Chương 234: What is a little death-defying plan between lovers?

"Wander, can you call the retreat?" Kite asked between strikes, the calm of his combat meditation starting to fray at the edges as the fighting was simply so intense in the cramped corridors leading up to the enemy defenses. The few minutes of fighting had felt like an eternity, and unfortunately neither of the groups of adventurers seemed to have made any headway before the empowered constructs joined the fray.

It was currently all Kite could do to hold the brutish shield-bearing monstrosity in check among fighting drones, bright beams and empowered spells, and so he had made the call. They had probed the defenses and could come back soon, better prepared and with a proper plan. Fortune at least gave him the small mercy of Wander being able to answer this time.

"S-sure. Man, this guy sucks! Gah! Just you wait, beetle guy," the outworlder squeaked through gritted teeth at Kite's shoulders before her other bodies started calling out Kite's directive. Meanwhile, Kite himself started to make a gradual fighting retreat, focusing on shattering and deflecting as much of the hail of projectiles which flew his way as he could.

Fantina was already at his back joining him in the measured retreat and even Soul seemed content with backing off for now as the celestine vanished in a flicker from where she had attempted to crack through the barriers which had sprung into being to protect the agents of Discord atop their platforms.

At first the construct seemed unwilling to let the adventurers back down, as did the two elves who intensified their magical barrage of hammer and stone, but as if on cue the assault let up once Kite and the others managed to back away far enough. Even the construct eventually stopped its pursuit as they reached the next intersection further away from the defensive line, the abomination returning towards its masters at some unseen signal.

"That was… almost too easy," Kite noted with some concern as Fantina helped mend their scrapes and the results of other hits which was inevitable even for Kite to suffer in such a complicated battlefield.

"Speak… for… yourself," Wander squeaked through gritted teeth even as Kite could see a lot of her bodies fighting a similar retreat against the pursuing metal beetles. Even though the swarm's battle was occurring on a much wider front, they still got to witness the fast-paced exchanges where small groups of rats surrounded and tore into the metal beetles or were torn apart in turn.

Kite and Fantina started helping where they could, and the smaller constructs soon broke off as well once their numbers started dwindling. Sensing that the others had managed to extricate themselves from the conflict as well, Kite led his group to join their somewhat more disheveled companions.

"Heavens, that sure was a tougher shell to crack," Dragonfly complained once they had managed to gain some distance and a possible pursuit felt unlikely.

"I really thought I had that guy with the blades for a moment, but those platforms…"

"Formidable defenses," Kite agreed even as he produced his cloak from a dimensional pouch and draped across the shoulders of his intended. Given that Dragonfly's armor was more hole than plate in most places, the fighting had to have been as intense at their corridor. Had she not possessed a most impressive recovery, the sight would probably have been quite gruesome, but given that there was not a speck of blood or wound left in sight the result went from gory to… distracting.

"We will need to regroup and share what we've learned. Because I doubt that they would manage something impenetrable in this short of a timespan."

"I tried getting some bodies through to get something of what they're hiding, but those darn beetles," Wander complained.

"Sorry Kite, it will probably be River who'll be of better assistance with your plan." At that, most gazes turned to the acolyte of Pain who was prowling ahead of them, dissatisfaction rolling off her in waves at the retreat. Sensing the attention, River looked over her shoulder to regard them all.

"I did not manage now, but I was not trying too hard either. Give me an opening during another attempt and we shall soon know," she said, her voice as flat and measured as usual which was a surprise given how close they had been to people who might actually possess at least some of the answers she was seeking.

"Good. We will be in your care," Kite replied, to which River only gave him an inscrutable look before once more looking straight ahead.

"But come all. Rest. Rest and strategizing awaits. Unfortunately, I fear that this will be something too hard to close out in one fell swoop. As for the time it will require… We will just have to see."

"I'm very sorry, Young Master Hope. I truly would have expected them to emerge soon," the Patriarch of the Eden family apologized where he sat next to the young master beneath a silk pavilion set up in the plaza that surrounded the Jade-Sky gate and its protective wall.

