Chapter 88
I awoke within a cavern of jagged bone, something I understood before I could so much as open my eyes. The echoing noise of something gurgling deep within. The density of the air. The pain radiating out from my back. These were all telltale signs of the terrain I had been placed in.
Were I not experienced in awakening in such places, I might have assumed I was within the jaws of a massive creature. But no, it was too dry for that to be the case. There would be more saliva, blood, and a terrible smell as they all mixed together.
I pulled myself up from the bed of needles with a groan. If my luck was bad enough to place me in a place like this, I should remember to steer clear of any casinos in the future.
The gurgling noise continued. There was no need to check it. I had heard similar sounds so many times before that I already knew the cause.
In a world where nothing stays dead, defeating a tough opponent won't buy you much time to hunt others. So, a common tactic that I had seen even the less intelligent creatures use was to cripple an opponent, ensure they couldn't kill themselves, then run away.
I had been on both sides of that myself. The sound of someone choking on their own blood was as natural in this land as the chirping of birds.
“Yoohoo!”
Lily called out from the mouth of the cave. Unlike her, I couldn't fly over the bed of spikes, but she still made no effort to close the distance.
“I think this is the quickest you've managed to find me.”
I called back.
“I'm starting to get how this place works; you won't be losing me again anytime soon.”
She seemed confident, but I seriously doubted her claim. Even after seven years, I was unable to map the ever-changing terrain or spot any pattern in how it all shifted. I didn't even have an idea of how large the space was.
“You coming or not?”
She placed her hands on her lips and frowned. I noted that she had fashioned herself yet another type of extravagant dress. This one was pure white with golden threads and showed off her midriff.
“Carry me.”
“Remember that time you chopped off my leg?”
She refused my command with a smirk.
“You seem awfully confident that I won't do it again if you don't get down here and help.”
“The last time I followed you into a cave, my life was turned upside down. Just walk up here.”
“”
I used the command seal, and she begrudgingly spread her wings and fluttered down to lift me by my armpits.
“Tch. A real man wouldn't let a fair maiden carry him like this.”
“And a fair maiden wouldn't show off so much skin.”
“What are you, a 60-year-old man?”
…It was closer to 70, counting both lives, but there was no need to let her know that.
She dropped me on solid, smooth ground and did a quick sweep overhead to scout for any dangers.
“There's a few groups around, but none travelling in this direction.”
She landed and reported back.
“You're naked again, by the way.”
She pointed at my nether regions.
“Oh. Sorry, I'm still not used to that.”
I followed the method she taught me and shaped my soul to conjure up my usual attire.
“Again with the brown jacket? Would it kill you to experiment a little?”
“What's wrong with this? I like it.”
“Yeah, I know. Like something else.”
She pouted, so I created a second identical jacket over the top of the first one.
We stared at one another for a few seconds before sharing a laugh.
It was good to just mess around with her, even if we weren't exactly in a safe place.
“We can come back to this later; let's use what time we have wisely. What did you want to talk about in private?”
I asked, keeping an ear out for any ambushes. Even if she covered the air already, something could still come from underground.
“Right. There are two things. First, I heard about your promotion.”
“That was fast, it only just happened.”
“You can't hide anything from me, honey bun.”
She winked, and I pulled her by the horns.
“Ow! That's a punishable offence in Hell, you know?”
“Get on with it.”
“Don’t act like you don't love these games. But fine, have it your way. I need either you or Axel to take me in as a squire.”
I was somewhat surprised to hear this, but it wasn't as if I hadn't immediately considered her a candidate anyway.
“Why?”
“Remember what I said before? About me likely being sent off somewhere else? Well, I was right, Merk wants me infiltrating a church of all things.”
She gave me a look that said, “Can you believe it?”
“Apparently, I don't need to watch over you anymore now that you're a junior knight. I imagine that Princess Alma will probably be in charge of keeping tabs on you while you're under her command.”
“So?”
