Chương 41: From the Depths of Madness

I walked in the back line with Galer ahead of me and Jabare at the very front. He talked with his peers about how to angle the surprise attack. With the way they had informed us, we took our steps for the first time using the tunnels below the surface from an unknown angle we thought was right on the mark. We waited, counting the time down in the cramped heat below while eating some light boiled meat provided by the soldiers.

The meat was tender and juicy, similar to the wild fowl we sometimes hunted back in europarum, perfectly boiled until it practically fell apart. The soldiers had elevated it with a generous sprinkle of a strong, aromatic spice blend that gave it a deep, savory kick with hints of earth and heat.

They paired it with clean, fresh water collected from the dripping underground streams, the strong heavy rain above had produced a good amount of quality drops that filtered down through the earth, giving the water a crisp, almost sweet earth-like taste. Yet despite the welcome meal, the area was still super warm.

The tunnels trapped the heat like an oven, and I felt my sweat pouring down my face and back worse than it had in the desert, stinging my eyes and making my grip slippery on my weapon, hoping to soon get out of this tunnel. Then we ran on top the ceiling. The reason we emerged directly above ground was because Jabare's Vice Leader, a sun-charged man Furape, had done the heaviest work on the tunnel.

He was the only one equipped with super long claw gauntlets blades that protruded sharply from between his fingers, extending from above the wrist like living extensions of his hands. With relentless focus, he had clawed and carved the final upward passage through the earth, breaking through the last layer of soil and stone. At Jabare's signal, Furape gave one last powerful swipe, ripping open the ground above us and creating the exit point.

The problem was we did not come out in the open training barracks but in the sleeping house of the Soldiers. A wave of shock hit us the moment we realized it. We had expected to emerge into the training barracks where no soldiers would be and had an easy attack line instead, we had burst straight into the heart of the sleeping quarters. The realization came too late. With a loud boom, the ceiling gave way as we climbed up from the wide hole.

The limestone foundation cracked heavily under the pressure, sending a sharp slash followed by a deep, thunderous boom that echoed through the entire building. The sleeping soldiers reacted in time. One man, who had been resting near the window, slammed his fist against the glass in pure panic and screamed at the top of his lungs, "Attack! We are under att..." His cry was cut short as one of our own pierced his mouth mid-scream. Chaos erupted instantly.

Soldiers scrambled from their beds, grabbing weapons in confusion and terror as more and more of us poured out from the wide hole in the floor. Soldiers slowly climbed up from the hole, numbering 40… 41… and so on. With each second more and more of us came up onto the field of war. The now informed soldiers from other stations and barracks gathered in the wet, flooded grounds, readying for us to come out so they would have the advantage.

They notified the outpost leader Auzarpa, a battle-scarred man aged 51 with short white dreads. One eye was marked with a branding of experience and he carried a powerful Animo of 3, 800. He stood with his stone-made spear while his soldiers hit their shields in unison to improve morale and bloodlust. It was a tradition of Tharaj called Ukugyi. The Ukugyi began as a low, rhythmic clanking of spear tips striking wide shields in perfect unison, each impact sending deep vibrations through the air.

The sound grew stronger, faster, more primal.

"Ohhhh… Ahhhh… Ohhhh… Ahhhh!" The warriors chanted in time with the clashing metal, their voices rising and falling like a living heartbeat. Auzarpa stood at the front like a music composer, directing the tone with sharp gestures of his spear. When he raised it high, the rhythm intensified into a powerful roar; when he lowered it, the chant dropped into a menacing tone that made the very ground seem to tremble.

The entire formation pulsed with raw, collective bloodlust, the clanging shields and deep chanting voices merging into one terrifying war hymn that echoed across the flooded courtyard. The 440 soldiers, with more coming from their patrols and the inner city, were slowed because of the heavy flooding. A maximum of 1, 200 could join the sudden call for reinforcement.

