AA. 177

[Author's Note: In the hospital wife. We're going to have our baby tonight or tomorrow. I apologise if there are any posting interruptions.]

According to Layla, the Cursed Ones Nil faced during the Hunt and Chase were mid-Bronze-Realm, and only the fake monk was close to Silver. It was the type of foe he was likely to face in the Cleansing, except there was a chance of them being enhanced or changed with the Void. The Cleansing often occurred on worlds where Silver Realmers couldn’t enter for one reason or another. However, the monsters in the event often proved stronger than the limitations of Bronze.

The danger level on the Weave’s quest suggested that he’d face comparable threats, and Nil was initially disappointed when he thought that wouldn’t be the quest. Now, he believed otherwise. The creatures that appeared out of the ceiling and walls weren’t massive and didn’t have multiple hearts. But the energy in each of their cores was dense, and the purest Cursed Energy Nil had ever detected.

Vapors rose from the eggs. However, the energy leaking from the twisted humanoid creatures around them was liquid, like the black sludge flowing through the Cursed Ones’ veins. They looked like twisted humans with maniacal grins, wild eyes, and enhanced limbs. All of them had monstrous lengths and ended in ugly claws. Then, twisted embellishments helped differentiate between them. Some featured armor, scythe-like blades, spikes, or secondary appendages that extended from the first. Many came with additional legs or tails. A few even had additional heads.

The new soul weapon’s power proved invaluable. Selia erected chains at regular intervals, attaching one end to the floor and the other to containers and walls. The crisscross created obstacles keeping the Cursed Ones from swarming the duo. The few that ran into them sizzled and screamed. However, when Nil brushed against them, he faced no consequences. 

Nil wasn’t sure what energy or materials had gone into the soul weapon, but it seemed perfect for fighting Cursed entities and trapping foes. Only the conjured chains’ length limited Selia. She couldn’t travel far from the ten-meter circle she had created without the chains falling apart.

The pair worked in tandem. All the Cursed Ones seemed drawn to the exposed eggs and dove at the duo. They used the many obstacles to avoid getting overwhelmed and whittled the numbers down. Nil didn’t use Expend blasts or Source Spheres, worried that the chaos and destruction would attract the local powers’ wrath. Instead, he relied exclusively on his new beloved knuckle-daggers. Nil had energy to spare and switched between raw Chaos, Chaos wrapped in inert Balance, and occasionally wrapped in lightning. 

The monsters weren’t individually powerful but appeared far smarter than any Nil had faced before, cooperating in hopes of getting in opportune strikes. He couldn’t tell whether it was inexperience or unwillingness to damage the eggs that limited them. He didn’t waste much time thinking about it and focused on all that attached, striking with care and precision and taking them down one at a time.

Selia slashed, pierced, and chopped, switching her weapon between its many lengths fluidly as the battle went on. A chain remained tethered to the hilt and disappeared into a nearby surface but didn’t limit her movement significantly. She seemed to phase through the chains whenever they got in the way while simultaneously taking apart her foes. 

In a span of fifteen minutes, the number of foes went from a few dozen to less than half. None tried to flee. Instead, they desperately threw themselves at the infiltrators. When the last fell, the pair heard chaos outside. The cacophony had drawn attention. Neither was willing to find out whether it was the guard, Scourge agents, Champions, or just curious foremen concerned about the chaos in their warehouse. Selia grabbed Nil’s hand, and they fled, phasing through obstacles and taking the smallest Cursed Egg with them. It was no bigger than a watermelon but significantly heavier.

“Holy shit!” Selia exclaimed. “We just uncovered the mother of Scourge plots.”

“No luck involved at all.” Nil laughed as they exited the building into a sidestreet so narrow it couldn’t accommodate the couple walking side by side. They didn’t slow and continued phasing through all they encountered, making a beeline for the shaft. 

Armored individuals and the local constructs rushed in the opposite direction. One stone behemoth paused at the mouth of an alley the couple used to catch their breath, leaving the pair to wonder whether the egg’s dense Cursed Energy had attracted its attention. The couple cut their break short and moved on. The frequency of the autonomous guardians increased, and more of them focused their attention on the duo.

“We need to split up,” Selia said, taking the loot. “I need to get this to the ship.”

“Can you manage on your own?” Nil asked.

She nodded. “Phasing with you takes a lot more effort and slows me down. I can’t shoot through surfaces, either. Go get Susan. I’ll be fine.”

“Don’t do anything rash. Love you.”

“That’s rich coming from you,” Selia replied, eyes narrowing. “Remember. The mission is complete. Avoidance and extraction take priority. If Susan has any clues or evidence, get them too. Don’t engage any hostiles unless necessary.”

“Got it.” Nil kissed his girlfriend goodbye.

 “Love you too,” she added before they went their separate ways. Nil returned to the main street and ignored the opposing tide. No one seemed to care that he seemed more focused on getting away than finding out what was happening. 

It took annoyingly long to weave his way through the crowds and reach his destination. The stone guardians continued to follow NIl’s movements. Their focus on him seemed greater than before. He wasn’t sure whether they could hear or understand him and resisted contacting Susan. The chaos had put everyone on high alert, and Nil worried they’d also find someone speaking to themselves suspicious. He used the tattoo’s tracking function as the carriage climbed the shaft, ensuring it didn’t take him past whatever floor Susan’s lead had taken her.

