An exhausted group rushed through the crumbling spatial channel, ignoring the lacerations opening up across their body. Even Zac could feel the sting from the rotten viscera and swirls of resentment digging into the wounds, not to mention the others. The gate collapsed only moments after they emerged.
They were ready this time after a painful lesson from a few excursions. A standby crew erected a sturdy barrier that redirected the final burst of matter and energy that squeezed out of the collapsing world. Zac cleansed his body of scum before jumping into the pod.
Another blockade barring their path was knocked down through effort and teamwork. It did little to raise morale in the shuttle as they flew toward the approaching Yphelion. Zac wanted to raise their spirits, but what could he say? The only things they had to show for risking their lives were a few tainted relics and a handful of dubious D-grade plants that reeked of evil and sets of foreign patterns copied from a wall.
The anomaly was another trove, a standard fragment of an Inner World filled with putrid blood and zombies. They were likely descendants or servants of the ancient cultivator who fell in battle. Their end was likely even worse, seeing the world collapse around them as hostile Dao flooded their home. The dense resentment in the Imperial Graveyard prevented any normal Revenants from awakening, instead turning them into mindless monstrosities filled with killing intent.
“Good job. Get some rest,” Zac said before lumbering back toward his quarters.
Catheya had already left, having her own matters to deal with. Zac glanced at the table where they’d had coffee just hours ago, wondering how many such chances they’d get over the coming weeks. Shaking his head, he entered the cultivation chamber to begin another round of practice. Rest was important, but so was diligence.
Days passed one after another, and the pressure on Yphelion and its crew never relented. It only mounted, making Zac long for the calm days at the graveyard’s edge by the time another ten days had passed. There was simply no rest to be had as the storms grew increasingly volatile. The ones having the worst of it were Jaol and Mark Marshall, who were responsible for navigating the ship through the troubled waters.
Ogras and Emily both had experience in piloting Cosmic Vessels through turbulent regions, but they were struggling to fill Mark’s shoes during his short bouts of fitful rest. The Yphelion’s journey seemed stable to the passengers, barring the constant shakes. It was a false safety. The Yphelion was constantly swirling back and forth, making turns so sudden and sharp the centrifugal forces would knock out half the crew if not for the Inertia Arrays.
It was clear that the Beacon was leading them toward one of the most dangerous regions of the graveyard, and their situation was starting to remind Zac of how he tried to avoid the hundred-odd mental tendrils in the Pilgrimage of Faith. Sharp winds could appear out of nowhere, and even the Yphelion’s upgraded shield would have trouble blocking many of them.
There were also a shocking number of seals peppered through the storm. Six of his sealbearers finished their seals over the four weeks after Galau got his, while Kruta got his second piece. The Indomitable Court was the one Zac had been the most worried about as Kator, unsurprisingly, was a Blooddancer like Kruta and Joanna.
Zac’s schemes to distract the reaver had proven unnecessary. He’d ceded the first piece of the Indomitable Court after a bet with Joanna. And the Valkyrie had a quest connected to his, so she gave up her claim on the piece in exchange for some rare materials Kruta had brought from the outside.
Most of the seals were uncovered through the scanning array installed without his knowledge. It had almost gotten to the point that Zac had forgiven the Centigrade Pryer and the Creators for installing the spying device.
Their own scanners only managed to spot two when the Centigrade Scanners picked up eight. The reason they’d only seized five was that the paths to the others were deemed too dangerous or would make them lose access to the critical windows they needed to make to progress. They also spotted dozens of spatial fluctuations leading to Mystic Realms or Troves, but Zac chose to ignore everything that didn’t hold a seal.
Zecia was crumbling, and there might be nothing left for him to save if they took too long to activate the Foreign Gods. The unspecified 400-day deadline mentioned in Ventus’ missive was fast approaching, and Zac was hoping to reach their destination before that. More importantly, his soldiers were using their blood to buy time to let Zac and most of his elites set out on the mission.
Completing designation quests was the source of the two seals they didn’t find in the wild. Zac had wondered how they could possibly finish the tasks assigned when their only method of navigation was following the [Centurion Beacon] and making the occasional detour for picking up seals.
It turned out the quest holders would feel a strong pull that sounded a bit like attraction from Supreme Treasures that Zac sensed. Both led into Troves, though the missions were very different. Carl had to sneak inside alone and extract an ancient war bow while they had to help Ra’Klid unearth a set of Life-based scriptures from a haunted temple.
Neither had found a seal inside. Instead, they appeared inside sealed boxes the moment they’d returned to their quarters. The System’s immediate handing out of the Reward was a huge relief to Zac. It would have been a huge hit to his plans if he had to return to a Merit Exchange to get his final Flamebearer seal.
