NOVEL NEXT Chapter 82: Grand Tide
The water splashed as Ritsuka reached the bottom of the ladder. The stench of sewage intensified many folds, becoming so strong it was almost dizzying. Ritsuka blocked his nose and breathed only through his mouth, an uncomfortable but bearable state of affairs.
Briefly letting his nose be cleared, Ritsuka turned the knob on the bottom of the lantern, unfolding several flaps on its body to reveal light. The light illuminated his surroundings; the London sewers.
It was covered in bricks and narrow, so narrow that Ritsuka couldn't fully spread out his arms. There was a bit of water on the bottom, extremely polluted water. Ritsuka tried not to imagine what sort of waste these waters contained, the parasites and bacteria that swam within.
Ritsuka stretched out his arms, pushing his lantern forward. He found the darkness barely yielded. It was suffocating, claustrophobic even with how little he could see. The darkness served as impassable walls. The teen was beginning to second-guess himself before shaking his head.
No, he had to find William. He had to prove to himself that he was not useless.
"By the way," Willas' voice called out from above. The rim of the manhole framed his head as the man kneeled by the opening, "Make sure the lantern isn't broken. Methane is in the water, and you walking through it will release it. A single spark will ignite everything."
So that's why Willas made sure Ritsuka waited for him to get a proper lantern.
"Thank you, Mister Willas." Mash bowed in appreciation.
"Eh, it's nothing. Charlie uses that lantern in your hands. He's a coal miner, so his lantern is special. It's expensive as well."
Ritsuka nodded, "We'll be sure to return with it and William."
"Godspeed young man. Make sure William returns to us unharmed."
With all said and done, Ritsuka turned away from Willas. He took in a deep breath as if he were about to dive underwater, and walked forward away from the rays of moonlight shining through the manhole. There was unease in his stomach, a sense of dread fogged his mind as his baser instincts told him to get out and never return.
Ritsuka pushed on nonetheless.
His feet trekked through the water, causing loud splashes with each step. After a while, the sound of water splashes became dull, and it became easier and easier to ignore them.
The smell can't be ignored. The raw stench of sewage burned his sense of smell like fire. Breathing in just the tiniest bit made Ritsuka feel sick and want to throw up.
This place wasn't one for humans. It was anti-human if anything. It was poetic in a sense. Here in the sewers, here where all the refuse of the human body, one's waste are all accumulated like falling rainwater into this one spot. Here lies things rejected by human society. Here lies things unwanted by mankind. Here lies the undesirables where it's better to keep out of sight, out of mind.
The lowest of the low.
Instead of hitting the hard bricked surfaces, Ritsuka had to purposely ignore how some steps he took felt soft— as if he stepped on clumps of wet mud. He didn't want to imagine what kinds of waste he was stepping into. He really didn't.
Ritsuka tried not to think about how deep in waste he was in. How dangerous this situation was since his only protection against potential infections was this Mystic Code.
Thankfully, Dr. Romani explained that the Chaldean Mystic Code has CBRN capacities. That is, it is rated to protect against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats. It doesn't offer absolute protection—Ritsuka can't just stroll through Chornobyl without a second thought—but it offers a temporary solution.
The teen dearly hoped 'temporary' would last long enough for this venture of his.
Ritsuka continued traversing through the sewers, passing through what appeared to be an endless tunnel. His only source of hope despite the unchanging scenery was how simple the London sewers were, at least for the slums.
According to Charlie, unlike the richer parts of London, the sewage system for the slums held less than half a dozen tunnels. Everything connects to this central chamber. When asked why he knew about this, the husband said that he was one of the designers for the sewage system.
Charlie was an engineer. He was destined for greatness before his partner betrayed him, saddling him with debt that left Charlie penniless.
The further Ritsuka went, he found the water steadily becoming more and more a shade of red.
At first, he thought it was a simple result of light. The fiery glow from the lantern would stain any water its own color like a mirror. Or perhaps rust leaking from iron. However, when he first spotted the end of a bone peaking over the surface of the water, that's when Ritsuka took a breath through his nose.
Instead of feces or other refuse, the teen smelled a heavy stink of rotten meat and iron. A disgusting combination that had Ritsuka plugging his nose once more.
Mash nudged it with her feet and a horrific gasp came out of her mouth. "That's a… human femur."
A chill ran down Ritsuka's spine. He brought the light close to get a better look. He didn't know what a femur was supposed to look like, so the teen simply nodded with a grim expression.
