Shadowbane

{That's not the only problem. When I first came to this moon and connected to its core, it felt odd to me. Something about it is different from all of the other celestial beings surrounding Mother. However, none of my followers nor their contacts had any information that could have helped me understand why Veca is different, and so I was left with no choice but to drop the matter entirely. In the grand scheme of things it didn't really matter after all. But now that I'm here again, and all of this madness is going on, I find myself much more interested in knowing why Veca feels like an ancient version of Mother's children.}

... Holy shit, I was not expecting to hear anything like that when I told him about how I can't reach Jericho's portal.

What should we do then?

{... You know what you all have to do, Rei. I can request you directly if that will help you resolve yourself.}

Damnit... I was hoping he'd have another plan for going forward, but if he's saying that, then I guess that's our only option... We'll have to go into the digsite and deal with the threat directly.

While we did kill that spider, it still could have gone either way. The only reason we won so quickly was because the spider held its ground instead of vanishing through the walls. If that spider wasn't one of 'The Great Old Ones', then that means there are far more powerful enemies waiting for us below.

{Indeed.}

...............

{Your annoyance at my swift reply is evident, but I can add nothing more to this discussion. I provide a safe place for you all to eat, heal, sleep, and prepare, while also giving you a reset point. The rest is up to all of you.}

... True enough.

{The others have been listening in. Now go discuss this with them.}

I looked over at the girl we rescued. Her chest cavity is still exposed because we were unable to heal her. This girl seems stranger than I am. Infusing her soul with mana to heal her body wouldn't work no matter how much mana we used. No one here had ever seen that happen before now.

I said goodbye to the girl and left for the main hall.

"Why are all of you so weak?" I heard Shana asking the ninjas as I entered the room.

The ninjas looked at each other awkwardly before one of them finally answered. "We're trainees... Our prince, er, that's just a title of his, he was our leader during this training mission. He gave us a simple mission, all we had to do was infiltrate an Eldritch-owned city on Zhegu and blend in for a month. If we succeeded, they'd train us until we reached the next level. But uh..."

The ninja looked down, saying nothing else. One of his comrades realized he wasn't going to talk and continued for him. "Long story short. Demons attacked the city while we were living there undercover. Anyone who survived was carried along in chains through a portal to a city far to the north of here. Our prince managed to help us escape just before we reached the city, and our Lord provided us with directions to another portal that would lead to a place called 'Urza'. There was supposed to be minimal Demon activity down here, but we were ambushed near the portal, and, well..."

And then they ended up in a cage basically.

"And who are they?" I pointed toward the people who were in the same cage as Ishar and Greyson.

"Citizens of the nation we infiltrated. Our word probably doesn't mean much, but truly, they are just regular people." The ninja replied.

One of the 'citizens' stood up. "W-We're all very grateful that you saved us from that nightmare. And... And I'm sorry that we can't do much for you in return. It won't be much, but we've all agreed to supply the temple with as much mana as we can every day. That way we won't be entirely useless..."

I did find it odd that the spider didn't attack any of them, but it's true that I can barely sense them even at this distance. That's pretty normal when dealing with non-combatants.

Arkaios is clearly pleased with what the man said, so that's good enough for me. If he's not worried about them, then I'm not either. I already have too many things to think about as it is anyway.

"Trainees..." Shana whispered.

"They weren't helpless. I did see them killing the spider's arms one by one. But they're nowhere near as trained or powerful as you are, that much is obvious." Ishar continued, "Hmm, now that I think back on it, they did make quite a few rookie mistakes. A large amount of you jumped way too low over that lion's sword attack, which led to you getting poisoned. You should have known better after what happened to Markus."

A female ninja stood up but kept her eyes on the ground. "I-I know! I realized I made a mistake the second I jumped. I could see the sword moving in slow motion as my life flashed before my eyes..."

"And it might have truly been over if it weren't for Arkaios," Nisha said.

The girl sat back down and buried her face into her knees.

"So we're going down below?" Keith said while checking over his swords.

So Keith was the one to bring it up... I can see everyone in here tensing up. As expected, no one wants to go into the digsite after the shit we've already been exposed to.

I looked at Shana, "For starters, I want to know if you saw any new monsters during our last outing."

Shana shook her head, "Only those lions and some zombie Demons."

I have a hard time believing that most of what we're going to fight underground will be those lions...

"How are we going underground? Through the digsite, or the altar Rei found?" Lindon asked.

"Digsite preferably... Speaking of which." I looked at Ishar, "Can you tell us about the site and when the monsters first appeared?"

