Chương 25: Escape Corruption

Nix dashed forward. Ari, despite being in the depths of slumber, followed close behind. The dream-bug guided her mind to move her body in a state without consciousness. It would have been nice if she could run around the monsters — maybe use the space warping tunnels around them to lose them — but the creatures were quick, and seemed to know their way through the unnatural bends in the metal floor far better than Nix. The amalgamations were quick, too. Or at least two of the three were.

She wouldn't be able to avoid those — especially not with someone following in tow — so she engaged. She slammed her feet into the ground and pushed herself into the path of the monsters that even now sent inklings of terror through her chest. She swung her hands into the first. The impact sent an agonising jolt through her arms, and they only seemed to sink an inch into the being's flesh because of the momentum it carried. Nix didn't have much weight behind her, and her arms were weak.

She couldn't be using the claws as if they were swords. She needed to use them where their strength shined. Her hand, wedged in the chest of the large bird, clamped down. Flesh splattered, and the long, oversized rat tail in the place of a head whipped down on her. With her other hand, she caught it, but the weight of it forced her to her knees. In an instant, she severed the tail. If that strike had been any heavier, Nix was sure she's have more than just some aching arms and bruised knees.

She needed to be smart with her claws. They were hard as stone, but that simply meant the impact flowed into the rest of her body. She had to react to their movements. Nix needed to be better. The bird shrieked. With no beak or mouth to be seen, she didn't know where the noise came from, but the creature spun out of Nix's pincers and kicked out with a far-too-human leg. She was ready this time, and clamped down her fingers just before she felt the brunt of the strike. The foot went flying. It…

very nearly booted her in the face despite being detached, but Nix chose to never think on it. The second amalgamation rushed past her, ignoring Nix completely and dashing for Ari. The mutt was quick, with large rabbit-like legs in place of a canine's. She leapt. Her hand barely grabbed its rearmost leg before it went past her and attacked Ari. Nix didn't clamp down. Not yet. She tugged the beast back, and with it being one of the only beasts not larger than herself, it couldn't continue.

Nix didn't bother severing any of this amalgamation's limbs. She placed her hand on the back of its spine — between a dozen fish eyes that gazed up at her mindlessly — and crushed it. Before she could get up again, the bird bodied her. She grappled with the creature, and as she tried to throw it off, she found that its feathers tore out far too easily. After moments of brawling, she discovered that beneath that ball of fluff, were hundreds of tiny little mouths.

They all snapped open and shut in an attempt to bite at her, but considering they were smaller than a fingertip, getting their teeth around her was impossible. After stabbing her claws into the creature enough times, it finally began to melt. Nix rose. Huffing from exertion, she turned to the third amalgamation. A rhino's head slapped haphazardly upon the shoulders of an giant ant met her. It was bigger than a trolley. Bigger than the beast that grew from her blood back at the Still Tower. She turned, and ran.

"Ari, run!" The beast charged, but apparently its sheer heft was too much for its newborn mind. Its legs tried to turn with them, but with such a high centre of mass, it quickly found itself tumbling head over feet. Corrupted walls caressed at the beast's body without it ever coming to a stop. They urged it to collapse, spiral, and decay. Nix could not stop staring as the walls came to life and swallowed the amalgamation while masses of tangible darkness spilled out.

She couldn't even process where it had eaten the creature, only that it had. No seams or cracks lined the pristine metal walls. They twisted and coiled beyond comprehension, but there was nowhere for that darkness to appear from. Nix snapped her head away. She knew she shouldn't look. Everyone knew you should never look too long at the things that didn't make sense, but it was enrapturing. She had to hold her head in her hands to make sure her eyes didn't seek out those oddities before she lost herself.

Little God spun where he was and led them away from the battlefield of dying cultists.

"Keep us away from monsters," she called ahead, hoping it was possible. The floating eyeball didn't respond, but it did change its path slightly. She took that as a good sign… and ignored the fact that it might have led them towards something if she hadn't asked. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Nix glanced back to the girl who almost found herself a sacrifice. Ari jogged along pleasantly. Her eyes narrowed in accusation.

Why do you look like you're out for a casual bit of exercise? I feel like hell. Each arm ached and her legs burned. This was already so much more than Nix's body could handle. For a brief moment, she considered asking the dreaming girl to carry her. She was, after all, in much better shape than Nix. Huh, she laughed. Wouldn't that be a sight; the rescuee carrying the rescuer. Refocusing on Little God, she pushed herself to keep moving.

She wanted to keep her eyes up and on the lookout for more amalgamations, but she knew that would be less than beneficial to her sanity. For a few minutes, things were going well. Little God led them through the confusing mess of a metal labyrinth, while Ari kept pace behind her. So often, the floating eyeball seemed to lead them towards dead ends or back to where they began, but each time Nix approached the point of questioning their guide, they would see signs of progress. But now… Now Nix had to question him.