"Let's… continue," Uncertainty was boiling over in his voice. Ritsuka wondered if his future self would see what he's doing now as foolish or genius.
One thing he learned from Iskander is how blurry the dividing line between foolishness and genius is. One is only foolish if one fails, genius if one succeeds.
Ritsuka ventured further into the heart of darkness. The blackness was perpetually unyielding, an abyss that swallowed all light more than two meters ahead of him. Ritsuka could almost swear it's unnatural.
He shook away those thoughts. It must be the claustrophobic environment getting to him. This cramp tunnel of brick and mortar, inescapable if trapped. More than that, he's trying to ignore the darkness since it only makes him want to turn back. Thinking of the darkness as 'supernatural' only gave him more reasons to retreat.
The bones were becoming increasingly common. At first, one for every dozen meters traveled, then more and more were scattered about like carelessly thrown trash. Then, a full ribcage that still contained bits of meat dwelled in the water like an iceberg, blocking his path.
Ritsuka had to carefully step over that ribcage.
"—?"
As he stopped to step over that ribcage, now without the sound of water splashes coming from his movement, Ritsuka's spine suddenly snapped straight as he realized there was another noise out there—another sound within this silent tunnel.
Distant, mostly echoes. It sounded like squeaking, like mice happily munching on grains. Yet in the context of this place, this tunnel of undesirables, it felt so, so wrong. It could only mean one thing;
He's approaching the Vermin Tide.
Ritsuka gulped, his progress grew slower as he tried to stay as silent as possible. He wants to hear those squeaking, to gauge by their loudness how far away they are. It wasn't perfect, but at least it beats charging headlong into something unknown.
The bones grew so numerous that Ritsuka found it nearly impossible to step on a spot without any human bones. They became almost like a carpet, periodically peaking over the surface of the blood-drenched sewage. They also had more meat on them now, scraps of maggot-filled meat that smelled horrible.
There's something there.
A pair of sparks. A pair of eyes. The tunnel was now filled with the sound of flesh tearing as a rat as large as Ritsuka's hands munched away at a piece of flesh.
The rat turned around to face Ritsuka, and the Last Master of Mankind could swear there was some kind of intelligence behind those eyes as the rat didn't attack, instead pushed away by the light of the lantern in his hands. The rat hissed and stuck close to the wall, such an act reminded Ritsuka of how humans were supposed to survive against black bears: back away slowly while keeping eye contact.
Seeing the rat's passivity, Ritsuka decided to move forward even if his guts were screaming at him to turn around. To leave William behind. It told him how William was a lost cause and that the rats surely had turned a kid into one of those piles of bones.
"..."
These bones must be the children's. All those who were taken by the Vermin Tide each time it came out of the sewers. They really did use those children as living refrigerators, making sure the meat was as fresh as physically possible. So fresh that they're still screaming as they're taken apart.
Then this must be what happened to William.
The dread peaked. Ritsuka's resolve broke as his mind desperately latched onto that idea, as if these bones and flesh were enough to write William off, concluding that he was dead. Or as good as dead.
That was when the teen found a hard thing half-submerged in the sewage. Bringing the light close, Ritsuka found the faded letters on the cover of the book saying 'A Collection of Fairy Tales'. Underneath that title is 'Hans Christian—' with the rest being ineligible to read due to being buried by the water.
Ritsuka's shoulder slagged. He shut his eyes as tightly as possible, wrinkling the bridge of his nose.
"Ugh." He groaned out and continued venturing deeper into the sewers.
The bone carpet was soon replaced by one of flesh. Soft rotten flesh that oozed with pus and maggots with each step taken. Ritsuka would liken the experience to walking atop a wet bed. He thanked god that humans invented shoes because feeling those maggots squirming underneath his feet would be… some very colorful words.
The rats were growing more numerous now. They munched on the meat carpet until they felt the touch of the light, from which they tried to scurry away. By now the sewage water was entirely replaced by crimson and there was…
Were those green lights in the distance?
Ritsuka twisted the knob on his lantern, closing the flaps and dimming it to get a better look. Immediately, Mash gasped, prompting Ritsuka to glance back and see rats closing on them, staying just outside of the lantern's periphery. They squeaked as if to communicate with other rats.
Ritsuka twisted the knob the other way, letting the flaps open and forcing those rats to retreat further away from him, away from the light they so fear.