While exhausting, they were making steady progress. Until they suddenly weren’t.
“What are our chances if we force our way through?” Zac asked as he looked at the gargantuan storm formation blocking their path.
It was, by far, the largest one they’d seen, more than a dozen times larger than any individual cluster they’d encountered so far.
“I give it ten percent at most. And that’s just based on the sections we can actually scan. It’s probably lower if there’s a high-energy cluster in the middle holding everything together,” Galau said with a shake of his head. “Our shields are too worn down to take the risk.”
“Look at it from the bright side,” Ogras said. “We would have turned into space debris if the Ruthless Heavens hadn’t equipped its favorite son with a stronger skipper.”
“Not necessarily,” Galau countered. “Much of the drain comes from taking dangerous shortcuts to save on our manpower. Our shields would have been in roughly the same state as the old ship as well, except we wouldn’t be this far in.”
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“Anyway, crossing isn’t an option,” Zac surmised. “Find another path.”
“There is one, it’s just…” Galau said, glancing at Mark in the pilot’s chair.
The stalwart pilot’s eyes were angry red, while his skin was sallow and pasty. He looked like he’d been fighting a serious illness for months. It was a side-effect of eating stimulants to keep himself going when his soul and computational power had been overtaxed for so long.
“There are no decent paths going forward,” Jaol sighed. “A retreat will save our shields, but it’ll be a rough journey that will waste at least three days.”
“Something has to give, or they’ll fall asleep at the wheel and sail us right into the nether realm,” Ogras said. “I’ve tried to learn, but the twists and turns are too quick. That Mark must have a sixth sense to dodge the spatial tears that quickly.”
“We can’t go forward, and we can’t retreat?” Zac grunted. “So what do you propose? That we stay put?”
“Exactly,” Jaol said. “The storm blocking our path is too powerful for us to deal with. But it’s also moving extremely fast. The worst of it should pass if we wait for roughly four hours. We might be able to set out even earlier if we’re willing to take a bit of a risk.”
“I think it’s time,” Ogras said with a somber expression.
Zac took out the [Centurion Beacon] and infused it with some energy. They were close, but judging by the signal, it should be at least another couple of weeks. Would he really have to bring it out this early? The only other option was to trigger the black boxes hidden in the ship, praying they were a warp system that wouldn’t get them all killed.
“Call Ibtep.”
The Zhix liaison appeared on the bridge soon after. Zac realized it was the first time he saw his old friend since they set out on the mission. Ibtep hadn’t joined any of the outings. Instead, they’d taken up one of the unused hangars, turning it into a pen for his pets.
“You called? Is it time?” Ibtep said, a mix of anticipation and grief on their face.
“We need to stay in place for a few hours,” Zac explained, displaying the scene outside. “Is everything ready?”
“It’s ready,” Ibtep sighed. “Poor creatures. They will meet a painful end protecting us.”
Ibtep joined the mission for his space-eating beasts. The preliminary tests over the past weeks had been promising, but their numbers were limited. Zac had hoped to save them until the last moment, paving a path to the [Centurion Beacon] in case it was guarded by a fierce spatial blockade. Still, using some of the brood to give their pilot some much-needed rest and save multiple days of travel was a worthy use.
“They might survive,” Ogras offered, his words clearly ringing hollow.
“That’s even worse. What good can come from surviving taking on such tainted fare?”
“I’m sorry, but we have no choice,” Zac said. “Our pilot is about to keel over, and we’re about to enter an even stormier region. He needs rest.”
“I understand,” Ibtep said. “Their sacrifice will bring glory to the Hive. Let me get my things.”
“Uh, just checking. You do have a backup plan, right?” Ogras whispered as Ibtep scurried away.
“Yes. I’ll pilot the ship myself, relying on my good looks and even better Luck.”
“Heavens above, please give the grubs your strength,” Ogras whispered, his hands clasped in piety.
Ibtep quickly got everything ready, joining Zac and Ogras outside the Vessel. It looked like they were in the middle of a greenish sandstorm, where each grain was a fusion of unstable space and the lingering effects of some extremely powerful attack. They’d tried to find as calm a spot as possible near the passing storm, but even Zac would only step outside the barrier if necessary.
The unstable energies were relentless, and its powerful spatial properties made it very hard to defend against. The dust would shift in and out of space, and it could easily take your flesh with it if you weren’t careful. They’d already lost two pod ships to similar storms, and most visits to the ward came from the short stints they’d been forced to take in open space.