Battle Report: Muzape 1, 600 Soldiers (minus 100 died in the first wave of our surprise attack) 400 Soldiers on the ground 1, 200 on patrols or inner city but notified Chaddore Guwam Battalion 24 2, 035 Soldiers (2 died in the ambush) The yelling, bloodlusted soldiers with growing morale slowly walked upfront with their leader in the very first row. They did not see that once the door opened, a group of 200 soldiers with Jabare at the front attacked the enemy.

We went down again, as the Vice Leader Furape, had a ruthless idea for another ambush warfare. Instead of continuing to push upward, he dropped back down into the tunnel and quickly carved a new, much wider hole directly beneath the enemy's back formation.

The ground gave way with a deep, crumbling groan. Dozens of Tharajian soldiers suddenly dropped through the collapsing floor, falling helplessly into our waiting blades below. The surprise was devastating. We struck them mid-fall, swords and claws flashing upward to impale and slash before they could even regain their footing. The tactic turned the battle into a slaughter pit, making it far easier to kill them as they tumbled down one after another, disoriented and vulnerable.

The experienced Auzarpa activated his Vestuto Inyoni, the Fire Bird. Fire-made wings surrounded his presence and the soldiers under him gained stronger Animo resistance. It felt like fighting one but facing two. His clothing looked like a headband with feathers glowing in fire, igniting a presence of experience and wild passion.

He wore a soft calf-skin back apron, a front apron with animal tails such as scorpion tails, scorpion arm and leg bands with scorpion hide, a bare muscular chest covered in scars that ignited his heat of fighting, beadwork across his body, and a tiger-like skin accent over the shoulder as a cape flapping in fire at the bottom, constantly dropping fire droplets. This signified his Animo of 3, 888 with his experience as a warrior. He held a long spear that channeled his fire to combat with.

Given our situation, the vice leader Furape, a mid-30s Chaddorian warrior with a strong athletic build, sharp intelligent eyes, and distinctive short black-and-white hair, used his Earth Vestuto. His body became encased in sleek, layered plates of hardened earthen armor in deep reddish-brown color with rich terracotta tones and a subtle metallic sheen, as though forged from the ancient soils of the savannah. From his fingertips emerged longer, sharper, retractable claws made of compressed, osmium-like earth ore.

These claws served as his prime weapons, capable of slicing anything as long as his Animo matched the combatant, which it closely did. His Animo now read 3, 429. Jabare used his Vestuto as well to pincer the fighting line, creating a misty sand. Both sides went on the field with the numbers increasing as more came from the ground up. Galer and I hit the rear with slashes. The fight was brutal. Chaos erupted in every direction.

Sand swirled wildly as Jabare's misty veil blinded and choked the enemy, while Furape claws tore through armor and flesh with vicious efficiency. Galer's light knives flashed like lightning in the dim underground, cutting down soldiers who tried to form ranks. I slashed relentlessly with my sword-axe, the diamond-edged pick tearing into throats and shoulders, my Heart Flame burning hotter with every slash or stab. The air filled with screams, the clang of metal, and the wet sound of blades meeting flesh.

Blood sprayed across the stone floor, mixing with the muddy water from the earlier rain that still seeped down from above. The Tharajian side slowly joined with smaller numbers of 120, 100, 80, getting caught on the sides and held back so they could not link up at all. Our pincer movement worked perfectly, we trapped them in small, isolated groups, preventing any organized defense. Minutes passed by as the fighting heated up.

Jabare went on the offensive with his relentless cape moves, his misty sand swirling like a living storm as he pressed forward toward Auzarpa. Furape attacked from below with savage claw strikes, ripping into legs and lower bodies, taking a heavy toll on the enemy formation. Galer and I hammered the groups from the sides, slashing and stabbing furiously to block any reinforcements from reaching their leader. We refused to let them support Auzarpa. Despite our efforts, Auzarpa held his own with ferocious skill.