"It is most tragic for a man of your status to be forced to wait like this-" The older man fell quiet as the young master in question waved a hand in calm dismissal before taking a sip of his wine where he lounged among his pillows.

"Do not fret, Patriarch. Do not fret! It is hardly your fault," young master Hope said amicably.

"If it is truly one of the Queen's challenges that awaits them inside, it would be somewhat anticlimactic if it just took them a moment too. And your accommodations here are even quite impressive. To find privacy screens in such a magic-sparse area? And one covering the whole pavilion no less?" The last comment was directed towards the shimmering dome which kept any eavesdroppers away. For patriarch Eden, just the mention alone eased the sting of the expenses required to run it for such a long time.

"Besides," the young master continued, "your family has been such a great company too. Your hospitality is a credit to your city. When this little matter is taken care of, you just have to visit my family's humble abode in the capital! And make sure to allow your second niece to join you too! As I said; delightful company!"

"Your words humbles me greatly, and we will of course take you up on your offer. Dear Lilac is sure to be overjoyed at being included," patriarch Eden replied even as he tried to keep his triumph from showing too much in his aura. It was only expected that a man such as the young master would be able to read his aura, but to make it too easy was just plain gauche.

The young master looked as if he was about to speak again, but fell silent as a silver-ranked woman bearing extraordinarily well-made dress robes in pink and white emerged from a similar pavilion across the plaza and started making her way towards them. She was a silver-ranker too, and the patriarch didn't need to touch his spirit to hers to know that she was of at least a similar rank as the young master next to him. Just imagining the expense in cores to bring one so far into silver made the old man's head spin.

As she approached, the young master's demeanor became slightly more stiff, and he soon rose from his seat and began striding out to meet the woman without even glancing back. The pair stopped at a respectful distance from one another, both carrying themselves with poise while squaring off before a smaller privacy screen enveloped them and shielded their conversation from prying eyes.

They remained secluded for a few minutes before young master Hope dismissed the dome with a flick of his wrist, both turning and walking back towards their respective pavilions. Patriarch Eden held his tongue even though he was very curious as to what their conversation had been about, but it was apparently obvious enough anyway.

"Don't mind her, Patriarch," the younger man said, his voice less jovial than before.

"Just some vultures who trail their betters in the hopes of salvaging scraps from the opportunities they seek. Young Mistress Brilliance there thinks herself quite the schemer, hoping to perhaps curry favor with whatever party that seems to be coming out on top here. No principles at all, that one."

"Of course, Young Master. Most disgraceful," the patriarch agreed even without knowing any of the details. His words did seem to be the correct ones though, as young master Hope even smiled a bit in response.

"Good man! It is, of course, the Hope family who will handle whatever mess that comes out of this gate in the end. It is the duty of a responsible family of means to restore order, after all, and I am sure that the Queen's herald will no doubt come to the same conclusion. But please, Patriarch, I wish to speak of other things. Perhaps another bottle of wine will make me forget about the unpleasantness from before.

I do not know what transpires within this gate, but they sure are lucky to be unburdened by the strain of leading society. Those outcasts don't know how fortunate they are…"

"Ohsweetheavens- Wall!" Kite's walls of force appeared just in time, their sudden appearance blocking off the whole crevasse in front of him just as the small tidal wave of foul, oily sludge burst into the more cramped passageway. Stone sizzled everywhere the viscous liquid touched, and Kite felt his barriers growing more strained by the moment even as he channeled what mana he could to preserve them.

"Aaaand… now!" Braid called from beside him, and Kite let the barriers drop only to come up against an impressive mesh of glowing threads woven between the crevasse walls. They lit up in a pattern much like a ritual circle, and those witnessing the thread-based formation come to life all seemed most impressed as the threads started absorbing the goop as fast as it tried to flow past them.

That is, all except the towering skeletal figure like a stretched out humanoid made of twisted, gnarled wood who had unleashed the wave in question. The monster, something which Kite had never encountered before and definitely did not currently have time to research in the Magic Society index, roared with a hollow sound of snapping twigs inside a deep cavern and started recalling the horrible sludge that had previously covered its spindly form in a layer of vile, corrosive protection.

