Dawn of the Void

Chapter 123: Just Cruising

The portal to the second layer was hidden in the depths of the citadel tower. The Wings made searching for it a quick affair; they zipped in and out of the levels after exploring the abandoned crown, and finally entered the ground level floor which sank at a precipitous angle. A huge staircase descended into the depths, large enough for the Wings to swing around and around, down and down, until they floated out into a cavernous chamber in whose floor burned a circle of crimson light, its surface ruffled by opaque fog.

Looks like we found it, said Serenity. What do we do about the -

The walls of the huge chamber shook. Dust and crimson sand sifted down from the ceiling. James wheeled the Wing around and shot back upstairs, only to find the Castrum Mortis striding toward the staircase, a huge hole in the wall where it had simply walked through the obsidian stone so as to gain entrance.

Nicely done, said James.

HERE I COME, boomed the Castrum, and followed James down the staircase to the basement level.

Damn, said Serenity. How often we getting more of those?

One every six hours, said James. If Jessica can continue harvesting ambient Aeviternum.

Who wants to wait five hours before going down? asked Yadriel.

Not me, said Serenity. We got this. Ready?

Ready, said James.

Serenity ducked down, cinched the straps of one autocannon about her left arm, then pulled up next to Olaf so he could tighten the other straps. That done she raised both three-meter-long guns and grinned. Gonna have to steer with my knees. Lets go.

James willed the Wing to slide forward and dip into the crimson mist. It was chill and then grew colder. He emerged into a great wintry landscape, a brown forest extending as far as the eye could see in every direction, the sky low and oppressive, overcast and from which thick, sooty snowflakes fell.

Everything was shades of gray, white, and blue. The forest, however, was resolutely brown, and only when James scrutinized it did he see why: the trees were made of rusted iron, massive and sharp.

You have entered Layer 2, The Corroded Woods

The other Wings flew out of the floating portal, a large crimson circle that hung in the air some four hundred feet above the forest. A moment later the Castrum dropped through it, plummeting to the ground below with a great rushing roar of wind.

It hit the ground with a thunderous crunch, flattening the rusted trees beneath its bulk and cratering the ground, a shockwave causing the trees around it to ripple and shake, their boughs clanging as they beat against each other.

Damn, said Serenity, peering down at the behemoth. Jessica builds em right.

What we looking at? asked Denzel. Im just seeing trees-

The Castrum opened fire.

The Vault Cannons on its shoulders and flanking its helm gouted yellow flame as it began to unleash Smite and Gloria-enhanced rounds into the woods around it, and then its gargantuan Empyreal Gun vented forth a flood of plasma.

Dive! shouted James, urging his Wing down. The frigid air smote at his face, and then he saw them, shadows slipping through the woods, man-sized and insectile, each limb a blade, flicker-flash fast and with horrendous visages and elongated skulls like the Nem6s. These were black and mottled with rust, their maws filled with finger-length fangs, and hundreds were closing in on the Castrum, leaping with great springs of their bladed legs toward it.

Serenity opened fire.

The autocannons were shockingly loud even in contrast to the Castrums armaments, and her rounds smeared down through the air, a continuous stream of burning Smite that felled trees and caused the demons to explode.

James dropped a Seraphic Web, covering the arc behind the Castrum, and Jason and Yadriel did the same, covering the rest of the circumference. The Diamond threads of aura filled the forest, the webbing thick and complex. The demons who flung themselves into this mess of strands were sliced apart.

In response the demons began to leap into the air, their jumps so prodigious that they cleared the canopy, flea-like and vicious as they screeched and hurled themselves futilely up at James and his crew.

Who raised up to be just out of their reach, then settled in as the Castrum continued laying down the fire on the demons who approached from every angle. For now, however, it was evident that the Seraphic Webs were doing crowd control. Though the tides of demons were endless, they just couldnt close with the mech.

All right, lets figure out where this crimson diamond is, said James, activating Deadeye and scanning the forest below them. His vision magnified and it felt as if he were looking through a high-powered scope.

There was nothing. Just endless forest that faded into the fog.

But something tugged at him. Something was off.

Not quite intuition, but more something prompted by his Spiritual Exaltation.

Anybody else sense something that way? asked Miriam, pointing. I feel I cant express it, but

Serenity, Olaf, Denzel, go with Miriam and see what you can find. Stay in visual range. Well remain here and keep the Castrum protected.

Damn Castrum dont need no protection, groused Yadriel.

The four operators sped forward.

James watched them go. The sooty black flakes were falling faster, swirling and dusting the Castrums shoulders. The cold was piercing, easily sub-zero, but Jamess high Stamina and Indomitable Resilience made him immune.

