness suddenly got really bad."

"Yeah, that happens… That happens," Shiv repeated. "I got stabbed with an Animancy dagger. It's not your fault." He pushed himself up. Again, to his surprise, he couldn't really even feel the dismemberment. No, the main source of pain concerning him was still the burns. Blood gushed out from his many wounds where they weren't sealed shut, but as he swiped his Aegis through himself, he managed to replace his missing arm at least. "Alright, what now?"

He looked to his left and found Kura strapped to Adam's back. Ripples of Chronomancy radiated free from her body, and a look of concentration left deep furrows on her brow. Her legs were missing again; a series of tightly tied cords choked the blood to her stumps.

"The hells keeps tearing your legs off?" Shiv asked.

"Daughter," Kura snarled. "And when this is done, my debt to you is paid proper. You have no idea how many times I preserved your life at the cost of my flesh."

"If we get out of this, I'll even godsdamned cook for you as thanks," Shiv muttered.

The elf stared at him. "Is that a jest?"

"No. I'm a good cook. I would be a great one if the System would stop trying to fucking kill me and gave me a second to rest!"

Adam's eyes were glowing, and Shiv realized he was using his Seer of Horizons to navigate. Time and time again, Chronomantic wavelengths crashed into Shiv. Every transition made him bite back a scream of pain, but they were moving. They were fleeing somewhere.

"Keep going, follow the tunnel, just keep following the tunnel!" Adam let out a miserable groan as he readied a Veilpiercer. Shiv wondered if he had the strength to release the arrow, and his answer came as Adam nearly folded over the moment he tried to draw his bow back.

Shaking his head, Shiv staggered over to his friend and gripped the string as well. "We'll do this together," Shiv breathed. "Come on, Gate Lord. Bend that little stick arm of yours."

"Eat shit, you oversized ape." Adam gritted his teeth. Still, he gave Shiv a thankful look, and they both pulled. Thanks to Shiv's Shapeless Tides suddenly working again, they managed to draw the bow back, and Adam released it. As soon as he did, a piece of his finger went missing. Even so, a gap was sheared open before them.

A dimensional pathway was revealed, and through that pathway, they saw the exact tunnel they'd been in earlier once more. A small army of golden shadows was racing down the curving path. There was no more steam in the air, and as they sped ahead, a wave of crawling darkness chased after them.

"Candles!" Adam cried out. "Candles, get in front of the pathway! Now!"

Shiv blinked. He'd barely noticed the Pyromancer earlier. As he swung his head around, he found Candles being propped up by Bonk like he was some kind of weapon, and that was ultimately necessary, considering Candles no longer had any limbs. For the first time, Shiv heard the Pyromancer complain about something.

"Too much fire, too much…" Candle shook his head, his flames dimmer than ever. For the first time, Shiv thought he could see something akin to human flesh surrounding his bones, but it was translucent and appeared to be shaped of fire, so he wasn't sure if it was merely a trick of the light. "I don't wanna burn anymore. It hurts too bad…"

"You have to!" Adam shrieked. "If you don't, we're all gonna get taken by the Ascendants! They're gonna put us back in those cells forever! Do you want to spend years in the cells again, Candles?"

Candles let out a sob, and with that, brilliant flames erupted from his searing halo, spilling free from his being and pouring forth through the dimensional pathway as a jetstream of indescribable heat. Before the Ascendant of Midnight could reach in and compromise Shiv's final sanctuary, his grasping hand was scoured from the world by a torrent of Legendary Pyromancy. Candles channeled his over-strained mana field with an agonized cry, and Bonk joined him in his screams soon after, as his hands started melting.

"Yeah!" Adam screamed. "Keep going!" Suddenly, he looked over his shoulder, and the elf fastened to his back flinched in surprise. "Go right! Go right here! Go through the door!"

There came a loud sound outside. It was the noise of a blade carving through dense meters of alloy. Another Chronomantic burst hit Shiv, and this time, he collapsed. An inky darkness crawled over his vision, and the pain he felt faded to prickles of static. He didn't know if he was unconscious for one second or ten years, but by the time he returned, he found himself barely on his feet, getting violently dragged every step of the way.

"Come ON!" Adam cried in naked panic. Behind, the sound of clashing metal and buckling walls made Shiv push forward. A small army of golden shadows was left in place to hold the doorway, preventing the darkness from pushing through. He realized he was moving along a circular walkway right now, and at the center of the oppressive room was a massive, rapidly spinning pillar. It roared with energy, and an uncomfortable prickling sensation danced across Shiv's many burns.

"Where the hells are we?" Shiv asked, his gaze fixed on the spinning rod.

"Reactor core," Adam replied quickly. The Gate Lord held Cripple's core high and called out, "Cripple! We're here! What do we do now? Cripple? CRIPPLE!" But the Ascendant didn't reply. "Godsdamn it! Alright, we need... We need..." He paused, and his eyes snapped to Shiv. "You said Five is a member of Aviary?"