Managing to actually get through it had been quite challenging, and would be again if it managed to recuperate its form. But to this, at least, the adventurers had a plan.

"Kyyyaaaaaahh!" Before the sludge could even start climbing back onto the frame of living wood, Dragonfly hit it from the side like an angry meteor as her burning, conjured axe started applying the freezing blue flames that would cause her normal ones to detonate with a respectable amount of ferocity. The monster tried desperately to fend her off with sweeping strikes with its arms, but without the caustic goo covering them, the limbs lacked both mass and the edge to actually threaten a silver-ranker.

As Kite and Braid stepped in to help, with the former projecting attacks to impair limbs and use repeated strikes carrying Void-Sunders-Firmament to hack at the monsters form while the latter's impromptu formation kept tugging on and absorbing the corrosive sludge even while he wove more rituals to create flaming beams that lanced across the thing. Denied its main defense and offense like that, the rest of the battle was short and brutal as the three adventurers turned the wooden form into kindling.

"This… this will be problematic sooner than we thought," Kite noted even as Something from Nothing produced a long, gnarled staff dripping with acidic sludge which he promptly stashed for Peony to have a look at later.

"At the rate these outside monsters are manifesting, making sure that our line of retreat from our enemies' defenses is clear will be a hassle."

"Hopefully that at least creates some trouble for our foes too," Braid noted.

"Even though I will admit that if that is the case, I have yet to notice it in their defensive efforts."

"We can only keep up our best efforts," Kite replied.

"Little Crow at least managed to damage one of the defensive emplacements during the last attempt. Perhaps that will mean that the fourth time is the charm? If it goes well enough, our other plan might not even be needed in the end and-" All three of them suddenly turned to look in the same direction where another magical manifestation had appeared.

It was distant, but if the monsters that appeared weren't ones meant for the trial, they tended to roam and seek out prey, hide in ambush in odd places or - as had been the case in one occurrence with mountainbane ants - started dismantling the Labyrinth to build a hive.

"Another? I'm still charged up," Dragonfly noted, and both Kite and Braid nodded along.

"Let us clear it too, then rejoin the others. The fourth attempt will be made in a few hours once we have enough of our drones accumulated. River is getting quite adept at manipulating our reinforcements to make sure that they arrive with some semblance of concentration. And given the tenacity of our foes, it sure will be needed. Is it just due to their backs being up against the wall? Or are they working on something? I wonder what they are up to…"

"What are your people doing? Why aren't you finished yet?" Verses demanded where she was squaring off against Jin and his second in command. The staredown was currently taking place in the temporary forward encampment which they had been forced to make close to their defenses that now housed basically their whole expedition except the ritualists working back near their ruler.

That open space wasn't too far away either, but Verses had been adamant in her choice of them staying near their defenses as even fifteen minutes travel was too long when it came to leaving their defenses at the mercy of the adventurers. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"The beacon is already complete and has been active since a day after we entered this place," the leader of the Builder cultists answered calmly.

"We just need to keep it active and hold until our brothers and sisters outside manage to finish the dimensional tunnel. And you seem to be doing just fine in regards to that with the help of our defenses and the ascended drones."

"For three assaults, sure. But how long will this take? Being constantly on the defensive like this leaves us no flexibility and no room to maneuver. They will retain the initiative, and that might be our downfall as they only need to succeed once."

"It will take as long as it needs to. By the grace of the Builder, we will persevere. I have already dedicated myself to keeping that swarm in check and making sure that they don't know our every move, no? You should be able to handle the rest of them for a while longer. Unless one of your number haven't changed their mind and are willing to accept the Builder´s blessing and the powers that he offers? No, you don't need to answer. It is already quite clear on your face.

Which is a shame because-" Jin stopped, getting a far away look for a moment before seeming to return to here and now, with emphasis on here as Verses suspected that his attention might have been out with one of his scouting metal beetles.