The Last Master of Mankind looked forward once again at the distant ghostly green lights. He felt like he was walking to the afterlife, and the light at the end of the tunnel would be his eternity. He gulped. The screams from his guts were now deafening, and the rest of his body begged the brain to run away, to turn around and not look back. Never look back, for what's there at the end of the tunnel would change him forever.
The die hasn't been cast yet.
Turn back.
"..."
Ritsuka was now shivering. He turned around to look at Mash, who also had a fearful expression. The teen wanted to ask her, to let Mash decide if they'll continue. This way, he could blame her for his inadequacies—
What? No!
Ritsuka faced forward again, never asking anything since he knew Mash would ask to return. Hearing of her idea, Ritsuka knew his resolve could crumble as well and he'd turn back. No, he can't have that. He wouldn't burden her. He had to save William. He had to prove to Mash, Kuku, and himself that he was not useless.
Ritsuka Fujimaru is not useless!
When the duo approached the ghostly green light, Ritsuka dimmed his lantern and placed it behind him, using his own body as a 'flap' of sorts to block the light from shining into the… room.
It was a large room from which many sewer tunnels connected. This must be what Charlie was referring to as the 'central chamber'.
Peeking over the side of the tunnel that connects to this larger chamber, using it as a kind of cover, Ritsuka's eyes naturally focused on the many flicks of ghostly green fire that hovered all over the ceiling of this place, seemingly burning only air. They were aloof, pointlessly wandering around like leaves in the wind and they provided enough light source for one to almost read in this room. They weren't hot either, useless in heating up this chamber.
Will o' the wisps.
What they did was perfectly illuminate the creature in the center of the chamber, as if this place was its throne room and it was the king—something that seared itself into Ritsuka's mind for all of eternity.
It was a thing of myth and horror.
It was a terror that should've never manifested in reality, staying firmly within the realm of imagination and nightmares of only the most twisted individuals. It was something that shouldn't be real. A boogeyman that didn't even belong in the myths of any culture, for it was far too horrifying.
It was kids. Ritsuka tried to comprehend what was there, he wanted to come to a different conclusion but it was impossible to deny the reality in front of him.
It was a grotesque amalgamation of minors.
A mass of childrens.
What must've been close to a hundred children were crammed together into a chaotic mess the size of a whole living room. There was no order in the way the childrens were arranged, more resembling the way a kid might blend together different colored playdohs for easier storage. The thing writhed and shuddered, and the different-sized arms and legs of children of varying ages from sickly infants who can't eat solids to scrawny teens moved about. All were stitched together methodically with threads like those found in clothing, sown like patchwork, almost like some kind of Frankenstein art piece.
Each of those kid's faces was twisted in unthinkable agony, a gallery of torment, a picture of pain. The abomination's feets and arms moved with clear clumsiness as if this horror wasn't familiar with how to use multiple limbs. The mass of children groaned from dozens of mouths, each with a different tone and pitch.
The Rat King… for what else could it be?
And dozens of kids lined up in front of this thing that shouldn't exist in reality. One of which was William.
The first child stepped forward until she was right in front of this terror. Her face was blank and her ragged clothing spoke of even worse poverty than Mary's family or neglect. The girl stripped herself of all clothing, letting her skin touch the sewer air unbothered by any obstacles.
The thing opened up. Literally. Threads used for stitching children together unraveled as if by magic, kids parting ways to create an opening within the thing.
What is it doing? Ritsuka morbidly wondered.
The girl walked forward, placing herself within that opening. The other children stitched to this thing, which slowly closed in like the jaws of a predator. The threads moved on their own like snakes as they pierced the girl's skin.
As if a spell was broken, the girl let out a scream so raw and unfiltered it felt like the wall was about to come down.
"MOMMA! HELP ME MOMMA! HELP ME PLEASE! HELP!"
The girl begged for her mother as she tried to escape, yet the threads tangling her refused to let go. They buried deeper, creating more and more loops through her skin and flesh. She tried to fight back even as the other childrens slowly closed in like the mouth of a whale.
"MOMMA PLEASE HELP ME! PLEASE! NOT AUNT RACHEL! SHE LEAVES ME TO STARVE ALL THE TIME. PLEASE HELP ME! MOMMA COME BACK! PLEASE COME BACK! I PROMISE I'LL BE BETTER! I PROMISE I'LL STOP CRYING AT NIGHT! PLEASE HELP ME! MOMMA! MOMMA! MOMMA! MOMMA! MOMMA MOMMA MOMMA MOMMA MOMMA MOMMAMOMMAMOMMAMOMMAMOMMAMOMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIEEEE—"
Screams gave way to silence. There was only silence.