Shiv nodded.

"Bonk, pass me the wolf-man!" Adam called.

"Here you go, Gate Lord!" Bonk cried aloud. Shiv turned just in time to see Bonk literally chuck Five into the air. Of course, he also chucked him in the wrong direction. Bonk's blindness and the near-deafening noise produced by the spinning pillar had caused him to throw the wolf-man against a nearby wall instead. Five gave a pained squeak as he tumbled down, and in the next moment, he was plucked out of the air and slammed down next to Adam by a suddenly appearing Gone. The goblin's face was a mess of cuts and bruises by this point, while her prisoner attire was shredded. She was also missing a few fingers, and half the quills on her back had been shorn off at an angle by a singular cut.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry," she repeated over and over again, her head snapping back between Shiv, Adam, and the entrance the small army of golden shadows was trying to hold.

"Yes, hurry!" Kura groaned with building strain. Shiv could feel the sheer amount of Chronomancy pouring out from her body. There was so much mana that it put the Recollector to shame ten times over, but even that wasn't going to be enough to stall the Avatars and their Ascendants for long.

"Five! Five, get up! Look, look at me!" Adam reached and shook the wolf-man, but Five tried to push the Gate Lord away, moaning in pain. His ability to endure pain seemed near non-existent compared to Shiv's and even Adam's.

"Ah! Stop! It hurts! It hurts too much!"

"It's going to be worse if you don't help me! You're going back in the cage! Do you want to?"

At the mention of the cage, Five managed to crack open one of his eyes, and Shiv saw the wolf-man's pupil dilate. "Agh. Okay, okay. It doesn't hurt that much."

"Good! You're an Aviary agent, right?"

Five hesitated. "I told him that," Shiv called out.

"Technically, I'm burned—" Five began.

"I don't care what your officially listed status is! Do you know how to do anything with that?" Adam pointed toward the large rod spinning at the center of the room, and Five's eyes widened.

"Is that... Is that some kind of nuclear reactor?"

"You tell me," Adam snapped. "I have no idea about ancient technology. The Owl introduced this thing to me, and he said that it gave me radiation."

"Radiation?" Shiv muttered, unfamiliar with the term. "What do you mean, radiation?"

"This place, it's filled with radiation! We are all getting irradiated as we speak!"

"Then why the fuck did you bring us here?!" Kura nearly screeched.

"Because the Ascendant told me to come here!"

"What Ascendant?!" Kura's eyes went wide. "Why are we listening to some Ascendant?!"

"I am trying to help you!" Cripple's voice suddenly echoed through the room like a crashing wave of thunder, originating from the automaton core in Adam's hand. "Shiv! Adam! You're in place. Good. You need to find the mainframe within the reactor core and set everything to maximum capacity. That will create a mana-suppressing effect and give you an opening to escape."

"And where might this mainframe be?" Adam asked, his patience wearing thin.

"I think... I think I know." Five suddenly stood up. His head snapped toward the ceiling, and Shiv looked upward for the first time as well. He saw additional rings, additional ringed walkways extending above, and a few shredded Ravens hung over the edges. Their tattered remains dripped with viscera, and Shiv shuddered at the state of their bodies. Harlock and Daughter had absolutely ripped them apart.

The poor bastards didn't have a chance at all, Shiv thought to himself.

"I need to go up," Five said. "Can someone—" and then he vanished in a golden blur. At the same moment, Shiv saw Five appear a level above him. The wolf-man cried out in surprise and pain, but then Shiv heard Five follow up with, "No! It's still higher! As high as you can go!"

"Shiv!" Cripple continued. "I am moving a specialized cube nearby. I cannot get it in place to be directly adjacent with the reactor; however, it shouldn't be far away. If you can manage to open a gap through one of the nearby walls and enter the space between, I should be able to guide you to the cube. With the reactor active, it should make it difficult for the Ascendants to track you as well, but only if you move fast."

Shiv didn't even bother replying. Instead, he sprinted along the walkway, ignoring the bursts of pain passing through his body. As he came to a halt in front of the aluminum wall, he pressed his hands against it and willed his Shapeless Tides to come back. It took around three seconds for his skill to fully reactivate, and by then, Kura was on the verge of breaking.

"I can't hold them back! I can't hold them back much longer! Hurry! Hurry!"

Shiv drove his first tides into the wall, and he began to pry in two directions. The metal peeled—but then Shiv's skill cut out once more. "FUCK!"

Still, it was enough to make an opening in the wall, and—

"You know, Cripple really isn't very good at the whole being subtle and slick thing." Through the gap Shiv had made, Veronica stared flatly at him. "You got a pretty interesting Unique Skill, though. You and the Young Lord both. How about you both surrender and submit yourselves to me and put this misery to an end?"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.