"Call your people, Verses Sung Twice," the man eventually said while calmly beginning to make preparations of his own, lightning crackling between the strands of Jin's hair as the sound of myriad metallic legs upon stone started echoing in from every direction.

"They come again. And so we shall once again repel them."

"You know, just because your spirit is unassailable doesn't mean that your body is," Fantina murmured as she knelt beside where River was propped up against the stone wall, gently but firmly pressing her hand against the side of the other woman's neck as she let her healing flow into her torn body. River looked like she would have wanted nothing else than to rise and walk away at the comment, but missing most of an arm and an entire leg made that a little harder than usual.

Instead, she settled for giving Fantina a flat glare.

"I needed to get closer to pin down our target's location so that the Annoying one can enact his plan. And I almost managed to take down that blade-wielder while behind their lines."

"While it was indeed impressive, almost is the word to emphasize here," Fantina noted, conjuring a few tentacles which connected to the regrowing stumps of River's limbs to help the process along.

"We have not lost any of our numbers so far, and I would like to keep it that way."

"Bah. It's not like you or your goddess would have cared much had we not been in this trial together. And besides, had I perished it would have been due to my own weakness. But I will not let myself. Not before I claim my vengeance-" At that comment, Fantina fell silent before she turned her blue eyes to River with an expression that sent chills down the younger woman's spine as she too stopped speaking.

Said chills were not due to the discomfort of limbs slowly growing back, however, but because Fantina's eyes weren't filled with zeal, scorn or any similar sentiment. They were brimming with unshed tears.

"Oh child…" the older priestess whispered.

"How lonely your path must have been. I really am sorry." Then, before River could recover her wits enough, Fantina reached out one hand and patted River's head gently, with slow, soft motions.

"You're doing good, River. Even in your circumstances and whatever your past has been… You're helping us here. Well done." River remained still like a statue during the outlandish experience, and didn't even manage to utter a word as Fantina rose, wiping at the corners of her eyes.

"Just remain still for a while longer and the healing I've infused should do its work. I'll go and help the others keep that roaming pack of monsters away." Then she left, and River was left trying to process both what had just occurred, Fantina's feelings of sorrow and sympathy that she had felt as clear as day in the other woman's aura. And as to her own?

"Curse you, priestess. What is your angle?" River whispered even as the lingering warmth of the hand gently touching her hair remained clear as day in her mind, refusing to fade.

"Is it done? Do we have enough for another attempt?" Kite asked Little Crow as the assassin stepped up to his side in the small alcove where most of the group was waiting while Wander and River kept scouting around their enemies' defenses.

"It is. I managed to thin out the opposing drones just enough for another wave of ours to catch up," the smiling celestine confirmed, closing his parasol even as a slight hint of concern creased his eyebrows.

"But there is something all of you need to see."

"What is it? Another rogue manifestation? Or more of those tears in the astral space?"

"No… Well, I did spot a miniscule tear close by but it grew much slower than the ones Wander has reported closer to the edge of the space. But this is something else. Just give it a few minutes though, and we'll have a nice enough view." Doing as they were told, Kite kept his senses sharp as their drones started marching past as they headed towards the enemy defenses in the distance.

While it felt cruel in a way, the group had quickly realized that they tended to need the presence of their drones to soak up attacks from their blue-tinted counterparts as well as the enemy emplacements. And while things seemed ordinary at first, he soon spotted what was wrong. And he was not alone in that.

"Woah… Have they stumbled upon some kind of monster on the way?" Dragonfly asked.

"Because that group looks… off." The indicated group of drones might at first glance have looked much like each of the other they had seen so far during the challenge, but as soon as one looked further some differences started becoming apparent. Some had warped chitin, slightly bigger in frame while others sported longer limbs or similar oddities. Nothing extreme, but enough to give a distinct sense of wrongness.

"Nope, it's not just them. I can see more of them now that I'm focusing my attention in that area," Wander reported.

"Doesn't look like battle damage, unless something really freaky and flesh-warping has manifested beneath our noses. And I have many noses that could notice~."