“So there goes my excuse to ditch work and follow you around whenever it's convenient for me!”
“Your blatant honesty is refreshing.”
I chuckled.
“But even if I recruit you, wouldn't you just be stuck with whatever I tell you to do? How am I supposed to trust you will even do it, knowing you are literally trying to avoid your duties right now?”
“Oh, come on. Your orders are more fun. Just don't shackle me and keep doing what you're doing, then I'll be satisfied.”
“Hmm… You wouldn't be trying to attach yourself to a less morally strict master so that you can steal more souls, would you?”
I raised a brow.
“...Hehe.”
She poked her tongue out.
“So long as they consent, I don't care. What do you even do with them anyway?”
“Well, I only have two right now. I can summon them if you wanna see?”
I nodded, admittedly intrigued at what this would look like.
She snapped her fingers, and both Bodo and Linus appeared behind her.
“What the?”
“Where am I?”
They looked around nervously, then immediately vanished again as Lily clapped her hands together. Her eyes were bulging at the sight of the two men.
“I take it that doesn't usually happen?”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
I asked.
“N-no… they're meant to just be these little wispy things.”
“Well, it makes sense, doesn't it?”
I poked her stomach hard.
“You're just a soul right now, and so am I. Why their souls manifest the same way here?”
“Huh… doesn't this mean we could bring an army here if we wanted?”
Lily grinned at me wickedly.
“We could have them set up a base. Gather materials, make weapons and armour. We could have our own workshop and dominate this world!”
She threw her hands up and cackled maniacally.
“Yeah, no. We don't know how that would affect their real bodies. Besides, most souls that come here don't last long enough to set up a base of any kind.”
“Oh.”
She immediately lost interest and pouted.
“What's even the point then?”
I didn't answer her, but I was also considering various uses for this newfound ability.
“Anyway…”
She continued.
“Devils use souls for all sorts of things. We can fuel our magic to even greater heights, trade them with The Gilded Horns, torture them for fun, you name it. Mainly, we just want to collect enough to get a promotion, though.”
“How many more do you need for that?”
“998.”
She shrugged.
“And it took you how long just to get two of them? You'll be a decrepit old lady by then.”
“First off, we don't age. And secondly, quality can trump quantity. A truly precious soul could bump me up a level in one go.”
“I see. By the way, who are the Gilded Horns?”
“Devil merchants basically. It works a bit differently for us, though. The merchant class is freer to travel and ranks higher than most nobles in terms of power and influence. If you run into anyone with gold in their horns, don't mess with them.”
She pointed to her own horns.
“They're bound by their own trader's code, though, so they will never be hostile unless they are threatened first. They deal exclusively in souls, but if you somehow do find a way to deal with them, I guarantee the quality of their goods.”
“Interesting.”
The more I heard about Hell, the more interested I became in visiting it one day.
“I'll consider hiring you on as my squire.”
I acknowledged her request, but honestly, I had already made up my mind.
“What was the other thing you wanted to discuss?”
“That would be the results of my tailing mission, of course.”
“I didn't think that required such secrecy for you to report. What happened?”
Lily grinned.
“Guy’s been a naughty little boy. You know that gold class girl, the noble lady Lynette?”
“No. Should I?”
“...Axel is right, you really do not care about anything going on around you.”
I scowled at her.
“Just tell me what's going on.”
“Fine. All you need to know anyway is that the girl has the Gift It lets her send written letters to anyone she has an intimate relationship with, and they get delivered instantly.”
As far as Gifts went, that sounded pretty amazing. She was basically a human telephone.
“She let Guy take some blood, and they both sent messages out.”
“To who? And what did they say?”
“Calm down, I'm getting to it!”
She rolled her eyes.
“So, Lynette sends a message to her mother saying that the King was defeated and she is being held captive. Then Guy contacted his father, asking for immediate reinforcements at Farrowgate.”
She stopped to await my reaction.
“...and?”