Miriam led the others a quarter of a mile away and then stopped. James raised his pistol and watched through Deadeye. Miriam hesitated, raised both hands, and then a great swathe of the black snow swirled sky warped, a patch fading to reveal part of a mass of collapsed iron trees. The revelation lasted for but a few seconds and then disappeared from sight.

Lets go help, said James. Castrum Mortis, were heading toward the others.

NAV-COMM LOCKED, boomed the mech and began striding through the chest-high trees, knocking them down with grinding crashes.

James led the others at the Castrums pace, dragging the Seraphic Webs till they reached Miriam and the others. What we got?

Miriam looked equal parts nervous and excited. A powerful illusion. I cant dispel it by myself, but together?

Lets do it. James inhaled deeply. Everyone ready? Go.

He activated the Dispel Illusion Benediction and directed it at the warped space before them. All the while demons hurled themselves at the Seraphic Webs, screeching and falling apart into severed limbs.

James felt his Benediction hit, grab hold, then tear the illusion apart. Before them the air shimmered then faded in alternating patches to reveal a huge pile of serrated and badly corroded iron trees that rose higher than the Castrum. The trunks were piled roughly atop each other, allowing gaps to appear between them, the dark spaces seething with waiting demons.

The air shimmered, the pile faded in and out of view, and then the illusion broke under their combined might.

Damn, said Denzel. We cant fly the Wings in there We gotta go in on foot?

James frowned. That would be like inserting themselves into a massed pile of rusted razor blades.

ASSISTING, said the Castrum, and waded forward. It powered into the huge pile, ramming the trunks with its massively armored body, and simply strode through it, waving its arms from side to side to send entire trees flying. Demons boiled forth, leaped at the Castrum only to die as Crimson Hydra dropped a bunch of Heavenly Assaults on them.

A moment later the Castrum was kicking trees out of its way as it finished passing through the pile.

James lowered his Wing to get a better look. With the pile demolished, he could now see a cavern revealed beneath, gaps dark between the iron trees that had bent beneath the Castrums weight but fortunately not snapped.

Dark Vision revealed a large space beneath. Lowering himself, Seraphic Web appearing around him as he got closer, he saw another huge cavern with a glowing crimson diamond floating in the center. The walls, however, crawled with more of the spring-bladed demons.

Diamonds below, he called out. But the walls are filthy with demons.

I got this, said Yadriel. Trust me. He aimed the nose of this Wing at the largest space and then dove down into the darkness below.

Yadriel! yelled Serenity, alarmed, but then Yadriel spoke a word that James felt more than heard an ungodly amount of power blasted out.

James immediately forgot what it was Yadriel had said. A single word, to be sure, but so powerful and overwhelming that even with all his power James couldnt retain its meaning or sound. It caused his whole being to break out into goosebumps, however, the hair on the nape of his neck rising and his mouth to flood with spit.

What the fuck was that? asked Denzel.

James peered into the dark chamber.

Demons were peeling off the walls and falling to the ground like fumigated crickets.

All of them.

That was the Word of Slaughter, said Jelly. Too late for take-backsides.

Heart pounding, James flew his Wing down into the cavern. The ground was covered in dead demons, thousands of them, but Yadriel was frowning at them.

Whats wrong? asked James, floating down beside him.

You see how many I just killed? And no fucking level?

Were Lords of the Increate, said James with a wry smile. Gonna take more than this to level up.

Pah.

James finger gunned the gem and extended a filament of aura. It speared through the diamonds heart, causing it to shatter and fall in huge chunks to the ground below.

Layer 2, The Corroded Woods, Defeated

Layer 3, The Unhallowed Ring, Unlocked

All right! said Serenity, putting up both autocannons. Another twenty-four hours earned! Were at - what- forty-seven hours till Level 3 gains access to top side?

Very good, grinned Olaf. Very very good. Nice word, Yadriel. Very nasty. Very good slaughter.

Heh, said Yadriel. Not bad.

This time a new portal had appeared just above the caverns floor, crimson and with its center obscured by red mist as before.

Hey Castrum! James pitched his voiced to carry. Can you get down here?

CONFIRMED. A moment later the mech appeared overhead, blocking out the sky, demons hurling themselves at it, and lowered itself into a crouch.

Whats it doing? asked Denzel.

The Castrum leaped. It soared upward a good hundred feet, hovered for a second, then began falling.

Into the portal! shouted James, urging his Wing to accelerate all out. They yelled and flew down as one as the mech landed on the lattice-work of iron trees and burst through them in a mighty explosion of rent metal.

James hit the portal going all out and punched through the red mist.