"And while they fought? Anything you noticed?" Kite asked with some concern.

"So far I haven't seen much difference. But we should keep an eye out," Little Crow replied, adding.

"And add 'deformed drones' to the list of things which seem to go awry in this place."

"Then keep an eye out and see if the enemy drones seem similarly affected. Because we need to move now if we are to use the numbers which Little Crow has accumulated to the best effect. River is back to full capability after the incident during the last attempt, so be ready for her signal should the opportunity arise."

Sensing nothing but the firming and sharpening in preparation for battle in the auras of his companions, they turned and joined the flow of drones heading towards the killing field arranged by their foes.

"We will try switching up the groups as planned," Kite called while they moved.

"Will, Laevyeth, still think you can try and pressure one side with only Braid's support?"

"Of course, my friend! It will be a bout of tempering worthy of a tale of its own," the spearman called back from where he walked hand in hand with the outworlder, inseparable as ever.

"Let me and my Lady be the shuttle to his weaver's loom!"

"That is not…" Braid began, but soon fell silent as years of working closely with Wander told him that it would be useless correction.

"Good, then we move! Call for support if they too have changed things around!" Kite replied, raising his voice as he had started speeding up to get ahead of the others to ward off some of the opening shots which would come their way soon enough. His steps soon took him slightly upwards which had him running just above the wave of drones on a glittering trail of small barriers, and he had not gotten far when the first rippling bolts of discordant energies started flying their way along the crevasse." Ward!"

Kite called as his barriers started absorbing some choice projectiles while projected attacks tried to intercept as many others as he could. And at his side, the officiator orb came alive, joining its trumpeting call to the growing cacophony of battle.

"Charge! Death to the interlopers! For the glory of the Queen!"

"So, their orb can still speak," Verses noted to herself as she kept flinging spells from atop her shielded platform into the oncoming assault where the Pathbreaker strode above, plying that annoying path of his to make a concerning dent in their opening barrage.

She had seen the other officiator orb floating behind him many times during their previous clashes, but as the thing suddenly trumpeted out a clarion call that echoed across the cramped conflict, Verses couldn't help but think of her own construct which hadn't uttered a coherent word in days. And as for her spells…

"We will need to consider switching the siblings over here," she called to Sunless as she launched a few more spells, but even with the empowering platform it was a paltry effort compared to what other paths could accomplish. After all, Verses was a close-ranged fighter first and foremost, as were Sunless and Flutter.

"Jin said that a ranged ascended drone would be sent here as soon as it's ready and- ah, there it is," the draconian replied, with Verses already having felt the gold-ranked aura washing over them as their reinforcement started making its way towards them.

"A shame though that they deteriorate so fast. Just having them on guard here would be a lot more convenient. Or just having a dozen of them hunt down our little friends all at once."

"Less wishful thinking, more attacking," Verses replied, even though she shared the sentiment.

"And be ready for Pain's little whelp trying the same stunt as she did last time."

"She won't get me another time," Flutter said defensively while sending a few whirling, venomous blades flying towards the incoming assault.

"Don't feel too bad, Flutter. That chained bitch can be terrifying-" Sunless began, but was forced to fall silent as the adventurers among the incoming assault engaged in earnest." Dissolve the patterns of power!" After clashing a few times, the agents of Discord were all used to the initial dispelling wave of the Pathbreaker which acted as a screen for their projectiles when the adventurers made their final approach.

But as varying ranged attacks followed in its wake along with the terrifying celestine with the amethyst hair, Verses realized that there had been a change in the approach of their enemies.

"There's more of them here. Seven," she realized with dawning resignation as she noticed that only the spearman and that masked man with the threads were missing. It was only the fast approaching gold-ranked constructs that made her feel some kind of confidence, but there would have to be a change in their deployment.

"Jin! Send both of them here!" Verses called out among the madness of combat that began as both the celestine with the transcendent strikes, the chain-wielder and the short woman burning with twin flames charged in among them. She trusted that at least one of the man's beetles were nearby to hear her, which was soon confirmed as she felt one of the auras change trajectory to join its fellow.