His Fire Bird Vestuto blazed around him, wings of flame granting him greater speed and burning any who came too close. But four and many attacking numbers finally overcame his mighty Animo, overwhelming him from all sides. Multiple blades and claws pierced through his defenses, stabbing deep into his body. Yet even in his final moments, the proud warrior refused to fall easily. He killed 61 of our soldiers in a desperate, blazing fury...

his powerful fire moves spinning like a deadly wheel of flames, incinerating and crushing anyone in reach. With one last roar, his spirit rose high again. His engulfed spear burned with intense hot fire as he thrust it forward in a straight line, piercing and obliterating 12 soldiers in a single devastating strike. It was a huge blow to us, but a worthy sacrifice. Auzarpa finally collapsed, his body falling lifeless to the blood-soaked ground and floated to the underground tunnel.

Now the rest of the underground force on the surface blocked the entry. Furape stayed behind to hold the line and secure the tunnels while Galer, Jabare, and I ran toward the facility, hoping to still find the scholarly man Professor Étienne dú Sissione and get justice done. The two remaining guards who had seen the battle did not intervene at first. They had clear orders to defend this vital spot at all costs. But when they saw their leader Auzarpa fall, something snapped.

Finally happy and enraged at the same time, they welcomed the infiltrators and two outsiders with savage roars and jumped straight at Jabare, as he was the one who had pierced their leader with his sword through the head. These men, not even using Vestuto, had such strong power of 3, 200 Animo. Galer joined in to support him. While the two still in Vestuto fought the guards, I prepared to charge into the facility. Galer quickly grabbed my shoulder.

"Erumes!," he said urgently.

"Jabare and I will hold them here." Jabare, breathing heavily from the fight, nodded and looked at me with fierce trust.

"Go alone, Erumes. I believe you can handle the scholar yourself. Don't let him escape from the back. We can't risk this all being in vain." I didn't argue. With a sharp nod, I broke away from the fight and ran straight into the huge facility alone, determined not to let the professor slip away from the back. Once i entered the huge facility. Forges with molten heat filled the area in a heat that made my experience of the forge in Lae, a joke in comparison. The professor was not to be seen.

The dim lights from above indicated activity though, so I felt relief and walked slowly with my sword-axe out ahead. I found human bodies with chopped skin from their backs or headless or armless, always with the red bright tourmaline which was no longer red but rather blackish like it had lost its marbling color. Its size compared to the one in my pocket was also much smaller, like it was grounded to a perfect size. But why was it lifeless and why were there so many corpses lying around?

Deeper in, I found many humans in cages, tight locked cages. They were malnourished and not able to speak as their tongues had been removed. After trying to communicate with them I even wanted to free them, but they only opened their mouths like puppets. They had lost their emotion, their humanity, and were now mere puppets playing on the master's strings. I got even more pissed. As the idea of the old mans children being one of them or they could be the dead ones lying here.

Anger burned hot in my chest as I moved deeper into the facility. All these dead bodies… or mere puppets that had lost their humanity. Victims to something unspeakable. The sight of chopped skin, some headless corpses, and armless torsos with that lifeless blackish ore still clutched on their forehead made my blood boil. I walked corridor to corridor, jaw clenched, sword-axe gripped tightly in my hand. Then I discovered steps below.

Strange copper lines ran along the walls, pulsing with bright, electric sparks that danced and crackled with unnatural energy. I had never seen anything like it in my life, the lights were so strongly active, so steady and powerful, that they pulled me toward them with an irresistible curiosity. I had to check it out. After reaching the underground laboratory, I walked inside and found the perpetrator. There sat Étienne dú Sissione on a body which did not react to him.

He was currently working on putting with his own weird speech, the grounded-up but this one was a brightly shining ore, into a carefully carved open skin where I usually found the injection on top of the head, the forehead of each dead subject of his. The man "Yuhu, another success of evolution for humanity", he muttered to himself, while scribbling eagerly on his diary. Completely in his world, not seeing or hearing the war above.