Ishar shrugged, "It didn't happen while any of us were digging. Everyone here was asleep in their cells when suddenly the sounds of combat woke us up. Honestly, we were really lucky that the spider decided to fight us head-on, because we've seen what happens when it wants to be crafty. The last Demon we saw alive was a Satyr that kept trying to channel magic but the spider would attack him through the wall when his channeling started. The Satyr also tried fleeing the cell area but a barrage of fists would smash him into the back wall every single time. That went on until the Satyr was too exhausted to move. The spider ate him first, and then..."

Then it moved on to the people in the cells... So they really don't know any more than we do.

Greyson sighed, "The human guards were the weirdest part... They were Demon worshippers who came with the Demons from the north. When the monsters showed up they all ran downstairs, and the next time we saw them they had been altered into those malformed monstrosities."

"Maybe they went to the altar room? I don't know why they would, but if they were stupid enough to touch it, that would mean something down below had changed them."

Greyson looked at me, "And then it sent them back up into the prison?"

... Yeah, that does seem a bit odd but it's not like anything here makes sense anyways.

Keith stood up, "Let's just go and see what happens. Hopefully I don't get killed or put out of commission again... I'm itching to fight these monsters."

At least someone here wants to fight them. My curiosity about what is below us is as high as it could possibly get, but at the same time, I really don't want to battle those creepy monsters. Their acidic blood is a pain in the ass to deal with as well.

{Ninjas, I ask you to assist the Tengu Lord in purging the ground level of any and all monsters. According to Rei, their souls disappear after death. So any kills you manage should be permanent.}

The lion's soul, if I can even call it that, definitely disappeared after the Tengu caved his skull in.

"Ishar, Greyson." I motion for those two to follow me into the room with the dead but somehow alive girl. Once inside I present them with two pieces of armor matching mine.

"Well shit, I didn't know you were making me something like this, but thank you all the same! Except, uh..." Greyson held his new armor up to himself, revealing that it was way too big for his frame.

"Infuse mana into it after it's on you. It'll shrink until it fits you. If it's too tight just tell me and we'll adjust it."

Nisha walked into the room after we had spent a few minutes getting their new armor onto them.

"Wow. Those actually look kind of nice, Rei. I'm not a fan of all-black clothes, but they look great on these two."

"Want me to make you one? It'd really lift the morale of everyone here."

"The morale? Why would..." Nisha trailed off, looking me up and down before blushing, "Ugh, you really are weird... I'm not wearing an outfit that tight!"

"That's a shame. It really would look good on you..." In more ways than one.

Greyson laughed as Nisha stomped out of the room. "Well, thanks again, girl. It's nice having armor again after they took my fucking cloak. I can barely enhance myself after I use my ability so that cloak was necessary to keep me safe."

"I understand your pain. They took my artifact spear as well. Not the Demons, but still, it hurts to think about how I'll never see it again..." Ishar trailed off with a sigh.

"Actually, how did you end up here, Greyson? The last place I saw you was in Thule and I swear you said you were leaving for the northern portal."

Greyson scoffed, "The fucking cunts up north apprehended me and sent me to Jericho. I was in that cell for quite a while before your friends here joined me."

"Wait... Khan Uluhm knew about Jericho and was sending people to them? Why?"

"Hell if I know. Groups of people came and went from those cells all the time. We'd see a mass influx of people at one point, and then later on a large group of them would be sent through one of the nearby portals. I only had a month left before it was my turn, but then the Demons attacked... And you know the rest."

It's good that I didn't, but damnit I wish I had visited Khan Uluhm before going to Viseux after I revived. I'd really like to know if that city was fully intact. It's just bizarre hearing that the Dwarves main allies ended up working with Viktor in the end. But forty-two years is a long time, so I suppose leaders had changed in that time, and they just so happened to be people who worked with or under Viktor.

"... Ishar, I'm struggling to remember this part. Was the north the main instigator in wanting to drive away the Lizardmen?"

"Huh? Oh... I see where you're going with this." Ishar closed his eyes, "It's been so long, I'm honestly not sure... But I do vaguely recall my conversation with that one 'Freya' woman. Actually, wait... Why the hell was I meeting with someone from the north? I didn't put much thought into it at the time since little Aresa knew the woman, but I was supposed to be meeting delegates from Viseux, not that Khan Uluhm place."

"Aresa..."

I looked to the door and saw Shana looking down.

"It's been a long time since I've seen that naive but loveable girl. I hope she's doing okay, wherever she is."