The jaws of the thing clamped down fully, engulfing the girl with its existence. The only evidence of that girl ever existing was how her back was shown to the world— everything else was subsumed into that thing. She lost everything. She lost herself and became it.
"..."
Mash placed a hand over her mouth in shock as tears gathered in her eyes. She couldn't believe…
This was far worse than being a meat storage.
Ritsuka felt like he wanted to throw up in the face of this horror. But he had already thrown up before, so his stomach was empty. He wanted to heave, but William was right after the next one.
"Mash," He whispered, his eyes never leaving that horrorshow, "I'm going to get William. You prepare to throw the lantern at that thing to distract it. After I snatch him up we run the fuck away."
Mash nodded, taking the lantern in her hands.
Ritsuka brought up three fingers. Then only two fingers were standing.
And finally one—
Ritsuka ran like he had never run before. He pumped his feet, causing all kinds of splashes in the puddles of blood. The thing reacted. The dozens of children's heads that peeked out of the mass turned, looking at Ritsuka. It moaned in a disgusting manner as drool leaked out of those gaping mouths.
Mash threw the lantern, the object breaking apart and dousing the Rat King in oil but the flame was unfortunately snuffed out. The mass of childrens groaned, recoiling and moving back as if in pain. Taking this opportunity, Ritsuka snatched William right in his arms and ran the fuck back to the tunnel they came from.
The idea of saving the other kids, preventing them from being subjected to a fate worse than death did cross his mind. But, he's only a man. Mortal. Not a goddess like Kuku. He couldn't save everyone, so he contented himself with those he did save. Just one. He tried not to think about the screams of those children as they were subsumed into that thing of myth and horror.
The Rat King screamed, and rats fell from the ceiling. Rats flooded out of the other tunnels all connected to this chamber. So numerous were the rats they no longer appeared solid, but rather similar in ways to a liquid.
A tide of vermin flushed at Ritsuka and Mash, and blisteringly loud chittering filled the chamber.
The pair ran. There was thundering chaos behind them.
Ritsuka ignored how he crushed bones with his step, he ignored how some rats who were already in the tunnel leaped at him as he ran by, their teeth and jaws being sharp enough to cut through his Mystic Code. The teen bit down on his lips so hard he tasted blood, for some of the rats were successful in taking out chunks of his legs and arms.
But never William. They didn't touch William since Ritsuka cradled the young boy as a mother would with her newborn. His arms served as bait, luring those rats away.
It was a very dangerous thing, having open wounds in an environment as dirty as a sewer.
But he didn't care. He only cared about how William was safe. How he managed to save someone. He, as a human, was able to replicate a fraction of what Kuku, a goddess, did on a daily basis. He may not stand as a peer to Kuku, but he at least managed to do something that measured up to what she did.
Ritsuka Fujimaru is NOT USELESS. He wanted to shout. But instead, he whispered, "I'm not useless."
The moment got to Ritsuka and he shouted, "I'M NOT USELES—"
*Fwump*
Ritsuka got a mouthful of raw sewage.
Mash tripped upon his fallen body and fell the same.
What? Ritsuka looked back at his feet and he saw darkness. He moved his feet and felt around the object which caused his fall. It was a ribcage. Was it the same ribcage from before?
The thundering chaos was growing louder. The chittering was growing more overpowering.
It was too late. This fall wasted precious seconds. They were done for.
Though he couldn't see through the darkness, Ritsuka could feel despair drifting off of Mash. He could feel how his fists tightened as thoughts of blaming himself echoed throughout his mind. The teen was ashamed, he couldn't bear looking at Mash in his last moments so he simply looked at the water. He felt mounting fear, and he empathized with the water buffalos in those nature documentaries, which were caught by a Komodo dragon. According to the documentary, the Komodo dragon had dangerous bacteria in its saliva, so often one bite was enough to weaken and slowly kill a water buffalo.
An agonizing death. Slow as well.
Is there a way to end it quickly?
Ritsuka looked at the water, remembering that it would take even longer for water to kill him than those rats. He despaired until recognition shone through his mind.
The water…
Water…
Water… water… water… sewage water. Rotten meat. Rotten meat produces gases like methane. Methane is absorbed by the water and released when disturbed. Ritsuka glanced at the darkness behind him, the loud chaos of the flood of rats.