I walked slowly toward him, trying to hit him, when a Gargoyle-like beast from the shadows came out.

"Ohh, I did not see I had a guest," the professor said, his voice smooth and almost delighted, tilting his head with genuine curiosity, "and such a wild young one with red darkish hair. In such wild manner… looking at your skin and red hair you hail from the Latiume Island of Sikelia but usually from what I know your kind usually have bright red hair. Interesting."

He looked closer at me, eyes gleaming behind the monocle with unsettling fascination, but I did not move as the Gargoyle-like beast behind him, with a big crystalline in red above his forehead, stood ready to pounce, its claws scraping lightly against the stone floor. I said, voice tight with barely contained rage, "What are you doing here, Professor?"

"Ohh you are rather intriguing for a brute who wants to rip my face off and kill me," he replied with a chilling, almost playful smile that sent a cold shiver down my spine.

"Well I am a Neo Historian and I want what all Neo Historians want to have: Human Evolution. And I was tasked to evolve the humans… haha. And as you can see over 20, 000 samples only 3, 900 made it."

"I just yesterday shipped another 300 batch to the frontline for the war. The Chaddorian force will not know what hit them. My creation, the Evolved human - Tourmalithrax the Veiled Sentinel as I coined the term, are human vessels that absorb the mighty souls of the tourmaline, if the strong enough vessel can withstand that procedure." Hitting his monocle straight in a cool fashion as he explained and walked around the experimental human which he then transformed before my eyes.

"As you can see yourself here, tapping the red bright crystal on the subject human 20, 001. I put a higher quality ore. I tap the soul essence of the red tourmaline which is very liked by beasts. You ask why? Because its soul essence increases these dumb vile beasts' evolution, making them bigger, sturdier, stronger. So I apply it to the humans to evolve. Here now fight one, you outdated human. Fight Number 20, 001 and see for yourself my fruit-bearing quality. Kill him Number 20, 001.

He tried to kill your master, me. I do not condone such behaviour. I have a long planned role to play along for the NH." The Tourmalithrax is a massive, muscular humanoid creature, roughly 2. 5 to 3 meters tall, with a powerfully built athletic frame to match. His skin is dark, living stone-flesh with a metallic obsidian-black base that shifts with iridescent tourmaline veins glowing in pink, emerald green, and deep crimson color.

A large, faceted glowing red tourmaline crystal is embedded in the center of his forehead like a third eye, radiating intense crimson light that illuminates his demonic features. His face is fierce and regal: sharp angular features, a snarling maw filled with razor-like stone teeth, glowing red eyes, and two large, curved black horns sweeping backward from his head. Large, bat-like wings with crystalline, shard-like edges spread wide behind him, shimmering with rainbow tourmaline reflections (pink-green-black).

His hands and feet end in long, deadly talons capable of shredding stone or steel with ease. A torn, pale piece of discarded human skin still clings to his lower body and lies in a heap at his feet... a haunting reminder of the humanity he shed during his transformation/evolution. The professor continued hyping his monster while I combated his creation in his own perpetuated ego.

"He is stronger, faster, and able to manipulate energy through the crystal remnants embedded in his skin, forever unageing, never hungry, never growing old with time, always at prime. And the best part, it lost its fragile humanity of feelings like sadness or happiness, always in neutral state. Do you see, wild Sikelian boy?" he asked in jest as I constantly stayed in defense of his created beast incoming barrages.

Then I added, "You know you call me Sikelian Boy of Latiume but I am from the Bener Region and my name is Erumes Flamma!" I activated my Heart Flame. Its dim lights flowed on my veins. The professor reacted with interest.

