Gale pulled out his phone and pushed the PTT button. "I just arrived at the bottom."
Erin's voice crackled through the speaker. "Be aware of your surroundings. The instruments show eight abominations remain in your vicinity. Five cluster in the western middle temple. Three occupy the northern rightmost structure. Corruption interferes with precise readings. Your perception skill shall serve better than any instrument I possess."
Gale knew what to do. Probably. All he had to do was get in, take the fragment, talk to Vianne, then get out. Probably. It was time for the dark hunter to make its debut in a rift.
"I know what to do," Gale said. "Not my first rodeo."
A pause. "This expression eludes me. Is this some manner of livestock competition reference?"
"It means I know what to do," Gale stood up and rolled his shoulders. "I'll handle it."
"Do not squander your talents with false modesty," Erin said. "The fragment must be secured at all costs. It contains knowledge vital to the cosmic war against the tide."
The elevator doors slid open with a soft hiss. Gale stepped forward cautiously, his eyes visually scanning the area directly in front of him.
The scale of reality in front of him was something he could never have imagined from the top of the sector. From above, everything looked like miniature models. Even clouds from above passed by the elevator as he descended. The scene should've prepared him for the scale he was about to witness.
In front of him, a stepped pyramid rose directly in his path. Looking left and right, he couldn't see where the pyramid ended. It was made of stone, very uncharacteristic of the usual metal structures this whole place was made of. The structure looked similar to the Mayan or Aztec temples. Square base and four stairways that led to the top centre of the pyramid.
But what should have been stone was covered in a patchwork of fleshy growth. Thick veins pulsed along its sides, some areas were thicker than his whole body. They wrapped around the structure like an infection, digging into crevices between the stone blocks and pumping something in or out from damaged areas of the stone. As they pulsed, the surface of the temple seemed to breath.
This place might've been once a beauty, but not anymore. The craftmanship of the temple was still visible in the areas where there were no flesh. There were billions of etchings in the stones, similar to the walls of Harmony sector, but even more intricate. It was now all marred and perverted with the flesh of the abominations.
Time to stop gawking and start working.
Gale closed his eyes and let his Breath of the Void flow outward. The tendrils spread from him in all directions, mapping the temple. The interference of the corruption was a bit weaker here so he was able to fully map out the whole sector, which was fortunate.
Twelve temples in total. Three directly ahead, including the one blocking his path. Three on each side of the sector. Two at the far end, with one massive structure dominating the centre.
Gale decided that the elevator would be the southernmost point of the sector. Easier to tell directions that way.
His tendrils brushed against life forms to the east. In the middle temple on that side, he sensed six distinct entities covered in a cloak, literally. They hid their flesh with a black ragged cloak. Two of them had the signature of a Defiled, which was equal to a Resonant. The other four were Tainted, equal to Attuned.
Another cluster registered to the north. In the rightmost temple, one Defiled and three Tainted moved in a repetitive patrol pattern in the temple.
The northern group was farther away, with fewer enemies. Better odds, especially since he'd be facing them alone.
"Guide," Gale whispered, keeping his voice low. "What's the best approach here?"
[Two viable options. Option 1: Neutralize Northern Group first. Group presents itself as weaker compared to the western group. Fewer threats also reduce initial risks. Disadvantages: Potentially alert western Group during confrontation. Risk would be if host does not eliminate the Northern Group in an adequate amount of time before the western Group's arrival. Second Option: Neutralize western Group first. Able to quickly kill two Defiled entities in quick succession while enemies are not on guard. Advantage: Eliminates the bulk of the threat immediately. Disadvantages: Higher initial risk. Utmost stealth is required.]
"And if I want to reach the central temple without fighting either group?"
[Infiltration option: Possible but suboptimal. Temple layout provides limited cover and vast lines of sight between temple to temple. Breath of the Void data suggests enemies are covert stealth long range units. Detection Probability: HIGH. Host is recommended to eliminate Northern Group first, then eliminate oncoming backup forces originating from the western temple. Then, proceed to central Temple to attain Vianne's fragment.]
"Northern group it is," Gale muttered.
Erin's voice came through the phone again. "Your stealth shall be your greatest asset. These abominations communicate through methods we do not fully comprehend. Once combat begins, all within the sector may become alert to your presence. Choose your entry combat point wisely. Be quick and swift, child of Cev."
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"Got it. Hit hard, hit fast, don't let them call for help," Gale said.
"Your understanding pleases me," Erin said. "The fragment rests within the central temple. You will find it in the right eye of the first owl you see through the temple's doors. May Aurumn guide your path."
Aurumn? It was that word again… or that Ancient. If Aurumn was part of the Dainv lineage or she was some kind of god to them, then was there a connection between Aurumn and Rachel's family? Gale shook his head. Not now. Don't let your mind wander off. That's something he could find out later.
He pocketed the phone and sized up the temple before him. The stepped pyramid stretched so far to either side that its corners disappeared into shadows. Breath of the Void had allowed him to see through this dark place. Without it, the others would have needed to make Rachel be the walking glowstick, and she'd basically give out their positions to the hostiles.
Eyes turning up to his head, Dani sat on top of his head, clinging on to his hair with her tiny claws.
"Hold on tight," Gale whispered to Dani, who gripped his hair more firmly.
Gale activated Distort. What little light remained bent around the surface of his clothes and skin, rendering him nigh invisible. To his surprise, the effect extended to Dani as well. She was already somewhat translucent, but now she vanished completely along with him.