"Eyeball… you know we can't fly, right?" He stopped his ascent and looked down on her.

"You can't?" his gaze lingered on her lower back. Nix clicked her tongue. She wasn't about to force her mutations any more than they were. Not if there was still other ways.

"No. Ari and I cannot fly after you."

"Then, walk?" He tilted to the side in question. Nix closed her eyes and suppressed her frustration. This little creature was strong. Far stronger than herself; she couldn't say anything to insult it… even if it had never responded aggressively to her before. They were lucky there were no amalgamations in the immediate area.

"How? I don't know if you've noticed, but gravity is holding us down."

"Ignore it."

"What?"

"Ignore your worldly bindings. Close your mind to them and walk." She was about to protest again when she stopped herself. Worldly bindings? Considering they were in a Dark Star Event, it wasn't a stretch to assume all laws of physics were just absent. This place was more akin to a dream then reality. Deciding to just go for it, she closed her eyes, did her best to forget exactly where she was and which way was down, then walked to Little God. It felt so natural that she was sure it hadn't worked.

But when she opened her eyes and found herself on the ceiling, it suddenly wasn't so natural. Gravity still tugged at her, but she didn't fall. To her eyes, there was no possible way she could have gotten here; she was on an orb of metal floating above a hall. It didn't make sense. She glanced back and found Ari following without issue. Right, Nix thought. She's dreaming. It probably doesn't even feel out of the ordinary for such impossible things to occur.

Little God apparently took her request to avoid creatures to heart, as while it took them nearly an hour to escape, they faced little resistance. No walls tried to eat them. No amalgamations tried to gut them. Really, after all that had happened, it felt almost too easy. Soon, somehow, they stepped out through a thick hatch, and found themselves on a building at the edge of the safe zone. Considering they'd just walked through a large open hall, it should be impossible, but here they were.

Corruption was thick through the air, and darkness lingered where the Great Iris's light should have eradicated it, but Nix didn't pay any mind to that. She couldn't. Not with the massive sphere of impenetrable black consuming the entire south of her vision. Solar flares of black void snapped out all along its surface, striking buildings and leaving twisted, confusing masses in their wake. They were constant, and struck out at anything that went near. A small rodent disappeared beneath one.

Whether it twisted into some horrific monster, teleported far away, or simply vaporised, she didn't know. This truly was a Dark Star. Nix instigated a Dark Star Event. Thousands of buildings were flattened. More were twisted beyond recognition. Everywhere she looked, there were beasts, amalgamations, spawn and other nightmares rushing to attack anyone they saw, only to be cut down by an army of cultists. The Scriptures used their own bodies to enact countless rituals in opposition.

The Bodytwisters fought with flesh crafted and perfected for battle. Those of the Technocult were much the same, only with metal implants. Worshippers of the Machine God spent their time praying to the massive metal machines that stepped forward to fight off each monster. And cultists of the Everseeing Eye stood, still and silent, but no less devastating as wherever they gazed, creatures fell. All the cults were here. Of course they were; this was a disaster beyond reckoning.

They had to cull the creatures before they could slaughter everyone. But none of them moved to enter. The cults simply stood and culled the creatures that swarmed from the edges of the Dark Star. The waves of monsters would never end if they just faced them out here. They needed to crush its source. Belatedly, Nix realised she was leaning over the edge of the building. She was not in a position to be worrying about what the cultists chose to do.

If even one saw her and decided to investigate the strange pair of girls far from where they should be at this time of night… it would be catastrophic. Her arms were soaked in blood, and she had enough scratches to warrant a closer look. They would discover her newly chitinous hands and then… Nix spun to leave. But before she could, she had to deal with Ari. She wouldn't be as affected by being discovered. Through her, they might even learn it was a Fleshsmith warehouse where the Event started.

She grabbed a hold of the dream-bug, and paused. Would she wake immediately? As much as Nix hated the idea of leaving her ward-mate ensorceled by the worm, she wasn't willing to have her mutations exposed. It couldn't be known that she was here tonight. It would be better if Ari was found by the cultists — in a large enough crowd that they couldn't take advantage of her state — and be given the help Nix couldn't provide.

"Eyeball, do the stairs lead back into the Dark Star's corruption?" She pointed to the door access across from them. Not the hatch they came through. Little God glanced that way, then looked down, as if following the stairs.

"No."

"Good." Nix turned back to Ari.

"Now, you are going to wait five minutes after I'm gone, then you'll walk down those stairs and find the first group of more than five cultists you can find. Approach them and make sure your hood remains down." She really hoped the commands would linger in her dream-like state. It would be horrible if the girl had to stand here for hours suffering beneath its control before she was found. Leaving her there, Nix made for the stairs. Now, she just needed to get to the ward without being spotted.

At least K'tan was dead.