"Kyyyyaaaaahh!" A moment later, twin axes almost shattered the shielding of Verses' support platform, but before the a follow-up strike could land she wove discord and desynchronization into her own palm which struck the woman in the face. For a moment, the berserker's magic was turned on herself in a cataclysm of boons discharging in chaotic bursts as the woman was flung back. Much like the Pathbreaker's dispelling magics, Verses had learned a lot of the paths of her other foes.

Disrupting the axe-wielder like this was an effective disruption of her tempo, but would not be enough to put her down. At least not without a good follow up. And unfortunately, Verses and her allies were too outnumbered to properly set that up even with the magical emplacement and their drones - some odd and misshapen as some had emerged as of late - and she was quickly forced to shift focus to dodging a fist growing with transcendent light which punched through her barrier where she had previously stood.

A warped step took her to another platform however close to where the chain-wielder once more tangled with Flutter deep behind into their lines. But contrary to the last time she had tried such a stunt, the pale-haired woman cocked her head for a moment as if sensing something - probably Verses' own appearance next to her.

And this time, she wisely chose to retreat in a blur of motion as if falling into a graceful dance which transcended time before appearing near where the berserking woman with the pink hair had landed after Verses had sent her flying. Some kind of message seemed to be exchanged, because soon the Pathbreaker and the axe-wielder veered off in the intersection outside the defensive line set up by the Builder's cultists.

"The siblings must be doing their job well," Verses thought, considering if she should change her order and have one of the constructs go there after all now that the balance of the groups was changing.

"But perhaps we should still at least check their-" Once again though, Verses didn't get to complete even that thought process due to the pressure of the conflict raging around them. But this time, said pressure was much more abrupt as the chain-wielder's aura suddenly rose like a slumbering beast before falling down upon the Verses and her allies like a descending viper.

Pain echoed through Verses' soul for a moment as she realized the degree to which her spirit was under attack, but as the scarred woman was forced to direct her spirit against all three of the agents of Discord present, Verses could at least muster her own aura to keep the soul attack at bay.

"So this is what had Sunless so shaken… Let the siblings deal with their assailants best they can," she thought, each mental word coming slowly beneath the strain as it was hard to notice almost anything else beneath the spiritual pressure.

"We will need to put this one down for good." As on cue, both of the ascended constructs chose that moment to come within reach, charging and floating towards the battle with reckless speed as the ranged variant started sending its barrage of projectiles towards the adventurers.

"T-that one. Kill the one with the chains!" Verses managed to call even as she got her mental faculties under more control. Perhaps this would be their chance to even the score somewhat with their foes after all.

"Ready?" Dragonfly asked Kite as they both stopped in the middle of the corridor between two of the defended openings. In both directions, they could sense their allies fighting; the group they had left behind now under more strain as two of their numbers left while Will, Laevyeth and Braid seemed to be holding on in the other direction as they fought the armored elves and whatever other defenses their foes had mustered.

"Yes. May Warrior guide us here, love, so that we might return and aid our friends sooner rather than later," Kite agreed, concerned yet resolute.

"And thank you. For coming with me." In response, Dragonfly gave him the quickest of pecks on the cheek before breaking into one of her most passionate grins; the kind that still made Kite feel a bit tingly and fuzzy inside.

"What is a little death-defying plan between lovers?"

"True," Kite agreed.

"But should this go well, Dragonfly, we really should get married before we do something similarly daring again." At his words, the grin was joined by a fierce blush that crept all across Dragonfly's face and down her neck, but she replied without breaking eye-contact.

"You know what? That would only be proper. Yes, Kite. Yes." If was just as her words had left her mouth that River's aura suddenly exploded outward in the distance, a spiritual pressure temporarily overwhelming anything except the gold-ranked constructs' in the aura senses of anyone in the broader vicinity.

"River gave us the direction, and now the distraction. Let's not waste it," Kite said, grasping his intended's hand. And then, as one, they leapt upward into the raging storm above.