Neat. And it looks like Dani was happy as well as she fluttered her wings a couple of times, which slapped against his temples softly.
Taking a deep breath, Gale sprinted to the right, keeping the massive temple between himself and the western compound where six hostiles waited. He chose the spaces where there were as little fleshy parts as possible so that his footsteps didn't squelch. When there weren't solid stone to step on, he avoided the thicker parts of the flesh.
He reached the corner of the first temple and pressed his back against it. The scale of these structures was hard to grasp. They weren't buildings so much as small mountains carved into temples. He even hurt his neck looking up all the way to the top of the temple he was hiding behind. For what purpose they made them this big and why 12? Who knows. Not important.
Peering north, Gale spotted a clear path to the next temple. He pushed off the wall and sprinted again, staying close to the fleshy walls. The flesh growth was thicker here, forcing him to step carefully to avoid the larger veins and also to take a couple of steps further from the walls as they had pulsating veins that smelled like something died 50 years ago.
When he reached the gap between the first and second temples, he paused. Peeking around the corner, no movement around the alley. Check.
He leapt across the exposed area, landing in the shadow of the next temple. Even with Distort active, he wasn't fully invisible. Better not to rely on it completely. He also wasn't going to risk that those eye things could see through the invisibility like Dani. They basically looked the same except Dani was cuter… relatively.
Gale continued his sprint along the side of the second temple, the massive stone blocks blurring beside him. When he reached the end, he slowed and carefully peered around the corner.
An eyeball spiderling scout thing crawled along the fleshy growth about fifty feet away, moving in a patrol pattern that would eventually bring it directly to Gale's position by the outer wall of the temple. It paused occasionally to massage the pulsing veins with its legs, as if checking their condition.
Rather than rushing forward and risk being caught, Gale steadied his breathing against the wall and waited. The dark hunter has the patience of a hunter that hunts in the darkest of nights.
Minutes passed as the creature inched closer. Gale remained perfectly still. His hands twitched. Any minute now, he'd swing his unarmed hands and materialize Weber mid swing to kill the eyeball.
The eyeball finally moved closer. Just as it rounded the corner, Gale's right hand was already in motion. Weber materialized mid swing. Blade cut through the eyeball sac. Fluid spilled out from its eye's walls. The eyeball didn't even know what hit it before it died, split in half.
[Reward: 10 points]
Gale quickly moved forward, hugging the side of the third temple. The space behind the temples felt increasingly claustrophobic despite their massive size and the vast area of the sector.
Reaching the edge of the third temple, Gale carefully peered around the corner. Before him stretched an open area. There was a gap between his current position and the northernmost right temple where the prey of the dark hunter waited.
Peeking up above to the top of the temple, he saw a cloaked figure standing by the edge of a fenced off balcony. Its face was hidden beneath a deep hood, but clearly, it was looking in Gale's general direction, head slightly tilted as if listening. Its hands were hidden beneath its ragged cloak, but its posture suggested alertness. It knew something was wrong.
The eyeball's death hadn't gone unnoticed.
Gale slowly reeled back to the wall and pressed his back against it. There was only one option in this scenario, and that was to wait.
The figure stood directly in the path he was supposed to take. There was no way that thing would not find out that a hazy blurry thing was moving on the ground floor.
He needed to wait until the cloaked figure looked away or moved somewhere else. Eventually, it would have to unless it was a robot… which was likely. However, Gale, don't rush this. Wait for an opportunity.
Minutes crawled by. The cloaked figure remained motionless, its attention fixed on the space where Gale had killed the spiderling. Twice it shifted slightly but never turned away.
Gale fought the urge to check his phone again or call Erin for advice. Any sound might alert the watcher. Instead, he focused on controlling his breathing and maintaining Distort. His essence reserves had gone up tremendously after putting points into mind. He could probably last a couple of days with Distort active if he unsummoned Dani.
Finally, after what felt like forever, the figure turned its head, looking back toward its temple. It made a motion with its hand.
'Get back to your positions. Probably got crushed by something else,' the cloaked figure signed to its comrades.
Earth sign language? That was definitely from Earth.
The cloaked figure moved off from its balcony and entered the door at the top of the temple.
This was his chance. No time to think whether that was from Earth because it clearly was, but that didn't mean these people weren't hostile or maybe connected to Earth and were somehow transported to this world and had to live another life by mutilating their own bodies to survive this hellscape of a tomb to even stand a fighting chance against the spider robots of doom.
That was a sci-fi fantasy story Gale was willing to read. Damn, he was good at making up stories. It was just too bad the trope wasn't subverted back in the Eclipsed, where he was supposed to be out for revenge or something.
Gale took a deep breath and pushed away from the wall, springing across the open space between the temples. This area had fewer fleshy growths on the floor, allowing him to choose carefully where he stepped. The stone floors made it easy to muffle his own steps. He closed the gap in a few seconds and now sat at the base of the rightmost temple.
Climbing up the stepped pyramid of the temple, Gale materialized Weber Balista in his left hand. Thought I forgot about you, huh? Maybe you don't work on the spider stupids, but you'll probably work on these hostile fleshy human enemies.
Gale reached the top of the temple where the cloaked figure entered. No sound, but he could hear cloth rustle. Tendrils extended inwards to the temple. The four cloaked figures seemed to be talking to each other with sign language.
Doesn't matter. Eliminate hostile. Follow the plan.
One deep breath. Phase Touch activated and Gale phased through the door, Weber Balista aimed directly at the Defiled signature.