“Seriously? He's Guy If his father brings the blood knights to defend Farrowgate, taking the city is going to become a massive undertaking!”
“Hmm… no, I think it will still be fine.”
I responded confidently.
“But what about Lynette? Is her family important?”
I addressed the unknown factor instead.
“Uh, ! Seriously, she’s the rich chick with the platinum spoon in her mouth. Blonde hair? It looks like a couple of swirly turds slapped to her head? Ringing any bells?”
“Oh… The one with the disgusting laugh who follows Lloyd around.”
“That’s the one! Her family are filthy rich and has their fingers in pies all around the continent. I don’t know what part they’ll play, but gold has a way of moving people better than any cause can.”
I could imagine a few scenarios. Bribes to entice turncoats, hiring mercenaries to attack from behind, securing better equipment, the list goes on.
“What’s their family name?”
“Windsor.”
I recalled reading that name in history textbooks, but I didn’t remember anything beyond what Lily already relayed.
“Does Merk know all this?”
“Of course. He’s probably still awake now, forming a counter plan.”
“Alright, I get how this could be bad… What did he suggest?”
“He was going to arrest Guy and Lynette for treason. He considered torturing them until they rescinded their messages, but realistically, that would probably just raise more suspicions and have the opposite effect.”
“He going to arrest them? Did he change his mind?”
Lily shook her head.
“They fled.”
That took me by surprise, but I didn’t want to rush to any conclusions and blame Lily right away, even if she meant to be watching Guy.
“How?”
“That Laura girl… I’m not even going to ask if you know a random silver class commoner.”
“No, I remember her. We played pillarball together. What about her?”
Lily looked incredulous.
“Is it her chest? Is that why you remember her?”
“I don’t recall it being anything special. Maybe a 7/10?”
“Those are some crazy standards!”
“Back on topic, please.”
“Right. Well, Gift, , allows her and one other person to pass through solid objects temporarily, I’m sure you see where this is going.”
I just nodded. Guy could copy it, then all three would be able to walk right through the outer walls. They could have brought one other person with them if they so chose.
“Yeah, I get it. But why would Lynette and Laura help him? For that matter, how do they all know they’re being held captive? The whole point was to give the public the excuse that we were only preventing them from leaving for safety reasons.”
“Lynette’s sharp. She caught on to it immediately, probably because it’s what she would do if the roles were reversed. But I think they really just wanted to follow after Lloyd after he bugged out.”
Come to think of it, I had not seen Lloyd since everything began. I would have thought the self-styled hero would have been right in the middle of everything.
“What do you mean? Where did Lloyd go?”
“Dunno. Probably to Soleo. Merk didn’t tell me much, but he did say Axel saw everything. We could always ask him tomorrow. I do know that he was last spotted running towards Farrowgate, though.”
I rubbed my temples as my mind began to race to assumptions. Knowing his personality, I would have thought for sure he would ally with the Empire, since we were the victims of a sudden attack. But on the other hand, he was friends with Zachariah and was an eternal optimist. I could easily see him running off on his own to try to resolve things alone.
The worst outcome would be if he joined Soleo instead. I could picture him being swayed by a sob story, but I hoped he wouldn’t betray his people or ignore the facts of the situation.
If there were one silver lining of having him as an enemy, it would be that he was too much of a bleeding heart to actually kill anyone. I could use that hesitation to our advantage if the need arose.
“There’s one more reason I followed you here.”
Lily continued.
“Can you summon Lil’ Rex?”
I laughed as I remembered where we were. I had my own desire to speak to him anyway, after all that happened.
“Sure, give me a second.”
I began the process, but was surprised to find how easily the splitting and materialisation process came to me this time. Beyond that, the result was far different from what I expected.
Instead of the stubby little clone I expected, what formed was a fully grown human. It was still not a perfect clone of myself as the others in the Crucible could create, but in a way, it might be better.
The copy resembled the way I looked when fused with Tiara, perhaps because I was so familiar with that form in particular.
“...Lil’ Rex?”