There's never been any bigger disturbances than right now.
Ritsuka prayed this would work, that his aim was true. He made a finger gun and activated his pitiful Magic Circuits. He immediately felt cold— his insides were warming up while his skin remained the same temperature as before. He cast his spell as far back as possible, as far away as possible.
A pathetic thing. His ultimate spell—
"Funken."
The sparks were buried by the avalanche of rats. But its results were undeniable.
Light appeared—a bright light, blindingly bright, in fact. It grew and grew and grew without stopping as it consumed the methane and rats alike. It was a linear fireball that grew at both ends, devouring everything in the sewers with its promise of irrefutable death.
Oh. Ritsuka realized he just traded one form of death with another. The end result remains the same: all three dying in here.
At least… it's fast.
Ritsuka comforted himself with how this was a quicker death than being eaten alive by those rats.
So he hugged William tightly as if he were a teddy bear. He could almost swear William hugged back.
This was his death. Yes, it really was. There was no way to save himself or any others. No Kuku to save the day, no Mash's shield to block it.
There was no more escape.
No more running.
Just…
A quick end.
"..."
Ritsuka admits it could be worse. It really could.
So he closed his eyes and accepted his demise.
_____
Mash looked down at her Senpai. Her Master. The glow of the distant fireball illuminated his features perfectly and without fault. She saw a peaceful expression. Ritsuka accepted death as if it were natural. He stopped fighting back and accepted the inevitable fireball about to wash over him.
What else was he supposed to do? She failed. She was meant to be his shield and she failed. She failed to even retain her shield from those police.
Mash truly was a failure. She should accept death like her Master has.
"..."
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No.
(AN: Play Fate -Grand Battle- )
That single refusal ignited the kindling deep within the being known as Mash Kyrielight.
Never.
The Heroic Spirit held within Mash's body burned with her resolve. She refuses to be a failure. She refuses to let her Master die just like this. She refuses the possibility that the one who held her hands just as she was about to die before Singularity F perishes in a place as undeserving as this sewer.
This will not be our grave.
Mash moved faster than even the fireball. She stepped over her Master, in between him and the incoming fiery maw. Her hands were in an odd gesture, as though she were holding something— a sword, a mace, or something else entirely— between her fingers.
Or rather…
A shield.
A shield manifested into Mash's awaiting hands as if it was always there, only invisible to the naked eye. Did the shield cross space and time to be by Mash's side when she needed it the most?
"
Mash raised her massive shield up and over her head before slamming it down in front of her. The fireball was now less than a stone's throw away.
—CHAAAALDEAAS>"
The protective Noble Phantasm appeared despite this Singularity's restriction. Was it because how the will of a single naive girl temporarily overpowered the omnipresent force restricting all superhumans? Who could say?
The protective barrier that manifested ahead of the shield was undeniable. The barrier was large enough to plug the tunnel entirely, breaching into the walls to create a complete, airtight seal.
The desire to protect shone as brightly as the sun within that tunnel— an inferno of pure will, as if screaming no more harm would be done today.
"Grr—!"
And the fireball battered against it, causing cracks to appear within that protective barrier. The effect of that omnipresent force was still around, drastically weakening Mash's Noble Phantasm.
Ritsuka opened his eyes and saw Mash's silhouette against a backdrop of pure light. The girl screamed out as her feet appeared to slip. It was as though the girl was trying to hold back a river on her own.
Ritsuka placed William in a sitting position next to the wall. He walked up to Mash and held onto the shield with her. Mash gasped as she felt her Senpai's hands on her shoulder.
"Mash. I order you: protect us so we may see another sunrise!"
The second Command Spell disappeared, fading from prominence as it was used up. The cracks that were slowly spreading across Mash's Noble Phantasm died like a fire that had burned away all wood, only embers remaining.
All over the city, all over London, the capital of history's largest empire, the head of the Empire That The Sun Never Sets On, storm drains and manhole covers blew up. They were shot into the air like a bullet as fountains of fire erupted from within the sewers. Toilets exploded, and sinks were thrown into the ceiling.
Everything connected to the London sewage system experienced a rapid disassembly.
All except the manholes within the slums. As Ritsuka and Mash rose from its depth, Mary looked on with disbelief on her face, as William was sleeping on Ritsuka's back. Alongside him, Mash wore light armor and hauled around a massive shield larger than she was.
____
AN: End of London Singularity Part 1.