"Ohh Erumes Flamma. You have a nice fire attribute. You know what? You will make a new perfect Neo-Human project…. Number #1 Jump in and do not kill him. Incapacitate his limbs. I can sew his arms and legs up again haha, so go wild my Creations." As Number #1, which was much bigger with a much unrefined crystal and faster in attacks, jumped in with Number 20, 001, my Heart Flame now pumped my body in full.

"Finally I can cut loose. Let us see now what your Neo-evolved beast really can produce of combat quality when they battle a third placer of the Run to Glory." With my sword-axe combo I grabbed one Gargoyle on its wings, kicked with such strong knee strike in its stomach, opening it up in pain. The other from behind clawed up my back, ripping some first layer skin in a vicious tearing motion that sent hot blood streaming down my spine and burning pain exploding across my shoulders.

I turned and said, "Hah I had worse." My sword's edge and diamond pickaxe edge hit on the torso, pulling it with a swirl onto the other Gargoyle with such high momentum, stumbling them down on each other. I comboed on the upper one with such ferocity, getting one completely destroyed. The professor showed no reaction as if that was nothing special. Then the Gargoyle below which got up used its legs kicking me back.

The other multiply holed Gargoyle started healing its holes with little to no blood, but I saw the crystal on top had reduced on its red light. It made a click to my mind. The Gargoyles are as powerful as long as they have the red light from its forehead crystal still lighting its life energy. Attacking with my fire-loaded slash I cut one's shoulder off and yet it still regenerated as new in such fast response. It felt eerie I have to say.

"Prof, your creations can heal fast and are resilient to stabbings and fight well." And so we fought for a good 10 minutes. The Gargoyles stayed in the same fashion of power, not even losing any strength. Only I lost constantly stamina and got weaker. But finally Number 20, 001's red light felt dark and I could cut its shoulder off without it regenerating back. It was crazy. I felt like it was the eighth time I cut its shoulder and yet Number #1 was bright.

The professor grew even more interested now in getting me as I proved him a good subject. Galer came in with his Vestuto active with Jabare, they had finally killed the guards. Seeing the incoming reinforcements perplexed the professor. Clicking on his secret lab, he released two more fresh made Tourmalithrax Gargoyles. As started fighting them, the professor ran off. I explained while fighting what had happened. The angered Galer saw what I saw before going here.

"And so he is a Neo Historian? And this crystal is the beast regeneration line of using its life force. Once it dims out of red light they cannot heal and can be killed."

"Ok got it," Galer said with Jabare on. After another brutal combat we finally beat the two new having joined beasts. Number #1 retreated back to its master. We followed and found deep a passage to the sewer. The man used a replenisher item on the Gargoyle which lost around 60 percent of its red light, which was about to go back to 100 percent.

"We cannot allow it," I said. I jumped the Gargoyle. The professor who saw us making it to them so quickly, had thought he could replenish more than 12 percent in two minutes, but here he was... in reality. In his mind he knew what he would work on after this fight so he ran anew.

I was on pursuit got him after a minute of hide and seek, putting my sword on his head, knocking him out, bringing him to the now even more struggling fight against Number #1 and pressuring it to stand down as I held my sword-axe on his neck and forced it to back down. It did not stop, so with the two of them attacking it until the ember of its life frofce fell to the ground and broke in pieces. Jabare argued he would go back to his soldiers and inform the king about these creatures.

"Hope it is not too late as he has argued this professor is too powerful in terms of knowledge and he usually would have taken him from us and brought to the king. Even as vile this man was, his creations are stronger than any average soldier around." Galer and I understood what he meant and let us run in the sewer away as the older soldiers from Jabare's group might hunt us because, if we showed him dead, they would most likely want to touch his dead, not so dead, body.

Because i took this unconscious man with us to deliver him to the old man to take revenge personally. As we turned toward the sewers, Galer said: "My companion and rival, Jabare. We might not have known each other for long, but you are a true man and a real friend. I hope we see each other again. Win this war, Jabare... so we can challenge for the second title." His presence grew fainter and fainter as we moved away from him.