"... I don't want to dash your hopes, but without her chateau and worshippers, she's just an Eldritch Lord in a human body. Even worse is the fact that she can provide others with an incredible amount of mana." Ishar said.

"So you think she might be used as a mana battery? She had plenty of people with her though, and Alicia was still teleporting to the chateau once a year to check for me until just last year, so she can't be in that bad of a position."

Ishar chuckled, "So the rookie is still doing fine... I guess she wouldn't be a rookie anymore though. That's great, but also kind of sad at the same time."

We talked for a little more as I explained to Ishar and Greyson how I had made it here, but it came to a stop when Keith walked through the door and told us that everyone was ready.

"Arkaios, have you been in contact with the Lizardmen?"

{I have sent an agent to tell them about what is happening here. Do not worry. They will tell this 'Alicia' girl about everything that has transpired.}

"Perfect... Then Aresa will know I'm back as well."

Shana pinched my cheek, "I thought I'd be dead long before you came back. Surely she thought you'd be gone for much longer as well."

"I'm just as shocked as you are. When Arkaios told me it had only been four and a half years, I almost didn't believe him. It would be nice to know why I came back so much faster this time, or why I'm reviving like this, but that's a mystery to solve for another day. Assuming I'm ever able to solve it..."

"You're immortal, Rei! You have plenty of time to figure it out." Lindon said, smacking me on my back.

"Not if something absorbs me."

"Bah, stop being so pessimistic. Although it does fit you aesthetically..." Ishar said, smirking at me.

Off in the distance we could hear something exploding. I looked around and noticed there weren't any ninjas around.

"Are they out there fighting monsters right now?"

{The Tengu Lord and ninjas are clearing a path to the digsite. You may leave any time you wish.}

Markus, whom I hadn't seen since I returned, came out from another side room. "Alright, let's do this."

"I haven't seen you in a while, Markus. Been meditating?"

Markus nodded, "This is how templars normally fight. We prepare in our soul realms until the very moment it's time to leave."

After replying to me, Markus turned and walked out the door. One by one the rest of us left the temple as well, heading straight for the prison yet again.

Markus stopped as we neared the prison and looked at Ishar, "Where is the digsite?"

"Directly to the left of the prison. It will only take a few minutes to reach it." Ishar replied.

It was a walk in the park to reach the prison this time. The Tengu and the ninjas did an excellent job clearing the path here. We even have Shana's two clones with us which are going to be invaluable going forward.

A couple of minutes later we came upon the digsite. Wasting no time, Markus began to lead us deeper into it. Magic torches lined the walls, lighting our path.

"Why did you make the tunnel so damn big...?" Lindon asked.

"Minotaurs and other large Demons needed to be able to fit into here. We didn't expand it though, they did." Greyson replied.

We walked for much longer than I was expecting until we finally came upon a large stone room with two massive stone double doors that were wide open.

Ishar looked around at our new surroundings, "... I've never seen this room before."

"This must be what they dug up while you were all resting," Markus said.

"... Are you guys okay?" They all look like they're on edge. Which I know is normal for this situation, but I swear I can see Albel and Lindon visibly shaking right now.

"No, I am not okay. The deeper we went, the more my body began to shake. This never happened when I was here to dig..." Greyson said.

Markus gritted his teeth, "This place makes me sick. Let's get this over with."

We all walked through the giant double doors, but everyone stopped in their tracks when we saw what was on the other side.

"The hell...? There's a city down here?" Lindon said.

It's bigger than a city. We're inside a massive open cavern filled with buildings as far as the eye can see, but thanks to the fog I can't examine any of them in detail. At least, not at this distance.

"Oh shit, look!" Albel pointed to a part of the ceiling far off in the distance.

"Hah... Hahahahaha..." Greyson chuckled sardonically when he saw what Albel was pointing at.

There are dozens, no... Maybe even hundreds of the ethereal spider we fought in the prison, all clinging to the ceiling. None of them are moving, and they're at least a mile or two away so I'm not worried about them attacking us, but their very existence tells me that we really aren't strong enough for this place.

"We're out of our element here... You'd normally need the entire order to raid a place like this." Markus said.

"We have to do it though," Keith said, looking down at the city below us.

Hah... Fucking heroes. He's the only one here not shaking. Excluding me of course, but I'm not alive so I have a good excuse.

"Where do we even begin? This... City, is never-ending. It makes Viseux look like a village in comparison..." Albel said.

Nobody here is going to have an answer for that. For now, all we can do is enter the city and hope we find some answers.