Much to Nil’s relief, his party member hadn’t moved vertically. Even though it was now late at night, the megacity was abuzz with activity. The chaos hadn’t spread to the upper floors where the city’s rich and powerful appeared to reside. Most of the people around the central shaft wore valet uniforms similar to his—but less soot and grime. It didn’t seem uncommon for people like him to get dirty by the end of their shifts. Fresh produce, crates of fish, butchered joints, and barrels moved from the carriages to trolleys. Several high-value goods also changed hands. It seemed late at night, while the masters and employers slept, was when everyone moved heavy and messy goods and got the generally messy jobs out of the way.

Nil put some distance between himself and the crowds, moving toward Susan’s indicated location, before slipping into an empty lane between two palatial buildings that went from ground to ceiling. Once sure he was alone, Nil contacted Susan. He hadn’t heard from her in a while. 

“Where are you?”

There was no answer. Nil assumed it was the Cursed Energy that limited their communication in the basement. Now, he thought otherwise. He picked up the pace, following the tattoo. Skoll found Nil. 

“All okay, boy?”

The dog, of course, didn’t answer. Skoll turned and trotted in the same direction the tattoo indicated, seeming to blend into every passing shadow. No one but Nil seemed to notice the summoned canine. He continued to focus on Energy Instinct, but the stimuli overload was worse than in the basement level. However, as the tattoo vibrations became more frequent, he felt the suppressed glimmer.

Energy Instinct has progressed to Bronze 3!

Nil walked into a bloodbath. He found Susan sitting with Hati by her side, hand pressed over an abdomen wound. Golden-green light flowed from her palm and into the injury. Ripped apart, people and a couple of Cursed Beasts littered the once palatial room. It was less than a five-minute walk from where Nil and Selia had left her.

“What the hell happened in here?” Nil asked, mouth agape. He rushed to Susan’s side, releasing Meatball from his core. She immediately used Regenerate, focusing the magic on the woman. 

“Papa bear, mama bear, and baby bear came home, found Goldilocks, and thought they’d have a little snack,” Susan answered, smiling weakly. A pair of handgun-like weapons lay on either side of her. “They didn’t expect Goldilocks to be locked and loaded badass with super dogs.”

“You weren’t supposed to do anything crazy alone.” Nil brushed the hair out of the face and checked her forehead and cheeks. None of the blood on it was her own. “What happened to waiting or contacting us?”

“The tattoos stopped working, and there was no time.” Susan nodded at a man ripped to shreds. He was one of the people at the soiree where the valets dropped her off. “He made me and ran off. At first, I thought I’d just let Hati tail him and report to Selia, but the bastard had a weapon. It's some sort of Cursed beacon or bomb. I got worried he might try to panic and fire it off. He started it up, but I don’t think the process is finished.” She winched when Nil checked her bleeding left foot. Two of her smallest toes were missing. “What did you find?”

“A warehouse full of Cursed Eggs and a bunch of near-Silver-Realm creatures,” Nil answered. “I think they were juveniles or freshly hatched. They had power and smarts but were all over the place. It's strange. I’ve never seen creatures like them. They almost felt like cheap, manufactured imitations.”

“Some places call them Scourge spawn,” she said. “They’re occasionally used during invasions and are great for sowing chaos. Competent mages can disguise them as normal people. Often, they fail to remain hidden and blow the whole plan. Other times, they’ll successfully remain hidden until the right time and go on a spree, getting stronger, smarter, and more terrifying with every consumed life.” Susan groaned, accepting Nil’s hand as she stood. The wound on her abdomen continued to weep but seemed woven primarily shut. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the machine was supposed to awaken the eggs.”

“Do you see now the Weave isn’t whatever the Druid’s Grove claims?” Nil asked. 

He guided her toward the door. They needed to return to the manor and leave Sable as soon as possible. Hell would break loose once the Cursed Eggs were found, and it was likely that the mess and stench caused by Susan’s fight would also stir. The Nexus would teleport them home after the duration passed, but returning to the ship and interacting with the machine within would hasten things. 

“Yes.” Susan clenched her jaw as they slipped out of the blood-caked space. Nil couldn’t tell whether it was the admission or injury that bothered her more. “Shawn told me I was wrong. The druid is heavily biased against Maka Dee, Keeper of Knowledge, and all Arachne-descended entities. But given everything I’ve read, I believed their concerns were justified, but I don’t know anymore.

“Their ways might not be right, but they feel necessary.” She looked over her shoulder, sparing the left-behind mess a final glance. “He was convinced he was doing good. I don’t get it, but if more people in power get brainwashed and—” Susan sighed. “It doesn’t matter. Right or wrong, I owe Selia an apology. The way I went about things was wrong, and I should give her the benefit of the doubt for your sake and Andrew’s sake.”

“I don’t expect you to go along with anything blindly.” Nil pulled her into an alley to avoid the eyeline of passing servants. “It's your right to question and doubt when something doesn’t seem right. Assassination. Murder. They’re all complicated when intelligence and spy work are involved. But I think the Weave is a source of good. They don’t just use Scourge and the Cursed Ones as an excuse to control power structures and pull the strings even if it might look that way.”

“I suppose. I just need some time. It's like transitioning from beat cop to MI5. Some pills are hard to swallow. Accepting wise teachers with centuries of experience under their belt and incredible accolades can be wrong isn’t easy. Maybe they really are just geriatric and dementia-ridden.”

“Aren’t a good deal of them Immortals?” Nil asked.

“Druids are a strange lot. A good deal of them ascended as ordinary mages, meditating and slowly working toward immortality over long journeys and pilgrimages. They seem to have spent several decades, almost a century, at Silver or Gold. So by the time they achieve immortality, they’re already ridiculously old. Many also seem to reject anti-aging spells and techniques. I never got an answer as to why.”

“It's probably best to take whatever they told you with a grain of salt.”

“Yeah.”