The hodgepodge resentment was at least slightly weaker than the average of their current depth, and there were still no signs of an anomaly or other dangers nearby.
“Go ahead,” Zac said.
Ibtep nodded, lifting something that looked a lot like a beehive. It was a custom-made beast-holding tool for Ibtep’s pets, fulfilling the same function as a World Ring. Ibtep also had a special space similar to the Shrine of Kanba from his class. It was reserved for the Grub Knight’s steed, which also came with certain benefits.
Six streams of pebbles poured out of the hive, forming blue shimmering rivers that expanded the further they went. The pebbles were the adolescent larvae Ibtep had prepared. They released minute spatial ripples as they instinctively moved toward their food source. The streams left the shielding, and larvae died by the thousands when exposed to the unforgiving environment.
Zac looked at Ibtep with worry, only calming down upon seeing the tranquility on the Zhix’s face. Their confidence was soon proven well-founded. The spatial winds didn’t rip apart most of the larvae who died. They curled together and darkened, resembling actual pebbles. Zac didn’t exactly understand how, but the small carapaces solidified space around them.
The effect wasn’t strong and definitely not enough to stabilize the fractured space enough to create a safe harbor that could provide the much-needed rest. It did, however, provide a foothold for their brethren outside the barrier. Zac looked on with interest as the first round of larvae began absorbing green streaks of spatial havoc.
The frontrunners only needed half a minute to grow from the size of a grain of rice to a finger, and they showed no sign of stopping. The larger the space-eating larvae grew, the more voracious their appetite became. Their auras increased in step, though they more resembled the unfocused energy of a Cosmic Crystal than that of a beast or cultivator. It made sense, considering their only purpose was to eat Spatial Energy and store it in their bodies until they died from overeating.
Cracks started to appear across the bodies of some of the gluttons by the time they reached the size of an arm. Then they shattered, turning into large rocks with far greater stabilizing properties than the small pebbles. These were the ones with the weakest talent for devouring spatial energies. The rest kept growing. They were like locusts, advancing further and further from the ship while leaving a curtain of increasingly large carapaces in their wake.
“What’s their limit? Just how large can they grow?” Zac eventually asked.
“That’s… A good question,” Ibtep nodded. “The size of a hive? Maybe more?”
“A hive?!” Zac exclaimed, looking at the thousands of feasting critters with a mix of fascination and alarm.
Even the smaller Hives were decent-sized settlements, while the expansive system of tunnels and chambers ruled by Rhubat dwarfed most cities on Earth.
“Of course, that’s in ideal conditions,” Ibtep continued. “The impure feed impacts their absorption.”
“Impressive. But what’s the catch?” Ogras said, looking at Ibtep with suspicion. “Why haven’t the Kan’Tanu done something like this already?”
“It’s only borrowing time,” Zac said. “It’ll be paid back in full later.”
The Spatial Larvae was Ibtep’s top-secret project, initially meant to help with the war effort. Zac was one of the very few in the know, having received current reports. He’d be lying if he said he understood the unique critters’ ins and outs, but he did know of their strengths and drawbacks.
“Paid back how?” the demon asked with suspicion.
“The carcasses are chock-full of energy. Right now, they’re acting like weights holding down the buckling spatial layers and creating a safe zone,” Zac explained. “But how can some body parts resist the forces of nature? It only works for now because Ibtep is controlling them and supplementing their numbers. When we stop, the winds will quickly push back.”
“I haven’t figured out how to permanently make the absorbed energy inert. It might not be possible,” Ibtep added. “The stabilization will fail, and all the trapped energy will come bursting out.”
Ogras scanned the expanding barrier of dead larvae. It already surrounded the Yphelion and grew by the second. In a few hours, it would have formed an asteroid field more than a mile across. All that energy, unleashed at once… Zac could see the thoughts running through the demon’s head as he turned toward Zac with his signature look of disbelief and exhausted acceptance.
“You…” Ogras sighed. “You could have kept me in the dark, you know?”
Zac was about to answer, but Ipbtep preempted him.
“Oh, that’s not good. You should get ready.”
“Not good? What’s going on?” Zac said, not remembering any part of Ibtep’s explanation that required his participation.
“I told you. The grubs were better off dead than tainted. And now, some of them are tainted. They have no mind of their own, so their basic drive for food will be replaced with whatever desire is trapped in the clouds. You need to deal with the troublemakers before they cause a mess.”
“And by mess, you mean a dimensional eruption that will send us straight to the afterlife?” Ogras sighed.
“Well, the weather has calmed at least,” Zac said, taking out his axe. “Call the others. I guess we have some possessed grubs to deal with.”