I asked.
“Clearly, that name no longer applies, does it?”
My copy responded. He looked over at Lily.
“What did you want?”
She looked between him and me. Me and I? He who is me? This was a little confusing.
“Uhh… I wanted to ask about the Primordial. Can you still hear his voice?”
“We both can. But he’s asleep now.”
He nodded at me.
“If you wanted to ask the Stag Lord something, then there was no need to summon me.”
I nodded to affirm his words.
“Yeah, it began earlier today. I started to hear their voices more clearly. It’s not perfect, though; they pretty much just comment whenever they feel like it. But as he said, they’re not responding right now, and I don’t know how long they sleep for.”
“Damn. Guess I’ll have to wait to confirm my theory.”
Lily folded her arms and turned her back to us.
Seeing as she was checked out of the conversation, I turned to speak to my other self.
But upon making eye contact, I realised there was no need. We were the same soul after all, even if he looked a little different. I thought to ask about the identity of the beast I had summoned, but I knew he wouldn’t have the answers either. He was effectively the embodiment of my own subconscious, meaning any knowledge I lacked would be a mystery to him as well.
We stared at each other in silence, our thoughts merged as we considered what to do next. It didn’t take long for us to settle on the most obvious course of action.
I drew my axe, and he unsheathed his claws, then we quietly ran to find some prey.
“Hey! What are you two doing? W-wait for me!”
Lily, unable to understand us as we understood ourselves, trailed behind.
***
I knew it from my experience alongside Lil’ Rex, but having someone on your side who could predict your every move, and vice versa, was worlds apart from having a regular ally. Axel and I could compensate for one another and jump in to cover one another’s blind spots, but we could not move in tandem without any prior planning.
My fragmented soul and I had targeted a group of three spider-like creatures as our first test. I figured they would be a decent challenge, seeing as they held the number advantage and were double our size.
But in practice, they were barely a speed bump in our path. My clone was too quick and still had Tiara’s ability to With this, he avoided the myriad of sharp legs that tried to skewer him to the ground and stole their attention. This made it easy for me to hack off their legs and deliver the finishing blow whenever they toppled over.
Lily remained on lookout, allowing us to pick and choose our targets without fear of ambush, but she would occasionally critique some of our decisions. She pointed out our habit of allowing near-mortal blows to connect just so one of us could secure victory. It was a valid tactic in the Crucible, but if I relied on it too heavily, I might do the same thing in the material world and get myself maimed just to win an easy fight.
Lily, while having nothing to do, would work on replicating her magic through the use of soul manipulation instead. I paid little attention, but did spot her creating flashes of violet light at one point. She already figured out how to create a small concentrated beam of energy, but beyond carving words into the ground, it was functionally useless.
She seemed extremely pleased with herself, though, so I left her be. Her experiments might benefit me one day, after all.
We upped the stakes and threw ourselves up against a group of eight massive skeletal snakes with angelic wings. We understood defeat was assured even before we took out the second opponent. Their coordination was naturally as good as ours, and their mobility was matched only by my clone’s teleportation.
But victory was not the goal. It was to push the limits of what each of our forms could achieve. My clone was naturally more competent thanks to the optimised influence of feline features, but I was not doing too poorly myself.
My speed, power, reflexes, and senses were all significantly greater than they were in the material world. It did not take long for me to understand the reason. My soul quality had been improved due to recent events, and in the Crucible, that quality was reflected in my physical being as well.
As two snakes tore off my arms and a third pierced my chest with its fangs, I had a thought.
My body in the material world was not able to keep up with my soul’s capacity. This could be overcome through fusion, and slightly circumvented by working out, but there may be a faster way.
As the fangs sank deeper and threatened to burst my heart, I shiften my internals, using my own ribcage to clamp down and lock the snake in place. My clone used the chance to shatter its skull moments before being dogpiled and torn apart.
I followed soon after, but there was a content smile plastered on my face as I realised the new method that had been opened to me.