You have entered Layer 3, The Unhallowed Ring

He flew into a great void, stars hanging above and below. Constellations, a great smear that could have been the Milky Way, all of it breathtaking and vivid.

The cold redoubled. His breath plumed out before him as he stared at a great tower of gray stone that looked like a twisted rag, ridges endlessly spiraling about its body, dead trees of charcoal emerging here and there to claw at the void.

It was huge.

There was no ground below them, no matter how far James stared.

Instead, the tower was the only object, and it curved away, James realized, to form a circle, a great loop at least five miles long, floating before him, as wide as a New York City block and perforated by endless holes.

And in its center? Perhaps a mile and a half hence?

The crimson diamond, floating in darkness.

What the fuck? whispered James.

Then the Castrum blasted down through the portal, sending the Wings flying in every direction.

It fell and continued to fall.

After it! shouted James, not knowing what they could do. The Castrum flailed its arms, kicked its massive legs, but only fell faster.

But it fell down the face of the ring, its trajectory curving to follow the stone face. Even as James and the others sped after it, he realized to his immense relief that it wasnt going to hurtle away toward the stars, but instead fall in an orbit around the crimson diamond.

The Wings quickly caught up with the huge mech and formed a group around it.

Easy, big guy. James flew up beside its helm. Well try and push you toward the ring -

Bat-winged horrors began spilling out of the many holes that pocked the giant ring, flapping awkwardly toward them by the hundreds.

Oh goodie, said Serenity. Looks like weve found the locals.

The demons were the size of humans, their bodies emaciated, their arms extending out into leathery wings just like those of bats. Their heads were horrific, as if their very bone structure had grown soft and then huge thumbs smeared their faces and skulls upwards, ruining their features and tripling the size of their mouths from which yard-long tongues lolled. At first James couldnt tell how these horrific demons would hurt them, and then the first one enshrouded itself within its wings, forming a leathery cocoon about itself, only to shoot at them at tremendous speed as if fired from a gun.

Several Novas and Serenitys autocannons tore the first one apart, but more and more began to repeat this maneuver till they were under constant barrage of demon attacks.

It wasnt a problem, however; between the seven of them they were able to keep Novas going indefinitely, and James was certain the demons would ash on their natural Diamond auras regardless. Still, they couldnt risk the Wings taking damage, and James didnt want to see what would happen if one of them impacted the Castrum.

Gesturing to the others, James eased up to the huge mech and pressed the Wings nose to its back. The other Hydra members did the same, and by selectively applying pressure they smoothed out the giants gyrations as it fell and then began to shuttle it forth toward the ring which slid by at tremendous speed.

More and more demons emerged from the holes. Their shrieks were constant, the flicker of auras going Nova near omnipresent, and with a final shove James pushed the Castrum toward the ring.

The mech had no hands with which to grip, so instead it opened its arms wide so as to not damage its guns and extended its circular feet forward.

The second its forward toes hit the gray stone they dug huge grooves into the rock. James accelerated hard to keep the mech from bouncing off, but the Castrums mass was too huge; they all bounced off the ring, some of them spinning wildly away.

Fuck it! shouted Serenity. Lets just destroy the heart then push it through the portal!

The Castrum had resumed falling, closer to the rings surface, its guns blazing once more as it eradicated all demons who flew at it.

Deal! Flying V! James willed the Wing to speed past the mech and around the rings huge face, flaring Nova every time demons flew at him. The others clustered behind, and they took turns filling the void with burning silver, such that none of their foes could close.

They passed the ring and flew into the center, and only then did demons begin to emerge from the entirety of the rings inner curve, thousands bursting forth in outrage to wrap themselves up into leathery missiles and hurtle at them.

They came in their thousands, and died in their thousands.

Flying in the center of a constantly pulsing band of Diamond aura, James led the way and then loosed a lance of aura from his fingertip with which he shattered the crimson gem.

The moment the gem exploded the bat-winged demons ceased to emerge from the ring, and when the last ones died they were left alone, floating in the void.

Layer 3, The Unhallowed Ring, Defeated

Layer 4, The Hollow Hill, Unlocked

Man, were just cruising, shouted Yadriel in glee.

A new portal opened up where the diamond had hung, burning with its crimson mist.

Dont get too excited, said James. Thats three down out of twenty-seven. Im sure this things just getting warmed up.

Should we press on? asked Serenity.

Yeah. Lets collect the Castrum and guide it through the portal. Even if theres tougher stuff up ahead, Im sure we can take on a few more layers before we take a break.

But despite his steady and careful words, James couldnt help but feel a spark of hope. Maybe being level 500 really was enough to cruise most of the way to the bottom of this Pit. Theyd already bought three days reprieve.

Who knew how far theyd go before they had to slow down?